HOTEL ADMINJSTRATIOM LIBRARY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library TX 715.R95 The Rural cook book; some old recipes and 3 1924 000 528 285 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000528285 The Rural Cook Book Some Old Recipes and Many New Ones — Being the Collected Wisdom of a Legion of Home Cooks Publiihed by THE RURAL NEW-YORKER New York \ copikight, 1907, By The Rukal Publishing Co. All rights reserved. PREFACE For many years The R. N.-Y. has been collecting tested recipes from an immense army of practical housewives. Some are entirely original; others are doubtless modifications of familiar practice. It is an easy matter to mislay a recipe not needed for immediate use, and we are thus often asked to repeat their publication, not once, but perhaps a dozen times. For this reason it seemed wise to print a selection of these recipes in permanent form, and "The Rural Cook Book" was decided upon, as a successor to "The Business Hen" and "The Farmer's Garden." Before we had finished assembling our material, however, we discovered that we had enough recipes alone to fill four books of the required size, and the question became not what to put in, but what to leave out. It was decided that we must give as much space as possible to canning, preserving, pickling, and other uses of fruit and vegetables, as such recipes are especially useful to farm housekeepers. This little book is not intended, however, to be a complete guide to domestic economy; in spite of its omissions we feel sure that it will be found a real practical helper, and we also think it will fill a place left vacant by many a more pretentious volume. CONTENTS Chapter I. Soups. Vegetable, Meat, Chowders, etc 7-12 Chapter II. Fish. Including Oysters and Clams 13-18 Chapter III. Meats. Roasts, Stews, Broiling, Meat Pies, Curing Hams, Corning Beef, Making Sausage, Game 19-39 Chapter IV. Pastry and Pies. Crusts and Puff Pastes, Tarts, Pie Fillings and Small Dainties.. 40-50 Chapter V. Puddings^ Hot and Cold. Baked, Steamed, Boiled, Fruit and Cereal. . . . , 51-69 Chapter VI. Apples. Many Wholesome and Appetizing Ways of Preparing this Familiar Fruit 70-78 Chapter VII. Bread and Muffins. White, Brown, Oat and Corn Breads; Biscuits, Buns, Rolls, Coffee Cake, Waffles 79-89 Chapter VIII. Cakes. Doughnuts, Gingerbread, Cookies, L-ebkuchen, Many Plain and Layer Cakes, Cake Fillings and Icings 90-108 Chapter IX. Eggs. Boiled, Baked, Poached, Omelets, Welsh Rabbit 109-113 Chapter X. Vegetables. Many Methods of Preparing Familiar Vegetables, Hulled Corn, Succotash, etc 114-123 Chapter XL Canning and Preserving. Jams, Jellies, Marmalades, Fruit Butters, Glace Fruits, Practical Methods of Canning Fruits and Vegetables 123-155 Chapter XII. Pickles and Relishes. Fruit and Vegetable Pickles, Chow Chow, Sauces, Catsups, Vinegars 156-182 Chapter XIII. Salads 183-185 Chapter XIV. Cheese 186-188 Chapter XV. Warm Supper and Breakfast Dishes. Toasts, Croquettes, Noodles, Pancakes 189-192 CHAPTER I. SOUPS. Here are some certain rules of health; Take them — they're hetter far than wealth : Don't overeat, don't overdrink, Don't overwork, don't overthink. Be not afraid of honest sweat ; Run like a deer from shame and debt. Beware of bigness of the head. Get bigness of the soul Instead. Almond and Celery Soup. — Cut in small pieces a bunch of celery, using the leaves and carefully scraped root; add six peppercorns, two bay leaves, a tablespoonful of onion juice, a thin slice of lemon, a tea- spoonful of salt, and a stick of cinnamon; cover with a quart of water and cook an hour, strain and reheat, stirring in a cup of rich milk (cream is better), a teaspoonful each of flour and butter blended together, and one-quarter of a cup of blanched almonds that have been pounded to a paste, allowing soup to boil for a moment or two after the nuts are added. Serve very hot with cheese crackers. English Beef Soup. — Take the cracked joints of beef, and after put- ting the meat in the pot and covering it well with water let it come to a boil, when it should be well skimmed. Set the pot where the meat will simmer slowly until it is thoroughly done, keeping it closely cov- ered all the tirne. The next day, or when cold, remove the fat which hardens on the top of the soup. Peel, wash and slice three good-sized potatoes and put them into the soup; cut up half a head of white cab- bage in shreds and add to this a pint of Shaker corn that has been soaked over night, two onions, one head of celery, and tomatoes, if de- sired. When these are done, and they should simmer slowly, care being taken that they do not burn, strain (or not, as preferred) the soup and serve. The different varieties of beef soup are formed by this method of seasoning and the different vegetables used in preparing it after the joints have been well boiled. Besides onions, celery, cabbage, tomatoes and potatoes, many use a few carrots, turnips, beets and force-meat balls, seasoned with spice. Rice or barley will give the soup consistency, and are to be preferred to flour for the purpose. Parsley, thyme and sage are the favorite herbs for seasoning, but should be used sparingly. To make force-meat balls add to one pound chopped beef one egg, a small lump of butter, a cup or less of bread crumbs; season with salt and pepper and moisten with water from stewed meat; make in balls and 8 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. fry brown, or make egg-balls by boiling eggs, mashing the yollcs with a silver spoon and mixing with one raw yolk and one teaspoonful of flour ; season with salt and pepper, make into balls; drop in soup just before serving. Black Bean or Lentil Soup. — Soak a pint of black beans or lentils over night. In the morning, parboil them. Boil gently in fresh water until soft enough to rub through a sieve. Add a bay leaf, some cloves, and a stalk of celery. Brown two slices of bacon cut in dice with half a minced onion and turn into the soup. Serve with squares of toast. Brown Flour Soup. — Put a lump of butter into a clean iron frying pan. When melted, sprinkle in half a cupful of flour and stir briskly until the flour is of a uniform brown color like roasted coffee. Add this gradually to two quarts of water. Peel and cut into cubes three pota- toes and cook in the soup 20 minutes. Season with an onion and a tea- spoonful of celery salt. Consomme. — Cut up two pounds of lean raw meat, beef or veal, and add a cupful of cold roast beef, cut in pieces. Put over the fire with a cracked knuckle of veal, four quarts of cold water, two onions, one carrot, two stalks of celery, six peppercorns, a spoonful of salt, six cloves and a few herbs. Cook slowly all day. Strain, and when cold skim off the fat. Add the white and shells of two eggs. Bring to a boil and boil 10 minutes. Strain through a cloth. Corn Chowder. — Pare and slice thin onions enough to make a pint; boil one hour ; to this add one-half pint potatoes cut small, boil 10 ininutes longer. Fry brown a slice of fat salt pork cut small and add fat and all, then a pint of tender sweet corn (canned corn is all right). Boil 10 njinutes longer; the whole of this now should be two quarts or more; this is the best time to salt and pepper to taste. Add one pint of milk and a cupful of cream or a piece of butter as large as an egg if cream is not plentiful. Do not let cream boil ; serve very hot. Cream of Corn Soup. — Scrape the corn from eight tender young ears. Boil the cobs in as little water as may be for 30 minutes. Strain off the liquid, add the scraped corn and boil 20 minutes. Heat one quart of sweet milk to scalding point; rub together one tablespoonful butter and one teaspoonful flour ; stir into the hot milk. Add one-half tea- spoonful salt, one-quarter teaspoonful white pepper. Pour over the corn, stir for a minute or two, then pour into hot tureen. Serve with crou- tons. Croutons — Cut bread two days old into small triangles or dice. Brown in oven to a golden tint. They are very nice spread with a paste made of twice the quantity of butter creamed, of delicate cheese grated and a little finely chopped parsley. (Two teaspoons butter, one of grated cheese, one-fourth teaspoon chopped parsley). The croutons can be fried if desired. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 9 Cream of Eggs. — Slice a medium-sized onion into a quart of milk and bring the milk to the scalding point in a double boiler. Strain out the onion and return the milk to the kettle with a teaspoonful of flcur that has been rubbed "^o a paste with the same quantity of butter. Stir to a smooth cream-like soup, and just before serving season with one teaspoonful of salt and three shakes of pepper. Chop coarsely, the white of four or five hard-b'oiled eggs and add to the soup. When ready to serve sprinkle each portion with the grated yolks. Cream of Salsify. — Take two bunches of salsify, wash, scrape and cut in small pieces and boil until tender. While hot mash and press through a colander. Have ready a cream made of two tablespoons of flour and two of butter melted together, seasoned with one-half saltspoonful white pepper and stirred into three cups milk and one cup water, which have previously been brought to a boil. Stir constantly until the consistency of a puree ; add the prepared salsify, let boil up o"nce, add three-quarters of a teaspoonful salt, and serve immediately. Fish Chowder. — Two pounds of fresh cod or any white fish, a quar- ter-pound bacon, four large potatoes, one small onion, half a can tomatoes, one quart milk, butter the size of a walnut, and a teaspoonful of flour for thickening. Pick the fish to pieces, removing all bone and skin; peel potatoes and cut into dice; cut the bacon in small pieces; rub the butter and flour to a cream. On the bottom of a granite kettle spread half of the potatoes in a layer, then half of fish, then sprinkle in the onions minced fine, then the bacon, then half the tomatoes. Then a shake of salt and pepper; add the rest of the fish, potatoes, tomatoes and more salt and pepper, using in all one teaspoonful salt and one-half tea- spoonful pepper. Cover with water, let simmer for half an hour. Let the milk come to a scald, put a pinch of soda into the chowder and stir; add the hot milk to the butter and flour; stir smootjh; then add to the chowder; let get very hot, and serve. Milk Soup. — The various soups known as creams are usually about half milk and half meat or vegetable stock, slightly thickened with flour which has been blended with fat. For example, the tough, flabby portions and white leaves of a bunch of celery might be cut in small pieces, mixed with a sliced onion, covered with cold water and cooked until much of it can be rubbed through a strainer. To this juice and pulp is added an equal portion or even more of hot milk. For thickening a quart of soup slightly, one ounce of butter and one rounding tablespoonful of flour should be cooked together in a small saucepan until frothing, then add a little of the soup and beat until smooth, and then mix with the whole Season with salt and pepper. For a thicker soup use twice as much flour and butter, though the butter may be decreased slightly. However, if we use skim-milk for the soup, as we may, the increase of butter is 10 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. desirable. Such soitps can be made from almost any vegetable, varying the thickening according to the thickness of the pulp of the vegetables. Bean and pea soup require less flour, but a little will keep them from becoming watery on top. A corn chowder can be made much like a fish chowder from fresh or canned corn with pork fat, onion and po- tato. Such soups are excellent for suppej on a cold night, and give an opportunity to turn skim-milk to good account. Mock Oy.5ter Soup. — Scrape a dozen roots of salsify, throwing at once into cold water to avoid discoloring, cut into thin slices and cover with a quart of water, or preferably soup stock. Cook gently until perfectly tender (about an hour) ; then add a quart of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of pepper, and two tablespoonfuls of butter cut into bits. Serve with oyster crackers. Italian Onion Soup. — Boil six young but fully grown onions in two waters, turning off the first at the end of 10 minutes' boil, and replac- ing with fresh hot water. There should be a quart of the second water. When the onions are tender, add a cupful of dry, fine bread crumbs and cook gently for five minutes more. Pour the contents of the kettle into a colander and rub the onions and crumbs through it into the liquid in the bowl below. Return all to the fire, simmer for a minute and stir into the soup a "roux," made by heating to a bubbling cream a great spoon- ful of butter with one of flour in a frying pan. Have ready heated in another saucepan a cup of milk in which you have dropped a pinch of soda. Take the boiling soup from the fire, stir in the hot milk, and pour into a heated tureen. Pass Parmesan cheese with it. Cream of Oyster Soup. — ^Add to one quart of milk half of a small onion, two sprigs of parsley and a half a cupful of celery leaves and stalks. Scald in a double boiler. Mix one-fourth of a cupful of flour with sufficient cold milk to make a paste and add it to the scalded milk. Stir until it thickens and let cook for about 20 minutes covered. Pour a cupful of cold water over a quart of oysters, strain the liquid through a cheesecloth and heat to a boiling point. Add the oysters and when the boiling point is reached add the thickened milk. Season with salt and white pepper and stir in; little by little, one-fourth of a cup of butter. Pink Velvet Soup.— Half a canful of tomatoes, one pint of water, one tablespoonful of butter, one large onion, chopped small; one potato shaved thin, a saltspoonful of celery seed, a teaspoonful of salt, a table- spoonful of sugar and a pinch of sweet marjoram. Boil all together for half an hour, or until the potatoes melt. Strain, thicken with gran- ulated tapioca or cornstarch, boil five minutes, add a pinch of baking soda, and then pour in a pint of hot milk. Serve at once. Potato Soup.— Three potatoes, one pint milk, one teaspoonful chopped onions, one stalk celery, one teaspoonful salt, one teaspoonful celery salt THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 11 one-half saltspoonful white pepper, one-fourth saltspoonful cayenne, one- half tablespoonful flour, one tablespoonful butter. Pare the potatoes and soak them in cold water one-half hour. Boil them until very soft. Cook onions and celery in milk in double boiler. When potatoes are soft drain and mash, add boiling milk and seasoning. Rub through strainer and put on to boil again. Melt butter in small saucepan ; when bubbling add flour; when well mixed stir into boiling soup. Boil five minutes and serve very hot. This flour thickening prevents milk and potato from separating, and gives a smoothness quite unlike granular effects often noticed. If too thick add hot milk. The soup may also be made with meat stock instead of milk. Salmon Bisque. — One pint of oyster liquor and one of hot water heated together. When it boils stir in two cupfuls of finely minced salmon, seasoning with pepper, salt and a little chopped parsley. In an- other saucepan put one cupful of milk and heat to scalding, with a pinch of soda; stir into this two tablespoonfuls of butter, rubbed with one tablespoonful of flour and a half cupful of pounded cracker. Add one egg well beaten and stir and cook for a moment. Mix the fish and milk mixtures, cook a few moments, pour into soup tureen and serve hot. Scotch Broth. — One-half cup pearl barley, two pounds neck of mutton, two quarts cold water, one-fourth cup each of turnip, carrot, onion and celery chopped small, two tablespoons butter, one tablespoon flour, two teaspoonfuls salt, one saltspoon parsley chopped fine. Soak barley over night. Remove fat and skin from mutton, scrape meat from bones and cut in dice. Put bones on to boil in one pint cold water, the meat in separate pot with three pints water. Let the latter cook quickly. Skim when it begins to boil; add barley; skim again. Fry the chopped vege- tables in the hot butter five minutes, drain, add to the meat, simmer three hours. Strain the water in which the bones were simmered, set aside for a moment. Put in the saucepan the butter left from frying the vegetables, melt and add the flour. When smooth, pour in gradually the liquid from the bones. Add to the broth, add salt, parsley and one- half saltspoon pepper, simmer 10 minutes and serve. As this broth is served without straining it is always well to boil bones separately. Split Pea Soup. — Wash a pint of split peas and cover with tepid water, adding a pinch of soda, and let remain over night to swell. In the morning put them in a kettle with three quarts of cold water, adding half a pound of lean salt pork cut into slices, also a teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper. Cook slowly for three hours, stirring occasionally till the peas are all dissolved, adding a little more boiling water to keep up the quantity as it boils away. Strain through a colander. Serve with small squares of toasted bread. 13 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Squirrel Soup.— Allow one large or two small squirrels, well washed and jointed, to two quarts of cold water and two teaspoonfuls (level) of salt. Put to cook directly after breakfast in a stone pipkin or enam- eled kettle. Cover closely and set on the back of the range to simmer— not boil. After two hours add the corn from two ears, two small Irish potatoes, one-half cupful of Lima beans, three sprigs of parsley, three celery stalks and one-half cupful of sliced okra. Keep closely covered, and as the water evaporates add enough to keep the original two quarts. When the squirrels have cooked to rags strain through a coarse colander to. remove the troublesome little bones. Return to. the soup kettle, cover and continue to simmer until nearly time to serve. Then thicken with a dessertspoonful of butter rolled in a dessertspoonful of ilour. Those who like may add a teaspoonful of powdered sassafras leaves. Have two slices of toast cut into inch squares, fried in butter and placed in the bottom of a hot tureen. Pour over them the soup, boiling hot, and serve immediately. Puree of Tomatoes. — Cook the contents of a can of tomatoes for 15 minutes, then rub through a colander. Return to the fire and season with salt and pepper to taste, and a little sugar. Rub three tablespoonfuls of butter into one tablespoonful of cornstarch, and stir this smooth paste into the strained tomatoes. Cook, stirring steadijy, until smooth and thick. Have ready heated in a saucepan a quart of rich milk into which has been stirred a pinch of baking soda. To this add, gradually, the thickened tomato liquor, beating the milk constantly as you do so. Serve immediately, putting a great spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream on the surface of each plate of soup. Vegetable Cream Soups. — Scald three cupfuls of milk. Rub together one tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour, cook until it bubbles; add the hot milk gradually to this, and cook for five minutes, stirring until thick and smooth. Blend some of this cream with a cup- ful of cooked vegetable, mashed to a smooth pulp, mix all together, and simmer for five minutes, seasoning appropriately. Potato soup should have a little celery and onion cooked in the milk, and when ready to serve some finely-chopped parsley should be scattered on top. Celery, asparagus, green peas or beans, carrots, spinach, cucumbers and lettuce are all good in such soup; all must first be cooked and reduced to a smooth pulp. Bread cut into dice and browned in butter is often added when the soup is ready to serve. CHAPTER ir. FISH. All small fish are best fried, and many large fish are excellent cooked in the same way. The fish should be well cleaned; if small left whole, if large cut into neat pieces. Beat an egg with a tablespoonful of cold water; dip the fish in this, then roll in bread crumbs or cornmeal. Cook in plenty of fat, which must be boiling hot when put in. Baking and boiling are both excellent methods of cooking fish, but very soft fish should never be boiled. The recipes given below refer mainly to canned and salt fish, because these are more helpful in an emergency. Clam Chowder. — ^Take the liquor from fifty clams, put it on the stove to heat. Cut into dice % pound salt pork, brown it in the frying pan, and add to the clam liquor. Peel and cut into dice three quarts of ripe tomatoes and half the quantity of potatoes. Cut up 50 clams, and let all the ingredients boil slowly for two or three hours. Half hour before serving add half a dozen large crackers rolled fine. Clam Gumbo. — In one large tablespoonful of lard fry one finely- chopped onion, add one cupful of chopped cooked ham, one tablespoonful of chopped green pepper, four tomatoes, skinned and cut in pieces, one pint of okra, stemmed and sliced, one scant teaspoonful of salt and one quart of water or broth. Simmer for an hour, add one dozen finely chopped clams, sirmner 15 minutes, and serve. Clam Pie. — From a half pound of rather fat salt pork trim off the rind and cut in slices, then in dice. Slowly fry this, and when the fat is well drawn out and just beginning to color add half of a small onion cut fine. When golden brown add one quart of raw, diced potatoes, one pint of boiling water and one-quarter of a teaspoonful of black pep- per. Cover and cook slowly until the potatoes are almost tender. Take from the fire, add one solid pint of raw clams cut in quarters and theii- strained juice. Turn into a deep well-greased baking dish. While this mixture is cooking mix and sift together one pint and a half of flour, a .half teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix to a soft dough with sweet milk, and roll out not over a half inch thick. Cut in small round biscuits. Place these close together over the tap of the pie, brush with milk and bake in a hot oven for 35 minutes. Roast Qams. — Wash the clams and drain them in a colander for a few minutes, tlien lay them in a large dripping pan and put the pan into a very hot oven. As soon as the shells begin to open, the clams are 14 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cooked; it takes from seven to 10 minutes to roast them. Have a cov- ered dish hot, and drop the clams into it as soon as they are taken from the shell. Spread over them a mustard cream sauce and serve at once. To make the sauce: Put one cup of milk over the fire in a double boiler. When boiling, gradually stir into it three tablespoonfuls of but- ter, one of flour, and one leaspoonful of dry mustard that have been beaten to a creamy mass. Season with salt and pepper and return to the fire; cook three minutes, and it is ready to serve. Thin slices of brown bread, buttered, are served with roast clams. Baked Fish. — Bluefish, cod, or haddock are the best fish to bake. Clean the fish and make a stuffing as follows : Soak stale bread in cold water for 20 minutes. Press dry, and season with one egg, one table- spoonful melted butter and a small quantity of sage, or the prepared poultry dressing, or a little onion juice, as preferred. When the stuf- fing has been thoroughly mixed, fill the fish and sew up with needle and thread. Flour the fish well and salt it. Lay a few thin slices of salt pork into the bottom of the baking dish, also a few slices on top of the fish. Baste it often with the liquor which cooks out of it, adding a lit- tle water if there is not enough. Allow 15 minutes to the pound for bakmg fish. Have a moderate oven, as, if very hot, it will not cook well in the middle. New England Codfish. — Select a whole fish, and put it to soak in cold water over night; in the morning wash it clean and cut off the fins and tail. Cook the fish whole; if you have not got a fish kettle place it in a large milk pan partly filled with water. Cover the pan closely and set over a kettle of hot water. It will cook very slowly in this way, say five or six hours, according to the size of the fish, but it will be done properly when ready for the table. Serve it whole, placing it on a hot platter. Indeed, one of the essentials of a good salt fish dinner is to have everything hot, not only the fish and vegetables, but plates and dishes as well. The dish on. which your fish is served must be an ample one, and around the fish you will place a garnish of nicely sliced beets and carrots. With the fish you will serve pork scraps and egg sauce and boiled potatoes. The pork should be cut into dice and fried a rich brown. To make the egg sauce, take two eggs that have been boiled 10 minutes, remove the shell, and cut into little pieces, placing them in the sauce dish. Blend a piece of butter the size of an egg with a table- spoonful of flour, and when the fish is ready to serve, pour over a coffee- cupful of boiling water, stir, and pour into the sauce dish with the egg and stir again. If the sauce is too thick, add still more boiling water. When you have not time to cook a salt fish for dinner and desire an emergency dish, try salt fish in cream prepared as follows: Shred a cupful of salt cod, or, if you prefer, use the prepared article, place it in THE RURAL COOK BOOK. IS a stewpan over the fire in cold water to cover, and let it come to a boil for a couple of minutes; pour off the water, add to the fish one pint of sweet milk, and when this boils thicken with flour wet with' milk; let it boil four or five minutes, being careful it does not scorch, and serve in a hot, deep dish. Serve pickled beets with this dish, and boiled potatoes. Cuban Codfish. — Pick into fine shreds a cupful of freshened codfish. Cut an onion into thin slices and lightly brown in a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter. Add the fish and pour in just enough water to cover. Add a part of a chopped green pepper and a half can of to- matoes. Cover closely and simmer for an hour. If the tomatoes are very juicy, less water is required. Cream a rounded teaspoonful of but- ter and one of flour; stir into the fish until smooth and cooked; turn the mixture upon thin slices of buttered toast. Delicate Fishballs. — Boil the quantity of codfish that would be re- quired, changing the water once that it may not be too salt. While the fish is hot pick it very fine, so that it will be feathery. It cannot be done fine enough with a fork, and should be picked by hand. At the same time have hot boiled potatoes ready, mash them thoroughly and make them creamy with milk and a good-sized lump of butter. To three cup- fuls of mashed potatoes take lyi cupful of fish; the fish should not be packed down. Beat one egg lightly and stir into the other ingredients and season to taste. Beat the mixture well together and until light, then mold it into small balls, handling lightly and before frying roll the balls in flour. Fry them in smoking hot fat until a gold color. Mexican Codfish. — Fry to a pale yellow one small onion, chopped fine, in three tajjlespoonfuls of butter; add two tablespoonfuls of flour, half a green pepper, chopped fine, and one cupful of stewed and sifted tomato pulp. When the sauce reaches the boiling point, add half a pound of salt codfish, which has been freshened for 24 hours in cold water and slowly simmered until it will readily separate into flakes. Codfish Mound. — Make one quart of good mashed potatoes without any salt; add a pint of picked boiled codfish. Season with pepper; beat well together, make into a mound with a depression in center on a bak- ish dish, and set in the oven to brown. When brought to the table, pour a few tablespoonfuls of cream sauce in center of mound, and garnish with hard-boiled egg. Serve with boiled beets and, if desired, salt pork or bacon cut into tiny squares and fried crisp, which, with the fat fried out, is poured into a gravy bowl. This makes a hearty and satisfying meal. Biscay Salt Cod. — Bone two pounds of salt cod and soak in cold water for 13 hours. Place in a saucepan, cover with salt water and let heat gradually to boiling point; then add fresh water and let boil again. IG THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Take out and drain. Chop two onions and one green pepper quite fine and cook for five minutes in butter or oil. Add one sliced tomato or half-cupful of stewed tomatoes, one clove of garlic and a small chili pepper. Add to these three pints of broth, a small bunch of parsley, three tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup and a pint of small potatoes (peeled) or the same quantity of potato balls. Cook until the potatoes are just done, add the cod and cook five minutes longer. Salt Codfish Chowder.— Cut one-fourth pound of salt pork into bits and try out the fat in a frying pan; in this brown two medium-sized onions, sliced. Wash and drain a pound of codfish, cut or picked into bits; cover with cold water and set on back of range to heat, but not boil. After two hours add a pint and a half of potatoes pared and sliced, and a dash of pepper. Add a cupful of water to the onions and pork and strain over the potatoes. When the potatoes are tender add one cupful each of scalded cream and milk. Pour the chowder over six crackers broken into halves and serve. Finnan Haddie, Caledonian Style. — Soak one-half of a finnan haddie weighing four pounds, two hour's in milk and water to cover, using equal parts, having the . liquid at a uniformly even tepid temperature. This is best accomplished by having the fish in a drip pan on the back of the range. Trim the fish to fit a copper platter or graniteware drip- ping pan, by cutting off flank and a two-inch piece from the tail end. Pour over a cream sauce, and surround with six halves of potatoes of uniform size smoothly pared. Cook until the potatoes are soft, the time required being about 40 minutes, basting with the cream sauce three times during the cooking. Cream must enter into the composition of a real cream sauce. For the cream sauce for the finnan haddie, melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and stir until well blended, then pour on gradually, while stirring constantly, one cupful of milk and one-half cupful of cream. Bring to the boiling point, and season with a few grains of pepper. No salt will be needed, for it must be remembered that finnan haddie is salted. Finnan Haddie in Cream. — Cover a pound of the fish with cold water and let come to a simmer, drain, then cut into moderate-sized pieces. In the meantime prepare a cream sauce made by melting a tablespoonful of butter to which is added a tablespoonful of flour, a scant saltspoonful of salt, a dash of cayenne, two teaspoonfuls of lemon juice and one-half cupful each of milk and cream. Add the pieces of fish, let the whole come to a boil and serve. This creamed fish is also very nice if put in a baking dish, covered with bread crumbs, and browned in the oven. Browned Salt Mackerel. — Freshen two fish by soaking over night, wash in fresh water in the morning and squeeze over the flesh side the juice of one-half a lemon. Lay one of the fish skin side down in baking THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 17 dish and cover with dressing made of one cupful bread crumbs, one table- spoonful butter (scant), pinch of pepper, a little grated lemon peel and one-fourth cupful of cream. Lay the other fish on dressing, skin side up, and baste well with hot water and melted butter. Put into a hot oveh for 20 minutes, then cover with bread crumbs, dot with bits of butter and put back in the oven till nicely browned. Carefully dish without disturbing the layers and serve with thin lemon slices and parsley as a garnish. Oyster Chowder. — Fry together two ounces of' salt pork and one onion, sliced. Parboil one pint of sliced potatoes five minutes and drain. Look over carefully one pint of oysters, pour over one-half cupful of water and heat to the boiling point; skim out the oysters and pour the liquor over the potatoes, add the pork and onions and cook the potatoes until tender, adding a little more water if necessary; add the oysters, one pint of milk and one-half cupful of fine bread crumbs. Season with one teaspoonful of salt and half-teaspoonful of pepper and pour in the serving dish. Oyster Stew. — Put one quart of oysters in a colander, and pour over three-fourths of a cupful of cold water, reserving the liquor. Pick over the oysters, being careful that no particles of shells adhere to "the tough muscles. Heat the reserved liquor to the boiling point, strain through a double thickness of cheese cloth, add the oysters, and cook, stirring oc- casionally, until the oysters are plump and the edges begin to curl. Re- move the oysters with a skimmer to a heated tureen, and add one-fourth of a cupful of butter, one-half tablespoonful of salt, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper, the oyster liquor, strained a second time through a double thickness of cheese cloth, and four cupfuls of scalded milk. Baked Pickerel. — Clean the fish carefully and lay on a rack in a dripping pan ; dredge with a teaspoonful of salt, several dashes of pepper, and a little flour. Bake carefully, basting every 10 minutes until well done, with hot water to which a tablespoonful of butter has been added. Make the .sauce with half a cup of cream and half a cup of the basting liquid in which the fish was cooked ; thicken with a teaspoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of flour; let the sauce boil up once, then add a ta- blespoonful of chopped parsley. Pour part of the sauce around the fish on a platter, and serve the remainder in a gravy boat. Quahaug Pie. — ^Remove the loose brown skin and black part from a quart of sea clams and chop the remainder fine. Scald a cup of milk, the liquid from the clams and enough water to make a pint in all, and thicken it with a tablespoonful each of flour and butter cooked to a smooth paste; then add pepper and salt to taste and two finely-chopped hard-boiled eggs, and lastly, the chopped clams. Line a meat pie dish with pie crust, then add a thin layer of cracker crumbs, the prepared 18 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. clams, and sprinkle this over with another layer of cracker crumbs and cover with a good, rich crust, leaving several openings so the steam can escape. Bake about an hour in a hot oven until well browned. Salmon Chowder.— Chop coarsely and brown together in a kettle or. saucepan, one-fourth pound of salt pork and one onion. Add one pint of raw potatoes, chopped or cut in dice, which have stood for half an hour in cold water. Season, barely cover with boiling water, and sim- mer for half an hour; then add a can of salmon, drained and flaked, two or three broken _ crackers and one pint of scalded milk or cream, with two teaspoons of butter. This may be varied by the addition of a can of tomatoes, or a shredded pepper or both. Creamed Salmon. — Put one tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan; when melted add one tablespoonful of flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, a dash of paprika and half a cup of milk. Cook until smooth, then add a small can of salmon finely minced, one tablespoonful lemon juice and a little grated nutmeg. Remove from the fire and add yolks of three eggs, well beaten; whip whites of the eggs stiff and fold in carefully. Butter small molds or a baking dish, place in hot water in a dripping pan and bake from 10 to S5 minutes. Escalloped Salmon. — Put one pint of milk to heat with a tablespoon- ful of butter. Moisten a tablespoonful of flour and stir in ; when thick like cream remove from fire. Drain the liquid from the salmon and remove borie, pick it all up into fine pieces with a fork. Butter a bak- ish dish, put in a layer of fine cracker crumbs, then half the salmon, an- other layer of cracker crumbs, and half the thickened milk. Then add the remaining salmon, a layer of crumbs and the remaining milk. Bake half an hour. Salmon Loaf. — One can of salmon drained and minced. Five table- spoonfuls of butter, four eggs well beaten; half cup of bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste. Mix all together, and steam one hour in but- tered mold. ' Fried Smelts. — Do not have the heads removed when the marketman cleans the fish. Wipe the outside of each with a damp cloth and then roll in Indian meal, then in beaten egg and then again into the meal ; lay in a frying basket or place a few in a kettle of hot lard to cook until the coating is brown ; remove them and drain on to plain paper, and when serving arrange with garnishing of sliced lemon and parsley. If the basket is used place the fish side by side in it and drop into the kettle of hot lard until the fish are browned. Sportsman's Trout.— Take two fresh young trout, clean, wash and then wipe dry. Use one-half teaspoon of salt and two or three dashes of pepper over the fishes. Put in a pan to fit and fill to the level with cream. Bake a light brown, when the fish will have absorbed the cream. CHAPTER III. MEATS. I am the dinner table ; upon my ample breast Three times a day the housewife puts out her very best. Three times a day they gather — old grandpa at the head, Thrice daily offers up his thanks for life and daily bread. Then how the knives they clatter and how my load grows light, And how the housewife's goodly fare doth disappear from sight. I am the dinner table, and while my timbers stand I'll still remain headquarters for our good household band. Elaborate instructions for marketing are usually given under this head, but the farm housekeeper meets with different conditions. If meat is locally slaughtered it is likely to be much better in quality than that from the great packing centers. In pork particularly she has a great advantage over her town sisters. It should be remembered that in beef and mutton many of the cheaper and tougher cuts are nutritious and well flavored, but they need careful preparation, and especially long slow cooking. Tough meat should never be roasted, broiled or fried ; it should be cooked gently in a closed vessel, with such seasonings as will best develop flavor. There are still some cooks who prepare meat hastily in slightly thickened water, and then wonder why the family dislikes stews. With long, slow cooking in a casserole or closed vessel, and a proper admixture of herbs and seasoning, the humble stew becomes a delicious ragout. Bacon, Cold Roast. — Select a square piece weighing three or four pounds, soak it over night. The next morning put it on to boil; allowing it to simmer very gently three-quarters of an hour to the pound; then let it go cool in the water in which it was cooked. When cold drain, remove the skin, rub the fat well with sugar, pour over it some cider vinegar, and roast in the oven until brown. When cold cut into thin slices; it should be tender and delicate in flavor. Beef, Braised.-^Procure a piece of four pounds, make incisions in it an inch and a half apart, and stuff them with a dressing made of two tablespoonfuls of finely-minced onion, three tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of sweet basil, a half teaspoonful of thyme, a half teaspoonful of pepper and two teaspoonfuls of salt. Dredge a table- spoonful of flour over the meat, lay three thin slices of bacon in the bottom of a deep pan, place the meat in, lay three more slices of bacon over the top, cover with a well-fitting lid and shut up in a moderate oven to brown. After it has been cooking for two hours add two carrots (or four small ones), one turnip, three stalks of celery, four salsifies and one 20 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. onion, all sliced. Add also three tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup, one minced green pepper, a teaspoonful of salt. If no green pepper is at hand use a few shreds of red pepper pod. A cofieecupful of boiling water should be added with the vegetables. Fit the cover on closely again and leave in'the oven for another hour, or until both meat and vegetables are tender. To serve, place the meat on a hot platter and arrange the vege- tables by the spoonful about it; there should be just gravy enough to hold the vegetables together. Beef, Corned. — Here is an old home recipe for corning beef, which will be especially useful to those who kill their own beef cattle as well as pork. To every hundred pounds of beef take nine pounds of salt, four pounds of sugar or two quarts of good molasses, two ounces of soda, one ounce of saltpeter, and just enough water to cover the meat — about four or five gallons. Strew some salt over the bottom of a barrel ; mix about half the amount of salt given with half the given amount of sugar or molasses, and rub each piece of meat thoroughly with it before placing it in the barrel. Dissolve the saltpeter and soda together in hot water, add the remainder of the salt and sugar and about four or five gallons of cold water. Pour this over the meat. Place a board on top of the meat, with a weight heavy enough to keep it under the brine. It may be kept an indefinite time in the brine, but is salt enough to cook after five or six days' corning. Spiced corned beef is made as follows, the recipe being an old one, we think of German origin : Rub twelve pounds of a round of beef with half a pound of coarse sugar. Let it stand for two days, turning it two or three times. Take a large tcaspoonful of mace, a teaspoonful of black pepper, two of cloves, half a teaspoonful of cayenne, one small grated nutmeg, two ounces of juniper berries and one-half ounce of saltpeter. Stir all these seasonings together, adding a teaspoonful of sugar and rub the mixture thoroughly into the meat and all over it. Then let it stand for three days longer. At the end of this time rub half a pound of fine salt into the meat. Finally, let it stand for twelve days, rubbing the meat and turning it daily. If it is to be cooked immediately and not dried, wash it, but do not soak it. Lay it in a pot that just fits it, and pour over it a quart and a half of water. When it comes to the boiling point skim it carefully, add a carrot, a small onion, a bay leaf and a few sprigs of par- sley. Let it simmer very gently for four and a half hours. Take it from the fire, put it under a heavy weight and let it cool in the liquid in which it was cooked. Serve in thin slices when perfectly cold. Corned Beef, Shaker Style.— This recipe is given under the name of "bacca," in Good Housekeeping: Pound down close in a barrel 100 pounds of the round of beef cut in lO-pound pieces, with a mixture of four pounds sugar, two ounces saltpeter, two ounces soda bicarbonate, and THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 21 four quarts table salt sprinkled under, over and between. It will make brine without water. After one week, a piece of the top of the round, ' sliced and broiled, will be found tender and delicious. The bottom of the round, boiled till tender and sliced thin when cold, resembles ham, but is more choice in flavor. Corned Beef, Savory Style. — Choose a piece of brisket of corned beef weighing four to iive pounds and about three times as long as wide; wash, season with a small haif teaspoonful of pepper, then roll it up and tie very tight. Put the beef in a kettle with cold water to cover, and let slowly come to a boil, then pour it off and replace with more cold water to cover; add half a cupful of vinegar, a small onion, peeled, in which is inserted six cloves, half a red pepper, a blade of mace and a stalk of celery. Boil gently, allow half an hour to each pound. Serve hot. If the meat is preferred cold, it should be allowed to cool in the broth in which it was cooked. Curried Beef. — Melt in a saucepan two tablespoonfuls of butter, add two onions sliced, and fry until brown; then add two tablespoonfuls of curry powder. Cut cold roast beef in pieces about an inch square, put it in the saucepan and add half a cupful of sweet milk. Simmer for 30 minutes. Just before serving add the juice of a lemon. Send to the table on a platter bordered with boiled rice. Beef Loaf. — Take two pounds of round steak and half a pound of suet, both chopped fine; add two eggs, one cupful of bread crumbs that have been softened in cold water, one small onion, chopped fine, one-half cupful of sweet milk 1^ teaspoonful of salt, and a fourth of a tea- spoonful of pepper; mix all together and shape into a loaf, put in a roast- ing pan and bake in a moderate oven 2^ hours, baste frequently; serve with tomato sauce. Beefsteak Chowder. — Cut a pound and one-half of round steak in strips or cubes. Cut three or four ounces of fat pork in small pieces and cook in a hot frying pan with an onion sliced very thin. When both are browned add a quart of boiling water, simmer five minutes, pour the whole over the steak, bring to the boiling point, boil for five minutes and then cook slowly until the meat is tender. Have ready five large potatoes peeled, sliced, scalded in boiling water, drained and rinsed in cold water. Add the potatoes, one teaspoonful of salt and saltspoonful of pepper. Cook until the potatoes are tender, then add one and one-half cupful of rich milk and a little more salt if necessary. Heat to the boiling point and pour over pilot biscuit or thick crackers which have been dipped for a second in hot water. English Beefsteak Pudding. — Make a crust by thoroughly mixing two cupfuls of finely-chopped beef suet in three cupfuls of flour; add half teaspoonful of salt, and mix with cold water into a dough with the con- 22 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. sistency of biscuit. Roll out the paste to the thickness of half an inch. Butter an earthen pudding bowl, and line with the paste. Take flank or round steak, cut into one-inch pieces, season with pepper and salt, and fill- the dish. Pour in as much cold water as will find its way in around the meat, then cover it with paste, having moistened the edges to make them stick together. Cover with a cloth, well floured, leaving a little room for the pudding to swell. Put it into a pot of. boiling water, and let it boil three hours, or put it in a steamer, and allow four hours' cooking. When fully cooked the meat should be very tender, with an abundance of rich clotted gravy. The addition of a few oysters with the meat forms a palatable change. Serve with boiled carrots and turnips. Spiced Beef.— This makes a desirable cold dish for luncheon or tea, or for Sunday dinner in Summer. Select a piece of the flank, trim oS the coarse skin, lay it flat on the table, and, with a knife, spread over it the following mixture : One teaspoonful ground mustard, one teaspoonful celery salt, half teaspoonful black pepper, pinch of red pepper, mixed to a smooth paste with vinegar. Then roll up the meat like a jelly cake, the spice inside, tie it up, tie it in a cloth like a pudding. Put it into boiling water, and let it boil 2^2 hours. When cooked lift the kettle off the stove, and allow the water to cool before removing the meat. Do not take the cloth off until cold, then slice the meat for serving. Waverly Collared Beef. — Corn a six-pound piece of the thick part of the brisket by putting it in brine strong enough to float an egg, to which is added a heaping teaspoonful of saltpeter, one of brown sugar and a saltspoon of red pepper. Leave it in five or six days in Summer; eight or 10 in Winter. Use an earthen crock, and turn the meat every two or three days. Grate two large carrots, a good-sized stick of horseradish, and chop fine a large bunch of parsley; mix all together, and spread a thick layer on the corned beef, keeping it well to the middle, as it presses out when you roll; if the meat is not long, and difficult to roll nicely, cut a few pockets in it and fill with the dressing; then roll very tightly, fastening with skewers and bmding with strong string round and round. Any of the dressing that has squeezed out press back into the open ends of the roll ; remove the skewers ; then tie up in ' cheesecloth, cover with cold water, bring slowly to a simmer, and let it cook at this point four hours. Remove the cheesecloth, put the meat on a tray, place a heavy weight on it and leave it over night. Cut off the string. Serve cold, cutting thin slices off the end, showing the dressing. Brown Stew. — A piece of tough steak can be very well cooked in this way: Browri a tablespoonful of sugar in the kettle and add a sliced onion; when brown cool and add for each pound of beef cut in small bits s tablespoonful of flour and one of butter or suet. Add a pint of boiling water, stir well and add the bits of meat. Put in half of a bay leaf or a THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 23 pinch of celery seed. Cook very slowly for an hour. Just before serving add a teaspoonful of salt. The meat will be tender, the flavor excellent. The browned sugar, or caramel, as cooks call it, does not give a percep- tibly sweet flavor, but gives s different taste, and makes brown gravy. Brunswick Stew.— Stew a large fowl until the meat leaves the bone; remove skin, gristle and bones and chop the meat in coarse pieces. Return to the liquor; add a pint of corn scraped from the ears, a pint of young Lima beans, three cupfuls of tomato, a good-sized onion, minced fine, a pint of young okras, a small red pepper, minced, a little celery seed, two tablespoonfuls of butter and salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Simmer until okra is tender and then serve. The addition of ■^ little paprika just before the stew is taken up improves it greatly. Belgian Hare. — If you broil see that the hares are young, under four or five months, and therefore tender. After a brief soaking in water into which no soda or salt has been put (if the hares are young they have no unpalatable flavor and consequently great care must be taken to pre- serve their natural delicacy), dry well with a clean cloth, and gash them down the back through the thickest portion; then flatten each, place it on a gridiron, and broil it over a bed of coals, turning often, or you may lay them smooth on the bottom of a dripping pan and cook in a hot oven without basting; oil the pan slightly with a little sweet dripping, or a bit of fresh butter; they should be done in half an hour. Stewed. — Cut the hares into joints, drop into a pot and cover with boiling water; then slice in an onion and a bit of bacon, and stew slowly one hour or until tender. As old hares are best stewed, it will do no harm to put in a young chicken, stewing all together. At the end of half an hour add a few potatoes, peeled, and cut in quarters, and, if liked, some small bits of light paste, after the potatoes get fairly boiling. When all are done, stir in a little cream thickened with white flour, boil up a moment and dish for the table. Fried. — Disjoint, cut uniform pieces, cover with boiling water, and Jet it simmer until quite tender. Then remove carefully to a dry dish. Dredge well with flour, and drop into very hot butter to browa Serve with gravy made from the liquor in which it was boiled and cream. Two tablespoonfuls of vinegar added while boiling are an improvement. Roast Hare. — Make a dressing of fine dry bread crumbs; part graham is best Add to the crumbs a small lump of fresh butter, a little dry sage (or other herb, if preferred), and moisten well with tepid water, stirring well as you add it. Do not put in too much water; have the dressing light and flaky, not wet and heavy. The large and delicious liver of the hare, having been thoroughly steamed will add an unwonted zest if chopped into bits and put into the stuffing. Fill the hares with this, leaving plenty of room for the dressing to swell, sew up, put the 24 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. hares into a dripping pan, add a cupful of boiling water, and roast as slowly as possible during the first half hour. Baste every 15 or 20 min- utes, turning as needed, and if any part browns too fast, cover it with a clean napkin wet in warm water and folded two or three times. Allow from one to two hours for roasting; test with a fork to ascertain when the hares are done; take them out of the pan and make the gravy, drain the grease all off and set the pan on the stove; then put in any tid-bits (as the liver, etc.), and the liquor in which they are boiled; thicken with a little browned flour wet with milk or water, and boil up a moment. Canning Meat. — Half cook the meat in a kettle, cut meat from the benes. If this is done while the meat is hot, wring out a cloth from cold or tepid water, fold in several thicknesses, and set under the glass can, letting cloth come up about an inch around sides of can, and it will not break, no matter how hot the meat may be. If you spill more broth on the cloth be sure to wring out extra water from it, for if the cloth is sopping wet, the can will break. Having filled can with meat, pour in all the broth the can will hold, and see that it is salted and peppered just right for the table. Screw on cover without rubber. and, if hot put in kettle partly filled with hot water, putting a tin in bottom of kettle to set cans on. Three quarts can be put in common-sized kettle. Cover with a well-fitting cover that will keep in the steam, and keep boiling for two hours. Take out one can at a time, and at once put on a good rubber. If you want to keep the meat for several months, if it is chicken, veal or beef, have hot melted beef suet and fill the cans even full. If you only care to keep the meat for two or three weeks fill up even full with boiling broth. This work must be done with dispatch, not letting the contents of the can cool in the least. Screw on the cover to the last limit, arid if your covers and rubbers are not defective your meat will keep per- fectly. In canning pork there is nearly always sufficient grease to broth; if not the can may be filled with lard. Canning Meat in Tins. — ^Trim off all surplus tallow from meat, and eitlief boil or roast the beef, using but little salt and pepper, preferably none at all, as these will attack the tin; meat can be spiced, etc., when removed from can to serve. When cooked remove from liquid and trim off from bones. If liquid is too greasy let it get cold and then remove tallow. While again heating liquid and meat boiling hot get the cans and covers ready, the covers to be' pierced by an awl in the center. Use the friction top tin can only, for keeping meat through the Summer and dog days. You can use glass jars to keep same till May, but they are risky during warm weather. When meat and liquid are hot pack meat into the cans— any size you wish— not quite full, and pour liquid over same so as to cover meat somewhat, then place on the covers good and tight. Put cans into oven and bake one to two hours. If cans are too full, liquid THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 25 will ooze through vent. The baking will drive out every particle of atom of air through vent, and is absolutely necessary for safety. When nearly done baking liquefy some paraffin or sealing wax, and heat a soldering iron. The paraffin is to seal cover airtight around edge, and the soldering iron to use with solder to close up vent opening in center. Take out of oven a can at a time and solder vent opening as quickly as possible, then paraffin the edge of cover. Place cans — after finishing job — where it is dry and cool. A steer can be packed into about 50 or 60 quart cans. Chicken Baked in Milk. — Dress and joint a chicken of four to six pounds, dust each piece with salt and pepper, and roll in flour. Put the chicken in a roasting pan or casserole that it will half fill, then pour over it enough sweet milk to cover the chicken completely. Put a close-fitting iid on the baker, and put it in the oven, cooking the chicken until tender; it will take from two to ZYz hours. This requires but little attention while cooking, the meat is tender and juicy, and the gravy delicious. It is an excellent way to cook an elderly fowl; a young bird will, of course, cook in a shorter time. As it really gains in flavor by being warmed over, it can be cooked on Saturday for the Sunday dinner, thus lessening work. Broiled Chicken. — Take broilers of suitable age or size, dress in the usual way, split down the back and remove breast bone, which can be easily done by running finger along it. Place right side up in dripping pan, season with plenty of butter, pepper and salt ; put in a hot oven for 20 minutes to "draw" or heat well through. Take out; if cooking with gas turn, and put under flame a few minutes to brown; then brown the top, but do not burn. If cooking on stove with fuel proceed the same way on toaster or gridiron. Broiled Chicken, O. W. Mapes's Recipe.— The first essential of course is to have a nice fat chicken. This should be split through the back and laid in a shallow basin. Now place the basin containing the chicken in a steamer and steam for an hour and a half. The basin will catch all the juices which drip from the meat. These should all be saved and used in making the gravy. As soon as it is steamed sufficiently place in a well- buttered pan and fry until well browned; remove the meat and add the juices from steaming to make a good gravy. This method never has failed to bring satisfaction to both cook and guests. Possibly it would be equally as good with older birds by allowing more time in the steaming. Spring Chicken Fried in Cream.— Put a pint of rich cream in a frying pan over a moderate fire till it begins to color, dip the different parts of the chicken in flour, fry in the cream on each side till it is a delicate brown.. When done put it on a hot platter, pour another half pint of cream into the pan, let it boil one minute, add a saltspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, then pour it over the chicken. Serve garnished with sprigs of parsley and a dish of puffed potato slices. 26 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Jugged Chicken.— Cut the bird up as for a fricassee. To every pound allow two heaping teaspoonfuls of flour, one scant teaspoonful of salt and one-quarter teaspoonful of pepper; mix thoroughly and roll each piece of chicken in the mixture, then pack closely in a large bean-pot; cover with boiling water and bake in a good oven until tender— from two to three hours. When placed in the pot sprinkle in a tablespoonful of minced onion. When done remove to a hot platter, thicken the liquor for gravy and serve in a boat. Chicken Loaf.— Mince fine two cupfuls of cold cooked chicken, one pound of lean veal and one-fourth pound of fat salt pork. Work in these three beaten eggs, a cupful of seasoned and strained tomato sauce, one teaspoonful of grated lemon peel, one teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of paprika and enough cracker crumbs to mold with the hands. Press firmly into a large wet bowl, invert carefully into a buttered baking pan, removing bowl. Add one cupful of water and one tablespoonful of butter to the pan. Sift buttered crumbs lightly over the loaf and cover the top and sides with carefully peeled and sliced lemons. Bake 1J4 hour in a moderate oven, browning it nicely before serving. Baste fre- quently with the liquor. Serve garnished with lemon slices and parsley. Paprika Chicken.— This is a favorite Hungarian dish. Cut a nice tender chicken into pieces as for a fricassee; flatten a little, such pieces as need it. Season each piece with salt and pepper, and dredge it lightly with flour, while you fry a minced onion in two tablespoonfuls of butter. Lay the chicken in the butter and onion, cooking for 20 minutes, so it will be evenly and thoroughly done. Take up the chicken and stir in an even teaspoonful of salt and a very scant teaspoonful of paprika, or half a scant teaspoonful of good mild cayenne pepper of any kind. Add last of all a cupful of rich cream. Make some dumplings of a pint of sifted flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a saltspoonful of salt and butter the size of half an egg; moisten the dumplings with a cupful of milk, and drop them over the sauce. Let them cook well, covered for 50 minutes, when they will be well puffed up and light. Pour the sauce around the chicken and make a circle of the dumplings. If the dumplings are steamed over the cream sauce so they do not sink into it they will be lighter. Panned Fowl with Oysters. — Cut the fowl into pieces suitable for serving; lay them in a baking dish, flesh side down; season with a tea- spoonful of salt, a fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper and cover with thin slices of salt pork. Put one cupful of boiling water in the pan, cover closely and bake in a hot oven half an hour (for young chickens). Remove the cover and baste every 10 minutes for another half hour, turning the pieces so they will brown. Remove to a hot platter, add half a cupful of rich milk or cream to the gravy in the pan, first skimming off all fat; THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 37 place on the top of the range and. stir in a tablespoonful of flour and same of butter blended together; when it boils add a cupful of well-washed (and cleaned from shells) oysters; watch carefully and as soon as the oysters are plump remove them from the fire; add a teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Pour around the fowl; garnish with celery tips. An old fowl will require longer cooking. Chicken Pie, Southern Style. — Select a fowl weighing four or five pounds; clean carefully, singe and put it on in boiling water enough to cover it, and let it simmer gently until it begins to grow tender. Save this broth with the giblets. Now cut the chicken in small pieces; slice a quarter of a pound of fat pork very thin and fry it with the chicken until it is brown. After the chicken and pork are fried take them up and stir into the pan in which they were cooked a tablespoonful of flour. Stir it over the fire until brown; then add a pint of the chicken broth, a teaspoonful of salt, quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper. Stir this gravy until it has boiled two minutes and use it for pie. To make the crust : Mix together in a bowl with a knife one pound of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of butter, and just enough cold water to hold it together. Roll it out about an inch thick; cut a quarter of a pound of butter in large slices, and lay it all over the paste ; fold it up and wrap in a floured towel and put in the ice box for half an hour-. Roll it out, repeating same with another .quarter of a pound of butter; roll it to a thickness of half an inch, fold it in three thicknesses and roll it out again. If the butter breaks through, fold it again in a towel and cool for half an hour before using. Line a deep dish ; then put in alternate layers of chicken, pork and sliced raw potatoes ; pour in as much gravy as the dish will hold. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley, a dash more pepper and salt, and cover with a top crust, wetting the edges to make them adhere. Cut a hole in the top to allow the steam to escape. Chicken Potpie with Stirred Dumplings. — Cut up the fowl for serving, wash, put in a deep stewpan, and add three pints of boiling water, salt, pepper and a bay leaf. Cook one large onion, and about three slices each of turnip and carrot, in a tablespoonful of butter, and cook till so/t; mash and add to stew; then dip out two tablespoonfuls of the fat from the stew, put with the butter, and when boiling stir in three tablespoonfuls of flour. Stir over the fire till brown, then stir into the chicken to thicken it. A year-old chicken will need two hours' cooking; it should only simmer, without hard boiling. For dumplings, into a quart of wheat flour sift two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a half tea- spoonful of salt. Sift at least three times. Then stir in rich, sweet milk to make a batter, not thick as can be stirred nor yet soft enough to run. Drop in spoonfuls over the top of the boiling potpie a half hour before 28 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. dinner time. Should there be so much gravy that the batter would sink beneath its surface remove a bowlful. Cover closely and keep constantly boiling. Serve the dinner on a large meat platter, arranging the dumplings about its border, heaping the meat and potatoes in the center and serving the gravy from a gravy boat. In taking up the dumplings tear them apart with two forks in.stead of using a knife or spoon. Smothered Chicken. — Have a year-old chicken split as for broiling. Wipe dry, spread it liberally with butter all over, dust with flour and pepper, and place, skin side down, in a dripping pan (over a meat rack). Pour in a cupful boiling water, add a few sprigs of parsley, cover closely and bake in a hot oven one hour. Then turn the chicken skin side up, sprinkle with a half teaspoonful of salt, and brown uncovered, 10 or 15 minutes. Cut up the giblets, which have been cooked tender in one pint of water, add a level dessertspoonful flour and a lump of butter the size of an egg with the water from the giblets, which will be reduced to about a cupful, and stir all in the dripping pan, seasoning with a saltspoonful of salt, a good dash of pepper, parsley or sweet marjoram. Joint the. chicken that it may be easily carved, but do not separate it. Serve on a platter with the gravy poured around. Victoria Chicken. — Procure a young chicken of three and one-half pounds. in weight, singe, draw and wash it, cut the chicken into 10 pieces, season with half teaspoonful pepper, and half tablespoonful of salt; rub the seasoning and the chicken well together. Cut half pound bacon into slices, remove the rind and place the bacon in a pan of boiling water, let it lie five minutes, then drain. Put the bacon into a saucepan and fry to a delicate brown, then take out the bacon. Put the chicken into the bacon fat, add half tablespoonful butter, cover and cook slowly for 30 minutes, turning the chicken with a fork three times during that time, then lay the chicken in a round pan with the slices of bacon between, pour over three cups of cream, cover the pan and bake one hour in a medium-hot oven. When ready to serve lay the chicken on a hot dish, and lay six bread croutons in a circle around the dish, strain the sauce over the chicken and serve. Deviled Mutton. — This is a nice way to warm up cold roast mutton 6r lamb. Put one teaspoonful of chopped onion into a stewpan with one ounce of butter. Place it over a slow fire, keep the onions stirred until rather brown, then add some flour, mix it in well and fry for five min- utes; then pour in one-half pint of gravy well seasoned, and let it boil until thickened and brown; add one teaspoonful of sugar and one of vinegar, one of Worcestershire sauce, a few chopped gherkins and a few button mushrooms if at hand; put in the mutton, which has been pre- viously sliced in thin slices and perfectly free from fat; let it remain a few minutes and simmer, not boil. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 29 Flank Steak, Rolled. — Spread a steak weighing about 3J4 pounds with a dressing composed of l^^ cupful bread crumbs — dip the crusts previously in boiling water that they may easily crumble — one medium-sized onion, two tablespoonfuls canned tomato, one beaten egg, one tablespoonful butter, one teaspoonful salt, one-quarter teaspooriful pepper. Stir egg with bread, add the onion sliced, tomato, butter and seasoning. After spreading roll snugly and tie with pieces of string. Lay three slices of salt pork on top, place in dripping pan with one-half cupful water. Roast slowly one hour. May be eaten hot with gravy, or cold. Goulash. — Cut two leeks or onions, small-sized ones, into fine pieces, and fry them in hot butter till they are brown. Add one cupful of beef broth, a little salt, half a teaspoonful of paprika or red pepper, and half a teaspoonful of browned flour. Stir until smooth, then strain. Have ready one-half pound of raw steak, cut into quarter-inch squares. The better the steak, necessarily, the better tEe result will be, and there- fore porterhouse is preferred. Toss the meat into a frying pan just long enough to cook the outside, then add the sauce. Add two warm boiled potatoes, cut into good-sized pieces, and let the pan remain on the back of the stove 15 minutes before serving. Goose, Braised. — Braised goose is superior to a roast, in the taste of many, the bird acquiring flavor from the vegetables with it. The oven is the place for the cooking, and a porcelain-lined iron pot or earthen cooking crock (either having a tight-fitting cover) gives the best results. Prepare the goose as for roasting, but do not stuff. In the baking dish put a layer of chopped or sliced onions, celery, turnips, carrots and two apples. Sprinkle with a teaspoonful of salt, one of -powdered sage and six shakes of pepper. Lay the goose upon them, pour over it two cupfuls of boiling water, dredge with salt, pepper, powdered sage and flour. Cover closely and cook slowly for at least four hours (allow 25 minutes to the pound). Turn the goose every two hours. Add more water if necessary. Less time is required if a roaster is used. When tender, remove the goose. Rub the vegetables and gravy through a colander, return to the fire and stir in a table.spoonful of browned flour. Boil up once and serve in a boat. Garnish the goose with parsley. Gumbo. — This takes four hours to make. Put into a kettle two pounds of lean soup beef, one-half a chicken that has been jointed, a small ham bone, or a good-sized slice of lean bacon, a slice of green pepper and a square inch of onion. Add three quarts of water and boil or simmer gently, skimming often for two hours. At the end of this time add three pints of okra that has first been cut in slices and fried lightly in a very small amount of butter, also a large potato cut in pieces, which gradually breaks and thickens the soup. An hour later, after frequent skimmings, add a full quart of tomatoes and the corn cut from two large ears, also 30 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. the cobs, and boil gently for another hour. Then remove the corncobs and what is left of the beef, and the chicken bones, leaving the chicken meat in the stew; season with salt, cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce and a teaspoonful of sugar, and it is ready to serve. Dry boiled rice is nice served with this gumbo, which is a stew rather than a soup. Many recipes for gumbo call for a small quantity of "fillet powder"; this is the tender young green leaves of sassafras powdered. Ham, Curing.— This is a Virginia method. For curing four hams, averaging 13 pounds each, have ready one and a half gallons of the best salt, one pound of good brown sugar, one-eighth pound of powdered saltpeter, one ounce of black pepper and one-half ounce of cayenne. Cut the joints into proper shapes, without unnecessary bone and fat, and lay them on a board on table. First rub the skin we'll with salt and lay each joint aside, then begin over again, and into the fleshy side of. each ham rub two teaspoonfuls of saltpeter and a tablespoonful of brown sugar mixed together. Rub the pepper, particularly, about the hock and under the bone and give to the whole ham a good application of salt. Now pack the hams, one upon another, the skin side downward, with a layer of salt between, into a tub or box, the bottom of which has also been covered with salt. The process of salting will be complete in ifive weeks. At the end of that time have ready about a peck of hickory ashes; clean the hams with a brush or dry cloth and rub them with the ashes. To smoke the hams the joints, should be hung from joists beneath the ceiling and a slow, smothered fire kept up for five or six weeks, so as to smoke thoroughly, but not overheat the hams. Or, as an excellent substitute for this process, paint the hams with a coating of pyroligneous acid, let them dry and repeat the operation. Wrap each ham in paper and encase it in a canvas or strong cotton bag. A simple way to salt bacon and hams in brine is to rub the meat well with salt, especially into the exposed ends of bones, and then pack into a barrel, with a layer of salt between each piece. Allow the meat to remain thus for 48 hours, then pour over all a brine strong enough to bear up an egg. Let the meat remain in pickle six weeks ; then smoke. Molasses pickle is made as follows: To four quarts of fine salt and two ounces of pulverized saltpeter add enough .molasses to make a paste. Hang the hams in a cool dry place for three or four days after cutting up; then cover with the pickle mixture, thickest on the flesh side, and lay them skin down for three or four days. For 100 pounds of ham make brine in the following proportion: Seven pounds coarse salt; two ounces saltpeter; one-half ounce pearlash; four gallons soft water. Heat grad- ually, removing all scum as it arises, then cool. Pack the hams in a barrel, pour the brine over them, and keep in pickle five to eight weeks, according to size. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 31 Ham, Sugar Cured. — To 50 pounds of ham or "side bacon" allow three pounds of sugar and a pint of molasses, six pounds of salt, one fuU tablespoonful of saleratus and the same of saltpeter. Cover the bottom of your firkin with salt (about two pounds). Mix sugar, molasses, salt- peter, saleratus and the remaining salt into a paste. Rub each piece thoroughly with this, work it in well and hard, and pack into the firkin, the rind downward. Cover all with cold water — ^just enough to rise above the meat. Lay a heavy board on top, weight it with a stone to keep the meat under water, and leave it thus for four weeks, turning the meat and stirring up the pickle every week. Take out, then wipe, rub into the pieces as much dry salt and an equal quantity of sugar as they will take up; pack in a dry firkin and leave for 24 hours before sending to the smokehouse. Hamburg Steak, Baked. — One and one-half pound raw chopped beef, two cupfuls of stale bread softened with half a cupful of hot milk and cooled, two eggs, small onion minced, teaspoonful of salt, saltspoonful of pepper and pinch of ginger. Mix well and shape into a square; place m baking pan with a tablespoonful of tomato, small onion and butter the size of a walnut on top of meat. Bake one hour, basting frequently. The potatoes should be boiled 15 minutes, then drained, pared and placed in pan with the Hamburg steak to cook 45 minutes, being turned and basted often. Medium-sized potatoes are best for this. Serve arranged around the meat. Hungarian Hamburg Steak. — Beat an egg into a bowl, stir in bread crumbs (about a cupful), a small onion, grated, salt and paprika (a mild- flavored cayenne pepper). The meat is stirred into this, and after thor- ough mixing is formed into a ball. An onion is fried brown in butter, put into an earthen saucepan with a tight-fitting cover, and the meat ball is added, with two tomatoes cut into quarters around it. After simmering for half an hour the meat is turned gently, so as not to break the ball, then allowed to cook quietly for nearly an hour, and served with the vegetables as a garnish. Senator Hanna's Hash. — This is the recipe given by the Boston Cook- ing School. Take equal portions of tender boiled corned beef and mealy boiled potatoes. Cut the potatoes into small cubes and the meat as fine as possible. Mix thoroughly with these a small onion, chopped very fine; a slice of onion is often sufficient. Butter a hot frying pan and turn into it chopped materials. Press into the center of the mass a clove of garlic, wrapped in a piece of salt pork or mild cured bacon. Set over a moderate fire, cover and let cook, adding a small quantity of water, if moist hash is preferred; when heated, stir, remove the garlic and give the whole round shape. I^et stand in the oven until browned underneath, then carefully slide on a serving dish. While the hash is cooking cut one or 33 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. two Bermuda onions into thin slices and fry until crisp in deep fat. Use these as a garnish for the hash (or omit if preferred). Serve with lemon quarters. Hot-Pot.— Two pounds of cross-rib is cut in small pieces and put in an earthen saucepan, with two minced onions, five or six small green pep- pers, whole, a few chives, a handful of seeded raisins, a cupful of to- matoes, peeled and sliced, eight or 10 olives, a bit of thyme, a big table- spoonful of drippings, salt to taste, and a cupful of vinegar and water. The pot is covered tightly, and the mixture simmered slowly until the meat is cooked to pieces ; then a tablespoonful of butter well coated with flour is stirred in to thicken the gravy. Liver and Bacon in Casserole. — Slice liver about half an inch thick, and put in a buttered saucepan, peppering lightly. Over the liver lay a dozen thin slices of bacon, and strew these with chopped onion and par- sley. Cover closely and cook slowly for about two hours. The cooking must not be hurried. When ready to serve the liver, let the gravy, with the bacon in it, boil hard for two minutes, then pour it over the the liver in the serving dish. Liver, Fried in New Orleans Style. — Cut a pound of calf's liver in half-' inch cubes. After washing and draining, place in a bowl which has been rubbed with an onion. Between two layers of liver place a layer of chopped onion and parsley, sprinkling with salt and dusting lightly with cayenne. After half an hour take out the liver and shake off all the onion. Roll lightly in flour and drop into a deep kettle of boiling fat. Drain on paper and serve very hot with lemon. The liver cooks to de- licious tenderness and delicacy of flavor. Calves' Liver, English Style. — Two pounds of fresh liver, one-half pound fat salt pork, one spoonful of butter, half an onion, one spoonful chopped parsley and pepper. Put the butter in a warm, not hot, sauce- pan, cut the liver into slices half an inch thick and lay upon the butter; mince the pork and cover the liver; sprinkle the parsley and onion with pepper on top; cover the saucepan closely and set it into a kettle of hot water; keep this water below the boiling point for an hour, then let it boil another hour; the liver will by this time be very tender and juicy if the heat has been properly adjusted. Take it out and place it in a dish to keep warm. Thicken the gravy with brown butter and pour over the liver and serve. English Meat Pie.— Chop cold beef finely, put in a deep baking dish a layer of the meat, strew lightly with bread crumbs, season highly with solt, pepper, butter and a few drops of onion juice; repeat the process till the dish is full or your meat used up. Pour over it a cup of stock or gravy, or, lacking these, hot water with a teaspoonful of butter melted in it; on top a good layer of bread crumbs should be put and seasoned THE RURAL COOK BOOK. S3 and dotted with butter. Cover and bake half an hour; remove the cover and brown. Mock Duck. — Four pork tenderloins; slash lengthwise, rub with salt and pepper, fill with dressing made of bread crumbs, one onion, one egg, one-half cupful butter, salt and pepper to taste; tie together and bake in roaster. Serve with hot apple sauce made as follows : Pare and quarter (if large, cut in eighths) as many apples as the family appetite requires. Put a layer of apples in a granite or enameled shallow pan, put bits of butter, goodly supply sugar and dash of cinnamon on the apples. Do this in layers till pan is full; add a little water and bake till rich and clear, not just barely done. . Mutton Mince With Eggs. — Scrape_ every morsel of meat from the bone, crack the latter, cover with cold water and let it simmer at the back of the stove for four or five hours. Strain off the cupful of liquid and thicken with a lump of butter rolled in browned flour; season with salt, pepper and tomato catsup; stir into it the cold mutton cut small and a handful of bread crumbs, strewing some of these on top; bake until the surface bubbles, drop four or five eggs upon the top, pepper and salt them, set back in the oven and leave there until the eggs are "set." Mutton Pie. — A mutton pie made from the neck of mutton is as savory as it is economical. Cut off the spine bone and the scrag end, shorten the ribs to about three inches, but save all these trimmings to make the gravy for the pie. Cut the mutton into neat chops, pare off the fat, season with salt and pepper and place in the deep pie dish in a circle, one lapping over the other. Fill the center with tiny potato balls cut out with the cutter; add the mutton gravy which has been boiled to make the quantity required, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with good pie crust brushed over with the yolk of an egg and bake for an hour and a half in a moderate oven. Ragout of Mutton. — Use two pounds of mutton from the shoulder or breast. Cut in small pieces, about two inches square. Cut up some of the mutton fat which has not touched the skin and fry slowly in a pan until there is about a gill of liquid fat; take out the solid pieces and put in the mutton and stir until it becomes brown. Take the meat from the fat, being careful to press out all the fat. To the fat add one pint of turnip cubes and two tablespoonfuls of onion cut fine; cook slowly for 10 minutes, then take them out and put in the stew pan with the meat. Pour the fat from the frying pan and put in two tablespoonfuls of butter and the same amount of flour; stir until brown, when add one quart of boiling water. When this thickens add it to the meat and vegetables with a rounding teaspoonful of salt and one-third of a teaspoonful of pepper. Sirhmer for three hours, covered. 34 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. "Pawnhas."— This old-fashioned dish is similar to scrapple. Boil to- gether the "jowls," liver and heart of a hog until very tender. Take out all bones, chop the heart and meat from jowls until very fine;; crumble the liver as finely as possible and put all back into the kettle. Now . season with pepper and salt, and be sure to add enough water to keeip it from being too rich or greasy. Stir in white cornmeal until you have a thin mush, let cook slowly half an hour, pour into a large crock or jar; set away to cool. When cold, slice like mush and put into a skillet to fry. Add no grease. This is delicious and will keep indefinitely in a cool place. Pigeons, Potted.— Place six cleaned birds in a deep kettle with one pint of vinegar and three onions, halved ; let stand over night, then throw the vinegar and onions away. Brown six slices of pork and two onions, sliced; place in the kettle with the pigeons; add one pint of hot water, salt and pepper; cover and simmer about two hours; serve the pigeons on a hot dish about a mound of parsley; strain the liquor, thicken, and pass in a gravy boat. Pigs' Feet in Jelly. — Thoroughly scrape and clean one dozen pigs' feet. Place them in a kettle, cover with boiling water, add one tablespoonful of salt and simmer steadily until tender. Transfer the feet to a stone crock, placing between them thin slices of onion. Heat and boil to- gether for five minutes two quarts of good vinegar, one bay leaf, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one dozen whole cloves, six tiny red peppers, and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Add one quart of boiling water and pour at once over the pigs' feet. Cover and let stand two days before using. Pilgrim Pie. — Cut a two-pound piece of fresh pork into dice, after it is cooked, and prepare the following crust: One pint mashed potatoes, owe-half teaspoonful salt, one tablespoonful butter, one-fourth teaspoon- ful pepper, one-fourth cup of milk, one level teaspoonful baking powder, and enough flour to make a crust which can be easily rolled out one inch thick. Put alternate layers, in a baking dish, of the diced pork, raw oysters, minced parsley, a light dusting of Summer savory, finely shredded onion, with salt and pepper to suit, and one tablespoonful but- ter ; cover with a brown sauce ; fit a cover of the potato biscuit and bake in hot oven 20 minutes. Five minutes before it is finished draw out, cover with fine cracker crumbs mixed with one egg; return to the oven to finish browning; garnish with parsley. This potato crust is excellent for any meat pie. Pork With Corn Dumplings. — Cook a piece of shoulder of pork in a big pot until tender; then mix the desired quantity of cornmeal to • thick dough as in making bread (the addition of an egg to the dough im- proves the dumplings). Drop balls of the dough about the size of a walnut in the boiling water about the meat in the pot and cook 20 min- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 3S utes, when the dumplings will be done, and will have a thick gravy around them. Take care not to let the mixture burn. The fat and juices of the meat season the dumplings excellently. Rabbit, Jugged. — Select a plump tender rabbit. Wash, wipe dry, and cut into well-shaped pieces. Have ready a teaspoonful of salt and one- fourth teaspoonful of pepper and rub this into the rabbit pieces. Put four tablespoonfuls of flour on a plate and roll each piece in this. Heat half a cupful of butter in frying pan; when hot fry the rabbit, browning on both sides, being careful not to burn the butter. As soon as it browns put the rabbit into a stewpan and into the hot butter stir what is left of the flour in which the rabbit was rolled; add three teacupfuls hot water and cook 10 minutes. Pour this over the rabbit, adding two cloves, one-half bayleaf, two or three allspice, one teaspoonful salt, one- fourth' teaspoonful pepper, a slice or two of onion. Cover closely and simmer for an hour and a half. Add one teaspoonful lemon juice and one tablespoonful good catsup. Remove the rabbit to a hot platter; strain what liquid is left, add to it a teaspoonful each of butter and flour rubbed smooth and a cupful of hot water; boil up once, pour over the rabbit and serve. Rabbit, Breaded. — Dress the rabbit, then let it soak over night in cold salt water. Cut into neat pieces, and boil gently until tender in clear water to which an onion has been added. Let it cool and drain; then dip in well-beaten egg, roll in cracker crumbs and fry in hot butter. Serve with cranberry sauce. Barbecued rabbit, a favorite southern dish, may also be recommended: Lay the rabbit in salt and water 30 minutes, then scald with boiling water and wipe dry, rub well with butter, and sprinkle with pepper and salt. Broil until quite brown, and lay on a hot dish ; butter plentifully on both sides. Prepare a sauce of four tea- spoonfuls of vinegar, one teaspoonful of made mustard, one of currant jelly and one of walnut catsup. Pour this hot over the rabbit. Ragout with Dumplings. — ^Get a piece of nice, fresh round steak, about one and one-half pound (cut thick). Cut it into pieces about an inch square, smother it with flour, well seasoned with salt and red pep- per. Brown in the frying pan one large onion or two small ones, with about one large tablespoonful of butter; then add the steak and brown. Put the whole into a granite saucepan, pour over it five pints of boiling water and simmer two hours. About 30 minutes before serving make dumplings as follows: A cup of flour sifted with a little salt and a half teaspoonful of baking powder, and rub in a teaspoonful of butter. Mix very soft with milk — so soft that it is slightly sticky; drop by small spoonfuls into the stew and cover tightly until served. Sausage. — ^This is a Virginia recipe. To every 10 pounds of meat use three ounces of salt, one of black pepper, one-half ounce of lage 38 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. rubbed fine. Having all ingredients weighed, put a layer of the meat cut in strips, sprinkle the mixed seasoning over it, another layer of meat with more seasoning, distributing as evenly as possible. Run twice throungh the grinder, and when it is put on the table it is surprising to see how quickly it vanishes. Ordinary pork sausage, smoked in bags, makes a desirable change, and keeps well. Pack the sausage meat in small bags of coarse, strong muslin, the size selected being that most convenient for slicing; small salt sacks, well washed, may answer. Close the bags, and then smoke, just like ham, the amount of smoking depend- ing on the family taste. When used, split down the seam of the bag for convenience in cutting the slices, and fry like ham. Sausage, Bologna. — Six pounds of lean beef; one pound salt pork; three pounds lean fresh pork ; one pound beef suet ; one ounce white pep- per; one teaspoonful ground mace; three ounces salt; one teaspbonful cayenne; one large onion chopped fine. Chop the meat and suet sep- arately very fine, then mix; add all the seasoning, and mix thoroughly. Fill into casings and tie into lengths, or use strong linen bags. Make a brine that will bear an egg; put the sausage into it, and let stand two weeks, turning and skimming every day. At the end of the first week throw away the old brine, and put the sausage into new for the second week; then "smoke for a week. When smoked rub over the outside with olive oil, and store in a cool, dark dry place. If you wish to keep the sausage for any length of time sprinkle the outside with pepper. Sausage, Frankfurter. — Chop up pork, lean meat and fat (ham can be used) in the proportion of four pounds lean to one of fat. To a pound of the mixture season with salt, 11 grams, one-half gram salt- petre, two grams white pepper and one-half gram cloves. Mix the whole so intimately that "you cannot tell the fat pieces from the lean." The more thorough the mixing the better the result. If the mixing is not free, you can add a little water, but do not overdo this. If too "waxy'' from excess of fat, add lean; or, the other way, if too meaty. Use pig's cases for the filling. Tie the sausage in length desired. Hang the links well apart in the smokehouse. Tolerable heat will do them rightly enough, but if yOu want the deep rich tint of brown, you will have to finish them off over a brick fire. It is hard to fix the temperature, as the smokehouse in the open will be cooler than the one indoors. Test the state by running a quill in and examining the extract by the taste, sight and smell. Sometimes they are put in bundles of 10 or 12 folded together and pressed to flatten. Keep in a box under weight before put- ting in the smoke.. Sausage, Holland Home. — Grind, mix and season the meat as de- sired. Instead of stuffing "cases," pack in half-gallon stone jars (but- ter jars). Bake four hours in a moderately hot oven. Remove from THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 37 the oven and press with a heavy weight la hours — over night usually. Then remove the weight. There will be some fat, but not enough to cover it. Heat lard to the boiling point and pour over enough to cover. This seals — excludes the air. Keep in a cool place. Beef or pork may be kept in this way indefinitely. Oxford Sausage. — One pound each of finely chopped veal, pork and beef suet. Mix through this one quart of bread crumbs, grated peel of half a lemon, a grated nutmeg, a sprig each of savory, thyme and sweet marjoram and a tablespoonful of powdered sage leaves. Make in cakes and fry in very little hot butter. Sausage, Pork and Beef. — For 10 pounds of sausage use seven and one-half pounds of pork and two and a half of beef; grind fine, add two tablespoonfuls of salt, one teaspootiful each of pepper, allspice, cloves and sage. Heat all together until so hot you cannot hold your finger in it. Turn into stone jars that have been thoroughly scalded and aired, cover with cheesecloth and pour hot suet over the cloth. When any is wanted for use, take out and make into cakes and fry. Summer Sausage. — ^Use any recipe you like best, but use cloth casings made from muslin, casings to have a diameter of three to four inches, and length to fit a baking pan. Casings are easily made with sewing machine. Smoke the finished sausage to your heart's content. After smoking let sausage dry sufficiently, which takes four or five weeks, de- pending on where hung to dry. The sausage should be fit for eating, which can readily be ascertained by cutting one through. When dry enough melt a quantity of paraffin — about one-half pound for a dozen sausages — ^put in baking pan, then place the sausages therein and roll about in the hot paraffin, one at a time. Hang up in a dry place and they will keep nicely and indefinitely. Virginia Beef Sausage. — Mix two cupfuls of finely-chopped raw beef, 1J4 cupful of fat. salt pork minced very fine, two teaspoonfuls of pow- dered sage, a scant teaspoonful of pepper — the pork should furnish suffi- cient salt — and one tablespoonful of lemon juice. When thoroughly mixed pack it in small round tin cans and set away to become hard. When jvanted for breakfast slice three-fourths of an inch thick and either brown in the oven or fry in a hot, well-greased pan. Scrapple, Philadelphia. — Take a cleaned pig's head and boil until the flesh strips easily from the bones. Remove all the bones and chop fine. Set the liquor in which the meat was boiled aside until cold, take the cake of fat from the surface and return the liquor to the fire. ' When it .boils, put in the chopped meat and season well with pepper and salt. Let it boil again and thicken with cornmeal as you would in making ordinary cornmeal mush, by letting it slip slowly through the fingers to prevent lumps. Cook an hour, stirring constantly at first, "afterward putting back 38 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. on the range in a position to boil gently. When done, pour into a long, square pan, not too deep, and mold. In cold weather this can be kept several weeks. Slice and fry brown in butter or dripping. Souse. — Clean pig's ears and feet well; cover them with cold water slightly salted and boil until tender. Pack in stone jars while hot, and cover while you make ready for pickle. To half a gallon of good cider vinegar allow half a cup of white sugar, three dozen whole black pep- pers, a dozen blades of mace and a dozen cloves. Boil this one minute, taking care that it really boils, and pour while hot over the still warm feet and ears. It will be ready to use in two days and will keep in a cool place for two months. If you wish it for breakfast, make a batter of one egg, one cup of milk, salt to taste, and a teaspoonful of butter, with enough flour for a thin muffin batter; dip each piece in this and fry in hot lard or dripping. Or dip each in beaten egg, then in pounded cracker before frying. Souse is also good eaten cold, especially the feet. Stew, Oven. — Two or three pounds of beef shin are selected, the bone being broken into three or four pieces. After wiping with a damp cloth, remove all the meat from the bone and cut into small pieces for serving. Scrape the marrow from the bone and place in a kettle, and in it brown first the meat, then the vegetables cut in cubes-^half an onion and one carrot. Now dredge well with flour and salt, adding about a tablespoon- ful of browned flour to give color. Add one or two whole cloves, one- half cup of tomato or a little tomato catsup, then the pieces of bone. Cook in the oven in a deep iron meat-pan for three or four hours, adding potatoes, cut in cubes, one hour before serving. Stew, Tomato. — Fry a tiny onion, or a slice or two of ordinary size, in a couple of tablespoonfuls of fat. Add two or three slices of carrot and let them brown. Then stir in a cupful of canned tomatoes and half a cupful of beef stock or gravy. If stock is used the mixture should be thickened with a little flour. Add also half a bayleaf and a couple of sprays of Summer savory, and simmer the stew slowly for half an hour, so that it may be permeated with the seasonings. At the end of this time add the cold meat from a shank of beef, or any "leftover," cut in small pieces. Simmer very slowly for five or 10 minutes and serve hot, after dashing in a little salt and pepper. Tough Meat. — To soften a tough steak pour a few spoonfuls of vine- gar, or vinegar and oil mixed, over it, and allow it to stand 13 to 24 hours, turning occasionally. A tough piece of meat may be laid in vine- gar (not too strong) for three or four days in Summer, or twice as long in Winter. Oil or spices may be added to the vinegar if desired, this bath being termed a marinade. Tough meat should receive long gentle cook- ing, preferably in an enclosed vessel which will prevent evaporation of juices. Such beef should not be treated like a tender rib roast; it would THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 39 better be braised (pot roast) or cooked as beef a la mode. The mar- inade will be found desirable when the meat is cooked in this way. If stewed, the same system of prolonged gentle cooking (preferably in an earthen stewpan or casserole) should be employed. Stuffed Tenderloin. — Procure a good-sized tenderloin, slit one side open and lay within a dressing made as follows : One cupful of dry grated crumbs, one tablespoonful of minced parseley, one large teaspoonful of mixed sweet herbs, thyme. Summer savory, sweet marjoram and sage, one heaping teaspoonful of finely chopped onion fried in one tablespoon- ful of butter, one-half teaspoonful salt, one saltspoonful pepper. If this amount of butter does not make it moist enough add a trifle more melted butter, but no water. Stuff the tenderloin and sew up the opening. If it is not fat place two or three slices of bacon over the top, fastening with wooden toothpicks. Rub into the meat one teaspoonful of salt, one- fourth teaspoonful of white pepper. Dust with flour and roast. When done remove the tenderloin to a heated platter and put the roasting pan on top of stove, adding one tablespoonful of flour to the gravy which it contains. When thoroughly browned add a cupful of hot water, two tablespoonfuls of chopped gherkins, and one tablespoonful of finely- chopped olives. Veal and Ham Pie. — A pound of veal cutlet cut in small pieces is rolled in flour and browned in hot bacon fat. Cover with boiling water, or, if possible, with stock made from the trimmings of veal and seasoned with sweet herbs, carrot and onion, and simmer for about two hours Put the pieces of veal in a baking dish. Have ready half a cupful of finely chopped cooked ham. Add to it a little of the liquid in which the veal was cooked, and pound smooth in a mortar. Then press through a puree sieve, and add the rest of the liquid with such seasoning as may be desired. Pour this over the meat in the dish, adding half a pint of oysters and a few bits of butter. Cover the dish with a pastry or rich biscuit crust, and bake about 25 minutes. Veal, Paprika Schnitzel. — Cut two pounds of thick veal steak into small pieces, roll in seasoned flour, fry brown in salt pork fat. Remove the meat from the pan, add two tablespoonfuls of flour to the remaining fat, brown lightly and pour in the strained liquid from a pint can of to- matoes, or if desired slice in a pint of fresh peeled tomatoes. Add a slice each of onion and carrot, three bay leaves and a bit of mace, then return the meat to the sauce, cover closely and simmer for three-quarters of an hour. When done remove the meat, add a little more salt if neces- sary (the pork helps to season) a pinch of paprika or red pepper, and strain on to the platter. CHAPTER IV. PASTRY AND PIES. When pieplant gives the first good mess, With nice hot biscuit, I confess Our folks feel gooa. Pop says : "I guess You ought to have a bran' new dress." "And you a coat," I sez, "no less !" I know our folks will always bless The day that pieplant gives first mess. Some of our friends, who have spent many years abroad, tell of a Roman pension or boarding-house whose proprietor boasted that he had recipes for more than 365 delicious desserts. During the months our friends were at the pension they never had the same dessert twice, which, they complained, was really pathetic, for many of the dishes were so delicious that they longed for a repetition. We doubt whether anyone could duplicate that experience in an American boarding-house, where, too often, pie is almost the only form of dessert, except a restricted range of puddings. The unwholesome effect of pastry often results, we believe, from eating it as the finish to a hearty meal, when the digestion is already fully tasked. We are told by those who use it that the oil pie crust, recipe for which is given, is more easily digested than that made with other shortening. Pie Crust. — For one pie use one cupful sifted flour, one-half cup of shortening, pinch of salt. It will be much flakier if chopped together with a knife, instead of rubbing in the hands. Stir in enough cold water to mix it so it may be rolled out. Handle as little as possible, and keep very cold. It is improved by making a day before using, and storing in the icebox or other cold place. Cream Pie Crust. — If one can use cream, delicious crust may be made. Add baking powder and salt to the flour and mix stiff with cream that is not too heavy. The crust is tender, browns quickly and has a very sweet, agreeable flavor. Oil Pie Crust. — For this either olive or refined cotton-seed oil may be used. For- one pie take one cup flour, add pinch of salt, mix and add two tablespoonfuls oil; rub well together and add three tablespoonfuls cold water. Handle dough as little as possible and roll thin. Puff Paste. — Use equal weights of flour and butter; by measure, one pint of flour and one cup of butter. Wash the butter in cold water until all the salt is out; the hands should first be washed in hot, then cold water, to prevent the butter from sticking. When washed until THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 41 smooth and waxy divide butter into four parts, pat until thin, wrap in a napkin and place upon ice. Mix a little salt with the flour, mix in about one-half cup of ice water, stirring it in with a knife, and cut until it can be taken up clean from the bowl. Put on a well-floured board, roll until one-half inch thick. Roll one portion of the butter thin, fold it up inside the paste, pat and roll out again. Repeat this process with the rest of the butter. When putting in the butter, fold the sides of the paste over it toward the middle, then the ends over, and double; then roll. This process should continue until no streaks of fat are shown. Whenever the butter becomes soft, it should be chilled, and when finished the paste should be wrapped in a napkin, and kept in the refrigerator. This is the paste used for patty cases, and similar delicate pastry. It requires a "knack" as well as a recipe to get good results. Crust for Raised Pies. — This is the crust used by English house- keepers for pork and other meat pies, in which the crust is patted and shaped into a deep dish shape, which is filled with meat and then covered with a top crust. The crust is hard and stiff when cold, but softens when warm. Put one cupful of water in a saucepan, add one pound of lard, put on stove to meJt, and allow it to come to boiling point, stirring well; sift about three pounds of flour into a bowl, make a hole in the middle, and stir in the hot liquid, mixing with a spoon until it is cool enough to knead with the hands. It may require the addition of more flour, as it should be very stiff. To make a pork pie, this crust should be molded with the hands into a dish shape four or five inches deep; an oval four or five by six inches is a convenient size. Good, tender, fresh roasting pork is cut into half-inch pieces, and well seasoned; the pie is filled and covered, after a small amount of water is sprinkled over, and then the pie is baked for about I5/2 hour, in a steady oven. It is always served cold. Game birds or pigeons make excellent raised pie also. To give a shining yellow appearance to the pastry, brush it over with the yolk of an egg, beaten up with two tablespoonfuls of milk, about 10 minutes before it is taken out of the oven. Almond Bars. — Roll puff paste into thin narrow strips. Beat one egg white slightly and mix it with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and one cupful of finely-chopped almonds. Spread this mixture over the strips of paste and brown them in the oven. Sometimes the almonds are rolled into the paste. Mix two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar with the same amount of chopped almonds and sprinkle over the paste when first rolled out. Fold and roll again, then repeat the process. Finally cut into long sticks, brush with white of an egg and brown in the oven. One teaspoonful of cinnamon may be used in place of the almonds, when th« result will be cinnamon bars. it THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Apple Pie.— This is how a Michigan housekeeper makes it : The under crust was first brushed over lightly with white of an egg and allowed to stand while the rest of the work went on; this to keep the juices from soaking into the crust before baking. Next a half cupful of sugar was put in, along with a half to a tablespoonful of flour, according to the degree of juiciness of the apples, and a generous pinch of cinnamon or allspice according to choice. These were rubbed smoothly together to insure a jelly-like consistency of the finished pie, without the unpalatable doughy lumps. The fruit is then added, the remainder of the sugar poured over (a cupful in all for very sour apples), the top dotted thickly with butter, and unless the apples are very juicy a dessertspoonful of water added. The edge of the under crust is now moistened with water, the top applied and the two pinched neatly together; the whole brushed over with rich milk to insure an even golden-brownness, and a tiny funnel made of writing paper twisted and pinned into shape inserted in the air hole cut in the top. These details observed you may now put your pie into the oven with a certainty that it will come out a thing of beauty, with none of its savory juices burning to a crisp in the bottom of the oven. For very young apples, however, she always used instead of the water, a generous tablespoonful of spiced vinegar (left over from any spiced Sweet pickle) with a little more flour. Or if apples had been kept some time and were shriveled and insipid, she found the same treat- ment a vast improvement. Lacking the spiced vinegar she sometimes used lemon juice with an additional sprinkling of sugar and spices. Other fruit pies were made in a similar manner, always taking into consideration the qualities of the fruit as to acidity and juiciness. For canned fruits already sweetened, such as huckleberries, elderberries and the like, which were very juicy and required no extra sweetening, she usually rubbed the flour (in same proportion of a spoonful to a pie) in a bit of the juice, and added it with whatever spices were necessary to the rest of the fruit, and set it over the fire until the flour was cooked, adding a little butter. When cold the mixture was filled into the prepared paste, egg-brushed as before. For custard or pumpkin she usually prepared the paste by setting the pan on top of the stove until the crust was nearly cooked through, then adding the custard and putting it at once into a hot oven. When sweet cider is at hand, it may be used to give additional flavor to an apple pie. Warm half a cupful of cider and, 10 minutes before the pie is taken from the oven, pour the cider into it through the hole in the center of top crust, using a little funnel of stiff paper to prevejit splashing. Appleless Apple Pie. — Soak two large soda crackers in a large cup of boiling water. Add small piece butter. When cool add two tablespoon- fuls vinegar, one cup sugar, a few raisins and a little nutmeg^. Bake with THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 4S two crusts as you do the real apple pie. Another appleless apple pie is made from pumpkins as follows : Procure a good sound pumpkin (or squash), wash, cut a round of same, as deep as an ordinary apple is, from stem to blossom end; peel, cut down crosswise in slices about an eighth of an inch thick; put in water enough to cover, and stew slowly until tender, but not mushy. Lift carefully from the water, let cool. Prepare crust as for apple pie, line your tins with the crust, place your slices of pumpkin just as you would slices of apple; sprinkle over them a little flour — not over a tablespoonful of sugar; add one tablespoonful of pure cider vinegar to each pie, a few lumps of butter, finish with a top crust. Bake to a rich brown color in a moderate oven. Vermont Blackberry Pie. — Line a deep dripping pan with pastry, cover the bottom with a generous layer of blackberries, sprinkle with sugar and cover with a crust. Bake, then add another layer of blackberries and sugar, cover with a top crust, and then bake again. This is recommended as highly delicious, either hot or cold. Buttermilk Pie. — Beat together a heaping cupful of sugar and four eggs; add half a cupful of butter; beat thoroughly and add lyi pint of fresh buttermilk; line pie tins with crust; slice an apple thin and lay in each pie; fill crust with the mixture and bake with one crust. - Butterscotch Pie. — Two eggs, one cup brown sugar, butter size of walnut, tablespoon of flour, one cup cream, one teaspoon vanilla. Cream the butter, sugar and flour together, add the beaten yolks, cream and flavoring. Pour this into a good baked pie crust and return to the oven. When it has thickened spread over it the whites beaten very stiff, with two level tablespoons of sugar. Have the oven quite cool while the meringue is browning. Carrot Pie. — Scrape the skin off the carrots, boil them soft and strain them through a sieve. To a pint of the strained pulp put three pints of milk, six beaten eggs, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, the juice of half a lemon and the grated rind of a whole one. Sweeten it to your taste, and bake it in deep pie plates without an upper crust. Cheese Cakes. — This is a rich English dainty. Take four ounces of butter, and cream it in a warm pan ; add four ounces of sugar, beat well ; add the yolk of one egg, beat again, then add one whole egg; beat all well together, and mix in four ounces of currants. Line patty pans with paste, fill with the mixture, shake a little sugar over the top, and bake. Curd Cheese Cakes.— Add one egg to one cupful of fresh curd; beat smooth, and beat in one-half cupful of sugar, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Flavor with nutmeg or any other spice, and use as filling for a pie without top crust. A richer curd cheese cake is made by using the recipe given for ordinary cheese cakes, and beating the curd into it before the currants are added. 44 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Chocolate Pie.— Line a deep pie pan with rich pie crust and bake in a quick oven. Grate one-half teacupful of chocolate and_put into a sauce- pan, with one cupful of hot water, butter the size of an egg, one table- spoonful vanilla, one cupful of sugar, the beaten yolk of two eggs and two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, dissolved in a little water; mix well; cook until thick, stirring constantly. Pour into the pie shell and let cool. Beat the whites of the two eggs to a stiff froth, add two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, spread on top of pie and slightly brown in oven. Cider Jelly Pie.— This is a tested old-fashioned recipe. A half pint of boiled cider, a cupful of brown sugar, a cupful of boiling water and two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch. Stir the cornstarch into the cider, add the other ingredients and cook for 10 minutes. Fill into a pastry-lined pie tin and cover with an upper crust. Cream Pie. — Mix thoroughly two cups of flour and five tablespoonfuls of butter, then add three tablespoonfuls of sugar and one large egg, which has been thoroughly beaten together previously. Roll an eighth of an inch thick, line two pie tins, prick with a folk and bake a pale brown, then fill with this cream: Two cups milk, two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, five tablespoonfuls of sugar, yolks of five eggs. Cook together like cus- tard, and when cold cover with meringue made of whites of five eggs and five tablespoons powdered sugar. New England Cream Tart Pie. — Select firm Esopus apples and make as dry an apple sauce as possible, sweetened slightly and strained. For a large-sized pie use one pint of apple, one pint of thick cream, yolks of two eggs beaten stiff, and one-half of a nutmeg. An under crust only is used, and this may be baked the day before. Fill and bake about one- half hour. Use the whites of two eggs for the meringue and brown in the oven. Greenings are good -for this pie when Esopus is not at hand, but apples of low quality should not be used for it. Crumb Pie. — Soak a pint of bread crumbs in milk. Beat three eggs; add half a cup of sugar. Line two pie plates with crust and strew over enough raisins to cover bottom. Add the bread crumbs to egg and milk, sifting in a bit of cinnamon, pour over the raisins and bake about 30 minutes. Date Pie. — For one pie take one heaping cupful of pastry flour, add a pinch of salt and mix to the right consistency with sweet cream. The crust will be much nicer if allowed to get very cold before using. Filling —To a cupful of seeded dates add a cupful of water, cook over hot water about 20 minutes, then- rub through a sieve. Beat an egg and a table- spoonful of sugar until light; add a tablespoonful of lemon juice, the date paste and gradually a cupful of scalded milk. Pour into a half baked shell and finish baking in a moderate oven until a knife blade can penetrate it and come out clean. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 45 Delectable Tarts. — One cup of slightly sour cream, one cup of seeded and chopped raisins, one cup of sugar and one egg with a delicate flavor- ing of spices. Beat the egg light, add the cream and sugar; the raisins well floured and spices. Bake in tart or patty pans with a single crust. Elderberry Pie. — Line a pie dish with paste, upon which sprinkle a scant tablespoonful of flour; to this add a half cup of sugar and a half teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, rubbing all together evenly. Upon this pour the berries, a pint more or less according to the size of your pie dish; pour over another half cup of sugar, dot generously with butter, adding last one large tablespoonful of good vinegar. Apply top crust quickly and bake. Grape Cobbler. — This is best made from very ripe black grapes. Wash them twice — on the bunches and after picking. Line a deep pie dish with half-inch rich crust, put in the grapes and all the sugar that will lie between them, heaping the fruit a little in the middle. Put on the top crust, cut cross slits in the middle and fold back the corners to leave an open square. Set the dish in a quick oven and while the pie bakes make a sauce, using half a cup of butter, one cup of sugar and one table- spoon boiling water. Stir well over hot water and flavor with lemon juice, or grated nutmeg, according to taste. When the pie is nearly done take it out, pour in the sauce through the opening in the crust, return it to the oven. Be careful not to overbake, but keep it hot until served. Grape Roll. — ^Allow half the weight of the grapes in sugar and only water enough to keep from burning; seed the grapes; allow one pint of cooked grapes for the roll. To make the dough cream one-half teacupful of butter with one pint of sifted flour; add one teacupful of milk, two eggs well beaten, a saltspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of baking powder; roll out on the board in two long ovals, roll up and pinch the ends, lay in a buttered dish, set the dish to bake and twice pour over them a sauce of a tablespoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of sugar mixed together, to which is added one-half teacupful of boiling water (for one basting). Serve the rolls with the same kind of sauce made richer and flavored with nutmeg. Green Apple Slump. — Stew and strain a quart of green apples and sweeten to taste. Make a biscuit crust with two cupfuls of flour, one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, one tablespoonful of butter and one-half teaspoonful of salt, and moisten with sweet milk to a dough. Roll out one inch thick. Put the prepared hot sauce in a thick-bottomed saucepan, fit over it the crust and cover closely; first buttering the inside of the cover. Place where the sauce will simmer slowly but steadily for an hour. In serving put the crust on the dish, pour the sauce oyer jt and serye with cream. 40 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Hasty Pie. — Place in a deep baking pan or dish any fresh or canned fruits to the depth of two or three inches. Beat together one egg, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one cupful sweet milk and one cupful of flour in which has been sifted one teaspoonful of baking powder. Pour this over fruit and bake until crust is well done. Eat with sweetened cream or any pudding sauce. Use but little syrup with fruit. The same recipe for batter makes good muffins. Jam Dumplings. — To one quart of sifted flour add two heaping tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, half teaspoonful of salt and four table- spoonfuls of sugar and sift several times. Beat two eggs light and add to a cup of milk; stir into the flour, adding a large tablespoonful of butter melted; add enough milk to make a soft dough; roll out, cut in squares, put a large spoonful of jam in center of each square, pinch the edges together, place them in a baking pan and bake them for 25 minutes; serve with vanilla sauce. Lady Lufkins. — Make a very rich, flaky pie crust, roll out very thin, cut into strips an inch wide, and wind each strip around a tube of metal or heavy manilla paper about two inches wide; bake until crisp and brown. This is the way in which bakers make their cream rolls. When cold, fill each roll with marmalade in the center and cream at the ends. Lemon Meringue. — Stir together the juice and rind of one lemon, one cupful of sugar, three-quarters of a cupful of water with one tablespoon- ful of cornstarch, and the yolks of four eggs. Bake in one crust and make a meringue of the four whites for the top, adding a little powdered sugar after having been stiffly beaten. If desired the whites of the eggs may be included in the filling, and two crusts used. Lemon Mince Pie. — Stir together two tablespoonfuls cornstarch thor- oughly cooked with a cupful of water, one cupful of sugar, one cupful of molasses, one cupful of chopped raisins, a little citron, the juice of two lemons, and the grated rind of one. Bake in two crusts. This makes several pies. Delicious Lemon Pie. — Beat one cup sugar, three tablespoons of flour, the yolks of two eggs, piece of butter size of a walnut, to a cream. Add the grated rind and juice of a lemon, then one cup of milk, gradually. Then fold in the whites of the eggs beaten to a froth. Bake in one crust. Maple Custard Pie.— Line a pie pan with any good paste. For the filling beat together the yolks of three eggs and one pint of cream; add one-third cup maple sugar shaved fine. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and bake in a quick oven. Delicious. Marlborough Pie.— Line a pie plate with very thin puflf paste. Take half cup of mixed orange, lemon and citron peel. Strew these in the liottow pf the dish. Beat the yolks of four eggs with a cup of butter mi THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 47 scant cup of sugar. Heat in a double boiler until melted; then flavor with orange Juice and little grated peel. Pour into the dish and bake three- quarters of an hour. Milk Pie. — Line a pan eight inches in diameter with good paste, put dots of butter over the bottom until you have used about the size of a. walnut, dredge over alternately flour to the amount of one-fourth meas- uring cup and sugar to the amount of one-half cup, then sprinkle evenly over the top one level dessertspoon of cinnamon and pour in carefully, so as not to disturb the cinnamon, three-fourths cup milk and bake until crust is brown. Maryland Mincemeat. — Two pounds of lean beef; cook, let get cold, and pass through meat grinder; mix thoroughly with one pint of finely- minced suet, two quarts of chopped, high-flavored apples, one pint of stoned raisins, a scant pint of sugar, one-half pint of currants, one-third pound of citron shaved in fine shreds, a cupful of molasses (which is omitted if preferred, sugar taking its place), one tablespoonful each of ground mace and allspice, two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, one-half table- spoonful of cloves, two grated nutmegs, one and a half tablespoonful of salt, juice and rind of one and a half lemon, same of sour orange, one-half cupful each of candied lemon and orange peel. Moisten with unfermented grape juice, sweet cider, peach or plum syrup. The syrup from sweet pickles is a great improvement. Pack solid in airtight jars. Green Tomato Mincemeat, Chop fine four quarts of green tomatoes, drain ofl[ all juice, cover with cold water, let come to a boil and scald for 30 minutes, then drain well. Add two pounds of brown sugar, one pound of seeded raisins, one-half pound of chopped citron, one large half cupful of finely-chopped suet, one tablespoonful of salt and one-half cupful of strong cider vinegar. Stir well together and cook till thick. When cold add one teaspoonful each of ground cinnamon and cloves and one teaspoonfid of grated nutmeg. Stir thoroughly and keep (while it lasts) in a stone jar. Mock Mince Pie with Cranberries. — ^One cupful bread crumbs, one cupful raisins, one cupful sugar, one cupful cranberries cut in halves, one level saltspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg, one cup- ful hot water, one-half cup vinegar and butter size of a large English walnut. Turn into a pie tin lined with flaky paste, place the top crust and bake in a brisk oven. Mock Pumpkin Pie.— Grate sweet apples, add milk, sugar, ginger and cinnamon, and one egg for each pie. Make the filling of the same con- sistency as pumpkin, and bake just like it. Peach Turnovers. — ^One pint of dried peaches stewed and sweetened with two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar; flavor with nutmeg to taste. 48 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Make a stiflf crust, not as short as for other pies. Roll out pieces the size of a saucer. ' Cover one-half of the crust one-half inch deep with the stewed fruit. Fold over, pinch the edges together and prick with a silver fork. Fry like doughnuts, preferably in cooking oil; powder with sugar and serve with maple syrup. Pear Puffs.— Peel good pears, cut out the blossom end, but leave the stem; simmer the pears until tender in a weak syrup flavored with lemon, then drain, and allow them to cool. Make a good, rich pie crust, roll out thin, cut into triangular pieces, and cover each pear, pinching the crust neatly together, but leaving the stem protruding. Bake in a quick oven to a pale brown, and serve hot or cold. Prune Pie. — Stew half pound of prunes as for sauce. When quite soft remove the stones, sweeten, beat up and gradually fold in the whites of two eggs. Line deep pie tins with crust and bake twenty minutes. Then turn in the prune mixture; spread smoothly on top and pour over this a layer of well-sweetened and well-flavored apple sauce. Place in oven and bake twenty minutes longer. Eat hot or cold. Prune Pie No. 2. — One cupful of stewed and stoned prunes, chopped fine; three tablespoonfuls of the syrtip in which they were stewed, two eggs, yolks and white beaten separately, the whites to a stiff froth ; sugar, salt and flavoring to taste. The prunes should be soaked an hour or two in warm water before stewing, then cooked slowly several hours, putting them on with cold water enough nearly to cover them and enough sugar to make a rich syrup. Bake without upper crust. Prune Pie No. 3. — Cover a pie tin with rich crust, and then half fill with a layer of stewed prunes and their juice, the stones having been removed. Over the prunes pour a custard, made by beating up one egg and a teacupful of milk, a little nutmeg being grated over the top. The pie is baked until the custard is set. Little patty pans lined with pie crust and filled with the same material, are prune fanchonettes. Pumpkin Pie. — This recipe differs decidedly from those ordinarily used and is very good. Cut the pumpkin without paring, bake it, skin side down, until tender, and then scoop out the pulp and sift it. For one pie allow lyi cupful of pumpkin, one cupful of boiling milk, one teaspoon- ful of butter, half a cupful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, one- quarter teaspoonful of cinnamon, same amount of ginger; add one egg, beaten separately. Half bake the crust, fill with the pumpkin and bake. Pumpkin Pie Without Eggs.— Let the pumpkin be of the pie variety, small, close-grained, and sweet. Steam it until tender, then press through a colander. To a pint of sifted pumpkin add one quart of rich milk, two level tablespoonfuls flour, one cupful sugar, two teaspoonfuls ginger and a pinch of salt. This is sufficient for two pies. Fill the crusts, sift on a THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 49 little sugar and a dust of nutmeg, and bake. If the pumpkin is not up to the standard, one egg may be added, but not as a substitute for the flour, which gives body and smoothness to the filling. Raisin Pie. — One cupful of nice raisins; wash quickly, cover with boiling water, cook until tender; remove seeds; moisten a cupful of bread crumbs with the water, add one-fourth cupful of sugar, one egg (beaten), one tablespoonful lemon juice and the raisins, cut in two or three pieces each; an upper and lower crust of tender pastry and a satisfactory bake make a most delicious pie. Raisin Pie No. 2. — Boil one pound of seeded raisins in sufficient water to cover for one hour. Then add the juice and grated rind of one lemon, a piece of butter the size of an egg, one cupful of sugar, and two table- spoonfuls of cornstarch. Bake in two crusts. This makes filling for two pies. A second way of making a pie is to cook one cupful of raisins in one cupful of water until they are softened, add the grated rind and juice of one lemon, half a cupful of sugar, a sifting of cinnamon and sufficient powdered cracker crumbs to thicken. Bake in two crusts. Raisin Turnovers. — One cupful of seeded raisins, the rind of a lemon, or a few pieces of candied lemon or orange peel, and a small piece of preserved citron, chop all together finely, stir into this one beaten egg, and the juice of one lemon. Roll out puff paste thinly, and cut 'it in circles, lay them on a plate, fill with the mixture, then cover and press the edges firmly together. Bake the same length of time as you would a pie. Raspberry Cream Tart.— Line a pie plate with good paste, and fill with red raspberries, sweetened with powdered sugar. Cover with paste, but do not pinch it down at the edges. When it is done, lift the top crust, which is thicker than usual, and pour upon the fruit a cream made as follows: One small cup of rich milk, heated to boiling point; whites of two eggs beaten light and stirred into the boiling milk; one tablespoonful of white sugar; one-half teaspoonful of cornstarch wetted with cold milk. Boil three minutes, then let the cream get perfectly cold. Remove the top crust, pour the cream over the fruit, replace the crust, and set the pie away to cool. This recipe is given by Marion Harland ; our home recipe for fruit cream pie calls for a simple custard, using both white and yolk of one egg, which is poured over the fruit as above. Strawberry cream pie is made in the same way. Rhubarb Pie.— Cut in rather coarse pieces enough rhubarb to fill a large cup. Beat one egg thoroughly, adding a good pinch of salt, add the rhubarb, one cup of sugar and two soda crackers rolled fine. Mix thoroughly, then turn into a pie tin lined with pastry. Put a few bits of butter over it here and there, add a grating of nutmeg, and bake as a 90 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. tart pie, bands of pastry laid over the top before baking. This quantity makes one pie — a small deep one, or a thin large one. Rhubarb Cream Pie. — One cupful of rhubarb chopped fine or grated, one cupful of sugar, a pinch of salt, a grating of nutmeg or lemon peel. Moisten a tablespoonful of cornstarch with a tablespoonful of cold water; then fill the cup up with boiling water, stirring until clear. Beat the yolks of three eggs until light, and add them with the cornstarch to the other materials. Line a pie plate with good light paste, fill with the mixture and bake in a moderately hot oven until custard is set. When done and cooled, cover with a meringue made with the whites of the eggs and half a cupful of confectioner's sugar. Brown delicately in the oven. Fresh Strawberry Pie. — Bake an empty bottom crust, making it extrt nice; prick holes all over the bottom and sides, to prevent its getting out of shape. As soon as baked sprinkle the inside with sugar and fill with ripe berries; also well dredge with sugar.- Cover with sweetened whipped cream and then cover all with a meringue of the frothed whites of two eggs mixed with two tablespoon fuls of sugar and a dash of lemon juice. Invert a plate in the oven and place the pie plate on top of it and brown. If the work is very carefully done the berries will not be even heated, and the result will be delicious. The pie should be thoroughly chilled before serving. Strawberry Pie No. 2. — Line a pie tin with rich crust shortened with butter, no baking powder being used. Let it cool, then fill with fresh strawberries, hulled and washed, and mixed with sugar. Cover with whipped cream and serve. Strawberry Pie No. 3. — ^Line a pie plate with good short crust, fill with ripe whole berries, liberally sugared, and then cover with a lattice formed of criss-cross strips of crust. By the time the crust is browned the berries are cooked in their own rich juice, and the pie is much nicer than with an ordinary double crust. Strawberry Cream Pie. — After picking over the berries carefully, arrange them in layers in a deep pie plate, sprinkling sugar thickly between each layer, having first lined the dish with your best pastry. Cover with a crust with a slit in the top and bake. When the pie is baked, pour into the slit in the top of the pie the following cream mix- ture: Take a small cupful of rich cream, heat until nearly boiling, then stir into it the whites of two eggs beaten lightly to a froth, also a table- spoonful of granulated or powdered sugar; boil all together a few moments. When cool, pour it into the pie through the slit in the crust Serve with powdered sugar sifted on top. CHAPTER V. PUDDINGS, HOT AND COLD. The proof of the pudding Is not in the eating, Never mind what the old sayings state ; The compliment setting the cook's heart a'beating Is the call for a big second plate. As a rule farm housekeepers are admirably situated for making delicious puddings, many of which are more wholesome than pastry. The recipes given below include considerable variety, and will be found suggestive, as many may be altered to suit material on hand. We were obliged to omit a number of good ones, owing to lack of space. Apricot Pudding. — This may be made from evaporated apricots, care- fully soaked and stewed, instead of the canned fruit. Butter a shallow pudding dish and sprinkle on the surface a layer of soft bread crumbs. Drain the syrup from a can of apricots and arrange a layer of fruit in the dish. Fill the cavities with sugar and a dot of butter the size of a pea on each. Cover each piece of fruit with another half to simulate the whole fruit, then fill the interstices with soft bread crumbs. Mix one 'pint of milk, the yolks of three eggs, well beaten, with one-quarter teaspoon of salt and three teaspoonfuls sugar, and pour this over the fruit. Lift the fruit a little so the custard may reach every part of the bread. Bake it about half an hour. Beat the whites of the eggs till stiff; add three heaped tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and three teaspoonfuls of lemon juice. When the pudding is done and cooked somewhat spread the meringue over the top and brown it slightly. Serve hot without sauce. Batter Pudding. — ^This is an old-fashioned recipe, which can be depended upon. Measure 12 tablespoonfuls of flour after sifting; then sift again with a teaspoonful of baking powder and a small one of salt. Beat four eggs, without separating, until very light and before mixing them to a batter with a quart of milk, butter a three-pint oval baking dish and see that the oven is of a steady heat, as if for baking bread. Now make a smooth batter with the milk and flour, stirring in the eggs last, and bake about one hour The pudding will rise with a brown crust on top, and, by the slow baking, the sides and bottom will also be crisp and brown, while the interior will be tender and light. Serve directly from the oven, with fruit juice slightly thickened for sauce. No other sauce will take the place of this. When the supply of extra juice canned for this very purpose is exhausted, evaporated cherries soaked over night and well sjwinered in the same water is an excellent substitute. 52 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Black Pudding. — One coffeecup black molasses, one coffeecup sour cream; add one dessertspoon of soda and beat hard and then add one cup chopped suet, one cup seeded raisins, a few almonds (about a table- spoonful), do not blanch them, as they will have a better flavor, three (or more if liked) chopped figs, two apples, and a piece of citron chopped. Three cups of flour, one-half teaspoonful of salt and the grat- ing of one- half nutmeg. Beat well. Take four baking powder cans (pound size), rub with melted butter and pour the batter into them and steam hard three hours. Stand in oven ten or fifteen minutes to dry off. When you wish to use steam half an hour. A quantity may be made at one time, as these puddings will keep six months. Blackberry Pudding. — Beat one-third of a cup of butter to a cream. Add gradually half a cup of sugar and the beaten yolks of two eggs. Sift together two cups of previously sifted flour, four level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt. Add this to the creamed butter, sugar, and eggs. Put in half of the flour mixture, mix, and then put in half a cupful of cold water. Mix in the rest of the flour, etc. Beat thoroughly and last of all fold in the well-beaten whites of the two eggs. Sprinkle a cupful of blackberries with a little flour and add them to the batter as it is dropped a spoonful at a time, into the mold, which should be rubbed with unsalted butter. Steam an hour and a half, or bake twenty-five minutes, and serve with a blackberry hard sauce. The sauce is made in the usual way, with half a cup of butter and a cup of sugar. Add to this half a cupful of crushed berries. Blueberry Betty.— Put a pint of milk in a double boiler and put on the fire to scald. Pick over, wash and drain a pint of fresh blueberries. Have ready a pint of soft whole wheat bread crumbs. Put a layer of crumbs in a buttered pudding dish, 'then a layer of berries, then more crumbs and so on until the dish is full, having crumbs on top. Stir two tablespoonfuls of sugar in the milk, and when hot pour it over the con- tents of the dish. Cover and set in the oven to bake for about an hour. Stand the pudding dish in a basin of hot water. Serve with a tart sauce. Blueberry Pudding.— Beat ly, cupful sugar with four eggs, add one pint milk and one cupful flour, in which sift one tablespoonful baking powder, one-half teaspoonful salt; add one cupful whole blueberries; pour in a buttered covered mold; set in boiling water, letting water only come a little more than half way up to the mold; weight down and boil continuously for one hour; slip on to a dish and cover with sauce, then sprinkle over uncooked fruit. Sauce— Beat one cupful granulated sugar with one cupful butter to a cream; then add yolks of two eggs, one- quarter teaspoonful vanilla. Baked Blueberry Pudding.— One quart ripe, fresh berries, mace or nutmeg one-half teaspoonful; three eggs well beaten, separately; sugv, THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 53 one two cups; cold butter, one tablespoon; sweet milk, one cup; flour, pint; baking powder, two teaspoons. Roll berries well in flour, add them last. Bake half hour and serve with sauce. Delicious. Steamed Blueberry PufTs.— Beat two eggs until light and thick, with- out separating; add half a cupful of sugar and half a cupful of milk; sfft together three level teaspoonfuls of baking powder, half a teaspoon- ful of salt and two cupfuls of flour, stir into the liquid ingredients; then stir in one cup of blueberries. Turn into buttered cups and steam half an hour. The batter should drop easily from the end of the spoon. Serve hot with cream and sugar. Bread and Butter Pudding.— Strew half a cupful of currants in the bottom of a baking dish, then butter some slices of freshly-baked bread and lay in the dish. Make a custard with two eggs and a pint of milk, sweeten to taste, and pour it over ; grate a little nutmeg over the top and bake a light brown. This pudding should be baked in the dish in which it is to be sent to table. It is delicious eaten with stewed fruit. Steamed Bread and Butter Pudding.— Butter a small pudding bowl. Cut some thin bread and butter, decorate the bottom of the basin with candied peel cut in stars, or a few raisins or preserved cherries; put in the slices of bread and butter, dusting each slice with sugar and sprinkling with a few chopped preserved cherries. When full beat up an egg with half a pint of milk, flavor with essence of almonds, and strain over the pudding. Leave to soak for a while, cover with buttered paper, and steam for an hour and a quarter. Turn out, and serve with custard. Bread Pudding in Disguise. — Break half a loaf of _ bread into pieces and soak in milk, just what the bread will take up. Then add an egg and a cup of sugar and a cup of rich, creamy milk in which put half teaspoonful of saleratus and teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Bake until light and well browned in a medium oven. To serve pour a little maple syrup over each dish. Brown Betty. — Mix a cupful of sugar and a level teaspoonful of cinnamon. Prepare about a quart of sliced tart apples. Stir into a pint of soft bread crumbs about half a cupful of melted butter. Butter well a deep pudding dish, put in a layer of crumbs, then sliced apples and sprinkle with sugar, then another layer of crumbs, apples and sugar and continue until the materials are used with a thick layer of crumbs on the top. Bake about an hour in a moderate oven. If the oven browns on the bottom set in a p*n of hot water or bake on the top grate of the oven, covering the pudding well to prevent too crisp an upper crust. Serve with hard sauce made as follows: Cream a third of a cupful of butter, add gradually a cupful of powdered sugar and when beaten to a cream add drop by drop to prevent separation, two tablespoonfuls of rich cream. Flavor with vanilla or. lemon juice. 54 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Carrot Pudding.— Mix together one cupful of grated bread crumbs, a quarter of a pound each of flour and of butter, one-half pound of preserved cherries, and one-half pound of sugar and a saltspoonful of salt. Boil six young carrots until they are tender, then pass them through a sieve and add half a pound of this pulp to the other ingredi- ents. Stir the mixture well, then steam it in a buttered mold for 2^ hours. In the Winter we make an imitation plum pudding in which a cupful of grated carrot is used, the carrot both lightening and enriching it. Cherry Cups. — Measure a pint of sifted flour, add two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt and sift again. Mix to a soft dough with cold water. Butter little custard cups and drop in a little of the dough and then add a teaspoonful of the cherries; cover these with more dough (the cups should not be more than half full). Set the cups in a steamer, or if you have no steamer you can put them in a deep baking pan with a little boiling water; cover closely with another pan and steam half an hour in' the oven. Eat with cherry sauce or sweetened cream. On bread baking day you can make these with bread dough instead of the baking powder dough. Cherry Batter Pudding. — Prepare a cupful of stoned cherries. Beat two eggs separately, add half a pint of milk, or better still, sweet cream, to the yolks, and to this one tablespoonful of melted butter. Have ready 1J4 cupful of flour, into which two teaspoonfuls of baking powder have been sifted, with a dash of salt. Add this to the yolks of the eggs and milk, and lastly add the whites of the eggs, beaten light. Beat vigor- ously for a few minutes and turn into a greased baking pan, allowing the batter to be about an inch thick. Cover it with the cherries, add one-third of a cup of granulated sugar, sprinkled lightly on the top, and bake in a quick oven for 30 minutes. Serve hot with hard sauce or a sauce made from a cup of cherries and half a cup of sugar stewed together until the cherries are reduced to a pulp. Sauce as well as pudding should be served hot. Boiled Cherry Pudding. — Beat three eggs light without separating; add a pint of milk. Sift two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a half a teaspoonful of salt in a little less than a quart of sifted flour and add the liquid gradually to the flour, stirring to a smooth batter. Add a teaspoon- ful of melted butter. Beat thoroughly and then stir in a pint of cherries, stoned and drained free from juice and well floure4. Turn into a well- buttered pudding dish or mold, or an old-fashioned pudding bag, scalded and floured, and cook in a kettle of boiling water for three hours. Keep the water boiling continually or the pudding will be heavy. If cooked in a mold or dish, the water must not be deep enough to boil over the pudding. If in a bag, there roust be sufficient water to keep the pudding THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 8S from touching the bottom of the kettle. Serve with hard or foamy sauce. Cherry Pudding in Winter.— Nearly fill a buttered baking dish with the sour canned cherries. Use just enough of the juice so the cherries will be moist. Spread over this a dough made from one-fourth teacupful sugar, one tablespoonful butter, one-half cupful milk, one egg, a little salt, one cupful flour (use a little more if necessary to make dough like cake), one teaspoonful baking powder. Bake half an hour. Sauce to serve with it is made as follows : One-half cupful butter^ one-half cupful sugar, one tablespoonful of flour or cornstarch. Mix thoroughly. To this add a pint of the cherry juice. Boil till it thickens. Canned Cherry Tapioca. — Cover a scant cupful of tapioca with cold water and let it soak over night. In the morning place over the fire with a saltspoonful of salt and a pint of boiling water; simmer slowly until the tapioca is perfectly clear. Stir a pint of stoned cherries into the boiling tapioca; add a cupful of sugar (more if the cherries are very sour) ; turn into a serving dish and set away to cool. Serve with whipped cream. Chocolate Pudding. — Put into a bowl two cupfuls of stale bread- crumbs. Pour over them one quart of scalded milk. While the bread and milk are cooling melt two squares of chocolate. Mix the chocolate with two-thirds of a cup of sugar, then, with two eggs, lightly beaten, one scant saltspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Add the milk and breadcrumbs and then, when well mixed, turn the whole into a pud- ding dish that has been buttered and sugared. Bake it one hour in a moderately hot oven. Serve cold, with cream. This pudding can be baked in individual molds if preferred. Steamed Chocolate Pudding. — Boil one quart of fresh milk and pour over one pint grated bread crumbs, one-fourth cake grated chocolate, one cup sugar, one cup flour, one cup butter, two teaspoons baking powder, one cup raisins, one cup chopped nuts. Steam two hours and serve with a sauce. Chocolate Tapioca. — Soak three tablespoonfuls of tapioca in a cup of cold water for half an hour; add three pints of hot milk, one cupful of sugar, yolks of two eggs and three tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate. Cook in a double boiler until the tapioca is tender. Serve with a meringue made from the whites of two eggs and powdered sugar or whipped cream. Cider Pudding. — Mix a cupful of cider, a cupful of molasses, a cupful of suet, a cupful of seeded raisins, half a teaspoonful of salt, one tea- spoonful of soda and flour enough to make a stiff batter. Steam three hours. Baked Cider Pudding. — Cream 1^ tablespoonful butter, add three tablespoonfuls granulated sugar and one egg. Beat all together until very light. Add half 3 cupful of cider. Into one cup of flour put one- 58 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. half teaspoonful cinnamon, one-quarter teaspoonful of ground cloves. Sift this into the batter and add a quarter cupful each of currants and Sultana raisins mixed with a quarter cupful of flour. Add one-quarter teaspoonful baking soda with the last bit of flour and beat briskly for a minute or two. Pour into a well-greased mold and steam one hour and a half; turn out carefully, as the texture is delicate, and serve hot with orange sauce. Cider Bread Pudding. — Butter freely several slices of light bread. Place a layer in pudding dish, cover with a few slices of tart apples; repeat until the dish is full. To a quart of good cider add a cup of sugar and pour over. Bake slowly and serve either hot or cold with cream. Citron Pudding. — A quart of fresh milk, a pint of stale bread crumbs, carefully grated, four eggs, a coffee cup of powdered sugar, half a pound of citron cut fine, a small amount of butter and the juice and rind of one lemon. The yolks and sugar are beaten together and the bread crumbs, milk and lemon rind added by degrees. This is poured into a buttered dish, the citron dropped in and a piece of butter placed over all. The baking required half an hour and the preparation when cold is covered with a meringue made of four whites, a cup of powdered sugar and the juice of a lemon. This is browned slightly before serving. Cocoanut Pudding. — One-half cupful of cocoanut, one-half cupful of bread crumbs, one pint of milk, one egg, one tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and one level saltspoonful of salt. Soak the bread crumbs and cocoanut in the milk for three hours ; mash the bread fine, and add the sugar, salt and melted butter. Beat the white and yolk of the egg separately, and add first the yolk and then the white, stirring well. Place all in a well-buttered pudding dish and bake half an hour. Serve hot without sauce. CoflFee Pudding. — Boil three-fourths of a cup of ground coffee in one quart water 10 minutes ; then add one-half ounce gelatine which had been soaked 15 minutes ; then add one cup sugar ; boil one minute ; then strain through a cloth, set aside to get cold; when almost jellied beat one-half pint cream till near stiff, then add the coffee jelly, gradu- ally beating all the time. When all is well mixed flavor with vanilla, and set in a cold place to harden. It can be served alone, or with cream. The recipe is enough for six people. Colonial Pudding. — When baking bread put a piece of the dough into a pound baking powder tin and bake this for the top of the pudding. Soak some slices of Boston brown bread in scalded milk for two hours. Then beat up well, add a cupful of raisins, a little chopped mixed peel, half a teaspoonful of mixed spice, half a cupful of sugar, and two ounces of beef suet, chopped very fine, or a piece of butter the size of an egg. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 57 Mix all well together, adding cold milk as you mix it, and then put into a buttered baking dish. A lound, shallow dish is the best to use, and it should also be one that can be sent to the table. Now cut the white bread into slices, butter them, and lay them closely together on the top of the pudding mixture. Grate a little nutmeg over all, and bake in a moderate oven for an hour and a half, covering it for an hour and taking off the cover for the half hour so that it may be a nice light brown. Cottage Pudding. — One cup sugar, two eggs, one pint sweet milk, two scant teaspoons baking powder, flavoring and flour to make a batter as stiff as cake dough. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven and serve with milk or hot sauce. To make hot sauce cream together one tablespoon butter and two of flour with half cup of sugar. Slowly add enough boiling water to make it thin and smooth. Then proceed to add boiling water to make it the consistency of thin starch. Boil a few minutes and flavor before serving. Steamed Cranberry Dumplings. — Make the dumplings of good, pre- pared flour, which cannot fail to be light, using one pint of it; add a pinch of salt and mix with milk to a paste just stiff enough to drop by tablespoonfuls on the buttered steamer bottom; steam over boiling water about half an hour. Serve immediately; first carefully split the fluffy rolls open, lightly butter and put between a tablespoonful of stewed cran- berry sauce (warm) ; pour over a foamy sauce made as follows: Three tablespoonfuls of milk, stirred into one beaten egg, a half cupful of sugar and one teaspoonful of flour; beat hard and put into double boiler; pour on slowly a cup of boiling water, stir constantly until the sauce thickens, then add one teaspoonful of butter and one of strawberry flavoring. Cranberry Pot-pie. — Butter a porcelain stewpan or kettle; put in a pint of berries, sprinkled with one cupful sugar; make a pint of biscuit dough, shape into a large ring and lay on the fruit in the kettle; then pour another pint of berries into and around the cup of dough, adding another cupful of sugar; pour one pint of boiling water into the center, cover closely and stew steadily for 20 minutes. When done turn from the kettle on to a platter; serve with cream and sugar. Cranberry Pudding. — Sift and measure one pint of flour; add two teaspoonfuls baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt. Sift again until all are thoroughly blended. Add enough sweet milk to make a soft batter. Stir in one cup of cranberries that have been coarsely chopped. Pour into a pudding bag or a porcelain-lined mold. If the bag is used boil one and one-half hour in plenty of water. If the mold is used, steam the pudding, two hours. Baked Cranberry Pudding.— Put a layer of coarsely crumbled bread in bottom of buttered dish; then a layer of seeded raisins and stewed cran- berries, a few bits of butter, and a few drops of vanilla extract; repeat 58 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. bread, butter, vanilla and fruit until dish is full; have crumbs and but- ter top layer; bake until puffy and brown; then decorate with meringue and place in very moderate oven to set the latter, but not brown. Cream Curds.— Beat four eggs and stir them into a quart of milk slightly warmed. New milk was originally called for. Add a little salt and turn the mixture into a covered earthen pot. A bean pot or cas- serole will answer. Set the pot in a pan of warm water over the fire. As soon as the milk cracks turn it carefully out on a sieve covered with a linen cloth. When the draining is complete put the curds in a glass dish in large spoonfuls. Cup Custards.— In making cup custards, it is a pleasant change to put in each cup, before the custard is poured in, a tablespoonful of either strawberry or raspberry jam. The custard cups should be stood in a baking pan containing hot water while baking; every custard should be cooked in this way. A dale custard is made and baked in the ordi- nary manner; then, after baking, the top is covered with stoned dates, which may be filled with nuts if desired, and rolled in powdered sugar. The dates are covered with a meringue, which is browned in the oven, and the custard is then served cold. Peach Custard. — Slice ripe peaches in a glass dish and sugar them well two hours before they are to be served. Make a boiled custard by taking three eggs, one and one-half pints sweet milk and one tablespoon corn starch and one cup of sugar. Boil after thoroughly beating together in a double boiler till thick and smooth. Pour over peaches and serve while slightly warm. Date Puffs. — Two eggs, one cupful of sugar, one quarter of a cupful of butter, the same of milk, one teaspoonful of baking powder and flour enough to make a thin batter. Stir in one cupful of stoned dates; fill muffin cups half full and steam 30 minutes. Serve with a liquid sauce or with sweetened cream. Economy Pudding. — Take two cupfuls of ginger cookie crumbi (crumbled cookies) and one cupful sweet milk, one cupful molasses, one teaspoonful cinnamon, one-fourth teaspoonful cloves, one-fourth tea- spoonful nutmeg, three eggs well beaten, one-half teaspoonful salt, one cup seeded raisins, one-half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in one table- spoonful of water and two cupfuls of flour. Beat thoroughly, turn into greased pudding pan and steam three hours. Serve with hard sauce. Farina Pudding. — Place a double boiler with one pint of milk over the fire; when it boils, sprinkle in two and a half tablespoonfuls farina, one-quarter teaspoonful salt and two tablespoonfuls sugar. Cook twenty minutes, then add the beaten whites of two eggs, stir for a few minutes, remove from fire, pour into a mold and set aside to cool. Serve with orange sauce made in following manner: Stir the yolki ot THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 59 two eggs with half cupful sugar to a cream, add half cupful orange juice and one tablespoonful lemon juice, add last the beaten white of one egg and serve. Or a vanilla sauce may be served with the pudding. Fruit Puffs. — Fill old cups or baking cans to the depth of two inches with strawberries, sliced apples, or any kind of berries and cover with a layer of sugar. Put in each cup a small lump of butter and completely cover the berries with a batter made of one egg, one pint sweet milk, one and one-half teaspoon baking powder and flour to make rather stiffer than for pancakes. Bake 40 minutes in a steady oven. Gingerbread Pudding. — One cupful of molasses, one cupful of sugar, one-half cupful of melted lard or butter, salt; all kinds of spice — one- fourth teaspoonful of each— one cupful of buttermilk, two scant tea- spoonfuls of soda, one cupful of raisins or sliced apples, flour for stiff batter. Steam in a covered pudding dish two hours. Hot water may be substituted for buttermilk; then use half the quantity of soda. Whipped cream is better than sugar with this. Gooseberry Charlotte. — Stew a pint of ripe or nearly ripe gooseberries for 10 minutes very slowly, not to break them. Cut six or eight slices of stale plain cake; line the bottom of your pudding dish with them; put next a layer of the gooseberries sprinkled thickly with sugar; more cake, more berries, and so on until the dish is full. Cover closely and steam in a moderate oven 20 or 25 minutes. You will find the juice of the berries sufficient moisture. Serve hot with a good pudding sauce. Gooseberry Fool. — According to the original English recipe it was merely gooseberry sauce enriched with cream; American authorities, how- ever, use eggs and butter instead of cream. To make it English fashion, stew either green or ripe gooseberries, after topping and stemming them, until tender, in just enough water to prevent burning, strain through a sieve, sweeten and then stir in as much rich cream as taste dictates; pour into a glass dish, and set away in a cool place. A very delicious dessert is made by using this gooseberry fool as filling for charlottes, lining either one large mold or small individual cups with ladies' fingers or small slices of sponge cake, and then filling with the gooseberry mix- ture, putting whipped cream on the top. The American recipe adds to one quart of ripe gooseberries, stewed and strained, the yolks of four eggs, one cupful of sugar, and one tablespoonful of butter, beaten to- gether until light. Pour into a glass dish, and heap on top the whites of the eggs, beaten with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Gooseberry Pudding. — Green gooseberries mixed with rhubarb make a nice combination for pie or puddings. Of course plenty of sugar is needed. For gooseberry pudding line a mold with baking powder or suet crust (preferably the latter); fill with gooseberries alone or mixed with rhubarb, sugar liberally, add a little water, and cover; steam three hour*. 60 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Graham Pudding.— Make a batter of a cupful of molasses, a cupful Df sweet milk, a cupful of seeded and chopped raisins, two cupfuls of graham flour and two teaspoonfuls of soda. Steam for three hours. Eat with a sauce made of a tablespoonful of butter creamed with half a cupful of sugar and the stiffly beaten white of an egg and lemon to flavor. Graham Date Pudding.— Stone a cupful of dates and add them to a pint of boiling water, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and a pinch of salt. Set on the fire and stir in graham flour to make a moderately thick por- ridge. Cook thoroughly, set away to get cold. Serve with whipped cream. Graham Plum Pudding.— One egg, one cup molasses, one cup sweet milk, one teaspoonful soda, one-half teaspoonful salt, two cupfuls gra- ham flour, one-half cupful raisins. Mix and steam three hours. Serve with this sauce: One tablespoonful butter, one tablespoonful sugar, one tablespoonful white flour, the yolk of one egg. Add hot water and let it boil, then white of egg and flavor. Grape Pudding. — Soak one-half a box of gelatine in one-half a cup of cold water, until soft; add one cup of boiling water, juice of one lemon, one cup of sugar and one pint of grape juice. Set aside to cool until it begins to stiffen, then fold in the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Run into a mold. When ready to serve unmold and garnish with whipped cream. A bunch of grapes may be placed on the top of the mold. This will serve eight persons. Grape Pudding No. 2. — This is an old-fashioned dish which may be either boiled or baked. Delaware grapes are best for it. Wash, pick and flour well before putting into the batter. A heaping pint of picked- grapes makes a fair-sized pudding. For the batter beat four eggs very light, whites and yolks separate, mix smoothly with the yolks half a pint of milk and one pint of flour sifted twice. Add half a cupful of butter beaten to a cream, and last of all the whites of eggs, stirring them in with long, swift strokes, all the same way. The grapes go in at the very last, and the bag or the pan ought to be ready before they are added. Boil the pudding three hours, and serve with a rich grape juice sauce. For a baked pudding the white of one egg may be kept out, and used for a meringue. Serve with the same sauce. Huckleberry Blanc Mange. — Heat one quart of milk in a double boiler (reserving one-third of a cupful with which to mix three tablespoonfuls of cornstarch). Add one-half cupful of sugar and a pinch of salt. When the milk is scalding hot, stir in the cornstarch, and cook for five minutes. Pour this on the well-beaten whites of two eggs and beat thoroughly. When cool pour a little of it into a wetted mold, strew over this fresh blueberries, then another portion of the blanc mange, then more of the blueberries (using a pint in all), finish with the blanc THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 81 mange and set on ice to harden. When ready to serve turn out on a flat glass or china jelly plate and serve with either whipped or plain cream, slightly sweetened. Huckleberry Pudding.— Ingredients : One pint of New Orleans mo- lasses, a quart of huckleberries, a teaspoonful of baking soda, a teaspoon- ful each of powdered cinnamon, ginger and cloves and 1'/^ teacupful of flour. Put the molasses in a bowl, dissolve soda in a little water and stir in molasses; add spice, fruit and flour and pour the mixture in the pudding mold. Tie the lid on and set it in a pot of boiling water for three hours. Huckleberry Indian Pudding. — Mix together two quarts of warm milk, three-fourths cupful finely-chopped suet, two tablespoonfuls molasses, a half teaspoonful of soda, a teaspoonful of salt and enough Indian meal to make a stiff batter. Add at the last two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, and a quart of huckleberries dredged with flour. Boil for two and one-half hours in a buttered bag or mold, never allowing the water to stop boiling, and serve hot with foamy sauce. Hulnah Pudding. — Wash a cupful of rice and add to it a quart of milk, a cupful of sugar and a teaspoonful of cornstarch dissolved in a little cold milk. Flavor with quarter of a nutmeg grated. Bake an hour and a half, stirring down occasionally, but do not stir down the skin which forms on top ; then let it brown. When done take from the oven, remove the brown skin and when the pudding is cool lay over the top preserved strawberries or cherries. Make a meringue with the whites of three eggs and three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and heap over the top of the fruit. Set in the oven a moment to brown a delicate color. Eat with cream. Indian Pudding. — One pint of skim-raiWa scalded. While hot stir in smoothly two cupfuls of Indian meal, add a little salt, a teaspoonful of cinnamon and half a cupful of molasses, also the same of sugar. Stir well. Now add a quart of cold skim-milk, and mix lightly as pos- sible. Bake slowly for two hours. Your finished product will be fra- grant, rich, golden, trembling in its sweet jellied whey. Now add the last touch. When you serve it, put a heaping spoonful of nice apple sauce flavored with nutmeg over the top, and if you like another spoon- ful of whipped cream over that. Indian Apple Pudding. — Take one-half of a cup of molasses, one quart of milk, one teaspoonful of salt, three scant cups of pared and sliced apples, to which add a quarter of a teaspoonful of ginger and cinna- mon. When the milk boils in the double boiler, pour it slowly on the meal. Cook half an hour in the boiler, stirring often. Now add the other ingredients; pour into a deep, well greased pudding dish and bake fclowly. Eat with cream or maple syrup. _ «3 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Boiled Indian Pudding. — One cupful of milk, one cupful of com meal, one egg, one tablespoonful of sugar, one tablespoonful of beef suet minced fine and strings removed, one-half teaspoonful each of salt and ground cinnamon, one-third saltspoonful of soda in the milk. (Sour milk may be used, in which case take one-half teaspoonful of soda.) Heat the milk with the soda ; when boiling stir in the meal, salt and suet and set aside to cool. When cold beat in the spice, sugar and whipped eggs and stir vigorously. Boil in a well-greased brown bread mold for three hours. Leave plenty of room for the pudding to swell. Serve with hard sauce or caramel, maple sugar or molasses. The recipe may be doubled and divided in two molds for steaming — one to be set aside in a cool place and used in a week. A cupful of chopped, floured rai- sins, dates, or cooked dried apricots may be added. For molasses sauce, use one cupful of molasses, one and a half tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, a dash each of nutmeg and cinnamon. Boil molasses, spices and butter five minutes, remove from fire and add lemon juice. Serve very hot. New England Indian Pudding. — Take one pint of milk, scald it and pour it over two heaping tablespoonfuls of Indian meal, in which a saltspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-quarter of a whole nutmeg grated, have been blended. Stir briskly, and when per- fectly smooth add one-third cup of chopped suet, one-third cup of mo- lasses; when this is well mixed add one pint of cold milk. Beat well, turn into a greased dish, set it in another containing warm water and bake three hours in a moderate oven. Serve hot with hard sauce. This pudding will look as if it had cream and eggs in it, and it should be stirred gently three times during the first hour and a half. Old-JFashioned Indian Pudding.— One quart of milk, one quart of Indian meal, three eggs, three heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar, one tea- spoonful of salt and one-half pound of beef suet chopped into powder. Scald the milk and while boiling hot stir in the meal and suet with the salt. When cold, add the yolks, beaten light with the sugar, then the whites. Dip your bag in hot water, flour it and fill half full with the mixture, as it will swell very much. Boil five hours. Eat very hot, with butter and sugar. This pudding is even better when baked in a well-buttered dish for an hour and a half. Bake, covered, for an hour and a quarter, then brown. Kenilworth Pudding.— Two cupfuls of light chopped bread, one-half cupful chopped suet, taking care to free it from all strings, one-half cupful of molasses, one egg, one cupful raisins, seeded or the seedless, one cupful sweet milk, with one-half teaspoonful soda dissolved in it! one-half teaspoonful powdered cloves, one teaspoonful cinnamon and • THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 63 pinch of mace and salt. Mix thoroughly and boil two hours in a tin pudding dish. Eat with foamy sauce. Lemon Pudding.— Grate the rinds of two lemons and squeeze over them the juice to keep moist. Beat together two eggs, one and one- half cups sugar, two tablespoons cornstarch or flour, tablespoon butter and enough cold water to thoroughly moisten. Place in double boiler and add one and one-half pint boiling water, stirring till the mass is smooth and thick. Just before removing from fire add the rind and juice of the lemons and beat thoroughly. Cover with a meringue made of one white of egg and two tablespoons of sugar and then slightly brown in the oven. Maple Custard. — Scald one pint of rich milk in a double boiler and when hot add a tablespoonful of cornstarch mixed with one-third of a cupful of cold milk. Just before taking from the fire add two table- spoonfuls of fine-shaved maple sugar and the beaten yolks of three eggs. Stir until smooth, adding when cool a pinch of salt and half a tea- spoonful of vanilla. Use whites of the eggs with sugar for frosting. By including whites of eggs in the custard and omitting the cornstarch a delicious cup-custard can be made. Molasses Bread Pudding. — Stir into one quart of milk one pint of bread crumbs, one cup of molasses, one cup of raisins, seeded, cinna- mon and nutmeg to flavor. Bake in a slow oven for three hours, stir- ring a little when first heated. Serve hot with cream. Peach Roll. — Into four cups of flour sift two teaspoons of baking powder, add two cups sour cream, one teaspoon soda and a pinch of salt. Roll out thin and cover with canned peaches which have been drained from the juice. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut the dough into strips and roll up. Bake or steam one-half hour. If baked, pour a little water into the pan. Serve with the reserved juice or with cream and sugar. Peach Tapioca. — Soak one-half cupful of tapioca over night in plenty of cold water. Cover the bottom of a buttered pudding dish with a layer of canned peaches, pour over this the tapioca, which has been sweetened with one tablespoonful of sugar, put over this another layer of the peaches and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Beat the whites of two eggs until very stiff, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, spread this over the peaches and return to the oven until a delicate brown. Add more sugar to the juice left from the canned peaches, beat one-half cupful of cream until light, pour gradually over it the peach juice, beat all together and serve with dessert. This dish is good served either cold or hot. Pear Charlotte. — Slightly moisten six slices of stale bread with cold water, spread them with soft butter, put half of them in the bottom of 64 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. a buttered pudding dish, spread over them two cupfuls of -finely chopped ripe pears and sprinkle with four tablespoonfuls of sugar, a grating of nutmeg and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Lay over them the re- mainder of the bread, another two cupfuls of the chopped pears and nutmeg, sugar and lemon juice as before. Pour over one cupful of thin maple syrup, cover closely and bake in a slow oven for one hour. Serve hot with whipped cream or maple syrup. Pear Pudding. — Put one quart of canned pears into a baking dish; add a finger length of stick cinnamon and three cloves. If the pears have not been sweetened sufficiently when put up add sugar to make them quite sweet, teaspoonful of butter and dredge a teaspoonful of flour over the top. Place the dish on the range where it will heat while you mix a pint of flour- into a biscuit dough according to well-known directions ; make a very soft dough ; pat into shape with the hands and cover the pears. Bake about 25 minutes. There should be rich juice enough to moisten the crust. If preferred it may have plain cream served with it. Persimmon Pudding. — One quart of persimmons mashed fine with the hands, and every seed removed. Add one quart of sweet milk, one egg, one tablespoonful of butter, one-half teaspoonful each of cinnamon, nut- meg and ginger, and half as much of allspice and cloves, half cupful of sugar. Pour into a buttered baking dish, and bake till well set, as if for custard. Eat hot or cold; delicious either way. Ejiglish Plum Pudding. — ^One pound stoned raisins; one pound of suet, chopped fine; J^ pound of stale bread crumbs; one- fourth pound of brown sugar; grated rind of one lemon; % pound of flour; one pound cleaned currants ; yi nutmeg, grated ; five eggs ; one cup milk ; one-half pound chopped candied peel. Mix all the dry ingredients ; then beat the eggs, add the milk to them, pour over the other materials, and mix well; it will require very hard stirring, as it is stiff. Put in greased molds holding one quart each, cover with well-floured cloth, and boil for six hours. Store away, and when used boil for six hours more. Plum Pudding. — Fill a deep baking pan to the depth of two inches with seeded plums, well sugared. Dot with bits of butter and put over the top a thick, good light biscuit crust with holes for the steam to escape. Bake 40 minutes and serve with the juice from canned plums or cream. This is good pudding when canning is going on to use up the surplus juice. Seeded grapes, peaches, apples or cherries may be used instead of plums. Plum Roll. — Sift together one pint of flour, one teaspoonful of bak- ing powder and one-half teaspoonful of salt; rub into the prepared flour one tablespoonful of butter and make into soft dough with milk or water; roll out quite thin, sprinkle with one cup of seeded chopped rai- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 65 sms, one-fourth of a cup of chopped citron and half^a teaspoonful of cinnamon; roll up and steam for 40 minutes; serve hot, with hard sauce. Poor Man's Pudding.— One cupful sour milk, one cupful of mo- lasses, one cupful of cold water, two cupfuls Indian meal, half a cup of butter, one egg, one teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one saltspoonful of salt. Beat all together thoroughly. Pour into a greased pudding pan and bake two hours in a moderately hot oven. Poverty Pudding.— Chop one cup of suet very fine; stone one cup of raisins; add one cup of molasses to the suet; then add milk, one cupful; add one-half teaspoonful of salt, three cupfuls of sifted flour and one teaspoonful of cinnamon; beat hard for three minutes; add raisins well floured and three level teaspoonfuls of baking powder; turn into a greased mold and boil three hours; serve with hard sauce. Prune Sago. — After washing one-half pound of prunes put them to soak till well puffed out, then put them into a stewpan with enough cold water to cover them. Cook till soft; pass the fruit through a fine sieve, after stoning it. Mix with it some pearl sago that has been well boiled. There should be equal quantities of fruit pulp and sago. Heat up, but do not boil ; if too stiff thin with a little milk or water, season with lemon juice; it will be sweet enough for ordinary palates. Pour into a jelly mold and when cold turn on a glass dish. Serve with whipped cream or boiled custard. Pumpkin Custard.- — One quart of hot milk, a large cup of strained squash or pumpkin, a teaspoonful of butter and one of salt, a cupful of sugar in which half a teaspoonful of cinnamon and a pinch of ginger have been mixed, and three eggs beaten light. Mix pumpkin and milk, add other ingredients, the eggs last, pour into custard cups which must be set in a pan of hot water. Bake until firm, about half an hour, testing with a knife blade. If it comes out clean they are done. Serve ice-cold. Queen's Pudding. — Take about a quart of good, rich, sweet milk, and half a pint of bread crumbs, minus the crust. Milk and bread are scalded together, and cooled enough to work through the colander. In this way the bread is worked smooth, and is thoroughly mixed with the milk. To this mixture are added the yolks of four eggs and the whites of two, about two-thirds of a cup of sugar, and one spoonful of butter. Beat the ingredients together very thoroughly, for the success of the pudding depends much on the beating. Flavor with nutmeg. Bake it in a very moderately hot oven, like a custard pie, which should never come to a boil. When baked, beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth and add three or four spoonfuls of granulated sugar for the frosting. Spread a good layer of jelly upon the pudding, and over this spread the frosting, and set in the oven till it browns, which takes but a very few minutes if the oven is hot. To be eaten with cream and sugar. 66 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Raisin Steamed Pudding.— Blend a piece of butter the size of an egg with one cupful of sugar, to this add one beaten egg, half a cupful of milk, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, sifted with two cupfuls of flour, and one cupful of seeded raisins dredged in flour. Fill cups par- tially full with the batter and steam three-quarters of an hour. Serve either with boiled sauce or sweetened cream. Baked Raspberry Pudding.— Line a small pudding dish with rich puff paste and prick with a fork. Bake a light brown and set it aside until cold. Beat very light the whites of four eggs, add slowly one cup of sugar, and lastly stir in a quart of red raspberries. Heap this lightly into the cooked shell in the pudding dish, return to the oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes. Have the oven just moderately hot. Boiled Raspberry Pudding. — Open a can of canned or preserved rasp- berries and drain off the liquor, saving it for sauce for the pudding. Make a rich biscuit dough ; roll this- into a sheet a half inch thick, spread - thickly with the berries, sprinkle bits of butter over these and roll up the sheet of dough as yoti would a sheet of music. Put into a floured cloth and boil for three hours. Add to the raspberry liquor a little sugar and boil tip once. Take the pudding from the cloth, lay on a dish and pour the steaming sauce over it. Red Pudding. — A pint of red currants, a pint of raspberries, and a pint of cold water; mix, and add sugar to taste. Thus, if a rather sour pudding is desired, two teacupfuls of sugar will be sufficient to sweeten these ingredients, but if, on the other hand, it is a sweeter pudding that is required, the amount of sugar must be increased correspondingly. To this mixture add cinnamon — two sticks, each about three inches in length will be suflScient — already broken into bits, and when all these ingre- dients have boiled together for half an hour in a porcelain-lined stew- pan, press the juice through a sieve into another receptacle, and, adding a teacupful of blanched almonds and citron that have been chopped finely together, cook again for another 20 minutes. When nearly done, thicken with cornstarch. Set aside in a wet mold until it has had time to be- come hard; then serve it in slices covered thickly with rich cream. Rice Pudding. — Have one pint of rice boiled done and still hot. Into this stir one cup of raisins to swell and begin cooking in the hot mass. When nearly cold beat together three eggs, one quart of milk, one cup sugar and vanilla to taste. Add the rice and raisins, stirring till smooth and free from lumps. This pudding will have a delicious thick custard on top of the layer of rice if properly made and is better than the old style of nearly solid pudding. Bake one hour and serve with sweet milk. Lemon Rice Pudding. — Boil a cup of well washed rice in a quart of milk until very soft. Add to ii while hot the beaten yoIks of three eggs, the juice and grated rind of two lemons, eight tablespoonfuls of sugar THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 67 and a pinch of salt. If too thick, add a little milk. It should be rather thicker than boiled custard. Turn it into a pudding dish, beat the whites of the eggs very stiff with six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, spread over the top and brown delicately in a slow oven. Rhubarb Cobbler.— Fill a deep, buttered, earthenware pie dish with rhubarb cut into pieces an inch long. Make a batter of eggs, flour, milk and salt, allowing a large tablespoonful of flour to each egg and milk enough to make a batter thick as for fritter batter. Pour this over the rhubarb and bake until the pudding is light and nicely browned. Rhubarb Puffs. — One cupful of finely chopped rhubarb, one cupful of sugar, two^ tablespoonfuls of butter creamed with the sugar, add two well-beaten eggs, one-quarter of a cup of milk, flour with one teaspoonful of baking powder well mixed into it, to make a thick batter. Fill well- greased cups half full and steam for half an hour. The sauce to serve with these puffs is made by creaming together one-half cupful of pow- dered sugar and a small half cupful of butter, then add by degrees one whipped egg, beating until perfectly smooth. The last thing before serv- ing stir in three tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Boiled Rhubarb Pudding. — Make three cups of flour into dough as for baking powder biscuit. Roll one-fourth inch thick; cover with rhu- barb that has been cut in inch pieces and scalded. Wipe dry before spreading on the crust. Sprinkle liberally with sugar and add a dash of nutmeg if desired. Make a roll of the dough and cook in steamer, or tie up in floured cloth and drop in boiling water. Cook 30 to 45 minutes; serve with foamy sauce. Rhubarb Bread Pudding. — Peel the rhubarb and cut it into small pieces. Cover the bottom of a pudding dish with pieces of buttered bread. Over this put a layer of rhubarb. Pour over it a half-teaspoon- ful of lemon juice, and cover liberally with sugar. Add another layer of bread and butter, rhubarb, lemon and sugar. Repeat until the dish is full, covering the last layer of rhubarb with well-buttered bread crumbs. Cover the dish, and steam for one hour. Then remove the lid and bake it slowly until it is nicely browned. Rhubarb Tapioca. — Prepare the rhubarb as for stewing; place in a deep baking dish and add sugar enough to sweeten well, a little shredded orange peel, salt and dot with bits of butter. Add one quart of water to half a cupful of fine tapioca. Add a pinch of salt and cook in a double boiler for 15 minutes. Then pour over the rhubarb, cover the dish and bake half an hour. Serve with sweetened whipped cream. Sour Milk Pudding. — Soak four slices of stale bread in a little milk or water until soft. Then stir in a quart of rich, sour milk, a cupful of molasses, a tablespoonful of melte-d butter, a teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, saltspoonful of salt. Bake slowly three hours. 68 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Steamed .Pudding. — One cupful molasses, one egg, one cupful hot water, one teaspoonful saleratus, one tablespoonful butter, one cupful raisins, stoned, a little salt, flour enough to make stiff as cake, steam two hours. With this -pudding use the following sauce which is de- licious : Cream until very light one cupful of brown sugar, and nearly cne-half cupful butter, a little salt, and one-fourth teaspoonful of va- nilla. Just before serving beat in the unbeaten white of one egg. Strawberry Dumplings. — They will require one egg, a cup of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of melted butter, a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, and flour enough to make a batter that will be a trifle thicker than that which is commonly used for griddle cakes. Pour a little of this batter into biittered tins, or porcelain cups ; place a number of well- sweetened berries in the center and cover them with more batter; then steam for about half an hour. Serve with a sauce made by mashing some strawberries and incorporating them into an ordinary hard butter- and-sugar sauce. Strawberry Pudding. — One cup cleaned strawberries, place in an earthen bowl, set in steamer over a pot of cold water, place over the fire; while this is heating and coming to a boil make a batter of the follow- ing: One heaping cup of flour with two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one-half teaspoonful of salt; sift all together two or three times, then add sweet milk or water to make a soft batter that will drop easily from spoon. Lift the lid of steamer and drop quickly over the strawberries, covering them all over nicely. Steam for 40 minutes; do not let the water stop boiling. This quantity makes enough pudding for four persons. Eat either with cream and sugar or a sauce made as follows : Break one egg in a dish, add one heaping tablespoonful of granulated sugar, beat light, then add dessertspoonful of flour and a pinch of salt; beat well again; then add slowly boiling water until the sauce is of the required thickness (about like nice cream) ; flavor to taste. This sauce is very nice with any kind of .pudding, especially cot- tage pudding. Sweet Potato Pudding. — One quart grated raw sweet potato, one quart milk, three eggs, two cupfuls sugar, piece of butter the size of an egg, one-half teaspoonful of salt, cinnamon and allspice to taste. Mix well, put in a buttered earthen pudding dish, and bake two hours in a moderate oven. Steamed Sweet Potato Pudding.— Take two cupfuls of grated raw potatoes, one cupful of grated carrots, two cupfuls of currants, one cupful of raisins stoned and chopped, one cupful of minced suet, one cup- ful of sugar, one teaspoonful each of salt and soda, and flour enough to make a stiff batter. Place in a greased mold and steam two hours. Serve with boiled sauce. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 69 Suet Pudding.— One cupful molasses, one cupful beef suet chopped fine, one cupful sour milk, one teaspoonful saleratus, one cupful stoned raisins, one-half teaspoonful salt, four cupfuls flour. Mix thoroughly. Put in a buttered basin in the steamer over a kettle of boiling water. Steam for four hours. Do not disturb while steaming; at least not for the first hour. French Tapioca Pudding. — Scald one pint of milk over hot water. Stir in one-third of a cup of a quick cooking tapioca, mixed with a few grains of salt and one-fourth a cup of sugar. Stir and cook about ten minutes, then add very gradually to three eggs (or two whole eggs and the whites of two more), beaten very light and thick. Also add a grating of lemon rind and a tablespoonful of butter. Turn into a tur- ban-shaped mold, thoroughly buttered and dusted with sugar, and bake, standing in a pan of water, one hour. Serve cold, turned from the mold and surrounded with a fruit sauce. This is a rich, yet delicate pudding. Taylor Pudding. — Stir into a cup of sweet milk a level teaspoonful of soda and a teaspoonful of salt. Beat into the milk a cup of Porto Rican molasses and stir tlie wet ingredients slowly into two cups of well- sifted flour. Beat the batter well and pour it into a greased cake tin. It will be about the consistency of cake batter. Bake it in a hot oven for about thirty or forty minutes. When it is nearly done prepare a liquid sauce, as follows : Put in a saucepan five tablespoonfuls of sugar and 10 tahlespoonfuls of water. Let it boil for four minutes and then add three level tablespoonfuls of butter and flavor well with nutmeg. When the pudding is done turn it out on a platter and carry • it to the table. Serve it cut in thick slices with the liquid sauce. Yorkshire Pudding. — This is a batter pudding cooked where it will receive the drippings from the roasting meat, and it is very good; as originally made it was cooked in front of an open fire, where it would receive drippings from the meat cooking upon a spit. About an hour before the roast of beef is done drain off the gravy, leaving about two tablespoonfuls in the dripping pan. The meat should be laid upon a rack over the pan, so as to raise it up. The pudding requires three eggs, one pint of milk, six large tablespoonfuls of flour, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and two dashes of pepper. Beat the eggs until light, then add the milk. Put the flour into, a bowl, moisten it gradually with the eggs and milk, beat until smooth ; strain it through a sieve to avoid lumps, add the pepper and salt, pour it into the dripping pan and bake. Cut into squares or strips, and serve around the meat. CHAPTER VI. APPLES. Apple ! Apple ! Call for Apple ! Everywhere you go ! Closely watch the Wll of fare, And If apple is not there, Then proceed at once to pare, Cook and landlord down with care. Since apples play a large part in farmhouse economy, it has been thought well to group recipes for their use together, rather than sepa- rating them in various chapters. A few other apple recipes will he found, however, included among jellies and preserves, cakes and pastry. Baked Apples. — ^Pare and core cooking apples; put in a granite pan; put over them a cupful of sugar, butter the size of a walnut; cover; bake until almost done; take the cover off and let them brown. When apples are baked in a covered earthen dish or casserole flavor and appearance are at their best. Pare and core the apples, sprinkle them with sugar and a little powdered cloves and cinnamon. Add a little water, cover the dish, and bake a long time in a slow oven. The apples cook to a deep red, and are very tender and rich in flavor. Honey is a desirable addi- tion to baked -apples. Wipe or peel the apples, and remove the core without running the knife clear through. Into this hollow put a bit of butter and a teaspoon ful of honey, and bake after the ordinary manner. Baked Apples in Jelly. — Peel, core and quarter a quart of apples, add half a cupful of water and three-fourths cupful of sugar, put in a cov- ered earthen dish and cook three to four hours in a slow oven, when they should be dark red in color. Then mix with the apples a cupful of liquid lemon jelly, and set in a mold to harden. These baked apples are also very nice eaten warm without the jelly. Fancy Baked Apples. — ^Peel and core medium-sized tart apples. Put them in a baking dish and pour half a cup of water over them. Set in a hot oven, and when the apples are heated, sprinkle with enough sugar to coat each and bake until tender. Make a syrup of one cup of water, half a cup of sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and a teaspoonful of the grated rind. Add two tablespoonfuls of chopped raisins, two of chopped candied cherries, two of chopped candied pineapple, and two of chopped almonds, and when the sugar is dissolved set at the back of the stove and let cook slowly for half an hour. When the apples are done put in little glass saucers, taking care not to break them. Fill with the cooked sweets and pour the syrup over them. Serve cold with whipped cream. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 71 Boiled Apples in Syrup.— Rub the apples clean, but do not peel, and stick four cloves into each. Put in. earthen dish, half cover with cold water, and add one cup of sugar to each pint of water. Place upon stove and cook until apple skins crack; remove apples, then boil down syrup until it is like jelly, and pour over the fruit. Apple Butter. — Apple butter should be made from new cider, fresh from the press, and not yet fermented. Fill a porcelain-lined kettle with cider and boil until reduced one-half. Then boil another kettleful in the same way, and so continue until you have sufficient quantity. To every four gallons of boiled cider allow a half-bushel of nice juicy apples, pared, cored and quartered. The cider should be boiled the day before you make the apple butter. Fill a very large kettle with the boiled cider and add as many apples as can be kept moist. Stir fre- quently, and when the apples are soft beat with a wooden stick until they are reduced to a pulp. Cook and stir continuously until the consistency is that of soft marmalade and the color is a very dark brown. Have boiled cider at hand in case it becomes too thick, and apples if too thin. Twenty minutes before you take it from the fire add ground cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste. It requires no sugar. When cold, put into stone jars and cover closely. Apple Dumplings. — Pare, quarter and core tart apples. Put one table- spoonful of baking powder in one quart of flour, add one cupful of lard and half a teaspoonful of salt and mix with sweet milk, make stiffer than for biscuits, roll and cut in squares and put around the pieces of apple. Into a deep pudding dish put one quart of water, one cupful of sugar and a small lump of butter. Set it on top of the stove and let it come to a boil. Then put in the dumplings and bake in a brisk oven one hour. Apple Dumplings with Bread Dough. — Take out about a pint of bread dough in the morning when iL is ready to go in the baking pans, more or less according to the size of the family; add shortening half the size of an egg, mix through the dough and set aside until an hour and a half before dinner. Then cut the dough into as many pieces as there are persons to serve and roll out. Pare and core good, tart apples, set one on each sheet of dough, putting a teaspoonful of sugar and a small lump of butter in the place of the core, fold the dough about the apple, pinch- ing it tightly together, set them in a deep earthen dish and let rise half an hour; then sprinkle a tablespoonful of sugar over them and pour on one cupful of cold water and bake half an hour in a hot oven. It may be well to cover them with a greased paper to keep them from getting too brown or crusty. Eat warm with cream and sugar or any sauce preferred. Also excellent steamed. Boiled Apple Dumplings.— Pare eight fine apples and cut them in quarters, remove the cores. Roll the suet crust out half an inch thick and 73 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cut into round pieces. Dust each piece of apple with a little sugar and cinnamon and place four sections on each round of paste. Gather up the edges and pinch them together over the apple. When all the dump- lings are made, drop them into a kettle of boiling water and let them boil gently for an hour. Take them up on a hot dish and serve with plain, sweetened cream. If you want to serve the dumplings "just as grandmother did," sweeten the cream with "treacle." Kenilworth Ranch Dumplings.— Take a quart of flour, one cup of good lard and half-cup of butter ; rub this into the flour after it is sifted with one teaspoonful of baking powder; add enough milk to make a soft dough. This is rolled out quickly into a sheet an inch thick and then cut in squares. Into each square is laid a half apple, peeled and cored, and the crust tucked around it. Have ready in a dripping pan a syrup made of one cupful of sugar to one of water; lay the dumplings in; bake in quick oven 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with an old-fashioned molasses sauce. Farmhouse Apples. — Peel and core tart apples, fill the space from which the cores were taken with seeded raisins, bits of shredded citron, sugar and a little lemon peel; stand them in a baking pan, pour over them half a cup of water and dust with about two tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar. Bake in a slow oven until perfectly tender, then sprinkle bread crumbs over the top; dust again with sugar, and leave them in the oven for 10 minutes. While they are baking mix a table- spoonful of flour with a half cup sugar; pour over half a pint of boiling water, and boil a moment; take from the fire, and pour slowly over one well-beaten egg; add the juice of half a lemon. Pour over the apples and serve warm. Apple Fool. — Peel, core and quarter six large apples, cook them until tender with three or four cloves, a small piece of lemon peel, half a cupful of sugar and a teacupful of water. Remove the cloves and lemon peel, beat well with a fork and stir in one-fourth pint of thick, sweet cream. Cut any kind of delicate cake into rather thin slices and place a layer in the bottom of a glass dish. Pour over it diluted red currant jelly, then cover with a thick layer of the apple fool, then another layer of cake and currant jelly, and heap the remainder of the apple fool over the top. With each helping serve a large spoonful of whipped cream flavored with almond. Hidden Apples. — Butter a deep tin pan, cover the bottom with a layer of pared and quartered apples. In another dish, beat an egg well, put in enough sugar to sweeten the apples, add a little water, thicken with powdered bread crumbs, flavor highly with lemon. Pour this mixture over apples and bake until the apples are done, which will take about 20 minutes in a hot oven. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 73 Apple Johnny Cake.— Mix two cupfuls of cornmeal, a saltspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of cream of .tartar, a scant half-cupful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water and milk to make a thin batter. Stir in three sour apples that have been peeled and cut into thin slices. Bake in a shallow tin in a moderate oven for 35 minutes. Apple Kisses. — Select six small, smooth appleS. Pare, cut in half and remove the core. Mix one-half a cupful of sugar with one-third cupful of butter. Place this mixture between the halves of the apples. Place in a baking dish with a little water and a teaspoonful of vanilla extract Bake till apples are soft. Serve with their own juice for sauce. Apple Pancakes. — Measure two cupfuls of sifted flour; add half a teaspoonful of salt and sift again. Then stir in gradually two cupfuls of cold water and the beaten yolks of three or four eggs, making a per- fectly smooth batter. When well mixed, fold in the whites of the eggs beaten to a froth. Place a tablespoonful of fat in an iron frying pan and when hot pour in enough batter ;to cover the bottom of the pan quarter of an inch thick; have a few nicely-flavored apples, pared, cored and finely minced; sprinkle a layer of the apple over the cake (not too much, or the pancake is liable to break). As the cake cooks, slip a flexible knife under it, lifting it so it will not burn, and shake the pan gently to and fro. When the pancake is a light brown on under side, slip it on to a hot plate, put a piece of butter on top of the apples, hold the frying pan over it and deftly turn the cake back into the pan and cover and cook until the apples are soft. Then slip it out of pan on to a hot plate; set the plate over hot water to keep the cake warm and con- tinue frying up remainder of the batter in same manner. Serve them separately or piled, one upon the other. Serve with s.ugar sprinkled over them and oranges or lemons cut in halves for squeezing over them. This quantity of batter should make four cakes. Do not have your pan too large. Apple Custard Pancakes. — Beat four eggs light, adding to them a half pint of cream and a little ground cinnamon. Peel and core the apples, cut them in thin slices and fry them tender in a little butter. When browned slightly, turn them over, pour in the custard and fry to a light brown. Turn out on a hot flat dish and sprinkle powdered sugar over the pancake. Apple Pie. — As a variation from the ordinary pie with two crusts, slice apples into a deep earthen pie dish, sweeten and flavor to taste, and cover with a top crust only. The absence of a soggy bottom crust is usually viewed as an advantage. Apple Custard Pie. — Peel and cut apples very fine. Line a deep pan -with' crust, put in the apples; scatter over them small pieces of butter and a covering of granulated sugar. Then pour over all a cupful of 74 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. sweet cream and bake until the apples are cooked. Serve just before it is quite cold. Dutch Apple Pie.— Make a rich puff paste and line deep pie plate. Core and cut into eighths as many rich tart apples as will fill the pie plate by laying each piece of apple with the curved side up, just as close together as can be placed; over the top sprinkle half cup light brown sugar, half teaspoonful cinnamon and tablespoonful flour. Dot bits of butter over the top and add half cup water; bake slowly and carefully until apples are tender and water absorbed. Serve warm with cheese. Dried Apple Pie. — Cook a large handful of dried apples quickly in a tightly-covered granite basin in a little less than a quart of water. Six halves of dried apricots are cut fine and cooked in very little water. Fill in the apple, then the apricot, together with water they were cooked in; add a small cupful of sugar, and nutmeg, making the pie with two crusts, and bake quickly. Apple Pot-pie. — Serve this with maple-sugar sauce. Half fill a deep dish with sour apples which have been quartered, pared and cored. Pour over them a little boiling water and place in a hot oven until tender. Make a crust as for baking powder biscuit, roll out an inch thick; lay it over the apples and return to the oven for about 40 minutes or until the crust is done. For the sauce cook together two tablespoonfuls of butter and one teaspoonful of flour, add half a cupful of maple syrup and a tiny pinch of mace, and cook until clear and smooth. Apple Pudding. — Make a dough as for baking powder biscuit; roll out one-quarter inch thick. Peel and slice good tart apples rather thin; put them in the middle of the dough, put on them half a cupful of sugar, tablespoonful of butter, and nutmeg. Wet the edges, lap over the apples well to keep the juice in, put over the apples a little water, put pudding in a cheesecloth bag, and boil two hours steady. Eat with good cream. Baked Apple Pudding. — Butter a granite or enameled pie tin and fill it with pared and quartered Duchess apples, cut in rather thick slices. Cover with a thick batter made from a cup of flour, in which a teaspoon- ful of baking powder, a saltspoon of salt and a tablespoon of butter have been well mixed. Add two-thirds of a cup of sweet milk, or sour milk in which a quarter of a teaspoon of soda has been dissolved; we prefer the sour milk. Only about half as much baking powder is required with the sour milk as when sweet milk is used, but we always use some and find that it makes the food lighter and better than where soda alone is used. When the pudding is done reverse it on a plate, spread with butter and sprinkle over it a half cup of sugar, add a few gratings of nutmeg. Eat with cream. Canadian Pudding.— One quart of quartered sour apples, one-half cup- ful of sugar, one-fourth cupful of water, a pinch of grated nutmeg. Bake THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 75 these ingredients together 20 minutes in a deep pudding dish ; then remove and pour over the apples the following batter : One cupful of flour, one tablespoonful sugar, one-fourth teaspoonful salt, one beaten egg, two tablespoonfuls of soft butter. Return to the oven, increase the heat and bake for 20 minutes more. Serve with maple sauce made as follows: Add to one thoroughly-beaten egg one cupful of grated maple sugar, one cupful of whipped cream, one-half teaspoonful of vanilla. In Vermont. where this recipe was obtained, a bowl of grated maple sugar invariably accompanied most desserts. Pudding sauces were always well covered with it. Caramel Pudding. — Peel, core and slice enough sour apples to measure one pint. Cook them slowly in a saucepan in two tablespoonfuls of butter until soft; then add one cupful of sugar, one-quarter of a tea- spoonful of cinnamon, two tablespoonfuls of caramel and simmer for twenty minutes. ]\Iix together one and one-half cupfuls of stale bread crumbs, one-half cupful cf crumbled stale macaroons and one-half cupful of seedless raisins. Butter a deep dish and fill with alternate layers of the apples and bread mixture, having crumbs on top. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a rather hot oven, and serve cold with whipped cream. Eureka Pudding. — Put one or two quarts of boiling water in stewpan, add cornmeal to make a thick gruel, and teaspoonful of salt. Let it boil long and slowly. While cooking peel and slice five or six (more or less) good cooking apples ; add to gruel. Let boil tender, add sugar and boil longer as for apple sauce. Turn into a mold and eat hot or cold with cream or boiled milk. This can be improved by putting the whites of eggs beaten stiff into pudding before taken from the fire; add the yolks to the boiled milk and serve with the pudding. German Pudding.^Pare, core and slice eight or 10 sour apples and put in a deep pudding dish, sweetening with one cupful of sugar, and sprinkling with a little lemon juice. Pour over them a rich egg batter, bake in a moderate oven one hour, and serve cold. Indian Apple Pudding. — Take one-half of a cup of molasses, one quart of milk, one teaspoonful of salt, three scant cups of pared and sliced apples, to which add a quarter of a teaspoonful of ginger and cinnamon. When the milk boils in the double boiler, pour it slowly on the meal. Cook half an hour in the boiler, stirring often. Now add the other ingredients; pour into a deep, well-greased pudding dish and bake slowly. Eat with cream or maple syrup. Queen Apple Pudding. — Make a rich pie crust, and roll out in an oblong sheet. Spread with chopped apples, cinnamon, sugar and butter (cream the sugar and butter together for convenience in spreading), roll up like a jelly cake, and cut off in two-inch lengths. Stand the slices in a dripping pan, with a little water around them, and bake thoroughly for 76 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 30 minutes. Very good either hot or cold. If desired it may be baked in the entire roll, instead of slices. Apple Roly-Poly. — Mix a half cupful of finely-chopped suet, one egg, one teaspoonful of baking powder, three-quarters of a cupful of cold water and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, with flour enough to make a stiff paste. Roll out the paste in a sheet about three-quarters of an uich thick, brush it over with the yolk of the egg and sprinkle with one tablespoonful of fine bread crumbs. Spread over it three apples peeled and sliced thin. Sprinkle with one-half tablespoonful of sugar and roll the paste. Brush the toll with egg, sprinkle it with bread crumbs and roll it in a napkin that has been wrung out of hot water and tliaf has been covered on one side with flour. Lap the ends over securely, tie with a string and boil in water that has been slightly salted for an hour and a half. Serve with lemon sauce. Sour Apple Pudding.' — Peel and slice several sour cooking apples into n pudding dish ; add sugar and water as for stewing. Cover and bake until nearly tender. Sift together two cupfuls of flour, three tablespoon- fuls of baking powder, and a scant half teaspoonful of salt. Beat one egg, mix in half a cup of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter and one cupful of milk, then stir the latter into the dry ingredients. Pour the batter over the partly cooked apples, and bake about 20 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or a creamy sauce made with sugar, white of egg, and lump of butter. Apple Souffle. — Stew the apples as if for sauce, adding a little lemon peel and juice. Spread the stewed apples high around a baking dish. Make a custard of the yolks of two eggs, a pint of milk, a pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoonful of sugar. Let the custard cool and then pour it into the dish with the apples. Beat the whites of the eggs and spread over the top, sprinkling with sugar, and set it in the oven to brown. The apples should be about an inch thick at the bottom and sides of the dish. Spiced Apples with Cider.— Boil together one cupful of cider, one- quarter cupful vinegar, one cupful brown sugar, one bay leaf, two tea- spoonfuls whole allspice, two dozen whole cloves, two inches stick cinna- mon, two blades mace. Pare and core eight large, tart apples, cut in quarters and add to the boiling syrup; simmer gently until tender, but not broken. Take out the fruit carefully, boil syrup until thick as honey, pour over apples and serve cold. These are delicious with roast goose, duck or pork or any cold meat. Navy Apple Shortcake.— Butter thickly an oblong granite baking dish. Halve and core as many good cooking apples as will fit tightly in dish; cover thickly with sugar (about a coffee cupful), several grates of nut- meg and three tablespoonfuls of boiling vyater; make g rich shortcake THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 77 dough and roll and cover the apples; bake in a quick oven half an hour; loosen round the edges of the crust, turn it upside down on a hot platter, with a heated knife cut into squares and serve at once. Apple Sponge.— Beat the yolks of three eggs with half a cupful of powdered sugar; flavor with lemon; beat for about 10 minutes; add to it the beaten whites of the eggs. Peel three big tender apples; cut them in thin little slices; sift half a cupful of flour with half a teaspoonful baking powder and mix well with the former ; put it in a buttered baking pan and bake in moderate oven for half an hour; spread powdered sugar over and serve. Apple Puffs. — Chop four sour apples very fine, stir into them one beaten egg, one-fourth cupful molasses, a cupful and a half of cornmeal, the same amount of sifted flour and half a teaspoonful of salt; dissolve half a teaspoonful of soda in warm water and add it, using enough water to make a thin batter. Bake in buttered cups in a quick oven. Royal George. — Dissolve half a teaspoonful of soda in a little warm water; add to a cupful of sour cream with a pinch of salt. Then add flour enough to make a dough stiff enough to roll out. Roll this paste very thin and line a deep pudding dish with it, reserving a little for the. top. Fill the dish with tart apples, pared and quartered. Sprinkle half a cupful of sugar over them and dust with cinnamon. Cover with the rest of the paste, cut out in rings and diamonds, and bake until the apples are done. Eat hot with cream or sugar and butter beaten to a white cream. Scalloped Apples. — Pare and quarter tart apples. Put in the baking dish a layer of cracker crumbs, cover liberally with butter and granu- lated sugar. Then lay the apples with edges lapping and sprinkle' chopped almonds over them. Then put more crumbs, butter and sugar, then another layer of apples, and sprinkle lightly with crumbs, butter, sugar and cinnamon. Bake until apples are done. Serve with rich cream. Red Apple Sauce. — Wash and quarter — do not pare — enough red apples to fill the bean pot; sprinkle over a cupful of sugar — more or less, according to the size of the pot — cover and place in the oven on ironing day. Cook three or four hours and pour into a pretty glass dish to cool. The result will be a delicious surprise in the matter of rich flavor and dainty appearance. Baked Apple Sauce. — Wash and rub dry a sufficient number of Baldwin apples. Remove peel in long strips. Butter a beanpot and fill with the cored and sliced apples, packed in layers. Sprinkle each layer generously with sugar, and sparingly with tiny bits of butter, then cover with strips of peel. Repeat until the beanpot is full. Bake in a slow oven for two hours. Pour out, and with a fork remove the strips of peel. Serve heaped in sherbet glasses and topped with a spoonful of whipped cream. 78. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Instead of the usual watery mass, you will have a rich red sauce, deli- cately flavored with the peel, and of about the consistency of marmalade. Steamed Apple Sauce.— Pare and slice the apples rather thinner than for sauce cooked in the usual way, dropping into cold water as you slice them. Drain, turn into the inner vessel of a double boiler, and fit on the cover. Fill the outer kettle with warm water and bring to a steady boil. Keep this up for half an hour after the boil begins, then lift the lid and beat the soft apple to a mush with a spoon. Close and cook 15 minutes longer. Run through a colander or a vegetable press, sweeten to taste while hot, and set away to cool. Apple Slump. — Make a thin apple sauce, sweeten and flavor with nut- meg; have about two quarts when done. Take pint flour, mix as for biscuit dough, drop the dough by small spoonfuls into the boiling sauce, after they have risen and got set turn over. When done take dumpling.s out in a deep dish and pour sauce over them; serve hot. Apple Butter Without Cider. — Procure a new 50-pound lard can, eight pounds light brown sugar. Peel and slice the apples. Then commence to fill the can, first a layer of apples, then a layer of sugar, and so on until the can is full. Cover tightly and let it stand 12 hours. Place on f-tove and when it begins to boil set it back on the stove until it simmers, or boils gently. Do not take off lid for five hours. Then remove and put in ground cloves and cinnamon to suit your taste. Suet Apple Dumplings. — One cup of chopped suet, two cups of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, mix with cold water into a dough; put the apples in as for pudding; tie in little cloths; drop into boiling water; boil one hour. Use any sauce, or sugar only. CHAPTER VII. BRBAD AND MUFFINS. Here is the recipe for making good bread, given by the great milling companies and used by food demonstrators : To one quart of lukewarm liquid — half water and half milk, or water alone — add two half-ounce compressed yeast cakes, or the usual quantity of liquid yeast, and stir until dissolved. Add one teaspoonful of salt and three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and when well dissolved stir in with wooden spoon three quarts of well-sifted flour, or until dough is sufficiently . stiff to be turned from the mixing bowl to the molding board in a mass. If shortening is desired add two tablespoonfuls lard. Knead this dough, adding if necessary from time to time, flour until it becomes smooth and elastic and ceases to stick to fingers or board. Do not make dough too stiff. Spring wheat flour needs a little more working than Winter wheat, and should be a little softer to make it rise properly. Put dough into well-greased earthen bowl, brush lightly with melted butter or drippings, cover with towel and set in warm place, about 75 degrees, for two hours, or until light, then knead well and return to bowl, cover as before and set for another hour's rising, or until light. When light, form gently into loaves or rolls, place in greased bread pans, brush with butter or drippings, cover again and let stand for one and one-half hour, then bake. When bread becomes stale it may be made palatable again and as good as new, or even better than new, by wetting the old loaf with cold water, putting in tlie pan and rebaking it in the oven 20 to 45 minutes. It will, if originally good, come out moist and fresh. Boston Brown Bread. — Two cupfuls Indian meal; one cupful whole wheat flour; one cupful sour milk; one-third cupful molasses; one tea- spoonful soda; one-half teaspoonful salt. Mix and steam three hours, then brown in hot oven with the lid removed from the can. There are tin molds made smaller at the bottom than the top, so the loaf slips out nicely— the lid fitting on the outside of the tin to prevent the water getting in the bread, but any small tin pail with tight lid will answer the purpose. It is better to place an iron lid or ring in the bottom of the kettle to prevent the mold from coming too close to the fire. Slice around the loaf, not perpendicularly. Easy Brown Bread.— For one loaf take one cup of sour milk, one cup of sweet milk, one teaspoon of salt, one-half cup of molasses with one teaspoon of soda thoroughly stirred in; add one-half cup of white flour and about three cups of graham flour. Mix so stiff that a little dough 80 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. dropped from the spoon will not quickly settle. Put in a deep bread pan and bake in a moderately hot oven for one hour. If not stiff enough, the top crust may separate from the rest of the loaf. Entire Wheat Bread. — iOne pint milk, scalded and cooled, one table- spoonful sugar, one teaspoonful salt, one-half cupful yeast, about five or six cupfuls whole wheat flour. In the morning mix in the order given, and knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise till light, allow it to rise a little longer, and then bake a little longer, and in an oven not quite so hot, as for white bread. Whole-wheat bread rises more than white bread, because the flour contains more gluten. Sometimes we make a sponge with white flour, in the same proportion as for ordinary bread, and then thicken and knead with the entire wheat flour. Light Bread.— Into two quarts of wheat flour stir a teaspoonful of granulated sugar and a half teaspoonful of salt, and sift into a large bowl. Bring to the scalding-point two cups of milk; stir into this a generous teaspoonful of butter, and, when this melts, add two cups of boiling water. Remove from the fire and set aside until blood-warm, then stir in a gill of water of the same temperature, in which a half- cake of compressed yeast has been thoroughly dissolved. Make a hollow in the centre of the sifted flour and pour in the liquid. Stir to a soft dough, then turn upon a floured board and knead for 15 minutes; set in a bread raiser in a warm place for six hours or until light. Make into three loaves of uniform size, knead each of these for at least five min- utes, put into a baking-pan, cover with a cloth, and set to rise until very light. Bake in a steady oven. Oatmeal Brown Bread. — Mix in a large bowl one pint of Quaker oats, a rounding teaspoonful of salt, a pint of Petti John's breakfast food, half a pint of whole wheat flour and half a pint of yellow gran- ulated cornmeal. Put into another bowl one pint of thick sour milk and half a pint of molasses. Dissolve a level teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in two tablespoonfuls of warm water; add this to the molasses and sour milk; stir until foaming; then add it to the dry ingredients and mix until every grain is moistened. Turn into a greased mold and boil or steam continuously for four hours. Stand in a moderate oven for 30 minutes. It will then be ready to use. This may be toasted on the second day, or warmed over in the oven, or it may be used cold. Toasted it makes an acceptable breakfast bread. Scotch Oat Bread. — To two cups of steel-cut oatmeal, one teaspoon- ful soda and one teaspoonful salt, add two cups of boiling water; when cool add one cup of molasses and one cake of yeast. Stand over night. In the morning mix stiff with wheat flour. Shape into loaves, let rise and bake. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 81 Salt-Rising Bread. — Dissolve a half teaspoonful of salt in two cups of scalding water, and beat in gradually enough flour to make a very soft dough. Beat for 10 minutes, cover and set in a very warm place for eight hours. Now stir a teaspoonful of salt into a pint of lukewarm ■ milk and add enough flour to make a stiff batter before working it into the risen dough. Mix thoroughly, cover and set again in a warm place to rise until very light. Turn into a wooden bowl and knead in enough flour to make the batter of the consistency of ordinary bread dough. Make into loaves and set these to rise, and when light, bake. Sour Milk Corn Bread. — Mix together in a bowl three cupfuls of corn meal and one cupful of graham flour. Stir in a teaspoonful of salt, a tablcspoonful of melted butter, and two cupfuls of sour milk. Now beat in three eggs, whipped light, and a small teaspoonful of 'Soda dissolved in a little boiling water. Beat for five minutes, then pour into a greased mold with a funnel in the center. Bake for an hour, or until a straw comes out clear from the thickest part of the loaf. Spoon Corn Bread. — Put a quart of milk, or half milk and half water, in a double boiler. Add four large kitchen spoonfuls of white cornmeal, and stir and cook five minutes. Remove from the fire and let it cool, stirring it once or twice as it cools. Then add two or three eggs beaten with two tablespoonfuls of wheat flour, one tablespoonful of butter and a scant teaspoonful of salt. Mix well, then pour into a greased baking dish, and bake 35 minutes.- Serve immediately in dish in which it is baked, with a folded napkin wrapped around the dish. Susan's Cornbread. — One cup white flour, one-half cup yellow corn- meal, one-half teaspoonful salt, one tablespoonful sugar, two teaspoon- fuls baking powder. Sift dry ingredients, then mix with one beaten egg and enough sweet milk to make a thin batter, stirring in at the last a piece of butter the size of a walnut melted. Pour into a well- greased shallow pan and bake in a quick oven. Crackling Bread. — One quart of cornmeal — three pints make more dough — a pint of buttermilk, a teaspoonful of soda, a big pinch of salt, a pint of brown cracklings left from making lard, warm water. Crush the cracklings with a rolling pin, heat them and stir in the dough, which must be thick enough to mold well (thin with the warm water). Mold the bread with the hands in small oblong pones about three inches thick, putting the pones as you mold them in hot, well-greased pans. Bake in a hot oven until brown. Crumb-loaf.— Beat two eggs with a pinch of salt added; add a cupful of sweet milk and a quarter of a cupful of sugar. Stir in enough bread crumbs to make a medium thick batter, then add flour enough to thicken like corn bread. Sift a teaspoonful of baking powder in with 83 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. the flour. Bake to a rich, crisp br0wn and serve hot. Fine for either breakfast or supper. Egg Bread. — Two eggs, one pint of buttermilk, three pints of corn- meal, one-half pint of lard, one teaspoonful of soda, a pinch of salt, sweet milk or sweet cream. Stir the soda in the buttermilk until it boils up, mix the bread quickly, adding a sufficient quantity of sweet milk or sweet cream to make a rather thin batter; beat in the eggs, and add the lard, melted and hot, last. Pour quickly into frying hot greased baking pans and bake quickly to a delicate brown. This bread will be a golden yellow and as light as cake. Swedish Breakfast Bread. — Add one-third cup butter, one-fourth cup sugar, and one-half teaspoon salt to one cup scalded milk. When luke- warm, add one-third yeast-cake dissolved in one-fourth cup lukewarm milk, one egg, well beaten, one-half cup raisins, stoned and cut in pieces, and flour to make a stiff batter. Cover and let rise over night; in morn- ing cut down and spread in buttered dripping-pan, one-half inch thick. Cover and let rise again. Before baking brush over with beaten egg and cover with the following mixture : Melt three tablespoons butter, add one-third cup sugar, and one teaspoon cinnamon. When sugar is par- tially melted, add three tablespoons flour. Bake in a moderate oven, and cut in squares for serving. Beaten Biscuits. — One quart of sifted flour, one tablespoonful of lard, one-half pint cold water. Put the flour and salt in a bowl, rub the lard in with the hands, add the water gradually. Work and knead until smooth and elastic. Then put the dough on a block and pound it with a mallet, rolling pin or ax for one hour until full of bubbles. The. old- fashioned rule was to "hit it 500 licks." Form into small round cakes, stick with a fork here and there, and bake in a moderately quick oven about 20 minutes. They should be brown on top, white on the sides, and extremely white inside. Bread-crumb Biscuits. — Take one quart each, of bread crumbs and sour milk, add one-half cupful of lard, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and stiffen with flour in which is put before sifting one teaspoonful each of saleratus and baking powder. Mold, and bake in a quick oven. Be sure to allow the crumbs to soak for an hour in the milk before adding the other ingredients. Buttermilk Biscuits. — Two coffeecupfuls (even) of flour, half a cof- feecupful of sour milk, half a coffeecupful of buttermilk, one teaspoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of yeast powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of soda. Mix sugar, yeast powder and salt with flour and sift; dissolve soda in two tablespoonfuls of cold water, beat into the sour milk until it stops "purring," mix quickly with dry ingre- dients, using a spoon, turn on a well-floured board, pat with the hatid THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 83 into a cake half an inch thjck, roll, cut into biscuits; bake in a very hot oven 10 minutes. French Biscuits. — ^One cupful of butter, one cupful of sugar, the stif- fly-beaten white of one egg, one-fourth cupful of thick sour milk, half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a very little hot water, flour enough to make a dough that may be rolled out. Sprinkle with sugar, cut into large circles, and bake for 20 minutes. Martha Washington Biscuits. — Sift one pint of flour with one table- spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful each of baking powder and salt. Rub into it one tablespoonful of lard. Mix with one well-beaten egg and one cupful of water; roll one-fourth of an inch in thickness and cut with small round cutter. Fry in hot fat until cooked on one side, turn and brown. Molded Biscuits. — One quart of flour, into which two heaping tea- spoonfuls of baking powder and one of salt have been sifted; rub into it a scant half cupful of lard and butter, half and half ; stir to a dough with enough milk to make it just too thin to roll out. Grease muffin rings and put on a greased baking pan ; drop from a spoon dough enough nearly to fill each ring; bake in a quick oven. Delicious tea cake, to be eaten hot with butter, is made by adding a tablespoonful of sugar and one well-beaten egg' to this recipe and baking in one loaf, or in a large flat cake to be split open and buttered, then cut in sections. Potato Biscuits.- — Pare and boil six white potatoes. While hot put through a near, then add gradually one pint of scalded milk, one-half of a cupful of butter, one teaspoortful each of salt and sugar and one-half of a cupful of flour. Let stand until lukewarm, then add one yeast cake dissolved in a little warm water and sifted flour to make a soft dough. Knead lightly, using no more flour than is needed to keep from sticking to the board. Cover and let stand again until very light, then form into small rolls, handling most carefully and greasing the hands if the dough is inclined to stick. Place in greased pans, let stand until fully doubled in bulk, then bake about twenty minutes in a quick oven. Sour Cream Biscuits. — Use three good tablespoonfuls of thick sour cream; put this into a quart measure and fill it two-thirds' full with sweet milk; add half a teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar and a teaspoonful of soda. Stir into this enough flour to make a dough that will roll very soft ; cut into small biscuits, brush well with melted butter, and bake about 20 minutes in a good oven. Tea Biscuits. — For a six o'clock tea, set the batter about one o'clock. Add to one quart sifted flour a teaspoonful sugar, a heaping teaspoonful salt, and a tablespoonful each lard and butter ; rub in well ; dissolve one- half yeast cake (compressed) in a little tepid water; add to a cupful sweet milk; then mix well with the flour; cover and set out of a draught 84 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. to rise; when light turn out on the molding board, sprinkle with a very little flour and roll out to the thickness of half an inch ; cut out with two sizes of round cutters, placing the smaller ones on top of the larger, with a brushing of melted butter between ; let stand about an hour to rise, then bake. The oven does not need to be as hot as for baking powder biscuit. Sugared Biscuits.— Ordinary biscuit dough is made, rolled out as for cutting, and then lightly spread with butter and sugar, creamed together. The dough is then rolled up like a jelly roll, and cut into slices like cin- namon buns, each biscuit being sprinkled on top with a little more butter and sugar. Yarmouth Biscuit. — Mix three-quarters of a pound of sifted flour, one-half pound of sugar and one-half pound of currants to a paste with half a pound of butter and three eggs. Roll out to one-eighth of an inch in thickness and bake a light brown in quick oven. Brioche. — This is one of the delicate breads that delight visitors in France. One-half pound flour, one egg, one teaspoon sugar, two ounces butter, one- half teaspoon salt, one-quarter pint milk, one ounce yeast. Sift the flour. Heat milk lukewarm and dissolve in it the butter and yeast. Add the egg, well beaten, and the salt and sugar. Then stir in the flour, gradually working it all the time with your hand. Beat mixture well for 10 minutes, till the dough almost stops sticking to your fingers. Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise. When four times its original size turn it on a floured board and take pieces about the size of a turkey's egg and form into fancy shapes, twists, knots, etc. Put in a buttered tin and let rise 15 minutes. When risen, brush over lightly with the egg beaten up. Bake in quick oven 20 min- utes. Buckwheat Cake. — This is an old Canadian recipe and very good. Make batter as for buckwheat pancakes, only a trifle thicker, and bake in well-greased shallow pan, like com bretid. There should-be a delicious brown crust on the bottom. The prepared flour can be used. Breakfast Buns. — Scald one-half pint of milk; pour it over two table- spoonfuls of sugar; one quart of lukewarm water; when milk is luke- warm add the yeast and enough flour to make a "sponge." Let rise until it doubles its original bulk, about two hours ;• then cream together half a cupful of butter and half a cupful of sugar; add two well-beaten eggs and one cupful of scalded milk. Mix this into the sponge and add sufficient flour to make a soft dough; knead lightly, cover and set to rise until very light ; then mold into small buns and lay in greased pans, allowing plenty of room to rise; then bake in a quick oven for 15 cr 30 minutes. They must not be. heavy and doughy. THE -RURAL COOK BOOK. 85 Hot Cross Buns.— Beat a quarter cup of butter to a cream ; add four tablespoonfuls of sugar and then add gradually a pint of milk that has been scalded and cooled; add a yeast cake, dissolved, and sufficient flour to make a batter. Beat thoroughly. Stand in a warm place for about . three hours. Then add four eggs well beaten and flour "enough to make a soft dough. Knead carefully. Stand aside until very light and form into buns. Cut them in the center; brush them with sugar and white of egg and bake in a quick oven. German Coffee Cake. — Take enough dough after it is mixed for one loaf and add one egg. shortening half the size of an egg and one-half cupful of sugar. Mix thoroughly through the dough and add flour enough to roll out an inch thick; let rise and wet the top of it with cold water, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and bake. To be cut in slices and eaten with or without butter for breakfast with coflfee and put up for the children's school lunches in place of so much rich cake. For variety roll the dough quite thin and sprinkle it with currants well cleansed and dates or figs cut in small bits; then roll up tightly and with a sharp knife cut into slices one-half inch thick, lay in greased pans, let rise and bake in moderate heat. Fastnachts. — Mix to a light sponge the following ingredients : Three- fourths quart of warm milk, one-half pound of sifted flour, four ounces of melted butter, one ounce of yeast, one-half cupful of sugar, one egg, one-half pound of warmed currants, the grated rind of a lemon, one teaspoonful of cinnamon. Set in a warm place to rise, when light add enough flour to mold into biscuits, place them on baking tins and let rise once more, then rub over the top with a brush dipped in a well- beaten egg. Bake in a hot oven. Many prefer to serve them warm with butter. Bran Gems. — Beat two eggs very light, add half a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of brown stigar and one and one-half cupfuls of milk, then stir in a pint of finely ground bran. Fill oiled gem pans half full and bake in a hot oven 20 minutes. These gems are advised in some forms of indigestion, where ftne flour is objectionable. Corn Gems. — Sift together one pint of cornmeal, one pint of flour and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Add one-third of a pint each of milk and water. Mix into a firm batter and fill greased gem pans two- thirds full. Entire ' Wheat Gems. — Three cupfuls entire wheat flour or wheat meal, two cupfuls cold water, half cupful of milk. Heat gem pans very hot on the top of the stove, fill them even full of the batter, place on the grate of a very hot oven. Let them remain 10 minutes on the grate, then bake 30 minutes on the bottom of the oven. They are nearly as 86 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. good if 2^ cupftils of water tind no milk is used. Do not use any salt, or they will not be so light. Puff Gems.— Beat very light one egg, then add to it one-quarter cup- ful sugar, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one cupful' of sour milk. Beat all well. Then add one cupful of cornmeal and one cupful of white flour into which has been well mixed one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. Lastly dissolve one-quarter teaspoonful of soda in one tablespoonful of boiling water, add, beat well and pour in gem pans, and bake 20 minutes in a hot oven. Golden Johnny Cake.^Heat to scalding point one pint of sweet milk; while hot stir into it one teaspoonful butter, one teaspoonful white su- gar and three-fourths of a cupful of steamed squash out of which all water has been pressed. Sift together two cupfuls cornmeal, one cup- ful flour, two heaping teaspoonfuls baking powder and a scant tea- spoonful salt. Add to this, gradually, the milk and squash, as soon as it is lukewarm. Bake in one greased pan, or in gem pans if preferred. If Jt seems stiff a little more milk may be added. Bake in a quick oven. Meal varies so that it is hard to give the exact quantity. Oatmeal Gems. — Separate two eggs; beat the yolks for a moment; add a half pint of milk, then one and one-half cup of bread flour, and beat thoroughly; add a tablespoonful of melted butter, a half-teaspoonful of salt, one cup of left-over oatmeal porridge and one rounding teaspoonful of baking powder. Beat for about two minutes. Fold in carefully the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Pour tliis mixture into 12 greased gem pans and bake in a moderately quick oven 20 minutes. Popovers. — To make them without baking powder beat three eggs until very light, then add two cupfuls of sweet milk and one-half tea^ spoonful of salt. Stir in four cupfuls of flour, and see that the batter is very smooth ; then add one additional cupful of milk and a piece of butter the size of an egg, melted. Heat the pop-over irons or cups, and when they are very hot nearly fill with the batter. Bak^ in a quick oven for half an hour. To make pop-overs with baking powder re- quires one egg, well beaten, one large spoonful of melted butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one cupful of sweet milk, 1>2 cupful of flour, salt, and one-fourth tea.spoonful of baking powder. Popovers Without Eggs. — One cup of milk, one cup of water, no salt and no baking powder. The gem pans are heated, a piece of butter the size of a walnut being ptit to melt in each little pan while the batter is beaten up. The oven must be good, with steady heat, and the door must not be opened for 25 minutes after the popovers are put in, or they will fall. Salt will prevent them from rising, but if made accord- ing to directions, they will be very light. Flour enough for drop batter. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 87 Breakfast Rolls.— Three cups of sweet milk, one cup of butter or lard; dissolve one yeast cake in a cup of warm water, mix with flour enough to make dough. Let rise over night, in the morning add one egg, kiiead thoroughly, let rise again, and when light make out in rolls Place in pans, keep warm, and bake when very light. Buttermilk Muffins. — A quart of fresh buttermilk, one teaspoonful of soda, a pinch of salt and enough flour to make a stiff batter and two or three tablespoonfuls of sour cream. Dissolve the soda in a little of the buttermilk, then add to the rest; add salt and cream and the flour. Bake in gem pans in a hot oven. Bread Sponge Muffins. — Late in the evening set a sponge as for water bread, allowing a pint of warm water for a dozen muffins, a third of a cake of compressed yeast and a pinch of salt. Mix the bat- ter a little thicker than for pancakes and beat thoroughly. In the morning have gem pans greased, and in cold weather warm them; pour in the batter without stirring, filling half full; let them rise at least an hour and bake in a hot oven. Cape Cod Muffins. — Sift two cupfuls of flour with two teaspoonfuL of baking powder, a half-teaspoonful of salt and one rounded teaspoonful of sugar. Beat three eggs without separating; add to them 1% cupful of milk and stir the milk and eggs into the flour. Have ready a cupful of carefully-cleaned blueberries and stir them lightly into the mixture. Bake in hot buttered gem pans in a quick oven for 15 minutes. Cream of Wheat Muffins. — Add to two cupfuls of cooked cream of wheat, a cupful of milk and work it smooth, then two eggs well beaten and a tablespoonful of sugar; to a pint of flour add two small tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, and a half teaspoonful of salt, rub into the flour a tablespoonful lard or butter; add to these ingredients the wheat that has been mixed with the milk and eggs. Butter muffin pans, fifl them two-thirds full, and bake in a hot oven 20 minutes. Crumb Mufiins. — Scraps of stale bread, toasted in the oven until crisp, find many uses. We run them through the food chopper until fine enough for use. If these crumbs are sifted, the fine particles will be found very nice for muffins and griddle cakes. For muffins, use one egg, one tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of sugar and half that of baking powder, two cupfuls of the crumbs and one of flour; mix with water or sweet milk and bake slowly in gem pans. For griddle cakes use two cupfuls of crumbs to one of self-raising buckwheat flour. English Muffins. — Dissolve half of a compressed yeast cake in six tablespoonfuls of lukewarm water. Have a pint of milk scalding hot and stir into it a heaping teaspoonful of lard. Boil until the lard is dis- solved, then take from the fire and, when the milk is blood warm, stir it 88 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. gradually into a pint of flour that has been sifted with two saltspoonfuls of salt. When the milk is all worked in, add the dissolved yeast cake, and blend thoroughly. Turn the batter into a bread raiser and set to rise in a moderately warm room for six or eight hours, or until light. When light, turn the mass out upon a floured pastry board and break off bits of the dough, having them of uniform size, and each about as large as an ordinary tea biscuit. Handle very lightly, and roll each muffin in flour. Have a soapstone griddle thoroughly heated and lay these muffins upon it. Bake them without touching until they swell to twice their original size. When brown on the under side lift carefully and turn. When the other side is baked to a delicate brown, the muf- fins are done. When ready to use, tear them open, toast and butter generously. Parker House Rolls. — Scald one pint of milk with a piece of butter the size of an egg added. Put the milk into a bread pan with one table- spoon of sugar and one teaspoon of salt. When the milk has cooled a trifle, sift in sufficient flour to make a stiff batter. Now add one cake of yeast and beat well, then add flour to make a soft loaf and knead thoroughly. Let it stand over night. In the morning, little kneading is required. Roll out this and cut with a biscuit-cutter. Brush over with melted butter, lap one-half over the other, put in a pan not too close together, and when very light, bake in a quick oven. Quick Cinnamon Rolls. — Sift together two cups of flour, two teaspoon- fuls of baking powder and a half teaspoonful of salt. Into this rub one tablespoonful of butter. Mix with milk to make a soft dough. Roll out to half an inch in thickness, spread with warmed butter and sprinkle with two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and scatter over one-half cup of seeded raisins. Roll up as for jelly cake and cut into inch slices; place so as they will touch in a pan and bake in a quick oven. '' Scotch Scones. — Take two pounds of fine oatmeal, a tablespoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of lard and enough water to make a stiff dough. Rub the lard into the oatmeal and add the salt and water. In rolling the palm of the hand should be used instead of a rolling-pin. Press the dough into a round cake about a quarter of an inch thick, cut into seg- ments and cook on a griddle over a slow fire until a light brown. Oat- meal scones properly prepared will keep for weeks. Boston Tea Cakes. — Beat two eggs in a teacup, fill the cup with sweet milk, turn into a bowl with one cupful of sugar, 10 even teaspoonfuls of melted butter, IJ^ cupful of flour and two teaspoonfuls of baking pow- der. This is the most reliable, easily made and accommodating of cakes. Delicious baked in layers and spread with jam or cream. May be baked in a loaf or small patty pans. Serve warm with tea. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 89 English Tea Cake.— Sift four cupfuls of dried flour into a bowl and chop into it a scant cupful of butter. Dissolve half a yeast cake in four tablespoonfuls of warm water and stir it into two cupfuls of milk, or enough to make a soft dough. Roll this out into a sheet and cut into cakes as large as a tea plate and less than half an inch thick. Set them, covered lightly, in a warm place until they have nearly trebled in thick- ness. Bake in a floured pan. Keep them covered for 20 minutes, then brown. Run a sharp knife around the edge, tear the cake open, butter and serve upon a plate lined and covered with a heated napkin. Zimmet-Kuchen. — Two cupfuls of bread sponge, one egg, half a cup- ful of sugar, butter the size of a walnut, one cupful of warm water. Mix these ingredients together and make a dough not quite as stiff as for bread. Let it rise well, roll out one-half inch thick, let it rise again until quite light. Spread the dough thinly and evenly in a long shallow tin. Cover with an egg beaten with a tablespoonful of sugar and sprinkle liberally with powdered cinnamon and granulated sugar. The ingredients on the kuchen will melt and run together into a delicious can- died top. Serve by cutting into strips one inch wide. Butter Cakes. — Sift two cupfuls of floor with three teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a half teaspoonful of salt. Rub in two tablespoonfuls of butter and add gradually three-fourths of a cupful of milk. Toss upon a well-floured board and roll out as thick as though you were making biscuit, then cut into rounds with a small biscuit cutter and bake upon a hot, well-greased griddle. Cook slowly until they puff up double their size, then turn and bake on the other side. Set them in a moderate oven for a few minutes before serving, then break them open and serve with butter and maple syrup. Waffles. — For the batter use one pint of sifted flour, one level tea- spoonful baking powder, one-half teaspoonful salt, one tablespoonful but- ter, melted, two eggs and IJ^ cupful milk; beat to a smooth batter. Heat the waffle iron very hot; grease both lids; put a cooking spoonful of batter into each lid, and cook five minutes on each side. Slip out on to a hot dish. Place in the oven until more are cooked, then -put them one on top of the other, each buttered and heaped with grated maple sugar. CHAPTER VIII. CAKES. "Breathes there a man with soul so dead He loves not new-baked ginger bread? Who, stepping through the kitchen door, On baking day sees goodly store Of fragrant amber-shadowed cake. And, half-unconscious, does not break A ragged chunk ! Ah, toothsome bliss ! He is a churl who knows not this." To get a iine grained cake, beat thoroughly after the flour is added. Sweet milk makes cake that cuts like pound cake. Sour milk makes spongy, light cake. Always sift flour before measuring, then it may be sifted again with the baking powder to insure their being thoroughly blended. In making fruit cakes add the fruit before putting in the flour, as this will prevent it falling to the bottom of the cake. Flouring the fruit is unnecessary, unless the fruit is damp. If a cake cracks open while baking, the recipe contains too much flour. In creaming butter and sugar, when the butter is too hard to blend easily, warm the bowl and if necessary warm the sugar, but never warm the butter, as this will change both texture and flavor of the cake. The smaller the cake the hotter should be the oven. Large rich cakes require very slow baking. Grease cake pans with lard or drippings, as butter will be likely to make the cake stick, owing to the salt in it. When eggs are short in the Winter snow may be used as a substitute; one of The R. N.-Y. housewives says that one cupful of snow, beaten in after all the ingredients are put together, is equal to two eggs. Almond Cookies.^Cream together one-half cupful of butter and two cupfuls sugar. Stir in alternately a little at a time one cupful of sweet milk and twice sifted flour to make a dough which can be handled. With the last of the flour sift in two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; roll out one-quarter inch thick; before cutting out sprinkle with a cup of almonds which have been blanched and chopped and a teaspoon of granulated sugar mixed through them. Bake in quick oven. These should be eaten fresh, as should all cakes made without the addition of eggs. Angel Cake. — Four ounces and a heaping tablespoonful of flour, 12 ounces of powdered sugar, the whites of 11 eggs beaten to a very stiff froth (flavor with rose before beating), a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and a little salt. Mix the sugar, flour, salt and cream of tartar together and sift through a very fine sieve six times. Then stir in lightly the THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 91 beaten whites. Bake in a neiv pan, without greasing, for 40 minutes. After taking from the oven, invert the pan and place upon cups or tumblers until the cake is cold, then remove and cover with a thin icing. No soda is used. A pan with a tin tube in the center is preferable for baking. Angel Cake No. 2.— Take the whites of nine large eggs. Add to them a pinch of salt and whip them lightly until they are partly stiff, then add half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and whip them until very stiff. Fold in carefully one and one-fourth cupful of granulated sugar that has been sifted three times. Sift one cupful of the best pastry flour seven times (if you want a perfect cake), and fold it into the sugar and whipped eggs lightly. Last of all, add a teaspoonful of vanilla. Turn the cake into a large, unbuttered pan. Bake in a moderate oven from 35 to 50 minutes. Never open the oven door until you think the cake is done, as it falls very easily. On taking it from the oven turn it upside down in such a way that current of air will pass under it until it is cold. When cold loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and lift it out. It should be so delicately baked that this will not be difficult. If you intend to ice it cover it with a soft uncooked icing made with powdered sugar, white of egg and a very little vanilla. Angel cake is generally better for being kept a day before serving. If it is a little tough place it in a stone jar and cover with a plate. Let it stand for two or three days in this way and it will become tender. Apple Cake. — Measure two cupfuls of sifted flour, add two teaspoon- fuls of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt and sift again into a mixing bowl ; make a well in the center ; beat whites of two and yolk of one egg until light, add grated rind of a lemon, one tablespoonful of melted butter and a cupful of milk; mix this gradually into the flour until you have a thick batter or very soft dough. Spread this on shallow, well-buttered tins, having batter not more than half an inch thick. Pare and cut into eighths enough large, tart apples to cover the top of the cake by laying the pieces close together in rows, pressing the sharp edges into the dough; brush well with softened but not melted butter, sprinkle thickly with granulated sugar and bake in a hot oven. When done dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Dutch Apple Cake. — Measure a pint of sifted flour, add half a level teaspoonful salt, quarter of a cupful of sugar and a scant teaspoonful of soda. Sift three tim.es. Beat up one egg with a cupful of sour milk. Rub a third of a cupful of butter into the flour thoroughly; then mix in the liquid, making a soft dough. Spread this half an inch thick in a well-greased biscuit pan. Pare and core five juicy, nicely-flavored apples, and cut them into eighths; arrange them in parallel rows, sharp ed^es down, on top of the dough, pressing down so that they are partially 92 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. imbedded in the dough. Sprinkle over thickly with sugar and a little cinnamon and spread with bits of butter. Bake in a quick oven for 25 minutes. Serve hot as a dessert or tea cake. Made with fresh, ripe peaches cut in quarters, it is delicious. Omit the cinnamon when peaches are used. Apple Kuchen. — ^One pint of flour, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, one-half teaspoonful of soda, one-half teaspoonful salt, an egg, a cupful of milk, two tablesponfuls of butter, four large apples. Sift salt, soda and cream of tartar with the flour and rub in the butter. Put the beaten egg into the milk and mix with the flour. Spread the dough one-half inch thick on a buttered pan. Cut the pared apples in eighths and stick into the dough in rows. Sprinkle with sugar and bake 25 minutes. Apple Layer Cake. — One cupful of sugar creamed with half a cupful of butter; add the beaten yolks of four eggs, one-half cupful of milk, two cupfuls of flour, with two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder sifted through it. One teaspoonful of lemon or almond extract and the beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in three layers. When cold spread with this mixture: Peel and grate four large apples, beat into them one cupful of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of melted butter and two whipped eggs. Pour into a porcelain saucepan and stir steadily over a moderate fire until the mixture has boiled one minute. Remove from the fire, add two tea- spoonfuls of lemon juice, a dash of powdered cinnamon and two table- spoonfuls of minced almonds. Cool it and build the cake, sprinkling the top with powdered sugar. Cap the top generously with whipped cream, flavored, and serve at the table. Apple Sauce Cake. — ^One cup sugar, }^ cup shortening, one saltspoon salt, yi teaspoon ground cloves, one teaspoon cinnamon, yi teaspoon grated nutmeg, 1]4 cup raisins, more fruit if desired; one teaspoon soda dissolved in a little water, one cup unsweetened apple sauce. Put the dissolved soda into the sauce, let it foam over the ingredients; IJ4 cup flour; bake 45 minutes. Apricot Shortcake. — Drain the juice away from the fruit, and cut it in small pieces. Set in a warm place and proceed to mix the cake. This calls for one cupful of flour, four teaspoonfuls of baking powder, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, and half a teaspoonful of salt sifted together. Into this work four tablespoonfuls of butter, add three-fourths of a cupful of milk, and stir into a light dough. Roll in a floured bowl, and when one-fourth of an inch thick cut into generous squares. Brush the squares with melted butter, lay one on top of the other, and bake in a hot oven. When done separate the pieces, spread the fruit between the layers and on top, and pile whipped cream over all. A sweet sauce which may be served with the shortcake is made by adding to a cupful of the THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 93 fruit juice one tablespoonful of cornstarch wet in a little water and boiled for a few minutes. A tablespoonful of butter is melted into the sauce and a tablespoonful of lemon juice is added just before serving. Bath Cake. — One cup of sugar, one-half cup of butter, two-thirds of a cup of sweet milk, whites of four eggs beaten to a stiff froth, two cups of flour, one teaspoonful of baking powder and one-fourth teaspoonful of 'baking soda. Flavor with vanilla. Bake in square, shallow tins (two will be required). These cakes should be iced in the tins, while warm, and glazed in a hot oven. Then score the icing (without cutting the cake or allowing the icing to harden) into two-inch squares, placing in the center of each square one-half of an English walnut. Set away in tins in a cool place until thoroughly cold, when the squares may be cut out. These little cakes look very pretty and are quite a delicacy. Black Angel Cake. — One tgg, half a cupful of sweet milk, half j cupful of sugar, one-third cake Baker's unsweetened chocolate. Cook these ingredients till it thickens and let cool while making the cake part as follows : One cupful of sugar, half cupful butter cream,ed, two eggs beaten separ?tely, half cupful sweet milk, two cupfuls flour, half tea- spoonful soda in the milk (do not use any cream of tartar), half teaspoonful vanilla. Mix the cake thoroughly, then add the chocolate paste and beat well. Bake in two layers and put together with white icing. This is a delicious cake. Black Cake, Inexpensive. — Beat one cup of butter with one cup of brown sugar until creamy; add two well-beaten eggs, one cup of cold coffee, three-fourths of a cup of molasses, one cup of seeded raisins, one cup of currants, quarter of a pound of citron shredded and a tea- spoonful each of ground cloves, allspice and cinnamon sifted with four cups of browned flour and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix the fruit in with the butter and sugar instead of flouring it to prevent the fruit from sinking when brown flour is used in the cake. A little flour may be required to make the batter stiff, as browning the flour lessens the thickening property. Blackberry Jam Cake.— One and one-quarter cupful of sugar; one- half cupful butter; four eggs; four tablespoonfuls of loppered milk; one small teaspoonful soda; two cupfuls flour; one teaspoonful of cinnamon; one quarter cloves and nutmeg. Stir in one cupful of blackberry jam. Bake in layers. Put together with a white frosting. Blueberry Cakes.— Measure three cupfuls of sifted flour, add three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a heaping tablespoonful of sugar and a teaspoonful of salt; sift well together. Beat one egg until light; add iy2 cupful of milk. Make a well in the center of the flour and gradually pour in the liquid, stirring in the flour. In this way you can keep the batter smooth. Make it to the consistency of cake batter. Melt two 94 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. level tablespoonfuls of butter and add to the batter; then two cupfuls of floured blueberries. Bake in the little custard cups or muffin rings, allowing a little longer time than for plain muffins. Blackberries are nice used in this way. Bohemian Butter Kuchen.— Dissolve one cake of dry yeast in a half cup of warm milk; then add another cup of warm milk, one and one-half cups of flour, one-half teaspoon of salt and beat to a smooth batter; let rise till very light. Cream together half a cup of butter, half a cup of sugar, two eggs and the grated rind of a lemon. Add this to the sponge and enough flour to make a soft dough. Let rise again to double its size; divide into three parts (handle as little as possible). Put each part in a shallow buttered pan and let rise again to double its height. Pour over each two tablespoonfuls melted butter, sprinkle with three table- spoonfuls of sugar and a little cinnamon. Bake 25 minutes. Brownie's Cake.— One cupful of brown sugar beaten to a cream with half a cupful of butter; add the well-beaten yolks of four eggs and half a cupful of strong cold coffee. Ground cloves, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to taste; 2^/2 cupfuls of flour sifted with two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and last of all the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth and folded in. Bake in two layers and fill in and ice with dark caramel icing, made as follows : Put four cupfuls of brown sugar in a saucepan with a cupful of sweet cream or rich milk and boil until it will thread from a spoon. Take from the fire and beat until nearly cold and then put between the layers and over the cake. Butter Cookies. — Cream together one cupful of butter and one-half cupful of light brown sugar ; then add one teaspoonful of vanilla and one well-beaten egg. Slowly stir in two cupfuls of flour. Mold lightly with the hand. Take out a small portion of the dough each time ; roll as thin as a silver dollar, cut the cookies with a cutter no larger than the dollar. Bake in a moderate oven until a golden brown. This will make one pound and a quarter of rich, crisp cookies. Butternut Cake. — Beat half a cup of butter to a cream. Gradually beat in J4 of a cup of granulated sugar, and then one cup of butternut meats and one egg beaten without separating. Sift together two cups of entire wheat flour, one-third of a cup of pastry flour, one-half teaspoon- ful soda, one- fourth teaspoonful salt, one-half teaspoonful mace, one- fourth teaspoonful cloves, and J4 teaspoonful cinnamon. Add this to the first mixture alternately with one cup of sour milk. Beat thoroughly and turn into little tins fitted with rounds of paper on the bottoms and thoroughly buttered. Bake about 25 minutes. The recipe makes 18 cakes. When cold, ice with the icing made of brown sugar, and deco- rate with halves of butternut meats. The icing is made as follows : Boil one cup of brown sugar and one-third cup of water to 240 de- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 95 grees Fahrenheit. Then pour in a fine .stream on to the white of one egg, beaten very light. Continue the beating while the syrup is being added to the egg and for some minutes afterward. Without a ther- mometer, to decide the temperature, boil the sugar until it spins a thread about three inches in length. Chocolate Cake. — Two eggs, one-half cup butter, one-half cup coc6a, one cup milk, one cup sugar, two teaspoonfuls baking powder ; two tea- spoonfuls vanilla, a good cup and one-half of flour. If it is not the proper consistency, then add a little more flour. Chocolate Cream Cake. — Use any good cake recipe and bake in a square pan. When cold cover with the following icing : To one and one- half cupful of sugar add one-half cupful of sweet milk. Place on stove and cook, after it begins to boil, for four minutes. Do not stir it. Pour cut on a platter and beat until thick enough to spread on the cake. While making this frosting have one and one-half square of chocolate melting, and after covering the cake with the frosting spread the choco- late smoothly over it. Coffee Cake. — Cream one-quarter cup of butter with one cup of sugar, add one egg beaten, one-half cup milk, a pinch of salt and one and one- half cupfuls of sifted flour with a teaspoonful of baking powder. Spread in pan and sprinkle with seeded and cleaned raisins or currants, a little Shredded citron, dot with butter and sift over sugar and cinnamon. Bake one-half hour and serve hot. Coffee Chocolate Cake. — Cream one cup of sugar and half a cup of butter; add the yolks of four eggs and half a cup of strong cold coffee. Sift in 1^ cup of flour with two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Lastly stir in V/i square of melted chocolate. Bake in a loaf and ice with white frosting. Coffee Fruit Cake. — This requires neither eggs nor milk. One-half cup butter, one and one-half cups sugar, one and one-half cups cold strong coffee, one-half cup molasses, one teaspoonful soda, one cup rai- sins, one teaspoonful cinnamon, one teaspoonful cloves, one-half teaspoon- ful nutmeg. Flour for thick batter, adding one level teaspoonful baking powder. For frosting without eggs, use one cupful of granulated sugar, five tablespoonfuls of milk; boil four or five minutes till it threads from the spoon. Flavor as desired. Add chocolate or not. Stir till right thickness for spreading. This is fine-grained, white (if chocolate is not used) and delicious. Cornstarch Cake. — Two cups of white sugar and one cup oi butter creamed together. One cup of sweet milk, the whites of five eggs beaten very stiff, one cup of cornstarch, two cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and two of extract of lemon. Bake slowly in a moderate oven. 96 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Crullers, Chocolate. — Two eggs beaten until they are creamy and then beaten into one cupful sugar, adding one tablespoonful melted butter, one- half teaspoonful each of salt and cinnamon, one square grated chocolate. Mix well and then add one cupful sweet milk, three cupfuls of flour sifted with two teaspoonfuls baking powder. Roll out one-fourth inch thick, cut, cook to a golden brown in smoking hot fat. Roll in powdered sugar when cool. Crullers, Olive Oil. — To one-half cup of sugar add two tablespoons of oi), two beaten eggs, one-half teaspoon of salt, one-fourth teaspoon of cinnamon and a little nutmeg; add two cups of flour sifted with two teaspoons of baking powder, alternately with one-fourth cup of milk. Roll out, cut and fry as usual. In frying them let the oil get just hot enough to smoke. Date Cake. — Two cupfuls sugar, one cupful shortening, crearried to- gether, three eggs, well beaten into sugar and shortening, three teaspoon- fuls baking powder, 3J4 cupfuls flour. To this add one cupful of stoned and finely-chopped dates, floured. Bake in five layers and put together with plain or boiled icing. Dolly Varden Cake. — Cream one-half cup butter with one cup sugar. Add one-half cup milk alternately with one and one-half cup of flour in which has been mixed one teaspoonful baking powder. Lastly fold in the dry-beaten whites of three eggs and flavor to taste. Bake in loaf for one-half hour in a moderately quick oven. For icing make a syrup of one and one-half cup sugar and eight tablespoonfuls water. Boil, when this strings from spoon, add the well-beaten yolks of three eggs and continue beating for one-half hour. Flavor like cake and pour thickly over the cake. Doughnuts, Best.— One egg beaten light; one cupful of sugar and a little salt; one cupful of sour milk sweetened with one teaspoonful of soda; two tablespoonfuls of melted lard; flour to make a stiflf dough. Fry in hot lard, and dust with cinnamon and granulated sugar. These doughnuts are light and wholesome. Doughnuts, Potato.— Two cups of mashed potatoes (hot), four ta- blespoonfuls of shortening, three cupfuls of sugar, four eggs, five tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, three cupfuls milk, salt, nutmeg, and lastly flour enough to stiffen. Make a cream of potatoes, shortening, sugar and eggs, then add milk, salt and nutmeg, flour sifted with baking powder, and cook in boiling lard. Dried Apple Cake.— Soak the dried apples over night and in the morn- ing chop fine, having two cupfuls; then simmer in two cupfuls of mola&ses until apples are soft. Cream two cupfuls of sugar with a scant cupful of butter; add three well beaten eggs; then the apples and molasses; half a pound of raisins seeded, three cupfuls of flour, sifted with two THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 97 teaspoonfuls baking powder and half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves and grated nutmeg. Bake in very moderate oven as you would fruit cake. Dutch Cake. — Take two pounds of raised bread dough, one pint of sugar, half a cupful of butter (or more if it is to be made quite rich), half a nutmeg grated, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and a pound of large laisins. Mix well and put in a greased pan. Let it rise about three- quarters of an hour, or until the loaf is nearly double its original size, and bake in a moderate even. This is very good when fresh; if we wish to make it richer we use an egg, which is mixed in with the butter. Us- ing currants instead of raisins, we have the English currant loaf. The same recipe makes very nice buns. Election Cake. — Rub into half a pound of sifted flour five ounces of butter, add a saltspoonful of salt, one cupful of sugar; mix. Scald two cupfuls of milk, and when lukewarm add one yeast cake dissolved, and two eggs well beaten. Make a hole in the center of the flour, pour in the milk mixture, stir in a little of the flour; cover and stand aside for three hours. Then beat in all the flour, add the juice of three oranges, a tablespoonful of cinnamon and half a nutmeg grated; turn into a greased round pan and, when very light, bake in a moderate oven for one hour. Eggless Cake. — Beat one cupful of sugar and half a cupful of butter to a cream ; add a cupful of milk, measure two cupfuls of sifted flour, add three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a level teaspoonful of cinna- mon, half a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg and a pinch of cloves. Sift several times until the flour is light and fluffy, then stir into the other materials, add cupful seeded floured raisins. Bake in moderate oven. E^less Cake with Oil. — Cream one-half cup oil and one cupful sugar, one cupful sour milk, one teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful each of cas- sia and cloves, one-half cupful chopped raisins (if desired) one-half teaspoonful salt, two cupfuls warmed flour. Be sure not to forget the salt, as the oil contains none. This must always be remembered ; in using the oil add twice as much salt as common. Eggless Fruit Cake.— One cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of buttermilk, two cups of sifted flour, one cup of raisins (seeded and chopped), one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful of cloves, one-half teaspoonful of nutmeg. Beat the sugar and butter to a cream; dissolve the soda in a little hot water and stir it into the milk, and add next the spices. Flour the raisins and add them last. Bake in a well-but- tered tin, on the bottom of v/hich place a clean white paper, also well buttered. Layer Cake Without Eggs.— One cupful of sugar, quarter of a cupful of butter, one cupful of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of soda, two of 98 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cream of tartar, one tablespoonful of cornstarch made smooth in a httle milk, two cupfuls of flour. Bake in thin sheets and put together with boiled sugar frosting, jelly, cocoanut or any other rich filling desired, finish the top with the boiled sugar frosting made by boiling together a cupful of sugar and one of water until it will turn creamy white and thick on being stirred. This is quite as delicious as the frosting made from the whites of eggs. Noel Fruit Cake.— This contains neither butter nor eggs. One pound fat salt pork chopped fine, one cupful brown sugar, one cupful New Or- leans molasses in which is dissolved one teaspoonful of soda, one pound each of raisins, currants and figs chopped fine, one-fourth pound of citron chopped fine, one wineglass of coffee (substituted for brandy), 214 cupfuls of flour well browned. This will make one large loaf or two small ones. The longer kept the better it is. This may be iced or not. A boiled milk frosting is good while eggs are high. Eggless Waffles.— Mix at night a batter with sour milk if you have it; if not, sweet will answer. To each quart of milk, with flour for bat- ter, add one tablespoonful each of butter and sugar, one-half teaspoonful salt. If sweet milk is used add small quantity yeast or one-quarter com- pressed yeast cake. In the morning add enough baking soda to correct acidity— you will have to try baking a little to get it right. Russian Fried Cakes. — Scald one pint of milk, add one scant tea- spoonful of salt and one tablespoonful of sugar; when lukewarm add one yeast cake dissolved in a little warm water, and sufficient flour to make a drop batter, and set aside to rise. When light and spongy add one-half cupful of butter, creamed together with one cupful of sugar and three eggs ; beat until thoroughly mixed ; add sufficient flour to make a soft dough and knead for five minutes. Return to the bowl; cover and keep in a warm place until light. Turn out on a floured board; roll out quite thin and cut into three-inch circles. On one-half of these cakes place a small spoonful of any firm jam or marmalade. Cover with the remaining cakes and pinch each together securely. Cover with a floured cloth, and let stand for 20 minutes; then drop a few at a time into smoking hot fat. When well browned and puffed up draw on un- glazed paper and roll in powdered sugar. Fruit Cake. — Three pounds flour, - one pound butter, y^ pound lard, two pounds stoned raisins, two pounds currants, one pound mixed can- died peel, sliced, two teaspoonfuls each of ground allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger; two pounds brown sugar; a little salt; one cup milk; eight eggs; two teaspoonfuls baking powder. If all baked in one loaf bake for four hours. Graham Fruit Cake. — Sift three cups of sifted graham flour, two cups of white flour, one teaspoon each of ' clove, allspice, soda and salt and THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 99 two teaspoons of cinnamon. To two cups of sugar add one cup of mo- lasses and two cups of milk alternately with the sifted flour mixture. Beat thoroughly and add three cups each of seeded raisins and citron, both slightly floured. Bake in a moderate oven for one hour. Maple Sugar Fruit Cake.— Cream one cupful of butter and add to it two cupfuls of maple sugar, one of maple syrup, three beaten eggs, one small cupful of milk with a rounding teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it, five cupfuls of flour sifted with two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar and a little salt. Mix all together and add one pound of raisins, one of cur- rants, half a pound of citron and a quarter of a pound of orange peel, all well floured. No spices are used, as the maple sugar flavors the cake. Old-Fashioned Fruit Cake. — This is intended for rolling out and bak- ing in flat pans, instead of the usual loaf. Take two and a half cupfuls of sugar, creamed up with half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of sour milk, a teaspoonful of soda, half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, nut- meg and ground cloves, a cupful of raisins and one of currants, with a little chopped citron and enough flour to make quite stiff. Knead all together, roll about two inches thick and bake in a moderate oven. Spread the layers with boiled sugar frosting and cut into squares before the frosting hardens. Poor Man's Fruit Cake. — Seed and chop a quarter of a pound of dates; mix with them one cupful of seeded raisins, and dust them with one-half cupful of flour. Dissolve a level teaspoonful of baking soda in two tablespoonfuls of warm water; add to it half a pint of very thick sour cream, stir a moment and add one cupful of brown sugar, half a tumblerful of currant or blackberry jelly, a tablespoonful of cinnamon, a teaspoonful of allspice and two cupfuls and a half of flour. Beat thor- oughly, add the fruit, mix well and turn into a greased square pan. Bake in a very slow oven for one hour and a half. This cake will be quit^e equal to plain fruit cake if the cream is very thick, and it is allowed to stand a week before cutting. German Cookies. — To one cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of lard, one cup of molasses, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, one tablespoonful of vinegar, one teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ginger, one and one-half teaspoonful of soda, add one egg, one cup of nuts, one tablespoonful each of candied citron and orange peel chopped fine and flour enough to make stiflF. The dough must be stiff or the cookies will not retain the shape in baking. Colonial Gingerbread. — Put a cupful of New Orleans molasses in a mixing bowl with half a cupful of butter and half a cupful of sugar. Over this pour a cupful of boiling water in which a level dessertspoonful of soda has already been dissolved. Stir well, and let the mixture 100 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cool; then add a cupful of chopped walnuts and a cupful of seeded rai- sins, a teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ginger, two and one-half cup- fuls of flour, and, lastly, two well-beaten eggs. Bake in a shallow pan and serve while still warm from the oven. Honey Gingerbread. — Wami a generous half cup of butter and beat into it two cups of strained honey. When you have a light cream beat in one tablespoon of powdered sugar, a tablespoon of ginger and one- half teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the beaten yolks of four eggs, and al- ternately with the frothed whites, three even cups of flour sifted twice with one teaspoon of baking powder. Beat hard for one minute and bake in buttered shallow pans for 45 minutes. Keep covered for 30 minutes. Shiny Gingerbread. — This is very crackly and shiny on top. The secret of making it thus is to pour the shortening boiling hot on the molasses and beat the batter as little as possible. Pour a small half- teacupful of boiling hot shortening, lard and butter, or beef suet and butter mixed, upon one-half pint of New Orleans molasses; add two lablespoonfuls of milk; a tablespoonful of ground ginger, a teaspoonful of cinnamon; then sift in about three-quarters of a pint of flour, to which a teaspoonful of baking soda has been added; lastly add a well- beaten egg, then mix with a few deft turns of the spoon and bake in one large pan or two small ones in a moderate oven; serve hot, and break, not cut, at the table. Ginger Snaps. — Beat together one cupful of sugar, one egg, and one tablespoonful of ginger. Heat one cupful of molasses to the scalding point, stir into it one teaspoonful of soda or saleratus, and, while it foams, pour it over the butter and egg, and beat together. Add a table- spoonful of vinegar, and stir in lightly enough flour to roll out and cut the dough. Half-Pound Cake.^One pound of sugar, one pound of flour, one-half pound of butter, one teacupful of milk, four eggs. Flavor to taste. Whip up the sugar and eggs, putting in one egg at a time. Then stir in the milk and flavoring, following this with the flour, which must be very thoroughly beaten into the batter. Pour into paper-lined tins and bake in a steady oven for 45 minutes. This quantity should make two loaves. The oven must be well regulated, and care taken to avoid any jar, or the cake will be apt to fall in the middle. Hardenburg Cake.— This is an old-fashioned Dutch fruit cake. Cream together a pound and a half of butter and two pounds of gran- ulated sugar. Add one-half pint of New Orleans molasses, the beaten yolks of 13 eggs, two ounces of mixed spices— mace, cinnamon and cloves, two grated nutmegs, one-half pound candied peel— two pounds cleansed and dried currants, four pounds stoned and cut raisins one- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 101 half pint pickled fruit sjTup or boiled-down cider, and flour to make the ingredients hang together. If not self-raising flour, add a dessertspoonful of baking powder. About a pound and a quarter of flour will be re- quired. Lastly, fold in the stifHy beaten whites of the eggs. Bake three or four hoiirs in a moderate even, taking care not to disturb. Honey Apple Cake. — Wash two cupfuls of dried apples (old-fash- ioned kind are the best) and soak them over night. Next morning drain them and mince as fine as possible and simmer for two hours in a pint of honey. Pour into a bowl and add while hot half a cupful of butter, stir until butter is melted and mixed, then let cool. Add a cupful of sifted sugar and half a cupful of milk, a teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, the grated rind of half a lemon, two eggs well beaten and two cupfuls of flour in which you have mixed two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Line long, shallow tins with buttered paper and pour in the batter to depth of half an inch. When baked cut into strips size of lady fingers and dust the surface with powdered sugar. Hot Cross Buns.-^Sift into a large bowl one full quart of flour, half a cupful of sugar, and half a teaspoonful of salt; dissolve one-fourth of a cupful of butter in a generous half-pint of warm milk, and add to the dry ingredients, with the yolks of two beaten eggs; add half a yeast cake dissolved in a little water, half a nutmeg grated, and the whites of the two eggs, beaten stiff; this should make a very soft dough. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth, place . it where it will keep warm, and let it rise over night. Li the morning take pieces of the dough the size of an egg and, with a little flour, mold them into round cakes an inch in thickness. Place them on a buttered tin, leaving a little space between. Cover the tins and set in a warm place for the buns to rise; they should be double their original size. With a sharp knife cut a cross in the center of each bun. Bake them in a moderate oven for about half an hour. When the buns are baked, brush the top with a syrup made of sugar and water. A few currants or a little candied peel is usually added to this recipe. Icing, Plain. — Dissolve one cupful of granulated sugar in one-quarter of a cupful of hot water; flavor with essence of vanilla or some orange juice and cook until it threads. Then pour it slowly over the whipped white of an egg, beating the mixture all the time until cool. Imperial Cake. — One pound of sugar, one pound of flour, three-quar- ters pound of butter, one pound of .almonds, blanched and cut fine; one- half pound of citron, one-quarter pound candied cherries, one-half pound of seeded raisins, rind and juice of one lemon, two pieces of candied orange, one nutmeg, 10 eggs. Bake in a loaf in a moderate oven. This is a rich and delicious cake, that can be made some time before it is used. Grandmother's Jumbles.— Work three-quarters of a pound of butter 102 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. into a pound and a half of flour and half a pound of sugar. Flavor with grated nutmeg, cinnamon or lemon extract, and add three well beaten eggs. Work all well together into a smooth paste and roll out an eighth of an inch in thickness. Sprinkle crushed loaf sugar over it and cut into round cakes with a very smjll cutter; take out the center. Lay on bak- ing sheets and bake in a quick oven, without browning, about 10 minutes. Jumbles Without Eggs. — ^A half cupful each of butter and slightly soured milk, one cupful of sugar, a half teaspoonful of soda, saltspoonful of salt, the same of nutmeg and cinnamon mixed, the grated yellow rind of half a lemon, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice, two cupfuls of flour to stiffen. Bake in rings in a hot oven. A cupful of clean, light, new- fallen snow stirred into cake, or other batters, briskly, the very last thing before turning it into the baking pan, is a good substitute for eggs. When snow is used a little more flour is required — about two tablespoonfuls. Lady Baltimore Cake. — One cupful of butter, two cupfuls of sugar, three and one-half cupfuls of flour, one cupful sweet milk, the whites of six eggs, two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a teaspoonful of rose water. Mix as directed for white cakes and bake in three layers, with this filling: Dissolve three cupfuls of granulated sugar in\one cup- ful of boiling water, cook until it threads, then pour gradually over the stiffly-beaten whites of three eggs, stirring constantly. Add to this icing one cupful of chopped raisins, one cupful of chopped nut meats (pecans preferred), and five figs cut in very thin strips. Ice and emboss top and sides of cake. Lady Fingers.— Beat the whites of three eggs until very stiff, then beat in gradually one-third of a cup of sugar and just a bit of salt. Beat the yolks of three eggs until light and thick and add to the whites, putting in at the same time a little vanilla extract. Fold in one-third of a cup of flour. Shape on a buttered tin to resemble those sold in the shops; that is, make them very thin and about four and one-half inches long by one inch wide. Dust with confectioner's sugar and bake in a moderate oven. About eight minutes will be required for the baking. Lebkuchen. — Take a cupful of butter and one of sugar, pour over them two cupfuls of honey heated to the boiling point. Add a generous handful of blanched almonds, a grated nutmeg and a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Dissolve a scant teaspoonful of soda in water and add to the ingre- dients. Mix with flour until the dough is as stiff as for ginger cookies. Roll out like cookies. Cut into oblong cakes and bake until well browned. Lemon Sponge Cake.— Three eggs, one-half cupful granulated sugar, one-half cupful of sifted flour, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, one-half teaspoonful of baking powder. Beat the whites of eggs very stiff, beat the yolks and add. When well mixed add the sugar slowly THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 103 and beat; grate the outside of rind of lemon and add the juice, then beat all with egg beater three minutes. Sift in the flour m which the baking powder has been mixed and stir slowly and carefully, but do not beat after flour is in. Bake in a moderate oven 35 minutes. Maple Layer Cake. — Make a tender layer cake by any good recipe, and bake in three large layers. For a filling take two cupfuls of maple su- gar, add one cup of water and boil until it will wax when dropped in cold water. Then remove from the fire and add two teaspoonfuls of but- ter and stir speedily till it will spread on the cake. Add one-half tea- spoonful of vanilla and put between the layers. Molasses Cookies. — Take one cupful of sugar and one cupful of but- ter or good shortening. Cream them and add two cups of molasses and two eggs. Dissolve two good-sized teaspoonfuls of soda in a little hot v/ater, and fill up the cup it is in with cold water. Add it to the other mixture and stir in enough flour to make a soft dough, but one that can be rolled out and cut into cookies. Spice to suit the taste. Delicious Nut Cake. — Cream half a cupful of sugar, adding the stiffly beaten whites of three eggs and beating very light; then add, by alter- nate bits, two-thirds of a cupful of milk and one and a half cupfuls of flour mixed with two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder. At the last turn in a cupful of minced , English walnut meat and bake in a shallow tin. When the cake is cool cover with icing, mark in squares and put nut meat on the top of each. Nut Wafers. — ^Two eggs, one cup of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of flour, one cup of nut meats chopped fine. Hickorynuts are preferred, and the sugar should be light brown. Spread the mixture in a very thin layer on a well-greased tin and bake ten minutes or until well tinged with brown. Cut in squares and remove from the tin as soon as they are done, that the wafers may grow crispy in the air. Oatmeal Cookies. — Cream three-fourths of a cupful of butter with one cupful of sugar; add two well-beaten eggs. Sift three-fourths of a tea- spoonful of soda into two cupfuls of flour; add one-half a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of cinnamon; now add to the mixture two cup- fuls of uncooked rolled oats, and one scant cupful of chopped raisins sprinkled with a little flour. Drop by the teaspoonful into a greased pan; bake in moderate oven. Oatmeal Crisps. — One table.<-.poonful of butter, creamed, one cup of sugar, added gradually; two and one-half cups rolled oats; two teaspoons baking powder well mixed with the oats; two eggs, well beaten, one- half teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons vanilla in the eggs. Mix in the order given; bake in a medium to slow oven. A heaping teaspoonful of mixture makes a dainty crisp. Allow room for them to spread in the pan. If you cannot get on without flour use a little best bread flour- not pastry. 104 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Oatmeal Macaroons. — Cream two level tablespoonfuls of butter, scant measure; add gradually half a cup of sugar, then the beaten yolks of two large eggs beaten again with half a cup of sugar. Then stir in 2^ cupfuls of rolled oats, mixed with 2^ level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one-fourth teaspoonful of salt. Flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla, then fold in the whites of two eggs, beaten dry. Drop with a teaspoon on to a buttered baking-sheet, making little rounds about three inches apart, and bake in a slow oven. Orange Cake. — Sift together four times V/2 cupful of flour and V/2 teaspoonful of baking powder. Beat well two eggs, add one cupful of sugar, one-half cupful of milk, one tablespoohful of melted butter and the same quantity of orange juice; then the sifted flour and baking pow- der. Bake in a square, shallow tin. When cooked split open and fill with a cream made as follows: Into a cup squeeze the juice of one orange, add a tablespoonful of lemon juice and hot water to fill the cup, put this on to cook in a double boiler, thicken with one tablespoonful of cornstarch wet with cold water, and add the grated rind of half an orange, one teaspoonful of butter, two heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar and the yolk of an egg. Othello Cake, or Devil's Food. — Part first — One cupful of dark brown su.gar; one-half cupful of butter; one egg and yolks of two; one-half cupful sweet milk; one teaspoonful soda, two cupfuls flour, measured before sifting; two teaspoonfuls vanilla extract. Part second — One cup- ful dark brown sugar, one cupful grated chocolate, one-half cupful sweet milk. Grate the chocolate, add milk and sugar, put in a double boiler, and place on the back of stove until dissolved; but do not boil. Prepare this first and have dissolving while preparing part first. To mix part first, cream the butter, sugar and eggs, together, dissolve the soda in milk, and add to butter and sugar. Add the flour tablespoonful at a time until all is in, beating lightly. Beat part secoTid into part first and bake in two layers. Panoche Cake. — Make any good white cake, and bake in two layers. Make a filling as follows : Boil together two cupfuls of brown sugar and one-half cupful milk until they harden in cold water. Then add a tea- spoonful of vanilla and a tablespoonful of butter. Stir while cooking. To half of this mixture add one-half cupful of English walnut meats; as soon as cool enough spread between the layers. Spread the remainder of the mixture on top of the cake, and decorate with half walnut meats. Peanut Cookies.— One-half cupful of butter, one cupful granulated sugar, one-half cupful milk, one egg, one pint flour, two teaspoonfuls baking powder, one heaping cupful chopped peanuts. Cream the butter and sugar, add the milk and egg— beating white and yolk separately— ihen the baking powder mixed with part of the flour, and lastly the re- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 105 mainder of the flour, in which has been mixed the nuts. Handle very I'ttle and do not roll too thin. Pork Cake. — One pound of fat salt pork, chopped fine, and dissolved i'^ one pint of boiling water, three cups of brown sugar, one cup mo- lasses, one pound each of raisins and currants, two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, one teaspoonful cloves, two nutmegs grated, grated zest of one orange and lemon, one teaspoonful baking soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, seven cups of sifted flour. Bake in moderate oven. This amount makes three medium-sized loaf cakes. Potato Cake. — Two cups sugar, one-half cup butter, one cup hot mashed potato, four eggs beaten, one-half cup milk, one-fourth tea- spoon nutmeg, one-fourth teaspoon cloves, one-half teaspoon cinnamon, one cup walnut meats chopped fine, two rounding cups flour, two tea- spoons baking powder, two ounces chocolate melted over hot water and mixed with potato; add to sugar and butter and mix as usual. Bake in three layers and put together with frosting. Pound Cake.- — Mix a pound of sugar with three-quarters of a pound of butter. When worked white, stir in the yolks of eight eggs beaten to a froth, then the whites. Add a pound of sifted flour and mace or nutmeg to taste. If you wish to have your cake particularly nice, stir in, just before you put it into the pans, a quarter of a pound of citron or al- monds blanched, and powdered fine in rosewater. Raised Cake. — Two cupfuls light sponge, one cupful sugar, one-half cupful butter, two well-beaten eggs, one cupful stoned raisins, floured, half a nutmeg, grated, one-half teaspoonful soda dissolved in a little water. Make into a loaf or loaves, and when light bake in rather slow oven, as it scorches easily. If desired, cover it with a milk icing, for which use 10 teaspoonfuls swpet milk, IJ^ cupful sugar. Boil six min- utes, take from stove and stir until quite white, flavor, spread quickly with a knife dipped in cold water. Raisin-Cake Squares. — Sift and dry half a pound of flour, rub into this two ounces of butter and a very little lard, add three ounces of sugar, a teaspoonful of baking powder and six ounces of stoned raisins. Beat two eggs with a spoonful of milk, and add to the dry ingredients; add a pinch of ground cinnamon and beat all to a light batter; pour into a greased pudding tin and bake in a sharp oven; when cooled a little cut with a hot knife into squares and serve while still warm. Rochester Cake.— Two cups sugar; two-thirds butter; one cup sweet milk; three eggs; three cups flour; two teaspoonfuls baking powder; a little salt and flavoring. Put half the mixture in two jelly cake pans. To the remainder add one tablespoon molasses; one cup chopped raisins or currants; one-fourth pound chopped citron; one teaspoon cinnamon; one- half teaspoon cloves; one-half teaspoon allspice; a little nutmeg; one 106 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. tablespoon flour. Put in two other jelly cake pans. Put the cakes to- gether while warm with a little jelly or raspberry jam between tliem, dark and light layers alternately. Rose Layer Cake.— Two cups of sugar, one cup of butter, a fourth of a cup of sweet milk, whites of eight eggs beaten stiff, three and a fourth cups -of flour and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Bake in jelly tins. Grease the tins well and dust flour over every part before putting in the batter. Boil two cups of powdered sugar in a half tea- cupful of water, stirring constantly. When very thick pour boiling-hot over the beaten whites of two eggs. Beat until almost cold. Flavor with rose extract and color with cochineal. Put the cakes together with this icing. For the pink coloring matter, buy five cents' worth of baker's cochineal of the druggist, put half a teaspoonful into a cup and cover with two teaspoonfuls of boiling water. Let stand an hour, add alum (powdered) the size of a large pea, and add drop by drop to the icing until of a pretty pink color. Sour Cream Cake. — One cup sugar, one cup sour cream, three-fourths cup raisins, one level teaspoonful salt, two eggs, two cups flour, one tea- spoonful each of saleratus and cinnamon, a saltspoonful ground cloves Beat well, bake in loaf or two layers, and use any white frosting for covering the cake. For the sour cream icing, use one cup sour cream, one and one-half cup sugar (granulated), three-fourths cup ground walnuts and hickory nuts. Boil in granite pan to soft ball stage, then stir briskly until nearly cold. If this should prove too stiff, add a table- spoonful sweet milk. Salem Spice Cake. — Cream a half cupful of butter with a cupful of sugar, add two eggs — one at a time — and beat until the mixture is very light. Sift 1^ cupful of flour with one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and half a teaspoonful of cloves. Add the flour, a tablespoonful at a time, alternately with a half cupful of cold water, and add to the last tablespoonful of flour a teaspoonful of baking powder. Stir in a half cupful of cleaned and seeded raisins and bake in a shallow, well-greased pan in a moderate oven for 35 minutes. Spiced Molasses Wafers. — This is one of the daintiest gingerbreads. Oue cupful of brown sugar, one-half of a cupful of molasses, one table- spoonful of butter, one-half of a teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon, one- quarter of a teaspoonful of cloves, one-quarter of a teaspoonful of all- spice, two tablespoonfuls of flour. Put the molasses, sugar and butter in a saucepan and boil gently over the fire until, when tried in cold water, a little of the mixture can be rolled into a very soft ball between the fingers; cover and set aside until cold. Add the spice, then the flour, and a pinch of salt Butter liberally a number of shallow tins. Make a tester by dropping a teaspoonful of the mixture on a greased pan and THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 107 baking it in a hot oven. This is necessary, as with some brands of flour a trifle more may be indicated. The mixture will spread very much and when taken from the oven the cake will be as thin as a wafer and should be taken at once from the pan. Berwick Sponge Cake. — Six eggs; powdered white sugar, three cup- f uls ; sifted flour, four even cupfuls ; cream of tartar,- two teaspoonfuls ; soda, one teaspoonful; one cupful cold water, one-half of a lemon. First beat the eggs two minutes, add the sugar and beat five minutes more, then stir the cream of tartar in two cupfuls of the flour and beat one minute; dissolve the soda in the water and add; wash the lemon dry, then grate the rind and squeeze in the juice. Finally, add the remaining two cupfuls of flour and beat all one minute. Put into deep pans in a moderate oven. This will make two bars, or loaves. When it is done it smells like fresh popcorn. There is considerable beating about this cake, and therein lies the success. You can use three tablespoonfuls baking powder (if you wish, in place of cream of tartar and soda), but sift it in the two last cupfuls of flour. Have about the same heat as for raised bread, put into the oven and let it remain certainly 20 min- utes without looking at it. If it can bake until done without the oven door being opened, so much the better. Boiled Sponge Cake. — One and one-half cupful granulated sugar, two- thirds cupful water, boiled until clear; pour over (beating while you pour) the whites of five eggs which have been beaten very stiff in a large platter; now beat until cold, and add yolk of eggs beaten- smooth," juice of a half lemon and one cupful of flour folded in gently. Bake in a slow oven about three-fourths hour. Bake in oblong pan about two to 2J4 inches deep. Can be iced with any icing preferred, and will keep in- definitely. Never-Fail Sponge Cake. — This can be made and baked in 35 min- utes. A good sponge should be yellow as gold, of velvety softness and tender as a marshmallow. If the rule here given is strictly followed, such a cake will be the sure result: Separate the whites and yolks of four eggs. Beat the whites until stiff enough to remain in bowl if it is inverted, then beat into them one-half cup of sugar, which must be fine granulated (powdered sugar makes tough cake and proper beating does away entirely with the grains). Beat the yolks, add to them one-half cupful of sugar, beating for five minutes by the clock — this latter being important, as the delicate texture of the cake depends upon it; add to the yolks the grated rind and juice of one lemon. Now beat well to- gether the yolks and white. At this stage beating is in order, but must be absolutely avoided after adding the flour, of which take one cupful. The mixture should now look like a puff ball, and the flour- is to be tossed or stirred into it with a light turn of the wooden spoon. Stirring 108 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. is quite different from beating. The cupful of sugar must be generous, the flour scanty. Bake for 25 minutes in a moderate oven. Just be- fore putting in the oven sprinkle on top through a sifter about a table- spoonful of granulated sugar. This gives the "crackly" top crust so desirable. Tory Wafers.— Melt a teacup of butter, a half a cup of lard, and mix them with a quart of flour, a couple of beaten eggs, a teaspoonful of salt, and flavoring. Add milk till of the right consistency to roll out; roll it out about the third of an inch in thickness, cut it into cakes with a cookie cutter, lay them on buttered baking plates, and bake them a few minutes. Frost them as soon as baked, and sprinkle comfits or sugar sand on the tor. Venetian Cake. — This makes a handsome loaf, and is very good. Beat together the yolks of six eggs and half a pint of sugar for 20 minutes. Fold in the stiffly beaten whites and mix in lightly 4J^ rounded tablespoon fuls of flour. Pour into a buttered mold dusted with equal parts of flour and sugar. Bake half an hour, with an increas- ing heat, putting it into a moderate oven at first. When done invert it on the pastry rack, and when cold frost with a vanilla chocolate icing. Walnut Cake. — Cream two-thirds of a cupful of butter with gne cupful of sugar. Separate three eggs ; beat the yolks until creamy and add to butter and sugar; then add one cupful of milk alternating with three cupfuls of flour (reserve enough of the flour for the nuts), add two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one cupful of nut kernels chopped, and last of all fold in the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Bake in a loaf tin in a moderate oven from 45 minutes to one hour. Walnut Wafers. — One cup brown sugar, one cup chopped nuts, two eggs, one tablespoon butter, flour enough to make very thick dough (about eight tablespoonfuls), one teaspoon baking powder, vanilla. Beat sugar and yolks together, add nuts, butter and flour; lastly the whites beaten stiff and baking powder. Drop by one-half teaspoonful on but- tered tins, allowing room to spread. Bake in quick oven. Whigs.— Mix half a pound of sugar with six ounces of butter, a couple of beaten eggs, a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Stir in two pounds of flour, a teacup of yeast, and milk sufficient to make a thick batter. When light, bake them in small cups. White Fruit Cake.— The whites of 16 eggs, one pound each of sugar, flour and butter, one grated cocoanut, one pound chopped citron, one pound chopped blanched almonds, one wineglass of rose water, two tea- spoonfuls of baking powder. Flour citron and almonds well; bake care- fully. CHAPTER IX. EGGS. Eggs a la Bonne Femme. — Cut an onion into fine dice, fry it lightly in a tablespoonful of butter, then dash in a teaspoonful of vinegar. But- ter a shallow dish, sprinkle the fried onion over it, and break in five eggs, being very careful that the yolks remain whole. Bake in a hot oven until the whites become a delicate film. Dust with salt and white pepper. Just before sending to the table sprinkle all over the dish coarse bread crumbs fried delicately brown in butter, and garnish with watercress or parsley. A la Maitre d'Hotel. — Put the eggs in boiling water and boil six minutes; then take from the fire and dip in cold water, taking them out immediately; this is to render shelling easy. When shelled, cut the eggs through lengthwise and lay them on a hot dish on which maitre d'hotel butter has been melted. With a spoon cover the eggs with this sauce, which is made as follows : M"ix with a spoon on a plate a piece of butter the size of an egg with a tablespoonful of finely chopped par- sley, a pinch of salt, and pepper. Put it on a hot platter to melt. This sauce is often served with fish, broiled meat or boiled vegetables. It is very nice with new potatoes. Eggs boiled as above described are also very good with strained tomato, or parsley sauce, while another varia- tion is given by using black butter, sauce au beurre noir. To make this, brown half a cupful of butter in the frying pan as brown as it can be made without burning, then add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, salt and pepper. This sauce is very good with fish also. Baked Eggs. — One large cupful of milk, add one teaspoonful of but- 'cr (or more if wished), salt and pepper to taste, one teaspoonful of fiour, made smooth with a little extra milk. Boil about three minutes and pour in heated dish, then break in five fresh eggs and put in hot oven and bake until whites of eggs are set. Baked Eggs with Cheese.— Cut 12 hard boiled eggs in thick slices, and, having a buttered baking dish well sprinkled with dry crumbs, place a layer of eggs in the center. Sprinkle with grated cheese and season lightly with salt and paprika. Add another layer of eggs and cheese until the dish is filled, finishing with the cheese. Pour in a cream sauce thickened with the yolks of three eggs, sprinkle with fresh bread crumbs mixed with cheese, dot with butter and bake about 10 minutes in a l^Qt oven, or until the c-r«mbs are 3 golden yellow. Serve ^t oupe. 110 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Baked Eggs With Mashed Potatoes.— The potatoes should be well sea- soned, and beaten smooth with hot cream or milk and butter, so they will be very light. Put m a buttered baking dish, and then with a small croquette mold (or if this 's lacking, with a clean egg) make deep little hollows in the potatoes. Drop an uncooked egg carefully into each of these hollows, dust with salt and pepper, and dot the ftop with bits of butter; set in the oven until the eggs are cooked, and serve at once. Creamed Eggs. — Boil six eggs for about eight minutes. Cool, remove shells, and cut into halves. Put two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan and blend with the same amount of flour. Add a cup of water and stir until smooth. Put in some more butter, season with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice. Stir in the eggs and serve on toast. Eggs in Cream. — Use very thick cream, a dessert spoonful to each egg to cook them in. Put the cream in a large deep granite ware pie dish and set on top of the stove for a minute or two, until the cream gets thin. Then break in the eggs; sprinkle a little salt and white pepper over each egg, set the dish back on the stove, cover close and let stand two or three' minutes, or until the eggs are nicely set. These are most de- licious served with toast and coffee for breakfast. Mexican Eggs. — Peel and chop four or five ripe tomatoes and lay them in a shallow vegetable dish or on a platter on which the peppers are to be served. Remove the stems and seeds from six or eight very tender peppers, and if desired, the skins can be peeled off in this way. Put them into a dry frying pan over a moderate fire, moving them often until they are sufficiently wilted to allow the removal of the skins. This done, put a small bit of cheese in each pepper and return them to the pan with a good lump of butter. Fry them gently so the butter will not scorch. When done pour three well-beaten eggs slightly salted into the pan with the peppers and when set take them up by the spoonful — a pepper in each — and lay them on the chopped tomatoes. Omelets. — It is always better to make several small omelets than one large one, if a number of persons are to be served. It is much more likely to turn out well. Nearly everyone has her own special recipe for this dish; the regulation French omelet calls for three eggs well beaten, to which three tablespoonfuls of water are added, and stirred in lightly. A level tablespoonful of butter is melted in a perfectly smooth frying pan and the omelet turned in; it is shaken gently to prevent sticking, and when cooked rolled over with a flexible knife and slid on to a hot dish. It is varied by putting in a filling before rolling over; half a cup of grated cheese is very nice, or some jam or jelly for a sweet omelet, which makes a rich dessert. Some cooks stir 3 little flour into the first THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Ill egg beaten, and separate the eggs, folding in the beaten whites last; this makes a very light and puffy omelet. Buttermilk Omelet. — Four eggs beaten separately, one cupful of but- termilk, one-half teaspoonful of soda, three-quarters cup of finely rolled cracker crumbs, a scant teaspoonful of salt, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper. Have two tablespoonfuls of butter hot in a frying pan. Turn in omelet and fry a delicate brown. Place in oven for 10 minutes and when firm fold and serve. Fairy Omelet. — Beat yolks and whites of six eggs separately; add five tablespoonfuls of milk to the yolks. Heat a skillet and put in a table- spoonful of butter; let it melt, pour in the beaten yolks and pile be- tween whites on the top; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook three minutes, slip out on hot platter and serve by cutting through yolks and whites. French Omelet. — Beat thoroughly, first, the yolks and then the whites of the eggs; to the yolks add a tablespoonful of boiling water, a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper; turn the stiff whites into the yolks and fold; that is, stir them in so that the air bubbles shall not be broken. Turn carefully into a frying pan, in which has been melted a large piece of butter. Set where it may cook very slowly, and when well browned on one side set in the oven to brown on the other. Send im- mediately to the table. The omelet may be varied by dropping chopped meat in it, chopped celery, grated cheese, or, if a sweet omelet is de- sired, by spreading jelly over and folding. Orange Omelet. — Beat yolks of three eggs; add three tablespoonfuls of sugar and the grated rind of one orange; add a pinch of salt to the whites of the eggs and beat until stiff; mix the whites lightly with the yolks, sprinkling in at the same time three tablespoonfuls of orange juice; melt one teaspoonful of butter in a clean, small frying pan till the bottom is greased; turn in the egg mixture; cook slowly, turning the pan that the bottom may brown evenly; when firm on the bottom put pan in a hot oven; fold in half and turn out on a hot platter; sprinkle over powdered sugar. Pannikins. — Take some little earthen pans, such as are sold for toy milk pans, capable of holding one egg only; heat them in the oven, and when quite hot take them out, and with a paste brush butter them in- side; break an egg carefully into each pan; set them into the oven until the white of the egg is hard enough to retain the form of the pan; turn them out in a circle on the dish in which they are to be served. On the top of each sprinkle a little fresh parsley or grated ham; have ready a sauce of bread crumbs beaten up with rich gravy, browned and seasoned; place this in the center of the dish, the eggs inclosing it. 113 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Canadian Poached Eggs. — A cupful of milk is brought to scalding point in a shallow granite vessel, and into this the eggs are gently dropped, then covered. The milk is not allowed to boil, merely kept at the scald- ing point. The eggs will be ready in about two minutes, with the yolk inside of a beautiful pearly film. Lift them out carefully with a skim- mer and set each egg on a slice of buttered, delicately-browned toast. Add to the hot milk one tablespoonful of butter and one tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth, season with pepper and celery salt, beat till creamy and pour over the poached eggs. Poached Eggs in Glasses. — Add a few grains of salt to the white of an egg (a level saltspoonful to five eggs) and beat until dry; turn into a buttered glass and form a nest on the top for the yolk, which must be kept whole. Put the glass on a trivet, or an inverted tin cover, in a covered dish of lukewarm water, letting the water come to within half an inch of the top of glasses, and let cook until the egg is set and rises in the glass. Do not allow the water which is around the glass to boil. Serve at once. Prepare as many eggs in glasses as there are persons to be served. Dainty and wholesome for invalids. Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce. — Put into the frying pan one table- spoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of flour; heat until frothy; stir into it 1J4 teacupful of tomato (which has been peeled and chopped fine and heated) and then strain into the frying pan a dash of cayenne pepper and a heaping saltspoonful of salt; cook until creamy, and drop in four eggs, baste often, and when whites are set remove and put each egg on a quarter of a slice of buttered toast and pour sauce around them. St. Pancras Eggs. — Separate the yolks from the whites of five eggs; keep each yolk separate; whip the whites to a stiff froth, adding a salt- spoonful of salt; butter five small cups, put the whites into them and carefully drop the yolk into the center of each; dust with salt and pep- per; place the cups in a shallow pan of hot water, put in the oven and bake five minutes, or till the whites are set. Serve in the cups. Egg Salad. — Boil six eggs perfectly hard, putting them on in cold water and cooking 10 minutes after this reaches the boil, that the yolks may be dry and mealy. Cut the whites in two, remove carefully and rub the yolks to a paste with three tablespoonfuls of minced ham or chicken or both, 10 drops of onion juice, a saltspoonful of mustard, a table- spoonful of melted butter, salt to taste and half a teaspoonful of paprika. Crowd this mixture back into the halved whites, cutting a bit off the bot- tom of each cup, that it may stand upright, and letting the newly formed yolk rise above the edge of the white as far as the original yolk would have done. Arrange these on lettuce leaves and serve with a French dressing or with boiled salad dressing. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 113 Scalloped Eggs. — Boil eight eggs hard; put in cold water for five minutes; then shell and cut into slices with very sharp knife; put a layer in small buttered baking dish; sprinkle with fine bread crumbs, salted, a dash of pepper, small dots of butter; fill up dish in this man- ner, having the bread crumbs on top with small pieces of butter; have ready one cupful of hot milk, into which a teaspoonful of cornstarch dissolved in a tablespoonful of milk has been well stirred, and a pinch of salt ; pour milk over eggs and crumbs ; - put in a quick oven for 15 minutes; serve in baking dish. Scrambled Eggs. — Break tlie required number of eggs in a bowl; beat until the yolks are broken. Put a lump of butter the size of a walnut in a frying pan; as soon as it is melted turn in the eggs, and stir until it is set. Serve immediately. A pleasing change is made in scrambled eggs by stirring in a little potted meat or finely chopped par- sley just before serving, and then sprinkling over the top some hot browned bread crumbs. Scotch Woodcock. — Make a half-pint of cream sauce, using one and one-half tablespoonful of butter, onfe of flour and a cupful of cream. Season with one-fourth of a saltspoonful of white pepper, and a half- teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Shell and chop fine five hard- boiled eggs, add them to the sauce, cook for three minutes and serve on well-buttered rounds of crisp toast. Welsh Rabbit. — Half a pound of cheese, two eggs, a speck of ca- yenne, a tablespoonful of butter, on teaspoonful of mustard, half tea- spoonful of salt, half a cupful of cream or rich milk. Break the cheese in small pieces, and put all the ingredients in a double boiler, or in a pan over hot water. Stir until the cheese melts; then spread on toast and serve at once. Egg Timbales. — Beat four eggs, add to them one cup of milk, half teaspoonful salt, and four dashes of pepper. Pour into buttered custard cups, set these in a pan of hot water, and cook in a slow oven until the timbales are set in the center. Turn out on a hot dish, and pour over them a cream sauce made by placing half a pint of milk in a double boiler; rub together a rounding tablespoonful each of butter and flour, stir this into the boiling milk until it thickens, add half a teaspoonful of salt and four dashes of pepper. Egg Toast. — Butter a shallow pudding dish, put in it a layer of toast, cut into narrow scrips, then a layer of hard-boiled whites of eggs, cut into slices, then another layer of toast. Put over this the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs, riced by passing through a vegetable press; then pour over all a rich cream sauce highly seasoned, and place in the oven until it is well browned. CHAPTER X. VEGETABLES. Asparagus. — The average cook rarely tries any other mode than boil- ing. Boil the stalks whole, after careful washing, tying in a bundle to keep from breaking; drain, lay upon toast, and serve with cream sauce. Another way is to cut in inch lengths, and stew in milk, thickening with flour, and seasoning with butter, pepper and salt. Asparagus a la Vinaigrette. — Cook as for boiled asparagus. While cooking make a hot French dressing by mixing together in a saucepan over the fire six tablespoonfuls of salad oil, two of vinegar, two tea- spoonfuls of French mustard, half a teaspoonful of sugar, salt and pep- per to taste. When the asparagus is tender drain, put in a deep dish and pour over it the hot dressing. Cover and set aside to cool, then stand in the ice chest for an hour or so before serving. Baked Beans with Cream. — Soak and parboil a pint of navy beans until half cooked; drain, dash over a quart of cold water, drain again and add the last water (boiling) with two heaping teaspoonfuls of salt, one-eighth teaspoonful pepper, one large sprig of thyme (minced), two tablespoonfuls of beef drippings or the clean, browned trimmings of fat from roast beef, and fried steak may be used instead of the drippings; when beans are cooked tender turn all into a covered bean pot and bake in a very moderate oven five hours. Then pour over the beans a cupful of sweet cream and bake an hour longer. Baked Beans and Tomato Sauce. — Prepare the beans as for ordinary baking, by soaking and parboiling; then put in a crock, with the pork, and add the sauce, which should be prepared while the beans are cook- ing. Some cooks merely use the juice from a can of tomatoes; we pre- fer to use some of the solid part, too. Stew slowly, put through a sieve to make it smooth, and flavor with salt, pepper, a small pinch of clove, a little mustard, and, if desired, a shred of onion. Do not thicken; pour this over the beans, cover and bake. Add a little water from time to time if the beans seem to be becoming too dry. A little sugar may be added to the sauce if the family taste approves. String Beans and Bacon. — Cut one or two slices of tender mild-cured bacon in tiny cubes and cook to a delicate brown in the frying pan. Add a pint of hot cooked and drained string beans and a few drops of onion juice. Shake the frying pan thoroughly. Add salt and pepper as needed and turn into a hot dish. Peas may be served in the same way. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 115 Lyonnaise Beets. — Two cupfuls of boiled beets cut into half-inch dice, three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoon of chopped parsley, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, half the quantity of pepper. Put all of the ingredients except the beets into a double boiler. When well heated add the beets, stir for a few min- utes that they may absorb the dressing and serve very hot. Baked Summer Cabbage. — Cut into quarters and boil tender in salt and water two medium-sized heads of cabbage, drain and chop. Ar- range an inch layer in the bottom of a baking dish. Sprinkle with black pepper, then crumb in a layer of stale bread. Drop small bits of butter over the bread crumbs. Repeat the process until the dish is nearly full, bread coming on top. Then pour over the whole one pint of rich milk or thin cream, and bake until nicely browned. Baked Cabbage With Cheese. — Boil a firm white cabbage for 15 min- utes in salted water, then change the water for more that is boiling, and boil until tender. Drain and when cool chop fine. Butter a baking dish, and lay in the chopped cabbage. Put one tablespoonful of butter '"n a frying pan ; when it bubbles stir in one tablespoonful of flour, one half -pint of stock, same of boiling water; stir until smooth. Then season with saltspoonful salt, half as much pepper, four tablespoonfuls grated cheese. Pour over the cabbage, sprinkle cracker crumbs over the top, dot with bits of butter and bake in a quick oven 10 minutes. Browned Cabbage.— One small cabbage, one tablespoonful of buttter, half a cupful of milk, two eggs and bread crumbs. Cut the cabbage, into small pieces and remove the hard center. Wash the pieces in cold wa- ter; then pour boiling water over them and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain off the hot water and put the cabbage in boiling salted water to cook until tender. When it is done pour off the water, pressing down hard on the cabbage, to be sure that all the water has been drained away. Chop as fine as possible, beat up the eggs, add the milk and stir all the ingredients and seasoning with the cabbage. Put the whole into a but- tered baking dish and bake for one hour in a moderate oven. Red Cabbage, German Style. — Slice red cabbage thin, cover with cold water, and let soak 20 minutes; then drain. Put one quart in a stew pan with two tablespoonfuls of butter, one-half teaspoonful of salt, OBe tablespoonful of finely chopped onion and a few gratings each of nut- meg and cayenne. Cover, and cook until the cabbage is tender; then add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar and one-half tablespoonful of sugar, and cook five minutes. Carrot Ragout. — Clean and scrape enough new carrots to measure a pint; take the same quantity of new potatoes and white turnips, cutting them in pieces about the size of the carrots. Cut a half cupful of leeks in fine slices. Cook the carrots in boiling water for half an hour and the 116 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. other vegetables separately for 10 minutes. In a frying pan brown slowly together two tablespoonfuls each of butter or dripping and flour; add gradually one pint of stock or water and stir until thick and smooth. Season with a level tablespooniul of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt and one-quarter of a teaspoonful of white pepper, add the vegetables, cover and simmer gently for half an hour, and before serving stir into it a tablespoonful of parsley. Baked Corn.— One quart corn scraped from cob; one and one-third cupful cream; one heaping tablespoonful of butter; season with salt and pepper. Bake one hour. Baked Corn and Tomatoes.— Fill an earthen pudding dish with alter- nate layers of corn and tomatoes, each about an inch thick. Season each v/ith salt, pepper and butter. When the dish is full sprinkle with grated bread crumbs and bits of butter. Cover the dish with a plate and bake in a moderately hot oven for 20 minutes. Then remove the cover and bake 15 minutes longer; Corn Chowder. — Cut the kernels from a dozen ears of green corn. Peel and mince two onions and fry them brown in three tablespoonfuls of butter in a deep saucepan. Now put in the corn, four broken pilot biscuits, add a half dozen parboiled and sliced potatoes. Season with pepper, salt and a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and cover with a quart of boiling water. Let all cook gently for three-quarters of an hour, then stir in slowly a cupful of boiling milk, thickened with a tablespoon- ful of flour rubbed into one of butter. Turn at once into a heated tureen. Escalloped Corn. — Into a buttered dish put a layer of green corn pulp, sprinkling with salt and bits of butter. Over this spread a layer of cracker crumbs, seasoned and moistened slightly with milk. Fill the dish with alternate layers of corn and cracker crumbs, with crackers for top layer and plenty of milk over the whole. Cover and bake one hour. Hulled Corn. — New England taste demands a- well-ripened white flint corn for hulling, other sections prefer yellow, but it is always flint corn, Babbitt's potash is used to remove the hulls, the proportion being one full pound to a bushel of corn. Of course, when preparing corn for home use, the same proportion would be observed in smaller quantities. An iron kettle half filled with water is put on the stove, the potash added when the water warms, and the corn put in when it comes to a boil. In about an hour the starch will come out of the corn, thickening the lye. The corn must be well stirred from the bottom, to avoid burning, and the kettle kept back on the stove, so the corn will simmer without boiling hard. After the first hour corn must be dipped out and tested in cold water, to see if the hulls slip. If left in the potash too long it becomes dark and sodden; if too short, it cannot be cooked tender. About V/i to tyro boB.rs j§ the usual time, The corn J? tlie.n washg^ in clear water. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 117 When made in large quantities a clean, new broom, with about six inches of the straw cut off, is used to rub off the hulls; a stiff whisk would answer the same purpose with small quantities. A quantity of vfater will be used during this scrubbing, the hulls being poured off with the water. Put the corn on to boil in clear water; when it reaches the boiling point draw it back, so that it may simmer. It should not be stirred, as this makes it mushy. It requires long, slow simmering; when sufficiently cooked it may be salted to taste, and drained in a colander. When served it is either eaten with milk, or warmed up with butter in a frying pan, and served like a vegetable. In the Summer hulled corn would ferment very quickly, so its manufacture takes place only after hard freez- ing has started in the Fall. Hulled corn may also be prepared as follows : Wash two quarts of shelled corn to remove loose bits; then place in a large iron kettle with two heaping tablespoons of saleratus, cover with cold water, let come to a, boil slowly and cook about an hour. Remove the kettle from fire, drain off the water, then pour the corn, from which the hulls will already be loosened, into a large pan of water. Rub the corn between the hands to loosen the hulls ; after taking off all those partly loosened put it on again in warm water, let boil about half an hour, then try to remove the rest of the hulls by rubbing as before. After all hulls are removed, wash the corn in at least half a dozen clear waters, then put on once more in warm water, and when it boils drain and add fresh water. Let the corn cook in this last water until tender, salting to taste. If the hulls do not come off readily let the corn boil an hour longer, adding a teaspoon more saleratus. Corn Pudding. — Two coffeecupfuls of green corn pulp, one cupful of new milk, three eggs, two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter. Pour one pint of the milk over the corn and set on the fire until scalding hot. Beat the yolks of the eggs and add the pint of cold milk and half a cuplul of sugar. Put the butter in the corn over the fire, and then add the milk and yolks of eggs and a little salt. Put in a buttered pudding dish and bake slowly. Make a meringue of the whites of the eggs and powdered sugar and spread over the top when pudding is done, browning slightly. Succotash. — Cook one pint of corn pulp in as little water as you can without scorching. Put the. cobs in a quart of water and boil hard for 20 minutes ; remove cobs and in this water boil one pint of shelled beans until tender; drain and mix with the corn. Add butter the size of a walnut, pepper, salt and half a cupful of thick cream, more if liked. Serve hot. Baked Egg Plant. — Select one that is firm and fresh, peel it and cut it into quarters. Let it lie half an hour in salted water. Put it into boil- ing water with a teaspoonful of salt, Cook until it can be easily pierce4 lis THE RURAL COOK BOOK. with a fork. While the plant is ccokiiig cut one medium-sized onion into small pieces and coyer it with salt water. In 10 minutes pour off the n-ater and put the chopped cnton into a hot pan, with a tablespoonfnl of batter. Cook until it is thorou^y tender and brown. Drain the egg plant in a colander, put into a bowl, stir with a silver fork until it is broken up, but not mashed. ISIix with it an equal qnantity of rolled bread crumbs, add the browned onion and one well-beaten egg. Season with a dash of salt, two dashes of pepper, and add a dessertspoonful of butter. Put the mixture into a weU-buttered earthen dish, bake just long enough to be nicely browned. Serve hot in the dish in which it is baked. Dutch Ht:t;pot. — ^Boil six carrots with six onions (medimn size) one hour, or tmtfl tender. In another kettle boil six medium-sized potatoes until done. Drain aU the water from both, ptrt; them together, mash them well, add one teaspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonfol of sugar, one- quarter teaspoonful of pepper, one-half cupful of butter and one-half cupful of milk or cream. Beat well and serve hot Macaroni and Qieese. — ^The macaroni is first put into boiling salted water and cooked tender — a half hour or less — then it is drained, and rinsed with cold water, and cut in convenient pieces. A buttered pudding dish is then filled with alternate layers of the macaroni and chopped or grated cheese, perhaps a cupful of the cheese to a quart of the cooked macarcnL Seascn with salt and pepper, fill the dish with miUc, and cover with bread or cracker criimbs mixed with a little mdted butter and bake in a moderate oven for nearly an hour, or till the macaroni absorbs most of the ndlk. llacaroni, Italian Stjle. — ^Four tablespoonfuls of butter, one-half pound of macaroni, an onion, parsley, herbs, tomato catsup and spice. Put in a pan one tab'espoonful each of finely-chopped onion, parsley and rtsemarj-; fry in bubbling butter until well browned; add four table- spoonf'jls of tomato catsup, some mixed spice, four tablespoonfuls of butter and one quart of boiling water; put in macaroni broken into medium-sLzed pieces ; freouently shake the pan and stew over a slow fire untU the n:acar:ni is tender. Arrange on a hot dish, pouring the sauce ever. Sprinkle thickly with grated cheese. Okra, Creole Style. — ^^Va3h, trim and cut into slices a quart of young, tender okra; place in a granite saucepan two teaspoonftds of butter, a medium-sized onion, a medium-sized green pepper, both minced fine; stir ever the £re until a golden brown, then add three large tomatoes peeled and c-.;t into pieces, three tablespoonfuls of Spanish or some hot pepper sauce and salt to taste, and the okra. Cover the saucepan and simmer gentiy for half an h^ur. Turn out on a hot dish and sprinkle over with a teaspoonful of minced parsley and serve. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. U9 Baked Onions.— Peel and cut in thick slices large white onions. Par- boil in plenty of salted water, drain well, arrange in a buttered baking dish, dot with bits of butter and bake until soft and a pale yellow. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with a half-inch layer of grated crumbs thickly dredged with grated cheese. Return to the oven long enough to melt the cheese. Escalloped Onions. — Slice some onions and cook in salted water until done, drain and put layers of onion and cracker crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and butter in pudding dish; moisten with milk. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. Baked Split Peas.— Rub a large baking dish with onion. Turn into this a pint of split peas soaked until soft. Chop a large onion very fine and spread over the top of the peas with pepper and salt. If you have left over gravy or stock pour it over the mixture. If not, cover with water, spreading over all bacon cut into the thinnest possible slices. Bake in the oven for two hours and add a little boiling water if the peas get too dry. French Fried Potatoes. — Old potatoes are better for this, or the little yellowish potatoes that German cooks use for potato salad. These con- tain more gluten. Peel very thin and cut in long thin strips lengthwise. Let them stand in cold salted water for two or three hours. Drain and wipe dry ; put into a wire basket and fry in very hot, deep fat until brown. Take out and lay on a piece of manila paper to absord the fat; dust with salt and serve. Another way to fry potatoes is to put a little olive oil in a deep frying pan; when very hot add sliced cold boiled potatoes. Cover, and cook until a golden brown, turning once. Drain, put in a hot vege- table dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Still another way, that the French chef delights in, is to chop cold boiled potatoes, then season lightly with salt, pepper and onion juice. Put a couple of table- spoonfuls of olive oil or good drippings in the frying pan, turn in the potatoes, press into a solid cake and cook slowly until crusty and brown on the under side. Turn on to a hot platter, with the brown side upper- most Potatoes au Gratin. — Peel and cut into dice half a dozen potatoes, crisp in cold water, then drain, and boil until tender. Drain the water off, put the potatoes in a baker, season with pepper and salt, stir a table- spoonful of butter through the pieces, pour over them half a cup of milk, cover the top with grated cheese, bake quickly and serve hot. Potato Chowder. — Wash and pare four large potatoes. Cut them into small dice. Chop fine one-quarter of a pound of ham and one good- sized onion. Slowly fry the ham and onion together until a light brown, then in a saucepan put alternate layers of the ham and diced potato, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Add one tablespoonful of finely- 120 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. chopped parsley and one pint of boiling water, cover and simmer slowly until the potatoes are tender, which will take about twenty minutes. In a second saucepan thicken two cupfuls of milk with one tablespoonful of butter, and one tablespoonful of flour, simmer for a moment, add it to the chowder and let cook for two minutes longer. Potato Dumplings. — Boil six large potatoes and mash, seasoning with one-half teaspoonful salt. Place on a board. Add to this one egg and one-half cupful flour; knead into a dough. Roll out into strips, one-half inch thick, and cut into inch lengths. Sprinkle the pieces with flour, so that they are quite dry. Place enough of the dumplings in a saucepan of boiling water to allow them freedom to swim, and allow them to boil about eight minutes. E.emove the dumplings from the water, with a perforated spoon, to a hot frying pan, in which one cupful bread crumbs have been browned in about two tablespoonfuls butter. All of the dump- lings can be placed in the pan at the same time. They should be stirred from time to time, until nicely browned, keeping a small fire under the pan. Serve hot. German Sour Potatoes. — Boil four good-sized potatoes. When done and cold, skin and cut into cubes. Place these in a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Now mix in another bowl half a pint of sweet oil and four tablespoonfuls of sweet cider vinegar, one good-sized onion, grated fine and sprigs of parsley finely chopped. Mix these together well and pour over the potatoes. Now place the empty bowl on top of the full one and shake up and down until well mixed. Garnish the dish with lemon slices, cut in halves. Hashed Brown Potatoes.— Cut or chop finely a quart of cold baked or boiled potatoes and put them down in a frying pan in which has been dissolved a tablespoonful of butter and an equal quantity of tried-out suet or beef dripping. Let the potatoes simmer in this and season with pepper and salt; have the pan covered. When the potatoes seem rich and moist throughout and browned underneath add a sprinkling of finely-minced parsley and with a large, flexible knife loosen the potatoes from the bot- tom of the pan, turning the sides over toward the middle as in making an omelet, and slip them carefully on to the serving dish. For a pint of potatoes use half the quantity of butter and drippings. Lyonnaise Potatoes.— Put V/^ tablespoonful of butter in a frying pan; when melted add a scant tablespoonful of chopped onion; let it slightly color, then add two cupfuls of cold boiled potatoes cut into dice. Stir until the potato has absorbed all the butter and become slightly browned; then sprinkle with salt, pepper and a tablespoonful of chopped parsley! Mix well and serve very hot. Scalloped Potatoes.— Peel and slice very thin one medium-sized potato for each person to be served, and allow the slices to remain in cold water THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 121 till crisp. Prepare as you would scalloped oysters with cracker crumbs and salt and pepper sprinkled over each layer, and small dots of butter. Cover the top of the pan with crumbs and carefully pour on sweet milk almost to cover without disturbing the cracker crumbs. Bake two hours and a half in a steady oven, removing cover from pan during last half hour. It is better to use your thickest, heaviest kettle cover or earthen- ware pie pan for the first hour in the oven. Spaghetti with Brown Sauce. — Put a half pound of spaghetti into slightly-salted boiling water. Boil half an hour, drain and pour into a buttered granite pan. Pour over it the following brown sauce : Heat three tablespoonfuls butter, stir into this two tablespoonfuls flour, stir till smooth. Draw to a cooler place' on the stove and add gradually one cupful cold water, stirring constantly. Let it boil up, add one scant tea- spoonful salt, one-fourth teaspoonful pepper, one teaspoonful of catsup, simmer two or three minutes, pour over spaghetti, set it into the oven and let it bake 10 or 15 minutes. Squash Puff. — Press dry cooked squash through a sieve; to a half pint add two tablespoons of melted butter, quarter of a cup of milk, seasoning of salt and pepper, and two beaten egg yolks. Mix thoroughly, fold in two beaten egg whites, and turn into a buttered mold, set in a pan of hot water and bake in the oven until the center is firm. Serve turned from the mold and accompanied by a rich cream sauce made from one tablespoon each of flour and butter with a cup of scalded cream or rich milk and seasoning of salt, pepper, celery salt and mace. This can be baked in individual molds if desired. Scalloped Squash. — Two cupfuls of boiled squash run through a colander, and then let cool; two eggs, a tablespoonful of melted butter, half a cup of milk ; pepper and salt ; half a cupful of bread crumbs. Beat eggs, butter and milk and squash light; season; pour into a buttered bake dish, sift crumbs over it and bake, covered, half an hour; then brown lightly. Stewed Summer Squash. — Wash, pare, cut into pieces after removing the seeds, cook in a small quantity of water until tender; drain and press dry, salt slightly and serve on golden-browned toast with a cream dress- ing made as follows : Into half a pint of rich milk stir one teaspoonful of cornstarch, let boil until slightly thickened, then pour it over the toast and squash. Sweet Potato, Southern Style.— Peel and boil until they are thoroughly but not too well cooked. Then they should be cut into four pieces length- wise and placed in a tin baking pan. Butter and sugar should be placed over the potatoes abundantly before they are put in the oven to bake slowly. After a while, the butter and sugar mingling with the juice of the potatoes, forms a delicate crust that should be cooked until it has 123 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. almost reached the point at which it is candy. Under this crust is a thick, rich syrup of the sap of the potatoes, sugar and butter. Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.— Select large, fine potatoes of uniform size. Bake them soft, taking care that they do not burn. With a sharp knife cut a slit lengthwise in each and scrape out the inside, breaking the skin as little as possible. Put the pulp into a bowl; work into it a tablespoon- ful of butter, enough hot milk to make a soft paste; salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Beat light, and fill the emptied skins with the mixture. Bring the cut edges neatly together, and set the potatoes back in the oven to reheat. Serve in a deep dish lined with a heated napkin. Baked Tomatoes, Italian Style.— Pour two tablespoonfuls of olive oil into a baking dish. Add four tablespoonfuls of grated bread crumbs that have already been mixed with parsley and other herbs, all of which must have been chopped very fine. Season with pepper and salt. Upon this bed of oil and crumbs lay a dozen tomatoes that have been cut in halves. Cover them with four more tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs that have previously been seasoned in the same way. Pour over all two more tablespoonfuls of oil and send the dish to a hot oven, where the tomatoes must bake for about one hour. Panned Tomatoes. — These are excellent served with roast meats. Put in a pan with two ounces of butter six firm tomatoes that have been cut in halves. Cook slowly on the top of the range for 10 minutes, then brown quickly in the oven. Remove the tomatoes to a hot platter, and make a sauce by adding to the browned butter two tablespoonfuls of flour, and after it is rubbed smooth one pint of milk. Stir until boiling. Season well with salt and pepper and pour over the tomatoes. Garnish with parsley and points of toast. Scallop of Tomatoes and Potatoes.- — Season a pint of peeled and chopped tomatoes with salt, pepper and onion juice to suit the taste, and add enough potatoes to make a cupful when chopped fine. Butter a baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and put in half of the tomatoes; then a layer of soft crackers, buttered and broken in coarse bits. Cover the crackers with two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated American cheese. Then add the remainder of the tomatoes, more cracker crumbs and bits of butter and place in a hot oven. Bake 20 minutes. Serve at once. CHAPTER XI. CANNING AND PRESERVING. This chapter does not aim to cover the entire ground, but to give briefly the experience of other housewives, which may include some in- formation not generally found in print. There are still many housewives who laboriously can fruit by cooking it in a kettle, and then lifting it into the jars; we make preserves in that way, but our canned fruit is packed into jars, covered with hot syrup, and then cooked by standing the jars in water in a wash boiler. Instead of putting odd pieces of board in the bottom of the boiler to rest the jars on, have a board made to fit, with three cleats across it underneath and a number of auger holes bored in it so that the water passes through. We usually put enough water to come half w^ay up the jars, but some housekeepers elevate the jars above the water and cover the boiler closely, thus cooking the fruit in the steam. Of course there are cooking kettles made for this purpose which are more convenient than a wash boiler. Fruit is canned without sugar after the following method : Fill the jars with fruit; then pour in as much water as they will hold; adjust the rubbers ; lay the lids carefully on top without fastening them down ; stand the jars in a wash boiler, the bottom of which has been protected with a rack; surround them with cold water; put the lid on the boiler; bring to boiling point and boil strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and curranti for twenty minutes; cherries, for three-quarters of an hour; pineapples, for half an hour; peaches and pears, for half an hour. Strawberries and raspberries are better without water. Fill the jars with fruit, bring them to boiling point, and when the fruit shrinks or settles you may fill two jars from a third; put them back in the boiler; cook for five or 10 minutes longer and then fasten on the lids. Seal the jars. Lift the jars one at a time and screw on the lids without lifting them. Wipe the jars, put them into a cool place out of the draught. Next morning give each lid a turn and store in a cool dark place. Canned fruit may also be cooked in the oven. Pack the prepared fruit in the jars, fill up with hot syrup, and lay the cover on top of the jar without fastening. Place in the oven, setting in a dripping-pan holding about two inches of water, or on a strip of asbestos. The oven should be moderately hot. Cook the fruit 10 or 15 minutes, dependent again upon the fruit, then lift from the oven, one can at a time, fill to overflowing with the scalding syrup, running the blade of a silver knife around the edge of the can to allow for the escape of all air-bubbles, then wipe and 124 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. screw as tightly as possible. Set the jars on a thickly folded newspaper, out of a draft, until the fruit has cooled, then tighten again. The following method is highly recommended for small fruits: Look over the fruit carefully, using only that which is perfect. Place in glass jars, that are also perfect. Shake down the fruit, but do not press down. Have ready enough hot syrup to cover the fruit. Fill the can full of the syrup, including the fruit already in. Screw on the cover tightly, and drop into a pail of boiling water. Be sure that the water is boiling, and that it covers the can well. Remove the pail to the table or some other convenient place; when the water is cool, take out the can, screw down the cover, if it is not tight, label, wrap in brown paper, and put away in the fruit cupboard. Some firm fruits, and also rhubarb, may be canned without cooking, being packed into the bottle, which is then filled with cold water. The jar is filled to overflowing, and any air bubbles removed by running the blade of a silver knife down the side; it is then sealed tightly and stored in a cool dark place. Try to avoid beet sugar when making jelly. We have never succeeded in hardening a fruit jelly made with beet sugar, and many exasperating cases of jelly that won't "jell" are due to this cause. Marian Harland says that many years ago she v/as advised to use one-fifth more beet sugar than a recipe called for when cane sugar was used. Almack's Preserves. — This is a foreign recipe. Peel and stone one quart of large ripe plums ; peel and slice one dozen apples and one dozen pears. Arrange in an earthen jar in alternate layers, adding one pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Set on back of range on an asbestos mat and simmer slowly until a little when cooled on ice shows it to be of such a firm consistency that it can be cut with a knife, for it is to be served cut in slices. When sufficiently cooked put away in a shallow jar from which it will be easy to cut it out. Seal like jelly, with paraffin before covering. Preserved Ginger. — Clean and wash some fine green ginger roots, let them lie several hours in cold water, drain and place the roots in |a kettle of boiling water, cook 20 minutes ; drain and rinse off with oold water; return the ginger to the kettle, cover with fresh boiling water and cook until the ginger is soft; drain and put in cold water. Next day drain the roots in a sieve and weigh them; allow for each pound one pound of sugar and one-half pint of water; boil sugar and water five minutes, add the ginger, boil a few minutes, remove and pour the ginger in a bowl. Twelve hours later drain off the syrup, boil it three minutes and pour it over the ginger ; repeat this twice more. Then drain off all the syrup, place over the fire, boil to a soft ball, add the ginger, cook two minutes and fill into jars. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 125 Canned Baked Apples. — Select good tart cooking apples; wash, remove the blossom end, but do not peel. Arrange in a baking pan with hot water to half fill the pan. Sprinkle with sugar, bits of sweet butter, and a dash of any spice if desired, and bake until tender. Can while hot, using the juice in which they were baked. Stand the jar in hot water 30 minutes before wanted for use, and you will have perfect baked apples for breakfast. Pears canned the same way are fine, or pears with thinly sliced quince scattered among them. Canned Porter Apples. — Wipe, quarter, core and peel the apples, then weigh them. Make a syrup by boiling for 10 minutes one-third the weight of the apples in granulated sugar with water, the proportion being 2^ cupfuls of water to one pound of sugar. Cook the apples slowly in the syrup until soft; do not crowd them. Skim out the apples carefully into jars, cover with the boiling syrup, and seal. Apple Ginger. — Tie a little -ginger root in a bag. A quarter of a pound will do for eight pounds of apples. Put the bag of ginger into three pints of cold, clear water. When the water is highly flavored add about three-quarters of a pound of sugar to every pound of apples. The three pints of water will be sufficient for six pounds of sugar. Add the juice of two lemons, laying aside the yellow peel cut in shreds. Clarify the syrup by allowing it to cool after it has cooked five minutes and mixing the white of two eggs and the shells in the cooled syrup. Return the syrup to the fire, let it boil up once, and then draw to the back of the stove. A scum will cover it. Strain into a clean saucepan, add the yellow peel of the lemons and put in quarters of apples. As soon as cooked, lift them out and put in more. Place the apples into jars and pour the syrup over them. Apple Orange Marmalade. — Core and slice 20 large tart apples. Allow for every quart one pint of water. Add the thin peel of one orange, cover and boil until tender. Place a sieve over a bowl, pour in the apples and let drain without disturbing. Allow for each pint one pound of sugar. Peel four large oranges, remove white part and seeds and set aside. Boil apple juice till very thick, add orange cut into small pieces and cook until a drop retains its shape on a plate. Put in glass jars and cover like jelly. The apple pulp may be used in pies. Preserved Apples.— Pare and core fine, ripe pippins, and cut them into quarters. Weight and to each pound allow one pound of granulated sugar and a half pint of boiling water, the grated rind of one and the juice of two lemons. Boil the sugar and water until clear (about three minutes), skimming the scum from the .-iurface, add the juice and rind of the lemons, then the apples, and simmer gently until they are clear and tender, but not broken, then stand aside to cool. When cold, put them into jars, cover 136 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. closely and stand in a cool, dark place for one week. At the end of that time tum them carefully into the kettle, bring them to boiling point, and simmer for five minutes, then return them to the jars, cover closely v^ith tissue paper brushed over with the white of an egg, and put in a dark, cool place to keep. Apples are more difficult to keep than any other fruit. Blackberry cheese is an old-fashioned but excellent recipe. Three pounds apples, peeled and cored; three pounds blackberries. To each pound pulp allow three-quarters pound sugar. Peel, core and slice the apples, put them in a jar with the blackberries, which must be picked over, and let them remain in the oven for three-quarters of an hour, or till the fruit is quite soft; pulp through a sieve, and to every pound of pulp allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar; boil the pulp for another hour; put into jars very hot, and when cold cover in the usual way. It should be firm. enough to slice when turned out. Barberry Jam. — Pick three pounds of barberries from the stalk, put them in a jar or farina boiler, with three pounds of sugar. Stand the jar in a saucepan of boiling water, and simmer gently until the sugar is dissolved and berries soft, then stand aside all night. In the morning put them in a porcelain-lined kettle, and simmer slowly for 35 minutes, stirring continually. Turn into glasses and seal when cool, like jelly. Barberry Preserves. — This is a very old-fashioned recipe. Four quarts of barberries picked from the stems, washed and drained. Heat one large quart of molasses and one quart of white sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Skim, and. then add the barberries. Cook until they begin to pop and shrivel, which will be in about 10 minutes. Skim them into a stone jar, then boil the syrup slowly until it will cover the berries. Bar le Due Preserves. — Take selected red (or white) currants of large size, one by one, carefully make an incision in the skin, one-fourth an inch in size, with tiny embroidery scissors. Through this slit, with a sharp needle, remove the seeds, separately, preserving the shape of the fruit. Take the weight of the currants in strained honey and, when hot, add the currants. Let simmer a minute or two, then seal as jelly. The currants retain their shape, are of a beautiful color and melt in the mouth. Should the currants liquefy the honey too much, carefully skim them out, reduce the syrup at a gentle simmer to desired consistency and store as before after adding the fruit. Black Currants. — Gather the currants on a dry day; to every pound allow half a pint red currant juice and a pound and a half of finely pounded loaf sugar. Clip off the heads and stalks; put the juice, currants and sugar in a preserving pan; shake it frequently till it boils; carefully remove the fruit from the sides of the pan, and take off the scum as it rises; let it boil for 10 or 15 minutes. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 127 Blueberry Mixtures. — A combination of blueberries and gooseberries, one portion of gooseberries to three of the blueberries, canned in the ordinary fashion, makes an excellent Winter sauce or filling for pies. So does a combination of blueberries and rhubarb, one cupful of rhubarb and one cupful of sugar to a quart of blueberries. Cherry Conserve. — Five quarts cherries (sour), one pound raisins (seeded and cut) ; two oranges (pulp cut in pieces, also yellow of skin) ; one pound English walnuts (chopped) ; 25-^ pounds sugar. Cook until thick and put in jelly tumblers. Cherries must be boiled about 20 minutes before putting in sugar, etc. Cherry Conserve No. 2. — Three pounds sour cherries; two pounds raisins; four pounds granulated sugar; four large oranges. Seed and steam the raisins for half an hour. Grate some of the orange peel in the cherries. Do not use the orange skin. Cut the pulp into small pieces. Mix all the ingredients together, boil for 20 minutes, put in glasses. Cherry Preserve, Sun-cooked. — Pit the cherries, which must be perfect ripe fruit, weigh, and put in a preserving kettle, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Do not add any water; the juice and sugar make the syrup. Bring to a boil, and boil for 20 minutes, stirring to avoid burning and skimming to keep clear. Skim out the fruit, putting on shallow platters, pour the syrup over, and cover with clean panes of glass. Put the platters out in thje sun, and keep outdoors three days, bringing in at night. Then put in jars, like any other pre- serve. The sun cooks the syrup to a honey-like consistence, and the flavor is delicious. Strawberries cooked the same way have all the rich frag- rance of the fresh fruit. Citron Preserves. — Pare and core the citron, cut into strips and notch the edges, or cut into fancy shapes. Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and to six pounds of the fruit allow four lemons and a quarter of a pound of ginger root. Tie the ginger root in a cloth and boil it in a quart and a half of water until the flavor is extracted ; then remove it and add to the water the sugar and the juice of the lemons. Stir until the sugv is dissolved and the syrup is clear, remove any scum that may form, then add the citron and cook until it is clear, but not soft enough to fall apart; can and seal while hot. Citron Preserves No. 2.— Cut the citron in strips half an inch wide, pare off the rind as thin as possible and cut up the fruit in small squares. Put in a vessel and cover the fruit with water in which has been diis- solved an ounce of alum to the gallon of water. Soak 24 hours, or until the citron is clarified. Take out of alum water and soak in clear water until the alum is all out, which will probably bfe in 12 hours. Weigh and allow to each pound of fruit a pound of sugar. Put the fruit in a pre- serving kettle with only a little sugar, adding sugar several times until 128 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. the weighed amount has been used. Season with any flavoring preferred. Cook rapidly until done, put in glass cans and seal. Citron Preserves No. 3. — Pare a large citron, cut into thin slices, and then into strips or squares, removing all seeds. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar, mix together, and stand over night in a large bowl; the sugar draws out juice, forming a syrup. In the morning put in a pre- serving kettle, and boil slowly for two to three hours, skimming carefully, until the syrup is like honey. About 15 minutes before taking from the stove add, for each quart of preserves, one lemon cut in very thin slices, and one small piece of green ginger root. Some housekeepers add a few whole cloves, but we do not care for this. Another method puts the sliced fruit to soak in brine for a few hours, then in clear water to freshen it, this process hardening the fruit, but we have never used this process, and are quite satisfied with the first recipe given. Dried Citron. — To prepare citron for cakes and pies cut the fruit in four parts, pare and remove the seeds ; then take a couple of quarts of clear water, dissolve a piece of alum the size of a hickorynut in the water, put in the preserving kettle as much citron as the water will cover and boil until tender enough to pierce with a straw ; then boil in sugar ; a pint bowl of sugar to the same measure of fruit. Boil one-half hour. Spread it on pie plates and set it in a cool oven or heater and let it dry perfectly. Preserved Crab Apples.^The apples should be very ripe. Wash them well in cold water; put them into a porcelain-lined kettle and just cover with boiling water. Let them cook very gently until you can remove the skins easily. Drain them,, peel and carefully remove the cores, but do not break the apples or remove the stems. Weigh them, allowing one and one-quarter pound of sugar to a pound of fruit; allow a cupful of water to this quantity of sugar. Put water and sugar over the fire and bring to boiling point. Skim until clear, then put in the apples and cook very gently until they are tender and transparent. Skim while cooking. When they are done put them into small, large-mouthed jars, and when cool seal same as jelly. Currants, Canning.— Wash the currants, being careful not to break them; remove stems, and pack currants into quart cans, shaking them down well. To each can add one cup hot sugar, place the jars on a wooden frame in the boiler, place the covers loosely on the cans, and put enough of cold water in the boiler, so when it begins to boil it will not boil into the cans. After the water has boiled for half an hour, the cans should be lifted out, the covers screwed on tight and put in a cool, dark place until wanted for the table. For those that like mixed fruits, a layer of strawberries or raspberries and then a layer of curranjts may be packed in the cans. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 129 Currant Conserve. — P'ive pounds currants; four pounds sugar; one pound seeded raisins; four oranges. Grate rind and squeeze out juice of oranges. Boil all together half hour. Put in jelly glasses. Currant Sauce. — Five pounds of currants, heat in preserving kettle, put in a muslin bag and squeeze out all juice. Add five pounds granulated sugar, one pound raisins, seeded and chopped fine, two oranges, chopped fine. Boil till like jelly. The sender of this recipe does up currants with- out cooking. Occasionally she says a can spoils, but on the whole she has good luck, every can keeping perfectly some years. The currants are looked over carefully, washed and then mashed thoroughly, a glass bottle being good for this purpose. She then adds sugar, pound for pound. The fruit is sealed in cans, using new rubbers each time. Pineapples are also put up in somewhat the same way. Mrs. C.'s way is to chop the fruit fine, add sugar pound for pound. The fruit thus prepared is left in a gallon crock for two days, its contents being stirred frequently with a silver spoon. At the end of the second day the fruit is put in air- tight cans. Cranberry and Apple Jam. — Take two pounds of cranberries and two pounds of apples after they are peeled, cored and chopped. Put them in a preserving pan with 3J2 pounds of sugar. When it comes to the boil keep the preserve boiling for half an hour, then try a little on a cold saucer, and if on cooling it sets well it will be sufficiently done. Tie down in small jars. This makes a delicious preserve, the cranberries imparting a fine flavor and giving in addition a brilliant color. Damson Chee.se.-r-Boil the fruit, with only enough water to prevent burning, until tender; rub through a hair sieve until like a paste, add six ounces of sugar to each pound of fruit, stir off the fire until the sugar is dissolved, then add four chopped kernels from the fruit to each quart, and put back to boil. It is wise to put an asbestos mat under the preserving kettle, as the fruit will catch and burn very easily. Boil, stirring con- tinually, until the preserve will leave the pan quite dry and adhere in a mass to the spoon. Press into jelly glasses, and when cold cover with paraffin before sealing. When served, the damson cheese is turned out of the glass, and cut in thin slices. Elderberries.— These may be combined with gooseberries, crab apples and green grapes, equal parts of either, making a piquant table sauce, while pies made from them might please the individual who does not care for the flavor of the single fruit. For Winter use elderberries may be preserved in either of the above combinations and treated as other fruit, or canned plain without sugar for use in pies only. When making pies from the plain canned fruit it is wise to cook the berries with the same proportion of sugar, flour, etc., as given for fresh berries, filling the pie paste when cold. This insures a jelly-like consistency of the finished ]30 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. product without those unpalatable doughy lumps too often seen. Again they may be spiced and used as a table sauce or in pies, using the same proportion. Pickled Elderberries for Pies. — Seven pounds elderberries, stemmed; four pounds sugar, one pint vinegar, two tablespoonfuls cinnamon, one tablespoon cloves. Boil until the juice is father thick. They will keep in an open jar. Preserved Elderberries. — Seven pounds of elderberries, three pounds of granulated sugar, three lemons sliced thin ; put the elderberries alone in a stone jar in warm salt and water over night. Next morning drain them in a colander, make syrup of the sugar and lemons and one pint of water, then put elderberries in the syrup and cook. When they begin to boil hard time them 20 minutes, then pour in a jar or can ready for use. Preserved Elderberries No. 2. — Shell berries. To an eight-quart panful use a heaping tablespoon of salt, pour on hot water and let stand half an hour ; drain well. To seven pounds of berries thus prepared, use three pounds of sugar and one pint of vinegar; boil well. If one wish to keep i'l jars without sealing they should be boiled down thoroughly. For pies add a little sugar and flour enough slightly to thicken the juice. Spiced Elderberries. — Nine pounds cleaned elderberries, three pounds brown sugar, one pint vinegar and one ounce each of cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Put sugar and vinegar in a two-gallon granite kettle over a slow fire and let come to a boil. Add berries and let simmer two and a half hours. Tie spices in little muslin bags and add when nearly done. Seal in air-tight cans. Preserved Fi.gs. — Take fresh, ripe figs, cut off half the stem of each and let soak all night in very weak brine, using two tablespoonfuls of salt to each quart of water. In the morning drain and cover with fresh water. Make a thick syrup, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit, and one-half cupful of water to each pound of sugar. Simmer for a few minutes until the syrup is clear, then drain and lay in it the freshened figs and simmer slowly until they look clear. Into each jar drop a half-ineh piece of green ginger and the kernels of half a dozen peach stones, fill with fruit and syrup and seal. They should not be used for at least three months. Garfield Butter. — Use two-thirds plums and one-third peaches. Stone the plums and pare and stone the peaches.. Mash and heat slowly to boil- ing, boil until soft, then rub through a sieve. Measure the pulp thus obtained and to one measure of fruit add three-quarters of a measure of sugar. Boil until thick, stirring continually, then put into jars and seal. Canned Grapes. — After picking ripe grapes from the stem, wash them. Remove the skins, keeping them and the pulps separate. Cook the pulps until the seeds begin to separate. Run through a colander or coarse sieve THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 131 to remove the seeds. Add the skins to the pulp, cooking till tender. Allow one-half pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Gooseberries with Currant Juice. — The tops and tails being removed from the gooseberries, allow an equal quantity of finely-pounded loaf sugar and put a layer of each alternately into a large, deep jar; pour into it as much dripped red ctirrant juice as will dissolve the sugar, adding its weight in sugar. The next day put all in a preserving pan, boil it, and put up as other jams. Grape Marmalade. — Choose ripe grapes of any familiar kind, and place them in the preserving kettle with just enough water to prevent their burning. Cook slowly at the side of the stove until they are well broken and mashed. Then press through a sieve and measure the pulp. For each pint allow half a pound of sugar. Place the grape pulp over the fire, boil for 20 minutes, add the sugar and boil from 10 to 30 minutes longer, or until a drop of the mixture when put on a plate will retain its shape without spreading. Stir constantly while cooking. Skim carefully from time to time and when done pack in small jars. Grape and Apple Marmalade. — Many people do not care for the flavor of the Clinton grape, but it is excelletit to use with sweet apples in mar- malade, following a New England recipe, in which the wild frost grape is ordinarily used. Heat four pounds of stemmed and pulped grapes until the seeds are free of pulp. Have four pounds of sweet apples pared, cored, sliced and steamed until tender. Sift the grape pulp, add the apples, turn into a kettle set on asbestos mat or back of range and simmer slowly for two hours; measure, add sugar in the proportion of three-quarters of a pound to a pint of pulp, and cook until a little, chilled on ice, shows that it is stiff enough to retain its shape. Turn into jelly glasses and seal. Grape Preserves. — Press the pulp out of each grape; boil the pulps until tender, then press through colander to remove the seeds ; mix the skins with the pulp and juice ; add as many cupfuls of sugar as there are of grapes and boil together until thickened. Green grapes are preserve'! by cutting each grape in halves, taking out the seeds, then adding an equal quantity of sugar and boiling all together until the right consistency; seal while hot. Spiced Grapes. — Press the skins from the grapes and put the pulp through the colander; add the skins and weigh. To every pound of grapes add one cupful of vinegar, two ounces of powdered cinnamon, one ounce of powdered cloves and three and a half pounds of sugar; boil an hour and a half until thick, then bottle. Small Damson plums are very nice prepared in the same way. Marmalades.— One simple process will serve for all kinds of marma- lade, and that is to cook the fruit in its own juice to a state of collapse. Then press through a colander, measure, bring to a boil, and skim, before ]S2 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. adding the sugar — measure for measure. Cook with care after the sugar scum begins to thicken. When the juice rolls up a jelly on a cold silver spoon, the marmalade is ready for pint can, or for glasses, covered when cold with one-fourth inch, at the least, of hot paraffin. All the small fruits make delicious marmalades when pressed through a fine colander or sieve to remove the seeds. Grapes and blackberries do not require full measure for measure of sugar. Plums are easily converted into a palatable mar- malade after removing the pits, but they are more easily made into pre- serves, the same as peaches, and quinces ; both are too good for marma- lades. By the following method clingstone peaches can be utilized, also imperfect pears and quinces. Pare the peaches and cut into pieces as small as a cherry, pack into a measuring dish and note the amount. Add water to prevent burning and cook thoroughly before adding the sugar — measure for measure. Boil with care the same as for marmalade, and place in airtight cans. Pineapple Marmalade. — Use thoroughly ripe pineapples, peel them, and after removing the hard core, chop them. To each pound of fruit and juice, add a pound of sugar, and simmer one hour. Frequent skimming and stirring will be necessary. Coof some of it, and if not thick enough, continue the boiling half an hour longer. An asbestos cover slipped under the kettle is a safeguard against scorching. Crab-apple and plum marma- lade is excellent. Use the Siberian crab-apples and Bradshaw or other violet red plums. Allow two parts apples to one part plums. Wash the fruit and cut out the imperfections. Simmer both kinds until soft, then rub through a sieve. Allow a pound of sugar to each pint of fruit puip. Put the sugar in the oven to heat, and cook the fruit 20 minutes in a porcelain-lined or agate kettle. Add the hot sugar, skim, and cook 30 minutes longer. Stir very often. Peach Marmalade. — Use Wrvci late peaches. Peel the peaches and cut them- in halves. Crack two-thirds of the kernels, blanch them, and cut into lengthwise strips. Put the peaches over the fire with three-fourths of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Stir frequently and cook from 20 minutes to half an hour. Five minutes before removing from the fire add the blanched kernels. Quince Marmalade. — Rub the fruit with a cloth, cut out the flower end, and chop without removing the skins and cores. Cook until soft enough to rub through a sieve. Strain the fruit and add three-quarters pound o"f sugar to a pound of fruit. Cook slowly until done, which should be in 15 or 20 minutes. Apple marmalade affords a change from cider apple sauce and stewed apples. Take seven pounds of apples (Fall Pippins are nice) and stew them with a pint of water. Put them through a sieve, add three-quarters pound of sugar to a pound of pulp, also the juice and grated yellow rind of three lemons. Boil half hour, then add a little THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 133 ginger root. This may be made of one-third quince and two-thirds apples, leaving out the ginger and lemons. Mixed Marmalade.— Take equal quantities of peaches, apples, pears and quinces that have been pared, cored and cut in eighths. Cook quinces in water to cover until almost tender. Drain and measure the water. For si.x pounds of mixed fruit there should be one pint of water. Add quinces to the other fruit, place in preserve kettle with water, and let them cook thoroughly, but not burn. Take out and mash well together. Measure. Clean the kettle and put them back with half their weight in granulated sugar. Let them cook very slowly two hours. Keep them stirred well from the bottom and protect with an asbestos mat or set the kettle in anolher containing boiling water, as on no account must the jam burn. Seal in small jars. Orange and Apple Marmalade. — Cut the apples in small pieces with- out peeling them and add a pint of water for every quart of applos. Boil them down for half an hour and strain through a sieve. Add the juice and pulp of tht'ee oranges and a little of the yellow peel cut fine to every pmt of apple pulp. To each pint of the mixture, add three-fourths of a pound of sugar. Boil the marmalade until it curls before the finger when it is cooled for trial. Preserved Melon Rind. — Pare the melon very thin; do not pare away all the ripened melon. Leave about one-quarter inch attached to the rind. Cut in pieces and place in a crock over night with salt sprinkled between the layers. In the morning drain, pour boiiing water over, leave for one-half hour, drain agam. New weigh the fruit — to 10 pounds fruit add five pounds granulated sugar, one-half gallon white vinegar, one ounce stick cinnamon, one ounce white ginger root, and one-half ounce whole cloves. Tie the spice in small muslin bags, place all in a large pan and boil slowly. The longer it boils the nicer will it be. Milk, Canning. — A correspondent tells us she has canned milk in this way and kept it a year : Allow the milk to become perfectly cold, then fill sterilized fruit jars to within a half inch of the top; put on the covers loosely and set into a clean boi'er on a board with holes through ; fill boiler with cold water to within an inch of the tops of the jars; bring the water to the boiling point and allow it to boil 20 minutes after ebulli- tion begins, then remove the cans one by one, put on new rubbers, fill with boiling milk, screw the covers on and invert the cans till cold. Pit away in a cool, dark place and use when the cows have dried up. Of course this will taste like scalded milk, but for all purposes except drink- ing it is all right. As the cream does not dry, it can readily be mixed with the milk if desired. If directions are followed carefully and every- thing used made perfectly clean little or none will spoil. It is quite 134 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. essential to use new rubber rings, as old ones become hard and will not make the jars tight. Or-ra-cur.— Five pounds of currants, five pounds of sugar, juice and grated rinds of three oranges, one pound of raisins, chopped and stoned; boil all together for 20 minutes, and put away in jelly glasses. Peach Butter, — This is a nice way to use tip peaches that are too ripe for canning or pickling. Pare ripe peaches, put in a kettle with sufficient water to cover peaches ; when soft run through a colander, the stones being thus easily removed. To each quart of peaches thus prepared add V/2 pound of granulated sugar. Boil slowly till thick ; add ground cinna- mon to taste. This, like all butters and marmalades, requires constant watching to keep the fruit from burning. Spiced Peaches. — Weigh eight pounds of freestone peaches after they have been peeled, halved and the stones taken out. Put peaches in a por- celain lined kettle with one pint of vinegar and five pounds of sugar (granulated). Mix one ounce each of cinnamon sticks, whole mace and green ginger and one-half ounce of whole cloves. Divide into eight parts, tie each in a piece of cheesecloth and drop in the kettle with the peaches. Simmer until the fruit is tender, then lift it with a skimmer and put it in sterilized jars. Boil the syrup a minute, skim, lift out the bags, then pcur over the fruit in the jars. It is an improvement to break .'lS peach stones, blanch the kernels in boiling water and add them to liic syrup just before pouring it into the jars. Peach Jam. — Pare, stone and cut into thin slices half a peck of free- stone peaches. Weigh. To each pound of fruit add three-quarters of a pound of granulated sugar. Put in layers in a preserve kettle and let them cook gently until clear, which will probably take an hour. Have ready cracked one-third the peach stones, remove and blanch the kernels, then slice them thin and sprinkle them among the layers of peaches so all can cook together. Put into small glass jars or tumblers when cold. Shut up air-tight. Peach Leather. — Pare fully ripe peaches (yellow ones preferred) ; remove the pits and weigh. To each pound of fruit add one-fourth pound of granulated sugar. Put in stew kettle and cook slowly, mashing the fruit as it boils. When cooked to a thick paste spread on a buttered board and put in the sun to dry. Put out the second day and when dry enough that it will not stick, loll up like a roll of leather and keep in a cool, dry place. Slice from the end of the roll. Pears in Cider. — One of our friends reports that Kiefler pears are delicious canned in sweet cider. The customary syrup is made by melt ing sugar in the cider, and the pears are cooked in this (not over-cooked) either in the jars or in a kettle. The cider is said to give much richness THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 135 of flavor. Pears were also canned in perry (pear cider), but the result was not considered so desirable as where the apple juice was used. Pear Chips. — Four pounds of Duchess or other hard pears sliced thin, four pounds of sugar, the juice of three lemons and grated rind of one, one ounce of dry or green ginger root chopped fine and one-half tumbler of water. Cook until clear, then seal in jelly glasses. Pear Syrup. — Very nice syrup may be made from pears, core and pare them; cover with cold water and set on back of stove, let simmer until soft, then dip off juice carefully or strain through a colander. If the juice is not clear strain tlirough a fine strainer. Return to the fire and boil down rapidly to about one-quarter, then add sugar, about as for jelly, a cupful of sugar to a cupful of juice. Boil until the syrup is thick as you wish and put in glass jars. This, when properly made, is thought to be as nice as maple syrup. The flavor may be varied a little by using a very little lemon juice or green ginger. If desirable, the cooked pears may. be used by boiling them a short time with a little sugar, or with sugar and vinegar. Persimmon Figs. — Gather them, and press each fruit between thumb and finger, and put in layers in an open-mouthed jar with a thin layer of sugar between the layers of fruit and sugar on the top. After a few weeks, say three or four, lay on a platter or plate in single layers and dry in a very cool oven or in the sun. Canned Plums Without Cooking. — This recipe comes from the plum belt of central New York, and will be found very satisfactory: Take enough large yellow egg plums to fill a quart can. Put them into a granite or earthen pan and pour boiling water over them, let stand three minutes, then drain. Pour over more boiling water, which will crack the skins. Remove the skins, and place the plums carefully in a hot sterilized glass jar. Have ready a thick syrup made by boiling two cupfuls of granulated sugar that has been moistened with water, and cooked to the "brittle stage." Pour the boiling syrup over the plums and seal. The syrup will form like "icicles," but after a day or two will dissolve. Make enough syrup for two or three cans at once, as it is hard to tell just how much it will take to fill a can. They always keep perfectly, and retain their flavor much better than when cooked, but the secret is in having everything boiling hot. Plum Cheese. — For economy make this on the same day you make plum jelly. After extracting the jelly juice pass the remaining pulp through a colander to remove skins and pits, then weigh. Add a pound of sugar to every two pounds of plums and boil one-half an hour; seal up. Plums in Cold Water.— A housekeeper who has had experience with the cold-water process of keeping fruit says she has kept wild plums all Winter in this way, putting them in a large stone jar and covering 136 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. them with enough cold water to leave about four inches over them. A saucer or plate with a weight on it must be placed on top of the fruit to keep the top layers deep enough under the water. To make sauce from wild plums kept in this way, take out as many of the fruit as are required, and parboil until the skins crack in water containifig a pinch of baking soda. Then rinse well in clear cold water, drop into boiling syrup, and cook until done. This makes a delicious sauce ; the parboiling with the soda takes the "pucker" out of the fruit. Cranberries will keep for months if covered with cold water as described, and many house- keepers put up green currants and gooseberries, also rhubarb, in the same way. Plum Conserve. — Five pounds plums, peeled and pitted; five pounds sugar; cook plums 20 minutes before adding sugar. Put in sugar and boil a little, then add two pounds seeded raisins (cut into small pieces), grated rind of four oranges and the pulp chipped (easier to cut with scissors). Cook to a thick conserve (15 to 30 minutes), and put in jelly glasses. Cherries (snin-) are good used instead of plums; pit them. Currants may also be used instead of plums. Pineapple and Plum Jam. — Twelve pounds of large plums, five large pineapples, one quart of water and sugar in the proportion of three- quarters of a pound to every pound of fruit, and one pound to every pint of water. Peel and pit the plums, add the water, bring to the boiling point, add the pineapple cut in dice and boil, until soft and thick, then add the sugar and cook three-quarters of an hour longer. .Spiced Plums. — Spiced plums are the best of relishes with game, poul try, and mutton. Wash, drain, pick and weigh the plums, prick the skins lightly, then pack them down in earthen jars with one-half their own weigh of sugar. Strew through the fruit while packing plenty of whole cloves, whole allspice, mace, ginger slightly bruised and stick cinnamon. Put in also a few whole black peppercorns, and to each jar allot a single pod of the small red pepper. Take half a pint of cider vinegar for each pound of fruit, add to it as much sugar as the fruit was packed in, bring to a boil, skim well and pour over it scalding hot. Let stand 24 hours, then drain off the syrup, boil up, skim and return to the fruit. Do this three times, then put fruit and syrup together in the kettle, let them boil five minutes, skimming well, fill jars and cover. Canned Pumpkin. — This will supply pie material when stored pump- kins are gone. Cook the pumpkin and strain it, just as you do for pies, being careful not to have much, water in it. Fill the can full. Shake down so as to have them solid. Put on the tops, screw down just a little, so you can lift by them, place in boiler, with something between the cans and boiler on the bottom, fill to the neck of cans with water and boil one good hour. Take out and wipe the necks of the cans, and THE RURAL COOK BCOK. 137 if the pumpkin has shrunk away, fill cans up with boiling water, put on rings and screw down the tops tight, and the pumpkin will keep six months in a good, cool place. Quince Butter. — Use half a gallon of quinces pared and cored, half a gallon of tart apples pared and cored, two quarts of sweet cider, one pint of cold water. Cover the crock and stew gently until, the fruit is very soft; then pass through a sieve. Add five cupfuls of sugar and cook until soft. Canned Quinces. — Prepa,re the quinces by paring, coring and quarter- ing. Use a silver knife. Keep the prepared quinces in cold water to prevent them from discoloring until sufficient have been prepared. Cook the quinces in boiling water slowly till tender. Have ready a syrup of one-half pound of sygar and a pint of water to each pound of fruit. Put the cooked quinces in the syrup, allowing them to remain five minutes. Then can and seal while hot. Quince Honey. — One medium quince and one cupful of granulated sugar will make one jelly glass of honey. Pare and grate the quinces, then stir this grated pulp into a boiling syrup made of the sugar and enough water to dissolve it. Stir slowly and quite often until the pulp will remain suspended through the syrup. One should not get it too stiflf. Put into jelly glasses, and when cool cover in the same way you do preserves and jellies, and keep in the preserve closet. Quince Jam. — Take one pint of quince juice left from preserves, add one pound of sliced apples, three-q.uarters of a pound of sugar; boil two hours, stirring well; pour into glasses while hot and seal. Quince and Pear Sauce.— Three pounds light brown sugar, six pounds pears, quartered if large, small ones cut in halves; nine pounds quinces, quartered. Boil sugar, pears and quinces nearly all day, taking care not to let them cook too rapidly, until both pears and quinces are of a rich red, and the juice an amber syrup. Can and seal tight. The fruit keeps its shape, the pears having gained a fine flavor from the quinces, and the quinces having an added goodness from the pears. Raisine Bourgogne.— Stem and seed two pounds of ripe grapes. Boil with one cup of water until soft. Press through a sieve and add two pounds of ripe pears, peeled and sliced; cook until reduced to half the amouTit. Weigh and add an equal amount of sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved, strain again, put in small earthen jars, set in a plate-warm- ing oven for a day or until firm to the touch. Tie down and keep in a cool place. Raspberry and Currant Bar-le-Duc— To four pounds of raspberries add one pound of currants; bruise the currants and strain the juice; add to it three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of juice, including ihe weight of the berries left whole. Boil 20 minutes and skim, add the 138 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. raspberries, cook 20 minutes more. When the syrup jellies on a plate, take off and place in glasses or small jars while hot. Canned Raspberries.— (Mrs. Mapes's recipe) .—First make a syrup by boiling seven pounds granulated sugar in 3^ quarts water. Fill cans with fresh berries, putting in as many as possible without crushing the berries. Apply covers without the rubbers, and set in a kettle or boiler of cold water, so the water comes about two-thirds of the height of the cans. Bring to a boil and cook seven to 10 minutes after boiling begins. Now take the cans out of the water, remove the covers, fill with hot syrup brimming full, and seal up tight in the usual way. Uncooked Canned Rhubarb. — Wash, peel, cut into inch cubes and fill compactly into glass jar, then pour slowly into the jar good fresh water to overflowing. Adjust lubber, screw on the top and set away in a cool place until morning. Then if there be any air bubbles, tap the side of the jar, fill again to the brim with water and screw on cover tightly. If tops and rubbers are perfect the rhubarb will keep until used. Canned Rhubarb, — Wash it, cut into inch pieces, put in a preserving kettle, and let it come to a good boil all through, without a particle of sugar. It will keep perfectly. When you wish to open it for use, take one cupful of sugar for a pie, and it will be like the fresh pie plant. For a small family, the pint cans are much better for any fruit. Rhubarb Jam with Ginger. — String some rhubarb, cut into short lengths, and weigh. Put into f. kettle and add just enough water to pre- vent burning. When it has become quite soft, add sugar, one pound for each pound of rhubarb. Stir well until the jam becomes rich and syrupy. For each pound take about a teaspoonful of ground ginger, rub it smooth with a little water, and add it to your jam. Boil up jam again, stirring well ; put into glasses, and when cold cover. If a large amount of rhu- barb is at command, a high grade of brown sugar is very good; the only difference seems to be that the jam is not quite so clear. Rhubarb Jelly. — ^Make when the rhubarb is tender, using the pink variety without peeling it, as much of the flavor and all of the color is in the skin. Cook eight pounds of rhubarb with the yellow part of thi- peel from three lemons, in a covered dish, vmtil all the juice of the rhu- barb is free. Strain, and add all the juice that can be extracted from the three lemons. Boil half an hour and strain through a bag. To each cupful of this juice add a cup and a quarter of granulated sugar, which should be heated before putting into the juice. Stir until the sugar is entirely dissolved, then boil without stirring until it jellies when tested. A fine jelly which may be made later in the season has three- fourths of a pound of tart apples (peeled and cored) cut and cooked with each pound of rhubarb. Cook until soft and drain through bag THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 139 without pressing. Allow a cup of vinegar to each cup of juice and proceed as in former recipe. Rhubarb and Orange Jam.— To a quart of cut up rhubarb, add half a dozen oranges, peeled, cut up and with the pits removed, and a pound and a half of sugar. Boil gently until a little set on a plate will jelly. This can b° varied by slicing the peel of three oranges in thin strips and adding it to the fruit. This jam will also keep indefinitely in earthen jars, or jelly glasses which have been sealed with paraffin. Rhubarb and Pineapple. — The following rule for canning is a decided improvement upon pineapple alone, and the rhubarb taste disappears. Chop and eook equal parts of pineapple and rhubarb, and add a cupful of sugar for each pint jar. Rhubarb Marmalade. — Peel the rhubarb, and cut into pieces one-half inch long. Put into a large earthen bowl, and cover with sugar in the proportion of one pound of sugar to one quart of rhubarb. Allow this to stand over night, or 15 to IS hours. Be sure that the bowl is amply large, as there will be a flood of juice by morning. Strain off the juice and sugar into a preserving kettle ; when it begins to boil, add the rhu- barb. Boil slowly for an hour, or until the preserve assumes a deep red color, stirring carefully to prevent burning, and removing any scum that rises to the top. About 13 or 20 minutes before removing from the fire, peel the yellow rind from one lemon, chop it fine, and add to the preserve, to.gether with the juice of two lemons, this being our usual proportion to about four or five quarts of preserve, but the quantity of lemon may be varied to suit the taste. This gives a piquant flavor other- wise lacking, in spite of the acidity of the rhubarb. When bottled, keep in a cool, dark place. This rhubarb jam is very nice in open tarts, or as a filling for boiled roly puddings. Rhubarb and Almond Marmalade.— Cut rhubarb up very fine, and to each cupful add the pulp and juice of one orange, one teaspoonful of the grated yellow of the rind, one tablespoonful lemon juice and one and one- half cup of sugar. Let stand until tlje sugar is dissolved, boil rapidly until transparent, then add one-half cup of blanched almonds cut in \\i\n slices, boil up once and put in glasses. Hackensack Rhubarb Marmalade.— Cut a pound and a half of rhubarb into inch lengths and put it in an earthen dish. Scatter over this a quarter of a pound of figs and an ounce of candied peel (both cut fine) ; over all sprinkle a pound and a quarter of sugar and let stand over night. In the morning boil for about 15 minutes, then add a pound of either orange or lemon pulp, cut fine, and cook until heavy enough to be firm when cold. Put in jelly glasses, and when cool cover with paraf- fin or any other material used for keeping air from jellies. Rhubarb and Fig Marmalade.— Three pounds of rhubarb, three pounds 140 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. of sugar, one pound of figs, juice of one lemon and grated rind of half. Wash the figs and cut fine and put in the bottom of the kettle; cut rhu- barb into inch cubes and spread evenly over the figs; over the rhubarb distribute one pound of the sugar and let stand over night. In the morn- ing cook slowly until it looks clear, then add remainder of sugar and cook until thick. About fifteen minutes before taking from the stove add juice and rind of lemon. This quantity will make two quarts of mar- malade. It can be sealed while hot, or put in jelly glasses and covered with paraffin. Rhubarb and Orange Marmalade. — Three pounds of rhubarb, four and one-half pounds of sugar, three oranges, the grated rind of one orange. After grating the yellow from one orange, remove the peel from all three and cut in small pieces. Cut the rhubarb in inch cubes, mix with one and one-half pounds of sugar and the oranges and let stand twenty-four hours: Cock until it looks clear, then heat the re- maining three pounds of sugar, add, and cook until thick. Rhubarb and Raisin Marmalade. — Four pounds rhubarb, four oranges, juice of all, peel of two; four pounds sugar, one lemon, two pounds of raisins. Peel and cut the rhubarb into half-inch pieces.. Prepare the oranges by squeezing out juice and cooking the peel in water till tender. Drain and scrape out white skin. Extract the juice of the lemon. Put the rhubarb into a granite preserving kettle, heat it slowly to boiling, cook fifteen minutes, then add the sugar, orange juice and peel, lemon juice and raisins, and cook slowly until thick. Spiced Rhubarb.— Peel and slice 2^ pounds of rhubarb; sprinkle a pound of sugar over it and let stand until morning. Drain off the syrup and add one cup of sugar and half a cupful each of vinegar and water. Drop into this syrup small bags filled with a mixture composed of one- third of a teaspoonful each of cloves, mace, allspice and ginger, and a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Boil until the syrup begins to thicken, then take out the bags and add the rhubarb and cook until clear. Canned Strawberries. — To can strawberries so that they will keep their shape and color, after the bcJrries are picked over, put them in n jar, with a layer of sugar and then of berries until all are used. Set them in the cellar over night, and the sugar will penetrate them, and no water must be added: there will be sufficient juice. Have a sugar syrup on the stove hot, put the strawberries in and let them boil up gently,: then fill cans with the fruit and juice all cooked together. Screw on the cover, stand the can upside down a few minutes, then turn again,, changing it in this way until it is cool, and the berries will not rise to the top. This way preserves the shape, color, and flavor of the fruit. Canned Strawberries, No. 2.— An excellent way to can strawberries, raspberries or any fruit that requires little or no cooking is the follow- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 141 ing : Prepare fruit carefully, discarding all blemished or imperfect berries. Prepare a syrup of one quart of water boiled, one cupful of sugar. More or less sugar may be added according to the taste of family and the acidity of the fruit to be canned. Have jars thoroughly sterilized as above, fill with the prepared fruit, pour over the syrup until it is filled to the brim. Screw on cap after adjusting rubber. Place jars in a stone crock with thin strips of board or a cloth under them and pour around them enough boiling water to fill crock up to the rubbers on jars. Cover with blankets, carpets, etc., to exclude air, and leave over night or until the water is cold. Canned in this way soft fruits keep both shape and color, and very nearly resemble fresh fruit. Fruits that lose color, such a,': strawberries or red raspberries, should have paper bags or pasteboard boxes slipped over them to exclude the light. Canned Strawberries, No. 3. — Fill a quart jar with large, ripe berries, from which the hulls have been taken; fill the jar with cold water; then pour It out again into a measure. For every twelve jars to be put up use thirteen of these measures of water and in it dissolve six pounds of sugar. Pack the jar with berries as closely as possible without mashing them. Fill each jar up to the shoulder with syrup, cover loosely with the lid and set it in a large boiler, which should haye a loosely fitting v/ooden bottom pierced with holes. If set on the metal bottom the jars are liable to crack. When the boiler is full of jars pour in cold water up to their shoulders; cover it and set it on the fire. At the same time put the surplus syrup in a saucepan and allow it to become hot. As soon as the water in the boiler begins to boil note the time, and when it has boiled for eight minutes remove the boiler from the fire. Take out one jar at a time, fill it even with the hot syrup in the saucepan, fasten it airtight and stand it back in the boiler until all are filled and covered; let them stand there until cold, and then store in a cool place. Uncooked Canned Strawberries. — A correspondent of the Chicago Record-Herald says that she has preserved strawberries and red raspber- ries without cooking for years with entire success. Her method is as fol- lows : Mash together with a silver fork equal quantities of fruit and sugar. Let stand for an hour or more until the sugar is entirely dissolved. Then put into jelly glasses or pint jars, filling to the brim. Leave un- covered for 48 hours in an open window exposed to the sun. Then seal in the usual way and keep in a cool, dark place. The flavor of the ber- ries is as when picked, and the jam is rich and delicious. All utensils used must be absolutely clean and jars sterilized. Dried Strawberries. — One quart of strawberries, clean off the stem and hull. Wash; add one pound of granulated sugar, put in a porcelain or granite kettle, set on stove, and heat gently till they come to a boiling point, then boil hard for 20 minutes. Do not stir, just shake the kettle 143 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cnongh to keep from burning, then pour out on large plates, and dry in the sun for at least three days, or until the juice has become jellied; 't may take a longer time or a little less according to heat of sun. Do not let them stay out of doors over night, as the dew will cause the juice to get thin again. When the juice has become jellied, pack in jars and make airtight. These are most delicious and very delicate in flavor; the berries are whole and cleai. Strawberry and Currant Jam. — To every pound of fruit allow three- quarters of a pound of sugar, also one pint of red currant juice to every four pounds of the berries. Boil the currant juice with the strawberries for half an hour, stirring all the time, then add the sugar and boil 20 minutes longer, skimming carefully. Put in small jars or tumblers with paraffin on top. The currant juice may be omitted. Wiesbaden Strawberries.— Take six. pounds of strawberries — they need not be large or extra fine, but they must be sound; add to them in the kettle a very little cold water and cook slowly as for jelly. Pour in a jelly bag and allow them to drip overnight. In the morning add to the juice six pounds of broken loaf or granulated sugar and half a pound of strained honey. Boil to a very thick syrup Fill pint cans with freshly capped strawberries, the largest and finest to be had. Screw on the tops, i)Et in cold water in a large kettle — the wash boiler will do — and let the water come to a boil. Open the jars and fill to the brim with the hot synip. Seal and put away in a cool, dark place. Tomato Butter. — Cook ripe tomatoes, salt to taste and put them through a colander to remove the seeds. Have ready an equal quantity of sour apple sauce, well cooked ; add it to the tomatoes, sweeten slightly and let it boil until the mixture begins to thicken. Be careful that it does not burn. Seal in jelly glasses. Excellent to serve with meats. Tomato Butter No. 3. — Seven pounds of large, ripe tomatoes, four pounds of brown sugar, half a cupful of vinegar, one teaspoonful of c'nnamon, one teaspoonful of cloves. Pour boiling water over the toma- toes ; let stand five minutes, then the skins can be rubbed ofiF. Remove stem end, then slice tomatoes. Cook until soft, add the sugar and stew until very thick; then add spices and vinegar. Let simmer 30 minutes, pour into jars and seal. Tomato and Apple Butter. — Scald and skin ripe tomatoes, add a quarter of the quantity of pared, cored and quartered pleasant sour apples. Weigh the kettle, put in the tomatoes and apples and cook to the consistency of marmalade, then to every six pounds add a teaspoonful of ginger, the juice of a large lemon and four pounds of light brown sugar; boil fifteen minutes, or until it will spread smoothly. Green Tomato Butter. — Select tomatoes that are full grown, but quite green. Slice them thin. Make a syrup in proportion of one pound of THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 143 sugar to two pounds of tomatoes. Boil down slowly for four hours or until the butter is smooth and thick, stirring frequently to prevent stick- ing. Flavor with lemon wh'in done. Green Tomato Conserve. — For one peck of green tomatoes, slice six lemons without removing the skin, but taking out the seeds. Put to this quantity six pounds of sugar and boil until transparent and the syrup thick. Ginger root may be added if liked. Tomato Jam. — Select sound, ripe fruit and peel and quarter them. Then put them into the preserving kettle with an equal weight of loaf sugar, the strained juice and rind of a lemon for every four pounds of the fruit, and a little powdered ginger. Cook the mixture slowly until it jellies when tried on a spoon. Turn into jars and cover. Tomato Marmalade. — Remove the skin from four quarts of ripe tomatoes and slice. Cut six large lemons in halves, lengthwise, and slice very thin. Seed one cup of raisins. Put the tomatoes, raisins and lemons into a preserving kettle, in layers, alternating with four pounds of granulated sugar. Cook one hour on the front of stove. Then set the kettle back, and allow contents to simmer imtil it is of the consistency of marmalade. Put up, while hot, as jelly. This recipe makes about two and one-half quarts. When properly prepared no one article will be recognizable. The small yellow tomatoes are nice for such use. Tomato Marmalade No. 2. — For every two pounds of the tomatoes allow two pounds of sugar and the juice and grated rind of 'one lemon. Pour scalding wat.er over the tomatoes to loosen the skins. After remov- ing the skin, mix the tomatoes with the sugar and boil slowly for one hour, stirring and skimming frequently. At the end of that time add the lemon juice and rind and cook another hour or until the whole is a thick, smooth mass. Tomato Mock-Orange Marmalade. — Scald and peel large-sized yellow tomatoes. Cut downward over each seed section, press open and remove all seeds with the thumb, leaving the pulp comparatively whole. To two parts of the prepared tomatoes allow one part of oranges, slicing thinly. Cover all with an equal quantity of sugar and let stand over night. In the morning pour off syrup and cook down about half, add the tomatoes and oranges and cook until the orange skins are transparent. Seal in jelly glasses. This is an original recipe, and is a delightful substitute for the genuine orange marmalade, though much cheaper. Tomato Mincemeat— Chop fine four quarts of green tomatoes, drain off juice, cover with ccld water and bring to a boil, scalding for 30 minutes, then drain. Repeat till parboiled three times. Add two pounds brown sugar, one pound seeded raisins, one-half pound chopped citron, one large half cup chopped suet, one tablespodnful salt and one-half cup 144 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. strong vinegar. Mix and cook until thick. When cold add one tea- spoonful each of ground cinnamon and cloves, and one tablespoonful of grated nutmeg (or suit taste). Mix thoroughly, and keep in open jar. Tomato Clove Preserves.— To four pounds of yellow plum tomatoes, not too ripe, allow four poimds of sugar, three lemons and one-half ounce (or according to taste) of whole cloves. Peel the tomatoes with- out breaking, sprinkle sugar over and let them stand over night. , In the morning pour off the syrup, add the cloves and let it boil until thick, then strain. Return to fire and add the chopped pulp of the lemons, rejecting the skin, and the tomatoes, and cook gently until the tomatoes look clear. Put into jar? and seal. To give a quite different flavor substitute one- half ounce of ginger root for the cloves, and proceed as above. Green Tomato Preserves. — Required, eight pounds of small green tomatoes, seven pounds of sugar, one ounce of ginger and mace mixed, and the juice of four lemons. Pierce each of the tomatoes with a fork and put them in the preserving kettle with all the other ingredients.' Heat slowly, then boil until the tomatoes are clear, then skim them out and boil the syrup until thick. Put the tomatoes into jars and pour in the hot syrup. Yellow Tomato Preserves. — Put the tomatoes into a wire basket and plunge into boiling water to loosen the skins. When a cut is made across the skin its whole contents can be quickly squeezed out. Three-fourths cf a pound, of sugar is allov/ed for each pound of the fruit pulj), and sometimes ginger root is added for flavoring. Prolonged cooking is not necessary; just before ready for the jars add several lemons sliced in thin even circles. Ruby Watermelon Preserves. — Dice the red portion of the melon, removing all seeds and every bit of the white part; weigh and use halt as much sugar as you have melon, adding to every six pounds of melon the juice and grated yellow rinds of two lemons. Put all together in a large granite kettle and boil slowly, stirring often until it is quite thick; at first you will think it is all going to water, but very soon you will notice it thicken nicely; when it has become as thick as you like it, seal hot in glass pint jars. JELLIES. Jelly should never be stored in a cellar. It demands a cool, dry, dark place, which can be well ventilated, to insure its keeping perfectly. Great care must be given the juice, sugar, etc. The glasses should be hot, dry and clean (.surgically clean, we mean). Small tapering cups or bowls THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 145 make jelly a nicer shape to turn out to serve, but the regulation jelly glass withlits tin top comes much cheaper. A safe rule with all fruits that do not get firm is to add sufficient sour apple juice to make the jelly the right consistency. By choosing a bright day, boiling the juice 20 minutes before adding the sugar and going strictly according to directions even an amateur can have success. The best jellies are not boiled as hard as wanted but sunned under glass for several days. For filling the glasses, use a china cup with a handle. A saucer or small plate held in the left hand and moved with and under the cup will catch all drops. In case you do not fill a tumbler full from the first dip add the requisite quantity immediately afterward, so that all will stiffen together, otherwise there may be separation in the contents of the tumbler when it is turned out. As a general rule for jelly, wash and drain the fruit, then put it on the stove in a large stone crock, or in a granite vessel. The fruit should be mature, but not overripe. Add no water to small and juicy fruits. Large fruits, such as apples, peaches and pears, require some water; our rule is to put the fruit in the crock, and pour in enough water to show at the top. Cook slowly, but thoroughly, stirring the fruit, which will thus be sufficiently mashed. Strain through a flannel bag, which should be scalded first, or through a stout cotton or linen; the flannel insures clearness, but we have no trouble with this when properly boiled, nor do we add white of egg, as some cooks recommend. Most people advise letting the fruit drain over night, and boiling the next day, but we think it jellies better if the fruit is cooked, drained, and the juice boiled the same day. The bag is of course hung over a large china bowl, and pressed down a little with a wooden spoon; its own weight, however, soon drains it dry. The juice is measured, and put on to boil ; granulated sugar is measured, cup for cup, and put in a bowl on the back of the stove, where it is heated, being stirred from time to time, so that by the time the juice boils it is well heated through. Any scum that arises is skimmed off, and as soon as the juice comes to a boil the warmed sugar is stirred in. Continue to skim it as needed, and notice when it comes to a boil. Currant jelly made in this way will only need three minutes' boiling; other small fruits a little longer; they should be tested in a little cup. If boiled too long jelly becomes ropy. If boiled too hard, so that sugar crystallizes on the sides of the kettle, which is stirred in afterwards, the jelly may candy. In making jelly from fruit to which water has been added, as crab apple, it is measured, and three-quarters the amount of sugar put to heat. When put i:: the kettle, the depth of juice is measured with a stick, on which are two notches, one for the original depth, and one for two-thirds the amount. As soon as the juice has boiled down one-third add the warmed sugar, and boil. 146 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Apple Jelly.— We like Fall Pippins for this purpose, but Gravenstein or any other highly-flavored apple, nearly ripe, makes a fine jelly. The jelly is excellent without any additional flavoring, but we prefer to add Rose geranium leaves, which render it delicious; four leaves to a quart of jelly. The leaves are put in with the sugar, and taken out when the jelly is put in glasses. Another variation is made by using three whole cloves to a quart of jelly; this imitates the nutmeg jelly made in Trinidad, the spiciuess being so faint that it does not overpower the fruit flavor. To prepare apples for jelly, wipe them with a damp cloth, remove the stem and blossom ends and cut in quarters. Put in granite or porcelain- lined preserve kettle, and for three pounds of apples add one pint of water. Cover and cook slowly until apples are soft; mash, then drain through a coarse sieve. Do not squeeze, or jelly will be cloudy. Next allow juice to drip through a double thickness of cheesecloth or flannel jelly bag. Or they may be turned directly into jelly bag and allowed to drip over night. Measure juice, boil 20 minutes, and add an equal quan- tity of heated granulated sugar, boil five minutes, skim and turn into glasses that have been dipped into scalding water an'd placed on a wet cloth. Put a silver spoon in the tumbler before turning the jelly in as another means of avoiding cracking the glass ; it can be moved from tumbler to tumbler as you proceed. Fill brimming full, as the jelly will shrink as it cools. The glasses may now be placed in a sunny window, protected from dust, and let stand for 24 hours. Cover with melted paraffin, poured directly on to the jelly; then seal as usual. Apple Combination. — A housewife who has tried it says that a deli- cious combination jelly is made by cooking a half peck each of apples and quinces and a quart of cranberries together until soft, after barely covering with water. Strain, and to every pint of juice allow a scant pint of sugar, then proceed as with other jellies. It is delicately flavored, and a beautiful pink in color. Barberry Jelly. — For domestic use the berries should not be gathered until well frosted. For jelly the fruit need not be stripped from the stems. Put the fruit in a porcelain kettle with water to come to the top of the berries and boil until thoroughly cooked, then put into, a jelly bag and drain out the juice; return the juice to the kettle and boil hard 15 minutes. Measure it before boiling down. Add a pound of sugar to each pint and boil rapidly 10 minutes, then put away in glasses. This is an excellent jelly to serve with meat. Blackberry Jelly. — Make the same as currant jelly. Crab-apple Jelly. — Wash, cut in pieces two gallons of crab apples; place in the preserving kettle, just cover with cold water and cook until the pieces are tender. Drain through cheesecloth, measure, and when the juice has boiled 10 minutes, stir in one pound white sugar to each THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 147 pint of juice. Boil hard until it is jelly; about 10 minutes' boiling after the sugar has been added. Now take the tender pieces left after straining, rub through a sieve or colander; to each pint of pulp add one-half as much sugar. Cook nntil the sugar is thoroughly blended with the pulp, stirring quite frequently. Add spices if preferred, fill into glass cans, seal, and take to the cellar when cool. This makes a delicious butter, almost a marmalade, and is very nice in the Winter with pork. Two gallons of crab apples will make six glasses of jelly and five or six quarts of butter with the addition of 11 pounds of sugar. Crab apple will mix well with wild grapes for jelly. The two fruits should be cooked together, and made like any other jelly. The proportion may be whatever is most convenient; half and half, or one-third grapes to two-thirds apples, will be found excellent. Wild Crab-apple Jelly. — ^Cook the cored crabs till tender and drip in a jelly bag. Use more sugar than for ordinary jelly — about five cups of sugar to four of juice — and cook quickly. This is delicious both in color and flavor. Mrs. C.'s Currant Jelly. — ^The currants are picked over as if for canning, then put in the preserving kettle. As the fruit heats, it is mashed with a large spoon until juice is pretty nearly all extracted. The juice is all dipped off and her jelly is made according to 1;he common recipe. She now adds to the currants left in kettle an equal amount of raspber- ries — either black or red is added, and jam is made by the addition of three-fourths of a pound of granulated sugar to each pound of fruit. In this way she says jelly making is an easy task, and she also has the consciousness of having used every bit of the currants. Elderberry Jelly. — Strip the ripe berries into the kettle and stir over the fire with a wooden spoon until the juice flows freely; turn into a jelly bag and let drain without touching so as not to become cloudy. Weigh and boil sharply 15 minutes. Remove from fire and add sugar, allowing 14 ounces to one pint of juice. Boil 15 minutes, stirring and skimming until it jellies. This is an English recipe and a very good one. Elderberry Jelly No. 2. — Take equal parts of elderberries and wild grapes, and cook to extract juice, strain, add sugar in proportion of one pound to each pint of liquid, and cook as other jelly. This is especially nice for invalids, and beneficial in cases of sore throat. Grape Jelly. — The wild grapes gathered just as they begin to turn are the best for jelly. Free them from their stems and wash them, mash them, and heat slowly; cook them until the juice is well drawn out; turn into a flannel bag and let it drip without pressure ; measure the juice, and, if cultivated grapes are used, allow an equal amount of sugar; if the wild grape, allow a little more than an equal measure. Heat the sugar (put in a pan in the oven and. stir often) ; boil the^strained juice 15 minutes; skim 148 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. and strain again, add the sugar, boil until the surface looks wrinkled, skim well and turn into glasses. Green Grape Jelly.— Select the grapes when full grown, just before they begin to turn purple. After separating from tl^e stem, wash, adding a; little water if the grapes are not very juicy. Mash and stew until the skins are cooked. Strain first through the colander, then through the jelly bag. Measure the juice, measure the same amount of sugar, putting it in the oven while the juice is being boiled. The boiling will take half an hour. Now add the hot sugar, which you must be careful not to scorch, boil about five minutes longer, and then the jelly should be ready to pour in glasses. Jelly made from the green grapes is solid, of a delicious flavor aiid of a pretty green tint. Spiced Grape Jelly. — This is delicious served with cold meats. Take equal amounts of grape juice and sugar. Add one-half teaspoonful of ground cloves and one tablespoonful of cinnamon to each quart of juice. Add the sugar as directed in recipe above. Marble Jelly. — A dark jelly, such as blackberry or grape, is poured into a half-gallon crock; as soon as this hardens a light jelly, apple, quin.:e or pear, is poured on top ; so on in alternate layers until the crock is filled. The layers look prettiest when but an inch thick. Slice in half-inch slices, serve on a pretty ^lass. dish. Besides being unique in appearance the blending of flavors is decidedly appetizing. Peach Jelly. — Take sound, high-flavored, barely ripe peaches. Wash them thoroughly. Use the parings and a few pieces of fruit. Boil in enough water to cover in an enameled kettle until the skins are tender and broken. Strain through a jelly bag. Allow the juice of one lemon arid one scant pound of sugar to each pint of juice. Boil the juice twenty minutes after straining, and meantime heat the sugar in the oven. Put the sugar into the juice slowly, let boil five minutes and pour into tumblers. Peach Jelly No. 3. — Take the peach parings from a peck or two of peaches and simmer with sour apples till the whole mass is tender. Have twice the quantity of peach that you have of apple and make your jelly in the ordinary way. Pear Jelly. — Select juicy pears that are not top ripe, quarter, core and cut in small pieces without paring. Put in a kettle with one pint of water to every four pounds of pears. Cook over a slow fire to a pulp, turn into a jelly bag which has been wrung out, and let drip without squeezing. Measure the juice and allow the same quantity of suga'r. Put .the liquid over the fire, bring to the boiling point and boil 20 minutes. In the meantime heat the sugar by spreading it out on pans and setting it in an open oven; when the pear juice has boiled twenty minutes add the heated sugar, stir until it is dissolved, bring again to the boiling point, and boil until in dropping a spoonful on a cold saucer a skin forms THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 110 quickly over it ; this will generally occur after five or ten minutes' boiling. Take from the fire and pour into jelly glasses. Let stand until cold, pour over the top of each glass a little melted paraffin, and when it hardens cover. Plum Jelly.— Pour boiling water over one-half peck of plums p'.aced in a colander. Then put them in a preserving kettle, pour over them just enough water to cover and boil until the plums have become soft and the juice has flowed out. Drain through a colander, then through a jelly bag without squeezing. Measure juice and put to boil in preserve kettle. Add one dozen blanched plum kernels. Allow an equal measure of granulated sugar and put it to heat in shallow pans in the oven. When the juice has boiled 20 minutes skim well, add the hot sugar, stir until dissolved, let come to the boiling point, take immediately from the fire and fill into glasses which have been rolled in boiling water, drained and stood upright on a cloth folded in a shallow pan of boiling water. Use a small teacup to dip the jelly into the tumblers, and fill them very full. Cover airtight next day. The pulp remaining may be used to make a little marmalade, allowing three-quarters of a pint of sugar to one pint of pulp, and a few blanched kernels from the plum stones. Plum and Green Grape Jelly. — Plums mixed with green grapes make the most delicious of all tart jellies. Small yellow plums are the best. Wash, pick and scald them with their own bulk of green grapes picked from the stem, strain out the juice, let it settle 10 minutes, then pour it carefully off the sediment. Put in a shallow kettle over a quick fire, boil for five minutes, skimming well ; then add for each pint of juice a pound and a quarter of very hot granulated sugar; stir hard until the sugar dissolves; then skim again and boil hard for two minutes. Drop a little in ice water — the minute this hardens take it off the fire and pour into hot glasses. Plum and Peach. — ^Japan plums not quite ripe, with a few peaches, make a nice clear amber jelly. Quince Jelly. — Simmer the quinces in a stone jar till tender in enough water to cover them. Drip and strain the juice and boil 20 minutes before adding an almost equal amount of sugar. This will be a beautiful color if well made and have a delicate flavor. Quince Jelly No. 2. — Place the parings and cores left from preserving in die preserving kettle, cover with cold water and cook until the parings are soft; strain through cheesecloth, measure, and when boiling hard, put a pound of white sugar to each pint of the juice. Boil hard until it will set. Ten minutes of hard boiling is usually enough; then pour into glasses. Quince and Cranberry. — Stew cores and skins pf quinces in very little water, and strain the juice as for quince jelly; stgw tart cranberries ]r,o THE RURAL COOK BOOK. separately in very little water, strain, and combine with an equal propor- tion of quince juice. Add to the combined juices one cupful of sugar to each cupiul of juice, and boil briskly until it jellies. Raspberry Jelly.— One of our friends tells us with pride that she made ' delicious stiff raspberry jelly last year by mixing the red raspberries with an equal quantity of green grapes. The two fruits were cooked together, then strained as usual. The resuhing jelly was clear red, with full rasp- berry flavor. Our friend had never been able to make raspberries "jell" properly before, so she was much pleased with the experiment. It is quite possible that green grapes would stiffen strawberry jelly, which is usually difficult to harden. Some experimenters say they mix either 'red currants or early apples with strawberries to make jelly. If raspberries and Summer apples are available at the same time, a combination of the two will make an excellent jelly. Cook and strain separately, then mix the juice, and proceed as with any other jelly. Raspberry and red cur- rants mixed are excellent. Rhubarb Jelly. — On account of the watery consistency of the fruit it cannot be made into jelly as readily as most fruit. A fine jelly and one specially suitable for serving with game can be made if the following directions are observed : Let the rhubarb heat on the back of the stove until the juice flows freely. Strain the juice through a jelly bag. Do not squeeze the bag into the jelly, but use only what will drip of itself. The bag can be squeezed into a different vessel, and the liquid thus gained can be re-added to the pulp of the rhubarlj and made into jam. Take the rhubarb juice and boil gently for 10 minutes. Measure and to each pint allow a pound of granulated sugar. Boil until a little poured out on a cold plate will set nicely. Do not measure the juice before it has been boiled. Such treatment is needed to reduce the water and make the pure juice and sugar jelly properly. If care is taken in the boiling of the jelly, it turns out a pretty color and is very desirable for garnishing various dishes. Rhubarb Jelly No. 2. — 'Cut off the leaves and ends from the stalks, and wipe with a clean, damp cloth. Use an earthen dish for cooking. Without removing the skins, cut the rhubarb into pieces 2J^ inches long, and put over them 1J4 cupful of sugar, a piece" of lemon peel, and a pint of water, this proportion to two pounds of rhubarb. Cover and set in the oven on a shelf. Moisten a half ounce of white gelatine in a quarter of a cupful of cold water. When the rhubarb is tender put the gelatine' in a large bowl, on which an earthen colander is placed. Pour the rhubarb on this, but remove it very soon to a dish, in order to retain sufficient juice with it. Stir the hot liquid underneath, and when the gelatine is dissolved pour into teacups or molds dipped in cold water. Strawberry Jelly. — To 10 quarts of strawberries a'ater) one day and night. Take out, dry on cloth. To one gallon vinegar add two cups sugar, nearly one ounce mixed spice. Heat these all boiling hot. Put in pickles and let boil up once. Put in cans immediately and pour the hot vinegar over them. They are nice and sweet, and will keep a long time, till eaten. These will not shrivel if you follow directions. One gallon vinegar will cover two gallons cucumbers. Steamed Sweet Cucumber Pickle. — Peel, steam as soft as liked and let stand over night in a weak bririe. Next morning drain, put on vinegar enough to cover, and let stand over night. Again in the morn- ing drain off the liquid part. Now take one pint of fresh vinegar, three pounds of sugar and one ci;nce of cassia buds (no other spices). When this comes to the boiling point put in the cucumbers, let scald up and then pack away in stone jars. Tested Cucumber Pickles. — Wash and fill two-quart can with freshly picked cucumbers of any desired size. Add to them two heaping table- spoonfuls dry mustard ; two heaping tablespoonfuls salt, and fill can with good cold cider vinegar. It doesn't matter whether you have an airtight top or not; a cork with cloth tied over, or put in crock. H you like more mustard or salt it will do no harm. Pickles Without Cooking. — One cupful of sugar, one cupful salt, one goodsized root of horseradi.sh, one tablespoonful alum, one tablespoonful white mustard seed, one gallon vinegar, mixed spice to taste. Boil the above ingredients. Then allow the prepared vinegar to become cold before putting in the cucumbers. Use the smallest pickles, as the large ones do not always become thoroughly pickled, but for the small ones this way of preparing them is excellent. Spiced Currants. — Make a syrup of three pounds of sugar, one pint of vinegar and water, half and half, two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, one tablespoonful of cloves, half a teaspoonful of salt ; add six pounds of washed, stemmed currants and boil half an hour. Seal in jars. Pickled Damsons.— -This is a sweet pickle, and very good served with mutton or venison. Ingredients required : Three pounds damsons, THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 165 one quart of vinegar, three pounds moist sugar, one-half ounce cinna- mon, three blades of mace, one-quarter ounce allspice. The plums should be ripe, but not too much so; the bloom is rubbed off with a piece of flannel or a clean cloth, and they are pricked a little with a needle. The vinegar, sugar and spices are boiled together for 10 min- utes, then strained and poured over the fruit, in a large basin Next day the vinegar is boiled again, and again poured over the damsons, and on the third day the damsons themselves are simmered in the vinegar for exactly five minutes. They should be tied down while hot. A quicker method of pickling either plums or damsons is the following: Remove the stalks from the fruit ; wipe it and arrange in layers in a jar with good brown sugar sprinkled between. Fill up the jars with cold vinegar, tie them down and bake in rather a slow oven till the plums are tender^ then tie down for use. French Mustard. — Take six ounces of salt, four ounces of scraped horseradish, one clove of garlic, and two quarts of boiling vinegar ; steep these together in a covered vessel for six hours, then strain and add mustard to the spiced vinegar sufficient to make it the proper con- sistency. These proportions are large; they can be reduced if necessary, but the mustard will keep a long time, as it is made with boiling vinegar. Gillespie Relish. — Ore peck ripe tomatoes, two cupfuls celery, six large onions, seven red peppers. Run the peeled tomatoes and the onions through a meat grinder. Chop the celery and the peppers fine. Add two ounces of mustard seed and ground cinnamon, one-half cupful' of salt, three pints cider viu'^gar and two pounds of light brown sugar. Mix and seal. Do not cook. It is claimed that ' this will keep per- fectly for five years, and it is very appetizing and universally liked. Hebrew Pickle.— For a pint of pickles grate two roots of horse- radish. Mix with it two tablespoonfuls of celery seed, three tablespoon- fuls of mustard seed, four tablespoonfuls of sugar and one tablespoonful of turmeric. Cover the ingredients with scalding hot vinegar. Seal in glass jars. Let stand one week before using. India Relish. — This recipe calls for gherkins, large cucumbers, small onions, cabbage and red peppers. Green nasturtium seeds may be added. Cut the vegetables all into small pieces and put the mixture, layer by layer, into a stone jar, separating the layers with salt. Sprinkle the top well with salt, cover with a plate weighted with a flatiron, stone or brick, and let the jar and contents stand for three days. At the end of that time drain off the liquid and rinse the vegetables thoroughly in cold water. Then cover with fresh cold water and leave for 36 hours. In tlie meantime scald three-quarters of a gallon of cider vinegar with half a tablespoonful each of celery seed, paprika, cloves, mace, ground mustard and horseradish and two tablespoonfuls of curry. Add one ]66 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. and three-quarters cupful of brown sugar. Turn the vinegar over the drained vegetables and cook for a quarter of an hour. Put the relish into a stone jar and leave it for two or three days. Then drain off the vinegar, scald it and pour it while hot over the vegetables. Let it stand until the next day, then fill into small jars, cover closely and keep in a cool dark place. India Relish No. 2.^This comes from the South. Two pounds of citron melon or watermelon rind, two heads of cabbage, white and firm; six white onions, one large cupful of sugar, one heaping teaspoonful each of ground cinnamon, mace, paprika (Hungarian sweet pepper), mustard and powdered alum, one tablespoonful of curry powder, one quart of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of celery seed, one tablespoonful of salt. Prepare the melon by cutting off the green rind and scraping away the softer inner coating, leaving less than an inch firm and white. Cut into thin strips, put into a porcelain-lined kettle, cover with cold water and sprinkle a tablespoonful of powdered alum over it. Cover closely and cook gently for three hours. Drain well and cover with ice water. Change the water twice in four hours, and then wipe the melon dry. Cut the cabbage into quarters, cook in boiling water slightly salted for fifteen minutes. Let it get perfectly cold. Parboil the onions, and allow thern also to. get cold and stiff. Now chop cabbage, melons and onions separately and very fine. Mix all together in a large crock and pour over them the scalding hot vinegar, in which have been boiled for one minute the spices, sugar and celery seed. Leave the crock covered 34 hours. Strain off the vinegar, bring it to a boil and pour again over the > mixture in the crock. Repeat this for three days in succession, after which pack in small jars, cover closely and set away to ripen. It will be ready for use. in six weeks, but improves by keeping. Pickled Mangoes. — Young musk, or nutmeg melons are needed for the purpose. Through a slit in the side of the melon extract all the seeds with the fingers without breaking the fruit. In case the patience gives out, a plug can be cut out,, saved and replaced, but it is better to make only the slit. Keep the melons, in strong brine for three days, then drain them and let them remain in pure water for 24 hours. Heat slowly in vinegar, in which alum has been dissolved, until the melons are green. For a gallon of vinegar a piece of alum half the size of a hickorynut will be wanted". The following is the recipe for the stuf- fing, given in an old cook book; One handful of horseradish scraped; two handfuls of English mustard seed, two teaspoonfuls of chopped garlic, one teaspoonful of ground nutmeg and mace, one dozen whole peppercorns, one teaspoonful of ground ginger, half a tablespoonful of ground mustard, one teaspoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of celery seed and one tablespoonful of olive oil. Fill the greened mangoes THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 167 through the slit with the mixture. Sew up the slit, or tie the melon securely so that it will not open. Pack the mangoes in a big stone jar and pour scalding vinegar over them. After two days, drain off the vinegar, scald and return it to the jar, and repeat twice at intervals of two days. The mangoes will be ready for use in four or five months. Minced Pickle. — Chop half a peck of green tomatoes, cover them with two-thirds of a cupful of salt and let them stand for a day and a night. Then scald half a gallon of vinegar with a tablespoonful of pepper, a tablespoonful and a half each of ground mustard, allspice, cinnamon and cloves and half a cupful of white mustard seed. Add to the tomatoes two onions chopped fine and four large green peppers de- nuded of seeds and cut into rings. Turn the vinegar over the mixture and boil steadily 20 minutes ; then bottle. Mixed Pickle. — Three bundled small cucumbers, two heads of cauli- flower, one of cabbage, six green peppers with seeds taken out, three quarts small onions and two quarts small beans. Cut the cabbage and the cauliflower in small pieces, and put all in a brine strong enough to bear up an egg. Let them remain 24 hours, then rinse and drain thor- oughly. Place on the stove two gallons of vinegar, add a large root of horseradish, grated, two ounces each of mustard seed and black pep- per, one teaspoon cayenne, and one ounce of turmeric. Let it boil and pour over pickles in a jar. When cold mix in one cupful of mustard wet with cold vinegar. Mixed Pickle No. 2. — One-half medium-sized head of cabbage, four celery roots, four tablespoonfuls grated horseradish, six large green tomatoes, one large or two small Spanish onions, V/2 quart of vinegar, one-fourth teaspoonful of powdered alum. Chop all the vegetables and mix them together. Put a layer about two inches thick in the bottom of a jar, sprinkle it with a tablespoonful of salt, then another layer of vegetables and salt, and so on until all is used. Allow it to stand 24 hours, then drain, and press out all the liquor; cover with boiling water, allow it to stand 10 minutes, then press with the hands until entirely dry. Add to one quart of vinegar 'J4 teaspoonful of alum, and stir until dissolved. Put a layer of the pickles two inches thick in the bottom of a jar, sprinkle with mustard seed, black pepper, and the grated horseradish; then another layer of pickle, and so on until used. Pour the vinegar over, let it stand two days, and it is ready for use. Mock Olives.— Two quarts of green plums, 1^ tablespoonful mus- tard seed, 2^ tablespoonfuls salt, two quarts vinegar. Place the plums in a stone jar with mustard seed and salt; turn the vinegar into a pre- serving kettle, bring to a boil and pour over plums. Cover closely. 168 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Next day drain off the vinegar, bring again to a boil and pour over plums while hot. If plums are large repeat the third morning. When cold place all in olive bottles and cork tightly. They will taste like real olives. Muskmelon Pickles.— Pare the lind off ripe, spicy, green melons, re- move the seeds and cut into thick slices. Weigh as for peaches, seven pounds of fruit to three and one-quarter pounds of sugar, and put the sugar to cook with water enough to dissolve it. Boil and skim it until clear, then pour it over the melon in a crock. Repeat this for three mornings, but on the third morning add a cupful of vinegar to each three pints of syrup and boil it up with a cupful of spices in a bag. Pour it over the melon in jars and seal it once. Mustard Pickles. — Two quarts small cucumbers, one qqart small onions, one quart green tomatoes, one large cauliflower, six green pep- pers, quartered. Lay in weak brine twenty-four hours, then scald in same water and drain. Paste— six tablespoonfuls English mustard, one tablespoouful tumeric, one and one-half cup of sugar, one small cup of flour, two quarts best cider vinegar. Mix dry ingredients thor- oughly, add vinegar, boil a few minutes, pour over pickles and bottle. Mustard Pickles No. 2. — This differs from mo.st recipes for this pickle in being made without green- tomato. Put one-half peck smaill encumbers, two quarts silver skinned onions, and two heads of picked cauliflower to soak in water to cover and a cupful of salt over night. In the morning drain ; mix one dessertspoonful of turmeric powder with three-quarters of a pound cf the best mustard; wet with sufficient vinegar to mix without lumps. Put three quarts of vinegar over the fire, add five cents' wcrth of mixed pickling spices, one-half ounce celery seed, one-half ounce v/hite mustard seed, one teaspoonful each of cinnamon and cloves, one pound of brown sugar, carefully stir in the mustard and turmeric pai:te and let boil' up well; then add the mixed pickles, two red peppers chopped with the seeds of same, and stir all together. After it begins to bubble let boil _well for five minutes. Mustard Pickles No. 3. — Equal quantities of cucumbers, celery, cauli- flower and small button onions. Cut all in small pieces except the onions. Cover with strongly-salted water for 24 hours ; drain, put into a jar, and pour on hot vinegar (not too strong) sufficient to cover. Let the pickles stand three days, and then drain. To five quarts of the pickle use three quarts of cider vinegar, one cupful of sugar, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Heat to boiling, then stirring constantly (for fear of burning) add cne cupful of flour, six tablespoonfuls of ground mustard and one-half ounce of turmeric powder wetted in cold vinegar. Stir till smooth, and pour over the pickle while hot; stir well. When cold cover close. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. IM Sliced Mustard Pickles.— One dozen large cucumbers sliced, two dozen very small cucumbers, one quart of small onions, one large cauli- flower, steamed slightly. Soak all these ingredients in cold brine over night. Paste for the pickles is made as follows: One-half pound of 'ground yellow mustard, one tcacupful of flour, one teacupful of sugar, one-half ounce of turmeric. Rub the above ingredients together with a little vinegar imtil smooth. Then add three quarts of vinegar, letting ,it scald until a thick paste. Next add one-half ounce of celery seed, and pour the hot paste over the pickles, put in cans and seal. Nasturtium Pods Pickled.— Put the pods to soak in weak brine for two days, then in fresh water one day; drain, put in a jar, and cover with boiling vinegar. The vinegar may be spiced if desired, but if the pods are to be used in sauce they are better unspiced. Pickled Onions. — First pour boiling water over the onions to loosen the skins. As soon as cool enough to handle begin to peel, dropping the onions as peeled into salt water (not brine) to prevent their being discolored. Make a strong brine, heat to the boiling point, and pour ever the onions. Leave them in the brine 48 hours, then drain. Spice vinegar according to taste, l>eat to boiling point, and pour over the .onions. Set away for two or three days, drain off the vinegar, heat it again, and pour it over the onions in the jars in which they are to be 'stored; tie up the jars and set away. Pickled Peaches. — For pickling select medium-sized peaches, ripe and firm. Rub off the down with a piece of flannel. To eight pounds of fruit use fbur pounds of granulated sugar, one quart of vinegar, two ounces of stick cinnamon. Boii the sugar, vinegar and cinnamon for five minutes. Then put in the peaches carefully, a few at a time. If one likes cloves, two or three may be stuck in each peach. When the peaches arc done enough to be easily pricked with a fork, take them out and put in the jar. When the peaches are all cooked boil the syrup iill a little thick, pour over peaches and seal cans or jars. Sweet Pickled Peaches. — Cut the peaches in two, remove the stones, and close the openings with halves together, pack in jars, and cover with the following liquid : To two pounds of sugar add one pint of vinegar (best cider vinegar alone should be used for all pickles), tie in a bag a teaspoonful of whole cloves, one-half teaspoonful cassia buds, three sticks of cinnamon (broken) and some tiny bits of ginger, allspice and nutmeg (about a teaspoonful in all). • Scald three times and seal the ^ars. Keep in dark, dry place ; when ready to use remove the spice. Sweet Pickled Pears. — Select ripe but firm fruit, peel and measure out for every seven pounds of fruit four of white sugar, one pint of soft vinegar and half a tablespoonful each of whole cloves, whole allspice 170 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. and cinnamon sticks. Put the pears in a kettle and over each layer sprinkle sugar until both are exhausted. Heat slowly until the boiling point is reached, then add the vinegar and spice and boil five minutes. Take out the fruit with a perforated skimmer and spread upon platters to cool. Boil the syrup till thick. Heat the jars, pack in the pears and pour the syrup over boiling hot; seal. Pepper Hash.— Wash and dry five large green peppers and one red one, remove seeds and chop shells quite fine; chop fine a good-sized cabbage, and place with the peppers in a bowl, mixing well. Add two tablespoonfuls of brown mustard seed, three tablespoonfuls of salt and enough good cider vinegar to cover the whole. Stir well together and put into pickle bottles. Ready for use in two days, or will keep for Winter use. Pepper Mangoes. — Two dozen full-grown pods of red pepper. Cut out the stems with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. Lay the pods in brine and let soak for 24 hours. Drain. Make a dressing of finely chopped cabbage, enough to fill the peppers, seasoned with one table- spoonful each of salt and pulverized mustard seed, one teaspoonful of grated horseradish, one teaspoonful of black pepper and one tablespoon- ful of made mustard. When well mixed stuff the peppers, sew the stems on with a coarse thread, pack in a stone jar, cover with strong vinegar and let .stand two weeks before using. Pickled Peppers. — Put two dozen green peppers in a bowl and pour over them a very strong brine. Put a weight over them to keep them under the water and let them lie for two days. Drain th_em, make a small incision in the side of each to let out the water, wipe them with a soft cloth and put them in a stone jar, with one-half ounce of whole allspice, one-half ounce of whole cloves and a small lump of alum. Pour cold vinegar over them and tie a bladder securely over the jar. Pickled in this way. the peppers should preserve their color. Pepper Relish. — Remove the seeds from six large green peppers and one red bell pepper, and chop the peppers fine. Mix the peppers with a finely minced head of cabbage. Turn in a little less than a quarter of a cupful of salt, a full cupful of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of mu's- lard seed and nice cider vinegar enough to cover the mixture. Stir thoroughly and bottle. Piccalilli. — Two pecks of green tomatoes, two heads of white cab- bage, 12 large onions, four green peppers, two red peppers, one good root of horseradish (grated), one tablespoonful each of cinnamon, nut- meg and allspice. Chop all fine, stir in two cups of salt and let stand all night, then drain; cover with cold vinegar, boil 10 minutes and drain again. Cover with vinegar, add the spices and three pounds of brown sugar. Boil a few minutes and put away in jars. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 171 Canned Pimentos. — These ?.re simply red peppers, the long, tapering, sharp-pointed sweet variety. They repay one for the trouble, as they retail at 15 cents a can, and in glass jars at 35 cents per quart. Select ripe red ones, neither dry nor woody. Cut off stem end and extract the seeds. Drop in a jar and cover with brine that will float an egg. Let stand three days. Wash in several waters, cover with clear water one day, then drain well. Place peppers in cans, fill to overflowing with boiling water, add a level tablespoonful of salt to each quart of water; place in a boiler on two-inch layer of straw, weight cans to prevent tipping, pour in boiling water to cover two-thirds of the can, screw lids on loosely and cover the boiler. When the water boils simmer 10 minutes, remove and seal. They are used in salads, as a relish with cold meats or are stuffed with rice, macaroni or bread crumbs. Pumpkin Pickle. — This is very good when there is a scarcity of' apples. Pare the pumpkins carefully, leaving out all soft or stringy parts, then cut into pieces about one or two inches square. Soak over night in vinegar, salt and water, just enough vinegar and salt to make a good flavor. The next day make a pickle as you would for any nice pickle and let them simmer on the back of the stove for a long time; without stirring. Our rule for pickle is seven pounds fruit, four pounds sugar and one pint of vinegar. We usually flavor the pumpkin pickle with either sliced lemon or ginger root. Quince Sweet Pickles. — Scrub with a small vegetable brush to re- riiove the down, wipe dry and cut out any spots or decayed portions. Slice, without paring, into rounds a fourth of an inch thick, leaving in both core and seeds, unless imperfect, then weigh. Put the fruit, a thin layer at a time, in a steamer or colander over boiling water, cover closely and steam until it is perfectly tender, then place in a stone jar. Make the syrup of four pounds of sugar, a pint of vinegar of medium strength, a pint of the water over which the fruit was steamed. an ounce of stick cinnamon, a heaping tablespoonful of allspice berries and a level tablespoonful of whole cloves to seven pounds of the fruit. Pour over the fruit, cover securely and stand in a cool place over night. The next morning drain off the syrup, boil for 10 minutes with the spice bag, skim and pour again boiling hot over the fruit. Continue this process for three successive mornings. The last morning add the fruit to the syrup and spices and boil gently until heated through, then skim out and put into the crock. Continue to boil the syrup until it is as thick as molasses. If, after the second boiling, it does not seem spiced sufficiently, add more spices tied in a fresh bag. When the syrup is done, reheat the quinces in it, then fill into self-sealing glass jars as in canning. Red Cabbage Pickle.— Cut a red cabbage of good size into six pieces, 172 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. sprinkle it with salt and leave it for a day and a night. Then drain off the liquid, rinse it with cold water and let it soak in fresh cold water. Scald half a gallon of vinegar with a dozen whole cloves and white pep- pers and a few blades of mace broken fine. Turn in half a cupful of sugar and two or three tablespoonfuls of celery seed. Cook slowly for a quarter of an hour. Have the cabbage, drained and dried, packed into a stone jar. Turn the hot vinegar over it and put it in a cool place. The cabbage will be at its best in two months. Spanish Sauce.— -One peck green tomatoes, one quart onions, six large sweet peppers, four quarts ripe tomatoes, two heads celery chopped fine, two pounds brown sugar, one gallon vinegar, one teaspoonful cayenne pepper, three tablespoonfuls cinnamon, one tablespoonful each of allspice, mace and cloves. Chop green tomatoes, onions and seeded peppers, salt and let stand over night. In the morning strain through a cloth until perfectly dry. - Then mix all the ingredients and boil until tender. . Tomato Conserve.— Cut five large sound tomatoes into pieces and cook them until they are tender, with two onions in which three or four cloves have been stuck, two bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Then turn the fruit on to a fine sieve placed over a bowl and drain ofif the juice. Boil the juice until it has been half reduced. Next remove the onions and bay leaves from the tomatoes left oh the sieve and press the pulp through the fine meshes. Add to it the juice, put the mixture into wide mouthed bottles ; cover them loosely and stand them in a kettle of warm water (it should be about their own tem- perature). Bring the water to a boil and boil for half an hour. Leave the bottles in the kettle until they are cool, then tighten their covers and set them in the dark. Egg Tomatoes in Sweet Pickle. — Pour scalding water over seven pounds of the egg tomatoes, let them stand for a moment, then remove the skin. Cover them Avith vinegar much diluted with water and let them stand 12 hours. Put one-half cupful of weak vinegar in the pre- serving kettle and add part of the tomatoes, then some sugar and any whole spices, such as ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and mace, using these or even more varieties according to taste. Add more of the to- matoes, more sugar and more spices, alternating the layers thus until all the tomatoes and five pounds of sugar have been used. Cook very gently, stirring just enough to prevent scorching without breaking the tomatoes. When these are quite clear and transparent, remove them carefully and boil down the syrup. When the syrup is thick strain ' it and add the torhatoes, Boil up once and pour into pint jars to be sealed at once, THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 173 French .Sweet Pickle.— One peck green tomatoes chopped and six large onions sliced. Salt them and let stand over night. Then drain off the watery part and cover with vinegar, add two teaspoons of baking soda dissolved iti a little water, and let the whole boil for 15 minutes. Take two pounds of brown sugar, two ounces of cinnamon, one ounce of ground cloves and one-half pound of white mustard seed and mix dry. Put this in the kettle with three quarts of vinegar. Once more dram the tomato of its liquid part, add it to the spice and vinegar and cook for an hour. Green Tomato Chili Sauce.— Slice the green tomatoes and salt down as you do egg plant, put a weight on them and let stand until morn- ing, then rinse in cold water to take out the salt and wash out the seeds and bitter juice of the green tomato. For 13 tomatoes take four sweet green peppers, half dozen chili peppers, one large onion, one cupful vinegar, one tablespoonful sugar, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one of pep- per, two of ground allspice, half teaspoonful of mace, one of cinnamon, one of cloves. Chop the tomatoes fine, boil 20 minutes, strain and press through a sieve. Chop the peppers and onions very fine, first taking out the seeds of the peppers. Boil all together for 10 minutes ; add spices, then bottle and seal. Green Tomato Chow Chow. — Chop fine one peck of green tomatoes, three onions, six green peppers; sprinkle them lightly with salt, let stand an hour, then scald in the juices. Put three quarts of vinegar in a porcelain-lined kettle with one pint of sugar and a few pieces of horse- radish root. Boil for five minutes, add the tomatoes and boil five minutes longer, put into stone jars, cover and set in cool, dry place. Whole cloves, mace and stick cinnamon may be added to this if you want a spiced pickle. Easy Green Tomato Pickle.— Slice the tomatoes and allow them to stand in weak salt brine over night. In the morning rinse and pack directly in fruit jars. Place the. jars uncovered in the steamer and steam for about two hours. Have ready at the end of that time a sweet-spiced vinegar made exactly as you do for pickling peaches, and after draining all the juice that cooks from the sliced tomatoes, fill the cans brim-full with it and seal as in canning anything. Green Tomato Sweet Pickle. — Wash the tomatoes and let drain, then slice into a large earthen dish, sprinkling salt between the layers. Let stand till next day. Pour off the brine and juice, rinse off with clear water, let the fruit drain, then weigh if you like to follow the exact rule. To a syrup made of brown sugar and a little water add ginger root, cloves and cinnamon bark. Also tie up two or three little bags of mixed, ground spices to cook with the rest. Add the tomato and a handful of nasturtium seeds, and cook till the tomato seems tender. 174 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. The nasturtium seeds should be not more than half grown, green, and if in clusters, so much the better, Skim out the tomato into a stone jar, add a liberal quantity of vinegar to the juice left in the kettle, and when it boils up pour over the contents of the jar. Green Tomato Mangoes. — Select smooth tomatoes of good shape and showing no signs of ripening. Cut across one-fourth of the length below the stem and carefully extract the seeds and pulp. Have ready a filling composed of two parts finely chopped cabbage and one part onions, also chopped fine, and season to taste with celery and mustard seeds,, pepper and sugar. Fill the tomato shells as full as possible and tie the tops firmly on with strong cord. Let the mangoes lie over night in very strong brine, then soak them for 24 hours in weak vinegar. Pack in a stone jar, leaving plenty of space above them, and fill the jar with three parts vinegar to One part water, sweetened to the taste. These mangoes may be made either sweet or sour as preferred. A few pieces of horseradish root will season and preserve the vinegar. Tomato soy is made with both green and ripe fruit. The following is an excellent tested recipe for ripe tomato soy: Peel and chop a peck of ripe tomatoes until they are quite fine. Then put them upon the fire in a preserving kettle with a half a teacupful of whole cloTOs ; the same quantity of whole allspice; a scant teacupful of salt; a table- spoonful of black pepper, and three red pepper and five onions, all of which have been chopped fine. Let the ingredients boil together for fully an hour, and immediately add a quart of the best cider vinegar. When the soy has cooled sufiiciently, it may be bottled. Green Tomato Soy. — One peck green tomatoes; one quart onions, salt and vinegar as desired ; one teaspoonf ul ground cloves ; one tea- spoonful ginger ; one teaspoonf ul cinnamon ; the same of black pepper ; Yi teaspoonful red pepper; J,-^ pound brown sugar; half a grated nut- meg. Wash the tomatoes and cut in slices, also the onions. Place a layer of tomatoes and then sprinkle with salt, next a layer of onions in the same way — until all are done. Let stand over night. In the morn- ing drain well and then put on the stove to cook, covering the prepara- tion with vinegar. Add the spices and let it boil slowly together four or five hours; then bottle hot, leaving the covers off the jars till the next day. Tomato Mustard, — To one peck of ripe tomatoes add two teaspoon- fuls of salt and stew half an hour; then pass through a sieve. Add two dessertspoonfuls of fin-ely chopped onions, one dessertspoonful each of whole pepper, allspice and cloves tied in a muslin bag, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne; simmer down one-third, then stir in a tea- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 175 spoonful of curry powder and a teacupful of mustard; simmer half an hour longer, then bottle. Ripe Tomato Pickle. — Mix in the order given one and a half pints of firm ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, one-half cupful of chopped celery, two tablespoonfuls of chopped red pepper, two tablespoonfuls of chopped onion, two tablespoonfuls of salt, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, three tablespoonfuls of mustard seed, one-quarter teaspoonful of cloves, one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful of grated nut- meg and one cupful of vinegar. Stir thoroughly, put in a stone jar and cover. It should stand one week before using, but may be kept one year. Green Tomato Pickle. — Slice very thinly one peck of green to- matoes and two quarts of onions, sprinkling them all with a little salt, and let them stand till next day. Now drain them through a colander, put them on with enough good vinegar to cover them, and boil very gently till clear and tender. Then drain them from the vinegar. Put into about the same quantity of fresh vinegar two pounds of brown sugar, one -half pound of white mustard seed, one-half ounce of ground mace, one tablespoonful each of celery seed and ground cloves, and boil them all together for a few minutes ; then pour it over the drained to- matoes, which have been previously mixed with one dessertspoonful of cayenne, one full teaspoonful each of ground mustard and of tur- meric; mix this all well together, add about half a pint of good salad oil, and, when cold, put it into jars. Sour Green Tomato Pickle. — Peel green tomatoes and to each quart add three small cucumbers, one pint small white onions, two green pep- pers, quarter of a pound of salt, and half a pound of mustard seed. Chop all fine, mix and set away in a jar for twenty-four hours ; then cover with good vinegar and place bits of horseradish root on totp. Cover, but do not seal. Tomato Puree. — -Break ripe sound tomatoes in halves and crush them as they heat slowly. When they are tender strain and push the pulp through a sieve, season with salt and pepper and turn into glass jars. Put the cover on loosely, stand the jars in a pan of warm water and boil for half an hour. Then screw the covers on firmly. Use for mak- ing soups or gravies. Spiced Tomatoes. — Put into a preserving pan four pounds of good red tomatoes, two pounds of brown sugar, one pint of good vinegar (cider vinegar if possible), and one-half ounce each of cloves and stick cinnamon. Stew this altogether very gently till the tomatoes are cooked, but not broken; then lift them out and set them aside to cool. Con- tinue simmering very slowly till it is as thick as syrup. When the toma- 176 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. toes are quite cold, reheat them gently in the syrup and again lift them out, packing them, when perfectly cold, in jars, pouring the thick syrup (also quite cold) over them, and cover tight. Virginia Pickle. — This is uncooked. In a three-gallon jar mix one gallon of strong vinegar, one-half pint of salt, three pounds of brown sugar, two ounces each of black pepper, brown ginger, celery seed, mus- tard seed, mace, cloves, horseradish and allspice, one-half box of ground mustard, a little red pepper and one-half dozen pepper pods. Peel three dozen onions and put them with fresh cucumbers, just from the vine, washed and wiped dry, into the spiced vinegar, using enough cucumbers to fill the jar. Agitate the pickles every other morning for several months or until cool weather comes. Then add more sugar until the pickles have a pleasant taste. Pickled Walnuts. — The walnuts must be gathered while young and green, and be laid in strong brine. Leave them in this for a week, changing it every other day. Take them out, dry them between two cloths and pierce each with a large needle. Throw them into cold water and leave them several hours before packing them in small jars and pouring over them scalding hot seasoned vinegar, prepared in the following proportions : Four quarts of vinegar, one cupful of sugar, three dozen cloves, three dozen black peppers, 18 whole allspice and 13 blades of mace boiled together for five minutes. Yellow Mustard Pickle. — One-half gallon vinegar, three dozen sliced cucumbers, three dozen onions, one tablespoonful turmeric, one table- spoon mustard, one-half cup each of sugar and flour, and one-third teaspoon of red pepper. Pare and slice cucumbers and onions, cover with water, add one-half cup salt and let stand over night. In the morning drain the cucumbers and onions ; put vinegar on the stove to boil, mix the spices, sugar and flour in a little cold vinegar, add to the boiling vinegar and let boil five minutes, stirring constantly; then put in cucumbers and onions, boil 15 minutes and seal in jars while hot. Vinegar for Yellow Pickles. — This may be used for cucumbers, to- matoes or any other vegetable desired. Use one-half pound of grated horseradish, one pound of white mustard seed, one-half pound of black mustard seed, one ounce each of mace, nutmegs, cloves, allspice and ground white pepper, two ounces of turmeric, one-half cupful of ground mustard, two tablespoonfuls of celery seed, four cloves of garlic, one- quarter pound of ground ginger and two pounds of brown sugar. Pu£ in a three-gallon jar with two gallons of vinegar. Stir frequently and let remain for several weeks before using. This will keep any length of time. Half quantity may be prepared for the use of a small family. Corn Vinegar.— A friend says she prefers this to cider vinegar: One pint corn cut from cob; one pint of brown sugar or molasses, to THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 1T7 one gallon of rain water. Put in a large jar. Keep covered with a cloth. Set in the snn. In a month you will have good vinegar. Fruit Vinegars.— Among suggestions for making vinegar given by a correspondeiit of Good Housekeeping, it is stated that half-gallon fruit jars are better than stone jugs to make it in, as a larger surface is exposed to the light and air, and by shaking often, oxygenation, souring, is hastened. A cloth should, of course, be tied over the top to keep out insects and dust. The jars should be set in the sun, and whenever the fluid has worked clear, strain cff and leave it in a warm place until it is as sharp as desired. When mother forms, new vinegar can be made by simply adding sweetened water. Always use soft water, but if it is not available, boil the water and set it in the sun a day or two. To make vinegar from apple or peach parings, fill a jar half full of parings, add one-half teacup molasses, and fill up with water. Set in the sun and strain for use in about two weeks. Tomato vinegar is made by mashing and straining a quart of ripe tomatoes, putting in a jar with one cupful of sugar or molasses, then filling the jar with soft water, and keeping in a sunny place two weeks. In default of other material vinegar may be made from yeast. Dissolve half a teacupful of brown sugar in one pint of warm water, add one small yeast cake, and fill the jar with water. This must be left to work for two weeks. Gooseberry Vinegar. — Boil one gallon of water; when cold add three quarts of ripe gooseberries, mashed. Allow it to stand for four days, stirring every day. On the fourth day strain through a sieve to remove the seeds, then barrel. To e;ch gallon of the liquid add lyi pound sugar, and one-eighth cake of compressed yeast. We used to use barm (the foam from fermenting beer) which was the ordinary form of yeast years ago in communities where home brewing was practiced. Stir every day until the vinegar, has done fermenting, then close the barrel. Green or amber gooseberries are best. This is a very superior vinegar. Honey Vinegar. — One friend says she uses V/i pound of strained honey to a gallon of water, but Bulletin 146 of the- Ontario (Canada) Department of Agriculture advises iVz ounce of honey to one gallon of clear, soft water. Store in a barrel with an opening to permit air circu- lation, in a warm place; at the end of a year it is ready for use. The Ontario bulletin says its keeping qualities are excellent, and the best of pickles can be made with it, while it is recommended for salads. Spiced Vinegar. — This gives a fine flavor to green vegetables, such as cucumbers, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, salads, etc. For each quart of vinegar slice a clove of garlic, a small onion, a two-inch root of horse- radish, half an ounce of bruised ginger root, a teaspoonful each of unground black pepper, allspice and mustard seed. Put all in a stone jar and simmer on the range for five hours. Then strain and bottle for use. 178 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. CATSUPS AND SAUCES. Barberry Catsup. — Stew three quarts of barberries with three cupfuls of water til) well cooked, then strain through a sieve. In a separate saucepan stew four quarts of cranberries, a cupful of raisins, a large quince sliced, four small onions minced and a quart of water for half an hour, then pass through a sieve; mix with the barberry juice and add half a cupful of vinegar, one-fourth of a cupful of salt, two cupfuls of brown sugar, a dessertspoonful each of ground cloves and ground all- spice, two tablespoonfuls each of black pepper and celery seed, one teaspoonful of cayenne, cinnamon and ginger and a grated nutmeg. Let the whole boil one minute. If too thick add vinegar or water. This recipe is given by Miss Parlna ; some cooks make ihe catsup omitting the quince and cranberries. Bordeaux Sauce. — Two quarts of cabbage chopped to a powder, one quart of chopped green tomatoes, drained free of juice, three small onions chopped, one quart of vinegar, one-quarter ounce each of celery seed, black pepper, ginger and turmeric, one-eighth pound of mustard seed, one-quarter cupful of salt, and one-half pound of brown sugar; mix together, boil 15 minutes, and can while hot. Chili Sauce. — Peel and chop fine -one onion, and six large tomatoes, add one green sweet Spanish pepper and one small hot chili pepper, chopped; then season with one cupful of vinegar, one tablespoonful salt, two teaspoonfuls brown sugar, one teaspoonful each of ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper, and half a nutmeg. Boil slowly until very thoroughly cooked, then bottle and seal when cold. Chutney Sauce. — Eight ounces of tart apples, peeled and cored, eight ounces of peeled tomatoes, eight ounces brown sugar, eight ounces salt, four ounces powdered ginger, four ounces red peppers, two ounces shallots (or onion), two ounces garlic. Pound all together in a mortar (or pass through a chopper set to cut fine) and then put all the materials together in a jar with 2J^ pints good vinegar. Place the jar in a warm place, covered for one month, stirring with a wooden spoon twice every day. At the end of the time pass the chutney through a sieve, and bottle, when it is ready for use. The intense heat of the peppers grows milder with keeping, and the chutney improves and becomes richer in flavor. Peach Chutney. — Pare and halve sufficient peaches to weigh, when ready, three pounds. Put them in a large agate saucepan, add one pint of vinegar and stew gently until tender. Pound together in a mortar four ounces of white onions, two ounces garlic and five ounces of fresh ginger root ; add these to the peaches with six ounces each of sugar, seeded raisins and white mustard seed. Add two ounces of dried chillies and one cupful of vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes longer, then bottle. This is a familiar old English recipe. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 179 Cranberry Catsup (Good Housekeeping). — One quart of cranberries, one cup of water and two cups of vinegar. Tie in a piece of muslin a few cloves, three or four allspice, about a dessertspoon of broken cinna- mon, and some mace. Simmer all together in a preserving kettle until the fruit is perfectly soft. Press through a colander, add one pound of brown sugar, simmer 10 minutes longer, and seal. This recipe will make a most delicious catsup, and one conveniently made in small quantities at any time throughout the Winter. Cucumber Catsup. — For a small quantity take 12 fine full-grown cucumbers and lay them an hour in cold water. Then pare them and grate them down in a deep dish. Grate also, six small onions and mix them with the grated cucumber; season the mixture to your taste with pepper, salt and vinegar, making it of the consistency of jam. When thoroughly mixed put it in a glass jar, cover closely so that it will be perfectly air-tight. It will be found very nice to eat with beef or mutton, and if properly made and tightly covered it will keep well. It should be grated very fine, and the vinegar must be real cider vinegar. Ripe Cucumber Catsup. — (Some people call this a "salad," but it is worth making under any name.) Peel 13 large, ripe cucumbers ; remove seeds and pulp; chop the solid meat; mix with it a cupful of salt and hang in bag to drain. Chop 12 large onions and six peppers and mix with the cucumbers. Mix together one-fourth pound white mustard seed ; one-half cupful celery seed, and one cupful of sugar. Mix all together; cover with cold vinegar; put in cans and fix tops firmly. The above, or any similar preparations should be kept in a dark, cool place. If the darkness is not available, wrap the cans with papers. Cooked Cucumber Catsup.— Choose large, nearly ripe cucumbers; pare, reject seeds, chop very fine and measure. Allow one teaspoonful of salt for every pint of pulp, sprinkle with same and drain through a colander for six hours. For every quart of cucumber allow two cups of cider vinegar, four teaspoonfuls of grated horseradish, one tablespoonful each of white mustard seed and minced red pepper (seeds rejected) ; bring vinegar and flavoring to a boil, skim thoroughly and set aside until perfectly cold. Then add the pulp to the vinegar, stir well, put into pint jars, lay a nasturtium or horseradish leaf over the top and seal. Keep in a dark, cool place. Currant Catsup. — To five pounds of currants allow three pounds of sugar, one tablespoon of cinnamon, one tablespoonful of cloves, one tablespoonful of allspice, one teaspoonful of black pepper, one teaspoonful of salt and half a pint of vinegar. Mash the currants and rub them through a sieve; then, add the other ingredients and boil for twenty minutes. Bottle as you would tomato ?atsup, 180 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Gooseberry Catsup.— Five pounds of fruit, three pounds of sugar, V/z quart of vinegar, one tablespoonful of cloves, three tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, two tablespoonfuls of allspice. Wash the berries, put them in a porcelain stewpan, mash them well, add the other ingredients and boil until thick. Seal while hot. Grape Catsup.— Pick seven pounds of grapes off the stems, wash them, put them in a stone jar and set the jar over the fire in a deep pot of boiling water. Let the grapes cook in this manner for an hour in order to loosen the seeds. Remove from the fire and strain through a sieve, being careful that all the pulp goes through. Then add a pint of good cider vinegar, three and a half pounds of sugar and a teaspoonful each of cinnamon and cloves. Return to the fire and cook until thick. Mushroom Catsup.— The mushrooms should be freshly gathered; care- fully examined to see that they harbor no insects, and wiped, but not washed. Put a layer of mushrooms in the bottom of an earthen dish, and sprinkle well with salt; then another layer and more salt, continuing until all are used. Cover with a folded towel, and stand in a cool place for 24 hours; then mash and strain through a coarse bag. If put in a warm place the juice will ferment. To every quart of liquid add one ounce of pepper corns, and boil slowly in a porcelain-lined kettle for 30 minutes ; then add one-fourth ounce whole allspice, one-half ounce sliced ginger root, one dozen whole cloves and three blades of mace. Boil 15 minutes longer, then take from the fire and stand aside to cool. When cool, strain through flannel, and put in small bottles, iilling to the very top. Cork tightly, and dip cork in sealing wax. This is a delicious relish or seasoning, especially with poultry and mutton. Oude Sauce, — Four quarts of green tomatoes, 18 small peppers, 18; small white onions; chop all together, add three cupfuls of salt and let stand over night. In the morning drain off the water and add four cupfuls of sugar, four of horseradish, four tablespoonfuls of groundi cloves, four of cinnamon and cover with vinegar; stew gently all day,, then bottle and seal. Pepper Sauce. — Take two dozen large ripe peppers, remove the stems and most of the seeds ; put them in a kettle with three sliced onions, two cloves of garlic, one teaspoonful of salt, one pint of vinegar and one table- spoonful of grated horseradish^ boil together until the vegetables can be rubbed through a coarse sieve; return to the fire, add a pint of vinegar, one tablespoonful of brown sugar, one teaspoonful each of ground cloves, allspice and black pepper ; boil five minutes ; ' bottle and seal while hot. Plum Catsup, — Wash and drain four quarts of damson plums ; cover with a quart of water and cook slowly until tender, then press through a sieve, rubbing through as much pulp and skin as you can; return to the kettle; add three-quarters of a pound of sugar, two kv«l. teasBoonfulB> THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 18i of cinnamon, a half teaspoonful of allspice and one of ground cloves; simmer gently until as thick as tomato catsup ; then bottle and cork. Peach Catsup. — Pare and quarter one peck of firm, ripe pJeaches; add one pint of water to the peelings and one dozen sliced kernels; simmer 30 minutes, then strain; add peaches to the liquor and simmer another 30 minutes; add one cupful of vinegar, one-half cupful each of lemon juice and sugar, two teaspoonfuls .of ground cinnamon, and one-half teaspoonful each of ground cloves, mace and pepper, and boil very slowly until as thick as desired. Seal hot in pint jars. Red Pepper Catsup. — Two dozen pods of red pepper; put in a preserve kettle with a half pint of strong vinegar and a pint of water; set on the stove and let come to a boil. Add one root of grated horseradish, three sliced onions, six whole cloves and one-half ounce of white mustard seed. Let boil 10 minutes longer and strain. Put back in the kettle with a half teacupful of brown siigar, one ounce of -celery seed and a pint of strong vinegar. Boil one hour, then bottle. This catsup will keep any length of time. Shirley Sauce.— Chop very fine twenty-four large tomatoes, two large onions, two peppers ; add one tablespoonful of salt, two of sugar, one teaspoonful each of ginger, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, one nutmeg, one pint of vinegar. Stew one hour and bottle while hot. Southern Mixed Catsup. — Peel and cut up enough crisp, green cucum- bers to fill a half-gallon measure, sprinkle with salt and let stand six hours, press the water from them and scald in weak vinegar. Prepare half a gallon of cabbage in the same way. Chop one dozen small onions, cover with boiling water and let stand half an hour. Cut in slices one quart of green tomatoes, one pint of green beans, one dozen small ears of tender corn and one dozen green peppers. Scald and drain them. Mix two tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish, one teacupful of ground mustard, two cupfuls of white mustard seed, three tablespoonfuls of turmeric, one of mace, three of celery seed, one of cinnamon, one of cayenne, two of olive oil and one pound of sugar. Put in a jar with the prepared vegetables and cover with boiling vinegar. Tomato Catsup. — Pare one-half bushel tomatoes and cook until very soft, sift them, taking all the seeds out. Then cook until as thick as you desire the catsup and then add one quart vinegar, one-half pint salt, and the following spices: One tablespoonful each of cloves, ginger'and cinna- mon, two tablespoonfuls each of mustard, black pepper and allspice, and one-half teaspoonful cayenne pepper. Let it cook 10 minutes, then bottle and cork tight, no further sealing is needed as it will keep for years simply corked. Tomato Catsup No. 2. — Wash and cut in pieces a half peck of ripe tomatoes. Cook in a porcelain-lined or granite iron preserving kettle till 183 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. soft enough to put through a sieve, which will remove skins and seeds. To the pulp add two tablespoonfuls of salt, two tablespoonfuls pepper, one-half tablespoon allspice, one-half tablespoon cloves and one-half pint vinegar. Let the tomato cook for several hours before adding the spices and vinegar. Mix the salt and spices dry in a bowl, and blend well before putting into the tomato. Cook till quite thick and put in bottles. Store in a cool cellar. Uncooked Tomato Catsup.— Peel and chop a peck of ripe tomatoes and hang in bag, to drain for 24 hours. Add to the drained tomato four bunches of celery (chopped fine) and one large cupful of chopped onion. Mix the three vegetables thoroughly and then add one-fourth cup of salt ; one-fourth cup sugar; two tablespoonfuls mustard seed; two tablespoon- fuls ground cinnamon ; one teaspoonful ground allspice, and two large red peppers, chopped fine. Mix very thoroughly ; cover with good cider vinegar, and put in self-sealing cans. Uncooked Catsup No. 3. — One peck of ripe tomatoes ; two horseradish roots ; two large onions ; four stalks of celery ; two ounces mustard seed ; four green peppers; one scant cup of salt; one cup of sugar; three pints of vinegar. Pare and quarter tomatoes, place in colander to drain ; chop fine the celery, onions and peppers ; grate the horseradish. Mix all thor- oughly. Put in cans and seal. Green Tomato Catsup. — One peck of green tomatoes and two large onions sliced. Place them in layers, sprinkling salt between; let them stand 24 hours and then wash and drain them. Add a quarter of a pound of mustard seed, one ounce allspice, one ounce cloves, one ounce ground mustard, one ounce ground ginger, two tablespoonfuls black pepper, two teaspoonfuls celery seed, a quarter of a pound of brown sugar. Put all in preserving pan, cover with vinegar and boil two hours ; then strain through a sieve and bottle for use. Tomato Chutney. — Two pounds ripe tomatoes, two pounds sugar, one- half pound green ginger, one pound raisins stoned, one-fourth pound of salt, one ounce garlic, one-half ounce powdered chillies, one quart vinegar. Place the tomatoes in a shallow pan and put in an oven till they crack, when the skins can be readily removed. Peel and core and boil them with one-half of the vinegar 10 minutes. Pound or grind the ginger, garlic and raisins with enough vinegar to make them into a paste. Boil the .sugar with the remainder of the vinegar into a thick syrup. Mix all the ingredients together with the salt and chillies, and boil till the fruit and syrup run the one way when pui on a plate held sideways. Bottle and seal. CHAPTER XIII. SALADS. Beet Dressing.— One cupful vinegar, one-half cupful sugar, butter the size of a walnut, salt and pepper to taste, scant tablespoon of cornstarch or flour. Mix thoroughly, boil till it thickens, pour over the sliced boiled beets and serve immediateh'. Butter Dressing for Potato Salad.— One cupful butter, melted, into which is stirred one tablespoonful of flour, half cupful of vinegar, one teaspoonful salt, one egg, half teaspoonful mustard, and a little pepper. Add a small cupful of boiling water, and cook together until thickened like cream. Dressing With Bacon Fat. — Cook two tablespoonfuls of flour and a dash of paprika or red pepper in five tablespoonfuls of hot bacon fat. Add four or five tablespoonfuls of vinegar and half a cupful of water. Stir and cook until boiling. Then gradually pour over the beaten yolk of an egg (preferably two yolks). Return to the fire (over hot water) to cook the egg, and add salt if needed. Use when cold. This dressing is particularly good with endive or lettuce, alone or with eggs. French Dressing. — This consists of three tablespoonfuls of oil to one tablespoonful of vinegar. For every tablespoonful of vinegar and three of oil, take one-half teaspoonful of salt and one-fourth teaspoonful of black or white pepper. Mix the salt and pepper with the oil and add the vinegar gradually, stirring thoroughly until it becomes white and a little thickened. This dressing must be used as soon as it is made or it will separate. Prepared Dressing. — Here is a delicious salad dressing, which will keep a long time if put on ice, or in a cold place. Mix half a cupful of oil, five tablespoonfuls vinegar, half a teaspoonful powdered sugar, half a small Bermuda onion, finely chopped, two tablespoonfuls chopped parsley, half a tablespoonful chopped red pepper, one tablespoonful chopped green pepper, one teaspoonful salt. Let it stand for an hour, then whip up with an egg beater before using. Sour Cream Dressing. — Chill a cupful of rich sour cream until very cold, then beat well for five minutes, adding, while beating, a tablespoon- ful of powdered sugar and a half teaspoonful of lemon juice. Slice chilled cucumbers very thin, and serve with this dressing. Salad Dressing Without Oil.— Piece of butter the size of an egg. Heat in granite basin, add sifted flour till thick. Then add one cupful of milk. When smooth add one cupful vinegar ; two eggs (beaten) ; salt. 1S4 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. pepper, red or black, mustarfl, seasoned as you wish ; one tablespoon of sugar. Cook till thick. The edition of a half cupful of well-beaten sour or sweet cream will be found excellent. This dressing on potatoes, cu- cumbers, lettuce or beets makes a most palatable salad. The friend who gave this says it is a dressing that will keep for some time. She always keeps a jar of it on hand. The left-over dish of beets, peas or string beans is put in the potato salad for supper. Mayonnaise. — Put the uncocked yolks of two eggs into an earthen bowl, beat them well with' a silver or wooden fork for about one minute; then add a half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of cayenne, and if you desire, a half-teaspoonful of mustard. Work these well together, and then add drop by drop, a half pint or more of olive oil. Stir rapidly and steadily v/hile adding the oil ; do not reverse the motion, or the mayonnaise may curdle. After stirring in the first gill of- oil, alternate occasionally with a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar. The more oil you use, the thicker the dressing. If too thick, add vinegar enough to make it the proper consistency. The mayonnaise should be kept as cool as possible during rhe making. Banana Salad. — The bananas are peeled, sliced lengthwise down the middle, dipped in mayonnaise, and laid, flat side up, on lettuce leaves. A layer of finely chopped peanuts is put on the banana, and a spoonful of mayonnaise dressing put by it. Serve with heated graham crackers. This is delicious. Beet Salad. — Slice and cut into dice enough cold boiled beets to make a pint; heap in the center of a salad dish, and cover with sauce Tartare. This is made by adding a few chopped olives, gherkins and capers to mayonnaise dressing. If the mayonnaise is not desired, any ordinary salad mixture may be used, and the salad garnished with hard-boiled eggs and parsley. Cream S'aw. — Cut a small half head of white, tender cabbage on a slaw cutter (or fine, with a sharp knife) ; sprinkle a very little black pepper over it, and add one-third of small teaspoonful of salt. Have ready a small half pint of thick sweet cream; add to this three even tablespoonfnis of granulated sugar; stir until dissolved, then whip this to a stiff froth, adding gradually two and a half tablespoonfnis of good vinegar. When finished pour over the cabbage, stirring it lightly until all is covered and stand in refrigerator, or in cold water, for 10 or 15 minutes before serving. The slaw should not be made too long before serving, as the cold, crisp taste is most appetizing. Herring Salad.— Heat through by broiling, or in the oven, three smoked ' herrings. Then tear off the heads and pull the skin away; split, take out the backbones, and cut up into small bits, or to shred them is better. Put in a salad bowl, add one small chopped" onion, two hard-boiled eggs, chopped, and one boiled potato; cut fine with a teaspoonful of chopped THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 185 parsley; season with a teaspoonful of salt, one of pepper, three table- spoonfuls of vinegar and two of oil ; mix well, and if you have it, deco- rate with a boiled, beet. Hot Slaw.— Cut a head of cabbage fine. Have ready enough dressing, iialf vinegar and half water, and one-fourth sugar, with a lump of butter to cover it. Simmer until done. It is good cold. It is well to salt the dressing a little, to taste. Potato Salad. — Slice cold boiled potatoes with one raw onion to sea- son. For the salad dressing, put on stove a saucepan with one pint of vinegar and butter the size of an egg. Beat two or three eggs with two tablespoonfuls of mustard and a small teaspoonful of salt, and one of black pepper, two tablespoonfuls of sugar. When thoroughly beaten pour slowly into the vinegar until it thickens. Be careful not to cook too long, or the egg will curdle. Remove and when cold pour over the salad. It improves this to add the yolks of two or three hard boiled eggs mashed fine and beaten in with the mustard, or add a cupful of cream. This will keep several days in a cool place if desired. Plain French dressing may be used instead if desired. German Potato Salad. — Boil a few extra potatoes at dinner time. When cold, carefully slice very thin. Set away to chill. When supper time comes, cut for a quart of sliced potatoes one good-sized onion into thin slices. Add a dash of pepper. Take two big slices of bacon, very fat, cut into cubes, fry, add one-half cupful of vinegar. Pour over the salad and toss lightly with two forks. Waldorf Salad. — Handsome red apples are selected, polished, but not peeled, cored, and then hollowed into cups. The pieces removed are mixed with chopped celery, put in the apple cups, a spoonful of mayon- n.^ise dressing being put over the top. The apples are put on individual plates, each fruit standing on a crinkly lettuce leaf. CHAPTER XIV. CHEESE. Cottage Cheese.— Bulletin No. 245, issued by the New York Experi- ment Station at Geneva, is devoted to this subject; it will be found help- ful by anyone making this cheese, either for market or domestic use. In describing the manufacture of this cheese, the bulletin says that good cottage cheese should have a soft, smooth texture, being neither mushy nor dry and sawdust like. The flavor should be that of mildly soured milk or well ripened cream, with an entire absence of bitter taste, flavor of stable, or other objectionable qualities. Such flavor may usually be secured by the use of a good starter; but if too much whey is retained the cheese -may be sour. Flavor and texture are quite closely connected, at this point, for a slow draining curd is liable to result in poor textured and poor flavored cheese. The various steps in making cottage cheese may be summarized as follows. Use skim-milk rather than whole milk, to avoid loss of fat. To se- cure proper flavor and speedy souring add a small amount of a good starter. This starter should be prepared from clean, fresh milk, sep- arated from the cream and placed in a carefully cleaned receptacle, well covered and brought to a temperature of 90 degrees, and then allowed to stand from 20 to 24 hours at a temperature of 65 to 78 degrees. The upper portion of this should be discarded and the amount needed strained through a fine strainer or hair sieve and thoroughly mixed with the milk from which ^cheese is to be made the next day. A portion may also be used in preparing a starter for the next day, but as soon as any unfav- orable effect is noticed a new starter should be prepared. Several good and convenient commercial starters are on the market, for use of which directions accompany each package. The milk is now kept at a temperature of 70 to 75 degrees until well curdled, often in 24 hours, sometimes not until 48 hours. The curdled mass is broken up by hand or by a curd knife, raised gradually to 90 de- grees, taking 30 to 40 minutes in the process. The whey should then separate clear in 15 to 20 minutes, after which it is run from the curd, and the latter placed in muslin bags or on racks to drain. When whey ceases to come from the curd, salt is added to taste or at the rate of about a pound for 100 pounds of cheese, the curd formed into balls and wrapped in oiled paper that may be obtained from any dairy supply house. For the finest quality of cheese, thick cream, preferably ripened cream, should be added at the rate of about an ounce for one pound THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 187 of cheese, before the cheese is made into balls. If it is thought best to hasten the curdling rennet extract may be added about eight hours after the starter has been introduced, using one ounce of rennet extract for 1,000 pounds of milk. Escalloped Cheese.— Into a buttered baking dish sprinkle a layer of coarse bread crumbs, with butter, pepper and salt on top. Next add a ■ • layer of cheese, alternating with bread and cheese until the dish is full. Have bread crumbs on top, pour on sweet milk until you can see it by tilting the dish a little, and bake until done. Cheese Fondu.— Put one tablespoonful of butter in pan, then one cup milk; let it boil, then add one cup bread crumbs and two cups grated cheese, little pepper and dry mustard. When the cheese melts add two well-beaten eggs. Macaroni with Cheese. — Throw one-half box of macaroni into boiling water and cook 20 minutes. Never let the water stop boiling, or the macaroni will be soft. Drain and pour into a buttered baking dish. Have ready one cup of cheese cut into small pieces and stir this through the hot macaroni together with salt and pepper to taste and a lump of butter the size of a small egg. Add enough sweet milk almost to cover and sprinkle the top with more grated cheese. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. A good supper dish on a cold night. Cheese Patties. — When making pies line a number of patty pans with thin paste and bake. These will keep several days, but are better fresh. Grate one-fourth pound cheese and add one pint milk, one tablespoon flour, one-half teaspoon mustard or one dessertspoon prepared mustard, one tablespoon butter and salt and pepper to taste. Carefully heat to- gether, stirring to make a smooth mass. Serve hot in the patty shells. Cheese Puifs. — Make some puff paste ; roll it out and cut it into squares of about three inches. Beat the yolks of two eggs and a little made mus- tard, a dash of cayenne pepper and two tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, to form a thick paste. Place a spoonful of the mixture in each square of pastry, pull the four points to the center, pinching them together to make them stand up. Bake 10 minutes and serve very hot. Cheese Pudding. — Lay thin slices of stale bread, lightly buttered, in a baking dish, and cover with broken cheese, no matter how old and dry it is. Season with red pepper and salt. Fill the dish with alternate layers of bread and cheese. Beat two eggs in a pint of milk, pour over the bread and cheese, and bake in a hot oven. This will serve six per- sons. Spanish Rabbit. — To a cupful of grated cheese add two-thirds the quantity of minced onion, which is first cooked in boiling water. Drain and add milk almost to cover the onions ; season with salt and pepper and when the milk is hot put in the cheese. As soon as the cheese is melted stir in one well-beaten egg. Cook a moment longer and serve. 388 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Cheese Ramekins. — Two ounces of bread crumbs boiled in one gill of milk; to this add four tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, two of melted butter, and stir over the fire until blended. Take off and add the beaten yolks of two eggs, salt and pepper to taste. Beat the whites of three eggs stiff, stir carefully into the mixture, and bake 15 minutes in a quick oven. Cheese Souffle.— Put two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan; when it melts add one heaping tab'.espoonful of flour, stir until smooth; add a half-cup of jnilk, a saltspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of paprika; cook two minutes; add the well-beaten yolks of three eggs and one cup of grated cheese, but take it off the fire just before adding them, and when you stir them all in well set it away to cool. When cold add the stiflly beaten whites of the eggs, turn into a buttered dish and place im- mediately in the oven and bake 25 or 30 minutes. Have a folded napkin ready to wrap around the dish and serve it immediately, or it will fall. Cheese Sticks. — Mix together one pint grated cheese, one pint flour, one tablespoon butter, two scant teaspoons baking powder, a little salt and a dash of pepper. Mix with milk or water and roll thin like pie crust. Cut into strips four or five inches long and nearly an inch wide. Bake in a quick oven. Cheese Straws. — One cupful of grated cheese and one tablespoonful of butler creamed together; two slices of bread, without crust, dried in oven and rolled fine. Four tablespoonfuls of cold water, pinch of salt, dust of red pepper, and flour enough to roll out. Cut in strips and bake a delicate brown. Cheese Toast. — Grate a cupful of cheese, and lightly mix in a heaping saltspoonful of mustard, a half-saltspoonful of salt and a speck of cay- enne. Heap this on thin strips or triangles of buttered toast, place them in a hot oven for a few moments, and serve as soon as the cheese begins to melt. Any kind of a thin cracker may be used instead, and a dusting of paprika over each piece in place of the cayenne. Welsh Custards. — One cupful of dry grated cheese, four eggs, one cup- ful of milk, one teaspoon ful of butter, two of flour, mixed with milk, a bit of soda size of pea, half -i teaspoonful of salt and a pinch of cayenne. Heat the milk, stirring in the soda, butter, salt and pepper, and the flottr mixture, and pour scalding hot on the eggs beaten light in a bowl. Add the cheese, beat up for a minute, pour into buttered custard cups and bake in a brisk oven for 20 minutes. They should be served instantly. CHAPTER XV. WARM SUPPER AND BREAKFAST DISHRS. Anchovy Toast.— Tcast a small round of bread for each person, butter and put in vegetable dish. Make a sauce of one pint of milk and two tablespoonfuls of flour; when thickened add level saltspoonful of salt, dash of cajenne and three teaspoonfuls of anchovy essence or five anchovies boned and pounded. Pour over the toast; serve hot. Arrowroot Cream Toast.- -First put into a double boiler a scant pint of rich milk and a teacupful of cream; let it come to the boiling point, then add a large tablespoonful of fresh butter and a tablespoonful of arrowroot wetted in a little milk or cream; season to taste with salt, and lot- it boil up. Toast light slices of bread, browning evenly. Put two slices at a time into the sauce, and as soon as they soften all through, which will only take a short time, put in a covered dish kept hot. Pour a little sauce over each layer, and serve the toast while very hot. Golden Cream Toast.— Cut slices of stale bread into diamonds and toast to a pale brown, drying slightly in the oven before browning. Make a rich white sauce of a pint of milk, three tablespoonfuls of butter, two tablespoonfuls of flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, a dusting of mace and a light dusting of pepper. Cook until smooth, add the grated yolks of three hard-boiled eggs and pour over the toasted bread. Baked Toast. — Prepare toast in the ordinary way, and, as each slice is ready, dip quickly into a pan of boiling water slightly salted, then pack into a baking dish, sprinkle well with salt, and cover deep with boiling milk. Bake in a dish, closely covered, for 15 minutes, and serve. The toast should have absorbed all the liquid without getting dry. If you can spare three or four tablespoonfuls of cream, heat, and pour over the surface just before sending to the table. The baking lends smooth- ness and richness to this dish not to be found in milk toast prepared in the usual way. Bread Croquettes. — Rub the inside of a loaf of stale bread through a colander, then measure. To one good quart add one pint of milk and heat over the fire in a double boiler. As soon as it reaches the scalding point take it oflf, let stand for a moment, then add one-half of a cupful of cleaned currants, two tablespoonfuls of chopped citron, one-half of a teaspoonful of cinnamon, two tablespoonfuls of chopped almonds and the beaten yolks of two raw eggs. Return to the fire and stir and cook for two minutes, then turn out on a greased dish and set aside until cold. Form carefully into small cylinders, dip each in egg, roll in fine dried crumbs and fry golden brown in hot fat. Serve with a foamy sauce. 190 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Cheese Pie. — Cut bread into one-third inch slices, cutting each slice in half. Butter a shallow baking dish, put in a layer of bread, then a layer of soft mild cheese, cut in one-eighth inch slices, and sprinkled with salt and paprika or pepper. Beat two eggs slightly and add one cup of milk. Pour over the bread and bake until the cheese is soft, which will take about 30 minutes. Hulled Corn au Gratin. — For one quart of hulled corn prepare a pint of rich cream sauce, flavoring it with Worcestershire sauce or other condiments to make it piquant. Put the sauce and corn in a baking dish or individual ramekins in alternate layers, sprinkle the top with grated cheese and a dusting of paprika, and bake until well browned on top. Noodles. — Beat an egg slightly, but not until it foams ; salt it to season the dough, and then work in all the flour the egg can be made to take up. Take the dough on to the board and knead in flour until it is stiff and smooth, then roll out as thin as possible. Let the sheet of dough dry for a while, but roll it into a roll like a jelly roll before it gets dry enough to break when rolled; slice from the end, and shake into strings. The thinner the dough is rolled, and the finer it is cut the better the noodles are. A very thin, sharp knife makes the work of cutting much easier and insures much finer noodles. The directions given call for one egg as a basis, but the method of making is exactly the same if six, or a dozen eggs are used. Three medium-sized eggs will make a sheet of dough 30 inches square if properly rolled out, and will be enough for a family of six or eight 'hungry people. When dry enough to roll and cut, the noodles are dry enough to cook, but they may be kept for hours or days, after they are cut. Cheese Noodles. — Make your noodles the day before you want to use them and shave fine. Drop lightly into boiling water and allow them to cook 15 minutes over a hot fire. Do not let them simmer, or they will turn out a mushy mass. Drain and fill a rather deep pan to the depth of two inches. Season with salt and pepper and pour over them enough sweet milk almost to cover. Over the top grate cheese to the depth of half an inch, cover and bake one hour, removing cover the last 15 min- utes unless oven is too hot. Rice Croquettes. — To one teacupful of boiled rice, add one teaspoonful of butter, a beaten egg, a seasoning of salt and pepper, and mix well to- gether. Mold into rolls, or small cakes, dip into egg, and then into pow- dered cracker crumbs and fry in hot butter or drippings. A little finely chopped cold meat is an improvement; it should be mixed with the rice and egg before molding. Rice Muffins.— One pint of milk, one pint boiled rice, two eggs, two table- spoonfuls of suga::, one tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful each of salt and baking powder. Beat the sugar, salt, yolks of eggs and butter THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 191 together, add the milk and sufficient flour to make a thin batter; sift the rice in lightly, and last the beaten whites. Bake in rings 30 minutes. Royal Toast. — Put bread toasted a delicate brown in a square shallow pan; put a piece of butter the size of a walnut on each slice, and sprinkle with sugar. Arrange in layers, and pour over the whole enough milk or cream to half fill the pan. Cover closely and set in a slow oven until the liquid is all absorbed. Swiss Toast. — Mash one-half box of berries, but not too fine; sweeten one-quarter cup of sugar, then cut five slices of stale bread as for toast- ing. Cover each slice with the berries. Retain some of the juice so as not to make the bread too soft. Heat about two tablespoonfuls of but- ter in a large frying pan ; put the slices with the berries on them carefully into the hot butter and fry slowly until the bread is browned on the un- derside, basting the berries with the butter while in the pan. Transfer the bread and berries to a hot platter; pour the rest of the juice over them and serve immediately. Tomato Toast. — This can often be made from stewed or scalloped to- matoes left over from dinner; the extra juice from canned tomatoes which often makes them seem too. watery, is useful for the toast. The tomato is simmered with the proper flavoring, strained through a sieve, and then thickened with flour and butter before being poured over the toast. If one wishes to make more of a dish, crisp fried bacon may be served with it, or a spoonful of minced ham or other cooked meat may be put on the top of each piece of toast before the tomato is pou'red over it. Creamed Tomatoes. — Peel several tomatoes and cut them in moderately thick slices. Fry them in butter, seasoning them as they are frying with pepper and salt. Remove them carefully to a platter, leaving the shreds of the tomatoes that have fallen ofif. Pour into the pan about three- quarters of a cup of rich milk and thicken with flour. Pour this sauce over the tomatoes. Blueberry Pancakes.— Sift one scant pint of flour with one teaspoonful of baking powder and a half-teaspoonful of salt. Mix two well-beaten eggs with 2^ cupfuls of sweet milk and thoroughly blend all together. Grease the griddle, drop the batter on in large spoonfuls and spread a teaspoonful of blueberries on each, pressing into the cake. Turn, and when brown serve with butter and powdered sugar. Buckwheat Cakes. — One pint milk scalded and cooled, one-half tea- spoonful salt. When lukewarm add one-fourth of a yeast cake which has been dissolved in a little warm water; one cup buckwheat flour and one cup white flour. Let rise over night. In the morning stir in one-fourth teaspoonful of soda and one tablespoonful molasses. Beat vigorously before cooking. Mixed Buckwheat Cakes.— Sift together two cupfuls of buckwheat, 192 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. one cupful of rolled oats, one cupful of cornmeal, one scant teaspoonful of salt. Mix to a pour batter, with equal parts of milk and water, add one-third of a cake of compressed yeast, cover and stand in a warm place over night; before baking add one-third of a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in hot water. These are good and easy of digestion. Crumb Croquettes. — Melt a tablespoonful of butter in a frying pan and add a tablespoonful of flour; a cupful of sweet milk, and salt and pepper to season. Cook until it thickens, then add one beaten egg. Re- move from the fire and mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is thick. Make into balls and let get cold. Roll in egg and crumbs ; fry in deep fat like other croquettes. Crumb Pancakes. — Two cupfuls sour milk, one-half teaspoonful soda, two cupfuls stale bread crumbs, two eggs, two cupfuls. flour, two level tcaspoonfuls baking powder, pinch of salt. Soak bread crumbs in the ra'lk over night, add dissolved soda ; if one has stale Johnny cake a change may be made by using one cupful bread crumbs and one cupful Johnny cake crumbs. In the morning add the eggs, well beaten, then sift in the flour and baking powder. It may be that two cupfuls of flour will not be needed to make a suitable batter; use just enough. French Pancakes. — Beat five eggs very light, add two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one and one-half pints of milk, and enough wheat flour, sifted with two tcaspoonfuls of baking powder, to make a good batter. About a quart of flour will be needed. Melt a little butter in a large frying pan, and pour the batter into this. When brown on one side, turn carefully and brown on the other. When done, spread quickly . with fruit jelly, and roll up as you would a sheet of music. Transfer carefully to a very hot dish, sprinkle with powdered sugar, or with pow- dered sugar and ground cinnamon, and serve immediately. Flannel Cakes. — One cupful of Indian meal, two cupfuls of flour, three of boiling milk, one-fourth of a yeast cake, one teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of sugar. Pour the boiling milk upon the meal and butter; let it cool; then add the flour, salt, sugar and the portion of yeast dissolved in four tablespoonfuls of cold water. Let it rise over night, and in the morning fry as you would griddle cakes. Yeast Flannel Cakes. — Heat a half-pint of sweet milk and into it put one heaping tablespoonful butter, let it melt, add a half pint cold mi.k and the well beaten yolks of two eggs, a half teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls homemade yeast, and flour to make -a stiff batter. Let rise in a warm place over night. Before baking add the beaten whites, which have been kept in a cool place during the night. Be sure to make batter stiff enough, as flour must not be added after it has risen. These cakes, half cornmeal and half wheat, are very nice. ?:?W^5:^r;>^KV*;;.|.;:.^t^;'^;:^>^;•■'■>:■;-:•J:(: t'i"':^»1>:;'vri ';'"'•'>> >''';• ■;■ ;:>:^ -:■- :.,:.; .•-■::.j: