.G662 n ^"m'^^:ff-^i'ii:^:^.-^^ '^^/^i^ ■^:-;- <=-v.-i., :"•.*,/<:-/ Dining Room Notes PRACTICAL HAND-BOOK I" () i; HIOTJSEIEEEiE^EI^S. E M I I. \' II A Y E S 1?K \T-|T,i:]U)RO. VT. I S S - . HINTS WORTH HEEDING. There are probably few ladies who read these pages who have not made use of the Diamond Dves for Domestic Dyeing. Very likely many think they know all about them, and therefore will feel'in- clined to skip this page. Hut we would assure them that hardly a week passes in ^ hich the proprie- tors do not find some new purpose for which they have been found useful. We therefore ask every reader to note carefully our story, for you will surely find something of special interest. IDIJ^IMIOnsriD ID^STES Have now been before the public nearly four years, and such has been the favor with which they have been received that a million packages per month are sold. In every hamlet, town and city of this country they are staple articles, and in every English-speaking country of the world special houses have been established to supply the demand. This great popularity liasVesulted from the com- plete satisfaction which the Dyes have given to those using them, so that one person has told anotlKT and another, and in this way their use and fame has spread to every part of the land. WHAT ARE THE DYES USED FOR? JFOR AZL KINDS OT DOMESTIC AND FANCY COJ.ORINfi. ' DKESSES, COATS, CLOAKS, WRAPPERS, AND ALL GARMENTS, can be colored over aiiv color desii-ed. No longer necessary to send them to a professional Dyer. SHAWLS, HOODS, SCARFS, YARN STOCKINGS, AND ALL WOOLEN ARTICLES are easily dyed any color wanted. Any faded or dingy article can be made to look like new. DRESSES, RIBBONS, TIES, FRINGES, OR ANYTHING MADE OF SILK, take the various dyes so quickly and beautifully it is a pleasure to use them. TO COLOR COTTONS most of the Dyes work well, while the Special Cotton Color.s— Blue. Green. Yellow, Scarlet and Cardinal — are new and vastly superior to any others. CARPET-RAGS, RUGS, .tc— No (jther Dyes so good for these as the Diamond. FEATHERS.— Don't be afraid to color over your Feathers with Diamond Dves. Thev tak.' the col- ors (except black) beautifully. Try one. BASKET WORK and Wooden Articles of any kind can be dyed or stained any desired color. PHOTOGRAPHS can be beautifully colored with Liquid Colors made from Diamond Dyes. Send for special art circular. SCHOOLS use them in a great variety of ways, for Object Teaching, Map Drawing and Coloring. &c. Send for circular to teachers. DRAUGHTSMEN AND COPYISTS use many colors of these Dyes in making plans, sketches, Ac. MOSSES, GRASSES, EVERLASTING FLOWERS, CRYSTALIZED FLOWERS, &c., can be beauti- fully colored. INK. — A package of Dye makes a pint of the finest Ink. for family, .school, or ccnnmercial use. writing, copying, stamping, shading, &c. Any color wanted can be made. LIQUID SHOE POLISH, for ladies' shoes, fully equal to the best, and at a fraction of the cost. Please write at once for sample card, and for book of directions, with the story of "HOJV COUSLY JOHN'S WIFE USED DMMOND DYES,- by Emily Hayes. Enclose stamp for postage. A Beautiful, Colored Cabinet Photograph, and full directions for doing the work, sent for 10 cts. The Dyes are sold by all druggists, or will be sent by mail on receipt of price. Address the pro- prietors, WELLS, RICHARDSOX & CO., Burlington, Vt. THE DIAMOND PAINTS, GOLD, SILVER, COPPER AND BRONZE, For gilding, silvering or bronzing Fancy Baskets, Frames, Lamps, Chand liers, and for all kinds of ornamental work. Also Artists Black for Ebonizing. Equal to any of the high priced kinds and only TEN cents a package, at the druggists, or postpaid from WELLS, RICHARDSON & CO., Burlington, Vt. The Health Food Company's FEW REMARKS. The author of this little cooking: manual ha's taken much pains to test in various ways the food-substan- ces which we prepare, and has given in this volume the results of her many experiments, in the form of carefully prepared recipes. Some of these recipes were originally published in the excellent Brattle- boro Household, and have been found satisfactory to all housewives who use our Health Foods. It has been a source of great satisfaction to us to observe that so intelligent and competent a lady should voluntarily employ her ample means to make known the best methods of preparing our superior foods. VVe know them to be, when properly cooked, the best ?"oods IN THE WORLD, and we know that proper cooking is sure if Miss Hayes' rules are carefully followed. We cheerfully send pamphlets describing all our Health Foods, to all applicants, and are always glad to answer questions from the sick, and tell them how to recover health. THE HEALTH FOOD CO., No. 66 Fourth Avenue, Cor. lo St., New York. Dining Room Notes: Practical Hand-Book FOR SZOTJSEIECEEIPEI^S. Emily Hayes. BRATTLEliORO, VT, 1885. A^ W Copyright b^' Geo. E . C R o w E I. L rSSc;. fBANK E HOUSH, PRINTER, BRATTLEBORO, VT. s~^ ? CONTENTS. Soup ........ 5 Fish 11 Poultry . . . . 22 Meats ........ 30 How TO Use the Pieces ... 33 Eggs ........ 47 Vegetables ...... 50 Bread . . . . . . . .60 Cake 73 Pastry ........ 96 Puddings ....... 104 Tea, Coffee, Etc. ..... 123 Preserves, Jellies, Etc. . . . 128 Pickles 147 Postscript ....... 155 Health Foods and How to Cook Them 160 ;3^ Within the past few years improvements have been made in ahnost every branch of domestic labor as w^ell as in the important work outside the home. Years ago our great grandmothers used very crude preparations of their own make to aerate their batter cakes &c., growing from that to use the strong un- wholesome saleratus which they stirred into their butter milk or sour milk to lighten their breadstuff's. Later came the great improvements in the shape of cream of tartar, and refined soda, in the use of which, however, success was dependent upon purity of ma- terials and exact measurement. It required consider- able care to get precisely the proper quantity to ob- tain good results. To this difficulty was soon added the adulteration of these very desirable articles with injurious substances. But all of these objections have been overcome in the preparation of Cleveland's Superior Baking Pow- der, an article that has been thoroughly endorsed for purity and healthfulness by the leading chemists of the country, and which is giving such general satis- faction that thousands of housekeepers are enthusi- astic in its praise. The author of this little manual finds no baking powder equal to Cleveland's, which she has used constantly for the past five years. PREFACE. TTTITH the kind permission of Mr. Crowell, the ''* pubhsher of the Brattleboro Vt. Household, and at the request of many of its subscribers, we have compiled this httle volume from the series of " Dining Room Notes " published during the last five years in that excellent domestic journal. To these recipes we have added others in frequent use in our family, and, deeming no cook book of the present day complete without directions for using the cereal foods so necessary to health, we have added a chapter of recipes, — the result of long use. and personal experiment with these valuable articles of diet. We take pleasure in calling the attention of oui readers through our advertising columns not only to these, but other articles, — all of which are well known and appreciated in our family. Although our little book makes no pretention to be a " complete cook book," so far as it goes we have endeavored IV Prefi ace. to make it of practical benefit to young and inexperi- enced housewives, giving, tiierefore, especial attention to details in all the recipes ; the manner in whicii the materials used should be put together as well as the exact quantities required. Emily Hayes. 1885. Soups. IF any words of mine could help to do away with the prejudice against soups, I should feel deserving of a place with the reformers of the age. I well know the opposition the " soup question " meets in so many households; "it makes so much work," and is "so difficult to make," and — the most mistaken idea of all — " costs so much." The work is little, the expense is almost nothing, while there is nothing more wholesome than the small plateful of warm soup before partaking of the heavier dishes of one's dinner. I don't mean the rich, heavy, high -seasoned soups of old days, but the light, dehcate flavored varieties, so much in use at present. I must protest against the prevalent idea that the soup kettle or stock pot should be " always simmer- ing on the hob," unless for soups which are to be very highly seasoned. I do not like the stock foundation, made, as it usually is, from bones, and by long and repeated boil- ing reduced to a stiff jelly which is kept for weeks. To me, such stock give delicate soups an unpleasant gluey flavor, and the best soups are made wholly on the day they are to be served, or the day before, or at least from stock so fresh that it is a soft jelly-like sub- A 6 Dining Room Notes. stance, the best foundation for which is a shank of beef, boiled not longer than six or seven hours. Strain, and when used, skim off the fat, which will be excel- lent to use, after proper clarifying, mixed with an equal quantity of butter in cookies, ginger-bread, etc. No foundation for soup is better than the bones from roast beef or mutton. Sometimes we put the bones on a gridiron over a clear fire for a few minutes, before putting them on to boil, adding any scraps of the cold meat which we may have on hand, and a tablespoonful of rice, or two medium sized potatoes, cut in thin slices. For the bones from a leg or loin of mutton or rib roast of beef, allow from three pints to two quarts of water, (cold) and cover closely, boiUng three or four hours. Half an hour before dinner, re- move all the bones and meat, adding boiling water to make the required quantity, if it has boiled down. Salt to taste ; add a small bunch of celery cut fine, cook fifteen or twenty minutes, strain into a warm tureen, and serve as quickly as possible. The flavoring may be varied, a chopped carrot, an onion, or a little browned flour, or a quart of nice, ripe tomatoes, may be used instead of the celery ; or a real vegetable soup may be made by adding two pota- toes, an onion, two carrots, one quarter of a small cab- bage, or a small head of cauliflower, all cut in small pieces, and put in the soup at least three-quarters of an hour before dinner, removing nothing but the bones and scraps of meat. Three pounds of lean beef or mutton, part of each is better, and the cheapest pieces are good, will answer in place of the roast meat bones. Soups should be made in porcelain lined kettles, should cook slowly, and are usually served with toasted Soups. 7 bread cut in small squares, unless vermicelli or mac- caroni is used. Or, the bones and pieces from roast meat, especially if there is considerable fat, as in a loin of mutton, may be boiled in sufficient water for the soup the day before it is to be served, strained, and placed vs^here it w^ill cool slowly. In the morning remove all the fat, and put the broth in a kettle or saucepan, with rice or potatoes, as in the former recipe ; when it boils, add salt to taste and any vegetables desired, chopped or cut fine ; cook slowly for an hour and a half and serve. This is a nice foundation for a tomato soup also, using a pint of canned tomatoes instead of the celery or other veg- etables, adding them an hour before the soup is done, and strain like the celery soup, always using the rice and potatoes to thicken the soup, it being nicer than flour, a little of which, browned, we sometimes add to give flavor. A tomato soup without meat is very nice for a summer dinner, or it may be made in winter from canned tomatoes, using a pint of the canned in place of the dozen fresh tomatoes, and add, just before stir- ring in the milk, a small amount (not more than one- fourth of ateaspoonful), of soda, which should be un- necessary with the fresh fruit. The following is an excellent recipe : Wash and cut a dozen fresh, ripe tomatoes, put them in a porcelain saucepan with a pint of water and cook half an hour after they begin to boil. Mash fine, add a quart of good new milk, scalding hot, sea- son with salt and pepper, a tablespoonful of butter, and stir in a scant tablespoonful of corn-starch mixed smooth with a little water, or two crackers rolled fine. 8 Dining Room Notes. Let it simmer five minutes, strain into a warm tureen^ and serve with crackers or little squares of toast. If milk is not plenty, use a pint of water and one of milk, adding the water to the tomatoes at first. Green peas make a delicious soup. Boil one quart of peas in a quart of water for twenty minutes, mash, add a quart of milk, a tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Let it just come to the boiling- point and serve immediately. Any sweet herbs liked may be used in place of the pepper. A plain potato soup is very nice, and very easily prepared. Peel and slice three or four onions, and peel eight medium sized potatoes — two or three more if they are small — put them in a sauce pan witli three pints of water and a teaspoonful of salt and boil steadily for an hour. Take out the potatoes and mash them fine, stir in a teaspoonful of flour, and a tablespoonful of butter, and return to the kettle. Boil half an hour, add more salt if necessary, and a pint of hot milk. Let it come just to the boiling point and send to the table immediately. This is very simple, but at the same time is verv nice, and will be found a capital substitute for an oyster stew in winter, when your "Johns " come home to supper cold, and hungry.. The seasoning can be varied to suit one's taste at pleasure. If the water " boils away " enough more should be added to make the two quarts of soup when done. Serve with oyster crackers or toasted bread cut in small squares. Macaroni and vermicelli are very nice in soups. Either may be added to any soup not previously thickened with rice or potatoes. Wash carefully and^ put into a stewpan with cold water to 'cover; let it Soups. 9 "heat gradually, and when hot add to the soup twenty minutes or half an hour before serving. The maca- roni should be broken in pieces an inch or less in length. Brown soups are easily made by the addition of a tablespoonful of browned flour. A teacupful may be browned at once, putting it when cold into a glass jar, covering closely. It will be found very conven- ient, and will keep a long time in any cool closet. To prepare it, put the flour, a little at a time, in a hot frying-pan, stirring rapidly, and taking care it does not scorch, as, should it do so, it is unfit for use. When a rich dark brown it is done. A brown soup made in the following manner, is a favorite with us : Procure a round steak, never mind if it is tough, it will make a good soup. Allow one pound of meat to each quart of soup required, the rule given being for that quantity. Broil the meat over a very hot fire a little, it should be well browned on both sides, and cut it in small pieces. ^ Put it in a stew-pan with a quart of cold water and a tablespoonful of rice. Cover and cook slowly for an hour ; then add an onion, one small carrot chopped fine, and one potato sliced and cut in small pieces. Add salt to taste, cover and cook for three-quarters of an hour. We sometimes omit the vegetables, and fifteen minutes before serving add three or four stalks of celery, cut fine. Serve in either case without straining. For a fish soup, which is very nice, put one quart of water in a stew-pan with two or three good sized potatoes, sliced, a tablespoonful of butter, and a pound lo Dining Room Notes. and a half of cod, or haddock, washed, and cut in pieces. Cover and cook gently half an hour. Re- move the fish and cut in small pieces, or break it in- to flakes, taking out all the bones. Return it to the soup, add a pint of hot milk, and salt to taste, and if not sufficiently thickened by the potatoes, add a table- spoonful of flour, mixed with a little cold water. Let it just boil up and serve immediately. A very nice soup is made from the bones of roast chicken or turkey. Remove the greater part of the stufling, if any remains, as it gives too much flavor of sage and pepper, and put the bones and pieces into a kettle or stew-pan with water in proportion of two quarts to a turkey, one quart for a chicken or fowl. Add a tablespoonful of rice for each quart of water. Cover and cook slowly for an hour. Then add one onion if liked, two potatoes cut fine, and salt to taste. Let it cook[slowly for another hour, then add, if you have it, a few stalks or the tops of a bunch of celery, and cook fifteen minutes. Strain into a warmed tu- reen and serve immediately. Fish. Baked Fish. — Most fish are very nice baked, es- pecially blue-fish. The fish should be thoroughly cleaned and washed, and rubbed with salt. Fill with a stuflSng made precisely as it is prepared for roast turkey or chicken, sew up ; warm a little butter just enough to soften it, and rub over the fish, sprinkle with salt and place it on a wire stand in a dripping pan. Bake in a quick oven, allowing about twenty minutes to each pound, dredge with flour when it be- gins to brown, and baste with butter. Thin slices of salt fat pork may be used instead of but- ter, three or four slices being laid over the fish when put into the oven. This rule may he followed for any kind of fish. The fish may be baked without stuffing if preferred, spreading the inside of the fish with butter, or two or three very thin slices of salt pork may be laid inside the fish if preferred. All fish require to be slowly cooked, and should also be very fresh, many kinds losing their fine flavor after they have been twenty-four hours out of the water. Fried Fish.— The fish, if large, should be cut in convenient pieces, dipped into sifted corn meal, and fried not too quickly in plenty of nice pork drippings or oil. Clarified butter — that is, butter which is melted 12 Dining Room Notes. and allowed to boil two or three minutes, strained through a thin cloth or flannel and cooled — is very nice to use for delicate fish, like trout, pickerel, etc. Fish fried in this butter will not need the addition of meal, and will brown beautifully. Sword fish and mackerel do not need so much fat as other fish, the former should be cooked thoroughly — it requires longer cooking than most kinds, and neither needs the addition of corn meal, so necessary to cod and haddock. Any kind of fish usually fried, may be deliciously cooked in a quick oven. Butter a fry- ing pan, put in the fish, sprinkle with salt and put bits of butter over it. Bake until nicely browned. It does not need to be turned. Boiled Fish. — Salmon, halibut, and cod are all very nice boiled. The fish should be rolled in a thin cloth and put into a fish kettle, with sufiicient boiling water to cover. Boil very gently twenty minutes to the pound for salmon and halibut, and fifteen for cod and other delicate fish. Fish may be steamed instead of boiling, rubbing well with salt before putting it into the steamer. All boiled fish should be served with drawn butter with or without the addition of boiled eggs. A nice sauce for boiled fish is made as follows : Scald a cupful of milk and thicken with a tablespoonful of flour, mixed with just enough milk to make a smooth paste. Salt well, add a gen- erous teaspoonful of butter, stir till smooth, remove from the fire, add a little white pepper, and half a cup of whipped cream. Beat well together and pour over the fish. Serve immediately. The sauce should be made and the cream whipped before the Fish. 13 fish is put into the kettle, but do not add the cream until the fish is dished. Chopped or sliced capers may be added to the sauce, or sliced nasturtium seeds and parsley laid about the plate, but none of these flavors are necessary. Cold fresh fish is nice picked up with less gravy than is used with salt, or it may be cut fine, put a layer of bread or cracker crumbs in a small dish, with bits of butter over it, put in the fish and cover with crumbs. Pour in carefully half a cup of salted milk. Put bits of butter over the top and brown nicely in a quick oven. We make croquettes sometimes, by chopping fine the pieces of cold fresh fish, and to a cupful add a tablespoonful of milk, a well beaten Q%%^ a cracker rolled fine, and salt and pepper to season nicely. Fry in butter, a small tablespoonful in each cake, browning nicely. Another nice way is to boil five or six potatoes, mash them and season as for the table with milk, salt and butter, making it, however, a little more moist. Then add a beaten &^%^ and put half into a buttered baking dish or tin basin, put in the fish and cover with the remainder of the potato. Put in a quick oven till nicely browned. While the potatoes are boiling I prepare the fish by cutting it fine, and putting it in a basin with a little butter, and just enough milk to soften it, salt to taste, add a little pepper if liked, and place where it will keep warm till wanted. Salt fish if soaked well, may be used in the same manner, and is nice. These dishes are by no means confined to fish. 14 Dining Room Notes. Cold meat or chicken may be used in most of them, and they are all nice. In fact some of our picked up dinners are really nicer than more elaborate ones, and there is nothing more satisfactory, especially to the young house-keeper, than to make a palatable dish from the pieces which gave anything but an encour- aging promise of a nice dinner in the beginning, and really, it is surprising sometimes to see the satisfac- tory results from very simple and scant material. Cream Fish. — This is a very nice vv^ay of cook- ing fish. Cod or halibut is best, but any kind may be used. Remove the skin, and cut the fish in small pieces, as you would cut the salt for picked up fish. For two pounds of fish allow a quart of milk, three eggs, a tablespoonful of flour, and butter the size of an ^%%. Put about a third of the fish in the baking dish, cut the butter into bits and put a third over it, also sprinkle on about a fthird of the flour, put in another layer of fish, flour and butter, and the rest of the fish, with the flour and butter on top. Beat the eggs and add to the milk, salt it well and pour it in- to the dish. Let it stand for a few minutes and put into a quick oven for half an hour. If, when it be- gins to cook the fish settles much, stir it gently once. Chowder, — Halibut makes a very nice chowder. Procure a thick slice, remove the skin and cut it in squares about two inches across. Two pounds will be sufficient for a family of four or five. Slice six me- dium sized potatoes ; *put a heaping tablespoonful of butter into a stew pan, put in the potatoes, add cold water to cover them, a little salt, and cover Fish. IS closely. Boil fifteen minutes, lay in the fish and cover with split crackers. Boil gently fifteen minutes. Heat a pint of milk boiling hot and pour in ; mix a heaping tablespoonful of flour smooth with a little cold milk, and pour in around the sides ; lift the stew pan or kettle and shake it well to mix the thickening, it is better than to stir it. Return to the fire and let it boil up once and pour into a warm tureen. We make any fish chowder in this way, never using pork, and I never tasted nicer chowders. Most people use onions in a chowder. Those who like may add them at pleasure, but we prefer them without. Baked Halibut — Is a favorite dish with many people, and one that is very easily prepared. Take a slice about two inches thick and weighing from two to five pounds, according to amount required, wipe with a wet towel, then dry, rub with salt an.d place it on a grate in a small dripping pan. Warm a little butter, just enough to soften, and spread over it, and put it in a quick oven. When it begins to brown, dredge with flour or powdered cracker, and when brown, turn and butter and flour the other side. Cook about twenty minutes to each pound. Oyster Stew. — To one quart of oysters allow one quart of milk, one tablespoonful of butter, one scant tablespoonful of flour and one half teaspoonful of salt. Put the milk in a double boiler, or, in a dish placed in a kettle of hot water, and when it is scalding hot stir in the flour already mixed to a smooth paste with a little cold water or milk. Stir till it thickens. Put the oysters with their liquor into a saucepan, and let 1 6 Dining Room Notes. them heat gradually and boil up once. Pour them into a warm tureen, with the milk, boiling hot, add the salt and butter, stir well, and serve as quickly as possible. This may seem a little more trouble than the usual manner of cooking them in the milk, but one trial will prove its superiority to any other recipe. Oysters are often stewed with water instead of milk, thickening and seasoning in the same manner, but the oysters need not be cooked separately. The salt should never be added while the oysters are be- ing cooked ; it toughens and hardens them. Some oysters require more salt than others ; the amount given not being sufficient for the fresher varieties. Scalloped Oysters. — To one quart of oysters, allow a scant pint of stale bread crumbs, dried and rolled fine, (Cracker crumbs might be used, but are not so good and about a third less should be used) and two tablespoonfuls of nice butter. Drain the oysters and strain the liquor into a cup which will hold half a pint. Fill up the cup with milk or water, add to it one half teaspoonful of salt. Butter a baking dish and put in a thin layer of bread crumbs, then a layer of oysters with bits of but- ter over them, and continue adding alternate layers of crumbs and oysters, buttering each layer of the oys- ters until they are all used, having a thin layer of the crumbs on top. Pour over it carefully the cupful of liquid, put bits of butter, which should be reserved from the given quantity, over the crumbs. Dredge lightly with flour and bake in a quick oven for half an hour, or a little Fish. 17 longer if not nicely browned. If spice is liked in the seasoning, add one or two drops, not more, of extract of clove or mace to the cupful of liquid. This is preferable to the ground spice which should be used very sparingly, if one has not the extracts. Pepper, either white or cayenne, jnay be added, dusting a little over each hiyer of oysters. When nearly baked, if too dry, put a little salt and butter into two or three tablespooufuls of boiling water, and pour gently in at the sides of the dish. It is some- times necessary, if the bread is not sufficiently dry. Fried Oysters. — For a pint of large oysters, beat two eggs to a froth, (whites first, then add the yolks), and stir in six tablespoonfuls of flour, with a scant teaspoonful of baking powder or one half teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, and stir well. Have the frying pan hot, a little nice pork drippings and butter mixed to fry them in, and drop the batter in little cakes, a teaspoonful in each. Lay an oyster on the top of each and cover with bat- ter, putting a little less than the under cake. Turn carefully, browning nicely on each side, and serve immediately. Oyster Pie. — For the crust mix four cupfuls of flour to as stiff a paste as possible with very cold water, using a knife to mix it. Put it out on a moulding- board, roll into shape and roll out. vSpread over it half a cup of butter, dust with flour, and fold togeth- er over and over. Roll out again, and spread on. another half cupful of butter, dust with flour and fold. Roll out again, and spread on more butter, one fourtb of a cupful this time, dust with flour and roll up. If pos- i8 Dining Room Notes. sible, put away in a cool place till the next day. Half lard, or, better still, nice beef dripping may be used. This makes a nice crust for tarts, also. This amount of crust is sufficient for three pints of oysters, which will make a large pie. Roll out a little more than half the crust to fit a shallow pudding pan and bring it well up at the sides. Have the oysters drained from the liquor, and put in a layer, using a third of the oysters. Dust with flour, about a table- spoonful, sprinkle with salt and a very little pepper, put bits of butter over, and add another layer of the oysters, adding flour, etc., as before, then the rest of the oysters, flour, pepper and salt, using a little more butter for the top layer ; a generous tablespoonful will be sufficient for the whole. If there is not a tea- cupful of the liquor, add sufficient water to make that amount, and put half of it over the pie, gently, to not wash off' the seasoning. Cover with the remainder of the crust, cutting a hole in the center, and bake in a moderate oven. When nearly done pour in the re- mainder of the liquor. When well browned the pie is done, as the oysters will cook quickly. A pint of oysters and half the quantity of crust makes a good pie, and is sufficient for a small family. If gravy is liked, and with oyster pies it is very nice, substitute a cupful of milk for the oyster liquor to pour over the pie. Put the liquor in a saucepan with a cupful of water, add salt to taste ; mix a heap- ing tablespoonful of flour with a little water and stir in, stiring constantly until it thickens, add a tablespoon- ful of butter and a very little pepper, and send to the table very hot. There are many ways of preparing the salt codfish Fish. 19 which are nice, and a welcome change from the plain boiled, or the fish balls, so generally used, though the plain boiled fish makes a nice dinner when properly prepared. The fish should be very white and thick. Cut a piece weighing two or three pounds from the thick part. Strip off* the skin and put the fish in cold water for two or three hours. Then put it in a kettle with three or four quarts of cold water. It is well to use a wire stand so that the fish will not touch the kettle. When the water is hot if it is too salt, dip it out and fill up with cold. Heat grad- ually and simmer about half an hour. Prepare a nice drawn butter by mixing half a cup- ful of butter in a warm dish, which can be placed on the stove, with two tablespoonfuls of flour. When well mixed pour in a scant pint of boiling water slowly, stirring all the time. Let it stand two or three mmutes where it will simmer. Boiled potatoes and beets should always be served with boiled fish. What is left may be hashed for breakfast, with the potatoes and a little of the beet. Season nicely. Moisten with a little of the drawn butter, if any was left, or milk or water, and an ^^^ well beaten. Heat gem pans hot, butter them and fill with the hash, and put them in a very hot oven for ten or fifteen minutes -or until nicely browned. The cakes brown nicely if a little rolled cracker and bits of butter are put on top. They should turn out without breaking, be well browned, and make a nice looking as well as a palat- able breakfast dish. There are several ways of preparing the " picked up" fish, which we like occasionally. Soak a nice 20 Dining Room Notes. piece of fish, perhaps a pound, over night or through the morning. Remove all the bones, pick into small pieces and put into a small frying pan with water to make sufficient gravy, perhaps a pint. Stir two even tablespoonfuls of flour to a smooth paste with a little cold water, and stir into the fish. Have three or four eggs boiled hard. Let them cool, peel and slice them with a sharp knife, and stir gently in- to the fish with a tablespoonful of butter. Let it just come to a boil and turn out. When cream is scarce we prefer this to any other way of preparing. Some- times, when prepared plain with milk, after it is thickened and seasoned, we break in eggs, (say one for each person), let them just cook through, take out carefully and place in a warm platter and pour the fish over. When prepared with' cream, soak and pick up the fish, and put in a stew pan with cream to make sufficient gravy. Let it just come to a boil and stir in a little flour mixed smooth with milk. Serve as soon as possible. It is very nice with half milk if cream is not plenty, using a little more flour to thick- en with. If I have to use all milk I use very little flour, and just before taking from the fire, add two or three eggs well beaten. In making fish balls I always use cold potatoes, and chop them very fine. The usual method of mashing- hot potatoes gives them a tendency to the stickiness which spoils fish balls for me. Allow one third of fish chopped fine to two-thirds of potato, three table- spoonfuls of cream, or two of milk and one of butter,, and one ^%%-, well beaten, to three cupfuls of fish and potato. Two or three hard boiled eggs chopped fine, is a great improvement. Make into small cakes,, Fish. Ti dip into rolled cracker, or better still crude gluten, and fry a nice brown on both sides, in plenty of fat, they will not be so apt to be greasy as if a little is used. I like butter to fry them in, in which case only a little is necessary, just enough to keep them from sticking. We sometimes soak a nice piece of fish for several hours, dry with a soft cloth, and broil over a clear fire ; spread with butter or pour thick cream over it and serve. This is a nice way to cook smoked salmon or halibut. B Poultry. To Roast a Turkey. — Of course it is understood that the turkey should be a very ^ood one to begin with, voung, phimp, as freshly killed as possible, and thoroughly picked and cleaned. Wash it in two or three warm waters, then rinse in cold, until the water is perfectly clear, and wipe it inside and out, with a soft towel. Put it in a dry. cold place, and proceed to prepare the stuffing. Chop bread, either fresh or stale, the latter is the best, removing hard or brown crusts. Allow a quart of the crumbs for a. turkey of six or seven pounds, and more in proportion for the larger ones. Put the crumbs in a large bowl, and pour over them just ;h water to soften them. Cover, and let it stand %vhcrc it will keep warm, while you gather together the necessary ingredients to make the stuffing. Put a small handful of sage leaves — if you are for- tunate enough to have them — on a plate and place it in a moderately hot oven, leaving the door open. If you have not the freshly dried leaves, procure the pressed sage of an apothecary. Don't use the pow- dered sage sold in boxes, which gives any flavor save that of sage. The sage we have left in the oven must on no account be allowed to heat, except just enough to make the leaves dry. When they will Poultry. 23 break easily, remove from the oven, rub them to a pow^der, and sift. It is a good plan to dry and sift a quantity, keeping it in a closely corked bottle or fruit jar ready for use. It will be found very convenient. If onion is liked, chop a small one, or half a medi- um sized one, very fine. Drain the moistened crumbs as dry as possible, stir in a tablespoonful of butter, the chopped onion, and sufficient salt, pepper, and sifted sage, to season well. It must be rather highly seasoned than otherwise, as the seasoning "cooks out" or is absorbed by the turkey to a great extent. Then add an egg well beaten, and stir till thoroughly mixed. Other flavor- ings are sometimes used, mace, and any variety of sweet herbs liked, thyme, sweet marjoram, and sum- mer savory, but nothing is quite so nice, we think, as the old-fashioned sage, unless one uses a little chopped celery, which we prefer to the onion. Now rub the inside of the turkey with salt, (a tea- spoonful is sufiicient for a turkey under ten pounds in weight,) and proceed to fill with the stufling. Begin at the neck, which should be cut close, turningf the skin back that it may be drawn over and tied closely ai the it\\(!i after the stutEng is put in. Then stuff' the body full, and sew up with a darning needle threaded with strong thread or twine. Tie the legs down at the side, and put it where it will keep cool and drv until morning. A turkey should always be made ready for the oven the day before it is to be cooked. In this way ii is well seasoned thoughout, and what can be more satisfactory to the presiding genius of a house, especially if she has had little or no experience in 24 Difiirip' Room Notes. such things, than to know when she begins her work next morning, and such a busy morning, that the tur- key is ready for the oven. Now, as to the baking. Rub the turkey with salt, and place it on a grate in a large dripping pan, pour half a pint of boiling water into the pan, not over the turkey, and put it in the oven which should be at a very moderate heat at first. Indeed, during the first hour, the turkey should not brown, but have more the appearance of being steamed. After it be- gins to brown, baste at intervals of half an hour, perhaps, with its own drippings if the turkey is fat, if not, use a little butter, and dredge lightly with flour. When well browned on one side, it should be carefully turned, which will be much more easily done if the pan is removed from the oven. At no time should the oven be very hot, as even a small turkey of six or seven pounds should cook for four hours. Larger ones may not need quite so much time in pro- portion, yet half an hour to a pound is a good rule to follow, underdone poultry of any kind being both unpalatable and unwholesome, and the difference in flavor between a turkey — or chicken — which is cooked slowlv, and that of one which is baked as one would cook a piece of beef, is convincing proof as to the excellence of the former method. The giblets should be put in the pan with the tur- key, and when well done, (they require fully two hours' cooking,) chop them fine and place where they will keep warm. If any of the stuffing is left, roll it in little balls, and put them in the pan about an hour before dinner time. When the turkey is done, remove it to a large plate. Poultry. 25 (a warmed one,) take out all the strings with which it was sewed and tied, and place where it will keep warm. Then with a large spoon dip all the fat from the pan, and place the pan with the remaining gravy, stuffing, etc., on the stove where it will heat quickly, add the chopped giblets and sufficient boiling water to make about a pint of gravy, dredge in a table- spoonful of flour, stir rapidly till it boils and pour in- to a warmed gravy tureen. Remove the stuffing from the body of the turkey, and put it in a covered dish, putting the turkey on a warm platter ready for the table. Mashed potatoes, baked or steamed sweet potatoes, (the former are much the best,) celery, squash and cranberry sauce are the usual accompaniments. Chickens should be prepared and baked in the same manner. Very young chickens, of course, will not need such long cooking. When one lives in the countrv and raises her own turkeys and chickens, she can vary the time of cooking according to the age, but when one is dependent upon the markets, it is best to be on the safe side, and allow plenty of time. If it is found to be done too early, remove the fowl from the oven, keeping it warm, and replacing it tor a half hour beiore dinner. It will not be injured in the least by so doing. Of course this method can be followed with nothing but poultry ; meats would lose their nice flavor. Ducks are prepared and roasted in the same man- ner, although they do not require so much time in which to cook, an hour and a half being sufficient untess the ducks are unusually large. If fat, the fla- vor is improved by washing the fowl in soda water. 26 Di7ihig Room Notes. A tablespoonful of soda in two quarts of water is sufficient. Rinse well and wipe before stuffino-. or cutting for stewing, a favorite method for serving duck, following recipe for stewed or fricasseed chicken. Roast goose is a favorite dinner with many. None but a young goose is worth cooking, and when nicely cleaned and washed, it should be washed in soda water. (A tahlespoonful of soda in two quarts of water.) It extracts the strong, oily flavor wdiich is very disagreeable. Rinse, wipe dry and stuff' the same as turkey. It will require about three hours to bake. A small onion should be chopped fine and mixed with the stuffing. It is also general- ly used in the stuffing for duck. Currant I'ellv is considered the best to serve with goose or duck. Fricasseed Chicken. — Cut up two nice chick ens, after they have been properly drawn and singed, wash thoroughly, and put them in a kettle with sufficient cold water to cover ; before it boils skim, if necessary, salt to taste, and if it is a real chicken, boil for an hour, then pour off' all the broth, put a tahlespoonful of butter into the kettle, and let the chicken brown, turning the pieces so thev mav not scorch, pour back the broth, cover closelv, and cook fifteen minutes ; mix two tablespoonfuls of flour smooth in half a cup of water, and stir in. There should be at least a pint of broth ; if not so much, add water enough to make the desired quantit\. Shake the kettle several times that the gravy mav not stick, and pour out, serving as quickly as possi- ble. The time given is for a chicken ; if one is un- Poultry. 2^ certain as to the aj^e, as is always the case if the chicken comes from a market, put it on to cook sufH- ciently early so that it may boil till tender before pouring off the broth. If done too early, it will do no harm to stand until time to brown. A white fricassee can be made in the same way, omitting the browning process, and mixing the flour with milk. Adding half a cup of cream improves it. An old-fashioned chicken stew is very nice when the " chicken " is of uncertain age and tenderness. Wash and joint as above, and put it in a kettle or stewpan with a quart or three pints of water, add a teaspoonful of salt, and let it cook slowly for an hour and a half or two hours. Have six or eight medium sized potatoes washed and sliced and put with the chicken, adding more water if not enough to cover the potatoes. Cover, and cook twenty minutes, then put a crust or dumplings over the top, (recipe for which will be found farther on,) cover closely and cook twenty minutes longer. Remove the crust to a w^^rmed platter, have mixed a heaping tablespoonful of flour with a little milk or water, and stir it in gently, not to break the potatoes, add a tablespoonful of butter and pour all on the platter with the crust, or serve the latter from a separate plate as preferred. Before adding the thickening to the gravy, ascertain whether it requires more salt ; if so, stir a little into the flour and water. Chicken Pie. — Joint three plump, tender chickens and boil them slowly in just enough water to cover, salted to taste. When tender, which they will prob- ably be in an hour, take out on a platter, and cut the 28 Dining Room Notes. meat in as large slices as you can from the breasts and legs. Some do not cut the latter, but I dislike such large bones in a pie. Take out the back and rib pieces and necks ; they can be used in various ways, and would spoil the pie. For the crust, mix a heaping cupful of butter with five cupfuls of flour, sift in a teaspoonful of baking powder, or one-fourth teaspoonful of soda and half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and stir it in thor- oughlv. Make a very stiff dough with very cold water, mixing with a knife, and adding the water a little at a time, so it may not get too soft ; it must not be a smooth paste by any means. Turn it out on a floured moulding board and work it as little as possi- ble, just so it will hold together. Divide, and roll out one piece large enough to cover the bottom of a three quart pudding dish, (not a deep pudding pan,) or tin basin, and come up at the sides. The pan should be well buttered, and a little flour dusted over it before puttmg in the crust. Then fill in the chicken, white and dark meat alternately, as evenly as you can. Heat a pint of the broth, thicken with two table- spoonfuls of flour mixed with a little cold water, sea- son well with a little salt, pepper and butter, and pour over the chicken. Put little pieces of butter over the top, roll out the upper crust, cut a slit across the center and cover over the pie, pressing down closely at the edges. Put it in a rather moderate oven ; it should not brown much the first half hour, and bake an hour and a half if in an earthen dish, an hour and a quarter being sufficient if it is baked in tin. The remainder of the broth may be thickened and Poultry. 29 seasoned for gravy to serve with the pie, if Hked, though the pie should not be dry enough to make a gravy necessary, yet many people think it an im- provement. The chicken may be boiled the day before it is needed, and is often a convenience, saving a great deal of time in the morning. The pieces left out make manv delicious dishes. Do not think I nm s^oing to (lelu^"e \ ou with a lonj^ essay on maiketino;-. I never vet read one which paid me for doins^ so, and shall not inflict such upon my readers, but devote a little space to directions for cooking the different kinds of meat, as much depends upon the time necessnrv for proper roasting, boiling and stewing. Of beef, the sirloin, rib and rump pieces are used for roasting. For steaks we prefer the sirloin, called " porter house " in Ne\\' York. Manv people object to sirloin roasts and steaks as being more expensive than other kinds, but we do not find them so. as a series of dinners follows the first appearance of the sirloin, which, in the end. makes a deHciou'- soup. Rib roasts are used in the same manner at our house. The rump pieces have little or no bone, and are preferred by many people on that account. Rump steak is also nice. For stews, pies, etc., the round and shoulder pieces are best, and if one is near a large city market there is no steak with a finer fla- vor than the ''top" round. The tenderloin is con- sidered by some the choicest cut, but it is inferior in nourishment to almost any other. Of mutton or lamb the leg and loin are the best, the shoulder being a favorite part with many people, Meats. 3 1 although there is sufficient waste to make up for its lower price. The loin has a great deal of fat, but is very nice for chops or a roast, but the leg. either roasted or boiled, is the most economical, being like the sirloin or rib of beef, capable of being made into several savory dishes. If a shoulder of mutton is bought, it should be boned before being brought from the market. It is very good stuffed and baked, and can be easily carved, but if not boned, cannot be stuffed, and is very difficult to cut. In roasting beef, fifteen minutes to the pound will be a good rule for those who like it rare : eighteen or twenty will make it well done. The oven should be very hot when the beef is first put in, and neither water or salt should be added. The secret of juicy roast beef, is in having no steain to prevent it from crisping over as quickly as possible. When well browned, and at least half done, it mav be well salted, and the heat a little less intense. Mutton needs a slow oven at first, and unless one likes it rare it should bake from twenty-five to thirty minutes to the pound, a little water put in the pan, and the meat well salted. Pork and veal require a slow oven at first, and should be well done, half an hour to the pound being a good rule. Veal cutlets are fried slowly until well done ; they must be white all through when cut. Drain them, salt on both sides, dip into beaten eggs, then in rolled cracker, and brown nicely on both sides. Pour oft^ the fai from the frying pan, pour in a little boiling water, dredge in flour enough to thicken, stirring rapidly, season if not salt enough, and pour over the cutlets. Stewed tomatoes should always be served with 32 Dining Room Notes. veal cutlets, if possible, and are sometimes poured over them instead of the gravy. Cranberry or apple sauce is served wdth roast pork, currant jelly with veal, and either currant or cranberry with beef. Celery is used with all meats and poultry and is one of our most healthful vegetables. Squash is nice with beef or veal, turnip with pork, while corn, peas and beans, in their season, or canned, can be used at any time. Sweet potatoes are nice with all kinds of fresh meats. They should always be baked or steamed. Stewed parsnips are especially nice with roast meats. Mutton chops arc far nicer broiled than cooked in a frying pan. Pork and veal steaks cannot be easily broiled, as they require so much cooking ; the length of time which would suffice for a beef steak being scarcely enough to heat them through. Underdone pork or veal is very unwholesome, and causes much of the trouble imputed to the irieats. Macaroni and plain boiled rice are often served with meats, and are especially nice with roast beef. Sausages and ham we put into the frying pan, and when hot, place in the oven to finish cooking. We think this a great improvement on frying, besides saving all the smoke. The o\q\\ should not be too hot, as either requires to be slowly cooked. How to Use the Pieces. WHEN I say that the average American house- keeper is considered the most extravagant in the w^orld, I hope I may not be misunderstood. I do not mean that we are so purposely or heedlessly. We all have our pet extravagances to which, I think, we are fullv entitled, but everv one finds a " leak '" somewhere ; there being a quantity in excess of the demand which we don't know what to do with, the making up of little dishes from the odds and ends never having been sufficiently considered in this country up to the present time. Now, however, the example of the wealthier English and French house- holds is being followed to some extent by manv anxious to make a change in the right direction. If a work on " Domestic Economy" could be published, giving us a practical solution of the difficult problem, "What can we do with the pieces?" it would be of inestimable value to the multitude. Almost everv housekeeper has the desire to be as economical as possible in her household affairs, and has felt the ofeneral discomfort attending the seeminsflv useless accumulation of different articles of food, the quantity of dry slices of bread, the dish of cold pota- toes, the pieces of meat, all too good to throw avvav 34 niuDig Room Notes. and a nuisance to keep, probably to throw away at last with the wish that it had been done at first. Some of you say, " But my husband won't eat '• messes,' he likes a fresh roast every day/' If he never complains of the bills, it is all well enough to have it so, but there are few families in which the practice of a reasonable amount of economy is not necessary. My experience has taught me that " picked up dinners " form a not unimportant part of most house- holds. Not of the "fifteen-cent dinner" type; I have not the slightest patience with that folly or its followers, but dinners which put yesterday's or day before yesterday's roasts and boils upon the table with such a seductive appearance of being something entirely new, and not the plateful of scraps which it rcall} is, that there is really more satisfaction, many a time, than at the first day's dinner. Indeed, it is al- most or quite impossible for a small family to sit dow n to a fresh dinner every day, without a waste which could only be tolerated in the wealthiest house- holds ; and, let me whisper it, the greatest waste is selciom found there. It is in the family where the \()i;iig wile without any experience in her old home in such matters, wants to have things as nice as her neighbors, and does not know how to do any thing with } esterday's nice roast of beef but to make hash ot it, and she iiates hash. So does her husband, because it doesn't taste like " mother's." Of course it doesn't. It hasn't the nice seasoning, the fine chop- ping, the just enough of this and that which years of practice and persc\ crance put into "mother's." Per- haps hers was not iii.ijii Intter when she commenced. How to Use the Pieces. or she may have had a pecuhar talent for making good things. A very nice stew from cold roast beef is made as follows : Cut a sufficient amount, in good sized slices if pos- sible, and put into a stew pan with water to cover. Slice two or three onions, three carrots and six or eight potatoes, and add to the meat ; if there is not suffi- cient water to cover all, add more, stir in a teaspoon- ful of salt and cover closely. Boil or simmer gently for three-quarters of an hour, taking care that the water does not boil out. Then mix a teaspoonful of butter with two of flour and stir gently ; shaking the stew pan or kettle is sometimes a surer way to pre- vent breaking the potatoes. Add more salt if neces- sary and pour out on a warmed platter. A medium sized bunch of celery cut in small pieces is a favorite addition to this stew, and one which many would pre- fer to the onion, or both \\.<\\ be used at the same time. These stews are favorites with us, and we tiiink any who try it will think the flavoi- improved bv making it from roast beef. The remainder of tlie meat may be used in many ways, chopped and heated in a stew pan with cream, or milk and butter to soften, but not enough for a gravy, seasoning with salt and pepper — white pepper is much the best — and a little celery seed or clove if liked, and serving on slices of hot, crisp toast. Or, it may be prepared in this manner : Put a generous teaspoonful of butter and a cupful o^ water in a stew pan or frying pan, chop one small onion fine and stir in, add one-half teaspoonful of 36 Dining Room Notes. salt and let it cook for ten minutes. Then add the chopped meat, about two teacupfuls to one onion and the cupful of water. Stir w^ell, cover, and simmer for fifteen or twenty minutes. Served with baked, or steamed and mashed potatoes this makes a '■ picked up" dinner which most people will like, Haifa tea- cupful of canned tomatoes, leaving out half the wa- ter, makes this hash verv nice : the onion may be omitted if preferred. One of our favorite methods of using cold meats is a meat shortcake. Make a crust like biscuit, per- haps using a little more butter, divide in halves, and roll about half an inch thick, put it in a biscuit pan, spread . with butter, roll out the other half and lay over it. Bake in a hot oven. Have the meat chopped, but not very fine, or, if it is very tender, cut in thin slices, put it in a stew pan with some cold gravy, if you have it, if not, use sufficient milk or water, season well with butter and salt, and thicken with a little flour. Simmer until ready for use. Put the meat on to heat before making the cake, and when it is done, split the cake, lay the under half on a warmed platter, pour in the meat and gravy, put on the top crust and send to the table immediately. Cold chicken, turkey, or veal, is very nice, and a smaller quantity than one could possibly serve in anv other way excepting as an omelet, will make a nice shortcake. Sometimes instead of a shortcake we make meat dumplings. Put the pieces of cold meat or fowl into a stew pan with water to cover them, and let them cook slowly, perhaps half an hour, then take out the meat and chop fine, putting the pan back on the stove where the broth will How to Use the Pieces. 't>7 keep hot. Season the chopped meat with butter, pepper and salt, and moisten with milk or a little of the broth. Make a biscuit dough, cut into as many pieces as you wish dumplings, roll each about a quar- ter of an inch thick and as large over as a pint bowl ; put a small tablespoonful of the meat in the center, gather up the edges of the dough and pinch together closely, and put smooth side up on a buttered plate which will fit into your steamer. Place the dump- lings very close together, and steam twenty minutes, being careful not to lift the cover or let the water boil out while they are cooking. Put a little cold gravy, if you have it, with the broth in the sauce pan, if not, add milk or water to make the desired quan- tity of gravy, season with butter and salt, thicken with a little flour mixed smooth with a little milk or water, cook a few minutes, and turn into a warin gravy dish. The dumplings should be steamed on a, dish which will l^o presentable at table, as they should not be disturbed unt.l ready to serve, and should be served as soon as possible after they are done. The following is an excellent way in which to dis- pose of pieces of cold roast pork. Chop very fine, and if vou have a little piece of cold roast beef or beefsteak to chop with it. it improves it. Season witb salt, pepper and sage ; moisten with a little milk or hot water, make into little cakes like fishballs, dust with flour, and fry a nice brown on both sides in lard or beef drippings. The other day we had a fricasseed chicken for din- ner, and, of course, had a little left. Not enough to warm over to make a nice dish by itself, but one of those provoking little messes that will accumulate to C ^8 Dining Roo7n Notes. the horror of every housekeeper. So I made a pie in this manner, and it ^vas very nice : Sift a tea- spoonful of cream of tartar into a pint of flour, and then w^ork in a heaping tablespoonful of butter. Add three-quarters of a cup of milk in which half a tea- spoonful of soda and a pinch of salt have been dis- solved. Mix as quickly as possible, divide, and roll nearly half an inch thick. Butter a small dish or a three-pint tin basin, and lay in one piece of the dough, bringing it well up at the sides. Have the, pieces of chicken cut from the bones, and lay them on the crust, put in two or three tablespoonfuls of gravy, put butter over it, dust over it a very little flour, and put on the other crust, cutting two or three incisions across the center. Press it well down at the edge, and bake in a rather quick oven for nearly an hour. Heat the. gravy, and if there is not enough, add a lit tie milk and a teaspoonful of butter, stirring in a little flour well mixed with milk, to thicken suflicientl}'. Cold roast or stewed veal is nearly as nice as chicken used in the same manner. Bits of steak, or roast meats, or chicken, are nice chopped and put in a stew pan with enough sweet cream for a nice gravy, add salt to taste, and a very little pepper. Have several slices of bread toastetl, and laid on a warm plate, or a few hot biscuits split, or a layer of mashed potato, nicely seasoned, and pom- the mixture over. The meat ma\' be warmed with milk, or even water, seasoning niceh. and thick- ening with a little flour or a beaten egg, giving the toast a generous buttering, w^iich is nicei" than to stir all the butter into the meat. We otten ser\ e the meat without the toast, and it is really ver\ nice, espccialh' for a breakfast dish. Ho-jo to Use the Pieces. 39 Slices of cold meat fried in batter are very nice. Thick slices of cold roast meat browned on the sfrid- iron over a very quick fire, then buttered, peppered and salted, and laid on a dish of mashed potatoes, makes another change, and if the dish is garnished with curled parsley it looks the better. Another favorite method of preparing meat is as follows : Take four pounds of the round or shoulder of beef with a little fat, but free from stringy pieces, gristle, etc. Chop fine, or better still, put it through a meat chopper. Mix with it two tablespoonfuls of salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of cayenne pepper and a heaping tablespoonful of sage. Stir till well mixed. Make a bag from a piece of coarse strong muslin about twelve inches long and nine or ten in width, dip it into boiling water, then in cold, wring drv and fill with the chopped meat, pressing it in as closely as possible. Tie closely and hang in a cold place, not sufficiently cold to freeze it however, until next day. at least, two days is better. Then put it in a kettle of boiling water with a tablespoonful of salt, and cover closely. Cook for four hours, removing any scum which rises during the first hour. When done, set aside until cold, then remove the bag from the kettle and put it on a plate with a heav}^ weight upon it. and keep in a cool place until next day. Cut in thin slices from the end, using a very sharp knife, and removing but a little of the cloth at a time. This will keep one or two weeks and is v^xy nice, and although the recipe takes a good deal of room, it isn't a great deal of trouble to prepare it. This is a nice dish for summer, and an excellent addition to the list of picnic dishes. 40 Dining Room Notes. In preparing real old-fashioned hash, cold corned beef and potatoes are necessary, in the proportion of one-third meat and two-thirds potato. A lieet or two and a good sized carrot improve it. Chop very fine, first the meat, then add the vegetables. Put a Kttle butter in a frying pan, a teaspoonful or more accord-- ing to the amount of hash, pour in nearly half a cup of boiling water, add a little salt and a very little pep- per. Then put in the hash, press down nicely till well heated through, then stir it thoroughly and press down again. Cover and set on the back of the stove a little while. Fresh meats may be hashed without potatoes, sea- soning nicely. A chopped tomato or onion is nice with beef or veal. Put it in with the butter and let it cook a few minutes, then add the chopped meat. Remember that the seasoning is a great point. Do not confine yourself to salt and pepper all through the year. Get a little celery seed if you cannot pro- cure the fresh celery, and there are many sweet herbs which are liked by almost every one, and which should find a place in every kitchen garden. A pinch of sage, or thyme, or summer savory, or sweet marjo- ram, will make soup, or the little dish of croquettes, or hash, an entirely different thing. Never season highly. The very art of seasoning is in getting a fla vor wdiich can scarcely be distinguished. I have eaten soup with clove which was as strong as a spiced cake should be. Half a clove is often suflfl- cient to give the desired flavor. Never use " two or three," which with difterent people means anywhere from two to a teaspoonful, and never use the ground clove if it can be avoided. How to Use the Pieces. 41 Sandwiches are a valuable addition to a lunch ta- ble or picnic dinner, and are easily made. Good bread and butter are the first requisites, and the bread must not be in thick slices nor too generously but- tered. Neither must the filling be too thickly spread, no matter how nice it is. Sliced meats of all kinds make good sandwiches. The slices should be very thin, so that two or three layers are needed for each, and, if fresh, the meat should be lightly sprinkled with salt before putting between the slices ot bread. A little sifted parsley, or celery seed pounded and sifted may be added if liked. Cold meat of any kind, corned beef, tongue, ham, or roast beef or mutton may be chopped fine, and put into a saucepan with a little cream, or milk and butter if you haven't the cream, to moisten it sufficiently. Add a little pepper, and if the meat is fresh, a little salt : stir in a little dry mustard, only a pinch at a time, until the flavor is just right. Celery may be used with fresh meats if preferred to the mustard. Let it get thoroughly heated and turn into a dish to cool. Cover and keep in a cool place — hut not on ice or it will be too cold to spread easily — until needed for use. Then spread the bread and put together. Pile several sandwiches together and fold a napkin about them to keep from drying, for even in the few hours before they are served they will drv at the edges. Hard boiled eggs chopped and seasoned make good sandwiches. Cold chicken chopped and nicely seasoned — celery is very nice with chicken — is also excellent, so are the baked eocgrs, for which a recipe will be found in another chapter. Many emergencies arise, even in the best regulated ^2 Dining Room Notes. households, when, whether occasioned l)y unex- pected guests ox the taikire of the market man to send the ordered roast in time for dinner, or other causes, the dehcious httle croquettes which can be made of anvthins:. fish, flesh or fowl, yes, even cold vegetables, rice and dry bread, are things to be ap- preciated. To make chicken croquettes, chop any cold chick- en — either roast, boiled or fricasseed. Season with salt and a little white pepper, a bit of celery seed, if liked, or, when in season, a little chopped celery, and to a coffee cup full, or one and one-half teacupfuls, of the chopped meat, add one q^^ well beaten, and a ta- blespoonful of cream or milk. Mix well together, make into little cakes about half an inch thick, dip them into beaten egg, then into rolled cracker, and fry to a delicate brown. Butterand nice pork drippings, mixed, should be used, if one does not wish to use much butter to fry them in. Cold veal or beef is al- so nice made in the same way. A small onion chopped fine and mixed with the chicken is liked by many people. Cold boiled fresh fish makes very nice croquettes, and the addition of boiled rice improves them. A heaping tablespoonful to each cupful of chopped fish is about the right proportion. Season with salt, pepper, and, if you have it, a very little chopped parsley, using one ^%% for two teacupfuls of the fish, and one tablespoonful of milk. Make into little rolls and dip into beaten egg and then into cracker crumbs or corn meal. Boiled salt fish may be used in the same manner, using half rice, and omitting the pars- ley and milk, and if the fish is well soaked and How to Use the Pieces. 43 cooked in plenty of water, they are really very nice. Croquettes of cold boiled rice are made as follows : To each cupful of rice, add an egg well beaten, sea- son with pepper and salt, and, if you have it, add a little cold meat, fish or fowl chopped very fine. Make into little cakes or rolls, dip into cracker crumbs and fry. Cold boiled potatoes may be used in the same manner, and are nice for breakfast. The pota- toes should be chopped very fine. The seasoning of croquettes may be varied in many ways. Celery, parsley, sage, a slice or two of onion or tomato, and a bit of spice if one likes, all are nice, but of course but one should be used at a time. Croquettes of cold bread are not uneatable, and it is a very palatable method for disposing of the dry- bread which will accumulate in most families. Chop the bread very fine, removing any hard or browned crusts. Pour over it a little hot water, just enough to soften, and chop and stir with a knife until well mixed. To a pint bowl full allow a heaping tea- spoonful of buttert one ^^^ well beaten, salt, pepper and sifted sage to season well. Make up into little cakes, dust with flour, and fry a light brown. Care must be taken that the bread is not made too soft, the water being added a very little at a time and the mix- ture made stiffs enough to make into the cakes easily. They are very good without the ^"g^^ adding a rolled cracker with the seasoning. Serve hot, and it would be hard work to guess they were made from dry bread. There are many richer recipes for chicken croquettes, but we seldom use them. Sauces and Salads. — Mint, capers, and many other sauces are served with meats and fish. Mint 44 Dining Rooin Notes. sauce belongs especially to roast or boiled mutton. Ohop fresh spearmint leaves fine, and to half a cup add half a cup of vinegar and one tablespoonful of sugar. Caper sauce is nice with fish, or with boiled fowl, and is very easily made. Put a quarter of a pound of butter in a small stew pan, or tin basin, with two tablespoonfuls of flour, keep just warm enough to soften the butter so you can mix it smooth- ly with the flour, then pour in slowly a pint of boil- ing water ; when clear and smooth stir in two table- spoonfuls of capers. Serve hot and as soon as pos- sible. The nicest way to prepare mustard is to put two teaspoonfuls of ground mustard ( the English is the best,) in a cup with one half teaspoonful of sugar and one-quarter teaspoonful of salt, and add sufficient cold water to make a paste. The quantity can be made in proportion to the amount desired. The above is (or should be) sufficient for a family of six or seven persons. Prepare only what is needed, as it should be mixed fresh for each meal, the flavor beingr injured if it is kept long after mixing. White pepper is far superior to black, for t)ie table, being more delicate in flavor. It should always be used in preference to black in sauces, salads, etc., where pepper is desired, a verv little being all that may be used, as, though not so harsh as the black, it is strong. l!i making sauces, etc., for the table, one needs both time and patience. A salad dressing requires stirring very gently, and at the same time constantly. One cannot leave it half done to go to the pantry for something to put into it. Every ingredient, all the How to Use the Pieces. 45 necessary dishes, etc., must be ready before one com- mences to make it. It must be stirred one way dur- ing the process, or it is spoiled. A rather deep bowl is best to make it in, stirring with a silver or small wooden spoon. Nothing but silver or wood should ever be used about salads, and great care is needed in mixing. The oil should be added a drop at a time and the stirring must go on during the process. To one Q.^^ allow two tablespoonfuls. (or one ounce,) of the best salad oil, one tablespoonful of lemon juice or vinegar, half a teaspoonful of mustard, and as much white pepper as you can take on the point of a tea- spoon. Raw^ yolk of ^^^ makes a smoother dressing than boiled ; it is stirred till smooth, then the oil added according to directions, a drop at a time, stir- ring constantly until it thickens ; add next the mus- tard and pepper, (some add a teaspoonful of sugar,) lastly the lemon juice or vinegar. Stir till well mixed and pour over the salad. Chicken Salad. — The chicken should be boiled in water just salt enough to season it. When cold cut. the white meat in small pieces, some prefer chop- ping it, add about half the quantity of white, crisp celery, cut fine, mix and pour the dressing over it. The dark meat of the chicken can be used for many nice dishes, so that one needn't spoil the salad for economy's sake. The white, crisp leaves of lettuce may be used, if celery cannot be procured. This dressing is also poured over lettuce leaves which have been torn (not cut) in two pieces, follow- ing the stem ; they should be piled on a salad dish, (a glass dish on a high stand is pretty,) and the dressing 46 Dining Room Notes. poured over it when it is hrouo^lit to the table. i\n- otlier favorite way to serve lettuce is to pile the crisp leaves on a wooden or grlas's salad plate, with lemons cut in halves placed about the edge. The lemons should be rolled before cutting, and cut with a very sharp knife. Serve half a lemon with each dish of lettuce, or thev may be piled on a dish by themselves, and the dish passed about the table. After using lemon and sugar on lettuce, few people will care for it served in any other way. Eggs. Plain Omelet. — Take any number of eggs de- sired, — three are sufficient for two persons, — beat the whites to a froth, add the yolks and beat until well mixed. Add a teaspoonful of cream, or milk, to each egg and stir well. Put a scant teaspoonful of butter in a frying pan, and when it begins to color pour in the eggs. With a broad knife raise the omelet in places to allow the uncooked part to run through to the pan. Sprinkle with salt, add a dust of pepper, and double together. Turn out on a warmed platter and serve immediately. Everything must be done quickly in omelet making, beating, cooking and serv- ing, if you would be sure of success. If the omelet is large it may be turned upon a hot plate instead of being doubled as above. In this case the plate must be really hot. Put the plate over the frying pan and holding in place with one hand, with the other turn the pan over quickly. Cold chicken, veal or ham, chopped very fine make a delicious addition to an omelet, stirring in just before pouring the omelet in- to the pan. Oysters chopped fine make a nice ome- let. Baked Eggs for Sandwiches.— Put a teaspoon- ful of butter into a narrow and rather deep cake tin. 48 Dining Room Notes. let it soften but not melt too much, break in a dozen or more fresh eggs, salting and peppering as one likes, when they are all in, (take care in breaking that the yolks do not break,) salt and pepper the top and add a tablespoonful of butter cut in small pieces. Dust with rolled cracker and place in a hot oven for about twenty minutes. Set away to cool, turn out when cold, and cut in slices, putting them between thin slices of buttered bread. They are very nice. We also like the eggs cooked in this way, hot, for a breakfast dish as a change from boiled eggs or omelets. Egg Toast. — Pour one-half pint of milk in a small kettle or frying pan, salt and pepper to taste, and add a heaping teaspoonful of butter. Beat four eggs, and when the milk boils, stir in the beaten ^%%^ removing from the front of the stove, stirring con- stantly till thick, but not enough to whey. Pour over four slices of buttered toast, arranged on a warm platter, and serve as quicklv as possible. VVe some- times serve the eggs cooked in this way without tlie toast. Pickled Eggs. — Boil the eggs hard and place in cold w.ater for a few minutes. Peel and cut in halves lengthwise or leave whole as preferred. Pour over them enough spiced vinegar, boiling hot, to cover and let them stand until cold. They will keep sev- eral davs. Boiled eggs which are left from breakfast mav be utilized in this manner, boiling them a second time in order that thev mav be w ^ 11 done. Browned Eggs. — Cook the eggs until well done, — twenty or twenty-five minutes, in water which JSiTi^s. 49 'i><&' simmers but is not actively boiling, and then put them in cold water for a few minutes. Peel them careful- ly and cut them in halves, lengthwise or across as preferred. Remove the yolks — taking care to leave the whites unbroken, and mash them fine. To six eggs allow a teaspoonful of thick sweet cream, one- half teaspoonful of butter, one- half teaspoonful of salt,^ one- fourth teaspoonful of white pepper and one scant teaspoonful of dry mustard. Less pepper will answer. Mix well and fill into the halved whites, rounding nicely. Beat an q^^ and brush over the eggs, sift cracker crumbs over them ver}' lightly, and place in a very quick oven for two or three minutes. They should be delicately and very quickly browned or not at all. These are very nice for lunch or tea, and are especialh nice for picnic dinners. Vegetables. IN THE various methods of cooking vegetables. I am in\arinhlv struck with one fact, that most peo- ple cook green peas and s\\ eet corn too much, and summer scpiash, string and shv.lled beans too little. When PEAS are fresh twenty minutes ought to be sutlicient to cook them. Put them in a kettle and pour in enough boiling water to just show at the edges, not to cover the peas ; they should not be covered and should boil rapidly, the salt added as soon as they are tender or about half done. I usually stir in the butter at the same time, preferring the flavor when so prepared to the melted butter we have to eat when it is not cooked in ; it is also more whole- some. Peas are delicious steamed, and we usually cook them in this manner. They should be put into a dish without water, placed in the steamer, and cooked from three fourths of an hour to an hour. Season to taste with salt and butter — or cream, which is very nice. In boiling sweet corn, from ten to twenty min- utes will cook any corn which is fresh enough to be eaten. If cooked too long the hulls are tous;h and will wrinkle as the corn cools. It is more tender and better flavored if not salted while cooking. It should be put into boiling water and boil steadily. Vegetables. ^ i Summer sc^uashes should be put into boiling wa- ter, salted, or cooked in a steamer as we generally cook them. They should be thoroughly cooked. When young and tender they will cook in three-quar- ters of an hour, but one has to allow from that to an hour and a half for some varieties. When done lav a strainer cloth over a colander, put in the squashes, gather up the corners of the cloth and with a saucer or small plate press out the water. Then turn them into a warm dish, season with salt and butter, dust a little pepper over the top and serve as quickly as pos- sible. All vegetables with perhaps the exception of shelled beans should be served as soon as possible after they are done ; shelled beans can be left in the kettle — not where they will boil, however — if done before one is ready to serve them. Corn, peas and squashes ought to be carried to the table immediately after dishing them. String beans should be put into boiling water, and cooked nearly an hour before adding salt, pouring in boiling water as- it evaporates ; they require from two to two and one- half hours to cook ; (I'm speaking of beans grown in one's garden: I've cooked ''market" beans four hours without making them tender ;) drain off the water from the beans when done, season them well with butter, about a tablespoon ful to each quart, cjr, if vou have it, a cupful of sweet cream, lettiuif it ("^et hot but not boiling, and serve as soon as possible. Shelj^ed reans also require thorough cooking, usually from an hour and a half to two and a half tor some varieties. Thev should be put into boilinof wa- ter, just enough to cover, and boiled slowlv but stead 52 Dining Roon? Notes. ily ; salt when about half done. When done season well with butter. Fried egg-plant is another favorite dish. Wash them and cut in slices about an inch thick, lav them in salt and water for half an hour and drv them on a soft cloth, or pile the slices on a plate with salt sprinkled between, and let them stand half an hour. Then with another plate put on the top press out the water. Pepper and salt each slice and dredge with flour, or dip them in beaten ^^^ then roll in cracker crumbs, and fry till nicely browned, in equal parts of butter and pork drippings. To boil CAULIFLOWER, we remove the outer leaves and cut the stalk close, and put it salt and water for an hour. Drain well and put in a kettle of boiling water, salted. Skim it and boil twenty minutes. Drain and serve with sauce made as follows : Mix half a cup of butter and a heaping tablespoonful of flour to a cream in a warm dish that can be set on the stove ; when well mixed pour in a very little boiling water, not more than four tablespoonfuls, a little at a time, stirring constantly. Then pour in slowly half a pint of boiling milk, stirring all the time ; let it keep hot but not boil for hve minutes; add a little salt if necessary and serve as hot as possible. Asparagus is one of our most wholesome vegeta- bles, and is also one of the most valuable, coming as it does so early in the spring. There are manv fa- vorite recipes for preparing it, one. which we like very much is as follows : Cut the stalks as far as they are perfectly tender into pieces about an inch in length. Boil till tender, generally about twenty min- utes, in just enough water to cover, salt to taste. Vegetables. 53; Mix a tablespoontul of flour smooth with a httle milk, and stir it into the asparagus, together with a tablespoonful of butter. Have three hard boiled eggs sliced rather thin, and stir them in gently. Let it boil up and pour over slices of hot buttered toast. This recipe is for one bunch of asparagus, and is suf- ficient for four medium-sized slices of toast. The stalks may be boiled without cutting and served with drawn butter, either on toast or by itself, as one pre- fers. We often prepare it in a very simple manner, but one which is much liked. Cut the tender part of the stalks in small pieces, perhaps half an inch in length, cook until tender in just as little water as pos- sible, and then add cream, in proportion of a teacup- ful to a quart of the asparagus. Salt to taste, and serve like green peas. If cream is not to be had use milk, adding a tablespoonful of butter to each cup of milk. An asparagus soup is also very nice. Boil one quart of asparagus, cut fine, in one quart of water till well done ; rub through a colander and return to- the kettle. Add a tablespoonful of butter, and salt to taste, and pour in a pint of hot milk. If too thick add a little boiling water. Let it get just boiling hot and serve immediately wnth toasted bread cut in small dice, and piled on a warm plate covered with a small napkin, or put th^m in the tureen and pour the soup over them if preferred. Salsify, or vegetable oyster plant, is very nice cooked as follows : Peel and slice five or six roots, more, if needed, and boil in salted water until done- Drain ort' the water, add milk enough to cover, sea- D 54 Dining Room Notes. son with butter, pepper and salt, simmer ten minutes, thicken with a httle flour mixed with milk, stirring until the consistency of cream. Serve hot. Some- times we add sufticient milk to make a soup, season- ing and serving like oyster stew, which it resembles >;lightly. Another way which gives the flavor of fried oysters, is as, follows : Boil the roots until well done, peel and mash fine. Season with butter, pep- per and salt. Beat an egg, and have ready a plate of rolled cracker, or bread crumbs. Dip a teaspoonful of the salsify into the ^'g%, then into the cracker, and fry in butter. Cabbage is one of the valuable vegetables which is beginning to receive the attention it deserves. Boiled in salted water, and served plain with a little butter it is not unpalatable by any means, and it is really very nice cooked in the following manner : Chop a small, firm cabbage, or half of a large one, and boil it in sufticient water to cover for an hour and a half. Then drain and return to the sauce-pan, cidding milk to just cover it, salt and butter to season well. A tablespoonful of butter to each pint of milk used is sufticient. Let it just come to the boiling point and serve. A teaspoonful of sugar may be put into the water with the cabbage when first put on to cook if liked. Many who cannot eat, or do nut like cabbage, relish it when prepared after this recipe. Tomatoes. — Almost every one has many ways in which to cook tomatoes, but we like tliem very mucii baked. They should be peeled and placed in a baking dish, sprinkle a little pepper and salt over them, put bits of butter over the top, and covei" with Vegetables. qc a very thin layer of cracker crumbs, one cracker rolled fine is sufficient for a medium sized dish. Bake ur readers. Beets whicli are sometimes tough and wilted, are nice stewed. Wash and peel them, if Avilted thev should stand in cold water an hour or two before peeling. Slice and cut in small pieces and put them in a sauce-pan with cold water enough to cover well. Cover and cook slowly two hours, taking care the water does not boil out. If the beet is then ten- der, add a little salt. Stir Hour to a smootii paste with c;S Dining Room Notes. a little water (a tahlespoonful of flour will be suffi- cient to thicken a quart of the stew), and stir in, add a heaping teaspoonful of butter, a)id a little pepper. Boil up and serve hot. Carrots are nice cooked in the same manner. Potato chowder is very good, especially to help out a dinner of odds and ends, which is served occa- sionally in even the best regulated households and is also good for supper where there are working men who require something warm and hearty. Peel and slice a dozen potatoes and put them in cold water. Put a generous tahlespoonful of butter and a quart of hot water in a sauce-pan, add a scant teaspoonful of salt, and when boiling hot, add the potatoes, and cook slowly three quarters of an hour. Add a pint of milk and let it just come to a boil, add more salt if necessary, a little pepper if liked, and serve imme- diately. Cold vegetables may be made into many palatable little dishes. Cold potatoes ma}' be sliced, put in a sauce-pan, with milk to cover them, season with butter, pep^^er and salt, and thicken with a little flour. Beets may be sliced, cut in small pieces and warmed with a very little water, adding butter, pep- per and salt to season. Cold boiled cabbage is nice warmed as follows : Put a little milk and butter in a dish, and when hot, add the cabbage. Cover and heat slowly to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cold parsnips may be sliced, dipped in beaten ^^%., rolled in cracker crumbs and fried a delicate brown. Vegetables. 59 or tbc\' \WA\ be put in a sauce pan with sufficient inilk to cover them, seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, and thickened with a verv little flour, mixed to a smooth paste with milk or water. Cold potatoes are good cut and fried in the same manner. Bread. Compressed Yeast Bread. — One-half of a two- cent cake of compressed yeast soaked in one cupful of warm water one half hour. Then add one pint of warm water or warm new milk, one teaspoonful of salt and two of sugar, and one quart of flour. Stir well tog-ether and, covering with a thin cloth, put where it will keep warm. In two hours it should be very light, w^ien just enough flour should be added to make it stift' enough to knead smoothly. This bread requires less kneading than bread made from home- made or baker's yeast. If the flour is good it will mould in a few minutes into a smooth, soft dough, ready to be divided into loaves. These should be "arge enough to half fill the pans and should be cov- ered with a cloth and kept warm for an hour or onger, until the pans are just rounding full. Bake in moderate oven from three- fourths of an hour to an nour, accordinpf to the size of the loaves. If the loaves are rubbed over the top with nice butter warmed just enough to soften it, before they begin to brown, the crust will be tender, and of a delicious color and fla- vor. When done turn out quickly ; stand the loaves on one end, tipping them against the pans, where the air will strike them, as bread should cool as rapidly as possible. Cover onlv with a thin cloth until cold. Bread. 6i If preferred all the flour may he mixed with the yeast at once, niouldino^ into loaves, and puttin^^ di- rectly into the pans to rise. It rec[uires a little more kneadino^. but is very nice and very little trouble to make. If rolls are wanted for tea leave out enough bread dough for one loaf. Knead a few minutes, and if you like, add a heaping teaspoonful of butter, although the rolls will be lighter without. Roll about half an inch thick, cut out in rounds (a goblet is convenient if vou have not a large cutter,) double nearly in half, putting a small piece of butter in each fold, and place close together in a biscuit pan. Let them rise rather more slowly than the bread by keeping them a little less warm, but should they rise just right for baking put theni into the oven immediately, as if thc\' fall thev will not be so nice. The pan should be rather more than rounding full, when put into the oven, and the top of the rolls rubbed w^th butter or milk. It will do no harm if the rolls are baked two or three hours before tea time. By putting them (in the pan) in a quick oven till warmed thr(jugh, they will be nicer than if left unbaked after they are risen sufh- ciently. • Potato \'EAS'r. — Two cjuarts of boiling water, two cupfuls of grated potato, one-half cupful each of salt and sugar, one cupful of good sweet yeast. Peel and grate the potatoes as quickly as possible, measure and pour the boiling water ox er. stirring constantl} until it thickens, like starch. wStraiii through a coarse sieve into a large earthen bowl, and -mX^X the salt and sugar, stirring occasi()ii;dl\ until it dissolves. When hike 62 Diiiing Room Notes. warm stir in the cupful of veast and let it stand where the temperature will remain even, until verv light and foamy. Keep tightly corked in a dry, cool place. I generally keep the yeast in glass fruit jars, two quart jars are yery conyenient for the purpose, and in warm weather they can be put into the refrig- erator. Potato Yeast Bread. — One half cu])ful of yeast, one pint of warm water or new milk, we prefer water for this bread, and one cpiart of flour. Stir till well mixed. Cover and keep in a warm place (if in cold weather) until morning. We generally mix the vea^^t about nine o'clock in the evening. As earlv in the morning as convenient stir in flour to make it int" a stift' dough. It is difficult to give the exact quantit\-, as no two brands of flour are alike, and what wt^idd make a dough just the right consi^-tency from one kind would be too stifTwith some other brand. Knead until the dough feels smooth and soft : it should re- quire very, little flour on the moulding board. Cut into loaves and rise and bake as in recipe for l^read from compressed } east. Dry or Cake Yeast Bread. — Soak one-halt cake of National, or any other good yeast, in one cup- ful of warm water until soft : then stir and strain it into a pint of warm water, or, as we generally mix it, stir enough flour into the pint of warm water to make a stift' batter, a quart is about right, then add to the strained yeast a teaspoon ful of salt and two of sugar and stir it into the batter. Cover and put where it will keep warm. This should be done about five o'clock in the afternoon. About nine stir in just Bread. 63 enough flour to knend, and knead just enoucrh to mix well. Put in a large mixing bowl, put a cloth over it, cover closely and leave till morning to rise. Tlien knead a little, Ave or ten minutes is sufficient, cut in- to loaves, knead into shape, and put into pans to rise. Rise and bake as in recipes for compressed yeast bread. Raised Graham Bread.— One- fourth cake ot compressed yeast, one pint of warm water, one scant teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of molasses or one of sugar, and. if molasses is used, a scant quarter teaspoonful of soda. Mix all together and stir in suf- ficient graham meal, or what is far better, hue granu- lated wheat to make a dough as stiff as can be stirred. Butter the bread pans and fill half full with the bat- ter, place them where they will keep warm, for the bread should rise quickly. Cover with a thin cloth, and as soon as it is well risen, (the pans should be just even full.) put into rather a quick oven to bake from half to three-quarters of an hour, according to the size of the loaves. Bread put rising at breakfast time should be baked by twelve o'clock. If sugar is used instead of molasses, omit the soda. Graham Bread Withouj- Yeast. — Two cupfuls of graham or "fine granulated wheat."" one and one- half cupfuls of cold water or milk, one teaspoonful of sugar, one- half teaspoonful salt, and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix the baking powder thor- oughly with the meal, then add the other ingredients and mix as rapidly as possible. Heat roll pans and butter them, pour in the batter and bake in a quick oven twenty minutes. Or bake in a loaf not too deep. 64 Dininsr Room Notes. a shallow pan should always be iisrd, and one of our favorite baking pans for graham (.r corn bread is a short handled iron frying pan, heated and buttered like the roll pans before the batter is poured in. This rule makes the sweetest and lightest ' graham ' bread imaginable, but to be perfect it should always be baked in iron pans. Graham Bread. — Three cupfuls of graham meal, two cupfuls of rich milk slightly sour, two table- spoonfuls of molasses, one-half teaspoon ful of salt, and one teaspoonful of soda. Put all together in a deep bowl and mix cpiickly and tlioroughly. Bake in shallow pans well buttered, in a ([uick oven. Raised Graham Mufp^ins. — One third cupful of good sweet veast, two cupfuls ot warm water and three cupfuls of graham. Stir well together and keep in a warm place till morning. Then stir in two tablespoon fuls of molasses and .one- half teaspoonful of soda diss(^lved in a teaspoonful of hot water. Bake in gem pans or muffin rings. Sugar may be substituted for the molasses, one tablespoonful will be sufficient, and half the soda omitted. One-fourth of a dry yeast cake dissolved in one-third cupful of warm water may be used instead of the liquid yeast, straining it into the two cupfuls of water. Tea Biscuit. — One or two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, four teacupfuls of tlour, one and one half teacupfuls of sweet milk, and four even teaspoon fuls of baking powder. Rub the butter, which should be cold and hard, into the flour ; when fine, sift in the baking powder and stir quickh' and lightly in, then Bread. 6^; add tlie milk and mix with knife or spoon as rapidly as possible. Turn out on a floured board, do not kneatl, but make ii^to shape quickly, and with as lit- tle handling as possible. Roll about an inch in thick- ness, cut out with a biscuit cutter and place closely in a buttered tin or a small dripping pan. Put into a very hot oyen immediately and bake from ten to fif- teen minutes. Serve on a warmed plate covered with a folded napkin or doyley. Never put a warm biscuit or any warm bread upon a cold plate. S(jme- times we put the dough ''rolled to lit" into the pan, then with a sharp knife well buttered cut into squares, cutting through to the pan. This saves a little time. and the biscuit are very nice. If cream of tartar and soda are used, use two tea- spoonfuls of cream of tartar and one of soda to the four cupfuls of flour, stirring the cream of tartar into the butter and flour, and dissolving the soda in the milk. Rolled Bisci it. — Take four cupfuls of flour, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one and one-half cupfuls of milk, and four teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix like any buscuit. Roll out about (me-third of an inch in thickness, spread over it a heaping teaspoonful of butter warmed just enough to soften. Roll up and cut in slices about half an inch thick. Place close together in a buttered tin, and bake in a very quick oven. These are very nice, and make an attractive looking dish. We sometimes add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and one half teaspoonful of cinnamon to the teaspoonful of butter, beating together thoroughly, before spreading it over the dough. Most people prefer these to tlic plainer buttered rolls. 66 Dininp' Room Notes. t} Scotch Bread. — When makiiior bread, reserve enough for a small loaf when all ready for the last rising in the baking pans. Roll ilrout, spread on one- third of a cupful of butter and three-quarters of a cupful of sugar ; roll up and knead till smooth, using as little flour as possible. Roll out again, spread on two-thirds of a cupful of currants, which have been picked, washed and thoroughly dried ; or the same quantity of seedless raisins. Roll up, knead as gently as possible till the fruit is well mixed with the dough, put it in a small bread pan, and rise till light ; then >pread the top lightly with butler and sift sugar over it. Bake in a moderate oven, taking care the crust (.Iocs not scorch. This is very nice, and is excellent for the children's lunch. It may be made into small biscuit or '" bunns " if preferred to the loaf. Blueberry Cakes. — This is a standard breakfast cake with us during the blueberry season, and one which frequentl}' does duty as dessert also. Take one -third of a cupful of sugar, an even tablespoonful of butter, one ^'g?,, a scant half cupful of milk, a cup rounding full of flour, a pinch of salt, and a heaping teas])oonful of baking powder. Beat the butter and sugar together, add the ^- a ])int each, of biead crumbs and milk. Add a ciq)ful 7 2 Dining Roo?fi Notes. of sour milk and one-half cupful of flour and let it stand till morning, then add a teaspoonful of soda — or more if necessary — one of salt, and two eggs (one will do very well) well beaten, one-half cupful of cream or a teaspoonful of butter melted and enough milk to make the desired quantity, and one-half cup- ful of flour unless the batter seems sufticiently thick without it. Rice Griddle-Cakes. — One cupful of cold boiled rice, one-half cupful of flour, one and one-half cup- fuls of rich sweet milk, two eggs well beaten, one- half teaspoonful of salt and one of baking powder. Bake quickly. If they do not turn well add a table- spoonful of flour. Cream Toast. — Put one quart of milk into a fry- ing pan to heat, and stir three tablespoon fuls (not heaped) of flour to a smooth paste with as little cold milk as will suffice. When the milk is hot add the flour mixture and stir till it thickens. Then stir in a generous tablespoonful of butter and add salt to taste. If you have it stir in also a cupful of cream. Then remove the pan to the back of the stove and proceed to toast the bread — this quantity of cream will be suf- ficient for eight or ten slices. As soon as the bread is toasted put it into the cream, it will hiss as it touch- es it, and the toast will be very difterent from that which is toasted and set aside to cool or toughen while the cream is being prepared. Warm a platter and place the toast upon it, pouring the cream over it. Send to table immediately. Bread made from tiie " whole wheat '' flour and the " fine granulated wheat '' makes delicious cream toast. Cake. A RULE ? No, I never bother to make my things by rule. When I make a cake I take what but- ter and sugar I think I shall need and eggs according to the number I have on hand, and I most always have good luck. Sometimes it isn't quite as good as usual, but if it isn't eatable I make a pudding. I wouldn't be tied to rules in my cooking. '' So said a friend to whom I was giving a recipe for cake, which she had '' wished she could make to taste just like it," but would not write it down, said she could "guess at it near enough," and you can imagine the quality of the cake. There are many people who think it too much troub- le to '• cook by rule." as they call it, who will not measure ingredients for cake, etc., and even if they do measure the butter and sugar, will guess at the flour, stirring it in until it is " about as thick as usual." Consequently the cake often falls or cracks open, from having too much Hour in. Don't •' guess " at any thing, and do not use a recipe which tells vou to use a " good sized piece of butter," or to ''stir in flour to make a thick — or thin — batter." Peoples' ideas as to "thick" and thin" and "good sized pieces of butter," vary considerably, the " pieces" of butter beinij: anvwhere from the size of a walnut 74 Dining- Room Notes. to a. teacupf'iil, according to the disposition of the usei\ Cake should not stand before being baked, and one should be careful that the hre is steady, and the oven not too hot. Layer cakes for jell}" or cream cakes, and plain, light cakes, like '' feathe ' cakes, alone need a very quick oven. The richer the cake the more slowly and the longer it must bake. Do not use sour milk for cake. It is not to be com- pared to sweet milk with baking powder or good cream of tartar and soda. Sour milk makes cake or any thing else more por- ous and coarse grained than sweet, and cake will not keep so well, or be so hue in flavor when mixed with it, unless, of course, one makes molasses cake. In that case sour milk is preferable to sweet, as most peo- ple use too much soda to neutralize the acidity of the molasses, and when sweet milk is used with it, the flavor of soda is too apparent for most tastes. In many cases cake is spoiled by carelessness in the mixing, many people thinking it a waste of time to beat the butter and sugar to a cream before adding any thing else, or to beat the whites of the eggs sepa- ratel3\ adding them to the cake after the flour is all stirred in. The plainer the cake the fewer the eggs, the more necessity, there is for making it as nice as possible. It may take five minutes longer, but is very little more trouble and it makes enough difference in the cake to more than repay one for the extra work. Flour should always be measured after it is sifted, and if baking powder is used, stir it into the flour and sift again. If soda and cream of tartar are used, mix the cream of tartar with the flour in the same vvay. The soda is dissolved in the milk, if milk is to be used in Cake. 75 the cake, if not, dissolve in a teaspoonl'ul of boiling water and stir into the cake before adding any of the flour. The fruit, to be used in fruit cake, should be pre- pared, (that is. the raisins, and currants,) the day be- fore the cake is to be made. Currants should be washed in three or four waters, the first two warm, then spread on a soft, coarse cloth or towel, nothing nice, as they are apt to stain, and let them get thor- oughly dry. The best way is to put another cloth in a dripping pan, pour the partially dried currants in, and place in a very slow oven, leaving the doors open. Stir occasionally, and when dry look over carefully, as there are often little stones among the fruit. Then dust with flour, a heaping teaspoonful to a pound is sufficient. Mix it well, so the currants are all floured. Shake in a colander to remove the surplus flour and any stra}^ stems, and put away in a very dry place. It is a good plan to wash currants in this way when bought, keeping them in a glass fruit jar. It is a great convenience to have them all ready for use, and they are not nearly so apt to spoil. Raisins are to be picked from the stems and washed, then dried and seeded, after which they are floured like the currants. When raisins are to be used in cup cake, or in any kind which does not require long bak- ing, they should be steamed the day before using. Spread them on a plate which will fit in your steam- er and cook for an hour. When cooked in this man- ner they are tender and wholesome, which is by no means the case when they are put, without previous cooking, into a cake which will bake in half or three- quarters of an hour 7 6 Dining Room Notes. Currants need no previous cooking, they will cook sufficiently in any pudding or cake. In warm weather when making cake, set the whites of ^gg"s in an ice chest, or in some cold place while mixing the cake. They will beat very light if so treated, it being impossible to beat them to a light stiff froth if warm. In cold weather let the butter stand in a warm room for perhaps half an hour before using. It will be much easier to stir, and will be far nicer than to partly melt or soften in the oven or hot dish, which is apt to make it oily. Always use the same sized cup or spoon for measuring all ingredients, unless other- wise stated, and remember that a tablespoon does not mean a kitchen mixing spoon, which I have seen people use in following a recipe. In measuring baking powder the spoon should be just rounding full. In measuring soda and cream of tartar, fill the spoon even full and smooth it off with a knife. To get half a teaspoonful, measure a spoon- ful, and after smoothing off divide lengthwise. In this way one is sure of a correct measure. Care should be taken to have the soda free from lumps, as it is impossible to measure it properly if not fine. A good way when soda is bought, is to roll and sift it, and then put it in a box. In this way it is always ready for use with very little trouble. Cake tins should be lined with thin brown paper, one thickness being sufficient for a cake which will ... * bake quickly. A pan in which fruit cake is baked, should have three or four layers of thick, light brown paper at the bottom and two at the sides, covering with a thinner paper. For sponge cake, the paper Cake. 77 should be buttered slightly all over. Cake in which butter is used, does not require buttered paper, unless very little is used, in which case it is well to butter the paper a little, so it will not adhere to the cake. ~RUiT Cake. — A fruit cake which is a favorite wuh all to whom we have given the recipe is made as follows : To make it more convenient for those who mav not number the useful little scales among their household helps, I have carefully measured as well as weiofhed the materials used. Two pounds (four teacupfuls) of butter, two pounds (four and one-half teacupfuls) of sugar, one pint of molasses, one pint of coft'ee, tifteen eggs, three pounds (twelve teacupfuls) of flour, one tablespoonful each of clove and cinnamon, a teaspoonful of mace, two nutmegs, four pounds of currants, two and one half pounds of raisins, and one and one-half pounds of citron. Slice and flour the citron and mix with the currants and raisins, also prepared for use as directed above. I always have the materials weighed and measured ready for use before commencing to mix, making the pint of coffee so that it may cool before it is needed, and I use two tablespoonfuls of coffee to the pint of water. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the yolks of the eggs and beat well ; add the spices, and when well mixed stir in the molasses and coffee, and next the whites of the eggs beaten to a stifl' froth. Stir in the flour, and when well mixed add the fruit stirring slowly and thoroughly. Line your cake pans — one large one is best, a milk pan will do if vou have not a deep sheet iron pan, 78 Dining Room Notes. which is always best I'or cake which has to hake a longtime — witli smooth ])rowii ]:)aper. three thick- nesses at tlie sides of the pan. and four or live at the bottom. Butter the last paper a little, and fill the pans about two thirds full. I^ake slowly four hours, cov- ering the cake with a thick brown paper, if it begins to brown too mucli. The molasses answers all the purposes of brandy which I never use in cake, and it will keep as well without it. The cake which I made a year ago, is nicer now than when first cut. It should be made at least a month l)efore cutting it, and if wanted for a party or wedding cake — for which it is very nice — it should be handsomely frosted two or three days before it is cut. Otherwise it is best not to frost it. White Frui']' Cake. — The following makes a delicious white fruit cake, which will keep nicely for a month or longer. One cupful of butter, two cupfuls of sugar, tw^o-thirds of a cupful of sw^eet milk, two and one-half cupfuls of flour, whites of six eggs, one and one-half teaspoonfuls of Cleveland's baking powder, one pound of blanched almonds, and one of citron. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the milk, then stir in the flour with the baking powder well mixed in. Next add the whites of the eggs beat- en to a stiffs froth, and when well mixed, stir in the citron, sliced and dusted lightly with flour, and the al- monds halved or sliced as you prefer. Line two med- ium sized cake tins with buttered paper, pour in the batter, smoothing over the top, and bake slowly till done. This cake should be handsomely frosted. White FRiiit Cake No. 2. — Another which is Cake. 79 very nice, is as follows : One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, one cup of milk, four cups of flour, four eggs, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one-halt pound of citron, one pound of blanched almonds, one pound of currants, and one pound of seedless raisins. Mix as in the preceding recipe except that the volks of the eggs are added when the butler and sugar are well mixed. Bake slowly. Two loaves or one large one. Prepare the raisins and currants the da}- before making the cake, that is, VN'ash and dry thoroughly, and flour them. Also blanch and dry the almonds. It is not so well to buy them all ready for use. as they are apt to be verv dry and sometimes oily. Buy two pounds or more of the nuts and shell them. Weigh the meats, if there is a scant pound it will answer, and blanch them, that is, pour boiling water over them, and let them stand two or three minutes until the hard, brown skin will slip oft'. Dry the meats, and slice or chop as preferred. Ordinary raisins may be used, but need to be stoned and therefore discolor the cake. The seedless or Sultana raisins are much bet- ter. Speaking of blanched almonds reminds me to say that when butternut meats are used in cakes, they are enough nicer blanched to repay one for the little time and trouble it requires, and they are much more wholesome. Delicate Cake. — One-halt" cup of butter, one and one-half cups of sugar, two thirds of a cup of milk, two cups of flour, three eggs, and one and one- half teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Beat the butter and "So Di7iing Room Notes. sugar together, and when smooth and creamy, add the yolks of the eggs, beat well, add the milk, and stir till well mixed. Add the flour, in which the bak- ing powder has been thoroughly mixed, and stir till very smooth, then stir in the whites of the eggs which have been beaten to a stiff froth ; beat well, and pour into two medium-sized cake tins. Bake in a rather moderate oven half an hour, or until when pricked with a broom corn, it will come out smooth and dry. This makes a very handsome layer cake, baked in four plates, large size, and put together with frosting, either boiled or* not, colored with the poke-berry jelly, a recipe for which will be found in another chapter. Plain Cake. — One heaping table-spoonful of but- ter, one cup of sugar, two eggs, one-half cup of milk, one and one-half cups of flour, and one teaspoonful •of baking powder. Flavor with lemon or almond and sprinkle the top witli sugar before putting the cake in the oven. This makes one good sized loaf, or is nice baked in little tins. Mix in the manner given in the recipe for delicate cake. Favorite Cake. — Two- thirds of a cupful of but- ter, one cupful of sugar, one and one-half cupfuls of flour, four eggs, one tablespoonful of milk and one scant teaspoonful of baking powder. Cream the but- ter and sugar together, add the yolks of the eggs and beat till very light. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and mix the baking powder thoroughly with the flour. Add a little of the flour to the cake mixture and when well mixed add the milk ; Then beat in alternately the whites of the eggs and flour. Cake. 8r part at a time. Pour into a cake tin lined with paper and bake in a moderate oven. This cake is very much hke the old fashioned pound cake and is very nice. It will keep three or four weeks in a jar or cake box. Sometimes I add a little sliced citron. The cake is very nice, — as is the delicate cake — baked in a biscuit tin, frosted, and cut in squares when served. Lemon Cake. — Two eggs, one cupful of sugar, four tablespoonfuls of milk, (real tablespoon, remem- ber), one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of baking powder and a rounding cup of flour. Beat yolks of eggs and sugar together, add the whites well beaten, then the milk in which the salt is dissolved ; lastly the baking powder and flour well mixed to gether. Bake in two round pie tins, lined with but- tered paper. When cold, spread the lemon between the cakes, and sift sugar over the top. This cake is better on the second or third day after baking than when fresh and therefore very convenient to make when preparing for expected guests. Lonon Butter for above Cake. — Grated rind and juice of one lemon, three-fourths of a cupful of sugar^ c and a scant teaspoonful of butter. Put the lemon juice and grated rind into a bowl, stir in the sugar and place the bowl in a dish of boiling water. Beat the ^^iugar, beat well, stir in the remainder of the grated peel, (it will turn the frosting a peculiar greenish col- or) and spread over the top of the cake, which should be placed in a hot oven tor two or thrc«e minutes to brown lightly. It requires close watching and turn- ing frequently that all sides may be browned alike. A grated pineapple is a delicious substitute for the the orange, the frosting flavored with a few drops of the juice. We also make tlic filling witii lemon in- stead of orange, using one lemon, and a heapin<^ teaspoonful of corn starch instead of the tablesptKjii- ful of flour. These cakes are very nice, and will keep in a cool tlry place for two (jr three days. For a large family the recipe is easilv doubled. LayePv Cake. — A cheap plain cake which we use for layer cakes, to spread witli jelly, soft frosting, cocoanut, or cream, or hake in a loaf lo scrxc fresh for tea is as follows : One ^^^^'g, one tables})oonful of butler, two thirds of a cupful of sugar, one-thiid of a cupful of milk, one cupful of flour, a pinch of salt and a teaspoonful of baking powder. It makes a very good loaf cake if served when fresh, aiul is still better if slightlv warm. Molasses Cake. — Two cupfuls of New Orleans molasses, one cupful of sugar, one and one-half cup- 84 Dining Room Azotes. fuls of butter, five eggs, five cupfuls of fiour. one pound of raisins seeded and cut in pieces, one tea- spoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one- half teaspoonful each of soda and cloves, and half a nutmeg, grated. The raisins should be washed, dried and seeded the day before making the cake. When ready for use we cut each in two or three pieces with a pair of small scissors which we find very conven- ient in the kitchen. It sounds like a great deal of work, but it is more as easily and quickly done than chopping, which makes the raisins sticky besides cutting them too small. Flour the cut raisins and shake them well in a colander. Then proceed to mix the cake. Stir butter and sugar to a cream, dissolve the soda in a teaspoonful of hot water and stir into the molasses, which is then added to the butter and sugar. Then add part of the flour, next the eggs, well beaten, the salt and spice and rest of the flour. Lastly the raisins. Stir well and put into two good sized baking pans, lined with buttered paper, ■'n-^ bake an hour in a moderate oven. Sponge Cake. — This is a favorite recipe, always a success and very nice. Four eggs, one teacupful of sugar, one and one-third cupfuls of flour, one tea- spoonful of baking powder, and one tablespoonful of cold water, a little grated lemon peel or a few drops of lemon extract. Beat the yolks of the eggs and the sugar until creamy, and bubbles will rise when you stop beating for a moment, — about fifteen minutes is generally sufiicient ; add the whites beaten to a stift' froth and the grated peel and water. Beat until well mixed. Cake. 85 and add the flour with which the baking powder has been thoroughly mixed. Beat quickly until well mixed, — but do not stir it, and pour into shallow pans lined with buttered paper. This is very nice to use for Charlotte Russe, when instead of baking in a pan it should be dropped on buttered tins in little cakes, either round or long and narrow like lady fingers and bake quickly. Frosted, with blanched almonds chopped and stirred into the frosting ; this makes a delicate and delicious cake for evening parties, etc. If one uses cream of tartar and soda instead of baking powder, one half tea spoonful of cream of tar- tar, and one-fourth teaspoonful of soda will be the right proportions. Cream Cake. — A nice cream cake which also makes an excellent dessert is made by baking sponge cake in two round or long tin i^lates and putting together with a cream made as follows. One pint of milk, one-half cupful of flour, — or four teaspoonfuls of corn starch, two eggs, one-half cupful of sugar, and a little salt. Mix the flour (or starch) with a little of the milk and put the rest in a double boiler to heat ; beat the eggs with the sugar, and when the milk is hot stir in the flour, stirring till it thickens, then add the ^%r until browned very lightly. Cocoanut Custard Pie. — Measure a pint of -^nilk and pour nearly all of it into a saucepan or double boiler. Into the remainder stir a tablespoon Pastry. 103 rounding full of flour. When the milk in the sauce- pan is scalding hot, pour in the paste, and stir till smooth. Ten minutes will cook the flour sufliciently. Remove from the fire, and while it cools, beat two eggs to a froth, add to the thickened milk, stir in half a cup of sugar, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, and half a cup of cocoanut. Pour into a deep pie plate lined with a rich crust and bake. Chocolate Pie. — This is made like the above, omittinor the cocoanut and the whites of the eo-o-s. Add one square of Baker's chocolate, melted in a cup placed in hot water, to the custard, and flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla. When baked frost with the whites of the eggs, — beaten to a stiff' froth, — and three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Brown slightly in a quick oven. Blueberry, blackberry, and other berry pies re- quire a tablespoonful of flour to each^'quart of berries. The berries should be put — not more than a quart at a time, in a colander and dipped two or three times in a large pan full of cold water. This removes dust and freshens them very much. Drain, dust the flour over them and fill into j^ie plates' lined with a nice crust. Blueberry and blackberry pies are improved by adding a very little spice. Three or four table- spoonfuls of sugar are sufficient for most berry pies. Cover with a top crust and bake until well done in a moderate oven. Whortleberry pies are also better with a little spice; strawberry or raspberry pies do not need it. Berry pies are best cold, although they should not be kept more than one day before serving, -as no pies save mince, improve with age. Puddings. Chris TMAS Pudding. — Plain but excellent : Two quarts of stale bread (from which any brown crust has been cut) broken in small pieces ; put in a slow oven to dry, taking care it does not brown. Pour over it two quarts of milk, and let it stand where it will keep warm an hour, or longer if not well soak- ed. Beat it well, add six eggs well beaten, a cupful each of molasses and sugar, a cup of finely chopped suet, or two-thirds of a cup of butter, one and one- half pounds of raisins seeded, a teaspoonful of cin- namon, one-half teaspoonful each of clove and mace, two teaspoonfuls of salt, and half a nutmeg grated. More spice can be used if one likes. Butter a large pudding pan, or two smaller ones, pour in the pud- ding and bake in a slow oven, two hours if in small pans, from three to four hours if in a large one, cov- ering the top with a tin plate or cover when it browns. This pudding will keep nicely for several weeks, steaming till well heated through when used. Serve with any sauce preferred. Indian Pudding. — A real old-fashioned Indian pudding is made as follows : Scald a quart of milk, beat a scant cupful of corn meal with a cupful of mo- lasses and a teaspoonful of salt and stir into the boil- ing milk. Let it cook ten or fifteen minutes and set Puddings. 105 aside to cool : add halF a pint of cold milk, a heaping teaspoonful of butter, a little allspice or clove and cinnamon, and two e<^gs well beaten, one will do if thev are not plent}', but two are better. Pour into a buttered pudding dish and bake in a steady oven three or four hours, the long^er the better. When it has baked nearly an hour, pour over it half a pint of cold milk, which must not be stirred, but allowed to soak in gradually. This pudding requires in all three pints of milk, and should be allowed to stand nearly half an hour after it is taken from the oven before it is served. In baking, if it should grow too brown, cover with a pan or thick plate. Indian Plodding. No. 3. — One cupful of corn meal, one cupful of molasses, one Q%^, one table- spoonful of butter, one pint of boiling water, one quart of hot milk, one scant teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, or one-half teaspoonful all- spice Pour the boiling water over the meal, stirring till well mixed. Stir in the butter, salt and spice, add the molasses and the eg^ well beaten. Then stir in the hot milk. Pour into a buttered pudding pan and bake three hours in a moderate oven. A pint of sweet apple cut fine or sliced, added to this pudding, is liked by many people. A cupful of raisins is an- other favorite addition. Cracker Pudding. — Split eight crackers and break each half in two or three pieces, and put them in a pudding dish crust side up. Sprinkle over them one- third of a cup of currants. Beat three eggs, re- serving the whites of two for the sauce, and stir into a quart of milk, add half a teaspoonful of salt and four io6 Diiiiiiii' Room Notes. ^) tablespoonfuls of sugar. Stir well togethei' and strain over the crackers. Let it stand half an hour — less will do if you are in haste — and bake twenty-five or thirty minutes. Although so simple, this is delic- ious. Always serve the cream same No. 3 with this pudding. Steamed Suet Pudding. — One cupful of milk, a scant cupful of finely chopped suet, or two table- spoonfuls of butter, one cupful of molasses, a scant teaspoonful of soda, a scant teaspoonful of salt if suet is used, two eggs, a cupful of raisins, and three cupfuls of flour. Steam in a buttered pan three hours. Serve with liquid sauce. In this or any other recipe calling for suet, one may use butter in- stead, in proportion of two iieaping tablespoonfuls of butter for a cup of suet. It is really better than suet and we generally use it. Rice Puddkng. — One heaping cupful oi cold boil- ed rice, one quart of milk, two eggs, a cup of sugar, and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Scald the rice in half the milk and stir till there are no lumps, add the pint of cold milk, the salt and the yolks of the eggs beaten to a cream with two-thirds of a cup of sugar. Flavor to taste, and bake about half an hour. When, done beat the whites of the two eggs with the re- mainder of the sugar and pour over the top. Return to the oven for a minute or two to brown lightly. A little jelly spread over the pudding before pouring the frosting over it, is very nice for a change. This is good warm or cold. Boiled Rice Pudding. — Wash one and one-half cupfuls of rice and let it soak in cold water an hour. /' u ddings . 1 07^ Drain and spread the rice on a strcMig cloth or napkin, in a round perhaps as large as a dinner phite. Peel*, quarter and core six or eight large tart apples and pile in the centre of the rice ; gather up the cloth and tie- rather closely, as a very little room is suthcient to al- low the rice to swell. Put into a kettle of cold wa- ter, salted, (a tablespoon even full of salt is enough ^ for four quarts of water), heat gradually and boil aiit hour. Serve with braided, ^%%, or cream sauce. . Sometimes we use a cupful of raisins, instead of the- apples, leaving rather more room f(;r the rice to- swell. Apple Dumplings. — One pint of tlour, one tea- spoonful of butter, three-fourths of a cupful of milk,, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and one- fourth teaspoonful of salt. Mix precisely like the tea bis cuit, roll out about one-fourth of an inch in thickness, and cut in rounds with a large cutter, or a half pint bowl is an excellent substitute. Have tart, juicy ap- ples which will cook quickly, peeled, quartered and cored. Put four of the quarters into each of the rounds of dough, bringing it up about them and pinching well together. Put them, smooth side up, closely together on a buttered plate and steam from three-fourths of an hour to an hour. Or the apple may be put into a pudding dish and the crust rolled to cover it. Steam an hour. Serve with braided, clear, or cream sauce. Roll Pudding. — Three cupfuls of Hour, t)ne cup- ful and two tablespoonfuls of milk, one- third of a cupful of butter, and three teaspoonfuls of baking powder or two of cream of tartar and one of soda. jo8 Diniiii2 Room Ao/es. Mix precisely like the tea biscuit, on pa^e (34. Roll out in a strip three times as long as it is wide and about a third of an inch thick. Cover with berries, or tart, tender apples, cut in six or eight pieces, and roll up. Butter a strong cloth or napkin, sprinkle with flour and r(jll the pudding in it. Tie at each end. leaving a little rooni for the pudding to swell, jind put it on a plate in a steamer to cook an hour and a quarter. Serve with braided or liquid sauce. The Favorite sauce is delicious with these puddings. Snow Pidding. — Soak one-half box of gelatine in one-half cupful of cold water for half an hour. Then pour over it one cupful of boiling water and add tlie juice of one lemon. When the gelatine is dissolved strain it into a large bowl, add four table- spoonfuls of cold water and two cupfuls of sugar. Let it stand until cold and it begins to thicken. Then beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth and add to the gelatine, and beat all together with an egg whip or beater, until it is a solid froth as white as snow ; fifteen minutes of rapid beating ought to make so. Dip moulds into cold water and fill them with he snow. Keep in a refrigerator until hard. This pudding should be made several hours, six at least, before serving, and it will keep — if on ice where it will not soften, for a week, as nice as when first made. For the custard to serve with it, take the yolks of the eggs, three cupfuls of milk, one-fourth teaspoon - ful of salt, and one-half cupful of sugar, or more if desired. Scald the milk and stir in the eggs and sug- ar well beaten together ; stir till it thickens, then I'e- Puddings. 109 move from the fire, add the salt and the grated peel from half a lemon, or a teaspoonful of lemon extract. Strain and put away to cool. Just before serving, whip one-half cupful of cream and add to the cus- tard, whip all to a froth and serve as soon as possible. Some people turn out the pudding into a deep dish and pour the custard round it. but we prefer serving the custard from a handsome glass pitcher, as the moulded snow makes a ver\' handsome dish. This is one of the handsomest desserts as well as one of the nicest for a summer dinner, and should be accompanied if possible b\ strawberries, bai^anas or peaches. Custard Pudding. — One quart of milk, four eggs, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, one-half teaspoonful of salt and a little nutmeg. Beat the eggs thoroughly and add to the milk. Stir well and strain, then add the sugar and salt and pour the custard into a baking dish. Grate a little nutmeg over the top, and place the dish in a deep plate or basin with a little water in it. Bake in a rather moderate oven for half an hour or a little longer. It should not be over done, and should be served cold. This is a convenient dessert to make whenever you wish the whites of eggs for a white cake, or other uses, as the custard is equally nice with- out them. Tapioca Pudding. — One cupful of pearled tapi- oca, one quart of milk, four eggs, reserving the whites of two, a little salt, and one-half cupful of sug- ar. vSoak the tapioca in the milk one hour, then add the eggs well beaten, the salt and sugar. Bake half an hour, stirrinir often durincc the first fifteen min- I lo Dining Rooni Notes. utes. For sauce beat the whites of the eggs to a stiti' froth, add one-half cupful of sugar, and flavor with lemon or vanilhi. Bread and Apple PiroDiNG. — Peel, quarter and core a dozen tart, juicy apples. They inay be chop- ped, but. not tine, if preferred. Chop or cut fine sufficient stale bread to make a quart of crumbs. Butter a pudding dish, put in a layer of bread crumbs and a layer of apples alternately, having a layer of the crumbs on top. Beat one ^^'g, stir it into a pint of milk, add a scant half teaspoonful of salt, and a heaping teaspoonful of butter, which the milk should be just warm enough to melt. Pour gently over the pudding, put bits of butter over the top and bake an hour, covering after it begins to brown. Serve with liquid or braided sauce. We also prepare the bread and apple in the same way, using a pint of warm water without the ^'g'g, merely the salt and butter. This pudding should be steamed instead of baked, and is really very good, served with a nice sauce. Both are real '' economy " puddings. We vary the same occasionally by divid- ing the bread into three parts, and between each layer putting raisins or currants instead of apples. Dry cake may be used in place of bread, stale sponge cake being very nice. Blueberry Pudding. — One cup of milk, two even cups of flour, one ^%%, a heaping teaspoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and half a teaspoonful of soda, or two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Stir in a pint of blueberries, taking care not to l:)reak them. Pour Puddings. I I I into a buttered pudding- dish antl .steam one hour. Serve with any sauce preferred. Blackberries are very nice in these puddings, so are peaches or ap pies, both of which should be cut in small pieces. Corn Starch Puddings. — Plain corn starch blanc jiiange, the directions for which come on every box, is a foundation for many nice dishes. It is nice pour- ed into a dish about two inches deep — a tin plate with straight sides is very nice to keep on hand for such purposes — and when cold cut in squares, and served with a soft boiled custard, which should be very cold. Or the blanc mange may be sweetened and poured into a tin plate not more than an inch in depth. When cold, turn out on a platter, cover with strawberries or raspberries in their season, and sift sugar over thickly, when sent to the table. Serve with whipped cream if you have it, if not, soft cus- tard is very nice. Sliced peaches are delicious in place of berries. In the winter canned peaches or quince, or apple, drained from the syrup, will be found very nice, or apples peeled and halved with the core cut out, may be steamed and laid over the top, sometimes being frosted with the whites of two eggs, and four tablespoonfuls of sugar. Set the plate in a dripping pan o^ cold water, and put in a very quick oven till the frosting is a delicate brown Make the soft custard by heating a pint of milk in a double boiler, or in a pail set in a kettle of boiling water, add a pinch of salt, and when hot stir in a heaping teaspoonful of flour mixed smootli with a little cold milk. Stir till it is well cooketi, t'.ien add the yolks of two eggs beaten to a cream with three 1 3 2 Dniiiio- Room Notes. tablespo<)nful> of sugar. vStir for n minute or two, and when it begins to thicken, remove immediately, flavor to taste, and when cold, if I have no other use for the whites of the eggs, 1 beat them to a froth, ^jTid beat all together w-ith an t^^ beater to a foam. There is also a simple pudding which can be made m a few minutes, and is very convenient in case one has little time to spend on dessert. Scald a quart of water, and stir into it four tablespoonfuls of corn starch mixed with a little water, and half a teaspoon- ful of salt, and stir till thick and smooth. Add one ^^^ well beaten, and remove from the fire. Pour mto a pretty dish, and serve warm with a liquid sauce. Made with milk instead of water it is very nice with a cupful of desiccated cocoanut stirred in just before removing from the fire. Cocoanut is much like currants and raisins, in not requiring a special recipe for its use, being a palatable addition to many simple puddings. Neapoi. iTAN Blanc Mangk which we make very often is a great favorite with us ; is as nice for tea as for dessert, and is especially nice for children's tea parties, being very simple and at the same time one of the prettiest dishes imaginable. For one you will need three pints of milk, (I let the milk stand over night, and remove the cream to whip, ) a little corn starch, sugar and flavoring, nothing very expen- sive. Put a pint of the milk into a double boiler, or a pail set in a kettle of hot water, stir two tablespoon- fuls, (rounding full) and a teaspoonful of corn starch, with just milk enough to mix smooth, taking a little from the boiler for that purpose, and when the milk Puddif/fTs. I r '.s is hot. hilt not >cahhn as pre- ferred. Place where it will heat very gradually, un- til it reaches the boiling point, but remove before it actually boils. Twenty minutes should be allowed for the steeping process. No. 3. Put the coffee and boiling w^ater in the cof- fee pot, and place it in a kettle of boiling water to steep for fifteen minutes. This is the simplest method of coffee making, but will make excellent coffee. None but the best cofl'ee should ever be used, and the careful housekeeper will learn by a little practice just how much to make in order that no coffee may be left. "Warmed over" coffee is as unpalatable as it is unwholsome. Anv intelligent physician will tell you the injurious effects of "' boiled over" coffee or tea. Coffee pots should be carefully washed and dried. If flannel bags or filterers are used, they should be boiled daily and dried in the open air, replacing often with new. Chocolate is excellent made in the following pro- portions : Two squares or ounces of chocolate, one- half pint of water, one pint of milk, and three scant teaspoonfuls of sugar. Put the milk into a double boiler to heat, break the chocolate and put it in a bowl placed in boiling water. Pour one-half pint of boiling water into the chocolate pot. When the chocolate is melted stir the sugar into it and pour it into the boiling water. Stir till it boils and add the 126 Dining Room Notes. scalding milk, rinsing the bowl with a little of the milk, as it is difficult to scrape out all the chocolate. Stir rapidly or whip with an ^^^ beater to a froth. When it boils, send to table immediately. A little whipped cream improves it. Cold milk should be passed about the table with cliocolate. Cocoa. — Cracked cocoa is a favorite with us, and, unlike almost everything else, it can hardly be boiled too much. Two-thirds of a cupful of the cocoa to a pint and a half of cold water ; put it on in the morning and let it cook slowly all day, add- ing boiling water as it boils away. Add a pint and a half of hot milk ten or fifteen minutes be- fore serving, or serve like cofiee. For the prepared cocoas the recipes that come with each can are generally good, though some- times too strong. Epps' cocoa we make precisely by the given directions, Baker's we make as fol- lows ; put the boiling w\ater in a sauce- pan or earthen teapot, mix the cocoa smooth with a little of the water, and when it boils pour in the milk which should be boiling hot, let it boil two or three minutes and serve. Broma is prepared in the same way. Shells. — Among the most delicate of all the vari- eties of cocoa. We find the '' shells," which, properly prepared, makes a delicious drink, especially nice for invalids or nervous people — who are after all really invalids — being lighter than any of the prepared cocoas, broma, etc. A cupful of shells should be al- lowed for a pint and a half of cold water Heat gradually and boil ten minutes, add a pint and a half Tea^ Coffee^ Etc. 137 of boiling milk and boil ten niinutCvS longer. One thing in favor of shells is, that it is an article that cannot be adulterated. That sold in bulk by the grocers is not so nice as that which comes in pack- ages from a pound upwards. One can always order from the manufacturers, thus securing a good article ; it is not expensive, being about fifteen cents a pound for the best. Crust Coffee. — Which is excellent for invalids, or those with whom coflfee does not agree should be made as follows. Put a pint of coarse corn meal into a bowl and pour over it a pint of boiling water. Stir till well mixed, add a cupful of cold water, a table- spoonful of molasses, a pinch of salt and a pint of coarse wheat or oatmeal. Stir well together, dust a dripping pan with corn meal and pour in the batter. Spread evenly in the pan and bake until well brown- ed in a hot oven. When ready to make the coffee split the cake, put it into the oven to brown, taking* great care that it does not scorch, break it in pieces and put it into a large earthen coffee pot or pitcher. Half the cake will be sufficient for a quart of boiling water. Cover closely and simmer for an hour or longer. Serve with cream and sugar. Preserves, Jellies, Etc. IT^E ARE glad to see the growing desire for can- VV ned fruits, which are fast taking the place of the richer '' pound for pound " preserves of old days ; which, delicious as they are, are much less wholesome and can be used but sparingly. But the canning process gives the majority of housekeepers the comfort of serving fruits at their tables the greater part of the year when fresh fruits are only within reach of the wealthy few. Fruit to be canned should be selected with care. If not quite ripe, or if over-ripe it will not keep. Many an inexperienced house-keeper has condemned a good recipe because her fruit did not keep well, when the fault lay with the fruit itself Care also should be taken that the jars and rubber rings are per- fect. If the jars have been used it is safer to buy new rings every year. They are always kept by the dealers in fruit jars, in quantity, and are sold for a few cents a dozen. One should always give the name and size of her jars in buying these rings as they vary much. With good cans, ripe fruit, a reliable recipe, and plenty of paper wraps, one ought never to have any trouble in keeping canned fruit, as long as it will last. The next morning after canning fruit, if any jar is Preserves^ yellies^ Etc. 129 not quite full, fill it with a little boiling syrup. If there was none left for the purpose boil a little in the proportion of one-half cup of sugar to a cupful of water, and fill the jars. If the fruit is put up without sugar, use boiling water. Then screw on all the top>^ as tight as possible. If they were perfectly tight yesterday, some of them will be a little loose now that the jars are cold, and wrap each jar in thick pa- per. This is one of the most important points. All canned fruit should be kept in a cool, dry, and dark place, but the simple precaution of wrapping each jar in paper saves much trouble. Tomatoes are es- pecially benefited by this method, and all fruit keeps the color and flavor better if each jar has its paper wrap. We paste slips of paper on which the name of the fruit is written on each wrap, thus saving the trouble of opening the papers to see whether we have pears, peaches or berries. Peaches. — In canning peaches we sometimes use them whole, but generally halve them to remove the stones, as they are apt to crack and give too much of their flavor to the fruit to render it wholsome We halve and stone the fruit before peeling it, as there is not the danger of breaking which there is if the tough peel is first removed. Weigh the fruit and put it in a porcelain kettle with a half pint of water to to each pound of fruit. Heat gradually and boil slowly for twenty minutes, or until a fork will pierce the fruit easily. There is so much difference in the many varieties of peaches as to cooking, that it is im- possible to give the time to a minute. Dip out the boil- 130 Dining Room Notes. ing fruit into your jars, filling them two-thirds or three-quarters full. When the fruit is all out, pour in the juice, and screw on the tops immediately. Canned in this manner without sngar, peaches retain to a remarkable degree the fine flavor of the fresh fruit, and are delicious for pies, cream puddings, etc., or served with whipped cream for dessert. When wanted for the table, open the jars an hour perhaps before they are to be served, pouring out the fruit part at a time, sprinkling sugar over each layer, and over the top. They are so like fresh peaches that one would scarcely believe them to be canned. When peaches are canned whole, we often dip them in boiling water, after which the peel can be easily re- moved. Pears. — Pears require one half pint of water to each pound of fruit, the tart varieties, such as the Bartletts, etc., need also one-half pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Sweet varieties, like the Seck- els, require but one pound of sugar to three of fruit. Large pears should be peeled and halved and the cores removed, Seckels and other small pears are peeled and the blossom end is removed, but a short fstem left on. Pears, too, need boiling very gently and until well done. From twenty to thirty minutes is usually sufficient. Five minutes before removing from the fire (or when a fork will pierce the fruit easily), add the sugar, stir gently, and as soon as it has well boiled up fill the jars with the pears, (we use a large silver fork for the purpose) pour in the boiling juice and screw on the tops immediately. Plums. — Pour boiling water over the fruit in order Preserves^ ydlies^ Etc. 131 to remove the skins readily, after which weigh and put them into the preserving kettle with the same amount of water as for peaches and pears. Boil gen- tly for twenty minutes, then add the sugar, one- half pound to each pound of fruit Let it boil up and can immediately. Some very sweet plums of the white and yellow varieties are nice with one pound of sugar to three pounds of fruit, but most plums develop a de- cided acidity when cooked. Crab Apples are canned precisely as we can pears with two exceptions ; the apples are not peel- ed, simply washed and the blossom end removed — which necessitates very fair, perfect fruit, and after the fruit is cooked through like the pears, and the sugar added, they should be allowed to boil gently five minutes. Quince. — Wash the fruit — the orange quince is the best variety — peel, quarter, and remove the cores. Weigh the Iruit, and for each three pounds put one quart of water into the preserving kettle. When boiling hot put in as much of the fruit as will float ; if packed closely the pieces break easily. Cook slowly until tender, which usually takes about twen- ty minutes. Then remove the quince carefully to a large platter (as it must not be piled sufficiently for the weight to break the fruit) and put another layer •of fruit in to cook. When all is done add sugar to the water in which the fruit has been boiled, one- half pound for each pound of fruit, and when dissolved and the syrup boils, put in sufficient fruit to fill a jar, boil slowly five minutes, and pour carefully into the can. Proceed in 132 Dinuig Room Notes. this manner until the quince is all cooked, then til! the jars with the boiling syrup and screw on the tops. Berries for canning should be as freshly picked as possible, and washed by putting a quart at a time in a colander and dipping carefully into a large pan of cold water. Let them stand for a minute and 'ift the colander carefully. If the water is not clear fill the pan again and dip the berries once more. Then drain and pour into a dish to weigh. By this means all the dust or grit from which few berries are free is done away with, without injuring the berries, as is done by washing in the usual manner. Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries AND Blueberries are canned as follows : Pick the fruit carefully and wash as directed above. Drain thoroughly, weigh and put into a porcelain kettle, heating gradually. Weigh the sugar — granulated is best — and allow one pound to each three pounds of fruit; put it in a dripping pan and place it in the oven, leaving the door open if the oven is hot. Stir occasionally until warmed through. Let the fruit boil five minutes, add the warm sugar slowly, and stir gently to dissolve the sugar, being careful not to break the fruit. Let it just boil up, and can immediately, filling the jars as soon as possible. Currants. — Pick and wash carefully ; weigh, and to each pound allow one-half pound of sugar. Pro- ceed as in above directions. Rhubarb. — Peel and cut the stalks in small pieces, weigh, and to each allow one-half pound of sugar. Preserves^ Jellies^ Etc. \if^ Put fruit and sugar together into the preserving kct" tie, let it heat gradually and boil slowly fifteen min- utes. We sometimes can rhubarb, also blackberries, without sugar. They retain the flavor and are not so juicy as when cooked with sugar, being excellent for pies, shortcakes, etc., adding sugar when we use them. Apples, unless one can keep them fresh until very late in the spring, should be canned in large quanti- ties, either in the fall when they are generally cheap and plenty, or in the spring, when it will be found a very convenient manner of disposing of the barrel of choice greenings or baldwins, which show an aggra- vating and depraved disposition to keep no longer. At this time, too, most of us have a quantity of emp- ty fruit jars which have been emptied of their con- tents during the winter. The apples should be peel- ed, quartered and cored, and put into a dish of cold water till ready for the kettle. Cook thoroughly and yet as quickly as possible, slow cooking giving a dark color. Sometimes we can them without sugar. It is a good plan to put up several cans in this manner if the- apples are good. They often retain their delicioue' fresh flavor, but unless very sound and nice they will not keep so well without sugar, one pound of whi'ch; to four pounds of fruit is a good rule. Water (boil- ing) to just cook the fruit should be used ; if the ap- ples are very juicy there should not be enough water used to cover while cooking. Can hot and screw on' the tops immediately. Keep in a cool, dry closet, wrapped in paper. Sometimes we open a jar of I 134 Dining RootJi Notes. ^quince and tnix with sufficient apple to fill four or ifive jars^ putting it in the kettle to boil with the ap- ;ple. It ^ives a nice flavor and makes a little variety. For those who have little other fruit these canned .apples will prove a valuable addition to their daily fare. Pies and shortcakes — the latter are delicious — are easily prepared for desserts. A dish of whole- some and delicious sauce is always at hand for the tea table, and the expense is slight, almost noth- ing, compared with the price asked for the '• canned fruit '^ in market. Cherries. — These are among the most delicious of our canned fruits. Select large, ripe cherries, wash them, cut in halves, and remove the stones and stems. Weigh, and to each pound of fruit allow one- half pound of sugar — unless for the very sweet varie- ties, which require but one third sugar. P,uft with the fruit in a porcelain kettle, heat grad- ually, -stirriwg occasionally ver}' gently until the sugar is dissolved. Boil from fifteen to twenty minutes and can loii mediately. Tomatoes. — Select firm and not over-ripe fruit. Dip into boiling water and remove the skins, and cut into halves and quarters, according to the size. Put into .a porcelain kettle and boil ten minutes. Can imiTked lately. Sometimes we cool the tomatoes and sift, then re- turn to tJie kettle and bring to the boiling point, and pour into the cans. For seasoning soups, etc., it is very nice, and many prefer it as sauce without the seeds. Tomatoes must be freshly picked or they will not keep well. Presci'ves, Jellies, Etc. 135 Orange Marmalade. — This is very delicate and especially nice for invalids. Grate the yellow rind of two from each dozen oranges, then peel and cut the fruit in small pieces and remove all the seed. Put it into a porcelain kettle, heat gradually, and boil gently ten minutes. Stir in the grated rind, and remove from the fire. When cool sift it. and to each pint allov^ a pound of sugar. Return to the kettle, heat slowly, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently, stirring occasionally during the first half hour, then constantly for fifteen minutes. Sometimes it requires a little longer to cook, there being such a difference in oranges. When done pour into jelly glasses, and when cold, and dry on the top, cover with sugar, and tie paper over. It is delicious to spread between cakes instead of jelly, to use in a sponge cake pudding, etc. Never stir this, or in fact any fruit, with an iron spoon. If too stiff to use sil- ver, use a wooden spoon. Apple Marmalade. — Select, tart apples, of fine flavor, wash and cut in quarters, leaving both peel and cores to give it flavor. Put the apple into a porce- lain kettle with a little water to prevent scorching. A pint to half a peck of fruit is sufficient. Let it cook till soft enough to mash easily, then cool and sift. A larsre mixing bowl is nice to sift it into ; never use tin for any fruit. When sifted, measure, and to each pint allow a pound of sugar. Put together in the kettle and heat gradually, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently for three-quarters of an hour, stirring nearly all the time ; put it in bowls or glasses — pint bowls are best, as marmalade is likely to dry if in very small dishes. 136 Dining Room Notes. Apples make a very nice foundation for marma- lades, flavoring v/ith other fruits. One large pine- apple, or half a dozen quinces (or the peelings and cores of the latter, left from preserves or pickles), to half a peck of apples, makes it very nice. Quince Marmalade. — Make exactly like apple marmalade. All marmalades and jams should have a layer of sugar put over the top before covering with pap.er. It prevents mould and drying. Paper pasted over the top of marmalade or jelly is much better than the covers which come with many of the glasses. Cut rather thick paper, brown or white, in rounds an inch larger than the tops of the bowls or glasses. Wet the edge with flour paste and press down smoothly over the side of the glass. These covers should not be put on until the second or third day after making. Strawberry Jam. — Three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of berries. Put together in a porcelain kettle, and when the sugar begins to melt mash the berries with a strong wooden spoon or a potato masher. When it boils stir constantly for twenty minutes, boiling gently. Put in bowls or jelly oflasses. When made from wild strawberries the flavor is much finer. Peach Jam. — When preparing peaches to can there are many which break. These pieces make de- licious jam. Mash the fruit with a potato masher as fine as possible, heat till just scalding hot, cool and sift through a fine colander. To each pint allow Preserves, yellics. Etc. 137 three quarters of a pound of su<^ar ; put it into the kettle together an(i stir till the sugar is melted. Boil slowly half an hour, stirring nearly all the time. It is very nice to use in cake puddings, in place of the fresh fruit, makes delicious tarts, and Ms easily made. Plums, especially damsons, make very nice jam, using this rule. Barberry Jam. — The berries should be perfectly ripe and fresh. Put them in a kettle with half a pint of water to each two quarts of fruit and mash the berries until warm but not hot. Sift, and to each pint alluw a pound of sugar ; iieat giadujilly and boil twenty minutes. Pineapple Jam. — Peel and grate the fruit ; to each pint allow a pound of sugar, and boil gently three-quarters of an hour, stirring very often. Blackberry and Raspberry Jam are made pre- cisely like strawberry jam, excepting that the black- berry should boil one- half hour instead of twenty minutes. Grape Jam. — Pick the grapes carefully from the stems, wash and drain, and put them in a porcelain kettle over a slow fire, breaking the grapes with a potato masher. When warm, but not hot — as scald- ing any fruit with seeds gives a strong, unpleasant flavor — remove from the fire, cool a little and sift through a coarse sieve. To each pint allow three- quarters of a pound of sugar. Return to the Kettle and boil half an hour, stirring often. Put in fruit jars. It is nice to serve with meats, if only half a pound of sugar is used. ■3S Dining Roo7n Notes. Cranberry Jam. — Select firm, ripe berries, wash and put them a preserving kettle with one quart of water to three quarts of cranberries. Boil rapidly for twenty minutes, mashing the berries with a strong wooden spoon or potato masher. Cool and sift. Re- turn to the kettle (which should be washed and dried) and bring just to the boiling point. Can im- mediately. If the fruit is ripe and the jars perfect this jam will keep all through the 3^ear. When want- ed for use heat in a porcelain sauce pan with suffi- cient sugai" and pour into moulds. Strawberry Preserves. — Allow one pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Put together in the preserving kettle and heat gradually ; simmer gently for ten minutes, skim out the fruit carefully and boil the syrup rapidly ten minutes. Then add the fruit and boil very slowly five minutes. Put into bowls- or glasses, and when cold cover the tops with pa- per. Preserved Peaches. — Allow one pound of sugar and one- half pint of water to each pound of fruit. The peaches may be halved and stoned, or left whole, as preferred, and peeled carefullv so the fruit need not be broken. Put the sugar and water into a porcelain kettle, and when it begins to boil put in the peaches, and boil slowly till tender and clear. Take them out carefull}' into bowls, and if the syrup is thin boil it ten minutes, pour it over the peaches, and let them stand till next day before covering. Preserved Grapes. — Take wild, or any large grapes when just beginning to grow purple, cut in Preserves^ yellies. Etc. ly^ halves and remove the seeds. Weigh, and to eacb pound allow one pound of sugar. Put together in a preserving kettle, heat gradually, and boil slowly for twenty minutes, or until the skins are tender. Do not stir it to break the fruit. We sometimes remove the skins before seeding the grapes. Preserved Quince. — Wash the fruit, peel quar- ter and core, and cover with cold water. Put the peel and cores in a preserving kettle with water to- cover, and boil one-half hour. Strain through a jelly bag. Weigh the fruit ; to each pound allow a pound of sugar, and one-half pint of water, including that in which the cores, etc., were boiled. Put in the quince and boil gently for fifteen minutes, skim out the pieces, tailing great care not to break them. Add the su2"ar to the boilinsr water and when dissolved and boiling hot return the fruit to the kettle and sim- mer gently for fifteen or twenty minutes. If there is not sufficient syrup to cover the fruit, add water to make the desired quantity when the fruit is first put into the syrup. Boiling water must of course be used, and not too lavishly. Preserved PlUxMS. — Pour boiling water over the fruit if the skins are to be removed, draining imme- diately, that the fruit may not soften. Weigh the fruit, allowing a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Put together in the preserving kettle, heat gradually and simmer until the fruit is tender. Preserved Raspberries.— Use only firm,, freshly picked berries. Look over carefully, weigh, and to each pound allow a pound of sugar. Put sugar and 54° Dining Room Notes. berries together and mash fine. Put immediately into fruit jars, and screw on the tops. These keep per- fectly and the flavor is delicious. ' Preserved Currants. — Pick carefully from the stems, wash and weigh the fruit, and to each pound allow one pound of sugar. Put half the fruit in the preserving kettle, and when just warm, mash and strain through a jelly bag. Put the juice and sugar into the kettle and boil gently for fifteen minutes. Then add the remainins: half of the currants, and boil slowly rfor five minutes. The currants will be ju-^t cooked' through, and will remain whole in the jelly. Preserved Citrox. — Select well-ripened melons, cut in quarters, peel, and remove the seeds. Then cut in strips about onehall inch in width, cutting each into three or four pieces or in squares, as pre- ferred. Rinse, drain, and put the fruit in a preserv- insf kettle with sufficient cold water to cover, and let it: cook slowly until clear. Half an hour ought to be sufficient. Drain and weigh the citron, and to each pound allow one pound of sugar and one lemon Put the sugar into the preserving kettle with one- half pint of water for each pound of sugar Wash the lemons, cut in thin slices (removing all the seeds) and each slice in halves. When the syrup boils, skim if necessary, add the citron and lemon and cook very slowly until the citron is clear and very tender ; from half to three-quarters of an hour is sufficient. Let it cool in the kettle ^before putting in jars. Glass fruit jars are excellent for the purpose. Half a pound of sugar to each pound of citron makes very good pre- serves. Preseves, yellies^ Etc. \a\ Currant Jelly. Wash tlie fruit, mash, and -strain through a jelly hag. The flavor is hetter than when the fruit is heated. Measure the juice, and to each pint allow a pound of sugar. Put the juice in a porcelain kettle, and the suo-ar in a dripping pan, which should be placed in a moder- ate oven. Care should be taken that it does not heat too rapidly, or it will nielt. Let the juice boil rapidly just twenty minutes, then pour in the sugar a little at a time that the juice may not entirely stop boiling. Stir very gently until the sugar dissolves, let it just boil up, and pour into glasses or bowls. One pound of raspberries to each three pounds of currants makes a very nice jelly. Half each of white and red currants makes the jelly beautiful in color and more delicate in flavor. Apple Jelly.— Wash and quarter tart, juicy ap- ples — red makes the handsomest jelly — but do not peel or core them. Put them in a porcelain kettle with a pint of boiling water to one-half peck of ap- ples. Cook slowly until very soft, and strain through a jelly hag. Do not squeeze the pulp too much or the jelly will not be clear. To each pint of juice allow a pound of sugar. Put together in the kettle and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Skim if necessary and boil twenty-flve minutes. Crapj Apple Jelly. — This is one of the hand- somest jellies made, and is made precisely like apple jelly, excepting that it needs to boil but twenty min- utes. Grape Jelly. — Muscadines and Isabellas make ;the best jelly. The former should not be fully ripe 143 Dining Room Notes. when used. Pick from the steins, wash and put them in a porcelain kettle over a verv slow fire. Strain throusfh a thin flannel or strainer cloth a little at a time, but do not squeeze it, or the jelly will not be clear and smooth ; the pulp can be sifted for jam. To each pint of juice allow a pound of sugar. Pour the juice into the kettle and atld the sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. Boil steadily twenty minutes, skimming as it requires. Quince and Apple Jelly. — To the peelings and cores from a peck of quinces, allow half a peck of tart applet, wash, quarter and core, but do not peel them. Put all in a kettle, vvith just enough water to show at the edge when the fruit is wellpiessed down. Boil gently until the apple is reduced to a pulp. Strain through a jelly bag, and to each pint of juice allow a pound of sugar. Heat gradually, stir- ring till the sugar is dissolved. Boil gently twenty or twenty-fiv^e minutes. Cranberry and Apple Jelly. — Wash a peck of tart, juicv apples, quarter, but do not peel nor core them. Wash two quarts of nice cranberries and chop them a little. Put all into a porcelain kettle with just enough water to show at the edge, but not to cover the fruit. Boil slowly, stirring occasionally until well cooked. Half an hour should be ^ulS- cient. and care should be taken that it does not scorch. Strain through flannel, squeezing very gen- tly, that no pulp may work through. To each pint of juice allow one pound of sugar. Boil twenty min- utes, or twenty-five if it seems thin. This makes very handsome and delicious jelly. Preserves, y elites, Etc. 145 Poke-Berry Jelly. — This is used only for color- ins: creams, jellies, frosting, etc. ; the recipe for it was given some vears ago in Harper's Bazar. It is made like any jelly, but as a small quantity only is needed, both juice and sugar are measured. A tea- cupful each of juice and sugar will make a quantity sufficient tolasta year. Last year we boiled the svrup only ten minutes, and poured it into a wide-nosed bottle, keeping it tightly corked, and found it more convenient. One-half teaspoonful is sufficient to* color a pint. A hard crust will form on the top, but it breaks easily and will dissolve readily. It cannot be used to color cake. Cranberry S.auce. — To make nice cranberry sauce the berries, after being thoioughly washed, should be put into a saucepan, (porcelain, never iroa or tin,) wnth a pint and a half of boiling water to* each quart of berries, and boil rapidly for twenty minutes, mashing the berries with a strong wooden spoon or masher. Then add two teacupfuls of sugar to each quart of berries, stir well, let it boil up, and pour into a dish to cool. It should be very cold when served. We usually pass the stewed fruit, after cool- ing a little, through a coarse sieve, and return to the saucepan before adding the suga?", let it just come toa boil, stir in the sugar and boil gently three or four minutes Then pour into moulds or a prettv glass dish. If one once serves the berries in this way she will never use them without ridding them of the tough and indigestible skins, which really should never be eaten. If the berries are not large and full use but a pint of water to a quart of berries. Lon^ cooking spoils both color and flavor. 344 Dining Room Notes. Apple Sauce. — Put the freshly-cut apple into a saucepan, adding just enough boihng water to reach l^e top layer of apple, and boil rapidly till done. From twenty minutes to half an hour will cook any apples which are fit to make into sauce. Then stir in sugar to make it as sweet as you desire it, remember- ing that it will be less, tart when cold. The apple will be light, both in color and quality, and should be i-ery cold when served. If cranberries are not to be ibml, there is nothing equal to nice apple sauce to S€ive with meats. Frosted Apples — Select large, fair apples, not too sour. Remove the cores, but do not cut through the apple. Then peel and put them on a plate which will fit into your steamer and will also be piesentable ®n the table, as the apples cannot be removed. Seven ©r eight apples can be put upon one plate, one in the centre and the rest around it. Steam until you can pierce them easilv with a broom corn, and set away to cool. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff' froth, add six tablepoonfuls — one at a time — of fine granu- lated sugar, and frost the apples while slightlv warm. Place in a quick oven till lightly browned. Serve very cold. This amount of frosting is sufficient for two platefuls of apples. For one plateful we use two eggs, as one is not sufficient to frost them hand- somely. These are delicious, and are especially nice for children's parties, being both simple and wholesome, and at the same time making a very ornamental ^ish. Baked Apples, — Wash and core large apples — Preserves^ J elites^ Etc. 145 pearmains are delicious- — but do not peel them. A little practice and a good corer will enable one to re- move the cores withont cutting through the apple, removing- the blossom end from the outside. Put them on a pie plate, and fill the core cavities with sugar, adding a little nutmeg, or other spice if pre- ferred. If the apples are not, juicy put a teaspoonful of water in each, and bake slowly till well done These are very nice served warm. Baked Sweet Apples. — Peel, quarter and core and fill an earthen pudding dish — not one of the deep ones — with the apples, pouring over them a little cold water, one-half teacupful to a quart dish full of apple is a good rule. Put tliem in a rather quick oven and when they have baked about half an hour sprinkle £ little sugar over the top An hour is generally sufE- cient to cook them, but some varieties require longer cooking. They should be thoroughly done, and are delicious to eat with bread and milk, or to serve warm with cream at tea. Whipped cream is very nice with them, and served with fresh rolls or good bread and butter makes a dessert which will be appreciated by most people. Any apples which are not too tart, are delicious cooked in this manner, using of course suflticient sugar to make them nice, and apples which are too tender to allow removing the cores whole, can be used in this simple manner with equal satis- faction. Baked Pears. — Pears are delicious baked in the same manner ; they do not, however, need to be peel- ed nor cored. B46 Dining Room Notes. Lemon Jelly. — Put a boxful (or one ounce) of gelatine in a large bowl with four tablespoonfuls of cold water to soften it, when soft pour over it just Ithree pints of actively boiling w^ater, add two and one- half cupfuls of granulated sugar and the juice of three large lemons. Stir well and strain through flannel, or any very fine strainer. Pour into bowls or moulds, and when cold put into the refrigerator until next day. One third or one-half can be made, in pro- portion, taking care in measuring the gelatine. This jelly can be varietl in manv ways. It is very nice made with the juice of a large pineapple and one Jemon, omitting the other two ; or, a pint of water may be omitted, using in its place a pint of strawber- ry juice. Very ripe peaches mav be cut in six or » eight pieces and put into the plain jelly, in which \ case one lemon only should be used and the peaches I should not be stirred in until the jelly is nearly cold. f Stir in lightly and pour into moulds. Large ripe '* strawberries or sliced bananas are nice used in place ^ ^ the peaches. \ I Pickles. ^' f^ALL them things pickles!" exclaimed an old \y lady the other day, looking at the windows of one of our large grocery stores, which were filled with jars containing the small cucumbers and the mixed and chopped pickles of the present day. '* In my day we had pickles that was pickles, good sized cucumbers cooked in our brass kettles. Some color to 'em. None of your little cucumbers two inches long, and that chopped stuff — I call it hash, all spice and seasoning I Wall, 'taint none of my busi- ness, as I know on, so long as I ain't got to eat 'em." And her big umbrella came down on the brick walk with an indignant protest against the degenerate fashion of the day, which taboos brass kettles and alum and adopts "spices and seasoning." Whether the pickles of to-day are really much bet- ter than those of old times which bore their full .measure of poison with their combined verdigris and alum, we cannot say. That is, so far as those which are kept for sale in the stores are concerned. The poisonous ingredients which go to make up ''store " vinegar making the unwholesomeness about even. But the home-made pickles of the present day, when "we can procure pure vinegar, are perhaps as whol- ^ome, eaten in the small quantities which their hio-h 1^8 Dining Room Notes. seasoning renders obligator}-, as such things can be made. And since those who hke them will eat them, let them see that they are properly prepared, cooked in porcelain and kept in glass. Pickled Cucumbers. — Here is an old method of pickling small cucumbers which we like better than any we have ever tried. Pick the cucumbers when they are two or three inches long, never larger, wash in cold water, dry carefully with soft cloths and pack them in glass fruit jars, putting whole cloves, stick cinnamon, pepper corns and allspice with them, al- lowing a teaspoon ful of each — except the cinnamon, we use a little more of that, breaking it in small pieces — to each quart jar, sprinkling them in with the cucumbers as evenly as you can. When the jar is full, fill it with cold vinegar, screw on the cover, or paste paper brushed with the white of an ^%%. over the tops. In this way, jars to which the covers have been lost or broken, may be utilized. Wrap each jar in paper, and keep in a cool, dry place. These are good in four weeks, and if the vinegar is good, will keep until the next summer as fresh and crisp as when first put up. There are two advantages which this method possesses over others. Its simplicity and the convenience of being able to put up a few at a time, for those who depend upon their own gardens, any one being able to gather from a few hills of cu- cumbers enough at once of the right size to fill a quart jar. When celery can be procured, it is a great improve- ment to these pickles, added in the proportion of one medium sized bunch to two quarts of cucumbers. Pickles. 149 Cut off all the leaves and tough outside stalks and cut the rest into pieces about half an inch in lengthy distributing as evenly as possible among the cucum- bers. If it is too early in the season for good celery, the seed can be used, a teaspoonful to each jar, using with the spices. Should the vinegar become clouded or a white scum rise, which sometimes will happen if the vine- gar is not good, pour it off and add fresh, the best you can get. We never have any trouble in keeping- these pickles through the year when we have good vinegar to put them in. Pickled Onions. — Let the onions (alter peeling) lie in salted water over night. A teacupful of salt will be sufficient for four quarts of water. Rinse in clear water two or three times, letting them stand in the last water half an hour, then drain for an hour or two and pack them in jars with spices, (in the same proportion as in the preceding recipe) add- ing chopped celery or celery seed if liked, or spices may be omitted if desired. Then scald sufficient good vinegar to fill the jars full, pouring on when boiling hot. Cover and keep cool and dry. Pickled Onions, No. 2. — Peel the onions, which should be the small white ones, and let them lie in salted water twenty- four hours. For four quarts of onions allow a scant teacupful of salt to sufficient water to cover them. Rinse and pour over them sufficient good vinegar, scalding hot but not boiling, to cover, and let them stand three days. For this amount (four quarts) you will need for the dressing one-fourth pound of the best ground mustard, one- K I CO Dining Room Notes. half ounce of whole cloves, one-half ounce of stick cinnamon, one-fourth ounce of celery seed, one- fourth ounce of turmeric, and one-fourth teaspoonful of cayenne pepper. Drain the onions, put one quart of fresh vinegar into a porcelain kettle, mix the mustard with just enough cold vinegar to make a smooth paste, add the turmeric, pepper and celery seed, and pour into the hot vinegar, stirring till it thickens. Have the onions filled into the jars, with the spices divided as evenly as possible, and pour the hot mixture over them, shaking the jars gently that it may reach the bottom, Fill very full and screw on the tops, or paste paper over. Keep in a cool, dry, and dark closet. Pickled Cabbage. — There is a simple pickle of chopped cabbage which is easy to prepare and also very nice for those who like such relishes. Select firm white cabbages, cut and wash in cold water, and chop fine. To two quarts of the chopped cab- bage allow one bunch of crisp celery and one onion. Chop both, the onion should be very fine, and mix with the cabbage. Put a cupful of vinegar in a bowl -with half an ounce each of cloves and stick cinna- F-non. and a teaspoonful of pepper corns. Place the bowl closely covered, in a dish of boiling water, and Jet it steep for an hour. The spice and pepper should be pounded a little, enough to break or bruise before using. When the cabbage and other ingredients are chop- ped and mixed, pack in jars, nearly filling them, strain the spiced vinegar when cold, into a quart of cold vinegar, and fill the jars. This will keep well, Pickles. I c I and is ready for use a few days after it is prepared. When the onion and celery is used, the spice may be omitted, or if celery cannot be obtained, use one half ounce of celery seed, steeping it with the spices. This pickle is very nice seasoned only with the spices, or celery. Chow Chow. — Take one peck of green tomatoes wash, and chop them fine. Sprinkle with three ta- blespoonfuls of salt, and let them stand twenty-four hours. Then drain them well, and add a dozen small onions chopped fine, and when well mixed, stir in two ounces of white mustard seed. Put two quarts of good cider vinegar in a porce- lain kettle, add to it one ounce of whole pepper, one ounce of stick cinnamon, and one-half ounce of whole cloves ; let it boil slowly for an hour and <at Mush— One cupful of granu- lated oats, four cupfuls of hot water and a teaspoon- ful of salt. Boil one and one-half hours and serve with cream and sugar. This is very nice and delicate. Brain Food Mush. — One cupful of brain food, mixed with one cupful of warm water ; stir it into a double boiler containing three cupfuls of boiling wa- ter, add a teaspponful of salt, and cook two and one- half hours. Serve with cream and sugar. Granulated Wheat Mush.— One quart of boiling watt-r salted to taste. Into it while boiling rapidly shake the wheat very slowly beating with a silver fork constantly until sufficiently thick and free from lumps. Cook ten minutes after it is sufficiently beaten, and serve immediately. Mush from the Granulated Rye and Crude Gluten is made in this manner. Gruels. Pearled Corn Meal Gruel. — Pour two cup- fuls of cold water into a double boiler, add a pinch of salt and a tablespoonful of pearled corn meal ; cover and cook two hours and a half. Strain, and add a little sugar if liked, and a very \itt\e nutmeg, or serve with a little more salt and stir in a tablespoon- ful of cream. Granulated Oat Gruel. — Put a pint of cold water and two even tablespoonfuls of granulated oats^ into a double kettle, add one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, cover and cook steadily two hours. Then strain, add a little cream if desired — not more than a table- spoonful — and flavor to suit. A bit of orange peel may be grated in, and a little sugar added, though flavoring should be sparingly used in invalids food, vanilla and lemon being especially objectionable although most generally in use. Crushed Pearled Oat Gruel. — Allow an even tablespoonful of the oats to each half pint of boiling water. Cook in a double boiler two or three hours Strain, add salt to taste and serve. In salting gruel- one should be guided by the taste of the patient One recovering from a fever will require more salt usually, than at any other time, while in other ill- Gruels. 1 65 nesses a very small amount of salt is often painful to the sensitive mouth. Brain Food Gruel. — Two cupfuls of w^ater, three heaping teaspoonfuls of brain food, and one- fourth teaspoonful of salt. Cook in a double boiler tw^o hours. Strain, and serve plain, or add a little cream and sugar if liked. Barley Gruel. — Put a pint and a half of cold water, and a scant half cup of granulated barley into a double boiler, and cook steadily three hours. Strain, and serve warm with a little salt in it, or let it cool, and add a little lemon juice and sugar. This makes a delicate and nourishing drink. A little more water may be added when it is taken cold if one wishes. Universal Food Gruel. — Scald half a pint of new milk, and when boiling stir in a heaping tea- spoonful of Universal Food, mixed to a smooth paste with a very little cold milk or water. Stir for two or three minutes, and pour it into a bowl which must be placed in a dish of boiling water for half an hour, stirring occasionally. When done, salt and sweeten as desired and eat warm. Universal Food Blancmange. — Boil one-half pint of water, and add to it two heaping tablespoon - fuls of Universal Food mixed with half a pint of milk. Add a little salt — perhaps one fourth of a teaspoon- ful, and stir till it boils ; then pour it into a double boiler and cook two hours. Dip moulds or cups into cold water, pour in the blancmange, and keep in a cool place until it is wanted. Serve with cream and sugar. L Cold Blast Extra Flour. THIS rich white flour, containing a large propor- tion of gluten, and, therefore much more substan- tial nutriment than any flour in the market, may be used in any recipe in place of the ordinary flour, remembering only, that much less is necessary, than of other brands. Bread, rolls, soda biscuits etc., must be mixed much softer when this flour is used ; a cake which requires, say, two cupfuls of ordinary flour, requiring but a cup and three-quarters of this. After using a short time however, the gain from an ■economical point of view, will be considered of flight importance beside the gain in strength-giving [power. Cold Blast Extra Rolls, No. i. — Eight cup- fuls of cold blast extra flour, two cupfuls of milk, two tablespoon fuls of butter, one-half cupful of yeast, or one-half cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in one-half cupful of warm water, one tablespoonful of sugar, and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Place the flour in a pan over a kettle of water just hot enough to steam, and stir the flour until it is warm. The milk should be scalded and cooled till hike warm, the but- ter softened sufficiently to stir easily, but not melted. Put the flour in a large mixing bowl which has been warmed, and add to it the milk (in which salt and Cold Blast Extra Flour. 167 sugar has been dissolved), yeast and butter. Stir well, turn out and knead thoroughly. Return to the bowl, cover and keep warm till very light, which will be in about four hours. Knead again, roll one-half inch thick, cut out, spread with butter lightly and fold to- gether. Place very close together in a dripping pan, and rise till the pan is full. Brush the top with melted butter, and bake slowly from twenty five to thirty minutes. Cold Blast Extra Rolls No. 2. — Three cup- fuls of Cold Blast Extra Flour, one cupful of milk, a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of sugar, the white of one o.^^ beaten to a stifl' froth, and three teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix the butter with the flour, sift in the baking powder and stir well together. Add the milk, sugar, and ^%%, and mix quickly. Roll rather more than half an inch thick, cut into rounds and fold one-half over, placing a bit of butter under the folded edge, or, cut in squares about four inches across, cut each in two, cornerwise, and roll up commencing with the longest side. Curve into horse shoe shape; brush over with milk, after placing them in buttered tins, and bake ten or twelve minutes in a quick oven. The flour should always be sifted be- fore measuring. Cold Blast Extra Biscuit, — One cup and a half of milk, four cups of flour, one-third cup of but- ter, three heaping tea^^poonfuls of baking powder. Mix the butter and flour together, sift in the powder stirring thoroughly, then mix with the milk, as quick- ly as possible. Mould just enough to get the dough 1 68 Dining Room Notes. in shape to roll. Roll an inch or more in thickness^ cut into biscuits, and bake in a quick oven. If the oven is sufficiently hot, ten minutes will be long- enough. Cold Blast Extra Bread. — One quart of sweet new milk lukewarm, or one quart of warm water, one teacupful of good sweet yeast, home made, or one cake of dry yeast dissolved in a cupful of warm water and strained. Mix just stiff enough to. knead easily, knead well, put in a large mixing bowl, cover with an inverted pan that will not touch the bread, and let it rise till morning, when it must be well kneaded. Cut it in loaves and set to rise in the bak- ing pans, which should be about half full. Place where they will keep warm, cover with a cloth, and when the pans are rounding full, put in a moderate oven and bake about an hour. Cold Blast Extra Bread (With Compress- ed Yeast). — One pint of warm new milk, one tea- spoonful of salt and two of sugar, one-half of a tw^o cent cake of yeast. When the yeast is dissolved, mix in sufficient flour for a thick batter, cover and let it rise until very light which should not take more than three hours. Then mix in just enough flour to knead smoothly, and when well kneaded, cut into loaves and put in pans to rise ; rise and bake like the preceeding recipe. This bread can be easily made and baked in five houis. Cream Toast. — Put a cupful of milk into a sauce- pan, or a double boiler, add a pinch of salt, and mix a teaspoonful of purified gluten with a little of the milk Cold Blast Extra Flour. 169 to a smooth paste. When the milk is scalding hot, stir in the gluten, and stir till it thickens. Toast a slice of whole wheat flour bread, or the fine granu- lated wheat, to a delicate brown. Cut off* the crusts, «tir two tablespoon fuls of cream into the thickened milk, and dip in the toast. Let it stand a minute and dish. A few gluten wafers, heated in the oven and put into the cream for a minute, are very nice. The cold blast extra flour bread also makes very nice toast. Butter may be used instead of cream, but is not so nice. This amount of cream will be suffic- ient for two slices of toast. Peeled Wheat Flour. THIS IS a fine fiour made from the best whole grain after the removal of the four bran-coats — the wheat being peeled or denuded of its strawy covering, by water and agitation. The flouring pro- cess is performed without millstones, thus no heat is imparted and no millstone grit added. The flour is not bolted or sifted, and therefore contains all the nutriment of the wheat. The bread made from this flour is not white, but it is fully fifty per cent richer in gluten than any other flour to be found, — accord- ing to Prof Leeds. It contains three to four times as much of the phosphates — for the brain, the nerves, and the bones — as the best commercial flour. It is therefore a very powerful upbuilding food, con- taining all that is demanded for the best growth of children, and the support of adult life. The '* C. B. X." or Cold Blast Extra flour is prepared by similar methods. It is a fairly white flour, very rich in nitro- gen, and therefore more nourishing than other white flours. Peeled Wheat Flour Bread No. i. — One-third of a cake of compressed yeast, three cupfuls of warm milk, or water, or half of each, half a teaspoon! ul of^ salt, two teaspoorifuls of sugar if liked, and four cup- fuls of Peeled Wheat (formerly called Cold Blast Peeled Wheat Flour. 171 Whole Wheat) Hour. Let it rise two or three hours^ then stir in enough flour to make as soft a dough as can be kneaded smoothly. Put in pans which should be about half full, and rise till the pans are nearly full. This bread should not be over- risen. Bake thoroughly. In cold weather, the flour should be warmed before mixing the bread, just enough to re- move the chill, also place the moulding board before the fire till it is well warmed. This renders long rising unnecessary, a point of great importance in all bread made from these rich flours. Peeled Wheat Flour Bread No. 2. — One-half cup of good sweet home made yeast, one pint of warm milk, or water, and sufficient peeled wheat flour to make a stiff batter. Let it rise all night, tak- ing care it is not kept too warm. In the morning mix in flour to make it sufficiently stiff" to knead. Knead thoroughly, put in pans and rise till light- Bake in a moderate oven till well done. Peeled Wheat Flour Bread, No. 3. — Three cupfuls of peeled wheat flour, one and one-fourth cups of milk, in which dissolve a pinch of salt, one tablespoonful of butter, melted and mixed with the milk, three teaspoonfuls of bakin^;^ powder sifted with the flour. Mix all together quickly, mould lightly and roll large enough to Ht into a round tin pie plate, and come up well around the edge. Bake fifteen or twenty tninutes in a verv quick oven. This is delicious bread, and very delicate. Peeled Wheat Flour Buxxs. — Take halt the dough from either of the preceding recipes (veast-rais S72 Dining Room Notes. ■ed), when it is ready to be put into the baking pans ; roll it about half an inch thick, spread over it a heaping tablespoon ful of butter, dust over it a very little flour, and then add half a cup of sugar. Roll up and knead till well mixed, roll out again and spread over it half a cup of currants or small seed- less raisins, roll up, knead just enough to mix in the fruit. Roll about an inch thick, cut into small cakes, and place very close together in buttered tins. Rise till light, wet the tops with sugar and milk, or with melted butter, sifting sugar over them, and bake in a moderate oven. Peeled Wheat Flour Pie Crust, No. i. — One quart of flour, one cup even full of butter ; mix well together with a knife. Add just enough very cold water to make a stiff dough. Roll out, spread over it a tablespoonful of butter, sprinkle with sufficient flour to cover the butter, roll up, cut in slices, and roll out to flt the plates. - Pie Crust. No. 2. — Two cups of thick, sweet cream, very cold, one teaspoonful salt, one of baking powder. Sift powder and salt into a quart of peeled wheat flour. If not enough to make a stiff' dough, add more flour. Roll thin. This crust should be mixed with a knife, as quickly as possible. Peeled Wheat Flour Muffins, No. i. — Two cups of flour, with two teaspoonfuls of baking pow- der sifted in, one and one-half cups of milk, a table- spoonful of melted butter, and a little salt. Mix quickly and bake in hot gem pans in a quick oven, or in muflRn rings on a griddle, which is a convenient Peeled Wheat Flour. 173 way if one's oven is not sufficiently liot They should be covered until ready to turn. It is unnecessary af- terwards. Peeled Wheat Flour Muffins, No. 2.— One and one-half cups of flour, one Q'g^ well beaten, one and one-half teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a little salt. Mix and bake in hot gem pans in a quick oven. Peeled Wheat Flour Apple Pudding.— One cup of milk, one and one-half cups of flour, one &^^, a little salt, a teaspoonful and a half of baking pow- der sifted with the flour. Beat the q%^ light, stir it it into the milk, add the salt and stir in the flour. Have a three-pint pudding dish buttered, and half filled with tart, juicy apples. Pour the batter over and steam one hour. Serve with liquid or braided sauce, or cream and sugar. finf No'.""'"'' '■"'■P' '"' P"'''"' -heat flour o^uf- hns, No. 2, requires one and one-half cups of milk. Granulated Wheat. THIS is a delicate, coarse meal, made by powder- ing the peeled wheat. It takes the place of gra- ham flour, and is much superior to it. It entirely dis- solves in cooking, and can be prepared for the table as mush in the short space of five .minutes. It makes excellent 9:ems, rolls and loaves. Granulated Wheat Muffins. — One third of a cupful of good, sweet yeast, or one-fourth of a cake of compressed yeast dissolved in one-third of a cup- ful of warm water ; one and one-half cupfuls ofJuke- warm water or new milk, a tablespoon heaping full of Cold Blast Extra Flour, and one and one-half cup- fuls of granulated wheat. Mix and cover, keeping warm for four or five hours, or in a moderately warm room over night. Then add half a teaspoon of salt, and if liked, a tablespoonful of sugar, dissolving the salt in a teaspbonful of warm water. Stir well together, and pour into muffin rings or gem pans. Bake quickly, but until well done, twenty minutes being sufficient if the fire is right. Granulated Wheat Muffins, No. 2. — One and one-half cups of granulated wheat, one cup ot cold water, half a teaspoon ful of salt, and a teaspoonful and a half of baking powder. Mix the powder with Grainilatcil W'hcat. lyc the wheat and dissolve the salt in water. Mix quick- ly, and pour into hot gem pans and hake in a very hot oven. These are very light and of delicious flavor. Granulated Wheat Muffins, No. \ — Two cups of granulated wheat, two cups of milk, two eggs well beaten, two teaspoonfuls of baking pow- der, one-half teaspoonful of salt. Mix the powder in the flour, add the eggs and salt to the milk, and stir into the flour. Bake in a quick oven. Granulated Wheat Breakfast Cake. — Three cups of granulated wheat, one and one-quarter cup- fuls of milk, one tablespoon ful of butter, three tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, and a little salt. Mix the powder with the wheat, melt the butter and add with the salt to the milk. Mix all together quickly, mould just enough to get into shape, roll just large enough to fit in a round tin pie plate, and come up well at the edges. Bake in a a quick oven. Whole Wheat Gluten. THIS is a flour made from choice wheat. In its manufacture the inert bran is excluded together "with the white starch. It is a nitrogenous or meat- like food, and is also rich in the wheat phosphates. It is quite palatable, therefore different from the French Gluten flour, which is washed out of commer- cial flour and is decidedly unpleasant to the taste. In cases of weak digestion, this whole wheat gluten proves a very nourishing and easily-digested food. In diabetes and Bright's disea>e, its use is earnestly advised by many distinguished physicians. For children, for nursing mothers, and for the aged, it is most valuable. Gluten Bread, No. i.* — One-sixth of a cake of dry hop yeast, one cupful of warm water, with a heaping teaspoon ful of butter, and two and one-half cupfuls of crude or "whole wheat" gluten. Dis- solve both yeast and butter in the water ; stir in the gluten and mix thoroughly. Cover closely, let it rise over night in a moderately warm room. Mould in the morning just enough to make into loaves, using as little gluten as possible. Put into a pan which it will rather more than half fill, let it rise until it begins to crack open, and bake half an hour. The recipes marked * are suitable for diabetics. Whole Wheat Gluten. lyy Gluten Bread, No. 2* — One-fourth cake of com- pressed yeast, one and one-half cupfuls of warm wa- ter or warm new milk, four cups of gluten. Dissolve the yeast in the water or milk, and stir in the gluten, leaving one-half cupful to mould it with. When well mixed, knead until you can shape it into a loaf. Put it in a medium-sized bread-pan, and let it rise till moderately light. Bake in a rather quick oven. Gluten Bread. No. 3. — One-half cup of good^ sweet yeast, two and one-half cupfuls of warm wa- ter or milk, and two and one-half cupfuls of Cold Blast Extra Flour. Mix and let it rise over night. In the morning add four cups of gluten, and if necessary a very little soda in a spoonful of hot water. Mould thoroughly, make into two loaves, put in bread pans, which should be half full, and rise till rounding full. Bake in a moderate oven till well done. Gluten Muffins, No. 4.* — Two cups of gluten,, two cups of milk, one egg well beaten, and two tea- spoonfuls of baking powder. Mix the powder and gluten well, then add the milk and egg ; stir quickly but thoroughly, and pour into hot gem pans. This is very nice baked in an iron frying pan (or spider) which should be hot when the batter is poured in. Gluten Wafers.* — One-half cup of butter and two cupfuls of gluten mixed well together ; add just enough cold water to make a very stiff dough. Roll thin, prick with a stamp or fork, cut into rounds or fancy shapes, and bake till lightly browned in a quick oven. These are very crisp and delicious, and will keep three or four weeks in a dry cool place. 17S Dining Room Notes. Gluten Breakfast Cake.* — One cup of milk, one cup of gluten, a teaspoonful of baking powder, and two eggs well beaten. Beat well together, pour into a small cake tin, or plate well buttered and bake in a quick oven. Gluten Rolls. — Two cups of gluten, one-half cup of cold blast extra flour, one 0^%%., one table- spoonful of sugar, one cup of rich milk, two tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Mix powder and flour, then add the milk, salt, sugar and the ^^^., well beaten. Roll out half an inch in thickness, cut in rounds, spread with melt- ed butter and fold together. Bake in a quick oven till nicely browned. Gluten Fritters. — Two cups of gluten, two tablespoonfuls of cold blast flour, two eggs, one cup of milk, a very little spice, half a teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix the powder, sugar and flour together, add the milk and salt, and the eggs well beaten. Mix well, and dip into hot fat or boiling oil, a teaspoonfuFat a time. Fry till nicely browned. Gluten Gingerbread. — One cup of molasses, two cups of gluten, one ^z^-, three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, four tablespoonfuls of milk, a scant teaspoonful of soda, half a teaspoonful of salt, a tea- spoonful of ginger. Bake in a quick oven. Gluten Cake, — One cup of molasses, one-half cup of sugar, one ^%^., a tablespoon heaping full of butter, one-third of a cup of milk, two cupfuls of Whole Wheat Gluten. 179 gluten, one tablespoonful of peeled wheat flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, a scant teaspoonful of soda, a a little clove and cinnamon, and half a cup of cur- rants. Mix butter and sugar together, add the Qgg, then the molasses, and the milk with salt and soda dissolved in it, add the spice, and stir in the flour and gluten ; when well mixed, add the currants. This is very nice and a particularly wholesome cake for children. I Gluten Pie. — One pint of milk, one-half cup of molasses, one-half cup of gluten, one egg, a little salt and nutmeg or cinnamon. Scald the milk, stir in the gluten, and let it cool. Then add the other ingredi- ents. Bake with one crust. Sugar may be used in place of the molasses if prefered. Gluten Griddlecares. — One cup of gluten, one- half cup of peeled wheat flour, two cups of milk, one tgg, a little salt, and two teaspoonfuls of baking povsrder. These are very nice. Gluten Pudding No. i. — Scald one pint of milk, stir in one cup of gluten and one cup of sugar, a little cinnamon, and clove, or a tablespoon heaping full of grated chocolate, and a pinch of salt. Cool, and add half a pint of cold milk and two eggs well beaten. Bake half an hour, and pour over it a cupful of cold milk ; bake two hours and a half longer. Gluten Pudding No. 2. — Make and bake like the preceding, excepting the use of a cup of molass- es, instead of the cup of sugar, use a little spice, and add a cup two-thirds full of currants, or a cupful^of raisin?, in place of the chocolate. i8o Dining Room Notes. Gluten Cookies. — One-half cup of milk just warm enough to dissolve a teaspoon heaping full of butter, or two-thirds of a cup of cream. One ^^^ well beaten with one-half cup of sugar, a little salt, and cinnamon or nutmeg. Add a cup of gluten in which a teaspoonful of baking powder has been sifted, then stir in enough gluten to make as soft a dough as can be moulded. A little flour will be necessary upon the board and rolling pin. Roll quar- ter of an inch thick, cut out, and bake in buttered tins in a rather quick oven. Gluten Drop Cakes. — One-half cup of sugar, one ^%% well beaten, one tablespoonful of butter, one cup of milk, one and one-third cups of gluten, with a teaspoonful of baking powder well mixed with it. Stir well together, drop in little cakes on a buttered dripping pan, and bake in a quick oven. Purified Gluten. THIS is the substance which is contained in the layer of gluten sacs, freed from the cellulose, or honeycomb like structure forming the walls of the cells. It is more nourishing than beef or eggs, and not only digests readily, but at the same time affords some assistance in the digestion of other foods. It is, in short, a concentrated food, being chiefly gluten, and very rich in phosphatic salts. Being nearly free from starch, it is used with great satisfaction by many sufferers from dyspepsia and diabetes, as well as by those who seek to lessen excessive fatness. It is a most substantial blood-making food, and children thrive on it wonderfully. Purified Gluten Muffins. — Two cups of puri- fied gluten, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, two cups of milk, and two eggs well beaten. Mix quickly, beat well together, and bake in gem pans in a quick oven. Purified Gluten Breakfast Cake. — One and one-half cups of milk, one egg well beaten, two ta- blespoonfuls of sugar, one tablespoonful of butter, two cups of purified gluten, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and a little salt. Bake in a shallow tin, in a quick oven. M 1 82 Dining Room Notes. Purified Gluten Blancmange. — One quart of milk, four tablespoonfuls (rounding full) of purified gluten, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, and the whites of two eggs. Mix the gluten to a smooth paste with a little of the milk, and scald the rest in a double boiler. When hot, stir in the gluten, stirring until it thickens and is very smooth, then stir in the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, and remove from the fire. Beat until very light, and pour into a mould or a shallow dish. Serve cold with cream and sugar, or whipped cream, or a soft custard made with the yolks of the eggs. This is very delicate, and also very nice. Purified Gluten Sponge Cake. — One cup of purified gluten, one teaspoonful of baking powder, one cup of sugar, a little salt, four tablespoonfuls of milk, and two eggs. Flavor with lemon or va- nilla, or not ; it is nice without either. Beat the sugar and yolks of the eggs together, then add the milk and salt, next the gluten and powder sifted to- gether, mix well, and stir in the whites, which should be beaten to a stiff froth. Pour into a cake tin, lined with buttered paper, and bake in a rather quick oven about twenty minutes. This is extremely nice, and sufficiently delicate to tempt an invalid's appetite. Purified Gluten Cakes. — One cup of thick sweet cream, one cup of sugar, a little salt, a tea- spoonful of vanilla, and two cups of purified gluten with two teaspoonfuls of baking powder sifted with it. Roll about quarter of an inch thick, cut out and bake in a quick oven to a delicate brown. Purified Gluten. 183 Purified Gluten Pie. — One and one-half cups of milk, two tablespoonfuls of purified gluten, one ^%%., one-half cup of sugar, and a little salt. Flavor with lemon or vanilla. Mix the gluten with a little of the milk, scald the rest in a double boiler ; stir in the gluten, stirring constantly till thick and smooth. Remove from the fire, cool, add the eggs well beaten, and the sugar, salt and flavoring. Bake with two crusts or with one, as preferred. When but one crust is used omit the flavoring, and frost with the whites of two eggs, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two of desiccated or grated cocoanut. Brown deli- cately in a very quick oven. Purified Gluten Pudding. — One quart of milk, six even tablespoonfuls of purified gluten, three eggs, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Scald one pint of the milk, mix the gluten to a paste with a little of the cold and stir in ; stir till it thickens, remove and add the remainder of the milk, the salt, and the eggs well beaten. Bake twenty minutes. Serve with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored. Flat Wheat. THIS IS the Peeled Wheat flattened to flakes, and is so thin that it dissolves quickly in boiling wa- ter, and is thus made ready for the table much more quickly than " cracked," or '* crushed," or " rolled " wheat. Like all whole wheat products, it is very nourishing, and, being an uncooked food, containing all its strength giving vegetable albumen unchanged by any deleterious "steam cooking" process, and, lacking the woody outer coats, it is readily digested by the most delicate stomachs. Flat Wheat Pudding No. i. — One cup of Flat Wheat (formerly Coarse Granulated Wheat) four cups of water, one- half teaspoonful of salt. Boil in a dou- ble boiler one hour, then add one cup of raisins ; do not stir them in, shake the boiler a little and they will be sufticiently mixed in. Cover, and boil an hour and a half. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream and sugar. Flat Wheat Pudding No. 2. — One cup of flat wheat, four cups of water, one teaspoonful of salt. Cook in a double boiler three hours, and let it cool. Then turn it out, and cut in thick slices. Spread the Jower slice with stewed apple, jam, or marmalade, cover with another slice, spread that, and so proceed until all are done. Return to the boiler, let it boil just n Flat Wheat. 185 long enough to get well heated through. When served cut down through the middle, serving in half slices. Serve with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored, or any sauce preferred. Flat Wheat Pudding No. 3 — One heaping cup of flat wheat, four cups of water, a teaspoonful of salt, six large tart apples, peeled, quartered, and cored. Put one third of the wheat in a double boiler, then add half the apple, and another layer of wheat, then the remainder of the apple, covering with the wheat. Pour in the water and salt, cover and boil three hours. Serve with braided sauce, or cream and sugar. Flat Wheat Pudding No. 4.— One cup of cold wheat mush, one pint of milk. Heat the milk, and stir the wheat into it. When well mixed, add another pint of milk, a little salt, half a cup of sugar, three eggs well beaten, a little spice and half a cup of cur- rants, or a cup of raisins. Stir well together and bake forty minutes. The pearled wheat can be used instead of the flat and is very nice. Flat Wheat Crocujettes.— One cup of cold wheat mush, one tablespoonful of milk, and one of cream ; two eggs well beaten, a Httle salt, and a ta- blespoonful of cold blast flour. Mix well and fry in little cakes in clarified butter, taking care they do" not scorch. Flat Wheat Bread. — One cup of flat wheat, one-half cup of granulated wheat, two cups of pearl- ed corn meal, one teaspoonful of salt, three teaspoon- 1 86 Dining Room Notes. fuls of baking powder, one-third cup of molasses, and four cups of water, two of which should be boiling and mixed with the corn meal ; the other two warm into which stir the flat wheat. Stir all together add the salt and molasses, and lastly the granulated wheat, into which the baking powder should be well mixed. Pour into a bread boiler and cook four and one-half hours, then place in a hot oven for half an hour. Flat Wheat Jelly. — One pint of boiling water, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, two heaping table- spoonfuls of fiat wheat. Cook in a double boiler four or five hours, and strain through a seive. It may be slightly warmed, or served cold as pre- ferred, with a little whipped cream and sugar. Brain Food. THIS is an excellent food made from the germs' of wheat and barley. It has a flavor peculiar to it- self, is very delicate and easy of digestion and pos- sesses great power as a strengthener of body and brain. Dyspeptics find great comfort in its use. Brain Food Pudding, No. i. — One quart of milk, two-thirds of a cup of brain food, two eggs, a cup of sugar and a scant teaspoonful of salt. Scald a pint of the milk in a double boiler, mix the brain food with enough of the cold milk to make a smooth paste, and stir it into the hot milk. When well mixed, cover and let it cook an hour. Remove from the fire and when cooled a little, add the cold milk, sugar and salt, and the yolks of the eggs well beaten. Pour into a pudding dish and bake half an hour in a rather quick oven. When done beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, add four tablespoonfuls of sugar and beat till smooth. Spread a thin layer of jelly over the top of the pud- ding, cover with the frosting and place in the oven till delicately browned. Brain Food Pudding, No. 2. — One quart of milk, one cupful of molasses, two eggs, a teaspoonful of salt, six tablespoonfuls of brain food, and a very little i88 Dining Room Notes. nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. Mix the brain food with a little of the milk, and scald the rest. When boiling hot, stir in the brain food, stirring rapidly two or three minutes ; add the m*olasses, salt, and spices, cool a little, stir in the eggs well beaten, and pour into a buttered pudding dish. Bake an hour and a half in a moderate oven. This is one of our favorite puddings, and we often make it with cold mush, when left from breakfast, in the proportion of a cupful of mush to a pint of milk Brain Food Griddle Cakes. — One cup of cold brain food mush, one cup of milk, two eggs, three tablespoonfuls each of "whole wheat flour and . gluten, one-half teaspoonful of salt, one and one- half teaspoon fuls of baking powder. Mix the mush and milk togetiier, stirring until smooth, add the eggs well beaten, and the salt, lastly the flour and gluten, into which the baking powder has been sifted. Bake •on a hot griddle without butter or grease of any de- scription. Brain Food Bread. — Three cupfuls of brain food, three cupfuls of warmed milk, three teaspoon fuls of baking powder and one- half teaspoonful of salt. Mix the powder with the brain food, then mix all -quickly together. Pour into a buttered steamer, or double boiler and cook three hours. A tablespoonful of sugar may be used if preferred. If the brain food is very fine it may be sifted, using the finer part for cnuflftns, etc. Brain Food and Corn Bread. — Two cupfuls of boiling water, two cupfuls of pearled corn meal, mix well. Add a tablespoonful of sugar, one- half Brain Food. 189 teaspoonful of salt, one cupful of cold water or milk, and one cupful of brain food with three teaspoon- fuls of baking powder stirred in." Mix all together quickly, pour into a buttered pudding boiler and steam four hours. White Granulated Corn. THIS is as great an improvement upon Hominy as the " Pearled Corn-meal " is over ordinar}^ yellow corn- meal. It is free from hulls and bran and undigestible particles, and may be prepared in many pleasant ways. White Granular Corn Bread. — Take two cup- fuls of white granular corn mush, while hot, and add two cupfuls of cold water and half a cupful of yeasty or one-half cake of compressed yeast dissolved in one-half cup of warm water. If the compressed yeast is used, add a teaspoonful of salt, and two of sugar. Stir in sufficient cold blast extra flour, (the peeled wheat flour is also nice) to make it sufficiently stifl[ to knead. Knead it thoroughly, and put in a large pan or mixing bowl, and cover closely. Keep moder- ately warm, and when light, mould into three loaves, put into pans which they will half fill, and rise till the pans are full. Bake in a moderate oven three-quar- ters of an hour. This makes nice bread, moist and light. It may be mixed early in the morning, or if more convenient, at night, keeping it only moderately warm throu gh the night. White Granulated Corn. 191 White Granular Corn Pudding, No. i — Cook three-fourths of a cupful of white granular corn in three cups of water with a teaspoonful of salt, one and one-half hours in a double boiler. When done, add to it while hot, one and one-half cups of molas- ses, two tablespoonfuls of corn flour, three eggs well beaten, and three pints of milk, reserving one cup of milk to pour on top of the pudding when half done. Bake three hours in a moderate oven. White Granular Corn Pudding, No. 2. — One cup of white granular corn, four cups of water, a teaspoonful of salt, and a cup of raisins. Cook two hours in a double boiler. Serve with cream and sugar or sauce. White Granular Corn Pudding, No. 3. — One quart of milk, one cup of sugar, two cups of white granular corn mush, three eggs well beaten, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a little grated lemon peel, or nutmeg. Bake half an hour. Pearled Corn Meal. THIS is choice yellow corn, prepared with much care, perfectly hulled, and freed from bran and all foreign matter. It is presented as a granular meal, either fine or coarse as may be desired. It is nour- ishing, delicate, easy of digestion, and very potent as a flesh former. Pearled Corn Meal Bread, No. i. — Two cup- fuls of pearled corn meal, two cupfuls of boiling water, one teaspoonfiil of salt, one tablespoonful of sugar, one cupful of peeled wheat flour, one cup- ful of cold water, and three teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Scald the meal with the boiling water, add the salt and sugar, stir well, add the cold water and lastly the flour with the baking powder sifted in. Mix thoroughly, pour into a bread boiler and steam four hours. This makes delicate bread. Pearled Corn Meal Bread, No. 2. — One cup of pearled corn meal, one cup of granulated rye, one-half cup of white granulated corn, scalded in one cup of boiling water until thick. One-half cup molasses, one-half cup of yeast, (or one half cake of compressed yeast dissolved in one-half cup of warm water,) one cup of water, one- half teaspoonful of -soda, one teaspoonful of salt. Pearled Corn Meal. 193^ Mix the water, molasses, yeast, soda and salt to- gether, stir in the scalded white corn, then the corn and rye. Pour immediately into the bread boiler and boil six hours. Perfect Brown Bread. — Two cups of pearled corn meal, one cup of granulated rye, one half cup of good sweet yeast, one-half cup of molasses, one teaspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of soda, two cups of water. Mix and boil in a bread boiler five hours. This is very nice bread, very light and wholesome. Pearled Corn Meal Puffs. — Three cupfuls of milk, three eggs, one-half cup of pearled corn meal, one-half cup of purified gluten, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and if liked, two teaspoonfuls of sugar. Put the meal into a basin suitable to place over the fire ; scald two cup- fuls of the milk, and pour, boiling hot, over it slowly, stirring until well mixed. Place on the stove and let it boil five minutes, stirring constantly ; cool a little, add the remaining cupfuls of milk, the eggs well beaten and the gluten, in which the baking powder has been sifted, add the salt, and sugar if used, and beat well. Place buttered muffin rings on a hot griddle also buttered, and fill them with the batter, placing, in three or four minutes, in a hot oven till done ; fifteen minutes will be sufficient if the oven is right. These are very nice and delicate, they may;, be baked in gem pans, but are not so nice as when cooked in rings. 194 Dining Room Notes, Pearled Corn Meal Muffins, No. i. — Two cupfuls of milk, two eggs, one-half cup of pearled corn meal, one teaspoonful of baking powder, and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Mix the meal with a little of the milk, and scald the rest ; when hot add the meal and stir till it thickens ; let it boil five min- utes and remove from the fire. Cool and add the eggs well beaten. The powder should be stirred into the meal before mixing with the milk. Bake in gem pans, in a rather quick oven fifteen or twenty minutes. Pearled Corn Meal Muffins, No. 2. — One cupful of pearled corn meal, one-half cupful of cold blast flour, one tablespoonful of sugar, one-half tea- spoonful of salt, one ^^^ well beaten, one and one- half teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Bake in gem pans in a moderately hot oven for twenty minutes or half an hour. Pearled Corn Meal Pudding. — Three pints of milk, one cupful of pearled corn meal, one cupful of molasses, one teaspoon heaping full of salt, a little allspice, or cinnamon and cloves, and two eggs. Scald a quart of the milk and stir the meal in, shak- ing it in slowly. When free from lumps remove from the fire, add the molasses, spice and salt, half the cold milk, and when cool a little, the eggs well beaten. Stir well, pour into a buttered pudding pan and bake an hour, then pour over it the remainder of the milk, and bake two and one- half hours longer, covering with a plate if it grows too brown. The oven should be kept at a moderate heat, as the pudding must bake slowly. Granulated Oats. THIS delicious granular meal is made from the best oats grown in this country, and the cleans- ing and hulling processes made use of, secure for the completed product a delicacy of color and flavor attain- able in no other way. Granulated Oat Muffins. — One cup of granu- lated oats, one cup of cold blast extra flour, two cups of milk, one egg, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Beat the egg and sugar together, add the milk in which the salt should be dissolved, then the oats, lastly the flour with the baking pow- der sifted in. Stir well together and bake twenty minutes In a quick oven. Granulated Oat Pudding. — Two cups even full of granulated oats, two and one-half cups of milk, one egg, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of baking pow- der, and two thirds of a c#p of raisins. Mix and steam in a pudding boiler two hours. Serve with cream and sugar, or any sauce preferred. This is a very nice and wholesome dessert, especially good for children. Granulated Oat Bread, No. i. — Two cups of 196 Dining Room Notes. granulated oats, two cups of warm water, half a tea- spoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, and two> teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix the powdef thoroughly with the oat meal, dissolve sugar and salt in the water and stir in the meal. Pour into a bread boiler, one with a centre piece is best, and steam two- hours. It is better if not cut till the next day, then slice and cover closely and put in the oven to heat through. I Granulated Oat Bread, No. 2. — One and one- half cupfuls of granulated oats, one and one- half cup- fuls of pearled corn meal, with which one tea- spoonful of cream of tartar has been well stirred, one and one-half cupfuls of boiling water. Stir all together, add a scant teaspoonful of salt, one-half cupful of New Orleans molasses,and two thirds of a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in two teaspoonfuls of boiling water. Stir rapidly till well mixed. Pour into a buttered boiler, steam four and one-half hours,, and then place in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. ■* I Oat Flour. THIS bland and delicious article cannot be too highly recommended. Being one of the most delicate and at the same time nutritious of foods, it needs only to be known to become a necessary addi- tion to our household stores. Oat Flour Muffins. — Two cupfuls of oat flour measured after sifting, two eggs well beaten, one cup of milk, one teaspoonful of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and one - fourth teaspoonful of salt. Sift the powder into the flour, beat the eggs and add to the milk, stir in the flour, add the sugar and salt, and pour into hot roll pans. Bake twelve or fifteen minutes in a quick oven. Oat Flour Blanc-mange. — One cup of oat flour measured before sifting, three cups of boiling water, one cup of cold water and a teaspoonful of salt. Mix the flour to a smooth paste with the cupful of cold water and stir into the boiling water, (in which the salt has been dissolved) and boil three hours. Pour into moulds which have been dipped into cold water. It may be served slightly warm, or cold, with cream and sugar, and is especially nice with whip- ped cream. This is deligiQUS^ and very delicate. N lo8 Dining Room Notes. Oat Flour Drop Cakes. — One-half cup of milk, one teaspoonful of butter, (if cream is plenty, use half cream instead of the full quantity of milk and omit the butter), one- half cup of sugar, one ^Z%^ one and one- half cupfuls of oat flour, one and one-half teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Sift the powder with the flour. Beat the q^^% and sugar together, add butter if it is used, then the milk and salt. Stir in the flour thoroughly and drop on buttered tins a heaping teaspoonful for a cake, and bake in a rather quick oven. Very nice and whole- some for children. Oat Flour Pudding. — Two and one-half cups of milk, four tablespoonfuls of oat flour, two tablespoon- fuls of sugar, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and the yolks of two eggs. Put two cupfuls of the milk in a double boiler to heat, and mix the oat flour to a smooth paste with the remainder. When the milk is scald-, ing hot, stir in the oat flour and let it cook half an hour. Cool, add the eggs, well beaten with the sugar, add the salt, and stir well together. Pour into a but- tered dish and bake half an hour. Serve with whipped cream sweetened, or cream and sugar, Granulated Rye. GRANULATED rye is not a flour, nor is it a com- mon rye- meal ; it is simply the best rye obtain- able, hulled and cleaned by our wet process, and re- duced to a granular meal without the injurious heat- ing of mill-stone grinding This process leaves only the pure food constituents, reduced to a granular form. Thus prepared, it is very rich in the nitrogen- ous elements, and is essentially a muscle -forming food. For the hard-working man or woman, or the growing child, few foods can be considered more perfectly adapted or more satisfying. Granulated Rye Breakfast Cake. — Three cupfuls of granulated rye (sifted before measuring), one egg, one and one-half cupfuls of milk, one table- spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of sugar, one fourth teaspoonful of salt, and three teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix the butter well with the meal, then stir in the baking powder. Beat the egg light, and add to the milk, add to it also the salt and sugar, and stir in the meal quickly. Turn out on a moulding board slightly floured, and roll out to fit the baking tin. Bake one-half hour. Granulated Rye Puffs. — One pint of granu- lated rye, one pint of milk, three eggs well beaten, ioo Dhiijtf^ l^ooni Notes. Ivvo teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and one-halt teaspoon fnl of salt. Sift the rye and the baking powder together, then add the milk, eggs and salt, and stir the rye in rapidly till well mixed. Pour into buttered cups, or hot roll pans, or bake in a deep tin plate. Bake in a quick oven fifteen or twenty min- utes. Granulated Rve Muffins. — Two cupfuls of sifted granulated rye, two cupfuls of milk, two eggs, a little salt, and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. For these, the cups should be rounding full of rye. Mix quickly. Slightly butter the muffin rings and place on a hot griddle. Fill half full with the batter and put into a hot oven to bake. Roll pans may be used, but the muffins are a little nicer baked in the rings. Granulated Barley. GRANULATED BARLEY contains all the nu- triment of ihe grain, and is reduced to a perfect emulsion of very easy digestion, by proper boiling. When cooked in milk, it is a delicious food, and is much more nourishing than rice. It is a fattening, as well as a muscle making food. It is simply the best barley, carefully hulled and freed from all irritating non-food particles, and bruised to a granular state. Granulated Barley Pudding. — Soak two cup- fuls of granulated barley in two cupfuls of water over night. Peel, core and quarter six or eight large apples. Drain the barley and spread it on a napkin, put the apple in the center, gather up the cloth care- fully and tie closely. Put into salted boiling water and boil an hour and a half. Serve with cream and sugar or any sauce preferred. Granulated Barley Custard. — Cook two- thirds of a cupful of granulated barley in two cup- fuls of milk or water with one half teaspoonful of salt, in a double boiler one hour. When done, add a pint of rich milk, two eggs well beaten, four table- spoonfuls of sugar, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, and more salt if necessary. Pour into a buttered pud io2 Dining Room Notes. ding dish and bake half an hour. A cupful of rais- ins may be used if liked, in which case the spice may be omitted. The raisins should be steamed an hour before making the pudding. Fine Granulated Barley Pudding. — One cup- ful of cooked barley, two cupfuls of rich milk, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, a pinch of salt, and two eggs. Put the barley in a dish with one cupful of milk, and warm until the barley is soft enough to beat smooth Then add the cupful of cold mi'k, the sugar, salt, and the eggs well beaten. Stir until well mixed, pour into a dish and bake from twenty- five to thirty minutCN. A little nutmeg may be grated over the top just before putting into the oven. Barley Flour. THIS is the best barley carefully hulled and freed from ininiature grains, and reduced to flour. It is a most nourishing substance, not rich in nitro- gen or mineral salts, but of great value as a food for invalids whose digestive organs are weakened, being, perhaps, the most easily digested of any of the fari- naceous carbons. Barley Flour Breakfast Cake.— Two cupfuls of sifted barley flour, one cupful of water, one table* spoonful of butter, two teaspoonfuls of baking pow- der, one- fourth teaspoonful of salt. Rub the butter well into the flour, then stir in the baking powder, mixing thoroughly. Add the water with the salt dissolved in it, mix quickly, knead very little, and roll to fit a deep baking plate Bake in a quick oven. Barley Flour Muffins — One cup rounding full of sifted barley flour, one cupful of milk, one egg well beaten, one teaspoonful of baking powder, one teaspoonful of sugar, one- fourth teaspoonful of salt. Bake in muffin rings on a hot griddle, filling the rings half full. This quantity makes six muflins. Barley Flour Puffs. — Two cupfuls of sifted barley flour, one cupful of milk, two eggs, two tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, one heaping teaspoon- 204 Dining Room Notes. ful of butter, one teaspoonful of sugar, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt. Mix the powder with the flour, melt the butter and add to the milk, then beat all the ingredients together rapidly. Pour into hot roll pans slightly buttered and bake in a quick oven. Barley Flour Wafers. — Two cupfuls of sifted barley flour, one heaping tablespoonful of butter, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one halt' teaspoonful of salt, and three- fourths cupful of very cold water. Mix the powder with the flour, dissolve the salt in the water and mix quickly. Warm the butter suffic- iently to soften it, roll out the paste, spread over it half of the butter, and dust with the flour, fold over, spread on the remainder of the butter, dust with flour, fold again, roll thin, cut in shapes, and bake in a quick oven. Barley Flour Drop Cakes. — One cupful of sifted flour, two-thirds of a cupful of sugar, one-third cupful of butter, one Q%%^ one- half cupful of milk, one teaspoonful of baking powder. Flavor slightly with lemon or nutmeg. Drop on buttered tins and bake in a quick oven. These cakes are delicious while fresh. Barley Flour Pudding. — Two cupfuls of sifted barley flour, one cupful of milk, one teaspoonful of butter, one-third teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoon- fuls of baking powder, one Q'g'g^ one-half cupful of currants. Pour into a buttered pudding dish and steam thirty -five minutes. If liked, the dish may be filled one third full of tart apples, quartered, which vyill cook quickly, and Barley Flour. 205 the batter (omitting the currants) poured over them. Serve w^ith cream and sugar or any liquid sauce. Barley Flour Custard. — Two cupfuls of milk, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of barley flour, (sifted), two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one-half teaspoonful of salt. Scald one cupful of the milk, mix the flour to a smooth paste with a little of the cold milk and stir in. Cook two or three minutes and remove from the fire. Add the remainder of the milk, the sugar, salt, and the eggs well beaten. Stir well together, pour into a slightly buttered pudding dish and bake one- half hour. Sauce for Barley Custard. — Beat the white of one ^^% to a stiff' froth, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and beat five minutes. Whip four tablespoon- fuls of cream till thick and light and mix all together. Flavor delicately with vanilla. This is very delicate, and the uncooked white of Q%%^ renders it particular- ly wholesome. Bean and Pea Flours. THESE are partly cooked flours, made from choice white beans and marrowfat peas. From the ex- terior, the pearl-like covering of silex and woody fibre is first removed by our w^et process ; the clean and denuded seed is then reduced to a superfine pow- der by the Cold Blast process, the whole resulting in a very delicate, nutritious, and easily-digested food. Beans and peas are powerful blood-forming foods, being rich in nitrogen. Boiled Bean Flour. — Mix a cupful of bean flour with a cupful of cold water, add a teaspoon ful of salt, and a pint and a half of boiling water. Stir in a tablespoonful of butter, or half a cup of thick sweet cream, pour into a double boiler and cook two hours. Serve as a vegetable. It will be of the con- sistency of mashed potato, and is very nice. If any is left put it in a shallow dish, press it smoothly down, and in the morning cut in slices, dip into crude gluten and fry to a nice brown in a little butter. Bean Flour Croquettes. — One cupful of cold boiled bean flour, a tablespoonful of cream or milk, two eggs well beaten, and a little salt and pepper. Beat all together till well mixed. Put a heaping tea- spoonful of butter in a frying pan, and when hot Bean and Pea Flours. 207 drop in the mixture, a tablespoonful in each cake, and brown nicely on both sides. These are very nice. Bean Flour Soup, No. i. — One quart of water, one pint of milk, two tablespoonfuls of bean flour, one tablespoonful of butter and a teaspoonful of salt. Mix the bean flour smooth with a little of the water and put the rest in a saucepan or porcelain kettle to heat ; when hot, but not boiling, add the bean flour, salt and butter. Stir well until it has boiled up, then place where it will boil slowly for an hour, adding a little water if it boils away. Scald the milk and when the soup has cooked an hour and a half pour it in scalding hot, add more salt if it is not sufficiently seasoned, and a little celery seed (one-fourth of a teaspoonful) or a bit of thj^me or sweet marjorum or summer savory may be added if liked, but it is very nice without any flavoring, and is delicate and nutritious. Bean Flour Soup, No. 3. — Put a pound of round steak in a broiler, just brown it on both sides, over a very quick fire. Cut it in small pieces, and put it in a saucepan with a quart of water. Mix three table - spoonfuls of bean flour with sufficient cold water to make a smooth paste and stir into the broth. Cover closely and simmer for an hour and a half. Then pour in a pint each of hot water and milk, or a quart of water if you have no milk, add salt to taste, a lit- tle pepper or other flavoring as preferred, and boil fifteen minutes. Strain into a warm tureen. Bean Flour Soup, No. 3. — Put a pint of good 2o8 Dining Room Notes. stock and a quart of boiling water into a kettle, sea- son to taste, and when it boils stir in three even table- spoonfuls of bean flour mixed to a smooth paste with a cupful of cold water. Cover and boil an hour and a half, add half a teaspoonful of celery seed or a few celery tops cut fine, boil five minutes, strain into a warm tureen and serve with biscuit or little squares of crisp toast. Browned Bean Flour. — Mix one cup of bean flour with one cup of cold water, and stir it into three cups of boiling water. Add a tpaspoonful of .salt, and a tablespoonful of butter. Pour into a double boiler and cook two hours. Chop cold meat fine, steak or roast beef is nice, and a cupful after it is chopped will be sufiicient. Butter a small pudding dish, put in first a third of the bean and spread it smoothly over the top ; then add half the chopped meat, put bits of butter over it, and a little salt. Then add another layer of bean and the] remainder of the meat, seasoning as before. Spread over it the re- mainder of the bean mush, and put bits of butter over the top, a little salt and a dust of pepper. Place it in a quick oven to brown lightly. Pea Flour. For soups, croquettes etc., prepare and cook from recipes for bean flour, in preceding chapter. Some Words from the Physician of The Health Food Company. THE duty of advising the multitude of sick persons who apply to the Health Food Company for means of relief, devolves upon the writer. In this immense work, demanding the annual consideration of tens of thousands of cases of disease, he is greatly aided by a host of excellent physicians all over the land, who from long experience in the use of these goods, are competent to prescribe them intelligently. With some of these physicians, the Health Foods are depended upon not merely as adjuncts in the treatment of such diseases as they may be adapted to, but often as sole means of cure. Others find a more speedy response to remedial measures when the pa- tient's powers are sustained by these perfect nutrients. Thus Dr. Austin Flint of New York, Dr. R. Hayes Agnew of Philadelphia, and many others, commend our Gluten as the best bread-food in the world for some sufferers; while Dr. Albert R. Leeds Professor of Chemistry in the Stevens Institute, finds our Whole Wheat and other flours to be the most nourishing in the world. Scores of good Ministers have been benefited by these food remedies and have advised the sick among their people to thus seek good health by similar safe and effective means. Some have even spoken from the pulpit, and one, the Rev. John F. Clymer, has preached a very able sermon on " Food and morals," in which these foods are warmly extoled. Fowler & Wells have published this sermon, with an appendix in which Mr. Clymer advises his readers to send for the free pamphlets of the Health Food Company and read them, and then to write for advice, describing their case. This advice has been widely followed, and great benefits have resulted. The pamphlets of the company are free to all, as are the services of its medical head, who en- deavors to understand each case and to give such ad- vice and prescriptions as will result in early relief and a permanent cure. Address, Next Door to Stewart's. No. 66 4th AVG-, NeW York, N. Y. Facts are Stubborn Things. ^S there anything in any of the numerous advertisements of the Royal Baking Pow- der to show that the Royal does not use Ammonia and Tartaric Acid as cheap substitutes for Cream of Tartar ? Or is there any charge, or the slightest insinuation in those advertisements, that Cleveland's Superior Baking Powder contains anything but the purest Grape Cream of Tartar and Bicarbonate of Soda, with a small portion of tiour as a preservative ? Ammonia and Tartaric Acid produce a cheap leavening gas, which is not to be com- pared, in the practical test of baking, with the more desirable Carbonic Acid gas gene- rated by the exclusive use of the expensive Cream of Tartar. Use Cleveland's Superior Baking Powder, and judge for yourself of its superiority. TO YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS! FREE TO ALL BRIDES. Notice is herebj' given to all the readers of this book and all their friends and acquaintances throughout the United States and Canada, that The household Will be sent one year as a To every newly married couple vs^hose address — and lo cents to pay postage — is sent to the publisher tvithin one year from the date of their marriage. Persons sending for this present are requested to send a copy of a paper containing a notice of their marriage, or some other evidence that will amount to a reasonable proof that they are entitled to the magazine under the above offer. Address, rrxziE: zzox7s»x3xzoxjX>^ ^3x*«/tt;lo"looro, "\7't- Filled with the Choicest Plants and Cut Flowers. Flower and Vegetable Seed, ABOUT 2000 VA6IETIZS WITH NOVELTIES. SMALL FRUITS. 25 Varieties Strawberries, 25 Varieties Grapes, Leading sorts of Raspberry, Currant and Blackberry. I sell at wholesale or retail, and grow Roses and Verbenas extensively. Catalogue of 96 pages beautifully illustrated, mailed free. C. E. ALLEN, Florist and Seedsman, BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT. E. P. CARPENTER ORGANS Lately manufactured at WORCESTER, MASS., are now made in BRATTLEBORO, VT., where the business was originally established in 1850. Our Organs contain the ^ic CeMi CujsjIb Op Man, ^^ - oa e— < 2il ^r> ^ S2! r^ S =^ H-3 S <=3 2 B c/a en «> W crs ^ W ^ ^1 C-2 ^ Ch2 w C=3 Ij^ ft S ^ H ■ M S« B P3 £2! era c3 C-2 c-a S ^ •B ^ ^ c/a 51! CD < |— < <« ►— < C/a era t-" tr) *^ trJ tr" t** ssi t=3 ^ O 00^ 51 CD uw -o CD '^ 1 o > m ^^ ^ X3 ° CO =1 ^ C -H Q^ ^ •^ CD o CD 1 #