THE 
 
 AMERICAN MATRON; 
 
 OB, 
 
 PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC COOKERY. 
 
THE 
 
 AMERICAN MATRON 
 
 OR, 
 
 PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC 
 
 COOKERY. 
 
 / 
 \ 
 
 HOUSEKEEPE K 
 
 " Hand inexperjta loquor." 
 
 BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 
 
 1851. 
 
 N\ 
 
^ 
 
 <s 
 
 A\\ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 
 
 James Mo-roe and Company, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 STEREOTYPED AT THE 
 BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 
 
/ 
 
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The condition of society in America is peculiar, and very 
 distinct from that of the Old World. From the character of 
 our institutions, we have, and can have, few families in very op- 
 ulent circumstances, and few also in poverty. To our whole 
 people, rich and poor together, the world is open, with all its 
 pleasures, its hopes, and its prizes. The general high standard 
 of education and information enables us all to know and to 
 sympathize with all the fashions, tastes, and luxuries of the 
 wealthiest and most cultivated circles. The general spirit 
 of enterprise, the eager ambition, and the habit of self- 
 respect and confidence, lead our people to pretend to and to 
 seek all that is desirable in comfort, delightful in taste, 
 showy in fashion, or in any way agreeable to ourselves or 
 producing an effect upon others. Hence our social ambition 
 over-taxes our abilities, and our absolute social necessities 
 require, in most cases, an economy careful and judicious, to 
 enable us to satisfy our wants and wishes. An American 
 1* 
 
O PREFACE. 
 
 home is the abode of an intelligence, cultivation, and general 
 appreciation of the good and the beautiful, as strong and as 
 expanded as in far wealthier European families. Every 
 influence about us is exciting and stimulative in the highest 
 degree to all, while our social equality subdivides the wealth 
 and capacity of expenditure among infinitely larger num- 
 bers, greatly reducing the share of each individual, even of 
 the wealthy and independent classes. 
 
 It may be said of the great majority of American families 
 that they feel the want and desire of every thing, and are 
 compelled to earn, for themselves, the fulfilment of their 
 desires and the supply of their wants. This would be a hard 
 lot, were it not that, from the selfsame social peculiarities, 
 intelligence, activity, economy, and sagacity are always 
 sufficient unto themselves, and that means well chosen and 
 wisely employed seldom fail to insure all reasonably antici- 
 pated ends. 
 
 An American home is the theatre of the highest hopes 
 and the proudest pretensions. Legislators, chieftains, judges, 
 presidents, are born even in the humbler ones among them. 
 The most cultivated tastes, the best trained intellects, are 
 cradled and educated there, often amid moderate resources, 
 not unfrequently with stinted and inadequate means, seldom 
 in the abundance of superfluous wealth. 
 
 How worthy a task for American wives and mothers to 
 adapt their households, practically, to those political and 
 social institutions which are intended to afford competence 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 and comfort to all, and overgrown wealth to none ! Frugal- 
 ity and order must be the corner-stones of our republican 
 edifice. The extravagant follies and unmeasured expendi- 
 ture of European aristocracies are impossible and incom- 
 patible here. Let woman, then, bring her house into a wise 
 harmony with the means at her command. The matters 
 contained in the sphere of her oversight may be trifles in 
 themselves, but, in their sum, go far to constitute human 
 life. A well-ordered and economic household, a neat and 
 cheerful home, well-prepared and acceptable fare, will be 
 the happiness of the lives of husbands and children, the 
 sources of genial comfort and kindly content, great moral 
 as well as physical blessings. The harmonious results of 
 well-directed industry and wisely-managed means will spread 
 around an atmosphere of healthy and enduring affection and 
 joy, and lay in order, system, and skilful adaptation the 
 foundations of progressive well being, of active and rational 
 hopes and aspirations. At the bottom of good housewifery 
 is the all-important art of good cooking — a matter of joint 
 science and experiment. In this little book an attempt is 
 made to effect a twofold purpose. First, to furnish a collec- 
 tion of the very best receipts that practical skill has suggest- 
 ed for all varieties of food. In this particular, great care 
 has been taken to introduce nothing but what is known to be 
 valuable, and to leave out nothing worthy of a place. We 
 have also endeavored to supply the scientific knowledge 
 necessary for the full understanding and skilful use of the 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 practical instructions. Our wish is, to give the reason, as 
 well as the fact, and to enlighten practice by the illustration 
 of the theoretic process. We seek to give the how and the 
 why, as well as the bare fact itself. This is not only, in 
 many cases, highly interesting and curious, but necessary 
 to the intelligent use of means and a skilful employment 
 of circumstances. The housekeeper, to whose care the 
 comfort and health of a family are committed, should not 
 be a blind and blundering agent, acting mechanically and 
 in utter ignorance of the rationale of her own movements. 
 An apparently slight and abstruse circumstance of material 
 or of procedure sometimes makes the difference between 
 a luxury and a poison, between economy and waste, between 
 ease and comfort, and vexation, failure, and loss. Good 
 cookery is of inestimable importance to our comfort, hap- 
 piness, and health ; and, indirectly, even to our intellectual 
 and moral being. It should not be managed by quackery, 
 but by intelligent and well-informed superintendence. We 
 have endeavored to state, in the simplest and briefest manner, 
 these scientific principles, and to bring together, from the 
 scattered and technical developments of scientific research, 
 the truths necessary to explain and direct the operations we 
 suggest. Some general sanitary rules and facts, upon im- 
 portant and common topics, have been added — all from 
 the highest and latest authorities. We hope our fair coun- 
 trywomen may appreciate our labors, and that they may 
 feel that we have added something of dignity and real 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 9 
 
 philosophy to an important branch of human occupation. 
 The practical receipts here offered them have been selected, 
 with great care, from a vast quantity collected from all acces- 
 sible sources, both public and private. They are graduated 
 to every requirement, from the simple fare of common life to 
 the most elaborate luxuries of the table. 
 
 The theoretic explanations of chemical changes, either 
 resulting from natural or culinary processes, will give to the 
 young housekeeper a clear and unembarrassed view of the 
 character of the materials she must employ, and the proper 
 mode of that employment. They must facilitate and render 
 more definite and certain the undertakings of even the most 
 experienced, and enable the skilful to combine and regulate, 
 to preserve and modify, to keep and to use, the matters 
 belonging to housewifery, in a manner far more perfect, 
 thorough, and sure. The most lucid and comprehensive 
 positive instruction must sometimes prove deficient and un- 
 satisfactory. It will sometimes become inapplicable from 
 circumstances, or miscarry from want of full understanding 
 or well-directed precaution. A knowledge of the principles, 
 upon which the required process depends, is the only sure 
 guard against error, and the best guaranty of perfect 
 success. 
 
 The few sanitary facts given must be valuable to every 
 mother. By a due regard to such truths, she may save her 
 children many a pain and ache, and add to their constitu- 
 tional strength and vigor, to a degree that will be a blessing 
 
) 
 
 to their entire existence. A little preventive caution may 
 often avert serious sickness, and the constant operation of 
 daily influences, of good or evil tendency, make eventu- 
 ally all the difference between health and disease, comfort 
 and misery. 
 
 Salem, July 7, 1851. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Water. 
 
 General Observations, 13 
 
 Common Waters, 13 
 
 Mineral Waters, 17 
 
 Purification of Common Waters, 16 
 
 Rain Water, .. 14 
 
 River Water, 15 
 
 Sea Water, 16 
 
 Snow Water, 15 
 
 Spring Water, 15 
 
 Well Water, 16 
 
 Tea. 
 
 General Observations on making 
 Tea, 17 
 
 Coffee.^ 
 
 General Observations on making 
 
 Coffee, 18 
 
 Coffee, 19 
 
 Coffee made in a Biggin, 19 
 
 Coffee, French Fashion, 19 
 
 Monsieur Soyer's Recipe, 20 
 
 Cocoa, 20 
 
 Shells, 20 
 
 Cracked Cocoa, 20 
 
 Chocolate, 21 
 
 Mulled or Frothed Chocolate, ... 21 
 
 French Chocolate, 21 
 
 Drinks for the Sick. 
 
 Apple Water, 22 
 
 Barley Water, 22 
 
 Beef Tea, 21 
 
 Caudle, 22 
 
 Chicken Tea 21 
 
 Fresh Fruit Water, 23 
 
 Fig and Apple Beverage, 23 
 
 Gruel from Groats, ,. . 22 
 
 Ground Rice Gruel, 23 
 
 Indian Meal Gruel, 23 
 
 Oatmeal Gruel, 22 
 
 Raspberry Vinegar Beverage,... 23 
 
 Refreshing Drink, 23 
 
 Rice Water, 22 
 
 Sago Gruel 22 
 
 Toast Water, 23 
 
 Drinks for Dinner, Evening, &c. 
 
 Currant Wine, 26 
 
 Currant Shrub, 27 
 
 Drink for a Convalescent, 26 
 
 English Ginger Beer 26 
 
 Ginger Beer, 26 
 
 Good Drink, 25 
 
 Hook Punch, 25 
 
 Hop Beer, 26 
 
 Imperial, 25 
 
 Lemon Water, 24 
 
 Lemon Shrub, 24 
 
 Lemon Sirup, 21 
 
 Mulled Wine, 26 
 
 Orgeat, 24 
 
 Pleasant Drink, 24 
 
 Punch, 25 
 
 Regent's Punch, 25 
 
 Racahout des Arabes, 27 
 
 Sarsaparilla Mead, 26 
 
 Webster Punch, 25 
 
 Wine Whey, 25 
 
 Bread. 
 General Observations on making 
 
 and baking Bread, 27 
 
 Yeast. 
 
 General Remarks...... 34 
 
12 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Yeast, 35 
 
 Dry Yeast, 35 
 
 Potato Yeast, 35 
 
 Portable Yeast, 36 
 
 Bread made withj'Sponge, 40 
 
 Brown Bread, 41 
 
 Dyspepsia Bread, 41 
 
 Family Bread, 38 
 
 Flannel Bread, 42 
 
 Muffin Bread 42 
 
 New Milk Bread, 42 
 
 Portable Yeast Bread, 37 
 
 Bice Bread, 40 
 
 Bye Bread, 41 
 
 Thirded Bread, 41 
 
 Toast. 
 
 General Observations,' 42 
 
 Dipped Toast, 43 
 
 Dry or Scratch Toast, 43 
 
 Hot Cakes. 
 
 Buttermilk Cakes, 44 
 
 Buttermilk Griddle Cakes, 49 
 
 Buckwheat Cakes, 45 
 
 Corn Meal Rusk, 46 
 
 Corn Cake, 49 
 
 Corn Bread, 51,52 
 
 Corn Muffins, 52 
 
 Corn Waffles, 52 
 
 Cream Tartar Cakes, 44 
 
 Crura Cakes, 50 
 
 Drop Cakes, 47 
 
 Flannel Cakes, 48 
 
 French Rolls 44 
 
 Hominy Fritters, . , 52 
 
 Indian Cake, 49 
 
 Indian Batter Cake, 50 
 
 Indian Corn — General Remarks, 50 
 
 Journey, or Johnny Cake, 49 
 
 Muffins and English Muffins,.... 45 
 
 Nimble Cake, 48 
 
 Oyster Corn Cakes, 53 
 
 Rolls 44 
 
 Rice Cakes, 50 
 
 Rye Cakes, 48, 49 
 
 Royal Corn Cakes, 52 
 
 Rice and Indian Cakes, 52 
 
 Raised Waffles 52 
 
 Rice Flannel Cakes, 52 
 
 Rusks, 46 
 
 Sour Cream Cakes, 44 
 
 Squash Cakes, 50 
 
 Sweet Potato Waffles, 52 
 
 Virginia Bread Cakes, 52 
 
 Velvet Cakes, 53 
 
 Waffles, 47 
 
 Washington Corn Cake, 48 
 
 Whigs 47 
 
 Widows' Cake, 48 
 
 Whortleberry (Huckleberry) Cake,49 
 
 Cake. 
 
 General Remarks, 53 
 
 AlmondCake 60 
 
 Almond Puffs', 61 
 
 Almond Cakes, 61 
 
 Baker's Molasses Gingerbread,.. 71 
 
 Barnard Cake, 73 
 
 Cider Cake, 66 
 
 Common Cake, 66 
 
 Cream Cakes, 60 
 
 Cocoa-nut Cakes, 61 
 
 Common Cup Cake, 63 
 
 Cup Cake, 63 
 
 Clay Cake, 66 
 
 Composition Plum Cake, 58 
 
 Common Loaf Cake, 65 
 
 Corsican Gingerbread, 67 
 
 Cookies, 68 
 
 Common Gingerbread, 69 
 
 Caraway Seed Cake, 69 
 
 Cream Cake, . .*. 69 
 
 Cream Tartar Doughnuts, 71 
 
 Doughnuts, 71 
 
 Elizabeth Loaf Cake, 65 
 
 Election Cake, . 65 
 
 Esther's Loaf Cake, 64 
 
 Ellen's Cake, 64 
 
 Eden's Cake 66 
 
 Fruit Cake, 68 
 
 Frosting for Cake, 62, 63 
 
 Gold Cake, 60 
 
 Granny Strong's Cake, 64 
 
 Gingerbread, 68 
 
 Gringle Cake, 69 
 
 Ginger Nuts, 70 
 
 Ginger Snaps, 71 
 
 Ginger Cake, very nice, 67 
 
 Harrison Cake, , 66 
 
 1,2, 3,4Cake, 66 
 
 Indian Pound Cake, 67 
 
 Jumbles, 69 
 
 Lady's Finger Cakes, 63 
 
 Loaf Cake, very nice, 64, 65 
 
 Macaroons, 61, 62 
 
 Molly Saunders's Cake, 70 
 
 Molasses Gingerbread, 70, 71 
 
 Plum Cake, 57, 58 
 
 Pound Cake, 59 
 
 Queen's Cakes, 61 
 
 Roxbury Loaf Cake, 65 
 
 Russell Cake, 66 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ratafias, 62 
 
 Rice Sponge Cake, 62 
 
 Raised Doughnuts, 72 
 
 Rice Puffs, 73 
 
 Sponge Cakes, 59, 60 
 
 Silver Cake, 60 
 
 Savoy Biscuit, 62 
 
 Soda Cake, 67 
 
 Shrewsbury Cake, 67 
 
 Sally Lunns, -. . 67 
 
 Sandwiches, (Cake,) 69 
 
 Svmballs, 68, 72 
 
 Sweet Potato Cake, 73 
 
 Tea Cakes, 63, 64 
 
 Taylor Cake, 67 
 
 Unbolted Flour Cake, 73 
 
 Pastry. 
 
 General Observations, 73 
 
 Puff Paste, 76 
 
 Puff Paste with Beef Suet, 78 
 
 Half Puff Paste, 78 
 
 Short Paste, 78 
 
 Short Paste for Fruit Tarts, 79 
 
 Potato Paste, 79 
 
 French Recipe for Raised Pies,. . 79 
 
 Savory Pies. 
 
 Venison Pie, 81 
 
 Chicken Pie, 82 
 
 Oyster Pie 84 
 
 Partridge Pie, 83 
 
 Patties, 84 
 
 Pigeon Pie, 83 
 
 Pastie of Mutton, 82 
 
 Various other Pies, 82 
 
 Pot Pies, or Meat Puddings, 
 and Pies. 
 
 Beefsteak Pudding, 85 
 
 Veal Pot Pie 85 
 
 Lamb, Pork, and Kidney Pies,. . . 85 
 
 Apple Pies, 87 
 
 Apples prepared for Pies, 88 
 
 Blackberry or Huckleberry Pie, . 87 
 Cherry, Plum, or Quince Pie, .... 88 
 
 Dried Apple Pies, 87 
 
 Dried Plum Pies, 88 
 
 Fruit Pies, 87 
 
 Jelly Pies, 88 
 
 Mince Pies 85 
 
 Peach Pies 88 
 
 Paste for Mince Pies, 86 
 
 Plain Mince Pies, 86 
 
 Rhubarb, Gooseberry, &c, Pies,. . 88 
 
 2 
 
 Eggs. 
 
 General Observations, 89 
 
 Baked or Roasted Eggs, 90 
 
 Boiled Eggs, 89 
 
 Dropped Eggs, 89 
 
 Hard Scrabble, 90 
 
 Omelets, 90 
 
 Tomato Omelet, 90 
 
 Pickled Eggs, 90 
 
 Preservation of Eggs, 91 
 
 Vegetables. 
 
 General Observations, 93 
 
 Asparagus, 103 
 
 A Substitute for Asparagus, .... 108 
 
 Beets, plain and dressed, 100 
 
 Broccoli, 102 
 
 String Beans and Shelled Beans, 105 
 
 Beans, baked, 107 
 
 Carrots, 100 
 
 Cauliflower, plain and dressed, 102 
 Cabbage, plain and dressed, .... 102 
 
 Corn, 106 
 
 Corn Oysters, 106 
 
 Cucumbers, plain and stewed,. 105 
 
 Celery, 101 
 
 Egg Plant, 101 
 
 Fried Sweet Potatoes, 100 
 
 Greens, 105 
 
 Hominy, 107 
 
 Mushrooms, 104 
 
 Macaroni, 107 
 
 Onions, 105 
 
 Peas, boiled, plain and dressed,. 104 
 Potatoes, a la Maitre d'Hotel,.. 102 
 
 Squash, 100 
 
 Salsify, plain and full dressed, . 101 
 
 Sourkrout, 103 
 
 Spinach, 103 
 
 Sea Kale, 103 
 
 Samp, 107 
 
 Summer Succotash, 106 
 
 Cold Stew 108 
 
 Turnips, 100 
 
 Tomatoes, 106 
 
 Condiments or seasoning agents. 
 
 Saline Condiment, 109 
 
 Acidulous Condiment, 110 
 
 Oily Condiment, 110 
 
 Saccharine Condiment, 110 
 
 Aromatic Condiment, Ill 
 
 Bitter Almonds, Ill 
 
 Butter, Ill 
 
 Mustard, 112 
 
14 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Kitchen Pepper, 112 
 
 Ripening Fruits. 
 
 General Observations, 112 
 
 Baked and stewed Fruits, 114 
 
 Apples, coddled, 115 
 
 Dried Apples, stewed, 115 
 
 Stewed Pears, 115 
 
 Pb.eseb.yes. 
 
 General Observations, 115 
 
 Apple Jelly, 120, 121 
 
 Apple, Crab, 120 
 
 Barberries, 121 
 
 Blackberry Sirup, 121 
 
 BlackCurrants, 122 
 
 Candy Fruits, 118 
 
 To clarify Sugar, 117 
 
 Citron Melon, 120 
 
 Currant Jelly, 121 
 
 Cranberry Jelly, 121 
 
 Damsons, 120 
 
 Grape Jam, 122 
 
 Green Gage, and other Plums, . 120 
 
 Lemon Marmalade, 120 
 
 Orange Marmalade, 119 
 
 Peaches, 118 
 
 Pine Apple, 120, 121 
 
 Quinces, 118 
 
 Raspberry Jam, 120 
 
 Raspberry or Blackberry Jam, . 120 
 
 Strawberries and Raspberries,.. 122 
 
 Puddings. 
 
 General Observations 123 
 
 Almond Puddings, baked and 
 
 boiled, 130 
 
 Arrowroot Pudding, 138 
 
 Apple Pudding, 134, 135, 137 
 
 Apple Suet Pudding, 137 
 
 Apple Fritters, 140 
 
 Apple and Cracker Pudding,. . . 141 
 
 Bread and Butter Pudding,. . . . 130 
 
 Bread Pudding, 132, 141 
 
 Bunn Pudding, with Fruit,. 136, 138 
 
 Bird's Nest Pudding, 137 
 
 Bird's Nest Sago Pudding, .... 141 
 
 Carrot Pudding, 135 
 
 A Charlotte, 137 
 
 Christmas Plum Pudding, 126 
 
 Custard Plum Pudding, 128 
 
 Cocoa-nut Pudding, 131 
 
 Corn Pudding, 132 
 
 Cracker Pudding, 136 
 
 Custard Pudding, 137, 138 
 
 Carolina Snow Balls, 139 
 
 Curate's Pudding, 141 
 
 Dried Apple or Plum Pudding, 136 
 
 Eve's Pudding, 129 
 
 Huckleberrv Pudding, 136, 137 
 
 Indian Pudding, 139 
 
 Lemon Pudding, 130, 131, 142 
 
 Macaroni Pudding, 138 
 
 Marlborough Pudding, 129 
 
 Plum Puddings, 127, 128 
 
 Potato Puddings, 129, 130 
 
 Sweet Potato Pudding, 134 
 
 Pine Apple Pudding, 138 
 
 Pancakes 140 
 
 Pumpkin Pudding, 134 
 
 Rice, boiled, 135 
 
 Rusk Pudding, 142 
 
 Rice Pudding, 135, 136 
 
 Rye Pudding, 139 
 
 Rice (groundj Pudding, 131, 132, 133 
 
 Savory Rice, 141 
 
 Sago Pudding, 133 
 
 Squash Pudding, 134, 139 
 
 Sunderland Pudding, 132 
 
 Tapioca Pudding, 133, 142 
 
 Transparent Pudding, 136 
 
 Yorkshire Pudding, 140 
 
 Sweet Dishes. 
 
 General Observations, 142 
 
 Apple Float, 148 
 
 Arrowroot Blanc Mange, 149 
 
 Apple Cream, 151 
 
 Apple Cups, 155 
 
 Bohemian Jelly Creams, 147 
 
 Blanc Mange, 147, 148, 149 
 
 A Bird's Nest, 14S 
 
 Bavarois, 157 
 
 Coloring for Ices, &c, 143 
 
 Charlotte Russe, 143, 144 
 
 Calves' Foot Jelly, 145 
 
 Charlotte Strawberry, 147 
 
 Custards, 159, 151, 157 
 
 Chocolate Puffs, 152 
 
 Creme Plorabier, 1§2 
 
 Coffee Cream 153 
 
 Chantilly Cake, 153 
 
 Charlotte des Pommes, 156 
 
 Creme Fouettee, 156 
 
 Creme Brulee, 155 
 
 Cream, whipped, loo 
 
 Decoction of Isinglass, 145 
 
 Decoction of Hartshorn, 145 
 
 Dutch Flummery, 148 
 
 French Jellies, 147 
 
INDEX. 
 
 15 
 
 Fritters, 155 
 
 Floating Island, 152 
 
 Frozen Pudding, 154 
 
 Italian Cream, 151 
 
 Jellies, 146, 147, 157 
 
 Kisses, 152 
 
 Lemon Creams, 152 
 
 Lemon Honey, 152 
 
 Meringues, 153 
 
 Orange Honey, 152 
 
 Omelette Souffle, 157 
 
 Salad of Oranges, &c, 154, 155 
 
 Trifle, 149 
 
 Tipsy Cake, 149 
 
 Velvet Cream, 148 
 
 Whip Syllabub, 149 
 
 "Westminster Fool, 155 
 
 To prepare Ice for icing, 158 
 
 Ice made from Cream, 158 
 
 To prepare Ice for Milk, 159 
 
 Water Ices 1 58 
 
 Roman Punch 158 
 
 Raspberry, Vanilla, and Ice,... 158 
 
 Pine Apple Ice, 158 
 
 Punch instead of Roman Ice,.. 159 
 
 Sauces. 
 
 General Observations, 159 
 
 Anchovy Sauce, 161 
 
 Butter, melted or drawn, 160 
 
 Beefsteak Sauce, 160 
 
 Bread Sauce, 161 
 
 Beef Gravy 162 
 
 Cranberry Sauce, 160 
 
 Cod Sauce, 160 
 
 Celery Sauce, 161 
 
 Chestnut Sauce, 162 
 
 Cucumber Sauce, 162 
 
 Game, &c, 162, 164 
 
 Gravy Sauce, 160 
 
 Ham 163 
 
 .Lobster Sauce, 161 
 
 Lemon Sauce, 162 
 
 Mint Sauce, 162 
 
 Mutton, 162 
 
 Oyster Sauce, 160 
 
 For Pork, 163 
 
 For Dressing a Salad,..., 163 
 
 Sauce for Tripe, 164 
 
 Tomato Sauce, 160 
 
 Cold Pudding Sauce, 164 
 
 Hot Pudding Sauce, 164 
 
 Forcemeats. 
 
 General Observations, 164 
 
 Brain Cakes, 165 
 
 Common Stuffing, 165 
 
 Eggs for Turtle Soup, 166 
 
 Forcemeat Balls, 165 
 
 Fish Stuffing, 165 
 
 Garnishing for Dishes, 166 
 
 Accompaniments for Meats, .... 166 
 
 Boiled Mutton, 166 
 
 Boiled Fish 166 
 
 Veal, Calf's Head, 166 
 
 Corned Beef, 166 
 
 Roast Beef, 166 
 
 Rice Edging for Curry, &c...... 166 
 
 Potato Edging, 166 
 
 Boiled Fish 166 
 
 Fish. 
 
 General Observations 167 
 
 To select Fish 169 
 
 Cod, Head and Shoulders, 173 
 
 Baked Cod, 173 
 
 Crimped Cod, 173 
 
 Broiled Scrod, 173 
 
 Fried Cod, 173 
 
 Curry of Cod, 173 
 
 Chowder, 173 
 
 Crabs, hot or cold, 177 
 
 Clams, 177 
 
 Eels, 176 
 
 Fish, salt, 174 
 
 FishCakes, 177 
 
 Halibut, 174 
 
 Lobster, 177 
 
 Mackerel, 175 
 
 Oysters, 177 
 
 Perch, 175 
 
 Shad, 174 
 
 Smelts, 175 
 
 Salmon, 172 
 
 Tautog, 176 
 
 Trout 176 
 
 Tongues and Sounds, 177 
 
 Soups. 
 
 General Observations 178 
 
 Brown Stock, for Soup or Gravy, 184 
 
 Brown Soup, 186 
 
 Calves' Head Soup, 184 
 
 Coloring for Soups or Gravies,.. 184 
 
 Chicken Broth, 188 
 
 Green Peas Soup, 186 
 
 Lobster Soup, 18S 
 
 Macaroni Soup, 189 
 
 Mutton Broth, 188 
 
 Oyster Soup, • 187 
 
16 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Oxtail Soup, 188 
 
 Pea Soup, 185 
 
 Shin Soup, k 187 
 
 Tomato Soup, 188 
 
 Vermicelli Soup, 186 
 
 Vegetable Soup, 186 
 
 Meats. 
 
 General Observations, 189 
 
 To choose Meats, 191 
 
 Alamode Beef, 200 
 
 Bacon, 209 
 
 Beef, to roast, 197 
 
 Beef, Ragout, 198 
 
 Beef, Hunter's, 198 
 
 Beef Cheese, 209 
 
 Fricandeau of Beef, 199 
 
 Fricassee of Beef, 200 
 
 Corned Beef, 201 
 
 Beefsteaks, 199 
 
 Beefsteaks with Oysters, 199 
 
 Beefsteaks smothered with 
 
 Onions 199 
 
 Brawn, 207 
 
 Calf's Head, 201 
 
 Calves' Feet, 202 
 
 Calf's Liver, 206 
 
 Italian Cheese, 209 
 
 Ham, roasted or boiled, 207 
 
 Mutton, 208 
 
 Pig, roasted, 206 
 
 Sparerib of Pork, 206 
 
 Pork Steaks, 207 
 
 Pigs' Feet, 207 
 
 Sweetbreads, 202 
 
 Sausages, 207 
 
 Tongue, 201 
 
 Veal, cooked, 203, 204, 205 
 
 Venison, 196, 197 
 
 Mock Venison, 209 
 
 Fresh Meat Griddles, 208 
 
 To clarify Meat Jelly, 216 
 
 To remedy Tainted Meats, 209 
 
 Poultry and Game. 
 
 General Observations, 210 
 
 How to choose Poultry and 
 
 Game, 212 
 
 Directions for dressing Poultry 
 
 and Game, 213 
 
 Capon, to roast or boil, 217 
 
 Chickens, to roast or boil,. .216, 217 
 Chickens, boiled or fricasseed,.. 217 
 
 Chickens, Curry of, 217 
 
 Chicken Pilau, 217 
 
 Chicken Salad, 220 
 
 Ducks, to roast, 218 
 
 Geese, to roast, 218 
 
 Goose, stewed, 218 
 
 Goose, Mongrel, "Wild Goose,.. 218 
 Partridge, to roast, boil, and 
 
 broil, 219 
 
 Pigeons, 219 
 
 Potted Pigeons, 219 
 
 Plovers, Rabbits, 220 
 
 Quails, 219 
 
 Woodcocks, 220 
 
 Pickles. 
 
 General Observations, 220 
 
 Cabbages, pickled, 221 
 
 Cucumbers, pickled, 221 
 
 Green Beans, pickled, 223 
 
 Lemons -.. 222 
 
 Lemon Peel Pickles, 223 
 
 Martinoes, 221 
 
 Mangoes, 222 
 
 Nasturtions, 221 
 
 Nuts, pickled 221 
 
 Peaches, pickled, 222 
 
 Radish Pods, 223 
 
 Basil Vinegar, 222 
 
 Of Milk and its Products. 
 
 General Observations, 223 
 
 Butter, 230 
 
 Bohemian Butter, 231 
 
 Clotted Cream 229 
 
 Cheese, 237 
 
 Rennet, 235 
 
 Miscellaneous Recipes. 
 
 To preserve Beefsteaks, 239 
 
 Preserving Fruits, 239 
 
 Tea Kettles, 240 
 
 Cellars, 240 
 
 Preserving Lard, 241 
 
 To whiten Linen, 241 
 
 Husk Beds, 241 
 
 To take out Mildew, 241 
 
 To preserve Poultry in hot 
 
 Weather,.... 241 
 
 Lime Water, 241 
 
 To allay great Sickness at the 
 
 Stomach, 242 
 
 Camphorated Spirit, 242 
 
 To remove Black Dye from the 
 
 Skin, 242 
 
 Liquorice for a Cough, 242 
 
INDEX. 
 
 17 
 
 Cologne* 242 
 
 Lip Salve, 243 
 
 To make Soap, 243 
 
 To keep Eggs, 243 
 
 Cold Cream, 243 
 
 Tooth Wash, 243 
 
 Tooth Powders 243 
 
 Cure for sore Throat, 243 
 
 To rub Furniture, 244 
 
 To dislodge a Fish-bone, 244 
 
 Com Plaster, 244 
 
 To cure Chilblains, 244 
 
 Antidote for Poison, 244 
 
 Cure for the Sting of a Bee,.... 244 
 
 Cure for Hydrophobia, 244 
 
 To preserve Furs 245 
 
 Potatoes, 245 
 
 To preserve Green Beans for 
 
 Winter, 245 
 
 To preserve Corn 245 
 
 To preserve Green Peas, 246 
 
 Parched Corn Coffee, 246 
 
 Parsley 246 
 
 Children sick while teething,. . . 246 
 
 Cabbage Leaves, 246 
 
 Cucumber Catchup, 247 
 
 Tomato Catchup, 247 
 
 Hasty Pudding, 247 
 
 Welsh Rabbit, 248 
 
 Roasted Cheese, 248 
 
 Cheese to toast, 248 
 
 Sandwiches 248 
 
 To prevent Iron from rusting, . . 249 
 To prevent Lamp Glasses from 
 
 cracking 249 
 
 To transplant Shrubs, 249 
 
 Potato Cheese, 249 
 
 To cleanse the Inside of Jars,.. 249 
 To extract Oil from Dresses,... 249 
 
 To remove proud Flesh, 259 
 
 To prevent the spreading of 
 
 Contagion, 250 
 
 To prevent Flatirons sticking,. . 250 
 
 Walnuts, 250 
 
 To preserve Lemon Juice, 250 
 
 Dissolved Chloride of Lime, . . . 250 
 
 To purify the Air, 250 
 
 Blacking, 251 
 
 Washing Fluid, 251 
 
 Water-proof Dressing for 
 
 Shoes, 251 
 
 New Plan for making Shoes 
 
 Water Proof, 251 
 
 Corns, 252 
 
 To press Silk, 252 
 
 To preserve Guns from Salt 
 
 Water, 252 
 
 For Fever and Ague, 252 
 
 For marking Cravats, 253 
 
 Drving Pears, 253 
 
 Of "Diet, 254 
 
 Of the Time of Eating, 258 
 
 Magendie's Report, 261 
 
 Dr. Beaumont's Table, 261 
 
 2* 
 
THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 WATER. 
 
 Water serves several important purposes in the an- 
 imal economy. Water constitutes an essential part of 
 the blood and of the living tissues, and assists in sev- 
 eral ways in carrying on the vital processes. In some 
 diseases an almost unlimited use of liquids is allowed, 
 under various names and shapes. They quench thirst, 
 besides assisting the system to throw off inflammation 
 and fever. In other maladies, some restriction is neces- 
 sary in regard to the quantity of fluids taken. Atten- 
 tion to the quality, as well as to the quantity, of the 
 water employed as a drink, is very important. Con- 
 sidered with regard to quality, the waters furnished us 
 by nature are conveniently divisible into three classes, 
 viz.: 1st. Common waters, or those employed as 
 drinks, or for dressing food, and for other domestic 
 purposes. 2d. Sea water, or the water of the ocean. 
 3d. Mineral waters, or those waters which belong to 
 neither of the above classes, and which possess some 
 peculiar properties derived from the presence of one or 
 more mineral substances. 
 
 Distilled water can be obtained from either of these 
 waters, though usually from the first. 
 
 Common Waters. Under this head are included 
 waters known as rain, spring, river, well or pump, lake, 
 and marsh waters. 
 2 
 
14 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Rain water is the purest of all natural waters. Its 
 purity, however, is subject to some variation. When 
 collected in large towns or cities, it is less pure than 
 when obtained in the country. The first water which 
 falls in a shower brings down with it all the impure 
 matters suspended in the atmosphere ; but after a 
 while, it falls nearly pure. Whenever rain water is 
 collected near large towns, it should be boiled and 
 strained before using. As it contains less saline admix- 
 ture than other kinds of natural waters, it is more apt 
 to take up lead from roofs, cisterns, gutters, and water 
 pipes. Though the purest waters are the most whole- 
 some, yet very pure water is possessed of one very 
 dangerous quality — that of rapidly corroding this sub- 
 stance. Lead is sometimes decomposed by water, in 
 consequence of galvanic action — in cases where lead 
 and iron are in contact, as often happens in the em- 
 ployment of iron bars to strengthen and support lead- 
 en cisterns, and in the introduction of iron pumps into 
 leaden cisterns. The salts contained in the waters 
 exert considerable solvent power over the lead, but in 
 different degrees. Lead is also abraded by the me- 
 chanical action of water running through pipes, and 
 thus mixed with the fluid. Some salts, carbonates 
 and sulphates especially, will eventually deposit upon 
 the surface of the metal a coating sufficient to protect 
 it from further action, thus rendering it innoxious. 
 Such a coating may be secured by allowing water to 
 remain at rest in the pipes for two or three months. 
 Such is not the case, however, with all waters ; and 
 the precaution is too precarious to be confided in. 
 All such combinations of lead with iron or zinc should 
 be cautiously avoided. Cisterns have sometimes 
 leaden covers, or covers lined with lead; and the 
 water evaporating from the cistern is condensed upon 
 the lid, upon which it exerts its usual energetic action, 
 and drops back into the body of the cistern contam- 
 inated with the metal. 
 
WATER. 15 
 
 Let this be remembered in using refrigerators. 
 Whenever any article is put into them to be preserved, 
 if any condensation of the moisture from such article 
 is perceived on the lid, throw it away ; do not eat 
 it, as it is contaminated with lead in the drops of 
 "water. Sickness has occurred from the neglect arising 
 from ignorance or carelessness in this matter. Never 
 put away hot articles in a refrigerator for this reason. 
 The continued use of water containing lead produces 
 what is called " lead or painter's colic." If the cause 
 of the malady be not discovered and remedied, palsy 
 usually finally succeeds colic. 
 
 Snoiv water is destitute of air and other gaseous 
 matters found in rain. It has been a popular opinion, 
 that it was injurious to health, and had a tendency to 
 produce bronchocele or goitre. This malady is not 
 confined to the poor peasant of the Alps, but occurs in 
 Sumatra, where ice and snow are never seen ; while 
 the disease is quite unknown in Chili and Thibet, 
 although the rivers of these countries are chiefly sup- 
 plied by the melting of snow, with which the moun- 
 tains are covered. Snow does not quench thirst ; on 
 the contrary, it increases it, and, according to Captain 
 Ross, the natives of the arctic regions prefer enduring 
 the utmost extremity of thirst rather than attempt to 
 remove it by eating snow. When melted, however, it 
 is equally efficacious with other waters. 
 
 Spring- water is rain water, which, having strained 
 through the earth, reappears at the surface. During 
 its progress, it takes up some soluble matters, which 
 vary according to the nature of the soil. Its constitu- 
 ents are similar to well water. 
 
 Paver water is a mixture of rain and spring waters. 
 Decomposing organic matter, in suspension or solution, 
 is found, more or less, in all river water. Ordinarily, 
 the quantity may be insufficient to act injuriously. 
 Living beings, both animal and vegetable, constitute 
 another of the impurities of river water. 
 
16 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Well water is, in its ordinary composition, similar 
 to river water ; but the earthy salts are found in much 
 larger quantity. It usually decomposes and curdles 
 soap, and is then called hard water, to distinguish it 
 from river and other waters, which are readily mingled 
 with soap, and are termed soft waters. It is the pres- 
 ence of these salts which gives well water the hard 
 feeling, and their absence which makes rain water feel 
 soft. The most common of these salts is sulphate of 
 lime. By boiling, the acid is expelled, and the lime is 
 precipitated on the sides of the vessel, constituting the 
 fur of the tea-kettle and the crust of boilers. Hard 
 water is a less perfect solvent than soft water: hence, 
 in the preparation of infusions and decoctions, and for 
 many domestic purposes, as in tea-making, it is infe- 
 rior to soft water. 
 
 Purification of Common Waters. By filtration water 
 is cleansed of living beings, and of all suspended im- 
 purities. Substances in solution are not got rid of by 
 this process. Boiling' destroys animal and vegetable 
 life, expels air or carbonic acid, and causes the lime to 
 be precipitated. Distillation, when properly conducted, 
 is the most effectual method of purifying it. Alum is 
 sometimes used to clear muddy water. Two or three 
 grains are sufficient for a quart of water. But this 
 renders the water hard. 
 
 Sea Water is the water of the ocean. Taken inter- 
 nally, it excites thirst, readily nauseates, and, in full 
 doses, occasions vomiting and purging. Employed as 
 a bath, it more speedily and certainly causes the reac- 
 tion and glow; and, consequently, the sea-water bath 
 may be used for a longer period, without causing ex- 
 haustion, than the common water bath. It is a com- 
 mon opinion that people are less likely to take cold, 
 after the use of salt water as a bath, than after the em- 
 ployment of common water. The distillation of salt 
 water, at sea, for the use of mariners, is an old sugges- 
 tion, and is, I believe, now carried into operation at a 
 moderate expense. 
 
TEA. 17 
 
 Mineral Waters are waters which belong to neither 
 of the preceding classes. In consequence of their pe- 
 culiar chemical properties, they are not used as drinks, 
 or for the purposes of domestic economy. 
 
 TEA. 
 
 It may seem a very simple matter to make a nice 
 cup of tea or coffee. Simple as it would appear, I 
 think most people will agree with me that it is seldom 
 found in perfection. 
 
 In China, where the tea plant is indigenous, the na- 
 tives drink it constantly — very strong, and usually, very 
 hot. They never make use of the green teas, which 
 are prepared solely for " the barbarians." We probably 
 derive our style of cup and saucer from the Chinese, 
 although we have contrived to divert the saucer from 
 its original purpose, it being employed by the natives 
 as a cover to the cup ; both to keep the beverage hot 
 and to prevent the evaporation of its delicate flavor. 
 Each cup is supported on a stand of carved wood, to 
 prevent any disagreeable consequences arising from the 
 heat of the vessel. Those who fancy to drown them- 
 selves, at each meal, in three or four cups of the de- 
 coction of this most fragrant herb, would feel hardly 
 satisfied with the extremely small cup which suffices a 
 Chinaman. 
 
 To make tea in perfection, the kettle should not be 
 filled over night; or, if for the evening meal, immedi- 
 ately after dinner — "in order to be well boiled at the 
 appointed hour." 
 
 All spring water contains some air in solution ; and 
 to this is chiefly owing its sparkling taste, which it is 
 not found to possess if it is allowed to stand any length 
 of time, or to boil : therefore water, to be sparkling 
 and bright, should be freshly drawn, heated quickly to 
 the boiling point, immediately poured upon the dry 
 2* 
 
18 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 leaves, allowed, for a few minutes, to steep, and then 
 served hot upon the table. 
 
 COFFEE. 
 
 This matter of boiling water should be attended to 
 in the making of coffee. 
 
 You cannot have nice coffee unless great care is 
 taken in roasting^ not burning; the nut. Many people 
 send their coffee to the bakers to be both roasted and 
 ground. Doubtless, the cook is saved much trouble 
 where this is done, and a better prepared article is ob- 
 tained. If so managed, the powder should be kept in 
 air-tight vessels, constantly well corked, or the good- 
 ness will be lost. Judgment should be exercised in the 
 quantity which is sent to be prepared at one time. 
 Of course, the fresher the coffee, the higher and better 
 will be the flavor of the decoction. 
 
 If roasted at home, the nut should be well dried in 
 a moderate oven before exposing it to a severe heat; 
 when put over the fire, it should be constantly stirred 
 with a wooden stick, or spatula, kept for this purpose. 
 When of a nice brown color, it may be considered as 
 roasted. Some persons fancy that a small piece of 
 butter stirred into the coffee, just before you take the 
 nuts from the fire, enriches it greatly. When removed 
 from the fire, these nuts should be instantly poured into 
 a cold vessel, or stirred till the one in which they have 
 been roasted is somewhat cool. 
 
 Coffee. — Take an egg or two, according to the quan- 
 tity of powder used; one is sufficient for two gills, and 
 mix it with the dry coffee ; this can be either roiled into 
 balls or left in one mass. Put this mixture into your 
 Roffee-pot, (with or without the eggshell, as you pre- 
 fer,) pour the boiling hot water upon it, and allow it to 
 boil about ten minutes. You will find it will need 
 little time to settle, but will pour, directly from boiling, 
 
COFFEE. 10 
 
 into your urn clear and transparent. The egg adds 
 greatly to the richness of this beverage. The egg 
 should not be used, unless carefully mixed with the 
 powder ; otherwise, in pouring your hot water upon the 
 egg, it is cooked, and no benefit is derived from it. 
 
 Another Recipe. Take a piece of dry fishskin, 
 about an inch square, which has been well washed 
 and dried ; put it into your coffee-pot, with a coffee- 
 cup of the ground powder, and pour boiling water on 
 it. Let it boil ten or fifteen minutes ; be exceedingly 
 careful that it does not boil over, as also that it be 
 stirred once or twice while boiling. Remove the pot 
 from the fire, and pour out some of the liquid into a 
 cup, and back again, once or twice. Pour it out 
 through the nose, that all the grounds which have 
 boiled into it shall be cleared away from it. A cup of 
 cold water, now added, will assist in settling it. Set 
 the pot where the coffee will be kept hot, without boil- 
 ing, to clarify, about five or ten minutes. Be careful, 
 when the coffee is transferred from the pot to the urn, 
 that the grounds are not shaken or disturbed ; if 
 they are, your drink will be both thick and muddy. 
 
 Coffee. — Made in a Big-gin. To make a quart: 
 first, put a pint of boiling water through the filter to 
 warm it, which pour away ; then put a cupful of 
 ground coffee upon the inner filter, upon which put the 
 other tin, then the grating; pour over it half a pint 
 of boiling water ; this will wet the grains through. Let 
 it stand four or five minutes ; then pour a pint and a 
 half more. After this is drained out, pour it again 
 through the filter, and it is ready for the table. Served 
 with boiled milk or cream. Some biggins have heaters 
 or spirit lamps attached to them, which keep the water 
 always boiling. 
 
 Coffee. — French fashion. To a pint of made 
 coffee add a pint of boiling milk; warm these together, 
 and serve hot. This is used for breakfast. After din- 
 ner, the French seldom, if ever, use either milk or 
 cream with their coffee. 
 
20 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Instead of fishskin, which is thought by some to 
 impart a disagreeable flavor to the coffee, a piece, an 
 inch square, of American isinglass can be used to 
 refine and clarify coffee. 
 
 I will add here Monsieur Soyer's recipe for the 
 making of coffee. He is the celebrated chef of one 
 of the most sumptuous of the London club houses, 
 and his opinion should be decisive upon any matter 
 in cookery. The plan is original, certainly, and not 
 difficult to execute. 
 
 Coffee. Put two ounces of ground coffee into a 
 stewpan, which set upon the fire, stirring the powder 
 round with a spoon until quite hot ; then pour over a 
 pint of boiling water ; cover closely for five minutes, 
 and pass it through a cloth ; warm it again, and serve 
 hot. 
 
 The cloth through which the coffee is passed should 
 be immediately washed and dried for the next occa- 
 sion. This method has one great advantage, in the 
 shortness of time necessary to obtain a cup of coffee. 
 
 COCOA. 
 
 Cocoa. Many persons purchase the nut as im- 
 ported in bags ; roast it, as coffee, and crack it in a 
 mortar. Then boil it well in water. Doubtless the 
 real cocoa taste is obtained in this way, and you are 
 sure you get a pure article. 
 
 Shells. These require long boiling in water to be 
 agreeable. After being boiled sufficiently long, pour 
 off the liquid, and add milk to it, which heat, and then 
 serve hot. Use a heaping tea-cupful to a quart of 
 water. 
 
 Cracked Cocoa is the nut and shell together. To 
 be prepared in the same manner as the above. There 
 will be more oily matter in this liquid than in shells, 
 which makes it disliked by some persons. 
 
DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 21 
 
 Chocolate. Scrape two ounces (two squares) of 
 the cake, which put into a saucepan, with a gill of 
 warm water, over the fire, stirring it constantly until 
 rather thick, and then add gradually a half pint of 
 boiling milk. To be served hot. 
 
 Mulled or Frothed Chocolate. The Italians 
 use a regular chocolate-pot, the handle of which comes 
 through the lid. Put into such a pot two ounces of 
 chocolate, (scraped,) over which pour gradually a pint 
 of boiling milk. Put on the cover, with the muller in- 
 side, which keep moving by the handle ; place the pot 
 on the fire ; when hot and very frothy, it is ready to be 
 served. 
 
 French Chocolate comes mixed with sugar and 
 highly flavored, in tin canisters. This can be prepared 
 on the table. Put a tea-spoon and a half of the choc- 
 olate powder into a cup, which fill up by degrees with 
 boiling milk, stirring until dissolved. 
 
 DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 
 
 Beef Tea. Cut a pound of solid lean beef into 
 dice an inch square, and put it into a saucepan, with 
 a salt-spoon of salt, a clove, and an onion. Stir the 
 meat round until some of the juice is extracted ; then 
 add a quart of water. Let it simmer for half an hour. 
 Skim it well. If desired plain, omit the vegetables. 
 
 Beef Tea. After cutting up the meat and salting 
 it a little, put it into a wide-mouthed bottle and cork 
 it. Set the bottle into a kettle of cold water, and boil 
 it one hour and a half. You get in this way the true 
 essence of meat. It can be diluted with water. Strain 
 and squeeze well the beef; put it over the fire to 
 scald ; skim it, and add boiling water. 
 
 Chicken Tea. Take half of a chicken ; put it into 
 cold water, and set it over the fire to simmer, with a 
 little salt. Skim it well. One half hour is sufficient 
 to make this drink. 
 
22 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Oatmeal Gruel. Have ready, boiling in a sauce- 
 pan, a pint of water with a half tea-spoon of salt ; add 
 two table-spoonfuls of oatmeal, previously wet with 
 cold water. Stir it well. Let it boil from fifteen to 
 twenty minutes. Grate nutmeg, and add sugar, to 
 your taste. Some persons like butter added. 
 
 Gruel from Groats. Proceed as above, but 
 adding rather more water, and boiling a few minutes 
 longer. Some eat this gruel with the groats in it. If 
 objected to, strain it, and season as above. 
 
 Sago Gruel. Wash carefully two table-spoonfuls 
 of sago. Put it into a saucepan with a pint of cold 
 water. Stir it and simmer it until thickish and clear ; 
 then add nutmeg and salt, and a little butter. A glass 
 of wine improves this much. 
 
 Rice Water. Put a quart of water to boil in a 
 saucepan, with a cupful of well washed rice. Place it 
 on the fire, and let it boil gently until the rice is very 
 soft. Then strain it ; press the rice well. Sweeten it 
 either with sugar or honey. Drink this lukewarm. 
 
 Apple Water. Roast some half dozen apples ; 
 when cooked, pour over them a pint of boiling water. 
 Mash and strain them. Add sugar or honey. 
 
 Barley Water. Wash clean one ounce of pearl 
 barley ; put it into one quart of water. Simmer it an 
 hour. When half done put in a slice or two of fresh 
 lemon. Sweeten to your taste. Wine, if you choose. 
 
 Barley Water. Wash an ounce of pearl barley 
 and put it into three pints of water, with an ounce of 
 sweet almonds beaten fine ; a few slices of fresh 
 lemon. Add sugar and more lemon juice, if you 
 choose. 
 
 Caudle. One milk biscuit pounded and sifted. 
 Pour over it one quart of water, and boil it until it be- 
 comes perfectly soft. Reduce it, by boiling, to one 
 half. When cool, add two eggs, well beaten, and three 
 glasses of wine. Stir them together. Add sugar and 
 nutmeg. 
 
DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 23 
 
 Caudle. Two wine glasses of water, with two and 
 one half glasses of wine ; one milk biscuit. Put them 
 to boil. Have ready one egg, beaten well, which stir 
 into the biscuit, when cool. Add sugar to the taste. 
 Put these over the fire ; boil them well, and strain for 
 use. 
 
 Raspberry Vinegar Beverage. Put two table 
 spoonfuls of raspberry vinegar into a pitcher, and pour 
 over it a half pint of boiling water. When cold, it is 
 ready to drink. Any kind of fruit sirup can be made 
 into quite a palatable drink, in the same way. 
 
 Fresh Fruit Water. Take a quart of fresh straw- 
 berries or raspberries ; rub them through a sieve into a 
 bowl, which sweeten well with sugar ; add the juice 
 of a lemon, and a quart of water. Currant water is 
 made in the same way, omitting the lemon. 
 
 Fig and Apple Beverage. Boil two quarts of 
 water, in which put eight fresh figs ; open them ; cut 
 two or three apples into six or eight pieces; let the 
 whole boil together twenty minutes. Strain it. Lem- 
 on may be used instead of the apples, adding sugar or 
 honey. 
 
 Toast Water. Toast one good sized slice of 
 bread of a nice yellow color ; put it into a bowl, and 
 pour over it a pint of boiling water. Cover it until 
 cold. Then strain it, and it is ready for use. Do not 
 omit to strain it; for if the bread remains in, it will 
 cause fermentation, especially in summer. 
 
 Indian Meal Gruel. Wet a spoonful of meal 
 with a small quantity of water, which stir into a half 
 pint of boiling water ; add a little salt, and let it boil 
 from one half to a full hour. Do not skim it. Nut- 
 meg may be added, with sugar, to the taste. 
 
 Ground Rice Gruel is made as above, only boil- 
 ing it for about half a minute. This, and the above 
 recipe, may be made with milk, if preferred. 
 
 A refreshing Drink in a Fever. Put a little 
 sage, two sprigs of balm, and a little sorrel, into a 
 
24 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 stone jug. Peel thin a small lemon; slice it, and put 
 in a bit of the peel. Pour over these one quart of boil- 
 ing water ; sweeten to your taste. Cover it well until 
 cold. Drinks can be made by pouring boiling water 
 over preserved fruits and tamarinds ; let them stand 
 until cold ; then strain, and they are fit for use. 
 
 A Pleasant Drink. Dissolve a quarter of an ounce 
 of isinglass in a pint of milk, and just bring it to a 
 boil. Sweeten it to your taste, adding a little peach 
 water, or boil a few peach leaves in the milk, to 
 flavor it. 
 
 Orgeat. One pound of blanched almonds ; rub 
 them to a paste in a mortar ; add, gradually, two 
 spoonfuls of peach water. Continue to pound them, 
 adding one quart of boiling water. Sweeten to your 
 taste. 
 
 Orgeat. Beat two ounces of almonds, blanched, 
 with a spoonful of rose or peach water, to a paste ; 
 then add, gradually, one quart of milk, or milk and 
 water. Sweeten to your taste. Half an ounce of 
 gum arabic, dissolved, may be added. Brandy, if ex- 
 pedient. 
 
 Lemon Water. Cut a lemon into thin slices, and 
 put it into a pitcher with some sugar. Pour over it a 
 pint of boiling water. Cover it close, and let it stand 
 until cold. Ice it, or not, as you please. 
 
 Lemon Shrub. To fourteen pounds of white sugar 
 add eighteen gills of water. Clarify it, over the fire, 
 with the whites of four to six eggs. To this sirup add 
 the strained juice of eight dozen of lemons, and sim- 
 mer it a little. When cool, bottle it for use. You may 
 add, if you see fit, three pints of old brandy. 
 
 Lemon Sirup. One ounce of tartaric acid, dis- 
 solved in one wine pint of water. Two pounds of 
 sugar. Dissolve the sugar over a gentle fire, and sim- 
 mer it, with the whites of two eggs, to the consistency 
 of a sirup. The rind of two lemons, grated or cut 
 thin, put into the sirup, when boiling, is an improve- 
 ment. When cold, bottle it. 
 
DRINKS FOR THE SICK. 25 
 
 Punch. Squeeze eighteen lemons on four pounds 
 of loaf sugar, pounded fine ; one pint of brandy. 
 Before adding the brandy, strain the lemon. Put it 
 into bottles, and, when used, add water. It will keep 
 a long time, with a little sweet oil put over the top. 
 By putting raw cotton upon the oil when you uncork 
 a bottle, all the oil can be removed. 
 
 Imperial. Two ounces of cream of tartar; two 
 pounds of loaf sugar ; three lemons cut in slices ; pour 
 upon these two gallons of boiling water. Let it stand 
 until cold. Strain and bottle it, and in ten days this 
 will be fit for use. This quantity will fill nine or ten 
 bottles. 
 
 A good Drink. Five gills of molasses ; one quar- 
 ter pound of tartaric acid ; one ounce of essence of 
 sassafras ; pour over these three pints of boiling water. 
 When cold, bottle it. This will fill four or five bottles. 
 Add, when drunk, one half tea-spoon of soda to each 
 tumbler of liquid. 
 
 Hook Punch. Half of the juice and peel of a 
 good-sized lemon, With a piece of ice the size of a 
 whole lemon, a large tea-cup of powdered sugar, and. 
 a wine glass and a half of maraschino cordial. Then 
 add a pint of Holland gin. Mix these together, and, 
 just before serving, pour in the contents of a common- 
 sized bottle of iced soda water. 
 
 Regent's Punch. One half box of guava or cur- 
 rant jelly ; one half of a lemon ; three fourths of a 
 tumbler of sugar ; one tumbler of brandy ; four tum- 
 blers of green tea ; one bottle of Champagne ; ice. 
 
 Webster Punch. One and three fourths tumblers 
 of brandy ; one third of a tumbler of Jamaica rum ; one 
 tumbler of sugar; peel of one lemon, sliced ; juice of 
 one half a lemon ; juice of one orange ; three tumblers 
 of water ; flavored with wine glass of some cordial. 
 
 Wine Whey. Boil a pint of new milk, and 
 sweeten to your taste. Remove it off the fire, and 
 pour in two glasses of good wine. Stir it and let it 
 3 
 
26 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 stand to coagulate. Strain it, and grate a little nutmeg 
 over it. 
 
 Mulled Wine. Boil equal quantities of wine and 
 water with some pounded mace, cloves, and sugar to 
 your taste. Beat up any quantity of eggs, the whites 
 and yolks separately, according to the quantity of wine 
 used. Three eggs to a tumbler of wine. Mix the 
 eggs together well after being beaten, and pour grad- 
 ually, stirring all the time, the boiling wine over the 
 eggs. 
 
 Hop Beer. One handful of hops; one half pint 
 of molasses ; one bucket of water ; one pint of yeast. 
 
 Ginger Beer. One coffee cup of ginger, mixed 
 well with three pints of molasses. Pour over this six 
 gallons of boiling water. When milkwarm, add one 
 half pint of yeast. After this is fermented sufficiently, 
 bottle it. 
 
 Sarsaparilla Mead. Three pounds of sugar ; three 
 ounces of tartaric acid ; one ounce of cream of tar- 
 tar; one ounce of flour; one ounce of essence of 
 sarsaparilla or sassafras, and three quarts of water. 
 Strain and bottle it, and let it stand ten days. 
 
 English Ginger Beer. One ounce and one half 
 of ginger ; one ounce of cream of tartar ; one pound 
 of sugar ; four quarts of boiling water ; two fresh lem- 
 ons, sliced. Pour the water boiling over these ingredi- 
 ents. When cold, add two gills of fresh yeast, and in 
 twenty-four hours bottle it. It improves by keeping, 
 unless the weather is exceeding hot. 
 
 An invigorating Drink for a Convalescent. Take 
 one egg, and beat to a stiff froth the white ; beat also 
 the yolk, with sugar to your taste ; mix these together, 
 adding a glass of good wine, well stirred in. Fill up 
 the tumbler with milk, or drink it simple. 
 
 Currant Wine. To one quart of currant juice add 
 three quarts of water, and three pounds of sugar. Put 
 it into a covered stone jar, and let it stand three or four 
 weeks in a cool place. Then strain and bottle it. 
 
BREAD. 
 
 27 
 
 Currant Shrub. Boil currant juice five minutes 
 with sugar, a pound of sugar to a pint of juice. Stir 
 it while it cools ; then bottle it. Two or three spoon- 
 fuls in a tumbler of water make an agreeable drink. 
 
 " Racahout des Arabes." Half a pound of best 
 French chocolate, one pound of rice flour, a quarter 
 of a pound of nice arrowroot, and half a pound of 
 sifted loaf sugar. These materials are to be thor- 
 oughly mixed and rubbed together. A dessert-spoon- 
 ful of this compound should be slightly moistened 
 with milk, or with water, as you may prefer, then 
 stirred into a pint of boiling milk. Excellent food for 
 invalids or convalescents. 
 
 BREAD. 
 
 The art of making bread is among the earliest 
 modes adopted by mankind for the preparation of 
 food. Unleavened bread, of some material or other, 
 is made use of by nearly all the nations of the earth. 
 Some make it from grains, some from the bark of trees, 
 while others use roots and fruits. The North American 
 Indians contrive, by pounding the maize or Indian corn, 
 to make a sort of cake, which they bake on hot stones 
 or in hot ashes. This serves them, and occasionally 
 the Anglo-Saxon race, as a substitute for leavened 
 bread. 
 
 All materials for the making of bread are ground 
 into meal, more or less fine, then mixed with water, 
 well kneaded, and baked in an oven or on hot. cinders. 
 By this process, the unleavened bread or biscuits are 
 made. It must be very obvious, that this very cohesive, 
 firm and compact bread, must be slowly digested. 
 Notwithstanding this objection, biscuits sometimes 
 agree better with the dyspeptic than fermented breads. 
 To make the leavened bread, or the ordinary loaf bi'ead 
 of families, yeast or leaven (old dough, in a state of 
 
28 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 fermentation) must be added to the flour, together with 
 salt and water. 
 
 The origin and etymology of the word bread are not 
 without interest. Bread is brayed grain, from the verb 
 to bray, or pound; expressive of the old method of 
 making the meal. Bread is, therefore, something 
 brayed ; as brayed wheat or flour, brayed maize or In- 
 dian meal. 
 
 Dough comes from the Anglo-Saxon word deaw- 
 ian, to wet, to moisten. Dough means wetted flour 
 or meal. The bread or brayed grain becomes dough 
 by being moistened. Loaf comes from the Anglo- 
 Saxon word lif-ian, to raise, to lift up. Thus, after 
 the grain is brayed or ground, made into dough by 
 being wet, and the yeast added, it becomes loaf, or 
 raised bread. Leaven is derived from the French word 
 lever, to raise, or the Saxon word lif-ian, above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The first requisite to obtain good bread, is to procure 
 good flour. Most truly is bread " the staff of life ; " 
 and as truly is good bread necessary to the comfort 
 of all ; and, being an essential of good housekeeping, 
 no pains should be spared to obtain a first-rate article 
 of flour. 
 
 Physicians will agree with me, I think, that many of 
 the sicknesses of children arise from eating ill-made 
 or ill-cooked bread. Many adults, doubtless, may 
 thank their careless or ignorant cooks for various dys- 
 peptic feelings, rendering their existence a burden. 
 
 Good flour should not be pure white in color ; that 
 of a creamy, yellowish-white shade makes the best 
 bread. To judge of flour, take a portion in your hand 
 and press it firmly between your thumb and forefinger, 
 at the same time rubbing it gently, for the purpose of 
 making a level surface upon the flour. By this means 
 you can satisfy yourself as to its color. If it feels 
 loose and lively in the hand, it is of good quality ; if, 
 .on the contrary, it feels dead, or damp, or clammy, it is 
 
BREAD. 
 
 29 
 
 old and bad flour. By rubbing it in this way with a 
 spoon, or other metallic article, garlic may be detected 
 by the smell. 
 
 The next requisite is excellent yeast; and with these 
 materials, added to a little salt and water, no family 
 should be without prime bread. 
 
 The yeast which is added to the dough, in baking, 
 acts in the same way as when it is added to the sweet 
 wort of the brewer. It induces a fermentation, by 
 which the sugar of the flour is changed to carbonic 
 acid and alcohol. The carbonic acid is liberated in 
 the form of minute bubbles of gas, throughout the 
 whole substance of the dough, and causes it to rise ; 
 the alcohol is disfilled off in the oven. " Carbonic acid 
 gas is injurious only when drawn into the lnngs. It 
 then acts not only as a poison, but, if breathed in large 
 quantities, actually drowns the individual breathing it. 
 Cats have been drowned while endeavoring to pass 
 across the bread trough of a bakehouse, the trough 
 having been filled with gas by the fermentation of the 
 dough." If too much water has been added to the 
 dough, or if it have not been sufficiently kneaded, or 
 if the flour be too finely ground, or if it be not suffi- 
 ciently tenacious in its nature, then these bubbles will 
 run into each other, and will form large air holes in the 
 heart of the loaf, which will give that open, irregularly 
 porous appearance, so much disliked by the skiliul 
 housewife. 
 
 Good bread should be full of small pores, and uni- 
 formly light. Such bread is made from strong- flour ; 
 that is, flour which will rise well, will retain its bulk, 
 and will bear the largest quantity of water. Good 
 flour, in baking, takes up half its weight of water. 
 
 hi some parts of Europe, it appears to have been the 
 practice to adulterate the bread with some foreign ad- 
 mixture ; sometimes with a small quantity of sulphate 
 of copper — deadly poison — at other times with a por- 
 tion of alum, alcohol, or rum. All these adulterations 
 3* 
 
30 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 permit the use of inferior flour, giving the bread a 
 fairer color, raising it well, and causing it to hold more 
 water, but rendering it unwholesome. 
 
 That our bakers use something more than yeast to 
 render their breads light, and to produce the greatest 
 quantity from their flour, cannot be doubted. For 
 the benefit of their customers' health, I trust they 
 eschew the poisonous ingredients. During the past 
 year* some cases occurred in Boston of poison from 
 the eating of cream cakes. It is probable that copper, 
 or some similar mixture, had been added to the flour. 
 
 Common salt makes the paste stronger, and causes 
 it to retain more water ; so that the addition of salt is 
 a real gain. 
 
 A little rice flour, in proportion of a seventh part, is 
 said to cause wheat flour to absorb more water ; if so, 
 of course it is economical to use it. 
 
 The meal of Indian corn, (maize,) added, in any 
 proportion to suit the taste, enables wheat flour to hold 
 more water. 
 
 All mixtures of flour, to which is added sugar or 
 molasses, rise quicker and in a less warm atmosphere 
 than without it. 
 
 The grains from which meal and bread are made are 
 composed of starch and gluten, with a small portion of 
 sugar. On grinding the grain, the husks and the parts 
 nearest to them, which contain the oily matter, separate, 
 forming the bran ; and there is left the inner, whiter 
 part, called meal. The gluten is tougher and harder to 
 grind than the starch ; so that the white meal or flour, 
 by frequent bolting or sifting, becomes richer in starch, 
 while the unbolted meal is richer in gluten. The nutri- 
 tive property of wheat meal is ascribed mainly to the 
 gluten which it contains, the viscidity or tenacity of 
 which confers on wheat flour its peculiar excellence for 
 the manufacture of maccaroni, vermicelli, and similar 
 pastes, which are made by a kind of wire drawing. The 
 wheat of the south of Europe, being more abundant in 
 
BREAD. 
 
 31 
 
 gluten than our own, is particularly adapted to this use. 
 That flour which contains the most gluten makes the 
 lightest and most porous bread — bread that is most 
 digestible ; therefore, the unbolted meal is most digest- 
 ible. Bread, therefore, made with undressed flour, or 
 even with an extra quantity of bran, is the best form 
 in which farinaceous matters can be taken, in almost 
 all the varieties of dyspepsia, accompanied by obstinate 
 constipation. " This is a remedy, the efficacy of which 
 has long been admitted, yet the greater part of man- 
 kind choose to consult their taste rather than their 
 reason, and by officiously separating what nature has 
 beneficially combined, entail on themselves much dis- 
 comfort and misery." 
 
 Gluten has been considered so unobjectionable a food, 
 in some particular diseases, that it has been recently 
 used in the preparation of what has been called gluten 
 bread. 
 
 Experiments have been tried with dogs, and other 
 animals, by feeding them on gluten. These animals 
 continued to use it without distaste for three months, 
 uninterruptedly, and preserved all the marks of excel- 
 lent health. 
 
 In the baking of bread,- success depends greatly on 
 experience, not only in the mere act of baking the 
 dough, but in the use of the particular apparatus em- 
 ployed. So many and so various are the inventions of 
 modern times to accomplish this branch of cookery — 
 some using cooking stoves, heated by wood or by coal, 
 some coal ranges ; others, again, the brick oven, heated 
 with wood — that but few rules can be laid down, and 
 those only of most general application. In the process 
 of baking, the carbonic acid which caused the bread to 
 rise, with the alcohol and part of the water, is evapo- 
 rated by the heat. The " cellular partitions " of the 
 dough become so fixed, in baking, that they retain their 
 form even after cooling. If the heat of the oven is not 
 sufficient, or the dough be too moist, then these par- 
 
32 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 titions harden too slowly, or sufficient water is not 
 expelled — this is slack baking;. 
 
 Brown and thirded breads contain more gluten, and 
 therefore retain more water, and harden more slowly, 
 than the simple flour bread in which starch predomi- 
 nates. This is the reason why these doughs require a 
 longer exposure to heat, or need what is technically 
 called by the housewife a good soaking. Rye is said 
 to absorb more moisture from the air than any other 
 grain ; therefore, all bread made from this meal needs 
 a longer application of heat, and keeps moister, after 
 being baked, than that made from other grain. From 
 rye is made the famous black bread ( Sch wartzbrot) of 
 Germany, upon which the peasants live. Spiced rye 
 cakes were for a long period greatly in vogue in Europe, 
 from the time of the Romans to that of Louis XIV, 
 
 Starch is converted by heat into a gum, called dex~ 
 trine, by chemists. A part of the starch of the dough, 
 particularly on the outside or crust of the bread, under- 
 goes this change in the oven. Bakers rub over with 
 water their hot loaves and hot rolls, and return them 
 for a few minutes to the oven, in order to produce the 
 bright, shiny surface which is generally seen on them. 
 Here, this dextrine, or gum, is slightly dissolved by the 
 wetting, and forms a lustrous coating over the bread. 
 
 The art of baking with mineral coal can only be 
 acquired by practice. 
 
 Brick ovens are heated by the bakers with dry fag- 
 ots. In our private establishments, soft or hard split 
 wood is used. For baking brown bread and beans, the 
 oven wood should be in larger sticks than for white 
 bread and pies alone ; so that it shall be about two 
 hours in burning out. A heap of kindling stuff should 
 be put into the centre of the oven on the brick floor, 
 upon which, pile, " Harry-house fashion," your wood ; 
 open the flue, and then set it on fire. There is no oc- 
 casion to leave the door open if your oven have the 
 patent iron door with a small slide, which may remain 
 
BREAD. 33 
 
 unclosed while the wood bums. As soon as your wood 
 is sufficiently kindled, push back the burning mass as 
 far as possible, so that the blaze may pass over the 
 whole surface of the bricks. Stir up the coals two or 
 three times, and when the wood is all burnt down and 
 reduced to a mass of live coals, the oven will be hot. 
 It is easy to find out how many sticks of a given size 
 are necessary for baking articles which require a strong 
 heat, and also for those baked with less. To bake brown 
 bread and beans with flour bread, cakes and pies, at the 
 same time, the oven should be heated to. a strong, solid 
 heat. Do not let the coals remain in the oven till they 
 are no longer red. They must not look dead, but like 
 hot embers. It is a good plan, when the oven is 
 cleared out, to leave a few coals in the back part, to be 
 put round those pans which require the most heat. 
 Have ready a slice shovel to clear out nearly all the 
 coals, then sweep the oven floor free from ashes with 
 an old broom, well wet and kept for this purpose. 
 Close the door for a minute or two, to allow the dust 
 to settle, then try the heat within. Throw in a little 
 flour ; if it browns immediately, the oven is too hot, and 
 should remain open from three to five minutes. Shut 
 the flue. Put into your oven those things which need 
 the strong heat, waiting some ten or fifteen minutes 
 to put in those which require moderate heat. Close 
 the door, and leave the articles to bake. When cooked, 
 slip the slice under them and remove them out on it. 
 
 The tin ovens, or "Yankee bakers," that have a furnace 
 underneath with a chimney pipe, and can be set out 
 of doors, are convenient in summer, and suitable for all 
 articles that require quick, but not solid heat. They 
 must be kept very bright, in order to reflect the heat 
 effectively. Tin kitchens — in fact, all cooking vessels 
 of tin — should be often scoured with sand, to be kept 
 clean and bright. If charcoal is used in these or any 
 other vessel, it should be first burnt on the hearth or 
 stove before putting it into the baker. If this be not 
 
34 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 done, be exceedingly careful, and set your utensil into 
 the free air, or keep your kitchen doors constantly open. 
 The gas arising from charcoal, in a close room, is so 
 deleterious as to produce death. 
 
 To bake on an iron griddle, you must either hang it 
 over the fire, or set it over hot coals on the hearth, or 
 on the top of your cooking stove or range. If used in 
 the open fireplace, care must be taken that the fire 
 burn bright and clear and free from smoke, or the cakes 
 will be blackened and burnt. The griddle must be 
 strictly clean. 9 While you are baking, it will require 
 frequent scraping with a knife. If it is well scraped 
 after every cake is taken off, it will not want so much 
 greasing, as there will be less stickiness after the first 
 few cakes are cooked. Some butter, tied in a clean 
 rag and laid on a plate, must be kept ready all the time 
 to rub over the griddle between the baking of the cakes. 
 A slice of the fat of either fresh or salted pork, stuck 
 on a fork, is preferable to butter. Still better than either, 
 provide yourself with a soapstone griddle, which needs 
 no greasing, and saves your house from being perfumed 
 with the effluvia of burning fat. It has been stated to 
 me, that fine salt, rubbed over the iron griddle, will 
 prevent cakes from sticking. 
 
 YEAST. 
 
 No great skill is necessary to make good yeast ; still, 
 much care is required, that all the minutiae be well 
 attended to. Most housekeepers will find they must 
 attend personally to this, in order to insure to their 
 families decent bread. The hop-water must be boiling- 
 hot, when strained upon the flour — which some per- 
 sons first moisten with cold water, to prevent it from 
 lumping. This I do not consider necessary, as the 
 lumps work out in the rising, and there is danger that 
 your flour will not be scalded sufficiently to preserve it 
 
YEAST. 35 
 
 from souring. The vessel in which the yeast is put 
 must have been thoroughly cleaned and scalded, so 
 that none of the old yeast shall remain upon it. A 
 wide-mouthed jar is preferable to any other vessel, as 
 you can have ocular demonstration of the neatness of 
 your domestic. Glass bottles are not strong enough. 
 They are apt to burst, either from the expansion of the 
 yeast or carelessness in cleansing them. To clean the 
 vessel, stir in a spoonful of saleratus to the warm 
 water, cover it up tightly, and let it remain until cold. 
 The new yeast must not be too hot or too cold when 
 the old is added to ferment it. The proper tempera- 
 ture is about milkwarm. 
 
 Yeast. A handful of hops, boiled in three pints of 
 water ; sift a pint bowl of flour into some vessel, with 
 a spoonful of salt. Strain the hop water boiling hot 
 upon this, one third at a time. After straining one 
 third, of the water upon the flour, stir it well ; then 
 add more, and stir again. When milkwarm, put in a 
 cup of yeast to ferment it. If the old yeast be acid, 
 correct it, before stirring it into the new, with soda or 
 saleratus. 
 
 Yeast. Boil a double handful of hops in three 
 quarts of water, about one half an hour. Boil also 
 separately fourteen good-sized potatoes. Mash these 
 to a perfectly smooth paste ; pour upon them gradu- 
 ally the boiling hop water. Add, when milk warm, a 
 gill of yeast. Set in a warm place to ferment. 
 
 Potato Yeast. Bruise three large, boiled potatoes ; 
 pour on them a pint of boiling water. Let this stand 
 until milkwarm ; then add a gill of yeast, with two 
 spoonfuls of flour. Set in a warm place to rise. 
 
 Dry Yeast. Boil four ounces of hops in six quarts 
 of water ; boil it away to about one half. Strain it 
 boiling hot on to three pints of flour and one spoon- 
 ful of salt. When milkwarm, add one half pint of 
 sweet yeast. When this has risen to be light, knead 
 into it Indian meal enough to make it stiff. Form it 
 into loaves, and cut it in thin slices, and lay them on 
 
36 THE AMERICAN: MATRON. 
 
 clean boards to dry. Put it where there is a free circu- 
 lation of air in the sun. After one side has dried so 
 as to be a little crisped, turn the slices over, and when 
 both sides are dry, break them up into smaller pieces ; 
 it will dry quicker. Put them again into the sun for 
 two or three days. Stir them over with your hand, 
 so that all parts will be equally exposed to the heat. 
 When perfectly dry, put them into a bag, which hang 
 in a cool, dry place. The greatest trouble in making 
 this yeast is the danger of stormy weather. If the 
 day after it is made should not be fair, it will answer 
 to put the jar in some cool place, and wait a day 
 before putting in the meal. 
 
 When to be used, take a good handful for five loaves 
 of bread ; soak it in a very little warm water until 
 soft, fifteen minutes will be time enough ; then stir 
 it into the sponge prepared for the bread. This yeast 
 is convenient in the summer season. 
 
 All good managers will look out and renew their 
 yeast before the old stock is exhausted. A small bag, 
 of any thin material, can be kept in which to boil the 
 hops ; by this, you are saved the trouble of straining. 
 After the yeast is sufficiently well risen, it must be put 
 into a cool place, and always kept tightly covered. If 
 it should be at all acid when to be used, correct the 
 acidity with soda or saleratus. It will not make the 
 bread so nice as when the yeast is sweet. 
 
 Portable Yeast. This is probably a mixture of 
 bicarbonate of soda with muriatic acid^ or cream of 
 tartar.* It is a patented article, comes done up in tin 
 
 * Dr. C. T. Jackson says, in reply to inquiries as to the use of 
 cream of tartar and soda in making bread, that " this chemical process 
 is not regarded as more than a poor substitute for the process of fer- 
 mentation, and is only justifiable in cases of urgency, when there is 
 not time to raise bread properly. It cheats us out of the sugar and 
 dextrine, which gives sweetness and flavor to properly fermented 
 bread, and substitutes a dose of Rochelle salts in their place, and 
 that salt is mixed with dried starch and unaltered gluten. Of course, 
 siAih bread is very objectionable, though it is not poisonous ; and, for 
 my own part, I prefer to keep my food and medicine separate." 
 
PORTABLE YEAST. 37 
 
 canisters, to be obtained at any grocery store. By this 
 means very porous bread can be made. 
 
 In the Pharmaceutical Journal several recipes are 
 given for making unfermented bread. The following 
 recipe by Dr. Smith, of Leeds, England, is given : — 
 
 " Five pounds of flour ; one half ounce (apotheca- 
 ries' weight) of carbonate of soda ; one half tea-spoon- 
 ful of carbonate of ammonia ; four tea-spoonfuls of 
 common salt. Mix these well together, and then add 
 the following solution : Two and one half pints of 
 cold water, with five tea-spoonfuls of muriatic acid. 
 
 " This bread is easily made, requires little labor, no 
 kneading, or time for the dough to rise. It costs a 
 trifle more than bread made with yeast, but has the 
 advantage of keeping longer without turning mouldy 
 or sour, and is wholly free from any bitter or unpleas- 
 ant taste. Its dietetical properties are of the utmost 
 importance. Common bread is liable, in weak stom- 
 achs, to turn sour, and produce heartburn and flatu- 
 lency, and to aggravate cases of dyspepsia ; but bread 
 made by the new process is free from these baneful 
 effects. Its daily use in health prevents these symp- 
 toms, and, in many cases, it corrects that morbid con- 
 dition of the stomach and intestines on which these 
 symptoms depend. It is useful in the treatment of 
 various cutaneous eruptions originating in disorder of 
 the digestive functions." 
 
 The following is copied from the Cyclopaedia of 
 Useful Arts, edited by Charles Tomlinson, London: — 
 
 " Mr. Deane's recipe is as follows : Four pounds of 
 flour ; one half ounce of carbonate of soda ; four and 
 one third tea-spoonfuls of muriatic acid ; two tea- 
 spoonfuls of common salt ; two pints of cold water. 
 Mix the soda perfectly with the flour, and the acid 
 with the water, then the whole intimately and speedily 
 together, using a flat piece of wood or spaddle for the 
 purpose. This will make two loaves, and should be 
 put into a quick oven immediately. It will require 
 4 
 
3S THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 about one and one half hours to bake. In this kind 
 of bread kneading will prove injurious, by making it 
 too heavy. The dough must not be too stiff." 
 
 The reason of disagreement among the doctors may 
 originate in the character of the different acids used. 
 Tartaric acid is an organic or vegetable acid, while 
 muriatic acid is a hydrogen acid — an inorganic or min- 
 eral acid. These acids are similar in their properties 
 and combinations, though not in their constitution. 
 All vegetable acids are charred and consumed on being 
 heated. By this characteristic, the organic acids are 
 distinguished from the inorganic, which are neither 
 charred nor consumed by the fire. 
 
 Family Bread. Take a half of a tea-cup of Indian 
 meal, with a heaping tea-spoon of salt, and a large 
 spoonful of lard or butter. Pour upon these, very 
 gradually, a pint and a half of boiling water. Pour 
 on a little water, then stir the meal ; add more water, 
 stirring again ; continuing to do so three or four times. 
 The water must be boiling, for, if the meal be only 
 scalded, the bread will have a coarse taste. Keep the 
 vessel from which you take the water over the fire, 
 while you are making the bread, so that it shall not 
 become cool, but every time you use the water it shall 
 be boiling hot. Then add another pint of warm water, 
 making two quarts of liquid in the whole. When 
 this mixture is cool, so that you are sure it will not 
 scald your yeast, add a tea-cupful to it. Then stir in 
 sifted flour by degrees, to make a stiff dough, remem- 
 bering that the dough, after being risen, is always thin- 
 ner than when made. Knead it thoroughly. This 
 should not be stiff enough to mould, but to be poured 
 into the baking pans. This being made up in the 
 evening, stand your vessel, if in warm weather, in a 
 cool place, if in wintry weather, in a warm one, to rise 
 until morning. If you like, bake a thin pan for break- 
 fast ; when cooked, do not cut it, but break it, as the 
 knife will render the hot bread heavy. 
 
FAMILY BREAD. 39 
 
 The process of kneading the dough is one of the 
 great secrets in making fermented bread, and one which, 
 I fear, is little practised. It is not sufficient to work 
 over the dough, just mixing in the flour, without using 
 any strength. The hands should be closely shut, 
 doubled up to give a hard blow, and the fists pressed 
 hard and quickly upon the dough ; if need be, dipping 
 them occasionally into the flour. So essential to the 
 attainment of good bread, and therefore to the well 
 being of one's family, do I consider the effectual knead- 
 ing, that — to be understood fully — I would liken our 
 domestics to the athletae of ancient Rome. Let them 
 pommel the dough as they did each other, with all their 
 strength and energy of purpose ; in order, however, to 
 bring about a little different result — not to extinguish 
 life, but to excite and invigorate it. Half an hour is 
 the least time to be given to the kneading of a large 
 baking of bread. Some persons remove the dough 
 from the bread pan upon their bread board, in order to 
 knead it better. In this case, the dough must be quite 
 stiff. It must be cut across diagonally, then kneaded 
 again, and this repeated some ten or a dozen times. If 
 your oven takes two hours or less to heat, kindle the 
 fire before you arrange the bread into the pans to be 
 baked. Loaves of the usual size take about an hour 
 to bake. Practice and judgment alone can direct these 
 processes. If your dough rises slowly, set the pans 
 over hot water. Wet the top of your loaves before you 
 put them into the oven, to prevent the crusts forming 
 too hard. When the loaves are taken out of the oven, 
 do not lay them flat on the table. This will render 
 your bread heavy, by preventing the evaporation of the 
 steam. Wrap them in cloths, (kept purposely.) and 
 stand them on the side, one against the other. 
 
 Some people always put in saleratus to their bread, 
 whether the dough is acid or not, to render it more ten- 
 der. Bread made by the foregoing rule is not improved, 
 but on the contrary, injured by it. But when bread is, 
 
40 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 as sometimes is the case, seen on tables, of a bright 
 green color, and of a delicious, soapy flavor, one is 
 tempted to wish there was no such remedy for laziness 
 or carelessness. Every one can have good bread, with 
 proper materials and ordinary care. Stale bread, cut in 
 slices, dipped into cold water, put into a pan, then set 
 into the oven for ten or fifteen minutes, is rendered very 
 good — especially for children. Some people can eat 
 bread prepared in this manner, who never allow them- 
 selves to attempt fresh, hot cakes. 
 
 Bread made with a Sponge. Use the quantities 
 mentioned in the above recipe, and when risen in the 
 morning, knead in flour sufficient to mould the dough 
 well, and knead it thoroughly. After it is kneaded, 
 divide it into four or five pieces, and mould according 
 to the shape of the pans in which you bake it. Do 
 this as soon as the fire is kindled in the oven. This 
 bread having had fresh flour added to it, will need to 
 rise from one to two hours before being baked. Any 
 of the various sponges are very nice baked on a griddle, 
 like buckwheat cakes, or in muffin rings. It is a very 
 good way, in winter, to make up a quantity of dough 
 to keep for daily use. For a large family, three or four 
 quarts of flour will not be too much ; for a small one, 
 two quarts. Let it rise ; take out what you wish to 
 make use of, knead the remainder well, and set it away 
 in the cold. Do not allow it to freeze. This dough 
 will serve for warm cakes for several days. It will keep 
 a week uninjured. Bread made with milk is nicer, 
 when first cooked, than that made with water. It dries 
 sooner and crumbles more in cutting than that made 
 with water. 
 
 Rice Bread. Allow half a pint of ground rice to a 
 quart of milk, or milk and water ; put the milk and 
 water over the fire to boil, keeping out enough to wet 
 the rice. Add a large tea-spoon of salt, and when the 
 milk and water boil, stir in your rice, which has been 
 stirred up with the cold milk and water. Boil it up 
 
DYSPEPSIA BREAD BROWN BREAD. 41 
 
 twice or three times, stirring it often, then pour into 
 your bread pan ; allow it to stand until of proper tem- 
 perature to add a gill of yeast, then stir in flour to 
 stiffen it. This bread must be made quite stiff to be 
 baked. This, if properly made, will be found to be ex- 
 cellent bread. It keeps moister than mere flour bread. 
 
 Thirded Bread. Take equal parts of Indian meal, 
 rye meal, and wheat flour. Scald the Indian meal, as 
 above ; add the rye, lastly the flour. This dough should 
 not be made so stiff as to mould, but as thick as you 
 can stir with your hand or a spoon. It must be well 
 worked and beaten. Bake in same pans as you use for 
 white bread. 
 
 Dyspepsia Bread. To three quarts of unbolted flour 
 put one table spoonful of salt, one large cup of sugar, 
 one large cup of yeast, one quart of warm water. 
 
 Brown Bread. Two quarts of Indian meal, two 
 quarts of rye meal, one large spoonful of salt, half a 
 tea-cupful of yeast, half a cup of molasses ; mix these 
 with as warm water as the hands will bear ; butter deep 
 pans, wet the hands with cold water to put it in ; set it to 
 rise one hour. Bake it in a hot oven four or five hours ; 
 if baked in a brick oven, it is better to keep it in the 
 oven all night. 
 
 Brown Bread. Take one quart of Indian meal and 
 two quarts of rye meal ; mix them well together with 
 a large spoonful of salt. Wet them with two quarts 
 of buttermilk, frothed with a table spoonful of saleratus 
 dissolved in warm water ; add a tea-cup of molasses. 
 This bread should be as stiff as can conveniently be 
 stirred with the hands. Butter deep earthen or iron 
 pans very thickly. Put in the dough, smooth the top 
 with the hand, wet with cold water. It should be baked 
 in ten or fifteen minutes after it has been made. It 
 requires a hot oven, and should remain in the oven over 
 night. 
 
 Rye Bread is made of equal parts of rye meal and 
 wheat flour, mixed with warm water; add salt and 
 4* 
 
42 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 molasses. This dough is very nice baked in small, 
 round cake-pans for breakfast. It should not be made 
 stiff" enough to mould. This bread may be made with 
 cream of tartar and soda, with a little sugar, by using 
 the same proportions as with wheat bread ; or with 
 buttermilk, frothed with saleratus. 
 
 Flannel Bread. Two quarts of flour ; one pint of 
 milk; one cup of butter; six eggs; one spoonful of 
 yeast. 
 
 New Milk Bread. Take one quart of new milk, 
 warm from the cow; add one pint of boiling water 
 and a table-spoonful of salt ; mix in sifted flour enough 
 to make a batter as thick as custard. Let this stand 
 in a warm place to rise, stirring occasionally. It will 
 bubble up very light in about six hours. When risen, 
 take a pint of warm milk with half of a tea-spoonful 
 of saleratus dissolved in warm water ; mix these with 
 the emptyings ; add flour to make it stiff enough to 
 mould lightly. Put the loaves into warm pans. Set 
 them to rise in a warm place while your oven is heat- 
 ing. The pans must not be more than half full when 
 put to rise ; when filled by the rising of the dough, to 
 be baked in a quick but not very solid heat. This 
 makes very delicious bread. There is none made to 
 compare with it in delicacy and sweetness, if properly 
 compounded. About an hour ought to be sufficient to 
 rise the dough after being put into pans. 
 
 Muffin Bread. To one and one half a pint of 
 flour, add one half pint of sifted meal, two eggs, and 
 one large spoonful of butter. Let it be well mixed, 
 adding two spoonfuls of yeast ; wet with either milk 
 or water. Stand over night, to rise like loaf bread. 
 
 TOAST. 
 
 It may seem rather fanciful to give recipes for the 
 making of toast. But in these days, when dyspepsia 
 
TOAST. 43 
 
 is so rife among us, toast has become indispensable at 
 our breakfast tables ; and care is requisite to make even 
 this simple dish palatable. 
 
 Toast. Have ready a nice loaf of bread that has 
 been baked a day or two, (for new bread cannot be 
 smoothly cut,) then with a sharp knife, (kept purposely, 
 with a blade long, like a carving-knife, but having a 
 round end,) cut as many slices as you require, very 
 even, about a quarter of an inch in thickness. Have 
 a clear fire. The bread must be warmed through slowly 
 before it begins to brown and crisp. The slice must 
 be turned often to warm, before it is allowed to stand 
 long enough to assume the yellowish-brown color 
 of toast. Muffins or crumpets make very delicious 
 toast. 
 
 All kinds of bread need to be toasted carefully in 
 the above manner, but if to be served under birds, eggs, 
 kidneys, or vegetables, it requires to be toasted dryer 
 and harder. This bread can be either simply buttered 
 or dipped as milk or cream toast. 
 
 Dipped Toast. Have ready some milk boiled and 
 thickened with a very little flour ; add butter according 
 as you wish your toast rich or otherwise ; into which 
 dip the toasted bread. Serve hot. This should not 
 be dipped until sent to table, as by standing it becomes 
 sodden. If cream is used instead of milk, no thicken- 
 ing is necessary, and a very little butter. 
 
 Dry Toast ought not to be toasted until quite ready 
 to serve ; when done as above, place it in a toast rack 
 or standing upon its edges, one piece resting against 
 another. 
 
 Some people prefer to have their toast buttered 
 before being sent to table. If so, be careful that the 
 butter is spread equally over the slice ; not put on in 
 dabs, making some parts of the slice dry as a husk, 
 while other parts are filled with grease. After being 
 toasted and buttered, some persons like their bread 
 dipped into boiling hot water before serving. This 
 softens it much. 
 
44 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 
 
 Rolls. To three pints of sifted flour, add two 
 spoonfuls of salt, with six table-spoonfuls of good 
 yeast, and a pint of lukewarm water. Make these 
 materials into a batter and set it to rise. Half a pint 
 of warm water and little more flour worked in before 
 moulding the dough into cakes. 
 
 French Rolls. Two pounds of flour ; two ounces 
 of butter ; three gills of milk ; one gill of yeast. Warm 
 the butter in the milk and pour it on the flour. Let 
 it rise half of a day. To be made into seven rolls. 
 
 French Rolls. Warm a table-spoonful of butter 
 in a pint of milk ; add two spoonfuls of yeast and a 
 little salt; two pounds of flour. Set this dough to 
 rise in a warm place, and bake it in rolls in a quick 
 oven. 
 
 Buttermilk Cakes. To a quart of flour add a 
 large pint of buttermilk; add a tea-spoonful of salt; 
 dissolve a heaping spoonful of saleratus in a very little 
 warm water and stir into the milk, which pour upon 
 the flour while foaming. Beat it well together, adding 
 flour enough to make a smooth dough. Roll it out 
 and cut it out with a paste cutter, and bake in a quick 
 oven for fifteen or twenty minutes. 
 
 Sour Cream Cakes. To be made in the same way 
 as the buttermilk cakes. Cakes made of equal quan- 
 tities of rye and flour, with the addition of a little 
 sugar or molasses, are a rarity, and can be made with 
 either buttermilk or cream, exceeding delicate. 
 
 Cream of Tartar Cakes. Rub into one quart of 
 flour two table-spoonfuls of cream, or one spoonful of 
 lard or butter ; then stir in two tea-spoonfuls of cream 
 of tartar, and a little salt ; dissolve a tea-spoonful of 
 soda or saleratus in a pint of either milk or water ; wet 
 the flour and mix it very lightly, just stiff enough to 
 roll, and cut into cakes. Unbolted flour makes very 
 nice cakes accord'ng to this rule. 
 
HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 45 
 
 Muffins. To one quart of light bread dough, add 
 three eggs. If not of proper consistency to bake on 
 the griddle, add a little warm water, with sufficient 
 (lour. Let it rise well. To be baked in muffin rings. 
 
 Muffins. To one quart of milk, add one gill of 
 yeast, one tea-spoon of salt, with four or five eggs. 
 Add ilour sufficient to make a thick batter. Baked on 
 the griddle in muffin rings. 
 
 Muffins. Sift one quart of flour ; put to it a little 
 salt, and a large spoonful of yeast. Beat the white 
 of an egg to a strong froth, and add to it. Make the 
 flour up with cold water, as soft as you can, to allow it 
 to be handled ; set it in a moderately warm place to 
 rise. Next morning beat it up well with a spoon ; put 
 it into rings on the griddle ; first flour the griddle 
 slightly, but put no butter upon it. Turn the muffins 
 until cooked. 
 
 Buckwheat Cakes. Two pints of buckwheat flour, 
 mixed into a batter with water ; one tea-spoonful of 
 carbonate of soda dissolved in water, and two tea- 
 spoonfuls of cream of tartar dissolved also. Stir well 
 into the batter, first the soda dissolved, then the acid. 
 
 Buckwheat Cakes. Take a quart of warm water, 
 a heaping tea-spoon of salt, and a gill of yeast. Stir 
 in buckwheat flour enough to make a thin batter. Let 
 it rise over night. In the morning, add about a quarter 
 of a tea-spoonful of saleratus or soda. It is always 
 best to add this whether the dough is sour or not. 
 Put it in just as you are ready to bake it. The reason 
 for using saleratus is to make the cakes tender. Buck- 
 wheat makes a tough dough, which requires something 
 to be added to render it delicate. 
 
 I have given before our Yankee recipe for muffins, 
 which are, in fact, the true English crumpets. I will 
 now add the recipe for the hot muffins of Old England. 
 
 Muffins. Mix a quart of warm water, in which 
 you have put a gill of good fresh yeast, with suffi- 
 cient flour to form a stiflish batter. Let this remain 
 
46 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 to rise. Then stir in flour enough to mould lightly 
 with your hands. Shape them into round, rather thin 
 cakes, which put into a tray containing flour. Let 
 them remain to rise. When nicely risen, bake them 
 on your griddle. Turn them to brown on both sides. 
 They will take about ten minutes to bake. 
 
 Husks. Take three pounds of flour ; wet it with a 
 pint of warm water, into which you have put two gills 
 of fresh yeast; add a tea-spoonful of salt and two ounces 
 of powdered sugar, with a quarter of a pound of but- 
 ter, dissolved in a half of a pint of warm water. Mix 
 the whole into a dough, and let it remain in a warm 
 place until well risen ; then form it into long rolls 
 about two inches in thickness. Place them upon a 
 baking sheet or pan, and put them for a short time in 
 a warm place to prove or rise. Bake them in a mod- 
 erate oven. When cold, cut them in slices the thick- 
 ness of a quarter of an inch, which lay upon a tin 
 sheet or pan, and put them into a warm oven. When 
 well browned upon one side, turn them over, and put 
 them again in the oven until the other side is browned, 
 when they are done and ready for use. An exceed- 
 ingly nice pudding can be made of rusks. (See Pud- 
 dings, page 142.) 
 
 Rusks. Beat seven eggs well, and mix with half a 
 pint of new milk, in which has been melted four 
 ounces of butter ; add to it a quarter of a pint of yeast 
 and three ounces of sugar, and stir in by degrees as 
 much flour as will make a very light batter. Set it to 
 rise. When risen, add flour enough to form it into 
 rolls, or small loaves. When baked and cold, brown 
 them as above. These cakes are nice hot. 
 
 Corn Meal Rusk. Take six cups of Indian meal ; 
 four cups of flour ; one cup of molasses ; a tea-spoon 
 of salt. Mix the whole together, and knead it into a 
 thin dough, with a suitable portion of milk or water. 
 Add two small table-spoonfuls of saleratus. Bake 
 about three quarters of an hour. This dough, baked 
 in muffin rings in the oven, is very nice and light. 
 
HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 47 
 
 Whigs. Take a pint of milk, and warm it so as to 
 melt a piece of butter the size of an egg. Then add 
 two table-spoonfuls of yeast, and a tea-spoon of salt ; 
 stir in one pound and a half of flour, with two eggs 
 well beaten ; beat the whole well together, and set it 
 to rise over night, in a warm place. 
 
 Whigs. Half a pound of butter; half a pound of 
 sugar ; six eggs ; two pounds of flour; a pint of milk ; 
 a gill of yeast; a spoonful of salt. Warm the milk 
 sufficiently to melt the butter; then add the yeast, 
 with sugar and egg*, well beaten. Bake in rounds in 
 the oven, or in muffin rings. Allow this to rise from 
 six to ten hours. 
 
 Waffles. Take a quart of milk ; a quarter of a 
 pound of butter; a gill of yeast; six or eight eggs; a 
 spoonful of salt, with flour sufficient to make a batter, 
 as for griddle cakes. The waffle iron must be heated 
 on hot coals, then buttered or well greased with lard, 
 and one side filled with the batter; then shut it to- 
 gether and lay it on the coals or stove to bake. After a 
 few minutes, turn the iron on to the other side. These 
 cakes require about twice the time to cook as griddle 
 cakes. As they are removed from the iron to the 
 plate, sift a little sugar, and grate a little nutmeg over 
 them, and put a small piece of butter on each. These 
 cakes may be made with soda and cream of tartar, 
 using the proper proportions of each — one tea-spoon- 
 ful of soda with two of cream of tartar for the above 
 quantity. 
 
 Drop Cakes. Take three eggs, leaving out one 
 white. Beat them in a pint bowl, just enough. Then 
 fill the bowl even full of milk, and stir in enough 
 flour to make a thick, but not stiff batter. Bake in 
 earthen cups, in a quicK oven. This is an excellent 
 recipe, and the just enough beating for eggs can only 
 be determined by experience. 
 
 Drop Cakes. Take one quart of flour ; five eggs ; 
 three fourths of a pint of milk and one fourth of cream, 
 
48 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 with a large spoonful of sifted sugar ; a tea-spoon of 
 salt. Mix these well together. If the cream should be 
 sour, add a little saleratus. If all milk is used, melt 
 a dessert-spoonful of butter in the milk. To be baked 
 in cups, in the oven, thirty to forty minutes. 
 
 Rye Drop Cakes. Take one quart of milk ; five or 
 six eggs ; equal quantities of rye and flour, about six 
 gills of each. This batter must be made a little stiffer 
 than for pancakes ; very little sugar and salt. 
 
 Rye Drop Cakes. Eight eggs ; one quart of new 
 milk ; one half gill of Indian meal, scalded with the 
 milk; two gills of flour, to be mixed stiff with rye 
 meal ; one tea-spoonful of salt. 
 
 Nimble Cake. Rub into one pound of flour, one 
 half pound of either butter or lard. If lard is used, add 
 a little salt. Mixed with either milk or water ; made 
 up just stiff enough to roll. To be baked on wooden 
 trenchards before the fire, or on tin sheets in the oven. 
 
 Flannel Cakes. One quart of flour; one pint of 
 milk or water ; table-spoonful of butter melted in the 
 warm milk or water. Put one tea-spoonful 'of carbon- 
 ate of soda into the milk or water. Dissolve two tea- 
 spoonfuls of cream of tartar in a small quantity of 
 water. Add it to the batter immediately before baking 
 it. To be baked in thin cakes, on a griddle. These 
 are favorite breakfast cakes in Virginia. 
 
 Flannel Cakes. To two ounces of butter add a 
 pint of hot milk, to melt it ; a pint of cold milk ; five 
 eggs ; flour sufficient to make a stiff batter ; one tea- 
 spoonful of salt; two table-spoonfuls of yeast. Set 
 this to rise in a warm place. To be baked on the 
 griddle. 
 
 Widow's Cake. Four cups of Indian meal; one 
 cup of flour. Add two large spoonfuls of butter to 
 the meal, and scald with hot water ; two tea-spoon- 
 fuls of saleratus. Wet with milk or water to the proper 
 thickness. Two thirds of a small tea-cup of molasses. 
 
 Washington Corn Cake. One pint of Indian 
 
HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 49 
 
 meal, made into a batter with scalding water, thick as 
 hasty pudding, (over night;) a little salt. In the 
 morning, add one half pint of milk ; four eggs. Bake 
 from thirty to forty minutes. 
 
 Indian Cake. One quart of milk; three tea-cups 
 of Indian meal ; two tea-cups of flour ; one of molas- 
 ses ; three tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; a little salt. 
 
 Corn Cake. Take one quart of sour milk or butter- 
 milk ; one half cup of molasses ; three eggs ; one large 
 spoonful of saleratus ; Indian meal sufficient to stiffen 
 it to the consistency of pound cake. 
 
 Journey, or Johnny Cake. Rub into one quart of 
 dry meal a piece of butter the size of a large egg. 
 Then wet with milk or water. Spread with a spoon 
 or knife on sheets or board, if baked before the fire. 
 This can be well baked on a griddle, by taking a small 
 portion of the dough, flatten and shape it with your 
 hands into small cakes about half an inch thick. To 
 be baked brown on both sides. 
 
 Indian Griddle Cakes. One and a half pint of 
 meal, scalded well with boiling water. Then add a 
 little milk ; two eggs ; a little salt ; a cupful of flour. 
 
 Buttermilk Griddle Cakes. One quart of butter- 
 milk; a spoonful of Indian meal; flour enough to 
 make a batter ; add salt ; a tea-spoon of saleratus ; 
 and two eggs. 
 
 Rice Griddle Cakes. Boil a cup of rice very soft; 
 add, gradually, a pint of milk; stir in a little flour, 
 with three or four eggs ; a little salt ; grate one half a 
 nutmeg; very little sugar may be added. Bake on 
 the griddle in small cakes. 
 
 Rye Griddle Cakes. One quart of milk ; five eggs ; 
 a little salt; rye stirred in to make a batter as thick as 
 buckwheat. Like buckwheat, this must be well beat- 
 en. One third of a tea-spoon of saleratus. 
 
 Rye Griddle Cakes. Five spoonfuls of rye flour; 
 three of wheat flour ; two of corn meal ; a large spoon- 
 ful of brown sugar ; three eggs ; mix in milk to form 
 a thin batter. Butter while hot. 
 5 
 
50 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Squash Cakes. One tea-cup of boiled squash ; two 
 cups of milk; flour sufficient to thicken as griddle 
 cakes ; little salt ; one egg, or half a tea-spoonful of 
 saleratus. 
 
 Indian Batter Cakes. Mix together a pint of In- 
 dian meal with a half tea-cup of flour; warm a pint 
 of milk ; stir in one half tea-spoon of salt, with one 
 large table-spoonful of yeast. Beat one or two eggs 
 very light; stir them well into the mixture. Let it 
 rise three or four hours. To be baked on griddle, like 
 buckwheats. Butter them ; serve hot. Eaten with 
 molasses. 
 
 Rice Cakes. Stir a pint of rice, boiled soft, into a 
 pint of milk; a tea-spoonful of salt, and three well- 
 beaten eggs. Mix in either wheat or rice flour until 
 stiff enough to fry. These cakes may be baked by 
 adding two more eggs ; flour to roll out and cut into 
 cakes. 
 
 Crum Cakes. Keep a bowl or pitcher with sour 
 milk in it ; and, from time to time, throw in the crums 
 of bread which break off when it is sliced, and also 
 the dry pieces left from the table. When you next 
 want some griddle cakes, take this mixture and break 
 up all the pieces with your hand; add an egg, salt, 
 and saleratus, and a few spoonfuls of flour. 
 
 Whortle, or Huckleberry Cake. Take one quart 
 of flour ; two cups of sugar ; one pint of milk. Hub a 
 table-spoonful of butter with two tea-spoonfuls of 
 cream of tartar into the flour. Dissolve a tea-spoonful 
 of soda or saleratus in the milk. Add one pint of 
 berries. To be made with the hand into small cakes, 
 and to be eaten warm. 
 
 There appears to be a great prejudice, throughout 
 the Northern states, against the use of corn as an arti- 
 cle of human food. This seems founded on the pre- 
 sumption that it is a coarse and homely grain, fit only 
 for hogs and cattle. At the South, corn is made into 
 
HOT CAKES FOR BREAKFAST OR TEA. 51 
 
 bread and cakes of various kinds, and otherwise pre- 
 pared, to be used in every family, from the richest to 
 the lowest. Much of this prejudice is simply absurd ; 
 but there is some foundation for it, in the want of skill 
 of most persons in preparing and preserving the meal. 
 The flour of Indian corn is one of the sweetest and 
 most delicate of any, if properly cured. The grain con- 
 tains much moisture, and when ground, easily absorbs 
 more ; and, consequently, a great deal of that eaten 
 here, and sent to Europe, is improperly preserved, and 
 frequently damped, heated, soured, or musty. One 
 would not wonder if decent hogs refused such food. 
 
 Care must be taken in preparing it for the table. Dr. 
 Warren (according to Dr. C. T. Jackson) has expressed 
 an opinion that much disease results from persons eat- 
 ing imperfectly cooked Indian corn. 
 
 " Parched corn is eminently nutritious. It is a fool- 
 ish idea that it swells in the stomach. It has already 
 swelled to twenty times its original size before it is 
 eaten." 
 
 Corn Bread. Take about two tea-cups of hominy, 
 and while hot, mix with it a very large spoonful of but- 
 ter, or good lard, with some salt. Beat four eggs very 
 light, and stir them into the hominy ; add a pint of 
 milk gradually, and half a pint of corn meal. This 
 batter should be of the consistency of rich custard ; if 
 thicker, add more milk. Bake it with a good deal of 
 heat at the bottom of the oven, and not too much at 
 top, so as to allow it to rise. The pan must be a 
 deep one to allow space for rising. This has the ap- 
 pearance, when cooked, of a baked batter pudding, and 
 when rich and well mixed it has almost the delicacy of 
 a baked custard. 
 
 Corn Bread. One pint of corn meal ; one quart of 
 milk ; two eggs ; a little salt. Beat the eggs well, and 
 add the milk gradually. Pour this on to the meal 
 slowly, stirring all the time. Bake in a pan about an 
 inch thick. 
 
52 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Corn Bread. Half a pint of milk ; three eggs ; one 
 spoonful of lard ; one pint of corn meal. Mix well to- 
 gether, and bake in tin cake rounds. 
 
 Virginia Bread. One quart of meal ; half pint of 
 wheat flour ; a pint and a half of milk ; two eggs ; a 
 table-spoonful of butter or lard. Mix these well togeth- 
 er, and bake either in cups or pans. 
 
 Corn Muffins. To three pints of corn meal add a 
 pint of lukewarm water ; a tea-cupful of good yeast ; a 
 table spoonful of sugar ; a tea-spoonful of salt. Bake 
 in rings on the griddle, after being well risen. 
 
 Royal Corn Cakes. One pint of fine corn meal; 
 four table spoonfuls of wheat flour ; one quart of milk ; 
 three eggs; salt to your taste. Mix the meal and 
 flour with the milk, beat the eggs very light, and add 
 them. Bake on a griddle, and serve hot, with fresh 
 butter. 
 
 Corn Waffles. To two table spoonfuls of cold 
 hominy add one table spoonful of rice flour, and one 
 of wheat flour ; a little salt. Thin it with milk to a 
 proper consistency. To be baked in a waffle iron. 
 
 Hominy Fritters. Beat up three eggs with a large 
 spoonful of butter, add to these three spoonfuls of cold 
 hominy ; a pint of milk ; a pint of wheat flour. Mix 
 all well together, and let them rise three hours. 
 
 Rice and Indian Cup Cakes. One tea-cup of soft 
 boiled rice ; add a quart of Indian meal ; a quart of 
 milk ; two eggs ; a little salt ; a half table-spoonful of 
 molasses. Bake in cups or pans. 
 
 Sweet Potato Waffles. Two table-spoonfuls of 
 mashed potato ; one of butter ; one of sugar ; one pint 
 of milk ; four table-spoonfuls of wheat flour. Mix these 
 together, and bake in a waffle iron. 
 
 Raised Waffles. Make a thick batter of milk and 
 flour ; add four eggs ; a gill of yeast ; a spoonful of but- 
 ter. Let it rise some hours. When taken out of the 
 iron, butter and sprinkle sugar over them. 
 
 Rice Flannel Cakes. Half a pint of soft boiled 
 
CAKES. 53 
 
 rice ; a tea-cup of cream or milk ; with a little butter ; a 
 tea-cup of sugar ; three eggs ; a table-spoonful of yeast, 
 or a tea-spoonful of saleratus. Let the rice cool, and 
 add the other ingredients. Bake on a griddle. 
 
 Oyster Corn Cakes. Take one quart of sweet 
 corn, rasped from the cob with a coarse grater ; two tea- 
 cups of milk ; one tea-cup of flour ; and two eggs well 
 beaten. Season the batter with salt and pepper. Bake 
 on a griddle. 
 
 Velvet Cakes. Make a batter of one quart of milk, 
 and one quart of flour, one gill of yeast, three eggs, a 
 small piece of butter. To be baked in muffin rings. 
 
 CAKES. 
 
 It is an excellent plan for the mistress of a household 
 to keep always a tire, high in the neck, with short sleeves, 
 for herself or her domestic to put on, when either bread 
 or cake is to be made. Always require your cook to do 
 this, more especially if she has other duties to perform 
 out of the kitchen. Have it well understood that it must 
 be kept for this purpose, and this alone. To be taken 
 off when this duty is accomplished. 
 
 Have every thing which you require in your prepara- 
 tion at hand, before commencing. Be equally careful 
 not to make trouble for your domestic or yourself, by 
 scattering materials, by soiling tables or the floor, or by 
 the needless multiplication of utensils. 
 
 Have your pans buttered, your flour and sugar sifted 
 and weighed ; your butter washed and weighed ; your 
 eggs counted, ready to be broken ; the spices and fruits 
 all ready. Use wood or earthen in preference to tin 
 vessels to make your cake in. 
 
 Put your eggs into cold water some time before 
 breaking them. They will beat to a finer froth, and 
 in shorter time when cold. In summer, put them into 
 5* 
 
54 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 water with a little ice. It is better to beat them in a 
 cold place rather than a hot room. 
 
 All cakes are decidedly lighter if the whites and yolks 
 are beaten separately. It is well always to require this 
 to be done. Beat the yolks well, adding gradually the 
 sugar, where there is no butter to be used. But if but- 
 ter is needed, work your butter to a cream, adding from 
 time to time the sugar, until the quantity is used ; then, 
 the yolks, well beaten ; and lastly, the whites, beaten to 
 stiff froth. Every one will, I think, be sufficiently re- 
 paid for the time and trouble in so doing, by the finer 
 quality of their cake. 
 
 In mixing your cake, do not use the hands, if pos- 
 sible to avoid it, particularly in warm weather. The 
 warmth of the hand will be apt to make your cake 
 heavy. A wooden spatula or spoon should be kept for 
 this purpose alone. 
 
 All cakes, not made with yeast, should be baked as 
 soon as possible after they are mixed, as the ingredients 
 are very liable to separate. 
 
 Sugar should be rolled with the rolling-pin to a pow- 
 der, on a clean bread board, and sifted through a fine 
 hair sieve. Crushed white, or loaf sugar, must be used 
 for sponge and pound cakes, and all other rich white 
 cakes. Brown sugar, coarse grained, but clean, will 
 answer for plum cakes, and some of the cup and loaf 
 cakes. Still these last are nicer made of crushed sugar. 
 It can be purchased, ready powdered, at the stores. 
 
 Firkin butter should be cut in small pieces, well 
 washed and drained before using it, or the cake will be 
 heavy. 
 
 Lemon peel should be pared very thin, and with a 
 little sugar, beaten in a mortar (marble if you have it) 
 to a paste ; then mixed with either wine, cream, or 
 little milk, so as to divide easily among the other in- 
 gredients. The better way to give the lemon flavor to 
 cake or custard, is to rub a piece of sugar some time 
 over the rind of a fresh lemon ; the hard sugar tears 
 
OAKES. 
 
 55 
 
 the cells in which the oil of the lemons is enclosed, and 
 the oil is attracted into the pores of the sugar. As the 
 sugar is discolored, scrape it off with a knife, and it is 
 well, perhaps, to dry this sugar before using it in deli- 
 cate cakes. This can be kept in jars or bottles. Any 
 oil or essence, to be added to cake, should be dropped 
 upon a lump of sugar, and then put into the dough to 
 dissolve. 
 
 Black or white plum cakes require less butter and 
 eggs, for having yeast in them, and eat equally light 
 and rich. If the dough be only of flour, milk, water, 
 and yeast, it becomes more tough and is less easily 
 divided than if the butter be first mixed with these 
 ingredients and the dough afterwards set to rise. 
 
 Fresh eggs are required for nice white cakes. Sponge 
 cake, savoy biscuit, pound cake, and ladies'-finger cakes, 
 should never be attempted without fresh eggs. 
 
 Eggs kept in lime, or in any other preparation, will 
 answer for simpler mixtures. 
 
 Fruit is the last article to be added to cake, and 
 immediately before putting it into the oven. Cask 
 raisins should be washed before they are stoned, as also 
 box raisins, unless very fresh. To stone them, cut 
 them once or twice, and remove the stones. Some 
 persons chop them very fine. 
 
 It is well to prepare currants before they are needed. 
 Wash them well in warm water, rubbing them be- 
 tween the hands ; and then drain off the water. Con- 
 tinue to do this until the water is clear, drain them in 
 the colander, spread them on a cloth on the table, and 
 rub them dry with the cloth. Finish drying them in 
 a very gentle heat. If they are added to cakes or 
 puddings damp, they will make it heavy. 
 
 Buttered paper should be put in the bottom and 
 sides of pans, when the cake requires a long baking ; 
 and paper not buttered is good for other cake to pre- 
 vent burning. If the oven is too hot, place a sheet 
 of paper on the top of the cake, to prevent the top 
 from burning. 
 
56 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 The heat of the oven is of great importance in 
 baking cakes, especially those that are large. If not 
 pretty quick, the batter will not rise. If not long 
 enough lighted to have a body of heat, or if the heat 
 has become slack, the cake will be heavy. To know 
 when it is well soaked, take a broad-bladed knife that 
 is very bright, or a clean straw, and plunge it into the 
 centre, draw it out instantly, and if there should be the 
 least stickiness, the cake is not cooked, and should be 
 immediately returned to the oven. Saleratus or soda 
 should be always kept, rolled and sifted, and when used 
 for hot cakes, should be dissolved in a very little warm, 
 not hot, water. Some people keep saleratus dissolved 
 ready for use. Put as much saleratus into a bottle as 
 will dissolve, when filled with water, using two table- 
 spoonfuls of the liquid instead of a tea-spoonful of 
 powder. This answers better for hot cakes than for 
 cup or loaf cakes. "When eggs are broken, be exceed- 
 ingly careful that none of the yolk becomes mingled 
 with the white. A very little of the yolk will some- 
 times prevent the white from foaming well. Take a 
 cup, break the shell on it ; allow the white to fall out 
 into it, and put the yolk into a bowl ; transfer the white 
 from the cup into a shallow meat-dish. Beat them 
 with an egg-beater, or a long-bladed knife. Hold the 
 knife almost parallel with the dish ; give a quick, sharp 
 stroke through the whole length. Beat them in a cool 
 place till you can cut the froth, or till it slides from 
 your knife in one mass. It is better not to stop beat- 
 ing, when once begun, until you have finished; as it will 
 become liquid and cannot be restored, and your cake 
 will be heavy. These directions are given, to be ap- 
 plied to each of the following recipes ; and are now 
 given to avoid the useless repetition in each recipe. 
 Almonds can be obtained ground in Europe. I know 
 not that they are so prepared here. To blanch them, 
 pour boiling' water over them, let them stand from ten 
 to fifteen minutes, drain them, and rub their skins off 
 
CAKES. 57 
 
 with a cloth ; lay them in a warm place to dry. If 
 to be pounded, add orange water or rose water to pre- 
 vent them from oiling. Keep this paste in a cool place. 
 Stir the almonds into the sugar and butter, or the cake 
 will be streaked. This should be prepared the day be- 
 fore wanted. 
 
 Griddle cakes may be made with new-fallen snow, 
 very light, in proportion of a tea-cup of snow to a pint 
 of milk. 
 
 Fresh-fallen snow contains a large proportion of am- 
 monia, which renders the cakes light ; but which also 
 soon evaporates, rendering the old snow useless for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Weights and Measures. As all families are not prepared with 
 scales and weights, the following list will be found useful : — 
 
 Wheat Flour, one pound is one quart. 
 
 Indian Meal, one pound two ounces is one quart ; sixteen large table- 
 spoonfuls are one half pint. 
 
 Butter, when soft, one pound one ounce is one quart ; eight table- 
 spoonfuls aie one gill. 
 
 Loaf Sugar, when broken, one pound is one quart ; four large 
 table-spoonfuls are one half gill. 
 
 IVhile Sugar, powdered, one pound one ounce is one quart ; a com- 
 mon-sized tumbler holds one half pint. 
 
 Best broicn Sugar, one pound two ounces is one quart ; a common- 
 sized wine glass holds one half gill. 
 
 Eggs, average size, ten eggs are one pound. 
 
 Rich Plum Cake. Seven pounds of flour; seven 
 pounds of eggs ; six pounds of butter ; six pounds of 
 sugar ; six pounds of raisins ; six pounds of currants ; 
 three pounds of citron ; half a pint of brandy ; half a 
 pint of wine ; half a pint of rose water ; one ounce of 
 nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon each. 
 
 Smaller Quantity. Five pounds of flour; five 
 pounds of eggs ; four pounds of sugar ; four pounds of 
 butter ; five pounds of raisins ; five pounds of currants ; 
 wine, etc., in proportion as above. 
 
 Plum Cake. Eight pounds of flour; eight pounds 
 of sugar ; eight pounds of eggs ; eight pounds of but- 
 ter ; twenty-four pounds of fruit ; one half a pint of 
 
58 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 wine, and the same quantity of brandy. This cake 
 will keep exceedingly well. 
 
 Plum Cake. Three pounds of flour; two pounds 
 of sugar ; three pounds of currants ; two pounds of 
 butter ; twenty eggs ; one gill of rose water ; one gill 
 of wine and brandy ; half an ounce of spice. 
 
 Plum Cake. One pound of flour; one pound of 
 sugar ; one pound of butter ; nine eggs ; four pounds of 
 currants ; three pounds of raisins, stoned and chopped ; 
 one half pint of wine ; one gill of brandy ; mace, cin- 
 namon, nutmeg, to your taste. 
 
 Plum Cake. Fourteen pounds of flour ; six pounds 
 of sugar ; six pounds of butter ; ten pounds of cur- 
 rants ; forty eggs ; one quart of wine ; two quarts of 
 rose water ; one quart of yeast ; two ounces of cinna- 
 mon, cloves, and nutmeg, each ; one ounce mace ; two 
 pounds of citron ; melt the wine and butter together. 
 
 Plum Cake. Six pounds of flour ; six pounds of 
 currants ; four pounds of butter and sugar each ; fifty 
 eggs ; four tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; three glasses of 
 wine ; three glasses of brandy ; three glasses of rose- 
 water ; one half ounce of mace ; three nutmegs ; cin- 
 namon and cloves to your taste. 
 
 Plum Cake without Eggs. Two pounds of flour ; 
 three fourths of a pound of butter ; three fourths of a 
 pint of milk ; one cup of brandy ; one tea-spoonful of 
 saleratus ; spice and raisins to your taste. 
 
 Composition Plum Cake. Four pounds of flour ; 
 three pounds of sugar ; one and one half of a pound of 
 butter ; eleven eggs ; one pint of milk ; two tea-spoon- 
 fuls of saleratus ; two nutmegs ; mace and cloves to 
 your taste ; two pounds of raisins, stoned and chopped ; 
 one pound of currants ; a little wine and brandy. This 
 will make three good loaves. 
 
 Fruit Cake. Sugar, butter, and flour, one pound 
 each ; ten eggs ; currants, two pounds ; raisins, two 
 pounds, stoned and chopped fine ; one half of a pound 
 of citron ; half of a tumbler of brandy, in which the 
 
CAKES. 59 
 
 currants and raisins must be rinsed to prevent their 
 settling at the bottom of the cake. Work the butter 
 until it is like cream ; then add the sugar, and rub 
 them well together. Put the flour in a little at a time. 
 Beat the yolks of the eggs separate from the whites ; 
 add these all together. Then put in the brandy, cur- 
 rants, raisins, and citron ; one ounce of mace ; a few 
 drops of essence of cinnamon or lemon. 
 
 Pound Cake. Take one pound of white sugar, and 
 three quarters of a pound of butter, worked to a cream ; 
 twelve eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately ; 
 add the yolks, well beaten, to the butter and sugar ; 
 add a glass of white wine ; half a tea-spoonful of 
 mace ; half a nutmeg, or any spice that is preferred. 
 Beat it well together; add the whites, and beat again 
 until it is well mixed ; add a pound of flour, beat it 
 in well, and strew in, if you choose, a cupful of dried 
 currants. Bake it in tin square pans half an hour. 
 
 Sponge Cake. Eighteen eggs ; one and one half 
 pound of sugar ; from three quarters to one pound of 
 flour, depending on the thickening quality of the flour. 
 Flavor as you please. Add the juice of a lemon, 
 frothed with a lump of saleratus as big as a pea, dis- 
 solved in the smallest quantity of water possible. Let 
 it be well beaten into the cake with a spoon, just be- 
 fore baking. After it is baked and cold, cut it merely 
 through the top crust, with a sharp knife ; then place 
 it on the edge of the table and break it. Cake made 
 by this recipe is far nicer than any other. 
 
 Sponge Cake. One pound of flour; one and one 
 half pound of Havana sugar, sifted ; twelve eggs ; one 
 wine glass of rose water; the rind of one lemon or 
 eighteen drops of essence of lemon. Beat the yolks, 
 adding, gradually, the sugar, rose water, and lemon. 
 Beat the whites to a solid froth, and pour it upon the 
 yolks and sugar ; beat them well together ; whisk in 
 the flour ; put it into your pans ; sift sugar over the 
 top just as as you put them into the oven, and bake 
 in a quick oven. 
 
60 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Sponge Cake. One half a pound of flour; one 
 pound of sugar ; nine eggs ; spice and lemon. 
 
 Gold Cake. One pound of sugar ; one pound of 
 flour ; three quarters of a pound of butter ; yolks of 
 fourteen eggs ; juice and peel of two lemons. Beat 
 the butter to a cream, adding the sugar, and then add 
 the yolks, well beaten ; then the flour and lemon. Dis- 
 solve a tea-spoonful of soda, which add to the lemon 
 juice, and stir in just as you place your cake in the 
 oven. 
 
 Silver Cake. To the whites left from above, add 
 one pound of sugar; three quarters of a pound of 
 flour; six ounces of butter. Beat these whites to a 
 stiff froth ; then add the flour, mace, and citron. Al- 
 monds, in the place of citron, improves the cake. 
 These two cakes should be mingled in the basket. 
 One being yellow, the other white, makes a very pret- 
 ty contrast. 
 
 Cream Cakes, (Crust.) One pint of water; one 
 half of a pound of butter ; three quarters of a pound 
 of flour ; ten eggs. Boil the water and butter togeth- 
 er ; while boiling, add the flour dry. "When cool, add 
 the eggs, well beaten, and one tea-spoonful of dry sal- 
 eratus. 
 
 Custard. One quart of milk; one cup of flour; 
 two cups of sugar ; four eggs. Boil the milk and 
 eggs together; when boiling, add sugar and flour, 
 which has been wet with a little cold milk, reserved 
 from the quart ; add a little salt Season with lem- 
 on, vanilla, or rose water. In the summer season, 
 fresh peach leaves, boiled in the milk, give a pleasant 
 flavor. Drop the crust with a spoon on your tins to 
 bake. The oven should be of a quick heat. This 
 quantity will make thirty-six cakes. After they are 
 baked and cold, open the crust just enough to put in 
 the custard. 
 
 Almond Cake. Two pounds of sugar ; whites of 
 twenty eggs ; one pound of almonds, when prepared 
 
CAKES. 61 
 
 for cake ; one pound of flour ; one half pound of 
 butter. 
 
 Almond Puffs. Blanch two ounces of almonds ; beat 
 them fine in a mortar, with rose water ; add the whites 
 of three eggs, and sugar sufficient to make a stiff paste ; 
 strew some sugar on a sheet of paper ; lay your cake on 
 in small drops. Bake them in a very moderate oven. 
 
 Macaroon Cakes. Blanch one pound of almonds ; 
 beat them with rose water ; one pound of sugar ; whites 
 of eight eggs. Drop them on paper ; sift sugar on them. 
 Bake in a slack oven. 
 
 Almond Cakes. Procure, if possible, one pound of 
 ground almonds, to which add two pounds of sugar, 
 mixing the whole with the whites of nine eggs. Lay 
 these cakes on a sheet of paper, in an oval shape, with 
 a table-spoon. Put three or four small strips of almond 
 upon the top of each. Bake them in a slow oven. 
 
 Pound Cake. Take one pound of butter, cream it 
 well, add gradually one pound of sugar and a little 
 grated nutmeg ; beat these well together. Add by 
 degrees the yolks of eight eggs, then the whites. Add 
 a pound and a quarter of sifted flour, stir it in lightly, 
 and put this mixture in hoops or rounds to bake. 
 
 Queen's Cakes. One pound of sugar ; one pound of 
 fresh butter ; fourteen ounces of flour : ten eggs ; one 
 wine glass of wine or brandy, and rose water ; one tea- 
 spoon of mace. 
 
 Queen's Cakes. The weight of six eggs, in butter, 
 and of nine eggs, in powdered sugar. Cream these 
 well together. Add, by degrees, nine eggs, and when 
 well beaten stir in the weight of nine eggs of flour and 
 half a pound of currants. 
 
 Cocoa-nut Cakes. Scrape or grate the cocoa-nut, 
 to which add its weight of powdered sugar ; add the 
 white of one egg to a nut. Beat it with a wooden 
 spoon until forming a softish, but thick paste. Lay 
 the mixture upon paper in small drops, baking them in 
 a moderate oven. 
 6 
 
62 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Macaroons. Blanch and skin a pound of sweet al- 
 monds ; dry them well, put them into a mortar with a 
 pound and a half of sugar ; pound them well together, 
 and pass them through a wire sieve ; mix these gradually 
 with the whites of eight eggs, making a softish paste. 
 Lay them out on paper in pieces the size of a walnut ; 
 sift sugar over them, and bake them of a yellowish-brown 
 color. They are done when set quite firm through. 
 
 Ratafies are made similar to the above, by de- 
 ducting two ounces of sweet and adding two ounces 
 of bitter almonds. They must be baked in a warmer 
 oven than macaroons. These cakes are serviceable in 
 making a great many second course dishes. 
 
 Savoy Biscuit. Grate the peel of one lemon, to 
 the yolks of twenty eggs ; add one and a half pound of 
 sugar. Add whites of ten eggs, with fourteen ounces 
 of flour. 
 
 Washington Cake or Pie. To one pound of flour 
 add one pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of 
 butter, eight eggs, two nutmegs. To be baked in large, 
 round, shallow tins. When baked and cool, put some 
 preserve between two cakes. 
 
 Rice Sponge Cake. One pound of sugar ; three 
 quarters of a pound of ground rice ; thirteen eggs, with 
 four whites left out ; spoonful of salt ; peel and juice of 
 one lemon. 
 
 Rice Sponge Cake. Weigh nine eggs; take their 
 weight in sugar ; the weight of six in ground rice ; add 
 lemon and a little salt. This requires a longer time to 
 bake than cake made with wheat flour. 
 
 Frosting for Cakes. Pound and sift six pounds 
 of sugar; beat the whites of eighteen eggs to a solid 
 froth ; add to the sugar twenty-five drops of essence 
 of lemon. Let the cake be warm when you put this 
 on. The longer it is beaten the whiter it will be. 
 
 Frosting. Two pounds of sugar ; the whites of eight 
 eggs ; half an ounce of starch ; half an ounce of gum 
 arabic. Beat it well until white. 
 
CAKES. C3 
 
 Frosting. To ten whites of eggs add two pounds 
 of sugar ; flavor it with lemon or rose water. Put it 
 on when the cake is warm, and after the loaves are 
 frosted, put them in a moderate oven for fifteen or 
 twenty minutes. 
 
 Lady's Finger, or Savoy Cakes. Take the weight 
 of nine eggs of sugar, and the same weight of flour ; 
 beat them as directed for sponge cake. Lay this mix- 
 ture out on paper into cakes three inches in length and 
 the thickness of your little finger ; sift sugar over them, 
 shaking off all that does not adhere. Bake them of a 
 yellowish-brown color ; when done and cold, detach 
 them from the paper by wetting it on the back ; place 
 them a short time to dry, and they are ready for use 
 for charlotte russe, or wherever needed. 
 
 Cup Cake. Five tea-cups of flour; three cups of 
 sugar ; one and one half cup of butter ; three eggs ; one 
 tea-cup of cream ; one tea-spoonful of saleratus ; two 
 nutmegs. 
 
 Cup Cake. Two pounds of flour ; one pound of 
 sugar; one pint of milk; one quarter of a pound of but- 
 ter ; one tea-spoonful of saleratus. Spice to your taste. 
 
 Common Cup Cake. Four cups of milk ; four cups 
 of sugar; four tea-spoonfuls of saleratus; nine cups of 
 flour ; one cup of butter. Spice to your taste. 
 
 Cup Cake. Four cups of flour; two cups of sugar; 
 one cup of butter; one cup of milk ; two eggs; one tea- 
 spoonful of saleratus. 
 
 Cup Cake. Five coffee-cups of flour ; three of sugar; 
 two cups of butter ; six eggs ; one coffee-cup of milk ; 
 tea-spoonful of saleratus; one glass of wine or brandy. 
 Bake in three pans. If you choose, add two pounds 
 of raisins, stoned and chopped. Spice as you please. 
 Bake in one deep pan. 
 
 Cup Cake. Four cups of flour; four eggs; two and 
 one half cups of sugar; one cup of butter; one cup of 
 milk; one nutmeg. 
 
 Tea Cakes. One dozen of eggs ; one pound of but- 
 
64 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 ter ; one pound of sugar ; one pound and a half of flour ; 
 one half ounce of nutmeg and mace each ; two pounds 
 of currants ; one half wine glass of brandy. 
 
 Esther's Loaf Cake. Take two pounds of bread 
 dough after it has risen well ; add one pound of sugar ; 
 one pound of raisins ; three fourths of a pound of 
 butter ; three eggs ; one glass of brandy. Spice to your 
 taste. 
 
 Tea Cakes. Three cups of sugar ; three eggs ; one 
 cup of butter ; one cup of milk ; small lump of sale- 
 ratus. Mix these not quite as stiff as pound cake. 
 
 Granny Strong's Loaf Cake. Four pounds of 
 flour; two pounds of butter; two pounds of sugar; 
 twenty-seven eggs ; three pounds of currants ; one pint 
 of wine ; one gill of brandy. Spice as you please. 
 
 Loaf Cake, very nice. Six pounds of flour ; two 
 pounds of sugar; one and one half of a pound of but- 
 ter ; one quart of milk ; thirteen eggs ; one pint of 
 yeast ; three nutmegs ; one tea-spoonful of mace. 
 Melt the butter in the milk; when lukewarm, add yeast 
 and eggs. Let it rise in a warm place from twelve to 
 fourteen hours, or until perfectly light. 
 
 Ellen's Cake. Six cups of sugar; nine cups of 
 flour ; twelve eggs ; one cup of milk ; rather more 
 than three fourths of a pound of butter; one wine 
 glass of brandy. Spice as you please. 
 
 Loaf Cake. Three pounds of flour ; one and one 
 half of a pound of sugar ; three fourths of a pound of 
 butter; five gills of cider; two tea-spoonfuls of sale- 
 ratus ; three eggs ; one nutmeg ; cloves and rose water. 
 Dissolve the saleratus in a little cider ; put this into the 
 cake whilst fermenting. To bake, it requires a hot 
 oven. 
 
 Loaf Cake. Two pounds of flour ; three fourths of 
 a pound of sugar ; six ounces of butter ; four eggs ; 
 one quart of milk ; one gill of yeast. Spice to your 
 taste. 
 
 Loaf Cake. Four pounds of flour; two pounds 
 
CAKES. 65 
 
 of sugar ; one pound of butter ; one quart cider ; two 
 gills yeast ; four tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; allspice 
 and cinnamon to taste. 
 
 Loaf Cake. Four pounds of flour; two pounds 
 of sugar ; one pound of butter ; one quart of milk ; 
 four gills of yeast; three eggs; two gills of cider. 
 Spice to your taste. 
 
 Common Loaf Cake. Two pounds of flour; one 
 pound of sugar ; two ounces of butter ; two tea-spoon- 
 fuls of saleratus, dissolved in a little milk or warm 
 water. Mix this cake with a little cold water. Spice 
 to your taste. Put it immediately to bake. 
 
 Common Loaf Cake. Two and a half pounds of 
 flour; one and one half pound of sugar; one half 
 pound of butter ; two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus. Dis- 
 solve the sugar in as much cold water as will mix the 
 cake. Spice as you please. 
 
 Loaf Cake. Two pounds of flour; one and three 
 fourths pound of sugar; four eggs ; two nutmegs ; one 
 pint of cider ; two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; raisins 
 if you please. 
 
 Loaf Cake. Five pounds of flour ; two and a half 
 pounds of sugar; one pound of butter; nine eggs; 
 one quart of milk ; two gills of yeast. Spice and rose 
 water to your taste. 
 
 Roxbury Loaf Cake. One and three fourths of a 
 pound of flour; three fourths of a pound of butter; 
 one and one half pound of sugar ; one pint of milk ; 
 five eggs ; one tea-spoonful of soda ; one and one half 
 pound of fruit. 
 
 The Elizabeth Loaf Cake. Three pounds of flour ; 
 one pound and one quarter of butter ; one pound and 
 one quarter of sugar ; five eggs ; one pint of milk ; 
 one gill of yeast; one pound and one half of currants. 
 Spice to your taste. Put it to rise in a warm place. 
 
 Election Cake. Seven pounds of flour; seven 
 eggs ; seven gills of milk ; seven gills of yeast ; one 
 pound and one quarter of butter ; two pounds and one 
 6* 
 
66 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 half of sugar ; allspice to your taste. Scald the milk 
 and let it cool. Rub the butter and sugar together, 
 and turn the milk upon them. 
 
 Russell Cake. Five cups of flour ; three cups of 
 sugar ; two cups of butter ; five eggs, yolks and whites 
 beaten separately; a half tea-spoonful of soda; one 
 cup of milk. 
 
 Mother Eden's Election Cake. Five pounds of 
 flour ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; one pound 
 of butter ; five eggs ; one gill of yeast ; sugar to be 
 dissolved in six gills of warm water. Spice to your 
 taste. 
 
 Election Cake. One heaping cup of sugar ; one 
 half cup of butter, melted in one cup of milk ; one 
 cup of yeast ; spice. Rise this over night. 
 
 Cider Cake. Three pounds of flour ; two pounds 
 of sugar ; one pound of butter ; five gills of cider ; six 
 eggs ; two nutmegs ; a spoonful of cloves ; wine glass 
 of rose water ; raisins and citron if you please. 
 
 Cider Cake. Three cups of flour; two cups of 
 sugar; one cup of butter; four eggs; one cup of cider; 
 tea-spoonful of saleratus. 
 
 1, 2, 3, 4 Cake. One cup of butter; two cups of 
 sugar ; three cups of flour ; four eggs ; cup of milk ; 
 scant tea-spoon of saleratus ; one nutmeg ; a little cin- 
 namon. Work the butter and sugar together; beat 
 the eggs separately to a froth, and work the dough as 
 well as pound cake. Add the soda and put the cake 
 immediately to bake. 
 
 A very good Common Cake. Five cups of flour ; 
 three cups of milk ; two cups of sugar ; one cup of 
 butter ; one tea-spoonful of soda. 
 
 Harrison Cake. Five cups of flour ; two cups of 
 molasses ; one and one half cup of butter ; four eggs ; 
 one cup of milk ; spice ; two pounds of raisins ; one 
 tea-spoon of saleratus. 
 
 Clay Cake. One half pound of butter ; one pound 
 of sugar; six eggs; one pound of flour ; one half pint 
 
CAKES. 67 
 
 of cream ; one half nutmeg ; juice and oil of one 
 lemon ; one glass of wine. 
 
 Taylor Cake. Seven cups of flour ; seven eggs ; 
 one pint of cider; one and one half pounds of butter; 
 two pounds of sugar ; one tea-spoon of saleratus ; 
 one and one half pounds raisins ; three nutmegs ; one 
 table-spoonful of cinnamon ; one glass of brandy. 
 
 Soda Cake. Dissolve one half pound of sugar in 
 one pint of milk ; add large tea-spoonful of soda ; 
 mix in two pounds of flour, and one quarter pound of 
 butter ; bake quickly in shallow tins. 
 
 Shrewsbury Cake. One and one half pounds of 
 flour ; one pound of sugar ; one pound of butter ; 
 sixteen eggs ; spice as you please. 
 
 Another. One pound of flour ; one half pound 
 of butter ; one half pound sugar ; one egg ; one spoon- 
 ful rose water. 
 
 Sally Lunns. Two eggs ; two small cups of 
 cream, or milk; two cups of loaf sugar; one pint of 
 flour; half a pound of butter; one tea-spoonful of 
 mace. The cream and butter to be warmed together, 
 and when melted, poured upon the sugar. Beat the 
 eggs and stir them in. Stir into the flour a tea-spoon- 
 ful of cream of tartar, and then add it to the eggs and 
 sugar. Dissolve a full half tea-spoon of soda in a little 
 warm water, and mix in well. Bake immediately. 
 
 Indian Pound Cake. Half a pound of butter; 
 the weight of eight eggs in sugar, and the weight of 
 six in corn meal, sifted ; eight eggs and a nutmeg, or a 
 tea-spoonful of cinnamon ; rub the butter and sugar 
 to a cream. 
 
 A nice Ginger Cake. Three pounds of flour ; one 
 pound of butter ; one pound of sugar ; one pint of mo- 
 lasses ; four table-spoonfuls ginger ; two table-spoonfuls 
 cream. Cream the butter well with the sugar, adding 
 the molasses, lastly the cream ; one table-spoonful of 
 saleratus. Work this well together. 
 
 Corsican Gingerbread. Two pounds of flour: one 
 
68 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 and one half pounds of sugar ; one pound of butter ; 
 nine eggs ; one glass of wine ; one cup of ginger. Spread 
 very thin with a knife on tin sheets. Keep the dough 
 two inches from edge of sheet. Sift sugar over it be- 
 fore you put it into the oven. 
 
 Soft Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour; three 
 pounds of sugar; two pounds of butter; twenty-four 
 eggs ; two gills of rose water. Spice to your taste. 
 
 Light Gingerbread. Two and one half quarts of 
 flour; one and one half pint sugar; three fourths pint 
 butter ; six eggs ; spice, wine, and ginger. 
 
 Symballs. One half pound of sugar ; one quarter 
 pound butter ; two eggs ; one half a nutmeg ; one tea- 
 spoonful saleratus ; one half cup of milk ; flour suffi- 
 cient to stiffen. Roll out on powdered sugar. 
 
 Cookies. Dissolve one pound of sugar in one half 
 pint of water ; one half pound of melted butter ; two 
 and a half pounds of flour ; one tea-spoon and half 
 of saleratus ; ginger, caraway seeds, or spice. 
 
 Gingerbread. Three pounds of flour; two pounds 
 of sugar ; one and one half pounds of butter ; fifteen 
 eggs ; ginger to your taste. Rolled out on tin sheets. 
 
 Hard Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour ; three 
 pounds of sugar ; two pounds of butter ; nine eggs ; 
 one quarter pound of ginger. 
 
 Hard Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour; two 
 pounds of sugar ; one pound of butter ; coffee-cup of 
 milk ; tea-spoon of saleratus ; four eggs ; small cup of 
 ginger ; caraway seed if you please. 
 
 Hard Gingerbread. Two pounds of flour ; one 
 pound of sugar ; three quarters pound of butter ; seven 
 eggs; ginger. 
 
 Gingerbread. Two and one half pounds of flour; 
 one pound of sugar ; three quarters of a pound of but- 
 ter ; one half pint of yeast ; one half pint of milk ; one 
 gill of wine ; four eggs ; one pound of currants , spice, 
 ginger, and citron. 
 
 Particular Gingerbread. Six pounds of flour; 
 
CAKES. 
 
 69 
 
 three pounds of sugar; two pounds of butter; twenty 
 eggs ; one tea-spoonful saleratus ; one quarter pound 
 of ginger. 
 
 Common Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour ; one 
 pound of butter ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; 
 five eggs ; two tumblerfuls of cider ; two tea-spoonfuls 
 of saleratus ; ginger as you please. 
 
 Caraway Seed Cake. Three and one half pounds 
 of flour ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; one pound 
 of butter ; half pint of rose water ; a small piece of sal- 
 eratus, which dissolve in the rose water; one ounce of 
 caraway seed, or two, as you like. Mix up the ingre- 
 dients. Roll it very thin ; cut into squares, and stamp 
 them ; put them on tin sheets. They take but a short 
 time to bake. 
 
 Another. Half a gill of rose water ; a gill and one 
 half of milk ; two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar ; 
 one tea-spoonful of soda. Rest as above. 
 
 Gringle Cake. Two cups of sugar ; one cup of 
 butter ; two eggs ; one table-spoonful of wine or bran- 
 dy ; milk, and rose water ; one tea-spoonful of saleratus. 
 Then add enough flour to make it stiff enough to roll. 
 Stamping is an improvement. 
 
 Jumbles. Three pounds of flour; two pounds of 
 sugar ; one pound of butter ; eight eggs, with a little 
 caraway seed. Add a little milk, if the eggs are not 
 sufficient to moisten the flour. 
 
 Jumbles. One and one quarter pounds of flour ; three 
 quarters of a pound of sugar ; one half pound butter ; 
 three eggs ; caraway or spice. 
 
 Sugar Gingerbread. Twenty eggs ; three pounds 
 of flour ; two and one half pounds of sugar ; three 
 quarters or one pound of butter ; cup of ginger. Spice 
 if you choose. 
 
 Cake Sandwiches. Cut a stale loaf of sponge cake 
 as if bread, and spread strawberry jam or currant jelly 
 over them. 
 
 Cream Cake. One cup of molasses ; one cup of 
 
70 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 sour cream, frothed with a dessert-spoonful of saleratus. 
 Mix in flour to make it as stiff as a pound cake. Sub- 
 stitute sugar for molasses, and you will have a nice 
 ginger cake. 
 
 Molly Saunders's Gingerbread. One half pound 
 of butter ; one pint of molasses, (sugar-house molasses 
 is best ;) two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus, dissolved in a 
 gill of milk or water ; one and three fourths pounds of 
 . flour ; ginger to your taste. 
 
 Ginger Nuts. Three pounds of flour; one and one 
 half pounds sugar; one and one quarter pounds butter ; 
 one ounce cloves ; three ounces ginger ; orange or lemon 
 peel. Mix it with molasses to make it like gingerbread, 
 and roll it out or form it into balls. 
 
 Soft Molasses Gingerbread. Five tea-cups of 
 flour ; three cups of molasses ; one cup of cream ; one 
 cup of butter; one table-spoonful of ginger, and one 
 of saleratus. Boil the molasses, and melt the butter in it. 
 
 Soft Gingerbread. One quart of molasses ; six 
 ounces butter or lard ; one pint of milk ; one ounce of 
 ginger; one ounce of saleratus; two eggs. Boil the 
 molasses. 
 
 Molasses Gingerbread. Four pounds of flour; 
 one pound of butter ; six gills of molasses ; one gill of 
 milk ; one half of a tea-cup of ginger ; one large tea- 
 spoonful of saleratus. Put the butter into the flour ; 
 dissolve the saleratus in a little milk ; mix the molasses 
 and milk together. Or, boil the molasses ; add the milk 
 and butter. 
 
 Another. To one pint of molasses add three gills 
 of milk, two ounces of butter melted, not quite an 
 ounce of saleratus ; ginger to your taste. Mix them 
 well together ; then stir in enough flour to make it stiff 
 enough to roll. Bake it in a quick oven, on sheets, as 
 soon as possible after it is made. Boil the molasses. 
 
 Another. One pound of flour ; half pound of but- 
 ter ; half pint of molasses ; three eggs ; one tea-spoon- 
 ful of saleratus ; half ounce of ginger. Mix it with 
 cider. 
 
GINGERBREAD. 71 
 
 Another. Three and one half pounds of flour ; 
 three quarters pound butter ; three tea-spoonfuls of sal- 
 eratus dissolved in a cup of sour milk ; three table- 
 spoonfuls of ginger, and one table-spoonful of cinna- 
 mon. Molasses enough to make it stiff enough to roll. 
 
 Another. Three and one half pounds of flour ; 
 three fourths of a pound of butter ; three spoonfuls of 
 saleratus dissolved in a cup of sour milk ; three table- 
 spoonfuls of ginger; one table-spoonful of cinnamon; 
 molasses sufficient. 
 
 Soft Molasses Gingerbread. Five pounds of flour ; 
 twelve gills of molasses; two ounces of ginger; one 
 and one half ounces saleratus ; one pint milk ; six ounces 
 of butter or lard, or drippings ; two eggs. 
 
 Bakers' Molasses Gingerbread. One quart of 
 molasses ; one quart cider ; three ounces of saleratus ; 
 three fourths pound of butter ; three spoonfuls ginger. 
 To be mixed not very stiff. 
 
 Ginger Snaps. Two and one half pounds of flour ; 
 half a pound of butter or lard ; half a pound of sugar ; 
 one pint of molasses ; one tea-spoonful saleratus ; car- 
 away seeds or ginger. This should be rolled very thin, 
 and baked but a few minutes. It softens by being kept. 
 
 Doughnuts. One pound of flour; one half pound 
 sugar ; one quarter pound butter ; three eggs. Mix 
 with water or milk ; fry them in hot lard. 
 
 Doughnuts. One and one half cup sugar; one 
 and one half table-spoonfuls butter ; one cup milk ; 
 one tea-spoon saleratus ; as much flour as will make 
 it stiff enough to roll ; spice ; three eggs. 
 
 Doughnuts. Three pounds of flour ; one and one 
 half pounds of sugar ; one quarter pound of butter ; 
 five eggs ; spice. Roll out, and fried in hot lard. 
 
 Doughnuts. Four pounds of flour ; two pounds 
 sugar ; three fourths of a pound of butter ; sixteen 
 eggs ; spoonful saleratus ; spice. 
 
 Cream Tartar Doughnuts. Make them exactly 
 like the cream tartar cakes, (see page 44,) with the 
 
72 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 addition of three spoonfuls of sugar, one egg, and 
 some pounded orange or lemon peel. 
 
 Raised Doughnuts. Boil a quart of milk, and 
 rub smooth in a little cold milk a gill of ground rice. 
 When the milk boils, add the rice, with a tea-spoonful 
 of salt. Allow it to boil until quite thick, stirring it so 
 that it shall not burn. When cool, add a cup of good 
 yeast, and thicken it about as stiff as good bread. 
 Knead it as well as your bread. Let this rise over 
 night, and when light, add a half pound of butter, 
 five eggs, a pound of sugar, or a pint of molasses ; 
 adding nutmeg, lemon peel, or any other spice. 
 
 Any light dough can be easily made into dough- 
 nuts by the addition of sugar, butter, and spice. An 
 egg or two prevents the cakes from soaking much fat. 
 
 Doughnuts. Six pounds of flour ; one pound su- 
 gar ; one pound butter ; one pint yeast ; spice to your 
 taste. Let these rise over night. Mixed with milk or 
 water. 
 
 Symballs. One cup sugar; one cup milk; one 
 tea-spoonful saleratus ; flour enough to make a stiff 
 paste ; spice. Rolled and fried in hot lard. 
 
 To have fried cakes good and light, the fat should 
 be of proper heat. When hot enough to put in the 
 dough, the fat stops bubbling and will be perfectly still. 
 If at the proper heat, the cakes will rise to the top in 
 a very few seconds, the fat will bubble, the cakes will 
 swell or rise, and the under side will become brown. 
 Turn them, that the other side may brown. It is best 
 to break open one of the cakes, in order to judge if 
 they are cooked. When done, take them out with a 
 skimmer into your colander to drain well. If the fat 
 is too hot, the outside will become cooked and brown 
 before the inside is warmed ; and if too cool, the cakes 
 will soak too much fat. 
 
 Doughnuts that contain saleratus soak up far more 
 fat than those made without it, and the more saleratus 
 they contain the more fat they will imbibe. This is 
 
PASTRY. 
 
 73 
 
 on the chemical principle of making soap, where the 
 alkali absorbs the grease. It is more healthy, therefore, 
 to make doughnuts with eggs, or raise the dough just 
 enough with yeast to make it light but not sour. 
 
 Sweet Potato Cake. Pare and grate several sweet 
 potatoes, and to every three pounds of grated potato 
 add two pounds of sugar ; twelve eggs ; a little more 
 than three pints of milk ; the juice and grated rind of 
 a lemon ; a quarter of a pound of melted butter ; a 
 table-spoonful of rose water; a little cinnamon and 
 mace, with a tea spoonful of salt. Mix well together, 
 and bake in deep pans for two hours. 
 
 Unbolted Flour Cake. A tea-cup of sour cream, 
 saleratus enough to sweeten it ; a tea-cup of molasses, 
 flour sufficient to mix it ; nutmeg ; one pound of cur- 
 rants. Bake in a deep pan. 
 
 Tumbler Cake. Six tumblers flour; three of su- 
 gar ; one of butter ; one of molasses ; three of currants 
 or chopped raisins ; four eggs ; one tea-spoonful of 
 saleratus in a tumbler of sweet or sour milk ; spice as 
 you please. 
 
 Barnard Cake. One pound sugar; two pounds 
 flour ; one fourth pound butter ; put these together in 
 a pan, and grate one nutmeg into it. Rub them thor- 
 oughly together. Dissolve a table-spoonful of salera- 
 tus in a full pint of sour milk, then beat all together, 
 and put in one and one half pounds of raisins. 
 
 Rice Puffs. To a pint of rice add a tea-spoonful 
 of salt ; a pint of boiling water. Beat up four eggs 
 and stir them well together. Drop this mixture into 
 
 boiling fat. 
 
 PASTRY. 
 
 The griddle, on which muffins are baked with us in 
 America, as also in Europe, is the same utensil as that 
 used in the East, and it is fixed in the same manner 
 over the fire. It serves the Moors for a variety of 
 
74 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 dishes and preparations of flour. On it is made the 
 pastry of the East, which all travellers have tasted, 
 and which many have pronounced exquisite, though 
 few have described, and fewer still, perhaps, imagined 
 different from that made in Europe or America. 
 
 The secret of French pastry consists in bringing the 
 butter and dough to exactly the same consistency. 
 This is effected by temperature for the butter, by water 
 for the dough ; cooling down the one and softening the 
 other. When so done, the butter in one mass is rolled 
 into the dough, as in French pastry, or as with us, 
 more commonly, put on to the dough in small pats or 
 dabs ; it then spreads under the rolling-pin equally as 
 the dough spreads, each in its own plane. Folded 
 over and over again, the two keep distinct ; and thus 
 are obtained the flakes. 
 
 The butter of the East is fluid, and runs like oil. 
 This difficulty must be overcome, to enable the inhab- 
 itants to enjoy flake pastry. Ingenuity soon devised 
 the following plan: "The wheat (in the grain) is 
 steeped till it sprouts ; it is then rubbed or pounded in 
 a mortar till it acquires the consistency of cream. In 
 this state, it is poured in ladles on the griddle, rubbed 
 with butter. Instantly hardening, it is tossed off sheet 
 after sheet. The name given to it is Yolka. This is 
 then strung on strings and hung up. When wanted, 
 a bundle is laid on the dish for under crust ; the con- 
 tents, sweet or savory, of the pastry, are then put in, 
 and the upper crust laid on in the same way. By this 
 process are attained, in the highest degree, all the 
 objects of French pastry — softness in the substance, 
 fineness and equality in the flake." It has one advan- 
 tage over our pastry, of facility and economy of time. 
 This information may lead some one of our ingenious 
 Yankee housewives to devise a new method to obviate 
 the many difficulties of our fashion of making pastry; 
 to remedy the effects of hot weather and the clumsi- 
 ness of inexperienced cooks. 
 
PASTRY. 
 
 75 
 
 Although there is nothing more simple to make, if 
 pains be taken, so will the smallest neglect produce a 
 failure. Neither is it with the making of pastry alone 
 that so much care is required, but also with the baking. 
 
 Paste badly made will not improve in baking, neither 
 will well-made paste be good if ill cooked. 
 
 Having sifted your flour and weighed the butter or 
 lard, the proportion of one to the other must be reg- 
 ulated by each person's notions of healthiness and 
 economy. One third lard makes better pastry than if 
 all butter is used. If one third lard is used, rub the 
 lard, with a tea-spoon of salt, into the flour. The least 
 possible time should be taken in doing this, as the 
 heat of the hands will soften the lard too much. Add 
 the water, in which have been beaten one or two eggs. 
 If the paste is made wholly of lard, allow a tea-spoon- 
 ful of salt to every pint or pound of flour. Some 
 people put in a small tea-spoonful of soda. Put the 
 salt into the flour, and the saleratus into the water 
 with which you mix your paste. When you have put 
 in the water, stir it up quickly, as stiff' as you can, 
 with a spoon. Put it on to your pasteboard as soon 
 as you can roll it. A large slate makes a very good 
 pasteboard for those who are not lucky enough to 
 have a marble one. Roll from you always, not back 
 and forth. When rolled, lay the butter (which should 
 have been worked to a cream the day before wanted, 
 and put on ice) on all parts of the paste, in thin cut- 
 tings. Dredge a little flour over the butter, and fold 
 up the dough in a long roll ; flatten it a little with the 
 pin ; double it by laying the two ends meeting in the 
 centre. Roll again — flour, butter, and roll, in same 
 manner, for three successive times. It is well to divide 
 your butter into three equal parts, putting one part in 
 the dough at each roll. This being done, set the paste 
 into a cool place. It is of importance to observe that 
 the paste should be neither too stiff nor too soft, but 
 of a proper consistency ; it will be better when it is a 
 little too soft than when too stiff. 
 
76 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Paste should not be made softer in summer than in 
 winter ; for if your butter has been creamed and put 
 on the ice, it will be of the same consistency as when 
 it is used in winter. As soon as your paste is made, 
 set it on the ice. When the paste is used, cut off 
 enough to make two or three pies ; set the remainder 
 on the ice. In rolling out the paste to cover the pies, 
 cut a piece from your roll crossivise or cornering. This 
 makes the paste more flaky. Press the rolling-pin 
 equally on all parts, that it may be of equal thickness. 
 
 Having your plate buttered, lay on the crust. Pass 
 your hand over it so that all parts may touch the plate. 
 Take the plate on the palm of your left hand, and 
 with your right trim the edges of the dough even with 
 the dish by holding a knife with the handle under 
 the plate, and the blade slanting outwardly. Wet 
 with water the rim of the paste, and put round 
 another thickness ; then fill your pie. Wet the rim 
 again and cover the pie. Some people make a less 
 rich paste for the under than the upper crust of their 
 pies. 
 
 I will give the method of making French pastry ; 
 and, to be successful, one must be particular in the 
 proportions, and very careful in the mixing : — 
 
 Puff Paste. Put one pound of flour on your 
 pastry board or slab, make a hole in the centre, in 
 which put the yolk of one egg and the juice of one 
 lemon, with a pinch of salt; mix it with cold water 
 (iced in summer) into a softish, flexible paste. With 
 the right hand dry it off a little with flour, until you 
 have well cleaned the paste from the slab, but do not 
 work it more than you can possibly help ; let it remain 
 two minutes upon the slab ; then have a pound of 
 fresh butter, from which you have squeezed all the 
 buttermilk in a cloth, bringing it to the same consis- 
 tency as the paste, and upon w T hich place it ; press it 
 out with the hand ; then fold over the edges of the 
 paste so as to hide the butter, and roll it with the roll- 
 
PASTRY. 77 
 
 ing-pin to the thickness of a quarter of an inch, thus 
 making it about two feet in length ; fold over one 
 third, over which again pass the rolling-pin ; then fold 
 over the other third, thus forming a square ; place it, 
 with the ends, top and bottom, before you, shaking, 
 both under and over it, a little flour, and repeat the 
 rolls and turns twice again, as before ; flour a baking 
 sheet, upon which lay it upon ice or in some cold 
 place (but in summer it would be almost impossible 
 to make this pastry without ice) for half an hour ; 
 then roll twice more, turning as before ; place again 
 upon the ice for a quarter of an hour ; give it two more 
 rolls, making seven in all, and it is ready for use 
 when required, rolling it out into whatever thickness, 
 according to what you intend making. 
 
 People differ as to the proper thickness of pie crust. 
 Some fruits require thicker crusts than others ; for 
 peach and pumpkin, it should never be more than one 
 eighth of an inch ; for juicy fruits, such as berries, 
 cherries, currants, and for mince pies, the paste should 
 be thicker. Use deep dishes for pies of juicy fruits. 
 Do not fill the dish even full, as the sirup is liable to 
 boil over, and the richness of the pie is lost. Do not 
 forget to moisten the rims of the paste in putting on 
 the covers, and press the edges together. Pass the 
 inner edge of the hand round the pie on the inside of 
 the rim, and press it well down. In juicy fruit pies it 
 is well to prick the top a few times with a fork. This 
 is done to allow the steam to escape. To prevent the 
 under crust of pies from being clammy, or soaked with 
 the materials with which they are filled, they should 
 not be filled until just as you put them into the oven. 
 In fact, it is a good plan to part bake your paste be- 
 fore you fill the pies, particularly with pumpkin, Marl- 
 borough, or potato puddings. Pies which are covered 
 should stand filled only long enough for the upper 
 crust to be put on. Pastry should be baked in a quick 
 oven. For every description of pastry, vou can judge 
 7* 
 
78 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 of the heat of the oven by placing your hand about 
 midway in ; hold it there a quarter of a minute. If 
 you can hold it there for that length of time, the oven 
 is not hot enough. After all, the safest way is to bake a 
 small piece of paste before putting in the whole. Pump- 
 kin pies require nearly an hour to bake. Like the 
 brown breads, both squash and pumpkin puddings 
 need a good soaking: Apple and peach pies bake in 
 three fourths of an hour. Cherry and plum pies need 
 one and one half hours. Meat for pies should not be 
 chopped until cold. If you have more pastry made 
 than you wash to use, make a hole in your flour barrel, 
 put it in to keep it from drying and turning yellow. 
 
 Pastry is very obnoxious to delicate stomachs, owing 
 to the injurious influence of heat on all fat and oily 
 substances, most especially butter. 
 
 Puff Paste with Beef Suet. "Where you cannot 
 obtain good butter for making paste, the following 
 is a good substitute : Skin and chop one pound of kid- 
 ney beef suet very fine ; put it into a mortar and pound 
 it well, moistening with a little oil, until becoming as 
 it were one piece, and about the consistency of butter ; 
 proceed as in the last, exactly, using it instead of 
 butter. 
 
 Half Puff Paste. Put one pound of flour on 
 your pastry slab, with two ounces of butter, rub them 
 well together. With the hands, make a hole in the 
 middle, in which put a pinch of salt and a yolk of an 
 egg, with the juice of a lemon ; mix with water as 
 before, then roll it thin. Lay half a pound of butter, 
 prepared as for puff paste, rolled into thin sheets over ; 
 fold it in three, roll and fold again twice over, lay it in 
 a cold place for a quarter of an hour ; give another 
 roll, and it is ready for use when required. This 
 paste is mostly used for fruit tarts, for wttich it is well 
 adapted. 
 
 Short Paste. Put a pound of flour on your pastry 
 slab, make a hole in the centre, into which put an 
 
PASTRY. 79 
 
 ounce of salt, half a pound of fresh butter, with suffi- 
 cient water to make a paste. Mix well together. 
 
 Short Paste for Fruit Tarts. Rub into one 
 pound of flour six ounces of butter. Make a hole in 
 the centre and put in two ounces of sugar, two eggs, 
 and a large wine glass of water. Mix the eggs, sugar, 
 and water well ; then stir in the flour and work it 
 lightly. 
 
 Small Fruit Tarts. If you should have any cut- 
 tings left of puff* pastry, make the following little cakes : 
 Roll out the paste about the thickness of a dollar ; cut 
 out some rounds with the paste cutter ; take half of 
 these, and with a wine glass cut out the centre ; wet 
 the whole round, and lay the ring on, pressing them 
 together. Egg them over and sift finely-sifted sugar 
 over them. Fill them when cold with preserves of any 
 kind. 
 
 Potato Paste. Boil some potatoes ; mash them 
 to a smooth paste ; add, while warm, a little butter ; 
 add some flour with a little milk or water. 
 
 The French pastry cooks are famous for their vols- 
 au-vent, which are nothing more than raised pies of 
 meat, fresh or preserved fruits. There is much skill 
 required to make these vols-au-vent, without a mould, 
 though it is often done by good cooks. All pies look 
 handsomer, and are no more trouble to make if baked 
 in a mould made on purpose, than if cooked in a pie 
 dish. 
 
 French Recipe for Raised Pie. Well wipe and 
 butter the interior of the mould. Have ready two 
 pounds of nice paste, rather fine than otherwise ; two 
 thirds of this rolled out to fit the mould ; press it even- 
 ly over the interior, raising the paste half an inch 
 above the edge of the mould. Have previously pre- 
 pared six pounds of veal cut from the fillet, as follows : 
 cut four pounds into pieces an inch in breadth, and as 
 nearly as possible to the length of the pie. With the 
 remainder, make a forcemeat, (see recipe.) Have ready 
 
80 THE AMERTCAN MATRON. 
 
 two pounds of lean bacon, cut into pieces of nearly 
 the same size as veal. Put a quarter of a pound of 
 butter into a frying pan, and when melted, put in the 
 veal and bacon ; season it highly with a tea-spoonful 
 of salt; same of pepper; half a nutmeg; a tea-spoon- 
 ful of mace ; a table-spoonful each of chopped onions 
 and parsley. Fry the whole together, occasionally turn- 
 ing the meat, that all may be slightly browned. Line 
 the interior of the mould with some of the forcemeat, 
 to the thickness of half an inch ; after this put a layer 
 of veal, and a few pieces of the ham alternately, and 
 cover over with forcemeat about an inch in thickness ; 
 then more veal and bacon, with forcemeat until full, 
 finishing with forcemeat, forming a dome about an 
 inch above the paste. Put a quarter of a pound of 
 butter on the top ; mould the remainder of the paste 
 to a ball, which roll to the size of the top of the pie ; wet 
 the edges, lay on the top crust, which press down with 
 the thumb, working it up gracefully with the thumb 
 and forefinger to about an inch above the top of the 
 mould, cutting the paste away where too thick, and 
 mark it with a knife, spoon, or crimp it with a pair of 
 paste nippers ; make a little hole in the top. Orna- 
 ment it in any fashion, with leaves cut from paste to 
 suit one's taste. Tie a band of buttered paper round the 
 mould an inch above the pie. Put it in a moderate 
 oven to bake about two hours. Be sure it is cooked ; 
 try it, by running a pointed knife into the centre, and 
 if it feels tender, it is done. Take it from the oven, 
 pour into it a gill of strong gravy, in which you have 
 dissolved a little isinglass, especially in summer. Take 
 it from the mould, which opens at one end by drawing 
 out a pin, and serve upon a napkin, garnished with 
 parsley. 
 
 Every description of raised pies can be made after 
 this manner, the difference being in the contents. 
 
 If your pie is fowl, make a paste and forcemeat as 
 in the above — instead of veal and ham, have a fowl — 
 
VORY PIES. 81 
 
 and season the interior with pepper, salt, and chopped 
 onions. Fill inside with some of the forcemeat; 
 spread a layer of forcemeat, both under and over the 
 fowl, on the crust in the mould. Sprinkle with salt 
 and pepper; cover with remainder of paste. When 
 done, pour in gravy made from bones of fowl, highly 
 seasoned. Serve cold. 
 
 Sausage meat is a very good forcemeat, and can be 
 readily obtained. 
 
 In making these pies from fruits, the paste is baked 
 first in a pyramidal-shaped mould. While baking, 
 the paste is filled with dr,y flour. When done, take 
 out the flour, open the mould, and fill the crust with 
 any prepared fruits. 
 
 If you have no mould, make a quarter of a pound 
 of paste ; roll it round or oval, as it pleases your fancy, 
 a quarter of an inch thick ; wet the edge all round, 
 about half an inch ; raise that part and pinch it round 
 with your thumb and finger, making a raised border 
 all round. Put it on a baking sheet ; fill it w.ith fruit, 
 one row ; if large, two. Sift sugar over according to 
 the acidity of the fruit. This will take less time to 
 bake than in the mould. 
 
 SAVORY PIES. 
 
 Venison Pie. Cut a breast and neck into small 
 pieces ; rub them over with a seasoning of sweet herbs, 
 grated nutmeg, pepper, and salt ; fry them slightly in 
 butter; line the sides and edges of a dish with puff 
 paste, and lay in the meat, adding half a pint of rich 
 gravy, made with the trimmings of the venison. Put 
 in a glass of port or claret wine, the juice of half a 
 lemon, or tea-spoonful of vinegar. Cover the dish with 
 puff paste, and bake it nearly two hours. With a 
 sharp knife, cut a small circle two thirds through 
 the thickness of paste, which can be removed after 
 
82 
 
 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 being baked, to pour in through a tunnel more gravy 
 if needed. 
 
 Another. Stew the venison slightly ; season it 
 highly with pepper, salt, nutmeg, orange peel, and 
 claret wine. Put the paste as above. When the 
 meat is partially cooked, add it to the pies. They 
 will be ready to serve as soon as the paste is well 
 browned and baked. 
 
 Chicken Pie. Make a good puff paste ; allow one 
 half a pound of butter to one pound of flour. Put a 
 thin under crust round the dish ; cut up the chickens ; 
 parboil them in a very littlg water, with salt and pep- 
 per. When cooked, take out the chicken ; put into 
 the liquor the legs, livers, and gizzards ; a piece of but- 
 ter rolled in flour. When boiled sufficiently, strain it. 
 Have a pint of oysters ; season them highly ; fill up 
 the pie with chicken, oysters, and eggs boiled hard and 
 sliced. Strain the liquor ; cover the pie, and bake it. 
 When cooked, if not gravy enough, put in the remain- 
 der with a tunnel, as above directed. 
 
 If the pie is not to be eaten the day it is baked, the 
 eggs had better be omitted ; they give an unpleasant 
 flavor. 
 
 Another. The chickens should be parboiled, and 
 all the meat taken from the bones. Put into the dish, 
 alternately, oysters and chicken ; season the gravy as 
 above. If made in a dish, fill up with the gravy; but 
 if in raised crust, the gravy must be strained and 
 added cold, as jelly, by the addition of isinglass, or a 
 calf's foot boiled up with it. 
 
 To make a Pasty of Mutton to eat as nice as 
 Venison. Bone a fat loin of mutton, after it has been 
 killed four or five days ; beat it well with a rolling-pin ; 
 rub ten pounds of meat with four ounces of sugar, 
 and pour over it a glass of port, and the same of vine- 
 gar. Let it remain five days and nights, turning 
 and basting it with the liquor. Wash and wipe the 
 meat very dry, and season it very highly with pepper, 
 
SAVORY PIES. 83 
 
 nutmeg, and salt. Stew it gently until about half 
 cooked. Then, having your paste ready in your pie 
 dish, proceed as with a venison pasty. Put the bones 
 in a pan, with no more water than will cover them, 
 one glass of port or claret, and a little pepper and salt, 
 thickened with a bit of butter braided with flour. Boil 
 them together for the gravy to be added to the pie. 
 
 Pigeon Pie. Lay a thin paste around the rim and 
 sides of the dish ; rub the pigeons with pepper and 
 salt, inside and out ; in the inside put a bit of but- 
 ter, and if you like, some parsley, chopped with the 
 livers. Lay a beefsteak at the bottom of the dish, 
 cut into slices, not too thin, seasoned with a little salt, 
 pepper, and cayenne, and the birds on it, breast up- 
 wards. Have four eggs boiled hard, slice them and 
 put them at the sides ; sprinkle a little pepper and salt 
 over the pigeons; pour in a little water; cover with 
 paste. 
 
 Partridge Pie. Line the bottom of a pie dish 
 with slices of veal, cut moderately thick, and rather 
 slightly seasoned with pepper and salt. Have ready 
 picked, drawn, and trussed, a couple of young par- 
 tridges ; pour one glass of sherry over the veal, and 
 lay the partridges breast to breast, laying a piece of 
 fat bacon over each ; cover with paste. 
 
 Some people, in both pigeon and partridge pie, stick 
 the feet of the birds (nicely cleaned) in a hole in the 
 top crust, to mark the kind of pie. 
 
 Various other Pies. Hot pies may be made with 
 mutton. They can also be made with a fillet of beef, 
 cut into thin slices the size of a chop, or with rum]) 
 steak, by laying a piece at the bottom, seasoning, and 
 filling alternately with potatoes and meat. Veal and 
 ham pies are excellent. You may omit the potatoes. 
 Dip the veal, well seasoned, into flour. Veal sweet- 
 breads and ham make nice pies. Pour in a cupful of 
 some white gravy after the pie is baked. Rabbits and 
 fowls, cut up, and stewed with a little butter, pepper, 
 
84 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 salt, (and, if you choose, an onion chopped,) make 
 most excellent pies. You can make these pies of any 
 size, either large enough for a family dinner, or small, 
 round, or oval, for a corner dish for a party. 
 
 If you wish the paste to look very nice, egg it over 
 well before putting it in to bake. If you wish it to be 
 white, use only the white of the egg well beaten ; if 
 yellow, use the whole egg. 
 
 . Oyster Pie. Have a puff paste, ready made ; but- 
 ter a deep dish, and invert a small teacup in the cen- 
 tre. This serves a double purpose — the liquor will 
 be drawn under and prevented from boiling out, and 
 also it will keep the crust from falling in. Put in a 
 layer of oysters, adding a little pepper, salt, butter, and 
 cracker, finely pounded. Continue to do this alter- 
 nately until your dish is filled. Then pour in as much 
 liquor as you can. Cover it well ; it will bake in an 
 hour. It is a good plan, after the paste is rolled, to 
 insert on it the dish you intend baking the pie in, and 
 cut out the cover a little larger than the dish. Cut a 
 small circle two thirds through in the centre, which 
 can be removed when the pie is cooked, and the re- 
 mainder of oyster liquor, with a little milk, added (to 
 make a tea-cupful) through a tunnel to the pie. 
 
 Oyster Patties are nothing more than little pies 
 baked in patty pans. The crust should be baked sep- 
 arately. Line the pans with puff paste; fill them 
 either with dry flour or make a hard paste, which roll 
 up and put into the pans ; cover them and bake. When 
 cooked, remove the balls (which can be kept for this 
 purpose) and fill them with the oysters which have 
 been cut up small, and stewed in their own liquor. 
 Season them highly. Lobster, beef, veal, turkey, in 
 fact, any meat, may be easily made into patties in the 
 same manner. Use different seasoning with the differ- 
 ent fish and flesh. Govern yourself by the rules laid 
 down for savory pies. 
 
POT PIES, OR MEAT PUDDINGS. 85 
 
 POT PIES, OR MEAT PUDDINGS, AND PIES. 
 
 Beefsteak Pudding. Take a pound of flour, and 
 half a pound of finely -chopped beef suet ; a tea-spoon- 
 ful of salt, and sufficient water to form a stiffish paste. 
 Mix these well together. Butter the interior of a round- 
 bottomed pudding bowl ; line it with two thirds of the 
 paste, rolled to half an inch in thickness. Cut up in 
 small pieces a rump steak, with a little fat. Season 
 with two tea-spoonfuls of salt and one of black pepper ; 
 sprinkle a little flour over them. Lay them within the 
 paste ; pour a gill of water over, moistening the edges 
 of the paste. Roll out the remainder of paste to 
 form a cover ; put it on ; press it well together with the 
 thumb. Tie over the bowl a pudding cloth. Put it 
 into a pot of boiling water, and keep constantly boiling 
 for two hours. Keep the pot filled with water. When 
 done, untie the cloth ; run a sharp-pointed knife into 
 the pudding ; if it feels tender, it is cooked. Turn it 
 over on the dish ; lift the bowl carefully from it, and 
 serve hot, immediately. 
 
 Veal Pot Pie can be cooked in the old-fashioned 
 way, in the iron pot or in a buttered bowl. An hour 
 will cook veal. A few slices of bacon are an improve- 
 ment to a veal pie. 
 
 Lamb, Mutton, Pork, and Kidneys, with a few doz- 
 en oysters, make excellent puddings. You can change 
 the seasoning; with some, putting onions, with others, 
 a few potatoes sliced, chopped parsley, thyme, or sweet 
 marjoram. Potato paste is very good for these pud- 
 dings ; or, better still, a paste made with cream tartar 
 and soda is much lighter than any paste, when boiled. 
 Or, cover the meat over with crust of boiled rice about 
 an inch thick ; egg it over or not, as you please. Brown 
 it well. 
 
 Mince Pies. Three pounds of meat, after boiled ; 
 four pounds of suet ; three pounds of apples ; three 
 
86 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 and one half pounds of sugar; three pounds of cur- 
 rants; three pounds of raisins; one and one half pints of 
 wine ; three gills cider ; one pint brandy ; ten nutmegs, 
 and their weight in mace ; cloves and cinnamon ; salt 
 to your taste ; the peel of six lemons grated; the juice 
 of three lemons ; citron. This will fill twenty pies. 
 
 Mince Pies. Two pounds of beef; two pounds of 
 suet ; two pounds of sugar ; one pound of stoned rai- 
 sins ; one of currants ; one pint of wine ; two ounces 
 of mixed spice ; salt ; twelve apples. 
 
 Mince Pies. One pound of tongue ; two pounds of 
 suet ; three pounds of raisins ; one half dozen apples ; 
 one ounce of mace ; one quarter ounce of cloves ; one 
 nutmeg ; juice of one lemon ; the peel of two lemons, 
 chopped very fine ; one half pound of citron. 
 
 Mince Pies. One pound of beef, after boiling; 
 three fourths of a pound of suet; one and one half 
 pounds of apples, after being chopped ; one pound of 
 raisins, after stoned ; one pound of sugar ; some of the 
 liquor in which the meat was boiled ; wine ; brandy ; 
 spice ; cider. Salt to your taste. 
 
 Paste for the above. Three pounds of flour ; two 
 and one half pounds of butter ; one half pound of 
 lard, rubbed into the flour ; salt. The butter rolled in 
 twice. 
 
 Plain Mince Pies. Any cheap piece of meat, boiled 
 till tender ; add suet or salt pork boiled in the liquor 
 with the meat, and chopped or scraped fine ; two thirds 
 as much apple as meat. Sugar and spice to your 
 taste. Lemon and a little sirup of sweetmeats will 
 greatly improve them. Some people, after the fat has 
 been removed from the liquor in which the meat was 
 boiled, put in the mince and let it boil for ten minutes. 
 This will cook the mince, and you can bake the paste 
 if you prefer, and fill afterwards. If you have more 
 meat than you wish to use immediately, do not add 
 the apples to the whole, but add one half or an equal 
 quantity of chopped apples, as you have meat, to that 
 
pies. 87 
 
 you use. Keep what you do not use in a jar, for future 
 use, and turn on a little brandy. Cover it tight, to keep 
 the air from it. Whenever used, add the required 
 quantity of chopped apples, and more wine or cider to 
 moisten the meat. Champagne wine may be used if 
 preferred. 
 
 Apple Pies. Pare, core, and cut sufficient apples to 
 fill the dish ; put a small cup in the middle or not, as 
 you like ; one clove to every three apples ; a very little 
 pounded cinnamon; a small piece of chopped lemon 
 peel, and sugar. Bake according to size. 
 
 You can simply stew your apples beforehand, if you 
 so prefer ; spice it as you like ; sugar, and a small bit 
 of butter ; fill your pies. Or make a sirup with sugar, 
 and preserve the apple in quarters. In this way you 
 have nicer pies. 
 
 You can slice fresh apples very thin ; grate a little 
 nutmeg over the slices ; strew sugar, and add a piece 
 of butter. 
 
 Fruit Pies. These are made in pie dishes, the top 
 of which is only covered with paste. Wet the edge 
 of dish, and put round a strip of paste about an inch 
 wide and a quarter inch thick. Fill the dish with fruit ; 
 wet the paste on the edge, and cover with puff paste. 
 Mark the outer rim with a roller or the back of a knife. 
 
 Dried Apple Pies. Wash the apples in two or 
 three waters, and put them to soak in rather more 
 water than will cover them, as they absorb a great deal. 
 After soaking an hour or two, put them into a pre- 
 serving kettle with the same water, and with the peel 
 of one or two lemons, chopped fine. Boil tender; 
 when they rise, press them down, but do not stir them. 
 When tender, add sugar, and boil fifteen or twenty 
 minutes longer. Dried apples, soaked over night, are 
 made tasteless, and are mashed up by being stirred. 
 When cooked, stir in butter, nutmeg, or clove. 
 
 Huckleberry or Blackberry Pies. Put a good 
 puff paste on to the pie plate with a rim as directed in 
 
88 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 making other pies. Fill the plate not quite even full. 
 Heap the berries a little in the centre. And to each 
 pie of common size add four large spoonfuls of sugar, 
 if made of huckleberry ; five, if made of blackberry 
 or blueberry. Put a few small, thin slices of butter, 
 and dredge over a very little flour before putting on the 
 upper crust. 
 
 Rhubarb, Gooseberry, Currant, Cherry, Plum, 
 Quince, fresh Cranberry, are made in the same way. 
 You can season them with cinnamon or nutmeg, or 
 chopped lemon peel. 
 
 Peach Pies. If the peaches are dried, stew them 
 first in a little water ; if fresh, pare them, cut them in 
 halves, or slice them. Break the stones, adding the 
 kernels to the pie. A little sugar, a very little cream, 
 according to the size of the pie, may be put in at the 
 same time. 
 
 Dried Plum Pies. Soak the plums, and stew them 
 gently ; season them with spice ; sugar ; put a puff 
 paste on to the plate ; then put a layer of the plums, 
 stewed ; roll out a piece of paste thin ; cover them ; 
 add another layer of plums, and cover for the last time. 
 You may have as many stories to your pie as you 
 choose. 
 
 Jelly Pies. Make a jelly of any fresh fruit — green 
 grapes, cranberries, or any other. Put a paste on the 
 plate ; fill it with jelly ; put strips of paste, hand- 
 somely cut or twisted, across the top. Ornament 
 according to your taste. Do not put a cover over 
 them. 
 
 Apples prepared for nice Pies. The apples must 
 be white and juicy. Cut them in small, thick pieces, 
 into cold water ; drain them and put them into a pre- 
 serving kettle ; a layer of apple, then some fresh lemon 
 peel, shred finely ; then cover these thick with sifted 
 white sugar, and wet it with rose-water ; then again 
 apple, lemon, and sugar, in successive layers, until the 
 kettle is filled. Stew them gently, closely covered, 
 
 
EGGS. 89 
 
 until half or three quarters done, when remove the, 
 cover ; see that they are cooking equally, taking care 
 not to mash them. If rightly cooked, they will look 
 clear, and in good shape. Squeeze in a little lemon 
 juice, if you like. 
 
 EGGS. 
 
 Fresh or newly-laid eggs, when lightly cooked, as 
 when poached or slightly boiled, are nutritive and 
 moderately easy to digest. The lightest as well as the 
 simplest mode of preparing eggs for the table, is to 
 boil them, only as long as is necessary to coagulate 
 slightly the white or glaise, without hardening the yolk. 
 The raw yolk of the egg is often taken whipped in tea 
 or milk, and is an agreeable and digestible food. Mixed 
 with wine or brandy, it forms a valuable restorative 
 and stimulant. When boiled hard, or when fried in 
 butter or fat, eggs are commonly difficult to digest. 
 Omelets, pancakes, fritters, and all other dishes made 
 with eggs and fried, are injurious to persons of delicate 
 digestion. 
 
 The albumen (the white or glaise) of eggs is used 
 by the cook to clarify sirups and jellies. Its efficacy 
 depends on its coagulation, by which it entangles in 
 its meshes the impurities, with which it either rises to 
 the surface or precipitates. 
 
 Eggs, plain boiled. Have boiling in a saucepan 
 about a pint of water, into which put gently, with a 
 spoon, two or three fresh eggs. Be careful not to crack 
 them, as the egg will escape and appear on the out- 
 side. Three minutes will cook a common-sized egg ; 
 if small, from two minutes to two and a half. Eggs 
 boiled hard for salads or sauces should not boil more 
 than ten minutes, and when cooked, put them into 
 cold water for five or ten minutes. Take off the shells, 
 and they are ready for use. 
 
 Poached or Dropped Eggs. Have boiling in a 
 
 a* 
 
90 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 spider a pint of water with a little salt. Break an egg 
 into a cup carefully, so that the yolk is not broken, and 
 pour it into the water as near the surface as possible. 
 With a large spoon throw the hot water over the yolk 
 until the white is cooked to a semi-transparent film 
 over it. Have ready toast, buttered on a dish ; take 
 the egg out with a slice, and serve it on the toast. 
 
 Hard Scrabble. Take four or six eggs ; beat them 
 separately with a little salt and pepper ; put a little 
 butter into a saucepan ; when melted, pour in the egg, 
 stirring well until thick. Serve on toast hot. 
 
 Baked or Roasted Egg. Butter a fire-proof dish, 
 and into which break six eggs carefully, so as not to 
 mix the yolks and whites ; shake a little pepper and 
 salt over them ; put over them, in small pieces, half an 
 ounce of butter. Put them in a moderate oven until 
 set ; then serve hot. 
 
 Baked Egg. Be careful and make a small incision 
 with a fork or pin in the large end of the eggshell, or 
 the air there confined will expand and burst the shell, 
 and you will lose the egg. Put as many as you wish 
 into a pan ; set it into a moderate oven, and ten min- 
 utes will cook the eggs sufficiently. 
 
 Omelets. Take six or eight eggs ; break them, 
 keeping the whites and yolks separate ; beat the whites 
 to a still' froth, and put into the yolks a little salt and 
 pepper ; when well beaten, mix the white and yolks 
 together ; have ready, hot, a small piece of butter in 
 your spider, (if not lucky enough to have an omelet 
 pan,) and pour in egg sufficient for one omelet. This 
 mixture can be seasoned with finely-chopped ham, 
 parsley, or grated cheese, to the taste. Be careful nei- 
 ther to burn or brown them too much. When ready 
 to dish, fold one half over the other in the form of a 
 semicircle, and send it immediately on a hot plate to 
 table. Continue to cook until the mixture is used up, 
 sending each one to table as it is cooked. ¥ 
 
 Tomato Omelet. Mix two or three table-spoonfuls 
 
PRESERVATION OF EGGS. 91 
 
 of flour with a very little water; add six or eight well- 
 beaten eggs, with salt and pepper. Peel, and chop very 
 fine, three or four tomatoes ; stir these together, and fry 
 as above, or in one large omelet. Oysters can be 
 used instead of tomatoes, chopping them fine. 
 
 Omelet. Break and beat well four eggs ; take a 
 tea-spoonful of flour, wet with milk, and add the eggs ; 
 put in onions, parsley, with pepper, salt and nutmeg. 
 Fry as above. 
 
 Pickled Eggs. Boil them until hard; throw them 
 hot into cold water, which will make the shell slip off 
 smoothly after the eggs have remained in it about ten 
 minutes ; boil some red beets till very soft ; peel and 
 mash them fine, and put enough of the liquor into 
 cold vinegar to color it pink ; add a little salt, pepper, 
 nutmeg, and cloves ; put the eggs into a jar and pour 
 the beets, vinegar &c, over them. This makes a 
 pretty garnish for fish or corned meats. Cut the eggs 
 in slices when used. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF EGGS. 
 
 According to Dr. Bennett, in his poultry book, noth- 
 ing was known scientifically about preserving eggs till 
 M. Reaumur was led to consider the subject. He 
 has shown that fresh eggs lose daily, by transpiration, 
 a portion of the matter they contain, notwithstanding 
 the compact texture o£ their shell, and of the close 
 tissue of the flexible membrane lining the shell and 
 enveloping the white. When an egg is fresh, the shell 
 is full; and this is equally discernible whether it be 
 broken raw or cooked. In stale eggs there is a vacancy, 
 more or less, in proportion to the loss sustained by 
 transpiration. Hence, to judge of the freshness of 
 an egg, it is usual to hold it up to the light, when the 
 translucency of the shell will enable one to see whether 
 there be any vacancy or not ; or whether the yolk and 
 
92 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 white are mingled and thick, by the decay and burst- 
 ing of the membrane which surrounds them. 
 
 Cold retards, while heat accelerates, this process of 
 the transpiration in eggs. By keeping them in cool 
 cellars or ice-houses, they can be preserved for a longer 
 time, in a sound state, than if they are placed in a warm 
 atmosphere or exposed to the sun's light. Some plan 
 must be put in operation to exclude the air from the 
 egg, to prevent fermentation and decay ;' and this can 
 only be done by closing the pores of the shell. It is 
 necessary that the material used for this purpose should 
 not be dissolved by the moisture issuing from the inte- 
 rior. Fat or grease answers well, and Dr. Bennett 
 recommends a mixture of mutton and beef suet, melted 
 together over a slow fire, and strained through linen 
 into an earthen pan. When melted, dip in an egg, 
 and immediately take it out ; it will keep for twelve 
 months or longer. A few pounds of this fat would 
 prepare a great quantity of eggs. Eggs prepared in 
 this manner are good to boil ; while those " put down " 
 in a mixture of lime, salt, and cream of tartar, are fit 
 only for puddings and brown cakes — not for the table 
 or white cake, as sponge, almond, &c. — and when 
 taken from the water, the greasiness can be removed 
 with a napkin. A thin layer of grease is all that is neces- 
 sary. It should be known that eggs are spoiled by 
 being moved roughly about, or jostled when carried to 
 a distance by sea or land. Any sort of rough motion 
 ruptures the membrane which keeps the yolk and white 
 apart, and when mixed they become bad and putrefy. 
 Without doubt, sooner or later, eggs will be sold by 
 weight rather than by dozens. One dozen of eggs 
 should weigh twenty-two and a half ounces, says Dr. 
 Bennett. A dozen then may sometimes consist of 
 eight, twelve, or even eighteen eggs. There will be 
 fewer complaints that this or that receipt is good for 
 nothing, when this plan is adopted. When the rich- 
 ness of this or that cake depends on the number of 
 
VEGETABLES. 93 
 
 eggs used, surely there can be no wonder that, if made 
 with eight large or eight small eggs, there should be 
 much difference in the result. Eggs, with yellow, ma- 
 hogany, or salmon-colored shells, are richer than those 
 with white ones. They contain a larger quantity of 
 yolk. These are preferred for culinary purposes, for 
 cakes, puddings, &c. White eggs contain more albu- 
 men, and are preferred for boiling, &c, for the table. 
 Many separate their eggs, accordingly, for eating and 
 cooking ; and when the reason for this course is better 
 understood, most persons will follow it. 
 
 VEGETABLES. 
 
 It is beautiful to see the simple means by which so 
 many important ends are answered in nature. Every 
 slight accession to our knowledge opens new wonders to 
 us, even in those ordinary operations with which, during 
 our whole lives, we have been most familiar. 
 
 It may be useful to know the leading differences in 
 chemical constitution which exist among the different 
 kinds of vegetable food. 
 
 The potato is characterized by containing a large 
 proportion of starch in connection with a small quan- 
 tity of albumen — a substance in vegetables resembling 
 the boiled white of an egg, and from which it gets its 
 name of vegetable albumen. 
 
 The quantity of starch in potatoes increases during 
 the autumn, remains stationary during winter, and in 
 spring, after germination commences, diminishes. It 
 is a well-known fact, that when potatoes germinate, 
 they become soft and afterwards sweet. The gum 
 formed from the starch renders them mucilaginous ; 
 and the sugar formed from this gum renders them 
 sweet. 
 
 This is the reason why the potato should be sprouted, 
 as often as it shows signs of germinating, during the 
 winter season. 
 
94 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 The nutritive power of the potato is by some consid- 
 ered very small, while others think that, when in good 
 condition and well cooked, they form a nutritious and 
 easily digested article of food. It is stated by Liebig, 
 " that a horse may be kept alive by feeding it with po- 
 tatoes ; but life thus supported is a gradual starvation ; 
 the animal increases neither in size nor strength, and 
 sinks under every exertion/' 
 
 It should be remembered that, when the potatoes are 
 grown where they are not supplied with earth, (in 
 cellars,) a vegetable alkali, of very poisonous nature, is 
 formed in the sprouts, although not the smallest trace of 
 such a substance can be discovered in roots, blossoms, or 
 fmits of potatoes grown in the field. Miss Edgeworth 
 was mistaken in calling the potato ball poisonous. It 
 is said that the water in which potatoes are boiled ex- 
 tracts or destroys all noxious matter ; and, as both 
 baked and roasted potatoes are wholesome, it follows 
 that heat alone is capable of destroying the injurious 
 principle of the potato, and if so, that the water in 
 which they are boiled cannot be healthy. The sprouts 
 should be carefully destroyed, and should never be 
 given to any animal. Hard and waxy potatoes are 
 less digestible than mealy ones ; and new potatoes, 
 being less mealy, are less digestible than old ones. 
 
 The influence of frost on the potato is purely me- 
 chanical. It does not appear that any chemical change 
 is produced, by freezing, on vegetables rich in starch. 
 If they are allowed to thaw, and are used immedi- 
 ately, before fermentation ensues, there will be no dif- 
 ference found between the frosted and unfrosted root. 
 
 The potato, eaten as a salad, raw with vinegar, or 
 as ordinarily cooked, is a great preservative against the 
 scurvy. 
 
 The turnip and carrot contain, in place of starch, a 
 variable proportion of sugar and a gelatinous, gummy 
 substance to which the name oipectine has been given. 
 A single drop of pectic acid, mixed with the juice of 
 
VEGETABLES. 95 
 
 an' orange, or other fruit, immediately turns it into 
 jelly ; and the Paris confectioners use it for this pur- 
 pose. Soups, in which carrots have been boiled, are 
 always gelatinous when cold, and are more easily 
 digested, when used as food, than soups otherwise 
 made. 
 
 In the Swedish turnip and in the beet root, sugar 
 t predominates. In the white turnip and in the carrot, 
 the pectine is usually present in large quantities. The 
 proportion of sugar contained in the sap of these roots 
 is greatest when they are young. The turnip, though 
 very slightly nutritive, is, in general, easily digested. 
 The carrot and the parsnip are highly nutritive. 
 Onions, leeks, and shallots, when well boiled, form 
 mild and easily digestible aliments ; but, in the raw 
 state, the volatile oil they contain renders them acrid 
 and difficult to digest. 
 
 Asparagus is a wholesome, agreeable, and simple 
 kind of food. 
 
 The green leaves and leafstalks of plants are much 
 less suited for dyspeptic individuals than farinaceous 
 matters. 
 
 All vegetables, after being thoroughly washed, 
 should be left in cool, fresh water, with the exception 
 of peas, shelled beans, and sweet corn. These last 
 should be husked and shelled with nice hands, and not 
 washed, as some of the sweetness would be lost. Be 
 careful and clean them from insects. Put all fresh, 
 green vegetables into boiling water when to be cooked. 
 Hard water is not fit to cook any vegetables in. Peas 
 and beans, boiled in hard water, become incrusted with 
 a thin coating of lime, which prevents the water from 
 penetrating, so that they do not become soft. If you 
 are obliged to use such water, put in a little saleratus 
 to rectify this ; or boil the water first, by which course 
 the lime will be precipitated ; or expose it for some 
 time to the air before using it. All vegetables are nicer 
 when fresh gathered. Peas should not be shelled long 
 
96 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 before boiling. When peas, string beans, or aspar- 
 agus are old, a little saleratus in the water in which 
 they are boiled will make them boil more tender and 
 look greener. Greens, lettuce, and cucumbers should 
 be gathered in the morning early, before the dew is 
 dried off, and put into fresh water. All kinds of green 
 vegetables are unfit to eat after they are withered. 
 Dried peas and beans should not be put into boiling . 
 water when to be cooked, but into cold water. 
 
 The French pay great attention to the cooking of 
 vegetables. Besides using them plain boiled, they 
 make dishes of dressed vegetables, upon which they 
 expend as much care and attention as upon the princi- 
 pal dish of the dinner. In fact, they often make out a 
 dinner from such dishes. 
 
 " It would seem as if potatoes could freeze and thaw 
 several times during winter, without being destroyed, 
 provided they are covered with earth all the time, for 
 they are often found near the surface and perfectly 
 sound in the spring, when spading up the ground in 
 which the crop had grown during the previous season. 
 They must have undergone freezing and thawing 
 whenever the earth was in either state, as it often is 
 to a much greater depth than the potato roots ever ex- 
 tend. Why should these roots always be destroyed 
 when they freeze above ground, and not suffer when 
 frozen under ground ? 
 
 " The reason why potatoes, apples, &c, become soft 
 and rot when they are frozen and thawed suddenly, 
 uncovered and in open air, is the sudden thawing. 
 You may put a heap of apples on the floor of a room, 
 or any other dry place, where they will freeze perfectly 
 hard, and, if covered closely with any thing that will 
 exclude the air, when the weather becomes warm 
 enough to thaw, the apples will remain sound and un- 
 injured after they are thus closely thawed. 
 
 " Apples may be packed in a tight barrel, if full and 
 headed up so as to exclude the air. They may remain 
 
VEGETABLES. 
 
 97 
 
 so in a garret or any dry place where it freezes hard, and 
 they will be found sound and free from injury, if the 
 barrel remains air-tight till they are thoroughly thawed. 
 If any frozen limb or finger is exposed to sudden heat, 
 by warming it at the fire, and thus suddenly thawed, 
 the flesh will mortify. But if you freeze your finger, 
 and put it into snow and rub it gently till it thaws, or 
 put it into a pail of cool water, it will thaw gently and 
 suffer comparatively little injury. Onions are a diffi- 
 cult root to keep in winter. If put into a cellar warm 
 enough to save them from frost, they will vegetate and 
 be deteriorated. Put them where they will freeze hard. 
 If in a heap, cover them closely with some woollens or 
 any thing which will entirely exclude the air. Cover 
 them also if in barrels or casks. They will freeze hard, 
 and they can be thawed out by putting them into a 
 pail of cold water. Onions thus kept will be in good 
 condition in the spring, after thawing under cover from 
 the air, 
 
 " Parsnips, carrots, and beets should be put into 
 boxes or casks, and then covered with potatoes ; this 
 will preserve them from drying." — Cultivator, Albany. 
 
 It is not frost which destroys tender plants, as they 
 do not wilt until exposed to the sun's rays. They 
 must thaw gradually, like fruits and vegetables ; and, 
 if protected in the early morning from the sun's rays, 
 the tender plants can be made to blossom some days 
 or weeks after the early frosts. After these frosts set 
 in, those plants will continue to blow the longest on 
 which the sun's rays fall latest in the day. If these 
 rays strike suddenly upon the leaf or fruit, the surface 
 will at once be raised in temperature some degrees. 
 The air will consequently expand suddenly, and before 
 the sap is thawed, will have distended and torn the air 
 vessels, and caused sap and air to be mutually inter- 
 mingled. 
 
 " Though not in a state of growth, the tuber of the 
 potato contains the living principle, and there must be 
 9 
 
98 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 a circulation going on in it to maintain an equality of 
 temperature throughout its substance. A sudden 
 thawing of the exterior will, as in the leaf, expand the 
 air before circulation can be established in the frozen 
 mass. The solid, fluid, and aeriform substances, which 
 nature has separated and set apart from each other, 
 will be intermingled, and, from their mutual action, 
 those chemical changes will be produced which will 
 result in the potatoes' rotting." 
 
 If a sudden frost comes on, protect the delicate flow- 
 ers in the early morning from the sun, and cover with 
 straw or earth the potatoes which have been left over 
 night in the field. 
 
 The practical application of these views are numer- 
 ous ; it must be left to each person to make the use 
 which his circumstances and condition require. 
 
 Potatoes. No potato is so good boiled with the 
 skin on, as without it, at any season of the year. 
 They should always be pared and thrown immediately 
 into cold water. When the potato is first peeled it 
 has a white color, which soon changes to brown on 
 exposure to the air. The potato will not injure if left all 
 night in water ; perhaps it is even nicer, if allowed to re- 
 main in water from four to six hours before cooking. 
 Be sure the water boi/s when you put them into it. And 
 also be careful that you put into it some salt, in pro- 
 portion to the quantity of potatoes cooked. As soon 
 as they are cooked tender, pour off all the water and 
 shake them about in the kettle, exposed to the external 
 air, for two or three minutes. You will then have a 
 mealy, well-seasoned, good-tasting vegetable. Per- 
 haps the potatoes will break up and not retain their 
 shape, but this I conceive of little consequence in 
 comparison with the delicacy of the potato obtained 
 by this method. From thirty to forty minutes will be 
 occupied in boiling. Potatoes will bake in a range 
 oven or cooking stove in an hour. 
 
 Mashed Potato. Prepare and cook them as above. 
 
POTATOES. 99 
 
 When cooked, mash them with the pestle, either in the 
 kettle, or take them out into a wooden tray. Mash 
 them to a smooth paste. Have ready a gill or two of 
 hot cream or milk ; if milk is used, add a large spoon- 
 ful of butter and a very little salt. Stir this into the 
 potato very thoroughly. You can simply warm it and 
 serve it hot, or mould it into a large cake, the size and 
 shape of your vegetable dish ; egg it, and sift over it 
 finely-powdered cracker ; put it on a tin sheet, and set 
 it in the oven to brown. Or, make it into little cakes 
 the size of a potato, and brown them. 
 
 If there are potatoes left from dinner, mash them ; 
 add a little milk and a small piece of butter; mould 
 them into little cakes, and fry them for breakfast. 
 
 Potatoes boiled whole, and browned on the grid- 
 iron, are by some people much esteemed. 
 
 Fried Potatoes. Pare and slice them thin. If you 
 have the fat from boiled ham, or that from frying 
 sausages, in which to cook them, it will add a much 
 better relish than if you used butter or other drippings. 
 Cold boiled potatoes may be cooked in this manner; 
 they should be sliced thicker. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes may be roasted, boiled, or baked. 
 They are drier and finer roasted in hot ashes ; next, 
 baked, and sent to table with skins on. Boil them, 
 pare them, and serve hot. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes. These vegetables are much richer 
 when cooked twice. Bake as many as you choose 
 until quite soft, and peel them and put them again into 
 the oven for one half hour. Serve them hot. This 
 twice baking makes them more candied. You can 
 peel them nicer when cold, so it is better to cook them 
 early, or the day before wanted, and then finish with 
 the second baking. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes. Boil them till soft ; peel them, 
 and rub them smooth with a little butter and a little 
 salt. Bake in a pan, and turn out in a vegetable dish, 
 or drop in spoonfuls over a tin sheet, and bake thern. 
 
100 
 
 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Fried Sweet Potatoes. Cut them in slices after 
 being parboiled, and fry in lard, or dip the slices in 
 batter and fry them brown. 
 
 Summer Squash. If the rind is tender, do not cut 
 it off. Boil it in a bag, kept for this purpose. Use 
 boiling water ; three quarters of an hour will cook it 
 sufficiently. Take the bag out into a pan and press it 
 with the bottom of a saucer or with a ladle, till all the 
 water runs out. Put it into a dish ; add butter and salt ; 
 smooth over the top ; then with a fork make rough 
 lines from the edge to the centre. 
 
 Winter Squash. Cut the squash in pieces; peel 
 it, and take out the seeds, but do not remove the fringe, 
 which is the sweetest part. Let your water boil before 
 you put it in. It is better to put this into a bag, and 
 allow the least possible quantity of water to keep it 
 from burning. Squeeze it the same as above. Add 
 butter and salt. Put it into your dish ; smooth the top 
 and pepper it. 
 
 Turnips require from one and a half to two hours 
 to boil. Put them into salt and water to cook. Take 
 them out into the colander ; drain them well ; mash 
 them, adding a little salt and butter. They are some- 
 times sent to table simply sliced. 
 
 Carrots are not a very favorite vegetable for the 
 table. They are used in broths and soups, but chiefly 
 sent to table as a garnish, or an accompaniment to 
 salt fish. In summer, about an hour will cook them. 
 In winter, an hour and a half. 
 
 Beets make a very good addition to a winter salad, 
 of which they may agreeably form one half instead of 
 being only used to ornament it. Boil the beet tender; 
 be careful when washing them not to break the little 
 fibres which are attached to the roots, as the juices and 
 color will be lost. Beets boil tender in one to three 
 hours, depending on the season of the year. When 
 boiled, throw them into cold water for five minutes ; 
 rub off the skin, and cut them lengthwise. All that 
 
VEGETABLES. 101 
 
 are left from dinner should be put into vinegar, with a 
 a little salt in it, to be eaten cold, as a pickle. 
 
 Beets, dressed. Boil two good-sized beets tender ; 
 when cold and peeled, cut in slanting direction so as 
 to make oval pieces. Cut into small dice two middling- 
 sized onions ; put them into a pan with two ounces of 
 butter; fry white, stirring continually with a spoon; 
 add a spoonful of flour, and enough milk to make a 
 thickish sauce, adding, three salt-spoonfuls of salt, four 
 of sugar, one of pepper, a spoonful of good vinegar, 
 and boil together for a few minutes. Put in the beet 
 slices to simmer for about twenty minutes. Have 
 ready some mashed potatoes, with which make a neat 
 border round your dish one inch high. Put in the 
 beets and sauce, and serve hot. If you have a little 
 broth, use it instead of milk. 
 
 Salsify, or Oyster Plant. Wash and scrape the 
 roots well, till quite white. Boil them one hour. Put 
 them into a tray and wash them as potatoes*. Season 
 with pepper and salt, or send them to table simply cut 
 lengthwise as beets, pouring over them a little butter; 
 or, after being nrashed, they may be made into cakes 
 and fried in butter. 
 
 Salsify, full dressed. After being boiled, dish 
 them on toast ; pour over them some good onion sauce. 
 Or, after being mashed, season with salt, pepper, a 
 little vinegar, and a spoonful of butter or milk. Make 
 this into little cakes. Make a small quantity of batter; 
 dip each cake in, and fry for five minutes in lard or fat ; 
 dish it up with fried parsley. 
 
 Celery. Wash six heads, and strip off their outer 
 leaves ; cither cut them in halves or leave them whole, 
 according to their size. Cut into lengths of four inches. 
 Stew them with a little broth or a little milk and salt, 
 till tender ; add pepper and nutmeg. Some people eat 
 the celery raw, as a salad. 
 
 Egg Plant. The purple plant is considered the 
 nicest. Pull the stem from the plant; parboil them 
 9* 
 
102 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 and cut them in slices about an inch thick. Dip them 
 in a batter or in an egg well beaten, and then in a 
 pounded cracker seasoned with a little salt and pepper. 
 Fry them of a nice brown color. 
 
 Cauliflower. Choose those that are close and 
 white. Cut off the green leaves, and look carefully 
 about the stalk for caterpillars. Soak them an hour in 
 cold salt and water. Boil them in milk and water ; 
 and be careful to skim the saucepan, that not the least 
 foulness may fall on the plant. 
 
 Cauliflower, dressed. Parboil it; then cut it 
 into handsome pieces, and lay them in a stewpan with 
 a little broth, a bit of mace, a little salt and pepper. 
 Simmer half an hour ; then put in a little cream, flour, 
 and butter ; simmer it a few minutes, and serve hot. 
 
 To dress Cauliflower with Cheese. Boil a cau- 
 liflower ; drain it in your colander, and cut the stalk 
 so that the flower will stand upright about two inches 
 above the dish. Put this into a stewpan with a little 
 cream or milk, salt, butter, and flour; stew it a few 
 minutes ; then dish it with the sauce round it, and put 
 Parmesan cheese, grated, over it ; brown it in the oven, 
 or heat a kitchen shovel and hold over it. Any other 
 rich cheese will answer very well. 
 
 Broccoli. Cut the heads with short stalks, and pare 
 off the tough skin ; tie the small shoots into bunches, 
 and boil them a shorter time than the heads ; put salt 
 into the water. Served with or without toast. 
 
 Cabbage. Remove the outer leaves, and divide the 
 stump end as far as the centre of the cabbage ; put it 
 into boiling water with some salt to boil; skim it, 
 and boil a full hour. It can be cooked with boiled 
 meat. 
 
 Cabbage, dressed. Shred the cabbage ; wash it 
 well ; put it over the fire with a few slices of onion, 
 pepper, and salt, and a very little water or broth. 
 When tender, or a few minutes before serving, add a 
 little butter rubbed in flour, and two or threr nconfuls 
 of vinegar; just boil it up. 
 
VEGETABLES. 103 
 
 To make Sourkrout, or Sauerkraut. This is pre- 
 pared by the fermentation of cabbage. The plants are 
 collected in autumn, divided, the stalks removed, and 
 the leaves cut by a cabbage-slice into slices, a layer of 
 which is put into a firkin, alternately with a layer of 
 salt, until the vessel is filled ; pressed down with heavy 
 weights. At the end of six weeks, when the acetous 
 fermentation is completed, it is considered fit for use. 
 It is cooked in Germany as a stew, simply in its own 
 liquor, with bacon, pork, or other fat meat. Caraway 
 seeds or dill are sometimes sprinkled on the plants 
 when they are salted. 
 
 Asparagus. Scrape or peel off the tough skin from 
 the white part ; tie it up in small bunches ; put it into 
 boiling water ; boil twenty minutes ; dish it on slices 
 of buttered toast; pour over a little drawn butter. 
 The bread, toasted brown, may be dipped into the 
 water in which the asparagus was boiled. 
 
 Asparagus, dressed. Parboil the plants. When 
 cooked, cut them into small pieces and fry in butter ; 
 or break three or four eggs into a dish ; beat them 
 with pepper, salt, and a little milk ; add the asparagus ; 
 put this into a stew pan, with a spoonful of butter; 
 simmer it for a few minutes. Serve this on toasted 
 bread. 
 
 Sea Kale. Proceed exactly as for asparagus for 
 boiling. Cut out the black part of the roots ; wash 
 it well, and tie it together. Serve it as asparagus. 
 
 Parsnips. Boil them an hour and a half; serve 
 them hot, simply cut lengthwise ; or mash them and 
 warm them in a stewpan, with a little milk and but- 
 ter, pepper and salt. 
 
 Spinach requires great care in washing and picking 
 it. When ready, throw it into boiling water with a 
 little salt. Drain it very dry in a colander, and heat 
 the spinach well with a bit of butter. This looks well 
 if pressed in to a tin mould in the form of a large leaf. 
 
 Spinach, full dressed. Drop four or five eggs into 
 
104 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 boiling water ; dish the spinach, putting the eggs on 
 to it. 
 
 Mushrooms. One should feel perfectly acquainted 
 with the different sorts of fungi before using any. 
 Many are called mushrooms, by ignorant people, 
 which are highly deleterious. The death of many 
 persons has been occasioned by carelessly using the 
 poisonous kinds. 
 
 The eatable mushroom first appears very small and 
 of a round form, (buttons,) on a little stalk. They 
 grow very fast; the upper part and stalk are white. 
 As the size increases, the under part gradually opens, 
 and shows a fringed fur of a very fine salmon color, 
 which continues more or less till the mushrooms have 
 gained some size, and then turns a dark brown. These 
 marks should be attended to, and also whether the 
 skin will peel easily from the edges and middle. 
 Those that have a white or yellow fur should be care- 
 fully avoided ; though many of them have the same 
 smell, but not so strong as the right kind. Mush- 
 rooms, common morels, and the truffle are certainly 
 difficult of digestion, and, on certain constitutions, act 
 very injuriously. Invalids, and all with delicate stom- 
 achs, will act prudently in avoiding the use of this 
 doubtful order of foods. 
 
 Mushrooms, stewed. Cut off the stalk which grew 
 in the earth ; wash them ; remove the skin from the 
 top ; stew them with a little water and salt. When 
 tender, add a piece of butter braided in flour. They 
 are very delicious. 
 
 Peas, boiled. Pick them well over, after they are 
 shelled ; do not wash them ; put them into boiling 
 water, adding a little salt, for about fifteen minutes ; 
 drain them through a colander ; put them into a dish 
 with a little butter. As peas grow old, boil them 
 longer. They may be garnished with scalded mint. 
 
 Peas. Put a quart of peas, a head of lettuce, and 
 an onion, sliced, with butter, pepper, and salt, and no 
 
VEGETABLES. 105 
 
 more water than hangs round the lettuce in washing. 
 Stew them two hours. When ready to be served, beat 
 up an egg and stir it into them. Mint can be chopped 
 and stewed with them. 
 
 Shelled Beans. Put these into boiling water, just 
 enough to cover them ; boil them for an hour to an 
 hour and a quarter. Add salt when nearly cooked. 
 Serve them hot with a little butter. 
 
 String Beans. Beans should never be used in this 
 way after the pod has become old enough to have a 
 string or toughness about it. Cut off both ends, and 
 cut them in pieces of an inch long. Boil them in as 
 little water as will keep them from burning. Put into 
 them a little butter. 
 
 Onions. Peel large onions; put them into boiling 
 water and salt ; boil them about thirty minutes. Pour 
 off the water, then put in equal parts of milk and 
 water, or skimmed milk alone, and boil for twenty 
 minutes. Take them up with a skimmer; let them 
 drain and dish them. Put on them a little butter, 
 pepper, and salt. 
 
 Greens. Turnip tops, mustard, and cabbage plants, 
 the roots and tops of young beets, dandelions, and 
 many other things make a good dish of greens in the 
 spring. When boiled enough, they will sink to the 
 bottom. Some take an hour, others less time, to boil 
 tender. 
 
 Cucumbers should be gathered early in the morning. 
 Peel them, and pour scalding water over them. Let 
 them stand till nearly time to serve. Slice them, add- 
 ing salt, pepper, and vinegar. 
 
 Stewed Cucumbers. Slice them thick ; strew some 
 salt and pepper over them ; add an onion, sliced ; stew 
 these in a little water with a bit of butter; simmer 
 slowly ; put in a little flour. Add a spoonful of vine- 
 gar when served. 
 
 Tomatoes, baked. Pour boiling water over them ; 
 cover them, and let them stay one hour; peel them; 
 
106 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 put in as many as will cover the bottom of a pie dish ; 
 season with pepper and salt; sprinkle bread crams 
 over them, with a few pieces of butter. Then more 
 tomatoes, with seasoning, &c, alternately, until the 
 dish is filled. Bake them one hour. 
 
 Tomatoes. Peel them ; cut them ; put them into a 
 saucepan ; shake in pepper, salt, and butter ; a few 
 bread crams. If you please, add sugar. Stew two 
 hours. 
 
 Tomatoes, raw. Slice the fruit ; dress them with 
 pepper, salt, and vinegar. 
 
 Sweet Corn. Corn for boiling should be full grown, 
 but young and tender, and the kernels soft and milky. 
 If the grains are yellow and hard, it is too old. Pull 
 off the silk and boil the corn, without removing the 
 inner husk that encloses the cob. It will take rather 
 longer to boil, but it is sweeter and will look whiter. 
 Remove these before you send it to table. Put the 
 corn into a very little boiling water with salt in it. 
 Cover up tight, and the steam will cook it. When 
 done, serve it hot in a napkin. Eaten with butter and 
 salt. It can be cut from the cobs before being sent to 
 table, and mixed with a little butter. 
 
 Corn Oysters. Grate the corn from the cobs and 
 dredge it with wheat flour. Beat very light six eggs, 
 and mix them with the corn. Beat them well together. 
 Add a salt-spoon of salt. Fry these in lard or butter 
 in rouud or oval cakes, about an inch thick. Or, boil 
 the corn and cut it from the cobs ; chop it fine, and 
 mix as above. 
 
 Summer Succotash. Boil a peck of young green 
 beans, having cut them into three pieces, for about 
 thirty minutes. Drain them in a colander. Boil six 
 or eight ears of corn, and when cooked, cut the grains 
 from the cob. Mix together the corn and beans, add- 
 ing a little salt, and warm them together a few min- 
 utes. Drain the succotash in a sieve ; add butter, and 
 serve hot. 
 
VEGETABLES. 107 
 
 Hominy must be washed and boiled. Allow two 
 quarts of water to each quart of hominy. Drain it 
 well. Send it to table in a deep dish uncovered. Put 
 in a little butter. 
 
 Samp is Indian corn boiled in lye, or with potash, 
 to remove the husks ; then boiled in plain water till 
 tender. 
 
 Beans, baked. Put a quart of beans to soak over 
 night. The next morning wash them out of this water. 
 Put them into a pot with more cold water than will 
 cover them ; add a little salt. Put them over the fire 
 to simmer until tender. Drain them again, and put 
 them into a deep earthen pot. Scald and gash one and 
 a half pounds of salt pork ; place it in the beans so that 
 the rind of the pork will be even with the top of the 
 beans ; cover them with water in which is mixed two 
 table-spoonfuls of molasses. Bake them five or six 
 hours. If in a brick oven, let them stand over night. 
 Some people put in a little saleratus when the beans 
 are boiling. 
 
 Macaroni. Have half a gallon of water ; two 
 ounces of butter, and an ounce of salt; when boiling, 
 throw in a pound of macaroni ; boil until tender. The 
 time of boiling depends on the quality. The Genoa 
 macaroni takes the longest time, and the Neapolitan 
 the shortest; which last, if too much cooked, will fall 
 in pieces. 
 
 Macaroni d Vltalienne. Boil half a pound of mac- 
 aroni as above. When done, dry it on a sieve ; put 
 it in a pan with four spoonfuls of milk ; add a tea- 
 spoonful of salt, a quarter of one of pepper, a little 
 cayenne ; simmer it over the fire. "When boiling, 
 add two ounces of Parmesan cheese, grated. Stir it 
 round till mixed. Serve it hot, with a gill of gravy 
 round it. 
 
 Macaroni. Boil the macaroni tender ; when cooked, 
 put a layer of macaroni into a well-greased dish, a 
 layer of grated or shaved cheese, a few pieces of butter, 
 
108 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 and so continue until the dish is filled. Set it into your 
 oven to brown. 
 
 An excellent cold Stew. Take a nice fresh 
 white cabbage, wash and drain it, and cut off the stalk. 
 Shave down the head evenly and nicely into very small 
 shreds, with a cabbage-cutter or knife. Put it into a 
 deep dish, and prepare for it the following dressing : 
 Take a gill or half a tumbler of the best vinegar, mix 
 with it a quarter of a pound of butter divided into 
 four bits and rolled in flour, a small salt-spoon of salt, 
 and the same quantity of cayenne pepper. Stir this 
 together and boil it in a saucepan. Have ready beaten 
 the yolks of three eggs. As soon as the mixture boils, 
 take it from the fire and stir in the eggs. Then pour 
 it boiling hot over the shred cabbage, and mix it well 
 with a spoon. Set it to cool on ice or snow, or in the 
 open air. It must be thoroughly cold before it is served. 
 
 Potatoes, a la Mailre cP Hotel. A good breakfast 
 dish. Boil the potatoes, and when cold cut them into 
 rather thin slices. Put a lump of fresh butter into a 
 stewpan, adding a little flour, about a tea-spoonful for 
 a middling-sized dish ; when the flour has thickened 
 with the butter, add by degrees a cup of broth or water. 
 Boil this up and put in the potatoes with chopped 
 parsley, pepper, and salt. Stew them a few minutes, 
 remove them from the fire, and when quite off the boil, 
 add the yolk of an egg beaten up with a little lemon 
 juice and a table-spoonful of cold water. As soon as 
 the sauce has set, the potatoes may be dished and sent 
 to table. A London recipe, and very delicious. 
 
 A Substitute for Asparagus. The young stalks 
 of the milkweed, which grows by the roadside, if cut 
 when about as high as asparagus would be, and boiled 
 like it, and served with toast, in the same manner, 
 makes a delicious substitute for asparagus. It is ex- 
 ceedingly delicate, and tastes like string beans. The 
 plant will shoot up like asparagus after being cut. 
 
CONDIMENTS, OR SEASONING AGENTS. 109 
 
 CONDIMENTS, OR SEASONING AGENTS. 
 
 The name of condiment is usually given to those 
 substances which are taken with foods for the immedi- 
 ate purpose of improving their flavor. But most of 
 them serve other and much more important purposes 
 in the animal economy than that of gratifying the 
 palate. Most of them are, in fact, alimentary sub- 
 stances ; as salt, sugar, oil or fat, and vegetable acids. 
 
 But all the substances used as condiments are not 
 necessary to our existence. This is the case with the 
 aromatic and pungent condiments. The purpose which 
 these substances serve in the animal economy is not 
 very obvious ; they probably act as stimulants, and, in 
 some cases, they may answer to correct the injurious 
 qualities of the food with which they are eaten. 
 
 Saline Condiments. Common salt is considered by 
 most persons as a mere luxury, as if its use were 
 merely to gratify the taste ; although it is essential to 
 health and life, and is as much an aliment or food as 
 either bread or flesh. It is a constituent of most of 
 our food and drinks, and nature has kindly furnished us 
 with an appetite for it. In many cases of disordered 
 stomach, a tea-spoonful of salt is a certain cure. In 
 the violent, internal pain, termed colic, a tea-spoon- 
 ful of salt, dissolved in a pint of cold water, taken as 
 soon as possible, with a short nap immediately after, 
 is one of the most effectual and speedy remedies 
 known. The same will relieve a person who seems 
 almost dead from receiving a heavy fall. In an apo- 
 plectic fit, no time should be lost in pouring down salt 
 water, if sufficient sensibility remains to allow of swal- 
 lowing ; if not, the head must be sponged with cold 
 water until the sense returns, when the salt will restore 
 the patient from lethargy. In cases of severe bleeding 
 at the lungs, and when other remedies have failed, Dr. 
 10 
 
110 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Rush, of Philadelphia, found that two tea-spoonfuls 
 of salt completely stayed the blood. 
 
 Acidulous Condiments. Vinegar, either by acci- 
 dent or design, has been employed by mankind in all 
 ages, in greater or less quantity, as an aliment, or rather 
 substances naturally containing it in small quantities 
 have been employed as food, or it has been artificially 
 formed, to be used and eaten. It is necessary^ in one 
 or other form, for the preservation of health. The pro- 
 longed absence from juicy vegetables or fruits, or their 
 preserved juices, is a cause of scurvy. Vinegar is used 
 as a condiment on account of its agreeable flavor and 
 refreshing odor. It is employed alone or with pickles. 
 When taken in small quantities, it is wholesome ; but, 
 of course, if immoderately used, it will cause trouble. 
 Citric acid is employed, as a substitute for lemon and 
 lime juice, in the preparation of cooling and refreshing 
 beverages. Tartaric acid is employed as a cheap substi- 
 tute for citric acid or lemon juice. Besides being cheap- 
 er, it has another advantage over citric acid ; it is not 
 deliquescent (or does not contract moisture) when ex- 
 posed to the air. Cream of tartar is used in making 
 cooling drinks. There are other acids, contained in 
 fruits and vegetables, which are constantly employed 
 and necessarily eaten by all. 
 
 Oily Condiments are. oils derived from the seeds 
 of fruit called vegetable oils. They are used raw, as 
 in almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, cocoa-nuts, and nutmeg, 
 and other fruits. They are also pressed, as olive oil 
 or sweet oil, oil of almonds, and many volatile, or 
 essential oils. The sweet or savory herbs, such as 
 mint, marjoram, sage. &c, owe their peculiar flavor and 
 odor to volatile oil contained in the leaves. In fact, 
 all fruits and leaves, and some vegetables, as onions, 
 garlic, with the spices, owe their grateful odor and taste 
 to volatile oil. These oils, prepared, sold, and dissolved 
 in spirit of wine, form the essences for flavoring, &c. 
 
 Saccharine Condiments. Sugar is usually regarded 
 
CONDIMENTS, OR SEASONING AGENTS. Ill 
 
 as a nutritious substance, but Liebig declares it is 
 merely an element of respiration. Many insects feed 
 on sugar or saccharine liquids. It is said that during 
 the sugar season, at the West India islands, every ne- 
 gro and every animal, even the dogs, grow fat. The 
 fondness of children for sugar seems a natural instinct, 
 since nature, by placing it in their milk, intended it to 
 form a part of their nourishment. It is said that the 
 eating of sugar spoils the color of, and corrupts, the 
 teeth. This is a mistake. It is not the sweet itself, 
 but the sweet, allowed to remain about the teeth, and 
 becoming acid, which produces the trouble. Sugar is 
 extensively used to prevent the decomposition of fruits, 
 roots, and even stems and leaves, as in preserves. In 
 these cases, sugar acts by excluding air, or by absorb- 
 ing moisture, or both together. Its efficacy is some- 
 times of another kind, as when it assists in making 
 jellies solid. Latterly, sugar has been employed to 
 preserve meat and fish, instead of salt. 
 
 Aromatic and Pungent Condiments I have spoken 
 of in the volatile and essential oils. 
 
 For eating or cooking, Almonds should be blanched, 
 on account of the injurious qualities of the husk. 
 
 Bitter Almonds are more or less poisonous to all 
 animals. Dogs, pigeons, &c, are readily destroyed by 
 eating these nuts. When eaten in large quantities, 
 bitter almonds have caused fatal consequences. The 
 oil of bitter almonds is a very powerful poison, being 
 four times as powerful as prussic acid. A single drop 
 will kill a cat in a few minutes. From this fact it is 
 highly improper for ignorant persons to employ it, yet 
 it is extensively used by cooks and confectioners for 
 flavoring. 
 
 Butter is employed as a condiment. When rancid 
 by keeping, or when melted by heat, it is injurious to 
 the dyspeptic. 
 
 It should be generally known, that a small quantity 
 of Vinegar will generally destroy immediately any 
 
112 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 insect that may find its way into the stomach, and a 
 little Salad Oil will kill any insect that may enter the 
 ear. 
 
 Mustard* Mix the best flour of mustard with boil- 
 ing water, to a proper thickness, rubbing it perfectly 
 smooth ; add a little salt, with a tea-spoonful of sugar, 
 to a half pint of mustard. Instead of water, milk 
 may be used, adding a little cream. This makes the 
 mustard less biting and more delicate. It will keep 
 well so mixed. 
 
 The mustard may be mixed and kept covered in a 
 jar, and only so much as is daily used put into the 
 glass belonging to the castors. Nothing looks worst' 
 than an ill-kept castor. 
 
 Kitchen Pepper Sauce. Mix in a fine powder 
 one ounce of ginger; of cinnamon, black pepper, nut- 
 meg, and Jamaica pepper, half an ounce each ; ten 
 cloves and six ounces of salt. Keep it in a bottle. It 
 is a pleasant addition to any brown sauces or soups. 
 
 RIPENING FRUITS. 
 
 Many persons are in the habit of plucking fruit 
 before it is ripe, to perfect itself in the house. If the 
 ripening oi' fruits by nature were fully understood, or if 
 the chemical changes which take place, between the 
 opening of the flower and the ripening of fruit or seed, 
 were more fully comprehended, few, I think, would 
 prefer this method. The fruit, in which the seeds of 
 many plants are enveloped, is at first tasteless, after- 
 wards more or less sour, and finally sweet. In the first 
 stage of the plant's growth, the starch of the seed is 
 transformed into gum and sugar: and subsequently, in 
 the last stages of existence, the sugar and the sweet 
 and milky sap are gradually transformed into starch 
 in the formation of the seeds. Chemists can explain 
 the mode and manner by which the first transition is 
 
RIPENING FRUITS. 113 
 
 effected ; the latter, however, is inexplicable. They 
 can transform starch into sugar, and therefore we can 
 readily believe in such a process going on in the plant; 
 thus far, however, no method of reconverting sugar 
 into starch has been discovered. It is said that nitrogen 
 is given off by the flower leaf. It is known that this 
 element is present in the coloring matter of the petals, 
 and that it is a necessary constituent of the albumen 
 and gluten, which are always associated with the 
 starch of the seed. The fruit absorbs carbonic acid, 
 and gives off oxygen, and thus extracts from the 
 atmosphere a portion of the food, by which its growth 
 is promoted ; and if, as they become colored, fruits 
 imitate the petals of flowers, in absorbing oxygen and 
 giving off carbonic acid and nitrogen, it will also rep- 
 resent the changes which take place when fruits are 
 permitted to ripen on the tree or in the open air. Light 
 is absolutely necessary to the health of all plants and 
 fruits, in growing and ripening. When plants are shut 
 out from light, they are " blanched," as it is termed. 
 It has the same effect as a continued night would have 
 upon them. The purposes of the leaf are entirely 
 different, according as the sun is above or below the 
 horizon. The leaf becomes green, and oxygen is given 
 off in the presence of the sun, while, in his absence, 
 carbonic acid is disengaged, and the whole plant or 
 fruit is blanched. There can be little doubt that the 
 juices of fruits are matured by the influences of the 
 solar rays and the atmosphere. The chemical changes 
 by which the high flavor is gradually produced depend 
 upon these influences. It has been proved that fruit 
 cannot ripen, if placed in an atmosphere deprived of 
 oxygen. All fruits are at first insipid and woody — 
 very like to the leaf and woody fibre in their substance. 
 In this state, they absorb carbonic acid largely, like 
 the leaves, and thence derive much of their nourish- 
 ment. As they increase in size, they absorb oxygen, 
 and grow acid. At last, the harsh flavor gives place 
 10* 
 
114 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 to a sweet and agreeable taste, from the formation of 
 sugar and the disappearance of the chief portion of 
 the acid and woody fibre. Now it may be that this 
 last process requires nothing but the internal energies 
 of the fruit, acting upon the materials it has stored up 
 within. If so, removal from the air may not prevent 
 the operation ; possibly it may simply retard it. If 
 this be the case, fruits may perhaps be kept longer by 
 plucking before fully ripe. We know, however, that 
 fruits growing on the shady side of the tree, or in close 
 and shaded situations, are of far inferior sweetness and 
 delicacy of flavor. They retain somewhat of the woody 
 character and the sour taste, showing plainly that the 
 last or ripening process is more or less imperfect. It 
 would seem probable, therefore, that we shall impair 
 the richness and delicacy, as well as healthfulness, of 
 fruit, by plucking it any considerable time before its 
 point of perfection. It is likely, too, that we may 
 retard its decay, without serious injury to its quality, 
 by taking it from the tree just before it becomes mel- 
 low. It is evident that such is the case with regard to 
 those called winter fruits, that never become mellow 
 until after winter has set in. 
 
 BAKED AND STEWED FRUITS. 
 
 Baked Sweet Apples. Wash well the apples ; 
 place them in a pan with a very little water, that the 
 juice may not burn ; if they are to be cooked in a 
 brick oven, then put the apples in a jar ; cover them 
 close, and bake them five or six hours. Sweet apples 
 should be baked long after they are tender. 
 
 Baked Sour Appi.es. Wash well the apples ; place 
 them in a pan ; pour in a tea-cupful of water and one 
 of sugar; bake them slowly till done. Eat them with 
 cream and the juice which cooks from them. 
 
 Baked Pears. Pare them, and put them into a jar. 
 
PRESERVES. 115 
 
 To a dozen pears allow a cup of sugar. Set them in 
 a brick oven, well covered, for five or six hours. They 
 will be of a fine red color. 
 
 Coddled Apples. Take windfalls, or fall apples ; 
 wash them, and put half a peck into a preserving ket- 
 tle ; add a half of a cup of water, sweetened with a 
 large cup of sugar, or half a cup of molasses. Cover 
 them, and boil gently until tender. 
 
 Some persons like pears boiled with corned meat, to 
 be eaten with it. 
 
 Stewed Pears. Pare, halve, or quarter any large 
 winter pears ; throw them into cold water as you pare 
 them, to prevent them from turning black ; put them 
 into a stewpan, and sprinkle as much sugar as will 
 make them pretty sweet ; add lemon peel, a clove or 
 two ; just cover them with water. Cover them, and 
 stew three or four hours. 
 
 To stew Dried Apples. Wash them in two or 
 three waters, and put them to soak in rather more 
 water than will cover them. After soaking an hour or 
 two, put them with the same water into a preserving 
 kettle, with some lemons, cut up. Boil them till tender, 
 and when the apples rise up, press them down with a 
 spoon, but do not stir them. Add sugar when they 
 are tender, and boil for twenty minutes longer. Stir 
 in a piece of butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, or clove, to 
 your taste. 
 
 PRESERVES. 
 
 A kettle should be kept on purpose to preserve in. 
 Iron ware, lined with porcelain, is better than any. 
 Brass will do, but if not very bright, and if any thing, 
 acid is allowed to stand in it any time, it becomes 
 covered with verdigris, and is poisonous. Bell metal 
 is better than brass. 
 
 The art of making nice preserves, and such as will 
 keep, consists in the preparation of the sirup. All 
 
116 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 sugars are better for being clarified, and for brown 
 sugar this is absolutely necessary. It is said that there 
 are mineral substances used in the process of making 
 crushed sugars which injure the flavor of preserves ; 
 therefore, the loaf sugar is the best, and in the end will 
 be found to be the most economical. Raw sugars may 
 be clarified with charcoal or a little lime, or any other 
 alkali, which will prevent them from absorbing moist- 
 ure and neutralize the acid which all raw sugars con- 
 tain, and which prevents them from keeping. The sirup 
 should be strained through flannel when thus clarified. 
 
 The best refined loaf sugar should be white, dry, fine, 
 and of a brilliant, sparkling appearance when broken, 
 and as close in texture as possible. The best sort of 
 brown sugar has a bright, sparkling, and gravelly look. 
 East India sugars are finer and better refined, though 
 they do not contain so much saccharine matter as 
 some others. Russia loaf sugar is by far the nicest, and 
 the Philadelphia crushed sugar is said to be the sweetest. 
 
 Preserves should be boiled very gently. This is 
 necessary, lest the sirup should burn, and to allow the 
 sugar to penetrate thoroughly the fruit. 
 
 It is the boiling of sugar which more or less consti- 
 tutes the chief art of the confectioner ; and those who 
 are not practised in this knowledge, and only preserve 
 in a simple way for family use, are not aware that in 
 two or three minutes a sirup over the fire will pass 
 from one gradation to another, called by confectioners 
 "degrees of boiling," of which there are seven, and 
 these subdivided. I am not versed in these minutiae, 
 and only make the remark to guard against under- 
 boiling, which prevents sweetmeats from keeping ; and 
 quick and long boiling, which brings them to candy. 
 Jellies of fruit, made with equal quantity of sugar, a 
 pound to a pint, require no very long boiling. 
 
 Preserves keep best in glass jars. You can also 
 readily see when fermentation commences, without 
 opening them. 
 
PRESERVES. 117 
 
 When preserves are cold, cover them close, and if 
 not to be used for some time, paste paper over the top. 
 When opened, if a thick, leathery-looking mould cov- 
 ers them they need no attention ; but if speckled with 
 mould, taste them, and if injured, remove these specks, 
 and put the jar into cold water over the fire and boil it, 
 skimming it well. If they do not taste acid, let them 
 stand a while, but do not forget to look at them soon. 
 The specks may be but the mould commencing, which 
 is not of any moment. 
 
 The juice of fruits, by prolonged boiling, often loses 
 its power of gelatinizing, as the matter which forms 
 the jelly has been coagulated or destroyed. The vege- 
 table acid of the juice, under the influence of heat, is 
 converted into an acid which is very soluble in water, 
 and does not possess the property of becoming jelly. 
 Glass is best to put jellies into. When they are cold, 
 papers the size of the opening of the vessel should be 
 clipped in brandy and laid over the top, and a cloth then 
 tied carefuljy on the whole. Be careful that no tinned 
 article is used in preserving red fruits, as the acid will 
 act on the tin, and the color of the sirup will be 
 changed to a bluish tint. 
 
 When a flannel bag is used to strain sirup, or in fact 
 when any strainer is used, it should be wrung out very 
 dry, in hot water ; this prevents a wasting of the arti- 
 cle strained, as the dry flannel must be saturated before 
 any liquid will pass through it. 
 
 To clarify Sugar. Break as much sugar as you 
 require into small lumps, and put a pound to every 
 pint of water. Put it over the fire, with the beaten 
 white of an egg and a little charcoal, if brown sugar is 
 used. Let it boil up, and when ready to boil over, pour 
 in a very little cold water to check it. When it rises 
 a second time, take it off the fire and set it aside for 
 a quarter of an hour, during which time the impurities 
 will settle and leave a scum on the top. Remove this 
 gently, and pour off the sirup so carefully that you do 
 not disturb the sediment. 
 
118 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 To candy any Sort of Fruit. When finished in 
 the sirup, put a layer into a sieve, and dip it suddenly 
 in hot water to take oif all the sirup that hangs about 
 it. Sift over some sugar on all sides till quite white. 
 Bet in on the shallow side of a sieve in a warm oven, 
 and turn it two or three times. It must not be cold 
 until dry. 
 
 To preserve Quinces. The orange quince is the 
 best to preserve. Peal and core the quinces ; weigh 
 them ; put a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Boil 
 the quinces very tender in water. When all are cooked, 
 make a sirup of the water and sugar; then put in as 
 many of the quinces as the sirup will cover, and let 
 them boil about thirty minutes. Take them out to 
 cool on a Hat dish and put in more, until all are boiled. 
 Then boil up the sirup again, and strain it hot over the 
 quinces in a jar. If you wish to increase the quantity, 
 without additional expense, have as many sweet apples 
 cored, quartered, and pared as will weigh one third as 
 much as the quince. When the quince is done, put in 
 the apples and boil them soft. Put quince and apples 
 into the jar alternately. The flavor of the quince will 
 penetrate the apple. 
 
 Quince Marmalade. Pick out the poorest of the 
 quinces ; pare, core, and boil them in as little water as 
 will cover them. When soft, take them out. W'eigh 
 them before boiling, and put a pound of sugar to a 
 pound of fruit. Mash up the fruit, and boil the fruit 
 and susrar together ; then strain through a coarse sieve, 
 and put it up in small jars. 
 
 Quince Jelly. Prepare quinces as above ; cut them 
 in small pieces, and boil them in water with the seeds, 
 cores, and parings, about one hour. Strain through a 
 sieve ; measure a pint of juice to a pound of sugar ; 
 boil these together about twenty minutes, and strain 
 into moulds. The quinces strained out will make good 
 marmalade with the addition of sugar. 
 
 To preserve Peaches. Use a pound of sugar to a 
 
PRESERVES. 119 
 
 pound of fruit. Pure the peaches and strew the sugar 
 over them, and let them stand over night. The next 
 day pour off the juice and clarify it, and boil the 
 peaches in it till tender. Take them out to cool, then 
 put them into jars and pour the hot sirup over them. 
 Let them remain two or three days, and if the sirup 
 has become thin on the top, boil them up again, and 
 put into jars when cold. 
 
 Peaches. Weigh to a pound of peaches a pound 
 of sugar; put the fruit into a kettle, and pour over 
 them boiling water to cover them, and let them boil 
 fifteen or twenty minutes. Take them out to cool, 
 and skin them; be careful to preserve the shape of the 
 peaches. Take a little of the water that they were 
 boiled in, add the sugar, and let it boil until it becomes 
 a sirup. Preserve but few at a time. When done, 
 put them on a dish to cool ; lay them carefully into 
 a jar ; boil the sirup a few minutes after the peaches 
 arc cooked, and strain it hot over them. 
 
 Brandy Peaches. Prepare them as above, except- 
 ing the sugar ; take three quarters of a pound of su- 
 gar to one pound of peaches. When cooked, allow a 
 quart of white brandy to a quart of sirup. Put the 
 peaches hot into cold brandy, and when they are cold, 
 put them into the jar; strain the sirup hot upon the 
 peaches and brandy. 
 
 Orange Marmalade. Skin the oranges very thin, 
 and cut out the pulp, and boil the rinds very tender, 
 and mash them fine. Boil three pounds of loaf sugar 
 in a pint of water ; skim it, and add one pound of 
 rind. Boil it until the sirup is thick, stirring it care- 
 fully ; then put in one pint of the pulp and juice, re- 
 moving the seeds, and one pint of apple liquor; boil 
 all gently until jellied, which will be in one half hour. 
 The celebrated orange or Scotch marmalade is pre- 
 pared with Seville oranges and sugar, with apple 
 liquor, and sometimes a little balsam of Tolu is 
 added for flavoring. 
 
120 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Lemon Marmalade is made in the same way. 
 
 To preserve Citron Melon. Pare and slice the 
 melons ; boil them in weak alum water until trans- 
 parent, and then soak twelve hours in water. Make a 
 sirup, allowing one pound of sugar to one pound of 
 fruit; stew it moderately for two hours; add three 
 lemons, sliced, to a large melon, with some ginger 
 root or some preserved ginger if you please. 
 
 Damson. A pound of sugar to a pound of fruit ; 
 make a sirup; put in the plums, and boil thirty 
 minutes. Let them cool; then put them into jars. 
 Boil the sirup after you take out the plums, and pour 
 it. boiling hot over them. 
 
 Green (.ages and Wgg Plums are preserved in the 
 same way. The egg plum must be pierced with a 
 Large needle, io prevent it from bursting. 
 
 Crab Apple. Leave the stems on. A pound of 
 sugar to a pound of fruit. Pierce the apples ; make a 
 sirup; put in the apples, and boil them forty minutes. 
 Take them out carefully; when cold, put them into 
 jars; having boiled the sirup, pour boiling hot over 
 them. 
 
 Apple Jelly. Take a dozen good apples, peel and 
 iiii them into quarters; add a pint of water, and let 
 them simmer one half hour. Strain the liquOr oil' 
 from the apple; let it settle, and add a pint of juiee 
 to a pound of sugar; boil ten minutes, and strain into 
 moulds or jars. " 
 
 Raspberry Jam. A pound of fruit to a pound of 
 jelly. Put a layer of fruit, then a layer of sugar into 
 a wooden or China vessel till all the sugar and fruit, 
 are used up. Let this stand over night. In the morn- 
 ing put it into a kettle, and boil it gently one hour, stir- 
 ring it often. Put it into jars, and in four or five days 
 look at it; and if the sirup rises at the top, boil it one 
 halt" hour longer. 
 
 Raspberry, or Blackberry Jelly. Stew the fruit; 
 strain it through a sieve, and to a pound of sugar put 
 
PRESERVES. 121 
 
 a pint of juice; boil it thirty minutes, then strain it 
 through a sieve or bag. Let it stand three days, then 
 cover it. 
 
 Currant Jelly. The currants should be ripe and 
 .fresh picked. Stew them in a very little water, just 
 enough to prevent them from burning. Let them stew 
 till tender ; strain them ; put a pint of juice to a pound 
 of sugar, and boil thirty minutes. Take a spoonful 
 out in a plate, and set it on ice ; if it is done, it will 
 stiffen in five minutes. Strain it through a fine sieve 
 into small jars; place them in the sun two days. Put 
 a piece of paper, wet in brandy, on the top, and tie 
 them up. The currants may be put into a pitcher, 
 and the pitcher into hot water, to extract the juice. 
 In this case, put no water with the currants. Bar- 
 berries mixed with the currants make a richer flavored 
 jelly than currants alone. 
 
 Apple Jelly. Half a peck of apples, pared, cored, 
 and stewed in two quarts of new cider; strain the 
 liquor from the apples, adding or not the juice of a 
 lemon. Add one and a half pounds of sugar, and then 
 boil from twenty to thirty minutes. The pulp may 
 be sweetened for apple sauce. 
 
 Cranberry Jelly. One quart of cranberries ; one 
 pint sugar; one half pint water; let these simmer to- 
 gether about one half hour. Strain it through a sieve, 
 and the cranberries make a good sauce. 
 
 Blackberry Sirup. To two quarts of juice of 
 blackberries add one pound of sugar ; one half ounce 
 nutmegs ; one half ounce cinnamon, pulverized ; one 
 fourth ounce allspice. Boil all together for a short 
 lime; when cold, add a pint of good brandy. From 
 a tea-spoonful to a wine glass, according to the age of 
 patient, to be given in the summer complaint. 
 
 Barberries. Allow two pounds of sugar to three 
 quarts of berries. 
 
 Pine Apple. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and 
 sugar ; slice the apple, and strew the sugar over each 
 11 
 
122 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 slice, and let it stand over night. In the morning, take 
 out the apple, and boil the sirup. When it boils, put 
 in the apple, and boil till tender, or from fifteen to 
 twenty minutes. Remove the apple, and boil the 
 sirup ten minutes, skimming it well. Pour it hot over 
 the apples. Strawberry jam is made as raspberry 
 jam. 
 
 Grape Jam. Stew grapes till soft, and strain through 
 a sieve. Weigh the fruit, and add a pound of sugar 
 to a pound of fruit. Boil twenty minutes together, 
 stirring it often. 
 
 To preserve Pine Apple without boiling. Choose 
 large, well-ripened fruit ; pare them with a sharp knife, 
 and remove all the black specks. Slice the fruit about 
 half an inch thick. Allow one pound and a quarter 
 of sugar to one pound of fruit. Put into a wide- 
 mouth jar (glass, if possible) first a layer of sugar, then 
 fruit, till it is filled. Make the layers of sugar twice 
 as thick as the fruit. Cover the jar closely, and place 
 it in a cool place. The sirup is most excellent for 
 flavoring. 
 
 Strawberries and Raspberries. Allow a quarter 
 of a pound more than the weight of the fruit to every 
 two pounds of berries. Put them into jars, a layer of 
 sugar, then of berries alternately. Cover them closely. 
 If you find that they are fermenting, scald them. 
 
 Plums or any berries may be kept in the following 
 manner: Put them in stone jars, or wide-mouthed 
 bottles, and cork loosely ; set them up to their necks 
 in a boiler of cold water, and boil it. When cold, fill 
 the bottles with cold water, cork them, and keep them 
 in a dry place. Perhaps a thick mould will appear on 
 the top ; do not remove it until you wish to make use 
 of the fruit, and then do it very carefully. 
 
 Black Currant Jelly. Strip large, ripe currants 
 from the stalks, and mash them with the back of a 
 spoon or ladle. Put them into a preserving kettle, with 
 a tumbler of water to each quart of currants. Cover 
 
PUDDINGS. 123 
 
 them closely. When the currants have boiled, strain 
 them through a jelly bag. To each pint of juice allow 
 a pound of sugar. Boil the juice and sugar together 
 about ten or fifteen minutes. 
 
 PUDDINGS. 
 
 The outside of a pudding sometimes tastes disa- 
 greeably ; this arises from the negligence of the cook 
 in not washing and drying the pudding cloth well. 
 Most puddings are nicer boiled in an earthen bowl or 
 tin pudding boiler, than in cloth alone. These, how- 
 ever, must be tied in a cloth, not only for convenience 
 in removing them from the pot, but as a safeguard to 
 prevent water getting into the pudding. If a bag 
 alone is used, make it very tight by stitching the seams 
 very closely. Cut it so that it will be narrower at the 
 bottom than at the top, and the corners rounded. When 
 used, let the seams be outside. Sew a tape or twine 
 on to the seam, about four inches from the top of the 
 bag, to tie it with. When used, dip your bag into 
 boiling water, squeeze it dry, and flour it well. Put it 
 into a pan and pour in the pudding, and tie up the bag 
 very tightly, by drawing it together as closely as possi- 
 ble. Allow a little room for the pudding to swell. Put 
 it into boiling water. After some ten or fifteen minutes 
 turn it over, to prevent the flour or fruits from settling 
 on one side. Turn the pudding some half dozen times 
 during the first half hour. Keep it always covered 
 with boiling' water if a cloth bag is used. Have your 
 tea-kettle full of boiling water, from which to replenish 
 the pot. When you take it up, put your pudding bag 
 into the colander, and pour over it a little cold water. 
 This prevents the pudding from sticking to the cloth. 
 Untie the string, and gently open the bag ; lay it open, 
 and put over it the dish it is to be served in ; turn it 
 over and remove the colander with the bag very gently, 
 not to break your pudding. 
 
124 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Batter puddings should be strained through a coarse 
 sieve, when all mixed. In all other cases where eggs 
 are used, strain them first. Always butter the pans or 
 basins, and flour the cloths. If hot milk is used, be 
 careful and not add the eggs until it is quite cool, 
 otherwise your eggs are cooked, and they add neither 
 lightness nor good appearance to the pudding. Very 
 good puddings can be made without eggs, but they 
 must have as little milk as will mix them, and must 
 boil three or four hours. A few spoonfuls of yeast will 
 answer instead of eggs, or soda with cream of tartar. 
 
 Snow is an excellent substitute for eggs, either in 
 puddings or pancakes. Two large spoonfuls will sup- 
 ply the place of one egg, and the article it is used in 
 will be equally good. It should be fresh-fallen siioir. 
 The under layers of snow may be used. The surface 
 which is exposed to the air loses its ammonia by evap- 
 oration very soon after it has fallen. It is the ammonia 
 contained so largely in snow which imparts to it its 
 " rising- powerP 
 
 Beat yolks and whites separately. This will make 
 as much difference in puddings as in cakes. 
 
 For pumpkin, squash, ground rice, and potato pud- 
 dings, boil the milk, and also for bread and plum 
 puddings, except where the bread or cracker is soaked 
 over night. If raisins are used, scald them with the 
 bread, and let them stand two to three hours. Suet 
 should be carefully picked from shreds and chopped 
 very fine. 
 
 In mixing batter puddings, sift the flour, and pour 
 on very little milk at first — gradually pour on the 
 remainder, stirring well. This should be done carefully, 
 as it is difficult to stir out the lumps when too much 
 milk is poured on at once. After the flour is stirred 
 smooth in part of the milk, add salt and eggs, then 
 the remainder of the milk. When berries are to be 
 added, put them in last. A batter pudding with berries 
 requires at least one third more flour than one without. 
 
PUDDINGS. 125 
 
 To cut a boiled pudding, without making it heavy, 
 lay your pudding-knife first on one side and then on 
 the other upon it, just long enough to warm it. 
 
 When essences or oils are added to puddings, always 
 drop them on to a lump of sugar. If you attempt to 
 put any oil in without so doing it will not mix with 
 the other ingredients, but float upon the surface. 
 
 Dried orange and lemon peel are excellent for sea- 
 soning. 
 
 Peach leaves give a better flavor than any spice. 
 Boil them in the milk, and take them out before you 
 add the other ingredients. Experience will teach one 
 the number to be used. 
 
 The most digestible pudding is that made with bread, 
 or biscuit, or boiled flour, grated. Paste puddings or 
 dumplings are extremely indigestible ; batter pudding 
 is not easily digested, and suet puddings are to be con- 
 sidered as the most mischievous to invalids in the 
 whole catalogue. Pancake is objectionable, on account 
 of the frying imparting a greasiness. Boiled Indian 
 meal puddings are not very indigestible, and are far 
 preferable to wheat. It is well to mix your puddings, 
 whether baked or boiled, an hour or two before cook- 
 ing them. 
 
 Sago is the pith of the stems of various species of 
 palm. It is manufactured in the Moluccas, and is 
 imported from Singapore. There are three kinds of it — 
 sago meal, pearl sago, and common sago. Sago meal 
 is a whitish powder, not much used. Pearl sago con- 
 sists of small, pinkish or yellowish grains, about the 
 size of a pin's head. Common sago is found in grains 
 varying in size from that of grains of pearl barley to 
 that of peas ; its color is brownish white, each grain 
 being whitish on one part of its surface, and brown on 
 the other. Sago is nutritive and easy of digestion. 
 
 Tapioca. This is made from the tuberous root of 
 a poisonous plant growing in Brazil. It is called, in 
 one shape, Brazilian arrowroot, but when in the form 
 11* 
 
TJt) THE AMERICAN MATItON. 
 
 of irregular lumps, it is called tapioca. It has acquired 
 this form from being dried on hot plates. In its nutri- 
 tive qualities, tapioca corresponds with sago. It is 
 purer, however, being free from coloring matter. It is 
 less apt to become sour on the stomach, during diges- 
 tion, than any Other farinaceous food. It is very good 
 
 food for children when they are weaning. 
 
 Arrowroot is a pure, white powder, made from 
 
 the roots o\' a tuberous plant, growing in the West 
 India islands. That from Bermuda is most esteemed. 
 It is a nutritious, easily digestible diet for invalids and 
 children. 
 
 Children fed upon arrowroot, or indeed any kind 
 of farinaceous iood which does not contain ingredients 
 fitted for the formation oi' bones and muscle, become 
 fat rather than truly vigorous. Their limbs appear 
 full and rounded, but they o"o not acquire strength, nor 
 arc their organs properly developed. 
 
 Christmas Plum Pudding. This recipe has been 
 handed down from Governor Prinee, oi' the Old Colony, 
 io his descendants. 
 
 Take a common size brick loaf, oi' a day old ; remove 
 nil the crust, and then slice" it very thin, into mere 
 shavings; one pound of raisins; one pound of tin- 
 rants, after they are. stoned and cleaned ; six ounces o( 
 kidney beef suet, chopped as tine as possible. Take a 
 large tin baking pan, butter it, and spread a layer oi' 
 suet o\\ the bottom; then a layer of bread, a ihin 
 layer of currants, raisins, sttet, and citron, in succession, 
 until the bread is expended. Boil one half ounce oi' 
 cinnamon in two quarts oi' milk ; add sugar \o your 
 taste, with a nutmeg and one glass of brandy, two of 
 wine, and three oi' rose water. Before putting the 
 milk io boil, put in twelve eggs, well beaten. Strain 
 
 this custard, and pour it gently over the bread into the 
 pan until all is absorbed. Let it stand at least two 
 hours before baking. Bake it in a hot oven about two 
 hours. It requires no sauce. It will have a delicious 
 
PUDDINGS. 127 
 
 custard interwoven with the bread, raisins, &c. It 
 may be baked the day before used. When cool, turn 
 it out on to the dish in which it is to be sent to table. 
 When you wish to use it, cover it with the pan in 
 which it was baked, and set it on a pot of boiling 
 water to warm. This will take two to three hours. 
 
 Plum Puddings. Three and one half dozen of milk 
 biscuits ; two and one half dozen eggs ; two pounds 
 of beef suet or butter ; two pounds of currants ; two 
 pounds of raisins ; two quarts of milk ; three nutmegs ; 
 one half ounce of cinnamon ; two pounds of sugar. 
 
 Plum Puddings. Twelve groat biscuit ; fifteen eggs ; 
 three pounds of suet; three pounds of raisins; two 
 pounds of currants ; one and one half pounds of sugar ; 
 one half pint of wine ; one gill of rose water ; one half 
 ounce of mace ; one half ounce of cloves; a little salt. 
 
 Plum Pudding. Two quarts of milk ; thirteen groat 
 biscuit ; nine eggs ; two pounds of raisins ; a little 
 salt ; sugar to your taste ; spice. 
 
 Plum Pudding. Ten groat biscuit, break them up ; 
 pour over them three pints of milk, and let them stand 
 over night, and the next morning, rub the crackers 
 through a colander. Beat up eight eggs ; one pound 
 of sugar ; one cup of molasses ; one of brandy ; three 
 quarters of a pound of suet, chopped fine ; or butter ; 
 one table-spoonful of salt ; two nutmegs ; half a spoon- 
 ful of mace; one spoonful of cloves; quarter of a 
 pound of citron ; one pound of currants ; and one and 
 a half pounds of raisins. This pudding may be either 
 baked or boiled in a tin or earthen mould, or cloth. 
 Allow it to boil full four hours. To be served with 
 cold sauce. To any of these plum puddings can be 
 poured over one half a tumbler of brandy, and set fire 
 to, just as it is sent to table. This makes a very 
 pretty appearance, and the flavor of burnt brandy is 
 an improvement to the pudding. 
 
 Plum Pudding. Pound one dozen Medford crack- 
 ers ; pour over them two quarts of boiling milk ; cover 
 
128 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 it, and let it stand until cold. Add half a pound of 
 beef suet, chopped fine ; two and a half tea-cups of 
 fine sugar; one tea-spoon of fine mace ; one of cloves; 
 one of cinnamon ; one nutmeg, grated ; one gill of 
 wine or brandy ; two tea-spoonfuls of rose water ; and 
 little salt; fifteen eggs. The last thing, add a quart 
 bowl of stoned raisins, well floured, to prevent their 
 settling. Three hours will bake this. 
 
 Plum Pudding. Seven biscuits ; three fourths of a 
 quart of milk ; four eggs ; six ounces of suet or butter ; 
 raisins, spice, and sugar. 
 
 Custard Plum Pudding. Pound six groat crackers 
 fine ; soak them over night in three pints of milk. The 
 next morning, add six eggs ; one nutmeg; a little lemon ; 
 three fourths of a pound of raisins. Bake two hours. 
 
 Plum Pudding. Take a brick loaf a day old, or 
 about one pound of bread, and pour over it a quart of 
 milk ; if mixed in the morning, the milk should be 
 scalding ; if over night, the milk should be cold. Pass 
 it through a colander. Add six or eight eggs ; two 
 pounds of raisins ; spice and sugar, to your taste. 
 
 Plum Pudding, for Thanksgiving. Forty-eight 
 groat biscuits ; six quarts of milk ; forty -five eggs ; two 
 pounds of butter ; four tea-spoonfuls of cloves ; four 
 tea-spoonfuls of mace ; six of cinnamon ; eight nut- 
 megs ; five quarts of raisins ; four gills of rose water ; 
 eighteen cups of sugar ; four glasses of brandy ; citron 
 if you choose. Scald the bread and butter with the 
 milk. Those who are fond of cold plum pudding will 
 find this a very nice recipe. 
 
 Boiled Plum Pudding. The raisins first dried a 
 little in the oven. Then put a layer on the bottom of 
 the mould, well buttered. Dip some slices of sponge 
 cake into a rich batter, to soften it; then lay it on the 
 raisins ; then again raisins ; then cake, as before. 
 Proceed thus until the mould is full. Boil one hour. 
 
 Boiled Plum Pudding, without Eggs. Pour over 
 twelve crackers, after they are broken, one quart of 
 
PUDDINGS. , 129 
 
 milk ; let it stand over night ; strain it through a colan- 
 der. The next morning, add a quarter pound of suet ; 
 a pound of raisins ; half a pound of currants ; a little 
 salt ; and a tea-cup of molasses. Boil it three to four 
 hours. To be eaten with a rich sauce. 
 
 Eve's Pudding. Six eggs ; six apples, chopped fine ; 
 six ounces of suet ; six ounces of cracker, pounded ; 
 six ounces of currants ; six ounces of sugar ; a little 
 salt and nutmeg. Boil it three hours. Serve with 
 wine or brandy sauce. 
 
 Eve's Pudding. Pound three fourths of a pound 
 of crackers, and mix it with the same quantity of fine 
 suet, apples, and dried currants ; seven eggs ; and the 
 rind of a lemon, chopped fine. Boil it three hours. 
 
 Marlborough Pudding. Six large, sour apples, 
 stewed ; six eggs ; six ounces of butter ; peel of a lem- 
 on, grated ; the juice of two lemons ; two milk bis- 
 cuits ;" rose water if you please. Use eight eggs, if the 
 biscuit are omitted. Bake in deep plates, with a rich 
 purl* paste, and rather a thick edging. 
 
 Marlborough Pudding. To two quarts of sour 
 apples, after they are stewed and strained, put one half 
 of a pound of butter ; sugar to your taste ; peel of two 
 and juice of three lemons. When cool, add thirty-two 
 eggs ; one quart of cream. Do not put these puddings 
 into the paste until just as they are set into the oven. 
 
 The apples to either of these recipes may be grated 
 or chopped exceeding fine, instead of stewing them. 
 Perhaps the flavor is little better. 
 
 Marlborough Pudding, without Lemon. Six ounces 
 of sour apples, grated ; six eggs; eight ounces of sugar; 
 four ounces of butter ; a pint of good cream, (not too 
 thick ;) one glass of wine ; two nutmegs. 
 
 Marlborough Pudding. Twenty-four apples ; one 
 and three quarter pounds of sugar ; one pound of 
 butter ; four groat biscuits ; four gills of rose water ; 
 peel and juice of four lemons; nutmeg and cinnamon. 
 
 Potato Pudding. To two pounds of white potatoes, 
 
130 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 boiled and mashed smooth, add one half pound of 
 butter : the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of three ; 
 one hall' pound of sugar ; one half pint of wine ; one 
 nutmeg; two gills of cream. Bake in deep dishes 
 with a rich puff paste and rather a thick edging. Some 
 persons put in one half pound of dried currants. 
 
 Potato Pudding. One pound of potatoes ; one gill 
 of wine; one gill of cream; seven eggs; the juice and 
 peel of two lemons; one quarter pound of butter; 
 sugar to your taste. Strew over the top an ounce of 
 citron, shred fine, 
 
 Potato Pudding, eaten hot. One pound oi' sifted 
 potato; one half pound of butter; one half pound of 
 sugar : ten eggs ; one glass of wine ; one of rose water. 
 Put no paste round the dish. Bake this in one hour. 
 Serve it with cold sauce. 
 
 Baked Almond Pudding. Blanch one half pound 
 of almonds; beat them smooth in a mortar: one spoon- 
 ful oi' rose water ; one of cream or milk, thickened with 
 one large spoonful of pounded biscuit ; one half pound 
 o( sugar; seven eggs, and one nutmeg. 
 
 Boiled Almond Pudding. Blanch one pound of 
 almonds ; beat them in a mortar to a smooth paste, 
 with three tea-spoonfuls rose water. Add one gill of 
 wine; one pint of cream; one gill of milk; one egg; 
 one spoonful of flour. Boil one half hour. 
 
 Bread and Butter Pudding. Cut the bread in thin 
 slices : butter them, and put a layer into a well-buttered 
 dish. Strew currants, raisins, and citron, or sweet- 
 meats over it. Then another layer of bread and fruit, 
 so on, until the dish is tilled. Beat six eggs, with one 
 pint of milk, a little salt, nutmeg, and a spoonful of 
 rose water; sweeten to your taste, and pour it over the 
 bread. Let it soak one or two hours before baking. 
 Bake one halt' hour. 
 
 Lemon Pudding. The rind o( two lemons and juice 
 o( one: one pint of cream; one half pound o( sugar; 
 seven eggs : one quarter pound of butter. Baked in 
 deep dishes with a puff paste. 
 
PUDDINGS. 131 
 
 Lemon Pudding. Chop very fine the rind of three 
 large lemons ; beat yolks of twelve eggs and whites of 
 six, with one half pint of cream ; two groat biscuit ; one 
 half pound of sugar; one quarter pound of butter; one 
 gill of rose water ; with the juice of three lemons. Bake, 
 in a puff paste. You can stick in the top some strips 
 of citron. Bake three fourths of an hour. Serve hot. 
 
 Cocoa-nut Pudding. One pound of grated cocoa- 
 nut; one pound of sugar; one quarter pound of butter; 
 twelve eggs, leaving out six whites ; four spoonfuls of 
 rose water; four of cream; the rind of one lemon and 
 juice of two. Break the nut and remove the black 
 skin carefully; wash the pieces in cold water, and wipe 
 them dry. Stir the butter and sugar to a cream, add- 
 ing the rose water and cream gradually. Beat the 
 eggs well and separately ; stir them into the butter and 
 cream, then sprinkle in the nut. Bake in a deep dish 
 with a puff paste. Bake it one half hour. Sift sugar 
 over it when baked. 
 
 Cocoa-nut Pudding. Grate one nut; take the weight 
 in sugar ; add a little of the milk of the nut, enough 
 to make a sirup. Boil them, adding the peel of a 
 lemon grated or chopped very fine; and when cold, 
 stir all together with six eggs. If the nut is large, eight 
 eggs will be needed. 
 
 Cocoa-nut Pudding. Grate the nut and save the 
 milk if it is sweet, not rancid. Boil a quart of milk 
 and pour upon it ; add five eggs, with a cup of sugar ; 
 an ounce of butter; two table-spoonfuls of rose water; 
 a little salt. Bake it in a rich paste. 
 
 Ground Rice Pudding. Two quarts of milk ; one 
 quart of cream ; eighteen eggs ; the juice and peel of 
 four lemons ; nine table-spoonfuls of ground rice ; one 
 quarter pound of butter ; sugar and rose water to your 
 taste. Boil the milk ; mix the rice with a little cold 
 milk, then stir it into the boiling milk ; let it boil to 
 thicken ; stir it that it may not lump. When cool, add 
 eggs and other ingredients. Put a paste round the dish. 
 
132 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Ground Rice Pudding. Mix two and one half large 
 spoonfuls of rice in a little cold milk ; stir it into one 
 quart of boiling milk ; let it boil fifteen minutes, stir- 
 ring it constantly. When cold, add five eggs ; a little 
 lemon ; sugar to your taste, and bake it one hour. Put 
 a paste or not, as you prefer, on the dish. 
 
 Baked Flour Pudding. Boil one quart of milk ; 
 when entirely cold, add it gradually to eight table- 
 spoonfuls of flour ; eight eggs, yolks and whites beaten 
 separately ; a little salt. Bake one hour. 
 
 Sunderland Pudding. Nine eggs ; nine gills of 
 milk ; nine large spoonfuls of flour ; a little salt. Boil 
 or bake it. 
 
 Sunderland Pudding. One pint of milk ; six spoon- 
 fuls of flour ; six eggs ; a little salt. Boil or bake it. 
 
 Sunderland Pudding. Ten table-spoonfuls of flour ; 
 ten eggs ; one quart of cream. Bake or boil it. Either 
 of these last recipes can be baked in one dish an hour, 
 or in small cups one half hour. 
 
 Corn Pudding. Gather the corn when in the milk, 
 neither too young nor too old ; parboil it ; grate it fine. 
 To one dozen and a half ears of corn add a pint of 
 milk, one half pound of sugar, four eggs, and a little 
 salt. Bake slowly three hours. 
 
 Bread Pudding. One brick loaf; five eggs; one and 
 one half gill of fine suet ; two table-spoonfuls of sugar ; 
 one quart of milk; salt and spice. Baked one hour. 
 
 Boiled Ground Rice Pudding. Four large spoon- 
 fuls of ground rice; four eggs; one quart of milk; a 
 gill of cream ; some raisins or currants. Boil it in a 
 tin boiler. 
 
 Boiled Ground Rice. Boil one quart of milk, and 
 stir in as much ground rice as possible ; then mix in 
 nine eggs, well beaten, and add a small piece of butter. 
 Tie in a bag very tightly, and boil two hours. 
 
 Ground Rice Pudding. One gill of ground rice ; 
 three fourths of a pound of sugar ; one quarter of a 
 pound of butter ; nine eggs ; one nutmeg ; one glass 
 
PUDDINGS. 133 
 
 of wine ; one spoonful of rose water. Put the rice, 
 wet with cold milk, into the boiling milk. Boil it a 
 few minutes, and when cold, put in the eggs and other 
 ingredients. 
 
 Ground Rice Pudding. Stir in four table-spoonfuls 
 rice into one quart of boiling milk ; add one half pint 
 of cream ; six eggs ; the peel and juice of one lemon ; 
 sugar to your taste ; one quarter pound of butter. 
 Bake with puff paste around the dish. 
 
 Sago Pudding. Wash one half a pound sago in 
 three or four waters ; put it into one quart of milk. 
 Boil these together till thick, stirring it carefully. Stir 
 in, when hot, one half pound of butter; when cold, 
 add eight eggs, beaten well; four spoonfuls of wine; 
 two of rose water ; sweeten to your taste. Bake this 
 in paste or not, as you like. 
 
 Sago Pudding. Boil one and one half pints of new 
 milk with four spoonfuls of pearl sago ; lemon peel, 
 cinnamon, and nutmeg ; sweeten to your taste ; add, 
 when cool, four eggs. 
 
 Sago Pudding. One gill of sago to one quart of 
 milk. Boil together ; add a little butter, four eggs, 
 two table-spoonfuls of sugar. 
 
 Sago Pudding, with Water. Boil eight table-spoon- 
 fuls of sago in one quart of water, with a stick of 
 cinnamon. When it is thick, add a little butter ; a 
 glass of wine ; sugar to your taste. When cold, add 
 four well-beaten eggs. Bake it one half hour. 
 
 Tapioca Pudding. Take a coffee-cup of tapioca ; 
 put it to soak in a pint of water over night. In the 
 morning, add three pints of milk, a piece of butter, a 
 spoonful of rose water, nine eggs ; sugar and spice to 
 your taste. Raisins may be added if you like. 
 
 Tapioca Pudding. Take a pint bowl of tapioca, 
 and put it to soak in a quart of water. Have six or 
 eight apples, peeled and cored, put around in a dish. 
 Pour one quart of boiling water on the tapioca, and 
 boil it. Let it thicken well ; sweeten it to your taste. 
 12 
 
134 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 When thick, pom* it on the apples and bake it one hour. 
 You can make a very good pudding by boiling tapioca 
 in either milk or water, adding a little salt. To be 
 eaten cold, with sugar and cream. 
 
 Squash Pudding. Four pounds of squash ; two 
 quarts of milk ; eighteen eggs ; two glasses of wine ; 
 one pound of sugar ; two crackers ; butter or cream ; 
 nutmeg or cinnamon. 
 
 Squash Pudding. One quart of sifted squash ; one 
 quart of milk or cream ; sixteen or twelve eggs ; one 
 pound of butter ; one and one fourth pounds of sugar ; 
 two nutmegs ; four spoonfuls of rose water ; two or 
 four groat biscuits. 
 
 Squash Pudding. To nine spoonfuls of strained 
 squash, add one quart of boiled milk ; seven eggs ; a 
 little salt ; three table-spoonfuls of wine ; two of rose 
 water ; the peel and juice of a lemon ; sugar to your 
 taste. Baked either with or without a paste. 
 
 Pumpkin Pies may be made in the same manner as 
 squash. Both may be made less rich. They are very 
 good without eggs, substituting a little more pumpkin 
 or squash, and one cracker, pounded, to a quart of milk. 
 Omit the wine and rose water, using in their place 
 cinnamon and a very little ginger. Both pumpkin and 
 squash should be boiled in as little water as possible. 
 
 Sweet Potato Padding. Boil or bake the potatoes; 
 rub them through a sieve. Three pints of milk ; thir- 
 teen eggs ; three pounds of potato ; a little butter ; 
 nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace ; a tea-spoonful salt. 
 This pudding may be made in less expensive manner, 
 as pumpkin pies. It is necessary to make them a little 
 thicker with potato, as pumpkin swells more. 
 
 Apple Pudding. Make a good puff paste ; roll it 
 out half an inch thick ; pare and core the apples ; fill 
 the paste, and boil it from one to two hours, or, if 
 large, from three to four hours. 
 
 Apple Pudding. Two pounds of flour ; three quar- 
 ters of a pound of butter; one pint of cold water; ten 
 large apples, peeled and grated. 
 
PUDDINGS. 135 
 
 Apple Pudding. Make a crust of eight potatoes, 
 boiled and mashed ; add half a pound of butter, rubbed 
 well into the potatoes, adding as much flour and cold 
 water as will make a stiff paste ; peel, quarter, and 
 core the apples ; roll out the paste an inch thick ; dip 
 the pudding cloth into water; lay it into the colander; 
 flour it well, and lay over the crust ; fill it with the 
 apples; sprinkle in a tea-spoonful of cinnamon; cover 
 the paste over, and tie up the cloth close, and put it 
 into boiling water. Boil this three hours, turning it 
 over occasionally. Be careful and keep the pot full of 
 water. 
 
 Carrot Pudding. One half pound of grated carrot, 
 and one pound of bread crumbs. Beat six eggs well, 
 and add one glass of wine, one half a nutmeg, and 
 mix well together ; a pint of cream ; two ounces of 
 sugar. Bake it in a dish lined with puff paste. 
 
 Boiled Rice Pudding. Take two cups of rice ; 
 wash it well in cold water ; put it in a tin pudding 
 boiler, with two quarts of water and a little salt. Boil 
 this two hours. Or, tie up two cups of rice, with a 
 little salt, in a cloth loosely, so as to give room for the 
 rice to swell. Boil this two hours. Or, put one quart 
 of milk or water, with a little salt to boil ; when it 
 boils, stir in two cups of well-washed rice ; stir it up 
 well ; cover it until it begins to boil, when stir again, 
 and keep off the cover ; boil it twenty minutes ; remove 
 it from the fire, and cover it again to steam. It can 
 be put into a form, and covered to keep hot. Some 
 people stir in two eggs, well beaten, when taken from 
 the fire. It will turn out in form in about fifteen or 
 twenty minutes. When the rice is swelled, one half 
 pound of raisins may be stirred in. 
 
 Baked Rice Pudding. One gill of rice ; two thirds 
 of a cup of molasses ; one tea-spoonful of cinnamon ; 
 one of salt ; a small piece of butter. Stir this to- 
 gether, and add a quart of milk. Bake this in a mod- 
 erate oven. Stir it occasionally for the first hour. Bake 
 three hours. 
 
136 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Baked Rice Pudding. Two gills of rice ; one quart 
 of milk ; six eggs ; a cup and one half of sugar ; a 
 little lemon, nutmeg, and salt. Bake one hour. 
 
 Transparent Pudding. Beat eight eggs ; put them 
 into a saucepan with half a pound of sugar ; one half 
 pound of butter ; one nutmeg. Put it over the fire, and 
 stir until it thickens ; when cool, put it into a rich puff 
 paste, and bake it in a moderate oven. It will cut 
 light and clear. Citron is an improvement. 
 
 Cracker Pudding. Four biscuits, pounded and 
 swollen, in one quart of milk ; eight eggs ; sugar and 
 spice to your taste. 
 
 Dried Apple, or Dried Plum Pudding. Make a 
 rich paste ; roll it out, and spread over it, about an 
 inch thick, apples stewed, or cranberries, or raisins ; 
 roll it up, and put it into a cloth ; tie it at both ends. 
 Boil it from one to two hours. 
 
 Huckleberry Pudding. One brick loaf; one quart 
 of milk ; three eggs ; two quarts of berries. 
 
 Huckleberry Pudding. Make a stiff batter with 
 one pint of milk ; two quarts of berries stirred in. 
 Boil three hours. If made of blueberries, it must be 
 made stiffer than for huckleberry. 
 
 Huckleberry Pudding. Make a paste with one 
 quart of flour and half a pound of butter ; rub one 
 half the butter into the flour ; mix this with cold water ; 
 roll it out, and put on the remainder of the butter in 
 little pieces ; roll it out half an inch thick ; spread the 
 cloth, previously dipped in water and well floured, over 
 the colander ; lay the paste on it ; fill it with berries ; tie 
 the cloth tight ; put it into boiling water, and boil two 
 hours. 
 
 Blackberries, Blueberries, and Cherries may be 
 made in the same manner. 
 
 Bunn Pudding, with Fruit. Stew together one 
 quart each of huckleberries, raspberries, and blackber- 
 ries ; one pint of currants, and one pound of sugar. 
 Take toasted bunns ; put a layer of bunns on the dish, 
 
PUDDINGS. 
 
 137 
 
 then a layer of the preserve, then another layer of 
 bunns, and so on until the dish is full. Let it stand 
 three or four hours. Serve with sugar and cream. 
 
 Baked Huckleberry Pudding. Make a rich batter, 
 with four or six eggs to one quart of milk ; stir in one 
 quart of berries. Bake it one hour. 
 
 Boiled Custard Pudding. One pint of cream ; six 
 eggs ; two spoonfuls of flour ; one half nutmeg ; salt 
 and sugar to your taste ; butter the mould ; and boil 
 one half hour. Turn it out very carefully. You may 
 put currant jelly over it, and serve with sweet sauce. 
 
 A Charlotte. Cut as many thin slices of bread 
 as will cover the bottom and sides of a pudding dish, 
 well buttered ; put apples in thin slices into the dish 
 until full, strewing sugar between them, and a few bits 
 of butter ; have ready as many thin slices of bread as 
 will cover the whole, soaked in warm milk ; cover with 
 them, and lay on, a plate and weight, to keep the bread 
 close on the apples ; bake slowly three hours. For a 
 middling-sized dish, use one half pound of butter. 
 
 Baked Apple Pudding. Stew until tender a dozen 
 apples; then stir in one half pound of sugar; four 
 ounces of butter ; half a nutmeg; the peel and juice 
 of one lemon, and four eggs. Put a puff paste round 
 the dish. Bake it one half hour. Sift sugar over it 
 when cooked. 
 
 Apple Suet Pudding. Two gills of milk ; one gill 
 molasses ; one pint apples, chopped ; one pint suet ; 
 flour sufficient to stiffen it. Boil this four hours. 
 
 Bird's Nest Pudding. Pare and core twelve ap- 
 ples; put them into a buttered dish. Pour over them 
 a rich custard. Bake an hour. 
 
 Bird's Nest Pudding. Pare eight apples ; core 
 them, and lay them in a buttered dish. Beat four eggs 
 with four spoonfuls of Hour, adding, gradually, three 
 gills of milk, and a little salt. Pour this over the ap- 
 ples, and bake an hour. Served with sauce. 
 
 Bunn Pudding. Bunns can be obtained in Boston, 
 12* 
 
138 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 at the shops, already toasted. Put as many in the 
 dish as will conveniently stand. Mix a good custard 
 and pour over the bunns ; let it stand from one to two 
 hours. If the custard is absorbed, fill up with more, 
 and bake an hour and a half. 
 
 Macaroni, or Vermicelli Pudding. Take two 
 ounces of macaroni ; simmer it until tender, in a pint 
 of milk. When cooked, add a pint of cold milk ; five 
 eggs ; a tea-cup of sugar ; flavor with peach water. 
 Bake it one hour. 
 
 Pine Apple Pudding. Peel the pine apple, and 
 take care to get out all the black specks, and grate it. 
 Take its weight in sugar, and half its weight in butter ; 
 rub them together to a cream, and stir them into the 
 pine apple. Add six eggs and a large cup of cream. 
 Bake with or without paste. 
 
 Custard Pudding. Beat eight or four eggs ; add a 
 half pound of sugar ; stir these into one quart of milk ; 
 season it with peach, lemon, or vanilla. Pour it into 
 a well-buttered dish. Put a pan into the oven half 
 full of water, and set the pudding dish into it. Bake 
 it three fourths of an hour. 
 
 You can put paste round deep dishes and bake this 
 custard in it. Bake three quarters of an hour. It is 
 a good plan to cut a rim of paper and put on to the 
 paste, to prevent it from scorching after it has browned 
 sufficiently, and before the pudding is baked. 
 
 Boiled Arrowroot Pudding. Four table-spoon- 
 fuls of arrowroot ; two of sugar ; four eggs ; one 
 quart of milk. Wet the arrowroot with a little milk, 
 and put the remainder to boil. Beat the eggs and 
 sugar, and beat them well into the arrowroot. Add 
 a little salt. When the milk boils, stir them in ; it 
 will thicken in a moment. Wet a mould with 
 water, and pour in the pudding. Eat it with sugar 
 and cream. 
 
 Baked Arrowroot Pudding. Stir into a quart 
 of boiling milk two heaping table-spoonfuls of arrow- 
 
PUDDINGS. 139 
 
 root, wet with milk. When cool, add five eggs, a 
 little salt, lemon, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Baked in 
 deep dishes, lined with a puff paste. 
 
 Baked Indian Pudding. Boil one quart of milk, 
 and pour it over two and one half gills of Indian meal ; 
 one gill molasses ; seven eggs ; little butter and salt. 
 Bake from one and a half to two hours, according to 
 the depth of dish. 
 
 Baked Indian Pudding, with Apples. Pare twelve 
 sweet apples, and core them. Have ready six gills of 
 Indian meal, mixed with one gill of flour, a tea-spoon 
 salt, a tea-cup of molasses, and a little chopped suet. 
 Boil the milk, and pour it on to the meal very gradu- 
 ally ; then stir in the other ingredients. Pour the 
 whole over the apples. Bake three hours. 
 
 Boiled Indian Pudding. One pint of Indian meal, 
 wet with molasses; one tea-spoonful of salt. Stir in 
 two quarts of boiling milk, gradually ; a small piece of 
 butter; dried orange or lemon peel. Boil two hours. 
 
 Boiled Indian Pudding. One quart of milk ; three 
 and one half gills meal; large tea-spoon salt; one gill 
 of molasses. Boil three hours. 
 
 Boiled Rye Pudding. To a pint of cold milk put 
 three heaping spoonfuls of sifted rye meal, a little salt, 
 and three eggs. Boil it one hour in a buttered mould 
 This pudding will swell but little. 
 
 Baked Rye Pudding. One pint of milk; one pint 
 of meal ; six eggs ; and a little salt ; a small cup of 
 sugar. 
 
 Carolina Snow Balls. Take cores out of as 
 many apples as you wish snow balls, and fill the holes 
 with orange or lemon peel, cut fine. Allow two 
 spoonfuls of rice to cover each apple, and tie each one 
 in a cloth, and boil an hour. 
 
 Squash Pudding, without Eggs. One quart of 
 squash ; one quart of milk, with the weight of one cent 
 of carrageen boiled in it. Strain the hot milk on to 
 the hot squash. Butter, sugar, and spice. 
 
140 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Yorkshire Pudding. To be baked under roast 
 beef. Mix six spoonfuls of flour with one quart of 
 milk, and three eggs, well beaten ; a little salt. Butter 
 a tin cake-pan ; pour in the batter, and put the pan 
 under the meat to catch the drippings. When brown 
 on one side, turn the other side up, and brown it. To 
 be eaten with the meat. It is a pleasant accompani- 
 ment. 
 
 Pancakes, or Fritters. One pint of milk ; four 
 eggs ; a little salt ; flour to make a light batter ; a nut- 
 meg, grated, or a few drops of essence of lemon. 
 Have ready some hot lard ; drop in a large spoonful 
 of batter, and fry of a light brown. Served with wine 
 and sugar, or hot cider, sweetened to your taste. 
 
 Apple Fritters. Make a batter, the same as the 
 preceding ; slice apples about a quarter of an inch 
 thick ; dip the apples in wine or brandy ; dip them 
 in the batter ; take out, with a spoon, a slice of apple 
 with some batter ; drop it into hot lard, and fry 
 brown. In making these batters, snov) may be used 
 instead of eggs. 
 
 Spanish Fritters. Cut a roll into slices as thick 
 as your finger, of any shape you choose. Soak 
 them in a quart of milk or cream, mixed with nut- 
 meg, sugar, and three eggs ; one wine glass of wine. 
 When well soaked, fry of a nice brown, and serve 
 with sauce. 
 
 Fritters may be made with peaches in the same 
 way as apples. The fruit may be soaked in wine or 
 brandy, previously, if liked, but they do not fry so well. 
 Serve them on a napkin, and sift sugar over them. 
 
 Fritters, with Marmalade. A quarter of a pound 
 of flour, mixed well with four eggs, beaten ; then add 
 half a pint of milk or cream ; a little grated nutmeg. 
 Put a very little lard into the spider, and when hot, put 
 in two table-spoonfuls of this mixture. Let it spread 
 over the pan ; fry it brown on both sides. When you 
 have cooked each one, take it up and spread over any 
 
PUDDINGS. 
 
 141 
 
 marmalade you choose ; roll them up, and sift sugar 
 over them. Serve on a napkin, hot. 
 
 Apple and Cracker Pudding. Six apples, stewed 
 and rubbed through a colander ; six eggs, beaten well, 
 added when the apple is cold ; the juice of one lemon ; 
 six ounces of sugar ; rub the rind well with sugar ; 
 stir into the apple, when hot, two ounces of butter ; six 
 soft crackers pounded and sifted. Put a layer of 
 cracker on the bottom of pudding dish, then put in a 
 little butter, then one half of the apple, and again 
 crackers ; put a few pieces of butter over the top. 
 Stick in, if you choose, some almonds. Bake one half 
 hour. This quantity will make two puddings. Tapi- 
 oca, swelled and boiled, used instead of crackers, makes 
 a nice dish. 
 
 Savory Rice. Wash some rice ; stew it gently in 
 some mutton or veal broth, with an onion, pepper, 
 mace, and salt. When swelled and tender, dry it on 
 the shallow side of a sieve before the fire. Serve it 
 either dry, or put it into the middle of a dish and pour 
 the gravy around it. W T hen rice is used as a veg«table, 
 this is a nice way of cooking it. If you have no broth, 
 use water, with a little piece of butter, and the spices 
 as above. 
 
 Bread Pudding. Take some stale bread, cut it in 
 thin slices into some cold milk, and let it stand two or 
 three hours, mash it with a spoon, and have it the con- 
 sistency of hasty pudding. W T hen soft enough, add 
 eight eggs, well beaten, to a quart of milk, and a little 
 salt. Boil it in a bag or boiler. 
 
 Curate's Pudding. To one pound of mashed pota- 
 toes, while hot, add four ounces of suet and two ounces 
 of flour ; a little salt, and as much milk as will give it the 
 consistency of common suet puddings. Put it into a 
 dish, or roll it into dumplings, and bake it a fine brown. 
 
 Birdsnest Sago Pudding. Soak one half pint of 
 sago in three pints of water, until uniformly swelled. 
 Pare and core ten or twelve apples. Fill the holes with 
 
142 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 sugar. Place these apples in a pudding dish. Pour 
 over the sago so that it will just cover the apples, and 
 bake until the apples are soft. 
 
 Rusk Pudding. Soak seven or eight rusks in a cus- 
 tard, made of five or six eggs to a pint of milk, until 
 they are soft. Brown them in butter and serve with a 
 rich sauce. 
 
 Sweet Apple Pudding. One pint of scalding milk ; 
 one half pint of Indian meal ; tea-spoon of salt ; six 
 sweet apples, cut in small pieces, and stirred in. To 
 be baked not less than three hours. 
 
 Tapioca Pudding. One quart of blood warm milk 
 poured on a tea-cup and a half of tapioca, directly- 
 after breakfast. One hour and a half before dinner put 
 into it four eggs, and let it steam one hour. To be 
 eaten with sugar and cream. 
 
 Tapioca Pudding. One gill of tapioca ; three eggs ; 
 one tea-spoonful salt ; three gills of milk ; sugar and 
 spice. Scald the tapioca after soaking it with water, 
 and well beat it, till it is a jelly. 
 
 Lemon Pudding. One quart of new milk; four ounces 
 of butter rubbed with two table-spoonfuls flour, and 
 put into the milk when boiling ; sugar to your taste. 
 When cool, add eight eggs, well beaten ; the grated 
 rind and juice of two lemons, when about to bake it. 
 Bake three fourths of an hour. Paste if you please. 
 
 SWEET DISHES. 
 
 The digestibility of the different varieties and forms 
 of gelatinous matter is not uniform. Calves' foot jelly, 
 when freshly prepared, is readily digested by invalids. 
 Isinglass and hartshorn jellies are probably easy to 
 digest. But other forms of this aliment, as in gelatinous 
 liquids, such as soups, hashes, and stews, are obnoxious 
 to dyspeptics on account of the effect of heat on the 
 fat and gelatinous matter of which they are composed. 
 
SWEET DISHES. 143 
 
 Isinglass jelly has been found a better article of 
 nourishment in cases of cholera infantum in children, 
 when teething, than farinaceous substances. 
 
 The finest kinds of isinglass are imported from 
 Russia and Siberia. The American is less carefully 
 prepared, and has a somewhat fishy flavor. It, how- 
 ever, is very good as a fining or clearing agent in coffee 
 and wine. 
 
 The " patent refined gelatine " is a pure kind of glue, 
 prepared for domestic purposes. It is prepared, by pref- 
 erence, " from the cuttings of the hides of beasts, or of 
 the skins of calves, freed from fat, hair, and flesh." It 
 is sold in the form of cuttings, and one can easily see 
 why it is a cheaper preparation than isinglass. These 
 patent substitutes for isinglass and calves' feet are, of 
 course, inferior in nutritive power and digestibility. 
 
 Hartshorn shavings, or the raspings of the antlers of 
 the deer, are employed in the preparation of jellies. 
 
 Pigs' feet, cows' heels, and sheep's feet, make a very 
 good jelly or soup. 
 
 Two shins, well soaked in water, will make the same 
 quantity of jelly as four calves' feet, and in winter season, 
 when it is difficult to obtain feet, they are very useful. 
 
 Coloring to stain Jellies, Ices, or Cakes. For a 
 beautiful red, boil fifteen grains of cochineal, powdered 
 with a drachm and a half of cream of tartar, in half a 
 pint of water, for one hour. Add, in boiling, a bit of 
 alum, the size of a pea ; or, beet root, sliced, with some 
 liquor poured over it. For yellow, yolks of eggs, or a 
 bit of saffron, steeped in the liquor, and squeezed. For 
 green, pound spinach, or beet leaves ; express the juice, 
 and boil it in a tea-cup ; set it in a saucepan of water to 
 take off the rawness. 
 
 Charlotte Russe. A custard made of one pint of 
 milk and four eggs, leaving out the whites of two ; 
 one half a vanilla bean, and a little rose water to flavor 
 it. Make it very sweet. Dissolve one ounce of isin- 
 glass, and stir it into the custard. Beat to a froth one 
 
144 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 pint of rich cream, and when the custard is mixed with 
 the isinglass, pour it over the frothed cream, stirring it 
 well. Fix lady-finger cakes, or slices of sponge cake, 
 in the mould, and when the mixture is cool, pour it in 
 and set it on ice till served. If, when all mixed, the 
 custard does not seem frothy, churn well with a whip- 
 stick till it does, before putting it into the mould. The 
 isinglass should be kept warm while the custard thick- 
 ens, and then added. 
 
 You may make a richer custard with ten eggs, leav- 
 ing out six whites. From the whites you may make 
 snow. 
 
 Snow. Whites of six eggs ; six apples, stewed, and 
 passed through a sieve ; sugar to your taste ; a little 
 lemon juice, and beat these together till perfectly stiff. 
 
 Charlotte Russe. Dissolve one ounce of isinglass, 
 or gelatine, in a cup of new milk ; beat the yolks of 
 twelve eggs and one pound of white sugar together. 
 Whip to a froth half a pint of good cream, and beat to 
 a froth the whites of twelve eggs. Strain the isinglass 
 into the yolks ; add the cream, then the whites, and 
 beat it all together. Flavor it with vanilla. Line the 
 moulds with sponge cake, and turn in the cream, and 
 set it on the ice for five or six hours. 
 
 Charlotte Russe. One ounce of isinglass ; dis- 
 solve it in a cup of new milk, flavored with two tea- 
 spoonfuls of essence of vanilla. Strain this, when 
 dissolved, into a pint of rich cream, made very sweet 
 and beaten to a froth. Put this on ice, while you beat 
 to a stiff froth the whites of seven eggs, and add them 
 to the cream. Let this stand in a bowl or pitcher, on 
 ice, until it is set through, not to be too stiff. Line the 
 moulds and pour it in. Set it on ice till served. One 
 dozen and a half of finger cakes will be sufficient. 
 You can dip the cakes into the white of egg to stick 
 them together, letting them stand one half hour before 
 filling. 
 
 Charlotte Russe. Take one quart of cream, and 
 
SWEET DISHES. 145 
 
 whisk it until it is quite stiff with froth. Put one 
 ounce of isinglass in a saucepan, with a tea-cupful of 
 Roiling water, and let it remain where it will scald with- 
 out boiling until the isinglass is dissolved. Take a 
 half pint of milk, two stocks of vanilla, about an inch 
 and a half long, or flavor with essence of rose. Boil 
 tliis till milk is reduced to a gill. Take yolks of three 
 eggs well beaten, and stir them into the milk while on 
 the fire. Then add the isinglass, with three quarters of 
 a pound of sugar. Stir it until it is cooled, to about 
 the consistency of soft custard. Then strain it through 
 a sieve, or coarse cloth. When nearly cooled, add the 
 cream, and stir them well together. It is better to add 
 the whites of three or four eggs, to be beaten up with the 
 cream. Line your moulds with long strips of sponge 
 cake, or ladies' fingers, and pour in the material. Be- 
 fore serving, pour a glass of mareschino cordial on to 
 the sponge cake part ; a little added to the custard is 
 sometimes approved. The cakes can be dipped in the 
 white of egg to keep them in place, and to stick them 
 together. 
 
 Decoction of Isinglass. One ounce of isinglass 
 dissolved in one gill of rose water, or simple water if 
 other flavoring be used. 
 
 Decoction of Hartshorn is prepared by boiling one 
 ounce of the shavings in two quarts of water, down to 
 one quart. When sweetened, it is a pleasant drink. 
 
 Calves' Foot Jelly. Take four feet, and boil them 
 in one gallon of water, to two quarts. Strain it to cool, 
 and when cold take off the fat ; put the jelly on the 
 fire with one pint and a half gill of wine, and one gill 
 of brandy ; one pound of loaf sugar ; the juice of five 
 lemons, and the peel of two ; the whites of seven eggs, 
 with the shells. Boil all together for one half hour, 
 then pass it through a thick flannel bag until clear. 
 
 Calves' Foot Jelly. Boil four feet in a gallon of 
 water, until reduced to one quart. Strain it and let it 
 stand until cold. Then skim off the fat, adding to the 
 13 
 
146 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 jelly one pint of wine, one half pound of sugar, the 
 whites of six eggs, and the juice of two and peel of 
 one lemon. Boil all together with the shells of the 
 eggs. Strain it through a flannel bag into moulds. 
 
 Gelatine and Isinglass Jelly are made as above, 
 using one ounce to one quart of water ; a pint of 
 wine ; three lemons ; one pound of sugar ; the whites 
 and shells of five eggs. Boil it five minutes, and strain 
 it as above. 
 
 Hartshorn Jelly. One pound of shavings of harts- 
 horn boiled in three quarts of water, to one quart ; add 
 wine as above, and proceed as above directed. 
 
 Mareschino Jelly is made by mixing six liqueur 
 glasses of mareschino with a quart of clarified calves' 
 foot or isinglass jelly. Peaches, or other fruits, cut in 
 quarters, may be added. 
 
 Rum Punch and Noyeau Jelly are made as above. 
 
 French Jellies may be made with all kinds of fresh 
 fruits, filling the mould by degress, the jelly first; let it 
 set, then put in fruit and then jelly, and so on alter- 
 nately till full, the mould being buried in ice. In win- 
 ter, fruits preserved in sirup may be used, waiting each 
 time you pour on the jelly for it to cool, that the fruit 
 may keep in place. 
 
 Whipped Jellies may be made of any of the above, 
 by placing some warm jelly in a large bowl on ice, and 
 •when nearly cold, whisking it to a froth. Pour quickly 
 into moulds, and let it remain till served. 
 
 Orange Jelly. Half of a pound of hartshorn shav- 
 ings, or four ounces of isinglass or gelatine, and dissolve 
 it, boiling the shavings to a strong jelly ; the juice 
 of nine oranges, with the juice of three, and peel of 
 two lemons. Sweeten to your taste. Add the whites 
 of eight eggs, and boil them together for ten minutes. 
 Strain it as other jellies, into moulds. 
 
 Lemon Jelly is made as above, using the juice of 
 six lemons with the rind of one, adding one gill of 
 white wine. 
 
SWEET DISHES. 147 
 
 Bohemian Jelly Creams may be made of any flavor, 
 as jellies, and either ripe or preserved fruits, or with 
 marmalade or jam ; to which add the juice of two 
 lemons, a pint of water, one ounce and one half of 
 gelatine, or one pint of calves' foot plain jelly. Stir 
 together in a bowl on ice ; when nearly cold, stir in very 
 quickly two thirds of a pint of whipped cream ; fill 
 the mould ; put on ice, and serve. 
 
 Cherries, strawberries, raspberries, currants, and goose- 
 berries should be passed through a sieve. Peaches, 
 pears, pine-apples, quinces may be cut in quarters or 
 slices. Creams may be flavored to the taste. Beat 
 the yolks of five eggs, with six ounces of sugar, until 
 quite thick and white ; dissolve one ounce of isinglass 
 and mix the yolks with a pint of milk, adding the 
 decoction ; boil ten minutes, and flavor to your taste. 
 When cool, set on ice, adding two or three glasses of 
 liqueur, wine or brandy ; keep stirring it constantly, and 
 when setting, add three fourths of a pint of well- 
 whipped cream. Mix together, and put into moulds, 
 on ice, till served. 
 
 Charlotte Strawberry. Line a plain round mould 
 with ripe strawberries, by burying the mould in ice to 
 the rim, and dipping the berries in jelly, first covering 
 the bottom with them cut in halves, afterwards putting 
 up the sides, the jelly, cool, causes them to adhere ; 
 when finished, put in a cream, as for Charlotte Russe. 
 The cream must be nearly set when poured in, or it 
 will run in between the fruit. 
 
 Blanc Mange. To one quart of milk add one 
 ounce of dissolved isinglass, a quarter of a pound of 
 sugar ; flavor to your taste. Just bring the milk or 
 cream to a boil, and strain it through flannel. Wine 
 may be added. 
 
 Jaune Mange. Three fourths of an ounce of isin- 
 glass; one half pint of water; add the juice and rind 
 of a lemon ; pint of white wine, and sugar to your 
 tiste. When cool, add the beaten yolks of four eggs ; 
 
148 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 put it over the tire again until nearly boiling, then 
 strain and put into moulds. 
 
 Jaune Maxge. One ounce of isinglass to six gills 
 of water; juiee of two lemons; two gills of wine; 
 one of brandy ; one half pound sugar ; whites of six; 
 or eight eggs ; yolks of four. Proceed as above. 
 
 Calves' Foot Blanc Maxge. Prepare the feet as 
 for jelly ; to one quart of stock add one pint of cream 
 or milk ; sweeten and flavor to the taste ; bring it to a 
 boil, then strain ; put it into mould, and set it on ice 
 lor six or eight hours. 
 
 Carrageen, or Moss Blanc Mange. Take as much 
 moss as will till a coffee-cup ; put it into a bowl, and 
 pour boiling water over if, and let ir stand about ten 
 minutes: wash it out, and soak it over night in little 
 cold water; put water and moss into three quarts o( 
 milk the next morning, and boil ten minutes ; sugar 
 and flavor to the taste. Strain it through a very fine 
 sieve or bag, into moulds. 
 
 Dutch Flummery. Dissolve two ounces of isinglass 
 in one pint of water; add one pint of wine, juice o\' 
 three lemons, and rind of one; sweeten to your taste : 
 beat the yolks of seven eggs ; add them, and just boil it ; 
 and strain into moulds. 
 
 Velvet Cream. Half an ounce of isinglass dis- 
 solved in a cup and a half of white wine, juice and 
 rind of one lemon, and three quarters of a pound of 
 sugar : simmer together ; strain it, and set it to cool ; 
 add a pint and a half of rich cream, stirred well until 
 quite cool ; put into moulds, and set on ice till served. 
 
 A Birdsnest. Put some orange chips into the 
 bottom of your dish ; put on some warm jelly, and 
 let it cool; then add some eggs made of blanc mange, 
 and pour over some jelly, so cold as not to dissolve the 
 hlanc mange ; do not cover the eggs entirely. Orna- 
 ment it with some shreds of lemon peel. 
 
 Apple Float. Eight or ten apples, peeled, cored, 
 strained, and stewed. After the apple is cool, add the 
 
SWEET DISHES. 149 
 
 beaten whites of three eggs, the juice and peel of one 
 Irinon ; sweeten to your taste, and beat these ingredi- 
 ents to a froth ; beat the yolks of three eggs, with a 
 pint of cream or milk, and sweeten; scald this, and 
 when nearly cold, pour it into a glass dish, and put 
 the apple on the top. 
 
 An Excellent Trifle. Lay macaroons, plum 
 cake, and pound cake, cut in small pieces and soaked 
 in wine, in a dish ; then a thick layer of soft custard ; 
 a thin layer of jelly, jam, or preserved fruit of any kind ; 
 1 i 11 the dish with these alternate layers; then put on 
 the top a whip. Strew colored sugar plums over, if 
 you choose. 
 
 Whip Syllabub. One quart of cream; three gills 
 of white wine ; juice of one lemon ; whites of six or 
 eight eggs. Sweeten it well, and whisk it thoroughly. 
 Served in jelly glasses. 
 
 Tipsy Cake. Cut a -sponge cake in slices ; blanch 
 some almonds, and split them fine, and stick the cake 
 full of them ; fill a deep glass dish with the slices, and 
 pour over as much wine as the cake will absorb, and 
 let it stand an hour; then pour over as much soft cus- 
 tard as the dish will hold. 
 
 Whip or Creams in Glasses. Put some jam or 
 jelly into the bottom of jelly glasses, and pour in a 
 whip or cream. This may be colored with a few 
 spoonfuls of juice of any kind of fruit, of the color 
 you wish. Beat up the whites of eggs to a strong 
 Troth, coloring them or not, and sift fine sugar over 
 them, and put it to the oven to brown a little. 
 
 Arrowroot Blanc Mange. To three spoonfuls of 
 Bermuda arrowroot add a quart of milk, a large spoon- 
 lul of crushed sugar, rose water, vanilla, and a little 
 salt ; wet the arrowroot with cold milk, and boil the 
 rest ; when it boils up, stir in the arrowroot, and boil 
 it up a minute or two. Put it into a mould. 
 
 Cottage Blanc Mange. Beat the yolks of three 
 eggs with two spoonfuls of crushed sugar, and beat 
 13* 
 
150 
 
 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 the whites to a stiff froth ; put them into a dish which 
 is to be sent to table, adding a quart of milk and fla- 
 voring it, and stir these well together, and when mixed, 
 stir in a spoonful and a half of rennet wine. In cold 
 weather, warm the milk. This will thicken in a few 
 minutes. Without eggs, this may be made very good. 
 
 Custards. Pint of milk ; pint of cream ; sugar to 
 your taste ; eight eggs ; boil a little cinnamon in the 
 milk, and add to the rest ; do not boil the whole of the 
 milk, as it makes the custard tough ; flavor to your 
 taste. 
 
 Macaroon Custards. Boil one quart of milk, and 
 pour it, when cool, to the yolks of fourteen eggs, well 
 beaten ; flavor it to your taste ; put it over the fire, 
 and boil it thick, and sweeten it ; pour it into the dish 
 you send it to table in, and place over the top a layer 
 of macaroons ; beat the whites to a stiff froth, and 
 put it over the cakes ; sift some sugar over, and put it 
 into the oven to brown, for fifteen minutes. 
 
 Almond Custards. One quart of cream ; one half 
 pound of almonds, blanched and chopped very fine ; 
 two spoonfuls of rose water ; sweeten to your taste ; 
 eight eggs ; or beat the nuts to a paste with the rose 
 water. 
 
 Custards. One quart of milk ; flavor to the taste ; 
 beat eleven eggs, leaving out five whites ; rub a lump 
 of sugar over the rind of a lemon, and boil twenty 
 minutes. 
 
 Custards. Six gills of milk ; two of cream ; three 
 spoonfuls of wine ; eight eggs, leaving out the whites 
 of two. 
 
 Soft Custards. Ten eggs, leaving out the whites 
 of four ; one quart of cream ; stir well together, and 
 sweeten and flavor to your taste. Set the pitcher info 
 a pot of boiling water to cook the custard, and stir it 
 constantly until as thick as cream. When taken from 
 the fire, stir the custard until nearly cold. 
 
 Three or four eggs to one quart of milk make very 
 good custards. 
 
SWEET DISHES. 151 
 
 Soft Custard. Boil a pint of milk or cream with 
 four eggs, well beaten, with one quarter pound of sugar; 
 flavor it to your taste ; strain it through a gauze sieve 
 into a pitcher, and put the pitcher into boiling water, 
 and let it boil until it thickens ; stir it constantly after 
 it becomes warm ; if it curdles, it is spoiled. When 
 cool, put it into glass custard-cups. 
 
 French Custard. Sweeten with loaf sugar a quart 
 of milk ; flavor it with peach or vanilla ; put it into a 
 flat saucepan to boil, and beat to a froth the whites of 
 eight eggs ; when the milk boils, lay on the whites in 
 spoonfuls, until it hardens ; skim it off" carefully, and 
 put it on a dish ; when all the whites are cooked, beat 
 up the yolks, and pour gradually the milk upon them, 
 stirring it well, till it thickens ; turn this over the 
 whites, and ornament it with bits of colored marma- 
 lade or jelly. 
 
 Apple Custard. Make a nice sirup ; cut up your 
 apples very fine, and boil them in the sirup, with a 
 peel of a lemon, till perfectly transparent ; when done, 
 put it into a large tumbler, or a mould, and the next 
 day it will be solid ; turn it into a glass dish, and pour 
 over it a rich, soft custard ; if you choose, put a whip 
 and some bits of colored jelly on the top. 
 
 Arrowroot Custard. Four eggs ; two spoonfuls 
 of arrowroot ; four spoonfuls sugar ; one of rose water ; 
 with a little cold milk. Mix these together ; have 
 ready boiling one quart of milk, and pour these in. 
 This is a convenient custard in winter season, when 
 eggs are scarce and high. 
 
 Apple Cream. Peel and core five large apples ; stew 
 them till soft enough to pass through a sieve ; sweeten, 
 and beat them with the whisked whites of five eggs. 
 Serve, with cream poured over it ; or, take the yolks of 
 five eggs, mix with one quart of milk, and boil it, and 
 flavor it with lemon, and pour round the apple. 
 
 Italian Cream. One ounce of isinglass, or gelatine, 
 dissolved, added to one pint of cream ; a gill of brandy 
 
152 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 or two gills of wine ; juice of a lemon ; sugar to your 
 taste. Flavor it with raspberry, strawberry, or pine- 
 apple sirup. 
 
 Lemon Cream. Juice of four lemons ; one half pint 
 of rose water ; one pound of white sugar ; whites of 
 seven eggs ; yolk of one. Squeeze the lemons, and 
 add the sugar, with the rose water. Beat the eggs to 
 a strong froth, and mix all together. Put it over the 
 fire, stirring it one way till it becomes thicker than 
 cream, or so that you can dip it up with a spoon. 
 When cold, to be of the consistency of custard. Served 
 in glass custards. 
 
 Lemon Cream. Five large lemons; pare them as 
 thin as possible ; steep them over night in a cupful of 
 water with the juice. The next day, strain it and add 
 six well-beaten eggs ; ten ounces of sugar. Put it over 
 a slow fire, and stir it constantly one way. Skim it, 
 and when rather warm, put it into glasses. 
 
 Floating Island. The whites of five eggs, beaten 
 with a little currant jelly, till they are quite thick and 
 of a good color. Drop them by spoonfuls into a dish. 
 Sweeten a pint of cream ; add rose water, and pour the 
 cream in gently around these islands. 
 
 Chocolate Puffs. One pound of sugar, two ounces 
 of chocolate, pounded together and finely sifted ; then 
 mix, with the whites of two eggs, well beaten to a froth. 
 Drop this on buttered paper, and bake slowly. 
 
 Kisses. Whites of six eggs ; one half pound sugar ; 
 beat this to a froth and flavor it. Drop on paper, and 
 bake slowly. 
 
 Creme Plorabier. Grate the rind of a lemon into 
 one pint of cream, with some mace boiled in the cream 
 for fifteen minutes. Beat the yolks of six or eight 
 eggs ; mix with it when cool. Strain and mix one 
 half ounce of decoction of isinglass. Mould it. 
 
 Lemon Honey. Take three large, ripe lemons, (or 
 four or five small;) roll them under your hand on a 
 table to increase the juice. Rub off, on a piece of loaf 
 
SWEET DISHES. 153 
 
 sugar, the yellow rind or zest, scraping it up with a 
 tea-spoon as you proceed, and put it aside on a saucer. 
 Then squeeze the juice of the lemons through a strainer 
 upon a pound of loaf sugar, and add the zest or grated 
 rind. Cut up among the sugar a large quarter of a 
 pound of fresh butter. Beat six eggs, as light as pos- 
 sible ; then mix in, gradually, the sugar ajid lemon, stir- 
 ring all very hard. Put these into a porcelain kettle, 
 and let it boil till it becomes of the consistency of 
 thick honey, stirring all the while. If the weather is 
 warm, add a table-spoonful of arrowroot, or sifted flour. 
 When done, put it into jars; cover them closely. It 
 will keep good a month or more in a dry, cool place. 
 If made in winter, it will continue good for two months. 
 
 Orange Honey is made as above, except using six 
 oranges of the largest size, and none of the peel. 
 
 Coffee Cream. Boil a calf's foot in one quart of 
 water, till it is boiled away to one pint ; clear it from 
 sediment and fat. Or, take half an ounce of isinglass. 
 Make a tea-cup of very strong- coffee ; clear it perfectly, 
 and pour it to the jelly, adding a pint of good cream ; 
 sweeten to your taste. Boil it up once, and pour into 
 the dish. It should jelly, but not be stiff. 
 
 Meringues. One pound of sugar ; whisk the whites 
 of twelve eggs very stiff, and then mix well the sugar. 
 With a dessert-spoon, lay them on white paper in the 
 shape of eggs ; sift sugar thickly over them ; let them 
 remain ten minutes ; shake off the superfluous sugar ; 
 place them in the oven, to color a very little. When 
 crisp, take off the papers by turning them upside down, 
 and lift the papers from them. Dip your spoon into 
 hot water, and clear out the best part of the interior ; 
 dust them with sugar, and lay them in a cool, dry 
 place. When served, fill them with whipped cream ; 
 stick two together. Dress in pyramid, and serve. 
 Should they stick to the paper, moisten it with a brush, 
 with a little water on the back. 
 
 Chantilly Cake, or Cake Triple. Bake a sponge 
 
154 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 cake in a mould, either of flour or rice. When cold, 
 cut out the inner part, leaving about two inches from 
 the edge, taking care not to cut through the bottom. 
 Put in a thick custard, or any of the creams, and some 
 bits of jam or jelly, and then a whip over the whole. 
 If triples are made the day before used, they are far 
 better, and cut more solid. 
 
 Frozen Pudding. One quart of milk ; eight eggs ; 
 and sweeten to your taste ; boil it as for soft custard ; 
 when cold, place it in a freezing-pot to freeze. When 
 partly frozen, have ready two ounces of currants, and 
 two ounces of raisins, soaked in four glasses of mares- 
 chino or brandy, with four ounces of citron, cut small, 
 and stir these into the custard. Put it into a mould 
 and finish freezing. A custard made of almonds, or 
 flavored with wine or brandy, with the fruit, is nice. 
 
 Frozen Pudding. Take a stale sponge cake, which cut 
 in slices half an inch thick, and soak them well in wine 
 or brandy. Put some raisins on the bottom of mould ; 
 lay a slice or two over these ; more raisins and cake, till 
 the mould is three quarters full. Make a custard, as 
 for Russe, using one half the quantity of isinglass, and 
 pour it lukewarm over your cake, which cover and 
 bury in ice and salt. Let it stand at least two hours 
 before using. If all the custard is not used, keep it on 
 ice, and when the pudding is ready to serve, pour it over 
 it, and sprinkle a few almonds, cut small, over it. 
 
 A Salad of Oranges. Select four good oranges ; 
 the thinnest rind are to be preferred. Cut them cross- 
 wise into slices about half an inch thick. Place them 
 in a dish, in a round, one piece resting a little on the 
 other ; shake one ounce of sugar over, and pour over a 
 table-spoonful of brandy. Slices of red orange, dressed 
 alternately with yellow, looks very prettily. 
 
 Salad of Strawberries, or Raspberries. A quart 
 of berries ; sift over them a little sugar, in layers ; 
 arranging them in a pyramid on the dish. Just before 
 serving them, pour over two glasses of wine, brandy, or 
 mareschino. 
 
SWEET DISHES. 155 
 
 Peaches, or Apricots, should be quartered. Strew 
 sugar over them, and then a little sherry or liqueur. 
 
 Another Salad of Oranges. Take as many 
 oranges as you choose ; peel them ; separate them 
 partly ; put over as much sugar as the quantity of 
 brandy you use will absorb. Make this in the morn- 
 ing ; in the evening it will be delicious. 
 
 Apple Cups. One pound of apples ; skin them and 
 cut them in quarters ; make a little sirup of a pound 
 of sugar ; boil the apples in it, with a little fresh lem- 
 on peel. Put the apples into cups ; boil the sirup about 
 fifteen minutes after the apple is taken out. When 
 the apple is cold, turn it out from the cups, and put 
 round some slices of oranges, with the sirup turned 
 over the whole. 
 
 Westminster Fool. Take a stale loaf of bread ; 
 cut off the crust, and cut it into thin slices. Lay them 
 in a deep dish, and pour over them some sweet wine, 
 sufficient to moisten them. Make a soft custard of 
 one quart of milk ; four eggs ; two spoonfuls of rose 
 water. Sugar to your taste. When boiled, pour this 
 over the bread. When cold, serve it. 
 
 Mrs. Burns's Burnt Cream, or Creme Brulee. 
 (French recipe.) Boil one pint of milk; one pint of 
 cream ; powdered sugar, four ounces ; yolks of three 
 eggs ; a small spoonful of burnt sugar ; reduce it one 
 half; pass it through a sieve. Dish it, and let it cool. 
 
 Fritters, very light, (pets of the nuns,) Beignets 
 Soufles. (French recipe.) Mix in a saucepan a piece 
 of butter the size of an egg ; four ounces of sugar ; a 
 glass of water ; some fresh citron, grated. Boil these 
 together; adding sufficient flour to make a stiff' and 
 smooth dough. When boiled long enough, it will de- 
 tach itself easily from the pan. Beat separately the 
 yolks and whites of three eggs, and mix with the dough. 
 Take it out into a dish, and with the handle of a 
 spoon cut it into little pieces, which drop into the lard, 
 which must be only lukewarm. Let them fry gently. 
 
156 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Drain them well on a linen cloth, and serve them 
 sprinkled with sugar. 
 
 Charlotte des Pommes, or Charlotte of Apples. 
 Wash, pare, and core the apples ; cut them into small 
 pieces. Dissolve in a saucepan four ounces of butter 
 to a dozen of apples. Put in the apples, and stew 
 them to a marmalade. A half pound of apricots stewed 
 with them is a great improvement. Cut some slices 
 of stale bread, spread them with butter, and line with 
 them a well-buttered baking dish. Fill up with the 
 apples, and cover with the bread. Put it to bake, and 
 when the Charlotte is of a fine brown color, turn it out 
 on a dish, and let the butter drain well. 
 
 Another. In the place of the slices of bread, cakes 
 of different kinds are to be cut up into slices sufficient- 
 ly thick to line the interior of a mould. Either fill up 
 with the marmalade, or make compartments with 
 some of the slices, and filling them with different pre- 
 serves ; covering the whole with slices. This may be 
 decorated with sugar plums, or candied fruits. Place 
 this Charlotte on a high dish, and surrounded with a 
 border of pears, apples, and chestnuts, candied, or with 
 all the other light Pattiseries which are served among 
 the sweet entremets — dishes served up after the meats 
 and before the desert. (French recipe.) 
 
 Creme Fouettee, or Whipt Cream. Put a pinch 
 of gum dragon, in powder, into a pint of cream ; add 
 a little orange flower or rose water; a sufficient quan- 
 tity of sugar. Whip this mixture with any whip stick. 
 When the cream is all frothed, let it stand. With a 
 skimmer, place it in a pyramidal form on a dish. 
 Garnish it with shreds of citron, or orange sweetmeats. 
 (French recipe.) 
 
 Cream whipped with Straavberries, Raspberries, 
 or Cherries. Press out the juice after crushing the 
 berries ; pass it through a sieve ; add it to the cream 
 when it is frothed, and beat it anew, and serve imme- 
 diately. (French.) 
 
SWEET DISHES. 157 
 
 Omelette Souffle. Mix the yolks of six eggs 
 with four ounces of powdered sugar, and a spoonful 
 of orange flower water. Whip, to a solid froth, the 
 whites of eight or nine eggs, which mix with the yolks. 
 Melt some butter in a spider, turn in the above mix- 
 ture, and when it begins to turn yellow, put it on a 
 dish kept hot, and place it in the oven. These entre- 
 mets must be eaten as soon as cooked, as they soon 
 fall. (French recipe.) 
 
 Italian Custards. Twenty eggs, the whites beaten 
 to a stiff" froth. Add the yolks of four eggs, beaten 
 well with a handful of sugar. Bake this mixture on 
 small papers, in an oven almost cold. Beat a pint of 
 cream to a froth ; sweeten it to your taste ; flavor it 
 with mareschino cordial or vanilla. Put it in a dish, 
 and put over it the above cakes. 
 
 Bavarois. Put the yolks of eight eggs in a sauce- 
 pan ; add half a pound of sugar, and a tumbler and a 
 half of cream ; stir it over fire. Take care to withdraw 
 it as soon as it has become a little thick. Then put in 
 half an ounce of isinglass dissolved in half a glass of 
 water, and pass the whole through a sieve. Freeze it 
 on the ice, taking care to remove it when sufficiently 
 cold. Mix of the custard a sufficient quantity to fill a 
 mould. Keep it on ice until served. Flavor it as 
 you prefer, with lemon or vanilla. 
 
 Sago Jelly. Take a pint of currant jelly, to which 
 add a pint of water, the juice and grated rind of a 
 lemon, and two or three sticks of cinnamon. To this 
 put one half pint sago, and sweeten to your taste. 
 Set it on the fire, and stir it until the sago is cooked. 
 Then mould it and serve it with cream and sugar. 
 The juice of any fruit can be used instead of jelly, 
 as cranberries, &c. Of juice, take a quart, as it is 
 diluted. 
 
 Sago with Milk, (au lait.) One quart of milk, or 
 half cream, to which put one half pint of sago and a 
 blade or two of mace. Sweeten with sugar, and cook 
 14 
 
158 THE AMERICAN MATRON 
 
 as sago jelly. To be eaten with sugar and cream. 
 Flavor it with peach or rose water, lemon or vanilla. 
 
 To prepare Ice for icing. Break the ice very 
 small ; put it in the bucket with salt. Put the cream 
 into an ice-pot, and place it in the bucket, and put the 
 ice and salt round it alternately, so as to touch every 
 part, and press it down very tight. In about ten min- 
 utes, open the pot and put a spoon in and stir it well. 
 Be careful to stir in smoothly the part that has iced 
 round the sides. Continue this until the whole is frozen 
 into a stiff but smooth substance. You can then put 
 it into moulds, pressing it down hard, and return it to 
 the freezer, pouring off the water and adding fresh ice 
 and salt. Saltpetre used with salt will facilitate 
 freezing. When any fluid tends towards cold, the 
 moving it quickly accelerates the cold ; and also, when 
 any fluid is heating, stirring it will facilitate its boiling. 
 If you use a patent freezer, you must keep the cream 
 in motion until set with the dash. 
 
 Water Ices are the juices of fruits, mixed with 
 water and sweetened, and frozen as creams. 
 
 Roman Punch. Make a strong punch with wine 
 and brandy, sugar and lemon. Some liqueur is an im- 
 provement. All ices should be strongly flavored, as 
 freezing diminishes it greatly. Lemon flavor is ob- 
 tained by rubbing some lumps of sugar over the rind 
 of three large lemons. Squeeze the juice, strain it, 
 adding as much sugar as the juice will absorb. 
 
 Pine Apple. Cut it in slices ; sprinkle sugar over 
 each slice, and let it stand for ten or twelve hours ; 
 strain it, and make it very sweet. 
 
 Raspberries or Strawberries. Put sugar to one 
 quart of berries ; let them stand two or three hours ; 
 mash them and strain the juice ; make very sweet. 
 
 Vanilla. Use either the extract, or one bean, boiled 
 for three hours in half a pint of milk. These are the 
 flavorings for one gallon of cream. 
 
 Ice made of Cream. To one quart of rich cream 
 
SAUCES. 159 
 
 allow one half pound of sugar; flavor it, as above, to 
 the taste, remembering the flavor and sugar must be 
 strong, as in freezing one half is destroyed or lost. 
 
 Made from Milk. To one quart of milk allow four 
 or five eggs ; boil one half the milk, and turn it boiling 
 on to the beaten eggs, stirring all the time ; then add 
 the cold milk, sugar, and flavoring. 
 
 Another. To two quarts of new milk, add, when 
 boiling, one table-spoonful of arrowroot, wet with a 
 little cold milk. When cold, add one quart of cream or 
 milk; nearly one pound of sugar. If you wish very 
 nice ice cream, beat the whites of six eggs to a froth, 
 and stir in. 
 
 Punch, for the Dinner Table, in place of Roman 
 Ice. Two and one half tumblers of cut loaf sugar; 
 six tumblers of water, cold ; and the peel of six lemons, 
 cut thin. Let this remain undisturbed till the sugar is 
 dissolved ; then add one bottle of Antigua rum, and 
 just before sending it to table, plenty of cracked Lee. 
 
 SAUCES. 
 
 Under this name are used, at table, mixtures of 
 various condimentary and alimentary substances. Salt 
 and spices are essential ingredients of them, and vin- 
 egar enters into the composition of several. These 
 are seldom used in sufficient quantity to prove injurious 
 by themselves ; though, by provoking the appetite, they 
 induce the eating of many indigestible compounds. 
 
 Few things require more care than making sauces 
 or gravies ; the better way is, therefore, to prepare the 
 sauces, or make gravies, before cooking those articles 
 which demand equal care. 
 
 Butter, and sauces containing eggs, should never 
 boil. 
 
 Apple Sauce. Pare, core, and quarter some apples ; 
 stew them in a very little water, with a bit of lemon 
 
160 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 peel ; add sugar to your taste, with a bit of butter, 
 when taken from the fire. Flavor with rose water, or 
 chopped fresh lemon peel. 
 
 Cranberry Sauce. Pour boiling water over the 
 cranberries ; this instantly swells all the good ones, and 
 makes it easy to pick out decayed ones. Stew the 
 fruit, until soft, in a very little water. When soft, add 
 sugar to your taste. 
 
 Tomato Sauce. Skin the tomatoes ; stew them till 
 tender; season with pepper; a bit of butter; a few 
 cloves. Let these boil together. Strain it, and serve 
 hot. 
 
 Gravy Sauce. Take the inwards of a turkey ; boil 
 them until they are soft, with a crust of bread, one 
 onion, pepper, salt, and cloves. When cooked, strain 
 it, and chop well the liver, or bruise it and mix it 
 together with a little flour, and boil it up once. 
 
 Oyster Sauce. Half a pint of oysters. Strain the 
 liquor from them, and boil it with a cup of water, 
 mace, pepper, and salt ; thicken with a bit of butter 
 rolled in flour. Pour in the oysters with a glass of 
 white wine. Let it boil up once. 
 
 Melted, or Drawn Butter. Thicken half a pint 
 of boiling water, and let it boil. Have ready four 
 or five ounces of butter, cut into small pieces in a bowl, 
 and when ready to send it to table, pour the boiling 
 water over the butter, stirring all the time. You can 
 use milk, or milk and water. If eggs are to be added, 
 boil them hard and cut them up very fine, and put with 
 the butter into the bowl. 
 
 Sauce for Beefsteak. One bottle of claret wine ; 
 one ounce of cloves ; one half ounce of mace ; one 
 drachm of cayenne. In one month it is ready for use. 
 
 For boiled Cod. Stew some oysters in their own 
 liquor, with pepper, mace, and salt. Take out the 
 spice, and add one glass of claret wine. Stir in the 
 yolk of an egg to thicken it, and pour this over some 
 butter. 
 
SAUCES. 161 
 
 For Lobsters, and Salads. Two eggs boiled three 
 minutes, and the yolks thoroughly rubbed up in a tea- 
 cup ; add oil, gradually, until a thick paste is made. 
 In another cup have a heaping tea-spoonful of mixed 
 mustard ; one half a tea-spoon of salt ; a dash of pepper 
 and sugar may be added, or not, to suit the taste ; add 
 two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, or until there is about 
 a tea-cupful of the mixture. Add this very gradually 
 to the mixture of oil. Then oil and vinegar alternately, 
 in small quantities, until sufficient dressing is made. 
 After this is made, it should be so thick as to drop 
 from the spoon in globules. Be careful in adding the 
 vinegar, as the smallest quantity will thin the mixture. 
 The great secret lies in mixing the oil and vinegar. 
 Six eggs will be sufficient for a large lobster. 
 
 For Lobster and Salads. Yolks of four eggs, 
 boiled hard, and mashed to a smooth paste ; add oil to 
 make half a tea-cup. Yolks of two eggs, unboiled; 
 two tea-spoonfuls of salt; two great spoonfuls of 
 made mustard, mixed together, and added to the other 
 ingredients. Then add gradually, and alternately, a 
 half flask of oil, with vinegar to the taste, stirring it 
 well. 
 
 Anchovy Sauce. Wash the anchovies ; put them 
 into wine and water, with a little mace. When the 
 anchovies are all dissolved, strain it; add a little butter, 
 not too salt, mixed with flour, to thicken it ; add a few 
 capers. Serve hot. 
 
 Bread Sauce. Boil in a pint of water a slice of 
 bread, a small onion, a little mace, salt, pepper. When 
 the onion is tender, strain it, and rub the bread through 
 a sieve. Then put it in a saucepan with a gill of 
 cream ; a bit of butter. Stir till it boils. Instead of 
 bread, you may thicken with cracker. 
 
 Celery Sauce. Cut small some celery, and put it 
 
 to boil with an onion in half a pint of water. When 
 
 tender, add salt, pepper, a little milk, and boil it a 
 
 quarter of an hour, and then pass it through a hair 
 
 14* 
 
162 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 sieve with the back of a spoon. If you wish for celery- 
 sauce, when celery is not in season, a quarter of a 
 drachm of the seed will impregnate half a pint of 
 sauce. 
 
 Chestnut Sauce is often served up with roast turkey. 
 Scald a pound of chestnuts ; skin them, and stew them 
 slowly in some white stock, or water, seasoned with 
 salt and mace, and thickened, for two hours. 
 
 Mint Sauce for Lamb. Pick and wash some green 
 mint; add, when minced, a table-spoon of the young 
 leaves to four of vinegar, and put it into a sauce tureen 
 with a tea-spoonful of brown sugar. 
 
 Sweet Sauce for Venison or Rabbit. Put some 
 currant jelly in a saucepan ; when melted, pour it into 
 a sauceboat. Many send it to table without melting, 
 in the jelly shape. 
 
 Wine Sauce for Venison or Game. A quarter of 
 a pint of port or claret wine, the same quantity of good 
 stock, and a table-spoonful of currant jelly. Just boil 
 it up, and serve hot. 
 
 Lemon Sauce. Cut thin slices of lemon into very 
 small dice, and boil them in the water thickened for 
 melted butter; put it into the butter, and pour it hot 
 over boiled fowls. 
 
 White Cucumber Sauce. Peel two small, or one 
 large cucumber ; cut in slices ; put in a stewpan with 
 a tea-spoon of salt; one of sugar; a half one of pep- 
 per. When tender, add a table-spoonful of flour, wet 
 with two gills of milk. Boil, and serve hot. 
 
 A good Beef Gravy. Take the drippings from the 
 meat, turn it into a saucepan, and add a cup of boiling 
 water; shake in a little browned flour and salt, and let 
 it just boil, stirring all the time ; add a table-spoonful 
 of soy, or tomato catchup. 
 
 Gravy for Roast Mutton. Make the gravy as for 
 roast beef, or add a few spoonfuls of currant jelly, and 
 a cup of red wine. 
 For Roast Venison. Take the shank of the venison ; 
 
SAUCES. 163 
 
 crack the bone; a pound of beef; an onion, stuck 
 full of cloves ; pepper and salt. Put these into two 
 quarts of water, and boil gently three hours. Strain 
 this and add to it the drippings from the venison, with 
 a quarter of a pound of butter; two table-spoonfuls of 
 flour ; a tea-cup of claret wine, and a tea-cup of currant 
 jelly. Let this boil about five minutes. 
 
 For Pork. Take out all the fat from the pan or 
 kitchen when about half cooked, and make a gravy 
 with the drippings. 
 
 For Roast Ham. Pour off all the fat ; add a cup 
 of water to the drippings; a little flour; and just boil 
 it up. 
 
 The following directions for preparing a dressing for 
 salads may be useful, especially to those acquainted 
 with the competency of the author to advise in all 
 matters of taste as well as science, (Rev. Sidney 
 Smith,) who was said to have as much, if not more 
 knowledge of all the other ologies, as of theology : — 
 
 For dressing- a Salad. 
 
 " Two large potatoes, passed through kitchen sieve, 
 Smoothness and softness to the salad give ; 
 Of mordant mustard add a single spoon — 
 Distrust the condiment that bites too soon ; 
 But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault, 
 To add a double quantity of salt : 
 Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown, 
 And twice with vinegar, procured from town ; 
 True flavor needs it, and your poet begs 
 The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs ; 
 Let onions' atoms lurk within the bowl, 
 And, scarce suspected, animate the whole. 
 And lastly, in the flavored compound toss 
 A magic spoonful of anchovy sauce. 
 O ! great and glorious ! O ! herbaceous treat ! 
 'Twould tempt a dying anchorite to eat ; 
 Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul, 
 And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl." 
 
164 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 White Sauce for Game. Take a slice of bread, 
 and stew it in cream or new milk, and pass it through 
 a sieve ; one small onion may be boiled in it, but must 
 be taken out when served ; add a small piece of butter ; 
 a very little pepper. Add, if you choose, a few dried 
 crams, done very crisp and brown. 
 
 Sauce for Tripe. Two table-spoonfuls of drawn 
 butter ; one tea-spoon of made mustard, with two tea- 
 spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Mix these well together, 
 adding vinegar to your taste. 
 
 PUDDING SAUCES. 
 
 Cold Sauce. To six spoonfuls of crushed sugar 
 put four of butter ; work the butter to a cream, adding 
 the sugar. Put it on your plate in a pyramidal shape, 
 and with the tip of the bowl of a small tea-spoon make 
 gashes over it, that it may resemble a pine-apple ; grate 
 nutmeg over it, and flavor it with wine or brandy. 
 
 Hot Pudding Sauce. Beat the sugar and butter 
 together till it froths and is light colored. Then thicken 
 a little boiling water with flour ; stir this into the sugar 
 and butter, adding wine or brandy, and nutmeg, or 
 rose water, lemon, or vanilla. Put it again to the fire 
 to just boil up once, stirring carefully, and serve hot. 
 
 FORCEMEATS. 
 
 Exact rules cannot be given, but the following ob- 
 servations may be useful, and practice will soon impart 
 skill in mixing stuffings to the taste. Whether in the 
 shape of forcemeat, stuffing, or for patties, it makes 
 great difference in the eating and appearance of the 
 dish if properly compounded. No one flavor should 
 predominate ; yet, if several dishes are served the same 
 dav, there should be a marked difference in the taste 
 
FORCEMEATS. ] 0*5 
 
 of the forcerfteats, as well as of the gravies. It should 
 be consistent enough to cut with a knife, but not dry 
 or heavy. 
 
 Forcemeat Ingredients. 
 
 Cold fowl, or veal, Oysters, anchovies, lobster, 
 Scraped ham, Savory, marjoram, 
 
 Beef suet, Thyme, yolks of eggs, hard boiled, 
 
 Crums of bread,- Cayenne, onion, black pepper, 
 Parsley, Cloves, soy or catchup, curry. 
 
 White pepper, 
 Salt, nutmeg, 
 
 Yolk and whites of eggs, well beaten, to bind the mix- 
 ture. 
 
 The first column contains the article of which the 
 forcemeat may be made, without any striking flavor; 
 and to these may be added any from the second column, 
 to vary the taste. 
 
 A common Stuffing. An equal quantity of bread 
 crums and suet ; a little salt; marjoram ; pepper ; mix 
 with egg, well beaten. Instead of suet, you may use 
 butter and thyme, or sage. 
 
 Brain Cakes. Put the brains in a bowl, beat them 
 together, and put in three milk biscuit, pounded and 
 sifted ; three eggs ; a little salt, and sage. Mix all well 
 together, and fry in butter just before the head is served. 
 
 Forcemeat Balls. One pound of mutton, or veal, 
 and an equal quantity of scraped salt pork ; three 
 eggs ; one spoonful of salt ; pepper ; three soft crackers, 
 pounded. Mix together, and fry them in butter. 
 
 Forcemeat Balls. An equal quantity of lean 
 meat and crackers ; a little suet, lemon peel, cloves, sweet 
 herbs, pepper, and eggs, with a little curry, or catchup. 
 Roll this into balls, and fry brown, in butter or lard. 
 
 For Fish. Chop some of the meat of lobster very 
 fine ; a little cayenne, mace, salt, and pepper, with two 
 table-spoonfuls of bread crums ; a little butter, and two 
 eggs, beaten. Make into balls and fry brown, or stuff 
 
166 
 
 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 any fish with the above. Instead of ldbster, vary by 
 using oysters or celery. 
 
 Little Eggs for Real, or Mock Turtle Soup. 
 Mash the yolk of three hard-boiled eggs, and make 
 into a paste with the yolk of a raw one, and throw 
 them into boiling water for two minutes. 
 
 Garnishing for Dishes, and Accompaniments for 
 Meats, Sfc. 
 
 Rice Edging for a Curry, Fricassee, or Hash. 
 Boil two tea-cups of rice until tender, and season with 
 a little butter, but not to a mash. Put it round the 
 inner edge of the dish, to the height of three or four 
 inches. Smooth it with the back of a spoon, and rub 
 it over with the yolk of an egg, and put it into the 
 oven for three or four minutes, to brown. Serve the 
 meat in the middle. Rice boiled in this way, spread 
 over a pie of cold meat for a crust, an inch thick, and 
 browned, is nice. 
 
 Potato Edging. Boil some potatoes ; mash them 
 to a smooth paste ; add a little butter, milk, and salt. 
 Mix these well together, and form an edging as above 
 for hashed veal, beef, or mutton. 
 
 For Roast Beef. A Yorkshire pudding, and 
 scraped horse radish. 
 
 For Boiled Corned Beef. Beets, cabbage, parsnips, 
 carrots, and greens ; garnish the dish with sliced beets 
 and carrots, alternately. 
 
 For Veal. Garnish the dish with lemons, sliced. 
 Send scraped horse radish, in a separate dish, to table. 
 
 Calf's Head. Put round the dish slices of lemon, 
 and hard boiled eggs, sliced. 
 
 Corned Leg of Pork. Parsnip and carrots, sliced 
 and laid around the dish. 
 
 Boiled Mutton. Drawn butter, with capers or nas- 
 turtions, carrots and beets, around the dish. 
 
 Boiled Fish. Lemon and hard boiled eggs, 
 sliced. 
 
FISH. 167 
 
 Potatoes are nice and almost necessary with all 
 meats. With poultry, they are nicer mashed. Sweet 
 potatoes and tomatoes are good with all meats, but. 
 especially with roasts. Onions, squash, cucumbers, 
 asparagus, peas, string-beans, are most appropriate 
 with roast meats. Carrots, parsnips, cabbage, greens, 
 turnips, and beets are eaten with boiled meat. Corn is 
 eaten either with roasted or boiled meat. Mashed tur- 
 nip is good with roast pork ; apple sauce should be 
 served with roast pork : cranberry sauce with beef, 
 poultry, veal, and ham ; currant jelly with roast mut- 
 ton and game. Pickles are served with all meats ; 
 capers, or nasturtions, with drawn butter, for boiled 
 lamb or mutton. 
 
 Drawn butter, with eggs, for boiled, salt, and fresh 
 fish. Dip, or fried salt pork, with salt fish. Celery, 
 chopped fine, and put into a salad mixture, is a very 
 pleasant accompaniment for salt fish. 
 
 Celery, or oyster sauce, for boiled poultry and game. 
 Fried bread cruras should be sent to table with roast 
 partridge, quail, wild turkey, or any kind of game. 
 
 FISH. 
 
 This class of animals produces an almost endless 
 variety of food for man. It furnishes a greater number 
 of eatable species than any other class. Some nations 
 derive their chief support from it. The inhabitants of 
 the most northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, 
 where but few nutritive plants are found, are obliged 
 to live almost exclusively on fish. 
 
 The Esquimaux prepare fish in the same manner as 
 did some of the Babylonian tribes of old. It is dried 
 in the sun, beaten fine and sifted, then made into 
 small cakes, or baked as bread. Fish also constituted 
 the principal article of food among the Egyptians. It 
 was dried in the sun, and eaten without any other 
 preparation. 
 
168 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Fish-flesh contains more water than the flesh of 
 either quadrupeds or birds. 
 
 In many fishes, the flesh is mixed with or covered 
 by oily or fatty matter. This is more abundant in the 
 thinner parts than in the thicker. The thinnest part 
 of the salmon is preferred by epicures. In the cod, 
 and some others, the liver is the only part which con- 
 tains fat ; the flesh being quite devoid of it. The 
 white, curdy matter, seen between the flakes of boiled 
 fresh fish, is the coagulation of the watery juices inter- 
 vening between the layers of the flesh. 
 
 The digestibility of fish varies considerably in differ- 
 ent species. The oily fishes are more difficult to digest, 
 and, in consequence, are unfit for invalids. Fish is 
 rendered less digestible by frying. It is, in any form, 
 less satisfying to the appetite than the meat of either 
 quadrupeds or birds. As it contains more water, it is 
 obviously less nourishing. " The jockeys at New- 
 market, in England, who waste themselves in order to 
 reduce their weight, are never allowed meat when fish 
 can be obtained." 
 
 One ill effect, ascribed to a fish diet, is the production 
 or aggravation of diseases of the skin. By drying, 
 salting, smoking, and pickling, the digestibility of fish 
 is greatly impaired ; though, in some cases, their sa- 
 vory, stimulating, and even nutritive qualities may be 
 increased. The flesh of shell fish is not easily 
 digested ; but they form very agreeable and moderately 
 nutritive articles of food. Lobsters and crabs disagree 
 with some persons. These fish form their shells from 
 the highly calcareous juices of their bodies. The 
 alkaline nature of these juices renders vinegar a desira- 
 ble condiment to neutralize it. The male lobster is 
 preferred for eating. They are distinguished by the 
 narrowness of their tails. The females are preferred 
 for sauce and soups, on account of the coral and spawn. 
 The former, when boiled, is a bright red, and is useful 
 for garnishing ; the latter gives both color and flavor. 
 
FISH. 
 
 169 
 
 They are known by their broader tails and smaller 
 claws. The meat of the lobster is principally in the 
 tail and claws ; that from the claws being more tender, 
 delicate, and easily digestible. It is a popular idea, 
 that the part of the lobster called " the old lady in her 
 arm chair " proves injurious when eaten. This part is 
 the bony teeth of the stomach, and, being indigestible, 
 should not be eaten. The bag which contains " the 
 old lady " is the stomach. Of the crab, the same 
 observations may be made. It is inferior, in delicacy 
 of flavor and tenderness, to the lobster. 
 
 The oyster holds the highest rank among foods of 
 this class. It was greatly admired by the luxurious 
 Romans, and has continued a favorite among all na- 
 tions ever since. It furnishes a delicious article of 
 food. It is more digestible when raw than when 
 cooked. It is customary to swallow the oyster whole 
 when eaten raw ; but when cooked, the beards or gills 
 are sometimes removed. 
 
 To select Fish. 
 
 Sea Bass, Black Fish, and Blue Fish, are very 
 excellent of their kinds, and can sometimes be found 
 in our markets. 
 
 Salmon. If fresh, the flesh is of a silvery pink color, 
 the scales bright, and the whole fish stiff. When first 
 taken from the water, there is a whiteness (curd) 
 between the flakes, which gives great firmness ; by 
 keeping, this melts, and the fish is more rich. This 
 fish can be crimped like the cod, that it may be flaky 
 and retain the curd. The salmon is the only fish 
 which improves by keeping, without the addition of 
 salt or sugar. It is in season from April to August. 
 
 Haddock and Cod. The gills should be very red ; 
 the fish very thick at the neck ; the flesh white and 
 firm ; and the eyes fresh. When flabby, they are not 
 good. They are in season from the beginning of De- 
 cember till the end of April. 
 15 
 
170 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Crimped Cod. As soon as the fish is taken from 
 the water, it is gashed on both sides, and salt thrown 
 in. This process renders the fish firmer, and gives a 
 better flavor. 
 
 Shad. If good, they are white and thick. If too 
 fresh, they eat tough, but must not be kept above two 
 days without salting. The shad appears at Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, in January ; later at Norfolk, Vir- 
 ginia; in the Hudson River, in April; and in the 
 Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers, in May. 
 
 Halibut varies in size from ten to forty pounds. If 
 good, they are white and firm, and the belly of a cream 
 color. In season from February to July. 
 
 Mackerel. The whole fish must be stiff and firm. 
 They are so delicate a fish that they keep worse than 
 any other. Their season is May, June, and July, to 
 October. 
 
 Salmon Trout are a fine flavored fresh-water fish, 
 and should be killed and dressed as soon as caught. 
 The gills should be red and hard to open ; the eyes 
 bright, and the body stiff. 
 
 Pickerel and Smelts are in season all the winter 
 months. Both pickerel and smelts should be stiff and 
 firm, and the eyes bright. 
 
 Perch. Apply the same rules as to the preceding. 
 
 Lobster is in season from April to August. 
 
 Fresh Cod Sounds are in season during the winter. 
 
 Oysters. Of these, there are several. kinds ; the 
 larger ones are highly esteemed. When alive and 
 well, the shell is close. They should be eaten soon 
 after they are opened, the flavor becoming poor if 
 kept long. 
 
 The same rules apply to the clam. 
 
 Crabs. The heaviest are the best, and those of 
 middling size are sweetest ; if light, they are watery. 
 When in perfection, the joints of the legs are stiff, and 
 the body has an agreeable smell. The eyes look dead 
 and loose when stale. 
 
FISH. 171 
 
 Ovsters and Clams cast their spawn in the month 
 of May, after which they are sick, and unfit for food. 
 In July they begin to improve, and in August they 
 are sound. Hence the origin of the saying, that an 
 oyster is never good except when there is an r in the 
 month. 
 
 Epicures consider it important to boil fish in salt 
 water. Lobsters must be put alive into boiling water, 
 and be boiled from thirty to forty minutes. Allow a 
 large spoonful of salt to every quart of water in which 
 they are boiled. Lobsters should not be eaten after 
 being boiled more than eighteen hours. Fish from 
 ponds are improved in flavor by soaking in strong 
 salt and water. Fish, if frozen, may be kept a num- 
 ber of days. 
 
 Fish should be carefully cleaned, and, when boiled, 
 some salt should be put into the water. Fish should 
 be put into cold water to boil, and allowed to cook 
 very gently, or the outside will break before the inner 
 part is cooked. 
 
 Small fish, nicely fried, covered with eggs and crums, 
 make a handsomer dish than if served plain. Fish 
 should be garnished with horse radish, parsley, and 
 lemon. If fish is to be fried or broiled, it should be 
 wrapt in a cloth after it is cleaned and washed. When 
 dry, wet it with an egg, if to be fried, and dip it into 
 bread crums or Indian meal ; if done a second time 
 with the egg and bread, the fish will look better ; then, 
 having a spider on the fire, with a large quantity of 
 boiling lard or fat, plunge the fish in, and let it fry mid- 
 dling quick, until the color is a fine brown yellow. Take 
 it up carefully, and put it on the under side of a sieve to 
 drain. To be fried in perfection, fish should be of a 
 fine yellow color, with every crum perfectly distinct, 
 and the fish entirely free from grease. The same drip- 
 ping, with a little fresh, will serve a second time. 
 Butter gives a bad color to all fried articles ; oil fries 
 the finest; it is, however, more expensive. 
 
172 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Garnish with a fringe of raw curled parsley, or pars- 
 ley fried. 
 
 If the fish is to be broiled, it must be seasoned, 
 floured, and put on the gridiron, which, when hot, 
 should be rubbed with a bit of suet, to prevent the fish 
 from sticking. It must be broiled over a clear fire, that 
 it may not taste smoky ; and not too near the coals, 
 that it may not be scorched. Do not attempt to turn 
 it, like steaks, with a knife and fork, but lay an old 
 dish upon it, and hold it on with one hand, while you 
 invert the gridiron with the other. 
 
 The liquor of oysters should be strained before 
 using, as there are often small pieces of shells in it. 
 
 Salmon, boiled. Clean it carefully, but do not let 
 it soak in water. Rub a little salt into the body, flour 
 a cloth, pin up the fish tightly, and put it into boiling 
 water. A piece that weighs ten pounds will be suf- 
 ficiently cooked in three fourths of an hour after begin- 
 ning to boil. If underdone, it is very unwholesome. 
 
 To broil Salmon. Cut slices an inch thick, and 
 season with pepper and salt ; broil them very quick, 
 and when served, rub butter over each slice. 
 
 Baked Salmon. Stuff the fish or not with force- 
 meat ; lay it on a grating, into a baking pan ; put strips 
 of salt pork over it, to flavor it. Put nearly a pint of 
 water, with some salt, into the pan. Bake it from one 
 hour to one and one half hours. Baste it with butter 
 and flour. Salmon is drier cooked in this manner than 
 boiled, and the flavor is richer, not being lost in the 
 water. 
 
 If you have any left from dinner, pour over it some 
 vinegar, in which a few cloves and a little allspice has 
 been boiled. Cover it well, and in twelve hours it is 
 fit to eat. 
 
 Cod is generally boiled whole ; but a large head and 
 shoulders contain all the fish proper to help to ; the 
 thinner parts being overdone and tasteless before the 
 thick are ready to be served. The whole fish, however, 
 
FISH. 173 
 
 may be purchased, at times, more reasonably. The 
 lower parts, if sprinkled with a little salt and sugar, 
 and being hung up, will make a nice dish in one or 
 two days. 
 
 Cod's head and shoulders will. eat much finer if 
 a little salt is rubbed down the bone, and along the 
 thick part, even if it be cooked the same day. Flour 
 a cloth, tie it up well, and put it on in cold water, into 
 which put a handful of salt. 
 
 Broiled Scrod. Take a small cod and split it, or 
 the tail of a large one ; sprinkle it with salt, and let 
 it remain over night. In the morning, wash off the 
 salt, and wipe it dry. Rub a little lard over the grid- 
 iron, and put on the fish, skin side down, and let it 
 broil gently one half hour, then turn it over, to brown 
 the other side. When served, rub a little butter and 
 a little pepper over it. Serve hot. 
 
 Baked Cod or Haddock. Fill the interior with a 
 nice stuffing, and sew it up, and truss it with the tail 
 in its mouth. Proceed as with salmon, baked. 
 
 Crimped Cod. Boiled, baked, broiled, or fried, as 
 above. 
 
 Fried Cod or Haddock. Cut the fish in pieces 
 about a good size to help at table; wash, and wipe 
 them dry, and roll them in sifted Indian meal. Try 
 out some slices of salt pork ; remove the pork, and 
 add some lard. When hot, put in the fish and fry it 
 of a nice yellow brown. Put the fried pork around 
 the dish. 
 
 Curry of Cod. Make it of slices of cod or haddock 
 that has been crimped or salted a day, to make it firm. 
 Fry it brown, with some onions, and pour over it some 
 good gravy, or water mixed with some curry powder 
 and flour, a little butter, three or four spoonfuls of cream 
 or milk, and some salt. 
 
 Chowder. Try out some slices of pork, crisp, and 
 then brown well some two or three onions. Cut your 
 fish into three or four pieces, not slices. Pour over 
 15* 
 
174 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 the onions and pork some milk or milk and water, with 
 a little salt and pepper. Let this boil up, then put in 
 the fish carefully, with some fresh tomatoes or tomato 
 catchup. Cover it well, and let it simmer about one 
 half hour. Have ready some crackers, split and swelled 
 in cold water ; lay them over the fish, and cover again 
 for another fifteen or twenty minutes. Turn around 
 your pot very often, that it may not burn. When 
 cooked, remove the crackers, and with a slice and 
 spoon take up each piece of fish unbroken, laying it 
 on the dish, to be served in its natural form. Pour the 
 liquid into the tureen, to be served hot. The crackers 
 can be served on a separate dish, or put into tureen. 
 Some persons like the flavor of mace and cloves, and 
 some, claret wine. 
 
 Halibut. If you wish to boil it, purchase either 
 the tail piece or the next cut. Rub a little salt over it, 
 and lay it in cold water a while. Wash and scrape it 
 very clean, and tie it in a floured cloth, and put it in 
 cold water, with salt in it, to boil. A piece weighing 
 six pounds will need to cook thirty minutes after it be- 
 gins to boil. If you have any left, serve it as salmon. 
 
 The nape, corned, of the halibut, is the best piece to 
 broil. A slice through the body an inch thick, if 
 sprinkled with salt for two hours before cooking, will 
 broil without breaking, and be excellent. When served, 
 spread butter and pepper over it. 
 
 Broiled Shad. This fish should not be stale. 
 Scale and split it down the back ; then carefully wash 
 and dry it. Sprinkle it with salt, cayenne, and black 
 pepper, with a little sugar. Let it lay four or five 
 hours ; wash off the spices, and broil it for half an 
 hour. 
 
 Salt Fish. Dun fish is to be preferred. To cook 
 a fish whole, put it into the fish kettle, covered with 
 water a little warm. The next morning, wash it clean 
 from the water ; wash out the kettle ; put the fish in 
 again, with as much water as at first, and put it over 
 
FISH. 175 
 
 the fire to scald, not boil. An hour before dinner time, 
 take up the fish into a pan of cold water, wash off' the 
 skin and fins ; clean the kettle again, and put back the 
 fish into warm water. Let it just' come to a boil, but 
 keep it boiling hot for thirty or forty minutes. Serve 
 it on a napkin, on a fish dish. 
 
 To mince Fish. Chop the fish very fine, after it is 
 cooked ; mash half as much more potatoes boiled, as 
 fish ; fry out some pork ; mix potatoes and fish to- 
 gether, and put it into the hot fat ; stir it up well, add- 
 ing a little hot water and a bit of butter ; stir it all 
 well together, until it gets very hot; let it stand until 
 it browns a little, and serve hot, or mince the fish as 
 above, with mashed potatoes ; make it into small, 
 round, flat cakes, and fry them brown on both sides, in 
 fat or butter. An egg or two, mixed with a little milk, 
 instead of water and butter, is a great improvement. 
 
 Boiled Mackerel. Put the fish into separate 
 cloths, and boil them twenty minutes. 
 
 Broiled Mackerel. Split and sprinkle with salt 
 and pepper ; broil them over a quick fire ; put the skin 
 side first to the fire. When served, rub over butter, 
 and send them to table hot. 
 
 Roasted Mackerel. Stuff' them as codfish, and 
 bake them about one half hour. Small fish may be 
 fried as codfish. 
 
 Fried Smelts. This fish is very delicate, and re- 
 quires care in cleaning : merely pull out the gills, and 
 the inside will come out with them ; wipe them dry 
 and lightly after they have lain in salt and water 
 nearly an hour ; dip them in flour, or have ready two 
 or three eggs beaten up in a plate, and some cracker 
 pounded in another ; dip the fish into the egg, and 
 then roll them in the cruras, and put them into boil- 
 ing fat. Fry them brown, and serve hot. 
 
 Perch, fried. Cut off the heads ; prepare them 
 the same as smelts. They will take a longer time to 
 fry than smelts, being larger and thicker. Fresh cod's 
 tongues are nice cooked in the same way. 
 
176 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 To toast Tautog or Black Fish. Clean it well ; 
 put in a nice stuffing, and sew it up well ; brush it 
 over with egg, and cram it well ; lay over it some 
 strips of pork, after you have put it into a pan,, with a 
 pint of water or port or claret wine ; a little salt, pep- 
 per, and an onion sliced ; let it bake slowly for one to 
 one and one half hours ; baste it often with the wine 
 and water; when cooked, thicken the gravy with a 
 little flour, and just boil it once ; pour over the fish. 
 Cider may be used instead of wine, with a little wal- 
 nut or tomato catchup. 
 
 Eels. After they are skinned, pour boiling water 
 over them. To fry them, cut them in pieces about six 
 inches long, and fry as codfish. 
 
 Baked Eels. Cut them in pieces six inches long ; 
 lay them into a pan ; sprinkle over them pepper and 
 salt, with some few pieces of butter ; dredge them 
 with flour ; pour in a little water, and bake them half 
 an hour ; when they are dished, make a gravy in the 
 pan they were cooked in, with the addition of a little 
 more butter, flour, and catchup ; pour it over the fish ; 
 add either wine or cider, and stew them. 
 
 Trout are fried as perch, roasted as salmon. 
 
 Shell Fish — Stewed Oysters. Wash well a 
 gallon of oysters out pf the liquor, and let it stand ten 
 minutes ; strain it through a fine sieve into a sauce- 
 pan ; add a third as much water as liquor, and a quar- 
 ter of a pound of butter, braided with flour or bread 
 crums, and stir well ; put in a little pepper and mace, 
 and boil it up ; put in the oysters ; do not boil again, 
 but keep them hot, while you toast eight crackers ; 
 split and butter them a little ; put them into the dish, 
 and pour over the oysters. Some people like a glass 
 of white wine, or half a glass of vinegar added. 
 
 Scalloped Oysters. Put the oysters alternately 
 with bread crums, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and few pieces 
 of butter in a buttered dish ; pour over the whole a 
 cup of the liquor, and a little white wine. Put it into 
 the oven for forty minutes to brown. 
 
pisfi. 177 
 
 Fried Oysters. Take large oysters; wash them 
 elean out of tlie liquor, and wipe them dry ; dip them 
 in <'gg*, and then in crams, and fry them in hot lard. 
 
 Frikd Oysters. To one peck of oysters take six 
 eggs ; beat the whites to a froth ; add a little salt to 
 the yolks, which beat well, and mix with the whites ; 
 add half a pint of milk, and thicken with Hour for a 
 batter ; drop in the oysters, and take out one with 
 some batter in a spoon ; fry in hot lard. 
 
 Stewed Lobster. Cut the meat of the body and 
 claws up fine, and put it into a saucepan with a little 
 water, mace, pepper, and a bit of butter rolled in flour. 
 Rub the coral smooth with a little butter, and add this 
 to stew about ten or fifteen minutes. When ready to 
 serve, add a little white wine or vinegar. This must 
 not be added until sent to table, as the lobster will 
 destroy the acidity of the vinegar in a short time. 
 
 Crabs, hot. Pick out the meat ; clear the shell 
 from the head; then put in the meat, with a little nut- 
 meg, salt, pepper, butter, bread crurns, and set it into 
 the oven. Put in a little vinegar when served. 
 
 Dressed Crab, cold. Mix the flesh with a little oil, 
 vinegar, salt, and pepper. 
 
 Clams are cooked as oysters, fried, or made into 
 soup. 
 
 Tongues and Sounds. Soak them, over night, if 
 very salt ; scrape them thoroughly, and boil them fif- 
 teen minutes in milk and water. They may be fried 
 in batter, as oysters. 
 
 Fish Cakes. If there should be any fish left from 
 dinner, pick out carefully all bones, and skin, then put 
 it into warm water for a short time. Put it into a 
 mortar, and beat it very fine, and mix with it about an 
 equal quantity of mashed potato. Season it, if neces- 
 sary, with salt and pepper, adding a little butter. Make 
 it up into round fiat cakes, and fry brown on both 
 sides, in butter, fat, or lard. 
 
 Fresh Halibut or Cod will make excellent cakes. 
 
178 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 SOUPS. 
 
 Under this head, I quote the high authority of Lie- 
 big; nothing that I could offer would carry the weight 
 of his satisfactory experiments. The result should be 
 familiar to every housekeeper. 
 
 " The investigations of Liebig into ' the constituents 
 of the juices of flesh ' furnish some results belonging 
 to the technical department of chemistry, in so far as 
 it treats of the changes which cooking effects in meat, 
 and of the relation which animal food bears to analo- 
 gous dietetic articles, determining, as it does, at the 
 same time, experimentally, the nature of broth. 
 
 " The view that broth derives its nourishing properties 
 essentially from the dissolved gelatine — an opinion 
 which has been frequently discountenanced in practice 
 — is shown by this investigation to be completely un- 
 tenable. The gelatine imparts no taste to broth, and 
 forms by far too insignificant a portion to allow of its 
 nutritious properties being dependent upon it. Chopped 
 beef or veal, previously exhausted in the cold, when 
 boiled for five hours, yielded to the broth, the former one 
 half per cent, and the latter one and one half per cent, of 
 soluble constituents, of which gelatine formed, at most, 
 but one half. On the contrary, this investigation con- 
 firms the view of Proust, that the peculiar constituents 
 of broth exist ready formed in the flesh, and are by no 
 means merely products of the process of ebullition. 
 The residue of the chopped muscular flesh of different 
 animals, as of the fox and ox, after having been ex- 
 hausted in the cold, cannot be distinguished the one 
 from the other; air the peculiarities of the flesh, 
 especially its flavor, depending entirely upon the solu- 
 ble constituents which are found in the broth. 
 
 " The researches of Liebig offer a simple and conve- 
 nient method of preparing, in a few minutes, a broth 
 of the highest nutritive properties. Finely chopped 
 
soups. 179 
 
 lean beef is mixed with an equal weight of cold water, 
 and left, if possible, to macerate for a short time, and 
 the whole then slowly heated to ebullition ; after 
 gently boiling for some minutes, the clear broth sepa- 
 rates from the coagulated albumen and from the 
 muscular fibre, which has now assumed a sinewy ap- 
 pearance. After straining, it requires only to be sea- 
 soned and slightly colored with burnt onions, or with 
 caramel, (burnt sugar.) The coloring of broth is noth- 
 ing but a concession to the common prejudice, which 
 cannot, however, be well dispensed with. 
 
 " By evaporation in a water bath, or at a still lower 
 temperature, the broth becomes spontaneously colored, 
 and leaves behind a brown extract, possessing a deli- 
 cate odor of roasted meat ; it may be preserved for 
 any length of time. This extract, when dissolved in 
 about thirty parts of water, and flavored with salt, 
 yields, at any moment, a most excellent broth. The 
 advantage of extract of flesh for the nutrition of" in- 
 valids, its use in hospitals, or in field service, as well 
 as in domestic economy, is sufficiently obvious. We 
 see, likewise, that bone broth, broth tablets, &c, being 
 preparations entirely different from a true broth from 
 flesh, cannot enter into competition with it as articles 
 of food. 
 
 " As an article of commerce, ' extract of flesh ' bears 
 somewhat too high a price; it appears, however, to 
 offer a new source of profit to the inhabitants of the 
 different settlements of America and Australia, who 
 might, successfully, prepare it from their cattle at a 
 cheaper rate, and send it to the markets of our crowded 
 populations. 
 
 " As to the cooking of meat, it follows, that to pre- 
 pare, by boiling, a rich broth, and at the same time a 
 savory bouiili, is perfectly impossible. After preparing 
 broth according to the above direction, the meat which 
 remains is perfectly unpalatable, tasteless, and tough, 
 and as dissimilar as possible to the boiled beef of our 
 
180 
 
 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 tables. If, on the other hand, it is desired to leave in 
 the boiled meat the greatest amount of nutrition and 
 flavor, it must be at once plunged into boiling water. 
 If the temperature, after some minutes, be reduced 
 to about 70° (Centigrade,) equal to 158° Fahrenheit, 
 by the addition of cold water, and the water main- 
 tained at that temperature until the meat is thorough- 
 ly cooked, all the conditions necessary for this purpose 
 will have been fulfilled. 
 
 " If it be perfectly established that pure fleshy fibre 
 — viewed independently of the constituents of the 
 juice — instead of being softened by boiling is con- 
 verted into a horny or sinewy mass, it is evident that 
 this change is prevented by two different means in the 
 ordinary mode of cooking meat. In the first place, by 
 the temperature in the interior of the piece of meat 
 never reaching the boiling heat; and, in the second 
 place, by its being, nevertheless, sufficiently high to 
 coagulate the albumen, which surrounds, and to a 
 certain extent, protects the fibres. The temperature in 
 the interior of the meat is not only sufficient to coagu- 
 late the albumen, but must attain even the point 
 necessary for the coagulation of the coloring of the 
 blood. 
 
 " The investigation of Liebig exhibits the pro- 
 cess of salting meat under a perfectly new aspect. 
 The brine which meat and dry salt form together 
 amounts from one third to one half of the juice of the 
 meat, and contains the chief constituents of concen- 
 trated broth. The brine presents an acid reaction, and 
 owing to the quantity of albumen present, coagulates 
 when boiled ; it contains, moreover, phosphoric acid, 
 lactic acid, a large amount of potassa, creatinine, and 
 doubtless also creatine. There can be no doubt, there- 
 fore, that salting meat diminishes the nutritious prop- 
 erties of meat, by the amount of constituents which 
 pass into the brine ; hence the explanation of the well- 
 known injurious effects on health produced by the 
 continual consumption of salt meat." 
 
soups. 181 
 
 The delicate and proper blending' of savors is the 
 chief art of good soup-making. Be sure to skim the 
 grease off' the soup when it first boils, or it will not 
 become clear. Throw in a little salt to bring up the 
 scum. Remove all the fat. Be careful to simmer 
 softly, and never allow a soup to boil hard. 
 
 Put your meat into cold water, and let it grow warm 
 slowly. This dissolves the gelatine, allows the albu- 
 men to disengage, the scum to rise, and the heat to 
 penetrate to the centre of the meat. But, if the meat 
 be put into hot loater, or the soup over a hot fire to 
 boil, the albumen coagulates, and the external surface 
 of the meat is hardened ; the water is prevented from 
 penetrating to the interior, and the nutritious part of 
 the meat from disengaging itself. The broth will be 
 without flavor, and the meat tough, if so managed. 
 Allow two table-spoonfuls of salt to four quarts of 
 soup, where there are many vegetables ; and one and 
 one half, where there are few. One quart of water to 
 one pound of meat is a good rule. 
 
 Soup made of meat not previously cooked is as 
 good, perhaps better, on the second day, if heated to 
 the boiling point. If more water is needed, use boiling 
 water ; as cold or lukewarm spoils the soup. Some 
 persons have thought potato water to be unhealthy. 
 Do not, therefore, boil potatoes in your soup ; but, if 
 required, boil them elsewhere, and add them when 
 nearly cooked. 
 
 The water in which poultry or fresh meat is boiled 
 should be saved for gravies or soups for the next day. 
 If it is not needed in your own family, give it to the 
 poor. The bones, also, of roasts, with a little meat, 
 make a soup ; and, if not required for this purpose, you 
 may save them for the grease they contain. But this 
 preparation, be it remembered, is entirely different, in 
 its essential properties, from soup made from flesh ; 
 and it should never be given to an invalid or conva- 
 lescent as an invigorating or nutritive repast. In 
 16 
 
182 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 boiling out the bones in water, not only the fat present 
 in all bones, but also the gelatine, (which is tasteless, 
 and can impart neither flavor nor any nutritive prop- 
 erty to the soup,) is extracted. It follows, therefore, that 
 the fat is the only matter obtained for the soup, the 
 flavor of which must depend entirely on the vegetables 
 and spices that may be added. As fat is both difficult 
 and slow of digestion, would it not be quite as well to 
 keep the grease for soap, and use the vegetables with- 
 out it ? 
 
 Keep the vessel covered tight in which you boil 
 soup, that the flavor may not be lost. Never put 
 away soup in metal pots. It is much better to boil 
 your soup the day before wanted, to allow the liquid 
 to cool, that the fat may be all removed. Thickened 
 soups require more seasoning than thin soups ; nearly 
 twice the quantity is necessary. 
 
 In France, few dinners are served without soup ; 
 and the pot-au-feu (soup kettle) is a necessary utensil 
 in the kitchens of both rich and poor. It might be 
 termed the national dish, so constantly is it used by 
 all classes. The white, thin soups are intended only 
 to commence a set dinner. The substantial, thick 
 soups might, with vegetables, form a dinner satisfactory 
 to any laboring man. That we, in our national waste- 
 fulness and extravagance, might learn a lesson of 
 economy from our transatlantic friends, cannot be 
 doubted. We usually throw away materials sufficient 
 to make a satisfactory repast for a French family. 
 
 Does not Liebig give (in the observations above 
 quoted) sufficient reasons why a long-continued diet- 
 ing on salt meat, during long sea voyages, is followed 
 by scurvy and other maladies ? So much of the nu- 
 tritious properties and qualities essential to digestion 
 and nourishment are lost in the brine, that it would be 
 better not to let the salting of meat continue until a 
 brine is formed. 
 
 Clear soups should not be strong of the meat flavor, 
 
soups. 183 
 
 and should be of a light brown, sherry, or straw color. 
 All white or brown thick soups should be rather thin, 
 with just sufficient consistency to adhere lightly to a 
 spoon when hot ; such as soups of fish, poultry, or 
 game. Simple brown soups, no matter whether of 
 meat or vegetables, require to be somewhat thicker. 
 
 If good housekeepers could bring themselves to give 
 up the old notion of boiling for five and six hours, to 
 obtain " the extract " of meat, and follow the advice 
 of chemists, they would be able to serve up a nice 
 soup in a short time, and with comparatively little 
 labor. At the commencement of the French revolu- 
 tion, public attention was directed to the improvement 
 and management of food for the poor and the army. 
 The scientific men of France were called upon for an 
 opinion ; and the government, led away by enthusi- 
 astic reports, were induced to send forth such language 
 as the following : " A bone is a tablet of soup formed 
 by nature ; a pound of bones gives as much soup as 
 six pounds of meat ; bone soup, in a dietetical point 
 of view, is preferable to meat soup." It would seem 
 that even cookery, at that time, was looked at through 
 the same exaggerated medium as political matters. 
 These expressions were soon found to be the grossest 
 exaggerations, and the apparatus which was put up 
 to convert the bones into soup was soon found to be 
 useless, and totally abandoned. The medical officers 
 of the Hotel Dieu drew up a report, which declares such 
 soup to be of bad quality and indigestible. Therefore 
 we may conclude soup made from bones of meat and 
 poultry to be nothing more than the stone soup of old, 
 which, with plenty of vegetables and seasoning, made 
 quite a delicious repast. 
 
 A CLEAR BROWN STOCK FOR GRAVY OR SOUP. Put 
 
 a knuckle of veal, a pound of lean beef, and a pound 
 of the lean part of bacon, all sliced, into a stewpan, 
 with two or three well-scraped carrots, two onions, two 
 turnips, two heads of celery, sliced, and two quarts of 
 
184 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 cold water. Stew the meat until tender, but do not 
 let it brown. When thus prepared, it will serve either 
 for soup or brown or white gravies ; if for brown, add 
 some coloring, and boil a few minutes. Skim it very 
 carefully. To color it, add a little brown gravy, or 
 browning. 
 
 Coloring for Soups and Gravies. Put four ounces 
 of lump sugar, a gill of water, and half an ounce of 
 the finest butter into a saucepan, and set it over a 
 gentle fire. Stir it with a wooden spoon till of a light 
 brown. Then add half a pint of water, boil, skim, and, 
 when cold, bottle and cork it close. Add to soup or 
 gravies as much of this as will give it a proper color. 
 
 Calves' Head Soup. Clean the head well ; put it 
 with the feet into three gallons of water. Boil them till 
 the flesh falls from the bones. When about half cooked, 
 put in the pluck. When taken from the fire, separate 
 the meat from the bones, and cut it in pieces three or 
 four inches square. Strain the liquor in which it is 
 boiled. Put two thirds of it into the pot, reserving the 
 other third in case it be too thick or too highly sea- 
 soned. Put into the pot, before the head is again put 
 in, a half bottle of red wine. Take the other half of 
 the wine and swell four pounded and sifted crackers. 
 Add to the soup a spoonful of marjoram, one of 
 thyme, two of savory, and one of cayenne pepper ; salt 
 to your taste ; one ounce of mace, one half ounce of 
 pounded cloves, two nutmegs ; mix all together, and 
 put it over the fire. Let it boil moderately for two 
 hours. Stir it occasionally, to prevent its burning. 
 Serve with forcemeat balls, thin slices of lemon, and 
 eggs boiled hard. 
 
 Calves' Head or Mock Turtle Soup. One calf's 
 head, with the feet, liver, tongue, and lights, simmered 
 till tender. When thoroughly cooked, let them be 
 taken out, and cut into small pieces ; strain the liquor, 
 and let it stand till cold. Then skim the fat off very 
 carefully. Instead of cutting up the head for soup, it 
 
soups. 185 
 
 can be served for dinner. The next day, take about 
 two quarts of the liquor, one dozen cloves, one dozen 
 peppercorns, salt, two onions, two carrots, and two 
 turnips, cut fine. Cut up all of the meat that you 
 have left into small, square pieces. Put the vegetables 
 together, and boil them one hour ; strain the liquor in 
 which the vegetables are boiled into the two quarts, 
 and let them boil together. Then add three spoonfuls 
 of browned flour, braided into half a pound of butter, 
 and a pint of red wine. Add some forcemeat balls 
 made of the brains, and a little meat chopped fine and 
 seasoned. Put the forcemeat balls, lemon, the yolks 
 of the eggs, and three table-spoonfuls of sage into the 
 bottom of the tureen. Turn the soup on this, and 
 send it to table very hot. This will make about five 
 quarts of soup. 
 
 Pea Soup. Put one quart of split peas to seven 
 quarts of water. Take a knuckle of veal, or some cold 
 roast beef bones, a little savory, sweet marjoram, 
 and let them simmer gently, (stirring every quarter of an 
 hour to prevent the peas from burning,) until they are 
 tender. This will take four hours. Then strain them 
 through a sieve, rubbing them well to get out all the 
 goodness of the peas, leaving in the sieve only the 
 hulls. Put the soup back into the pot, with some 
 black pepper and a little salt. If you like, add a little 
 mint rubbed fine, and a head of celery cut small. Let 
 this boil. Have some slices of bread, nicely toasted, 
 and cut into pieces an inch square, or, if preferred, 
 fry some in butter ; put these into the bottom of the 
 tureen, and pour over the soup. 
 
 Pea Soup. Make a strong broth of two pounds of 
 beef, the day before you want the soup, and season it 
 with pepper, salt, and onion. Strain it. When cold, 
 remove the fat. Boil one pint of split peas till tender. 
 Strain them through a coarse sieve. Add to the broth 
 one carrot, one head of celery, and the peas sifted. 
 Boil together for three fourths of an hour. Have some 
 16* 
 
186 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 bread toasted brown, and cut into dice. Put them 
 into the tureen, and pour over them the soup. 
 
 Pea Soup. Put one quart of well-washed split 
 peas into three quarts of soft water, to boil. It is not 
 necessary to soak peas over night. Put them 'into a 
 pot with two carrots, two onions, a head of celery, to 
 boil for four or five hours. Take about two pounds 
 of salt pork, wash, and score the top well, boil it in a 
 separate pot about one hour. Then add it to your 
 peas, which have been sifted, and let them boil togeth- 
 er about an hour. Pour the soup into the tureen, 
 with the accompaniments directed in the above recipe. 
 Take the pork and pour over it a little warm water to 
 clean away the soup, and send it to table in a separate 
 dish. 
 
 Green Pea Soup. Two quarts of green peas ; a 
 few pieces of lean ham, or a knuckle of veal, or bones 
 from roast meat ; two onions, sliced ; a few sprigs of 
 parsley, and put them to stew in two quarts of water 
 When very tender, strain it. Put it on the fire again, 
 with a little pepper and salt, and sweet herbs. Add 
 about a pint of milk. Served the same as above. 
 
 Vermicelli Soup. Boil a shin of beef, slowly, with 
 two onions, three turnips, three carrots, and a little 
 celery, for five or six hours — the onions should be 
 browned in butter — a few cloves and mace. Strain 
 it and let it cool, so that all the fat can be removed. 
 Put it over the fire again ; add about two ounces of 
 vermicelli in pieces two inches long. Then boil one 
 half hour. 
 
 Vegetable Soup. One onion ; two turnips ; one 
 carrot ; one quart of water ; one head of celery ; salt ; 
 and a little butter braided in flour; a few cloves or 
 mace. 
 
 Brown Soup. Four pounds of lean beef, stuck with 
 cloves ; stew it in four quarts of water, with a stick 
 of cinnamon, one blade of mace, until reduced one 
 half. When the goodness is boiled out of the beef, 
 
soups. 187 
 
 take it out and put in two gills of red wine; a little 
 salt ; an onion. When done, strain it, and serve it 
 with toasted bread. 
 
 Si iin Soup. Take a shin, put it in a pot with 
 one gallon and a half of water. Let it stew gently for 
 four hours. When cold, remove the fat. Put it on 
 the fire again with salt, pepper, onion, celery, and car- 
 rots. After it has browned some time, add a little 
 browned flour ; a glass of white wine. Let it simmer. 
 Put toasted bread, cut in very small pieces, in the 
 tureen. 
 
 Shin of Beef Soup. Have the shin bone sawed in 
 several pieces ; put it into a pot with ten or twelve 
 quarts of water and a little salt. The scum must be 
 carefully removed when it first rises. Four onions ; 
 two carrots ; a tea-spoon of allspice, and one of black 
 pepper ; let ^hese stew gently for five or six hours ; 
 strain it into a pan, and let it remain until the next 
 day. When the beef is cold, pick out all the gristle and 
 sinews, and cut them in pieces as big as a walnut, and 
 lay them aside to put into the soup ; take the fat from 
 the liquor ; cut a large onion in slices, and fry it 
 brown ; put these with the liquor into the pot, adding 
 four table-spoonfuls of Hour, wet with some of the 
 liquor ; add a small cup of mushroom or tomato 
 catchup ; a little port or claret wine. 
 
 Oyster Soup. Take a shin of veal, and put it into 
 a pot, with three quarts of water ; two carrots, and 
 two onions sliced ; some pepper and salt ; boil it from 
 three to four hours ; strain it through a sieve. Braid 
 a half pound of butter in three table-spoonfuls of flour ; 
 boil it some ten minutes. Have ready, washed, one 
 gallon of oysters ; strain the liquor into the soup ; boil 
 it again ; then put in the oysters, with a tumbler and 
 one half of white wine ; just boil it up once. Serve it 
 very hot. 
 
 The above can be varied in flavor and appearance. 
 Instead of putting in wine, add the same quantity of 
 cream or rich milk to the soup. 
 
188 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Lobster Soup. Boil the veal as for oyster soup. 
 Break up a large lobster ; remove the meat ; break up 
 the shell, and put it into a saucepan, with water enough 
 to cover it; let this simmer while the soup boils; 
 strain it, and add it to the soup. Cut the lobster up 
 fine ; put it into the pot, and boil it one hour. Grate 
 the coral of the lobster ; add it to the soup, (it adds a 
 higher color to it ;) add, also, a little butter, braided in 
 browned flour; a cup of wine, and the juice and peel 
 of a lemon. Serve this hot, with lemons cut in halves, 
 in a separate dish, for each person to flavor the soup 
 according to their own taste. Instead of the lemon 
 juice, a spoonful of vinegar can be used. 
 
 Tomato Soup. Boil the veal, as directed for oyster 
 soup, or take some good soup stock. Cut up three 
 onions, two carrots, and three turnips, ajid add them 
 to the soup, with pepper, salt, and one to two dozen 
 tomatoes ; boil this two hours ; strain it. Toast some 
 bread very brown, and cut it into small dice ; put 
 them into tureen. Pour the soup, when ready to serve, 
 on to the bread. 
 
 Mutton Broth. Boil a shoulder of mutton in four 
 quarts of water ; add one onion, two carrots and two 
 turnips, one table-spoonful of salt, and one cup of rice ; 
 boil this one and one half hours. Chop up some 
 parsley, and add it about five minutes before serving. 
 The mutton may be sent to table with drawn butter 
 and capers. 
 
 Mutton Broth. Take the water in which a leg of 
 mutton has been boiled ; add vegetables same as above. 
 
 Ox Tail Soup may be made as in recipe for shin 
 soup. Strain out the vegetables ; mix a pint of thick- 
 ening, and add it to the soup. Add pepper, salt, all- 
 spice, and tomatoes. 
 
 Chicken Broth. Take your chicken ; put it into a 
 pot, with two quarts of water, a salt-spoon of salt, 
 a little pepper, and a few sprigs of parsley ; boil it ; 
 skim it well ; let it simmer about one hour. You 
 
MEATS. 189 
 
 can thicken the soup with a little flour, or rice, or 
 vermicelli. 
 
 Macaroni Soup. Boil a quarter of a pound of 
 macaroni in one quart of water for ten minutes ; strain 
 it off', and throw the macaroni into two quarts of boil- 
 ing stock; simmer it gently for half an hour; then 
 serve it with grated cheese on a plate separately. 
 
 MEATS. 
 
 The name which has been given to extract of flesh 
 is osmazome, from two Greek words, signifying a smell 
 and broth, or soup. The high flavor and smell of soup, 
 and a part of its nutritive qualities, is owing to this 
 principle. Doubtless Liebig's suggestion will one day 
 be put into practice, and the inhabitants of our cities 
 and populous districts will be supplied with the true 
 zest of the venison and caribou of the forests, and beef 
 from the pampas of Southern America. 
 
 " Tenderness of flesh is influenced by a variety of 
 circumstances ; as age, sex, leanness or fatness, mode 
 of slaughtering, and incipient decomposition. The 
 flesh of young animals is more tender than that of old 
 ones. The flesh of lean animals is generally finer 
 than that of plump ones. Hunting, baiting, fighting, 
 and whipping animals just before death augments the 
 tenderness of their flesh. With the exception of the 
 first, these barbarous and cruel practices are now justly 
 exploded in most civilized countries. Another circum- 
 stance which promotes the tenderness of meat, is 
 incipient decomposition ; this is the reason why most 
 animals are kept for some time after being killed, be- 
 fore they are eaten. 
 
 The meats of different animals are not equally 
 digestible and nutritive, and the digestibility of the 
 same kind of meat is by no means uniform in different 
 individuals. Venison is easy of digestion. Occasion- 
 ally mutton disagrees with some persons. 
 
190 
 
 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 The cooking of food has for its more immediate 
 object the gratification of the taste ; but it can scarcely 
 be doubted that its more remote end is the promotion 
 of digestion. Nearly every substance possessing or- 
 ganized life is by civilized man cooked before it is 
 eaten. By cooking, the destruction of organization is 
 more or less effected. Its effect is not always to pro- 
 duce a chemical change in the food ; it does not ap- 
 pear that roasting affects the composition of meats. 
 Boiling produces some changes in them, and, in the 
 case of farinaceous substances, breaks or splits the 
 grains of starch. Frying, on account of the effect of 
 heat on all fatty substances, renders meat more indi- 
 gestible than any other method of cooking. 
 
 Among civilized nations, the pig is the only animal 
 whose blood furnishes a distinct article of food. Mixed 
 with fat, and highly seasoned, and enclosed in the pre- 
 pared intestines, the blood of this animal forms the 
 sausages sold at the shops, under the name of black 
 puddings. 
 
 In ^Europe, cases are very frequent of persons being 
 poisoned by eating bad sausages. When well pre- 
 pared, they furnish a savory and nourishing food, but 
 when the spices and salt are deficient, they undergo a 
 peculiar kind of putrefaction, which begins at the cen- 
 tre of the sausage. They become pale in color, and 
 more soft and greasy in those parts which have under- 
 gone putrefaction. In eating the imported Bologna 
 sausages, this should be remembered; for if the sea- 
 soning had not been strong, or the smoking insuf- 
 ficient, or too late when applied, ill consequences must 
 arise from eating them. 
 
 Professor Lindley, of England, says, " Cold meat is 
 always in a state of decomposition. It is possible 
 that this state may be communicated to the system of 
 a feeble individual, and may be one of the sources of 
 consumption." 
 
 Brains of animals differ from ordinary fats in their 
 
M.EATS. 191 
 
 chemical properties. They are, however, regarded as 
 somewhat more digestible than common fat. 
 
 The tongue and heart of mammals are muscular 
 organs, and in their dietetical properties agree with 
 the flesh of the animals to which they belong. 
 
 Sweetbread is the thymus of the calf, and when 
 plainly cooked, and moderately seasoned, forms an 
 agreeable and suitable food for convalescents, but 
 when highly dressed, it is improper for dyspeptics or 
 invalids. 
 
 The liver of quadrupeds contains much oil, which 
 renders it unwholesome food for the delicate. More- 
 over, it is rendered still more inappropriate by the mode 
 of cooking it. 
 
 To choose Meats. 
 
 Venison. If the flesh be smooth and close, and the 
 fat be clear, bright, and thick, the animal is young; 
 otherwise it is old. To judge of its sweetness, run a 
 narrow, sharp knife into the shoulder or haunch, and 
 you will know by the scent. Venison is easily digest- 
 ed. It possesses the qualities of looseness of texture, 
 and is easily divided into particles, as are most of the 
 wild meats and game. 
 
 Beef. If the flesh of ox beef is young, it will have 
 a fine, smooth, open grain, and a good red color. The 
 fat should be white, not yellow. Ox beef is the richest 
 and largest ; but by some persons, heifer beef, if highly 
 fed, is considered nicer. The grain of cow beef is 
 closer, and the fat whiter, than that of ox beef; but 
 the lean is not of so bright a red. 
 
 Veal. Choose the meat of which the kidney is 
 well covered with white, thick fat. The whitest meat 
 is not the most juicy, as it is often made so by fre- 
 quent bleeding. The flesh should be white, approach- 
 ing to pink, and the fat firm. Veal should not be 
 kept more than two days in summer, and four in 
 winter. To be in full perfection, the kidneys ought to 
 
11)2 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 be covered with fat, and the veins in the shoulder 
 bright red or blue, showing it to be newly killed ; any 
 other color shows it to be stale. It is best from May 
 to September. 
 
 Mutton. Choose this by the fineness of its grain, 
 good color, and well mixed with fat, which must be 
 firm and white. It is not the better for being young. 
 Wether mutton is the best; the meat of ewe mutton is 
 of a paler color, and the fat yellow and spongy. If of a 
 good breed and well fed, it is better for being old. To 
 keep a loin, saddle, or haunch, the kidney fat should 
 be removed, and the place rubbed with a little salt. 
 Mutton is better to hang forty-eight hours after it is 
 killed ; it can be kept two or three weeks in winter. 
 
 Lamb. The vein in the fore quarter should be 
 bluish and firm ; if yellow or green, it is stale. To 
 ascertain if the hind quarter is fresh, lift the kidney ; 
 if there is a faint smell, the meat is stale. If the eyes 
 are sunk, the head is not fresh. 
 
 Pork. Pinch the lean, and, if young, it will break. 
 If the rind is tough, and cannot be easily impressed 
 with the finger, it is old. A thin rind is a merit in all 
 pork. When fresh, the flesh will be smooth and cool ; 
 if clammy, it is tainted. What is called measly pork 
 is very unwholesome, and may be known by the fat 
 being full of kernels; which in good pork is never the 
 case. 
 
 Bacon, or Corned Pork. If the rind is thin, the 
 fat firm and of a red tinge, the lean tender, of a good 
 color, and adhering to the bone, you may conclude it 
 is good, and not old. If there are yellowish streaks in 
 it, it is bad. 
 
 Ham. Stick a sharp knife under the bone ; if it 
 comes out with a pleasant smell, the ham is good. 
 
 When surloins of beef, or loins of veal or mutton, 
 are purchased, part of the suet may be cut off for 
 puddings, or to clarify. Drippings will baste every 
 thing as well as butter, excepting fowls and game. 
 
MEATS. 
 
 193 
 
 The fat of a neck or loin of mutton makes a lighter 
 pudding than suet. 
 
 Meat and vegetables that are frosty or frozen should 
 be soaked in cold water two or three hours before they 
 are used, or longer if they are much frozen. To put 
 them into hot water, or near the fire, until thawed, 
 makes it impossible for the heat to penetrate to cook 
 them. 
 
 As to the length of time required for roasting or 
 boiling, the size of the joint must decide. Allow for 
 all solid pieces of meat a quarter of an hour for every 
 pound, and some ten to fifteen minutes over, as you 
 wish it rare or otherwise. A ham of twenty pounds 
 will take four hours and a half to cook ; all others in 
 proportion to their weight. A tongue, if dry, takes 
 four hours slow boiling, after it has been soaked. A 
 tongue, freshly pickled, from two hours and a half to 
 three hours. A leg of pork or of lamb takes the full 
 allowance of twenty minutes more than the quarter 
 of an hour to the pound. 
 
 If the meat is roasted before the fire, it should at 
 first be put at a good distance from it, and brought 
 gradually nearer, so that the inner part may become 
 hot before the outside is scorched. Meat should be 
 often basted, and, when nearly cooked, floured to make 
 it look frothed. In spitting the meat, the cook should 
 be careful not to run the spit through the best parts, 
 and should observe that it be well cleaned when used, 
 or a black stain will appear where it touches the meat. 
 The meat must be well balanced on the spit, so that 
 they may both turn together. Leaden skewers are 
 sometimes provided to balance it with. In roasting 
 meat, it is a very good plan to put a little salt and 
 water into the dripping pan, and baste for a little while 
 with this before using the fat or drippings from the 
 joint. Dredge it with flour, and baste as usual. When 
 the meat is about half cooked, pour off through the 
 spout of the tin-kitchen most of the fat which has 
 17 
 
194 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 dripped out. Pour in its place a gill or two of hot 
 water, and put in a little salt. Baste the meat with 
 this. It is not well to salt meat before beginning to 
 roast it, as salt extracts the juices. In roasting all 
 meats, the great secret lies in flouring thoroughly, 
 basting often, and turning the spit so often as not to 
 allow any part to burn. 
 
 To roast in a cooking stove, (or rather, to bake,) the 
 fire must be carefully attended to. Put the meat on a 
 grate into a pan, with three or four gills of water in it. 
 Turn the pan often, that it may roast equally. One 
 side of the stove is generally hotter than the other. 
 When about half cooked, salt it, flour it, and turn it 
 over, that the under side may be browned. If the 
 water dries away so that the pan becomes dry, add 
 more hot water. Baste the meat often. You cannot 
 save as much fat from the gravy when meat is roasted 
 in a stove as when it is cooked in a tin-kitchen ; it is 
 much more apt to burn. To make the gravy, if there 
 is much fat in the pan, pour it off", and add a little 
 water and flour, browned, which boil together a few 
 minutes. 
 
 To boil meats well requires as much attention and 
 care as to roast well. Meat should always be put 
 into cold water, for reasons which have been given 
 before. Let the water heat gradually. All meats 
 should boil slowly. 
 
 ' Fast boiling makes meat hard and tough. Allow 
 twenty minutes for every pound of meat. Salt meats 
 require more cooking than fresh. 
 
 There are two points to be considered in the boiling 
 of meats : first, to boil gently ; second, to skim care- 
 fully the froth and scum as it rises. The scum is the 
 red coloring disengaged,. and, if not removed, will ad- 
 here to the meat, and make it look unsightly. When 
 the water has become hot, the scum will begin to rise, 
 and then is the moment to remove it, with a skimmer 
 spoon. Calves' head and veal require more skimming 
 
MEATS. 195 
 
 than other meats. Still, all meats need careful atten- 
 tion, every two or three minutes, for a quarter of an 
 hour after they begin to boil. If the water boils away 
 so that the meat is not covered, add more, as the part 
 which is above the water will have a dark appearance. 
 
 Stewing is an economical way of cooking. Pieces 
 of coarse meat stewed, if properly done, become tender, 
 and are quite palatable. 
 
 Frying. The fat you fry in must be boiling hot the 
 moment the meat or fish are put in, and kept so till 
 they are finished. It is also better that all meats and 
 fish should be covered with either bread crums or bat- 
 ter, as these are quickly carbonized and form a crust 
 which prevents the grease from penetrating, and pre- 
 serves the juices of the articles. In England, iron 
 wire baskets, with handles, are used, in which the 
 article to be fried is placed, and then put into the 
 boiling fat." 
 
 Broiling. Waterman's patent broilers are the only 
 utensils fit to be used for this purpose, as all the fat is 
 caught and prevented from falling into the fire to 
 smoke. Meat should be turned often. Never stick a 
 fork into the meat, as then the juice is lost. After it 
 is cooked, put on salt and pepper, and a little butter. 
 
 Boiling is the culinary operation by far best suited 
 to dyspeptics, the convalescent, and the sick. 
 
 Roasting, next to boiling, is the best way to prepare 
 food for invalids. Roasted meats should be neither over- 
 done nor underdone. It is a popular opinion that it is 
 much more nourishing when underdone, but this is prob- 
 ably an error. "For the juice, which is more abundant 
 in the underdone meats, is almost entirely aqueous, and 
 can possess very little nutritive quality. By the pro- 
 longed roasting, the water of the juice is evaporated, 
 the nutritive matter almost entirely remaining in the 
 cooked meat. Well-done meat probably differs essen- 
 tially from meat underdressed, in having a little less 
 of both water and fat, while it has the additional 
 
106 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 advantage of being more digestible." By roasting, the 
 gelatine is not extracted as in boiling. 
 
 Boiling effects the same changes in meat as is pro- 
 duced by roasting, but more rapidly. While the out- 
 side is scorched, the inside retains -its juiciness. 
 
 Baked meats are more objectionable than any oth- 
 ers. Though the general effects are similar to those of 
 roasting and boiling, yet meat so cooked is less fitted 
 for delicate stomachs, in consequence of being more 
 impregnated with the burning fat. It is said, always, 
 that when the fat does not burn, much of it is lost in 
 the process of roasting in a stove. So, of course, it is 
 absorbed by the meat, and thus the different flavor of 
 baked and roasted meats. Frying is the most objec- 
 tionable of all culinary operations. The influence of 
 heat on fatty substances effects various chemical 
 changes in them, rendering them more difficult of 
 digestion, and more obnoxious to the stomach. 
 
 The best Seasons for different Kinds of Meat. 
 
 Beef is nicest from January to May. March and 
 April are the best months for salting beef. Tripe, when 
 beef is in season. 
 
 Pork, to roast, is in season through the cold weather. 
 
 Pigs, to roast, from May to July. 
 
 Land), from June through September. 
 
 Veal, from May to June. 
 
 Mutton, January to May. 
 
 Wild Birds, from October to December. 
 
 Turkeys, from November through January. 
 
 Chickens, September and October. 
 
 Geese, from September through December. 
 
 Green Geese, Ducklings, and young- Chickens, May 
 and June. 
 
 To roast Venison. The dry skin should be re- 
 moved with the fingers. A hauch of venison, weigh- 
 ing sixteen pounds, will be cooked in one hour and a 
 
MEATS. 197 
 
 half, if to be eaten with blazers ; if from hot water 
 plates, two hours and one half to three hours. First, 
 sprinkle the fat with a little salt, and then cover it with 
 a sheet of thick paper, well buttered. The spit should 
 be turned often. Baste it frequently. When half 
 cooked, remove the paper, and baste it with claret 
 wine, flour, and butter, frequently, until cooked. 
 
 The Saddle of Venison is the better piece of the 
 deer. It needs but about one half the time to cook 
 as the leg, it being thinner. Served the same as the 
 haunch. 
 
 To stew a Shoulder of Venison. Remove the 
 bone, and sprinkle salt, pepper, and a little allspice 
 over the meat ; roll it up tight, and tie it. Put it in a 
 pot, with just water enough to cover it, with a little 
 salt and pepper. Simmer it, closely covered. When 
 about half done, pour over half a pint of port wine. 
 It will cook in three hours. To be served with the 
 gravy over it. Stew the bone with it, to enrich the 
 gravy. 
 
 Breast of Venison should be cooked as -the shoul- 
 der, or made into a pasty. 
 
 Hashed Venison. Warm up the gravy left from 
 the roast or stew. Make it boiling hot. Then put in 
 the venison, cut into small slices. Do not allow it to 
 boil. The hot gravy will warm the meat sufficiently, 
 if kept in a warm place. 
 
 Venison Pie. Look under the head of Savor// 
 Pics, page 81. 
 
 Roast Beef, a Surloin. When half cooked, turn 
 the fat out of the kitchen, then baste the meat with the 
 drippings two or three times. Do not salt or flour it 
 until nearly cooked. Just before serving it, dredge on 
 a little flour and salt, baste it well, and put it close to 
 the lire to froth. 
 
 The second cut of the surloin, the second cut of the 
 ribs, and the upper part of the rump are good roasting 
 pieces. 
 
 17* 
 
198 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Yorkshire Pudding is very excellent when cooked 
 under this meat. 
 
 Ribs of Beef. This piece should consist of three 
 ribs. The bones are generally sawed through by the 
 butcher about three inches from the top. These 
 should be removed, leaving the meat, which fold under 
 and fix with wooden skewers. This should be roasted 
 like the surloin. 
 
 Ragout of Beef. Beef for ragouts must be with- 
 out bone ; the rump is excellent. A piece of the thick 
 flank is frequently used for this purpose ; or any other 
 part that is free from bones and has some fat to it. 
 It should be a thick, short piece, when ready to cook. 
 Make a gravy as follows : Take one and a half pounds 
 of lean beef, and one quarter pound of lean bacon, cut 
 into slices ; one onion, sliced ; thyme and savory, and 
 a carrot ; three blades of mace ; a tea-spoon of salt ; 
 a little pepper, and four cloves. Put all these into one 
 quart of water, and boil very slowly until reduced to 
 one pint. When nearly cooked, put in a slice of bread, 
 toasted brown and dry, but not burnt. Boil it up and 
 strain it. Put your piece of beef into a stewpan 
 with a little butter, and fry it brown. When well 
 browned on all sides, add a quart of water, and sim- 
 mer till nearly tender. Then put in the gravy, with a 
 glass of port wine, and two spoonfuls of catchup. 
 Let it boil, and serve hot. 
 
 Hunter's Beef. A round or rump of beef that 
 weighs from twelve to fourteen pounds. Take one 
 ounce and a half of saltpetre ; one ounce and one half 
 of brown sugar; half an ounce of cloves; one handful 
 and one half of common salt, all in powder ; mix these 
 together, and rub them well into the beef. The beef 
 is more tender if it hangs two or three days, according 
 to the weather, before rubbing in the spices. Turn, 
 and rub in the spices every day, for eleven days. 
 There must be no bone in the meat. When to be 
 cooked, dip it into cold water, to take off the loose 
 
MEATS. 
 
 199 
 
 spice; bind it up tight with tape, and put it into a 
 pan with a tea-cup of water at the bottom ; cover the 
 top of the meat with suet, chopped fine, and cover it 
 with a coarse paste, and bake it five or six hours. 
 When cold, remove the paste and tape. The gravy- 
 will be fine, and a little of it improves hashes and 
 soups. Both the gravy and meat will keep some 
 time. The meat should be cut very thin, and smooth- 
 ly shaved, like smoked beef. Eaten cold, as a relish. 
 
 A Fricandeau of Beef. Take a nice piece of lean 
 beef; rub it with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and all- 
 spice, mixed. Put it into a stewpan with a few slices 
 of bacon ; a pint of broth or water ; a glass ol white 
 wine ; a little parsley ; all sorts of sweet herbs ; an 
 onion, pepper, and salt. When tender, remove it. 
 Skim the gravy well, and strain it. Let it boil until 
 thick, and add a little flour to it. Pour it over the 
 beef. Served hot. 
 
 Beefsteaks. A rump steak is the best ; one from 
 the surloin is the next best. To broil a steak requires 
 a quick fire. If cooked by a range, put it in front, not 
 over the fire. Turn it often. When cooked, and put 
 into the dish, dust over a little salt and pepper, adding 
 a bit of butter. A table-spoonful of catchup improves 
 the gravy. Pour into the dish a little boiling water, 
 if you wish much gravy. Served hot. 
 
 Beefsteaks with Oysters. Strain the liquor 
 from a quart of oysters, and throw them into cold 
 water, while you simmer the liquor with a bit of mace 
 and lemon peel. Add a little cream or butter, braided 
 in a little flour. Put in the oysters ; just boil them up 
 once. Have ready a rump steak, well seasoned and 
 broiled ; turn the oysters over it, and serve hot. 
 
 Beefsteaks smothered in Onions. Cut up eight 
 onions very fine, put them into a saucepan with a cup 
 of hot water, a small piece of butter, pepper, salt, and 
 a very little flour. Stew it until the onions are tender. 
 Cook a steak as above, and when finished, pour the 
 
200 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 onions into the spider to brown, and when of a nice 
 color, pour it over the steak. Or, brown the onions 
 first in a little butter ; when of a good color, pour over 
 them a cup of milk, with pepper and salt. Stew until 
 tender. 
 
 Fricassee of cold Roast Beef. Cut the beef into 
 thin slices ; shred a handful of parsley ; cut an onion 
 in quarters ; and put all together into a stewpan, with 
 a piece of butter braided in flour, with a little water or 
 broth. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer very 
 gently one quarter of an hour. Then mix in two eggs, 
 a glass of port wine, and a spoonful of catchup. Stir 
 it together quickly. 
 
 To dress cold Beef that has not been cooked 
 enough, called beef olives. Cut slices half an inch 
 thick, and four inches square ; lay on them a forcemeat 
 of crums of bread, a little suet, fat, or butter, pepper, 
 and salt. Roll them, and fasten with a skewer or 
 strings. Put them into a stewpan with gravy made 
 from the bones, or the gravy of the meat. Stew them 
 until tender. You can make these of fresh meat. 
 
 Observe, that it is owing to boiling' hashes or minces 
 that they get hard. All sorts of stews, or meat dressed 
 a second time, should be put into hot gravy, the 
 first simmered, while the last should only be warmed 
 through. 
 
 Alamode Beef. For a rump of beef weighing 
 twenty pounds, make a stuffing as follows: Four 
 pounded crackers ; five gills of boiling milk poured over 
 the bread ; thirteen eggs ; five gills of suet, chopped 
 very fine ; twelve table-spoonfuls of sweet marjoram ; 
 four of cloves ; six of grated nutmegs ; three of pepper ; 
 two of salt. Mix these well together. Cut holes in the 
 meat about two inches apart, and fill them with the 
 forcemeat, and sew them up. Stick a small onion 
 with cloves, and put at the bottom of the pot ; and 
 lay skewers about two inches from the bottom of the 
 pot ; place the beef on them after it has been stuffed, 
 
MEATS. 201 
 
 and tied in a round shape with a strong string. Cover 
 the meat with water, or water and red wine, or cider 
 alone. Cover the pot tight to prevent the steam 
 escaping. Let this stew six or eight hours ; turn the 
 meat two or three times. Wet rive pounded crack- 
 ers with four gills of wine, and two large spoonfuls 
 of summer savory, and pour over the meat one hour 
 before the beef is taken up. When cooked, take it 
 up ; skim off the fat from the gravy, and if not thick 
 enough, boil it down until of proper consistency. 
 Serve the meat with forcemeat balls, and eggs boiled 
 hard. 
 
 Beefsteaks may be alamoded by putting into the 
 bottom of a pot some chopped suet, and then a layer 
 of steak, pepper, bread crums, salt, onions, nutmeg, or 
 mace, a little clove; then suet again, and steak in suc- 
 cession, till all is expended. Cover the whole with 
 cider, or half water and wine. Stew slowly three or 
 four hours. 
 
 Tripe should be well boiled. When hot, pour over 
 it vinegar boiled with spice. This will be soused in a 
 few days. Or, cut the tripe, after boiling, into square 
 pieces of six inches ; wash it well ; wipe it dry ; dip it 
 in egg and bread crums, and fry in hot lard. You 
 may turn over it, when dished, a quart of oyster sauce. 
 
 Corned Beef. The edge bone, weighing ten pounds, 
 requires three hours to boil, as this piece should be a 
 little rare. 
 
 The end of brisket is a nice piece to boil. A piece 
 weighing eight pounds should boil five hours. Take 
 out the bone, and press the beef for half an hour before 
 sending to table. 
 
 Tongue. If it has been long salting, the tongue must 
 be soaked over night before boiling. It will need to boil 
 five or six hours. When cooked, put it for five min- 
 utes into cold water, and skin it, beginning to peel it 
 at the tip. 
 
 To boil a Calf's Head. Great care is necessary 
 
202 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 in cleaning the head. It should soak some hours in 
 plenty of cold water. Take out the brains ; scrape 
 the head clean, and boil it in six or eight quarts of 
 water for two or three hours ; then add the liver, lights, 
 and brains', which have been tied up in a cloth sepa- 
 rately. Put some salt into the water ; skim it well ; 
 when nearly ready, take the brains, mash them smooth, 
 and add a quart of the liquor that the head was boiled 
 in, a little butter, flour, salt, and pepper. Boil this 
 together, and add two table-spoons of vinegar to one 
 half the gravy, as all persons do not like the acid. 
 Take up the head, and remove the large bones ; lay it 
 on the centre of dish with the skin side up ; divide the 
 liver and lights ; skin and divide the tongue lengthwise, 
 and lay it around the head on the dish. Put a part 
 of gravy on the head, and send the remainder to table 
 in gravy boats. If there should be any meat left from 
 the dinner, it can be chopped finely, well mixed to- 
 gether, and warmed up in the gravy. Served with 
 toasted bread underneath the meat. The liquor may 
 be made into mock turtle soup, or simply boiled and 
 spiced, and thickened with vermicelli. 
 
 Calves' Feet should be well cleaned, and boiled 
 three or four hours in four quarts of water. Take out 
 the bones, and chop the meat, not very fine ; pour 
 over them about a quart of the liquor boiled, with 
 mace, pepper, salt, and a pint of vinegar. This will 
 keep some weeks in cold weather. It can be simply 
 warmed or fried in small pieces in batter, as oysters. 
 If there should be any liquor left from boiling the feet, 
 it may be made into jelly, as directed for calves' foot 
 jelly. 
 
 Pigs' Feet, cooked as above, are very nice, and 
 keep well. They may with safety be cooked in winter 
 season by fifty or one hundred at a time. 
 
 Sweetbreads. Parboil them, and then cut off the 
 gristle and hard parts, which cannot be done when 
 raw. Put them again into a stewpan, with some pep- 
 
MEATS. 20'J 
 
 per, mace, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and stew 
 until tender. You can brown them, after stewing them, 
 by putting on egg and bread crums, and setting them 
 into the oven for twenty minutes. The liquor will 
 make a good gravy. Or, after being stewed, the sweet- 
 breads may be dipped in batter and nicely fried. 
 
 To roast a Leg of Veal. Let the fillet be cut 
 large or small, as best suits the size of your family. 
 Remove the bone, fill the space with a fine stuffing, 
 and skewer it into a round shape. Roast it well, and 
 brown it. Send it to table the large side uppermost. 
 
 Knuckle of Veal. As fqw people like boiled veal, 
 it is well to leave the knuckle small, and take off some 
 cutlets before it is dressed. The knuckle will keep 
 longer than the fillet, and it is best not to cut the cut- 
 lets oft" until wanted. Break the bones ; wash it well, 
 and put it into a saucepan with three onions, a blade, 
 or two of mace, a little pepper and salt ; cover it with 
 water, and simmer till tender. Macaroni, rice, or rice 
 flour, should be boiled with it to thicken the liquor. 
 Before serving it, you may add, if you choose, a half 
 pint of milk or cream. Or, fry the knuckle with sliced 
 onion, in butter, to a good brown. Cover it with water, 
 adding onion, peas, a cucumber or two, salt and pep- 
 per, and tomatoes. Stew until tender. 
 
 Shoulder of Veal. Cut off" the knuckle for a stew 
 or gravy. Roast the other part, after stuffing it. 
 
 Neck of Veal. Cut oft' the scrag to boil in milk 
 and water, with salt and pepper. Or, stew it with 
 rice, onions, and pepper and salt, with very little water. 
 Or, boiled with bacon and greeens. The best end 
 may be either roasted, or fried as steaks, or made into 
 a pot pie. 
 
 To stew a Leg of Veal. Stuff* it as for roasting ; 
 put it in a pot, and cover it with water, adding salt 
 and pepper ; when cooked tender, mix two or one 
 glass of white wine, one glass of catchup, a little clove, 
 and the yolks of two eggs, beaten together with a little 
 
204 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 of the liquor ; then stir this into the liquor, and boil all 
 together for ten minutes. Serve the meat with the 
 gravy poured over it. 
 
 Veal Ragout. Take a brisket of veal ; cut off the 
 neck and some of the bones, so as to make the piece 
 round. Make some forcemeat, and stuff the meat 
 between the short bones. Put into the pot a little 
 butter ; an onion stuck with gloves ; a carrot sliced. 
 When the butter is melted, put in the meat ; place 
 over it a few slices of salt pork, and strew over it a 
 little pepper, salt, and considerable flour ; put in a little 
 water, not enough to cover the meat ; put in the bones 
 you trimmed off, with a little mace or nutmeg, or lemon 
 peel ; add wine, if you see fit, just before serving. 
 Stew three hours slowly. 
 
 Breast of Veal Ragout. Bone it nicely ; flour it, 
 and fry it a nice brown, or, what is the better way, 
 half roast it. Have ready, boiled, the bones, in some 
 broth or water, with onion, pepper, salt, thyme, or sweet 
 marjoram, mace, a little lemon peel. When the meat 
 is half roasted, put it into the above liquor, which 
 must be thickened with two table-spoonfuls of flour, 
 adding also two table-spoonfuls of catchup and a glass 
 of wine, and the juice of one lemon. Stew until 
 tender. 
 
 A Loin of Veal is very nice, roasted plain. You 
 can make a richer dish by removing the kidneys, and 
 putting in their place a stuffing. It requires three 
 hours if simply roasted, and about one half hour more 
 if stuffed. 
 
 Breast of Veal. Roast it with a few slices of pork 
 laid over it. It will need a full hour and one half to 
 roast it well. 
 
 Veal Cutlets. Try out a few slices of salt pork. 
 Cut some slices from the leg half an inch thick, and 
 fry them of a nice brown color in the fat. You can 
 improve the appearance of these by dipping the cutlet 
 into egg, and then rolling them in bread crams. Fry 
 
MEATS. 205 
 
 them from fifteen to twenty minutes. Make a gravy 
 by adding a little water and butter to the fry. Dredge 
 in flour, with some soy or catchup. Boil together, and 
 pour over the meat. 
 
 Hashed Veal. Take cold roasted or boiled veal, 
 and chop it very fine ; season it with pepper and salt. 
 If you have any cold gravy, put it into the saucepan 
 with the meat; if not, butter is necessary. Warm it 
 well, stirring often, that the gravy or butter may not oil. 
 Serve it on toasted bread. 
 
 Veal Cake, eaten cold. Chop very fine some 
 cold roasted or boiled veal, together with a slice of 
 ham. Soak two pounded crackers in cold milk, to 
 swell them ; mix these with two eggs well beaten, 
 a small bit of butter, and an onion, chopped fine. 
 Season with pepper and salt, and mix all thoroughly. 
 Butter a mould or earthen dish, and bake it about an 
 hour. When cold, turn it out, and cut it into slices. 
 
 Veal Cones. Mince small one pound and a half 
 of cold roasted veal, two ounces of butter, and a 
 little ham. Mix these with five table-spoonfuls of 
 cream or milk, two tea-spoonfuls of pepper, one of 
 salt, and some lemon peel, chopped fine. Make this 
 into cones about three inches high ; rub them over 
 with egg, and sift bread cruras over them, and fry 
 them brown. Put fried bread crams into a dish, and 
 place the cones upon them. Cold fowl, turkey, or 
 rabbit make good cones. Half this quantity will 
 make a pretty side dish. 
 
 Veal Fricandf.au. Cut a piece from the leg of veal, 
 the same in width and depth, and about eight inches 
 in length. Make a hole in the under part, and fill it 
 with forcemeat ; sew it up. Put on the top some slices 
 of salt pork or bacon. Put into a saucepan any pieces 
 of the meat you have trimmed off'; three onions, and 
 one carrot, sliced ; a little thyme, or parsley. Cover 
 it with water, adding a little salt and pepper. Cover 
 it closely, and let it stew three hours. Take out the 
 18 
 
 
206 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 veal, strain the gravy, and take off all the fat. Add 
 three table-spoonfuls of white wine, and two of catch- 
 up. Boil these together. Then serve the fricandeau 
 with the gravy over it. Slices of veal may be cooked 
 in the same manner, and require a shorter time to be 
 tender. 
 
 Veal Olives. Cut thin slices of veal ; season them 
 highly with pepper, salt, mace, and chopped lemon 
 peel. Put a bit of butter into each roll, and tie them 
 up with a thread. Fry them of a light brown, and 
 stew them with a little water, a glass of white wine, a 
 table-spoonful of catchup, or some fresh tomatoes, 
 about one hour. Or, they may be put into the oven in 
 a pan with the above liquor. Remove the thread be- 
 fore serving. 
 
 Calves' Liver. Slice it, season with pepper and 
 salt, and broil nicely ; rub a little butter on it, and 
 serve hot. 
 
 Roasted or baked Liver. Wash and wipe it; 
 stuff it or not, as you like. Put some slices of pork 
 over it, and put it in a pan with a pint of water or 
 veal stock. Boil some macaroni in milk and water. 
 Serve the liver, and pour over the macaroni. Add to 
 the gravy a little butter, catchup, pepper, and salt; 
 turn it over the whole. 
 
 Roast Pig. Make a stuffing, and fill the pig with 
 it, and sew it up. Make a small mop to baste it with, 
 using salt and water until nearly cooked. A pig weigh- 
 ing eight pounds will require from three to four hours' 
 cooking. Boil the pettitoes with the heart and liver, 
 in a small quantity of water, until tender. Mince the 
 heart and liver; thicken the gravy with a spoonful of 
 cream, a little flour, salt, and pepper ; warm up again. 
 Split the feet, and serve, laid over the mince. 
 
 A Sparerib of Pork. Rub it over, before roasting, 
 with pepper, salt, and finely-powdered sage. Take 
 all the fat out of the tin kitchen when the meat is half 
 done, adding water to make the gravy. 
 
MEATS. 207 
 
 Fried Pork Steaks. Fry a few slices of salt pork. 
 Dredge a little flour, pepper, salt, and sage over the 
 steaks ; fry them fifteen or twenty minutes. Fry some 
 slices of apples in the fat, to be eaten with the pork. 
 
 Pigs' Feet. Boil the feet, until every bone will 
 come out, in a little water, with salt, some sage, pep- 
 per, and powdered mace. When nearly cooked, add a 
 little vinegar. When cold, slice it, and fry it in batter 
 a nice brown. 
 
 Pigs' Head Cheese or Brawn. Boil a pig's head 
 until the bones come out, and chop it very fine. 
 Pound eight or ten soft crackers fine, and mix up with 
 it, adding sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and spices. Put 
 it into a mould, and press it for two or three days. 
 Cut it in thin slices. Eaten cold. 
 
 Pigs' Harslet should be fried in pork fat. 
 
 Roast Ham. Spit a ham. Put it before a moderate 
 fire to roast, about two hours, turning it frequently. 
 Take it up on a dish, remove the rind, take all the fat 
 from the roaster, and put back the ham for two hours 
 more. Baste it frequently. You can make a gravy, 
 if you like, to eat with it, with the drippings, by add- 
 ing a cup of water, a little flour, and boil it up. 
 
 Boiled Ham. A ham weighing twelve pounds re- 
 quires four hours' cooking. Put it into cold water, 
 more than enough to cover it. When cooked, remove 
 the skin, and trim off all the dark parts. Cover it with 
 pounded cracker, and put it into the oven to brown it. 
 You may parboil it, and finish cooking by baking it. 
 If the ham is old, soak it over night. When about 
 half cooked, some persons think the flavor improved 
 by adding a bottle of champagne, or some vinegar, or 
 good cider, to the liquor, to finish boiling it. 
 
 To fry Sausages. Prick them ; put a very little 
 lard or butter into the spider, and fry them brown, 
 turning them often. Fry a few slices of bread in the 
 fat, and serve the sausages on them. To parboil the 
 sausages before frying renders them rather more deli- 
 
208 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 cate, and they will fry brown sooner. Fry twenty 
 minutes ; or ten, if parboiled. 
 
 Mock Venison. Hang up for three days a fat loin 
 of mutton ; bone it, and take off the kidney fat and 
 the skin from the upper fat ; mix together two ounces 
 of brown sugar and one ounce of black pepper ; rub 
 this well into the mutton ; pour over it two or three 
 glasses of port wine ; cover it well ; rub and turn it 
 daily, for five days ; roast it as venison ; serve it the 
 same way ; and few will guess they are eating mutton. 
 
 Roast Mutton. Any part of mutton may be 
 roasted, but the loin and hind quarter are best. Roast 
 it as beef. 
 
 Leg of Mutton, boiled. Flour a cloth, tie up the 
 meat, and put it into boiling water. When done, put 
 it in a pan, and pour cold water over it, and let it stand 
 two minutes before removing the cloth. The flour will 
 adhere to the mutton, and make it look very white. 
 
 Mutton Chops, if broiled over the fire, should be 
 wrapped in paper. Ten minutes will cook them. 
 When the paper is taken off, season them with pepper 
 and salt, and a little butter. Or, beat up an egg, and 
 season the chops with pepper and salt ; dip them in 
 the egg, and roll them in bread crums ; put them in a 
 pan, and put it into the oven ; cook them about fifteen 
 minutes ; after dishing the chops, add to your gravy 
 currant jelly and red wine ; dredge in a little flour ; 
 boil it up once, and pour over the chops. 
 
 Lamb, roasted. Roast it as beef, after taking off 
 some of the fat. All the parts of a lamb may be 
 cooked as mutton. You can stew the breast nicely, 
 and, when the bones will draw out, put it on the grid- 
 iron to brown. Stew also some cucumbers, and, when 
 all are cooked, serve the meat in a dish on the cu- 
 cumbers. 
 
 Fresh Meat Griddles. Chop all the bits of cold 
 fresh beef or veal ; season with pepper and salt ; make 
 a batter, and lay a spoonful on the griddle, well but- 
 
MEATS. 209 
 
 tered, then a spoonful of the chopped meat, then 
 another spoonful of batter over the meat. When 
 cooked on one side, turn them, and serve hot. 
 
 Italian Cheese. Take a calf's head, feet, liver, 
 heart, and tongue, with a shoulder of veal ; boil them 
 till tender ; chop and mix them, as directed in brawn. 
 Season highly. Served cold, and cut in slices. This 
 makes a nice relish. 
 
 Beef Cheese. A shin of beef, boiled with some of 
 the coarse pieces of beef, with a little salt. When 
 tender, separate it from all the bones and gristle ; chop 
 it fine ; season it highly with spices and herbs to your 
 taste ; mould and press it like brawn. It will keep, in 
 a cool and dry place, two or three weeks. 
 
 To make Bacon. Take fifty pounds of pork ; hang 
 it in the air four or five days ; then put it in water for 
 three hours ; take three pints of molasses, five pounds 
 of salt, six ounces of saltpetre, both very fine ; rub it 
 well with these, mixed ; let it lie four or five days to 
 make brine, then turn and baste it once a day for three 
 or four weeks. 
 
 Instead of smoking this meat, boil three pints of 
 soot in two gallons of water till it is reduced to three 
 quarts ; strain it, and pour it into the other liquor, with 
 which baste it three weeks and dry it. 
 
 To Bacon Legs or Shoulders of Pork. Rub an 
 ounce of saltpetre on each leg or shoulder ; let them 
 lie three or four days ; then mix together, for a baste, 
 one ounce of saltpetre, one pint of salt, one pint of 
 molasses, for each leg or shoulder. Put the pieces into 
 some vessel, and baste them every day for three weeks. 
 
 Tainted Meats, to remedy. Put the meat into a 
 kettle or saucepan of water, and skim it well when it 
 boils ; throw in a live coal well burnt, but free from 
 smoke, and leave it in two or three minutes. If the 
 meat is to be roasted, wipe it dry before putting it on 
 to the spit ; if poultry, put the charcoal into the belly. 
 18* 
 
210 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 POULTRY AND GAME. 
 
 The flesh of birds differs very much in its sensible 
 properties, not only in different kinds, but even in the 
 different muscles of the same bird. The muscles which 
 move the wings are dryer and more tender than those 
 which move the legs. The tendons of the legs are 
 also very strong, and at a certain age become bony ; 
 but the flesh of the legs, when sufficiently tender, 
 either from the bird being young, or from long keeping 
 or good cookery, is more juicy and savory than that 
 of the wings. 
 
 In a few birds, especially the woodcock and snipe, 
 the legs are at all times preferred to any part. The 
 muscular organs of birds differ from those of quadru- 
 peds, in their flesh never being marbled or having fat 
 mixed with the muscular fibres. 
 
 " That exercise produces strength and firmness of 
 fibre," says Dr. Kitchener, in the Cook's Oracle, "is 
 excellently well exemplified in the woodcock and par- 
 tridge. The former flies most — the latter walks ; the 
 wing of the woodcock is always tough — of the par- 
 tridge very tender." Hence the old doggerel distich : — 
 
 "If the partridge had but the woodcock's thigh, 
 He'd be the best bird that e'er doth fly." 
 
 The breast of all birds is the most juicy and nutri- 
 tious part. 
 
 The meat of the white-fleshed, as the common fowl 
 and turkey, is generally liked, and, when young, is 
 tender. Chicken flesh is nutritious, easily digested, 
 and is perhaps the least stimulating of animal foods. 
 
 The dark-fleshed game, as in the wild birds, is 
 firmer, more stimulating, and somewhat less digestible 
 than chicken. 
 
 In the aquatic birds, as the goose and duck, the 
 flesh is mostly firm, penetrated with fat, (which often 
 
POULTRY AND GAME. 211 
 
 acquires a rancid and fishy taste,) and is more difficult 
 of digestion. 
 
 The brains of birds are eaten, though seldom, being 
 exceedingly expensive. In the woodcock, the intes- 
 tine (the trail) is, by epicures, considered a bonne 
 louche, or a titbit. 
 
 The liver of most birds is a favorite part. It is easy 
 of digestion. The celebrated "pates de foies gras" 
 prepared at Strasburg, are made of the livers of geese, 
 artificially enlarged by the cruel process of shutting 
 the birds up in coops, within a room heated to a very 
 high temperature, and stuffing them constantly with 
 food. 
 
 All game should be kept till perfectly tender ; or, if 
 wanted in a hurry, it may be picked, wrapped in a 
 cloth, and thus buried in the earth for a few hours 
 before it is dressed. " This is the custom abroad, 
 where it is no uncommon occurrence to sup on wild 
 fowl, perfectly tender, that were killed since an early 
 dinner on the same day." 
 
 Birds that are dressed so soon after being killed as 
 scarcely to have become cold, are more tender than if 
 put by for a night, and afterwards not kept long enough. 
 On the other hand, if you wish them kept a long time, 
 for any particular purpose, put powdered charcoal or 
 chloride of lime into them. Still better, if you have 
 an ice-house, put your game there, and no other pre- 
 scription will be needed. 
 
 Water birds, in order to be less susceptible of cold, 
 are, by nature, of a warmer temperature than land 
 birds. This is proved by cookery ; as a common fowl, 
 to be roasted or boiled, will require from three quarters 
 to an hour, depending on the size ; while a tame duck, 
 of equal weight, will be cooked in one half or three 
 quarters of an hour. 
 
 Let a goose, or any strong or fat wild fowl, be 
 roasted with a small onion and a pared lemon in the 
 inside. These will draw out the strong fat, and give 
 the bird a milder taste. 
 
212 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 To choose Poultry. 
 
 A Turkey Cock. If young, it has a smooth, black 
 leg, with a short spur ; and if fresh, the eyes are full 
 and bright, and the feet supple and moist. Old tur- 
 keys have stiff, scaly feet; and if stale, the eyes are 
 sunk, and the feet dry. 
 
 Fowls. If a cock is young, his spurs will be short ; 
 sometimes, however, they are cut, to deceive the buyer. 
 In old hens, the legs and combs are rough ; in pullets, 
 they are smooth, and the skin is tender. A good capon 
 has a thick belly, much fat at the breast, and the comb 
 is pale, and legs smooth. Pullets are best in the spring, 
 just before they begin to lay. Fowls with black legs 
 are juiciest, and best for roasting. 
 
 Geese. The bill and feet of a young goose will be 
 yellow, and there will be but few hairs upon them ; if 
 old, they will be red and hairy. If fresh, the feet are 
 pliable ; if stale, dry and stiff. Geese are called green 
 until three or four months old. Green geese should 
 be scalded ; a stubble goose should be picked dry. 
 
 Ducks. Choose them when they are hard and thick 
 on the breast and belly, and when their feet are supple. 
 The feet of tame ducks are thick, and inclined to dusky 
 yellow ; a wild duck has reddish feet, and smaller than 
 the tame ones. Ducklings must be scalded. 
 
 Pigeons should be very fresh. The feet should not 
 be stiff, nor rough. Tame pigeons are larger than the 
 wild ones. They should be fat and tender. The 
 wood-pigeon has a dark-colored flesh. 
 
 Plovers. Choose them by the same marks as fowls. 
 
 Partridges and Quails. If young, the bill is of a 
 dark color, and the legs yellowish. They are in sea- 
 son in autumn. 
 
 Rabbit. If the claws are blunt and rugged, the 
 ears dry and tough, and the haunch thick, it is old ; 
 but if the claws are smooth and sharp, if the ears tear 
 easily, and the cleft in the lip is not much spread, it is 
 young. 
 
POULTRY AND GAME. 
 
 213 
 
 Directions for dressing Poultry and Game. 
 
 All poultry should be very carefully picked, every 
 pin-feather removed, and the hairs nicely singed. 
 
 To pluck either game or poultry, have the bird upon 
 a board, with its head towards you, and pull the feath- 
 ers away from you, which is the direction they lie in. 
 If the feathers are pulled in a contrary direction, the 
 skin is liable to be torn. Fowls are more easily picked 
 if scalded ; but this renders the skin liable to be torn, 
 and, of course, injures the appearance of the birds. 
 Be careful in removing the gall bag. No washing will 
 remove the bitter taste. To draw poultry or game after 
 it is plucked, cut a long incision at the back of the neck, 
 then take out the thin skin from under the outer, with 
 the crop ; cut the neck bone off close to the body of the 
 bird, but leave the skin a good length ; make an in- 
 cision under the tail, just large enough for the gizzard 
 to pass through, and no larger. Put your finger into 
 the bird at the breast, and detach all the intestines; 
 take care not to break the gall bladder ; squeeze the 
 body of the bird, and force out the whole through the 
 incision at the tail. The bird is now ready for trussing. 
 
 In roasting wild fowl, be careful and have a brisk 
 fire. Let them be cooked of a fine yellow-brown color. 
 
 Tame fowls require more cooking, and are longer in 
 heating through than wild ones. All sorts should be 
 continually basted, that they may be served with a 
 froth, and appear of a good color. 
 
 A large fowl will take three quarters of an hour to 
 roast; a middling sized one, half an hour; and a 
 small one, or chicken, twenty minutes. The fire must 
 be clear and quick before any fowls are put down to 
 roast. A capon will take from half an hour to forty 
 minutes ; a goose, an hour ; wild ducks, a quarter of 
 an hour ; a small turkey, stuffed, an hour and a quar- 
 ter; turkey poults, twenty minutes; grouse, fifteen 
 minutes ; quails, ten minutes ; partridges, from twenty 
 
214 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 to thirty minutes. A rabbit will take nearly an hour, 
 and the hind part requires the most heat. A pair of 
 chickens require from one to two hours to boil, depend- 
 ing on size and age. A turkey weighing ten pounds 
 requires an hour and three quarters to boil ; chickens, 
 broiled, twenty minutes over a slow fire. To roast a 
 common goose, take about two hours ; a mongrel one, 
 an hour and a half ; a wild one, an hour. 
 
 Plain roasted Turkey. Having first emptied the 
 bird, picked, singed, and washed it, break the leg bone 
 close to the foot, and draw out the sinews from the 
 thigh ; cut off the neck close to the back, leaving the 
 skin long ; wipe the inside with a wet cloth ; cut the 
 breast bone through on each side close to the back, and 
 draw the legs close up ; fold a cloth up several times, 
 place it on the breast, and beat it down till it lies flat ; 
 put a skewer in the joint of the wing, and another 
 through the middle of the leg and body, one through 
 the small part of the leg and body, close to the side 
 bones, and another through the extremity of the two 
 legs. The liver and gizzards may be placed between 
 the pinions of the wings, and the points turned on the 
 back. Make a stuffing of two cups of bread crums, 
 two spoonfuls of butter, one tea-spoonful of salt, one 
 or two eggs, two large spoonfuls of sweet marjoram, 
 or thyme, and mix them well together ; fill the breast 
 with this forcemeat, and sew it up ; if you have more 
 than enough to fill the breast, put the remainder into 
 the body, and sew up the opening ; baste it with salt 
 and water once or twice, then frequently with butter, 
 or lard it with thin slices of salt pork. Some twenty 
 minutes before serving it, dredge it with flour and a 
 little salt, and baste with butter fbr the last time. 
 Sausages are always served a* an accompaniment to 
 roast turkey in England, either put around the dish on 
 which the turkey is placed, or on a separate dish of 
 hot, mashed potatoes. 
 
 Boiled Turkey is trussed the same as for roasting, 
 
rOULTRY AND GAME. 215 
 
 and the stuffing is made with chopped salt pork, instead 
 of butter. If oyster sauce is to be sent to table with 
 the turkey, chop three or four oysters fine, and mix 
 with the stuffing. Flour a cloth well ; pin up the tur- 
 key tightly ; put it into boiling water, in which one or 
 two pounds of salt pork have been boiling for half an 
 hour ; let this boil with the turkey. The pork should 
 be served on a separate dish. If no oysters are to be 
 used, put parsley into the drawn butter, and pour a 
 little over the bird. 
 
 To BONE AND COOK A BONED TURKEY. Pluck and 
 
 singe well the bird. Lay the turkey breast downward 
 on a napkin, and with a sharp knife pass the point 
 through the skin, which cut open straight down the 
 back bone ; then clear the flesh from the bones of the 
 carcass until you come to the breast bone, disjointing 
 the wings and legs as you proceed ; very carefully sep- 
 arate the breast bone from the flesh, without cutting 
 through the skin, when you may remove the carcass 
 from the interior of the turkey ; then take the bones 
 from the wings and legs ; for the legs, scrape the first 
 bone free from the flesh to below the first joint, where 
 chop it oft'; cut the flesh round over the knuckle, and 
 pull the foot, when the remainder of the. bone and 
 sinews will come out together. Cut off the wings at 
 the first pinion, and the remaining bone is quickly 
 scraped away. This is a difficult dish to attempt, and 
 only practice can make one perfect in it. Have ready 
 a stuffing made of the meat of a roasted chicken, 
 chopped exceeding fine, salt, mace, sweet marjoram, 
 pepper, pounded cracker, a little butter, with two or 
 three eggs, mixed well together. Fill the turkey with 
 this, and sew it up, preserving as much as possible its 
 natural shape. Crack well two calves' feet and the 
 bones taken from the turkey ; put them into a deep 
 saucepan or pot, with one onion chopped fine, one 
 carrot, mace, pepper, salt, and a dozen cloves. (If you 
 add half a head of celery, a little parsley, and thyme, 
 
216 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 it is an improvement.) Lay the turkey on the bones, 
 and add about two quarts of water, or just cover the 
 bird ; cover it tightly, and let it simmer three hours ; 
 then take out the turkey, flour it, and baste it well 
 with butter, and put it into the oven to brown. If 
 there is not one quart of gravy, add water, and boil it 
 nearly one half hour. Beat the whites and shells of 
 two eggs, and add a little of the gravy, very gradually, 
 to the egg, stirring it all the while. Put it all together, 
 and boil twenty minutes. Strain through a cloth into 
 a mould. When cold and firm, garnish the turkey 
 with it. Served cold, as a supper dish. 
 
 To clarify Meat Jelly. It is a better plan than 
 the last to pass the gravy through a sieve, and let it 
 cool to take off all the fat. You can soon satisfy 
 yourself if it be stiff enough, by putting a little on ice. 
 Savory jellies require to be stiffer than sweet jelly. If 
 it is found to be too stiff, add a little boiliyig water ; if, 
 on the contrary, too thin, reduce it, by boiling it longer, 
 to its proper consistency ; then add the whites and 
 shells of two or four eggs, with two spoonfuls of vin- 
 egar and a glass of sherry ; whisk these well into the 
 gravy, and let them just boil ; taste it, and if suffi- 
 ciently seasoned, strain it into a mould. When cold, 
 it is ready to ornament any dish, as tongues, ham, 
 pies, or salads. When calves' feet are not to be ob- 
 tained, a knuckle of veal can be substituted, or they 
 can be used together. The knuckle and feet can be 
 served hot, with a little drawn butter, for the family 
 dinner. 
 
 Roast Chickens. Empty the fowl, and wash and 
 singe it. Clean the gizzard. Cut the skin of the 
 ' wings, and put the gizzard and liver through the holes, 
 and turn the pinion under ; put a skewer through the 
 first joint of the pinion and body, coming out at the 
 opposite side, and bring the middle of the leg close up 
 to it ; run a skewer through the middle of both legs 
 and body, and another through drumsticks and side 
 
POULTRY AND GAME. 217 
 
 bones. Some send the fowl to table with the feet on, 
 only cutting oft' the nails. Roast them the same as 
 turkey. 
 
 Boiled Chickens. Trussed the same as roast, and 
 boiled as .turkey. Stuffing is an improvement, both 
 to roast and boiled chickens. Pork should be served 
 and boiled with chickens. 
 
 Capon, to roast. Prepare it as turkey. 
 
 Capon, to boil. Prepared and stuffed as turkey. 
 
 Broiled Chickens. Split them down the back ; 
 put pepper and salt on them, and broil them care- 
 fully. 
 
 Fricassee of Chickens. Boil them rather more 
 than half an hour in a small quantity of water ; when 
 cool, cut them up. Take the liquor in which they 
 were boiled, add onion, mace, lemon peel, salt, pepper, 
 and sweet herbs, if you choose, and put in the fowl 
 and simmer until tender. When quite cooked, take 
 out the meat, and thicken the gravy with a bit of 
 butter rolled in flour, and add, if necessary, more sea- 
 soning. Put the liver, gizzard, and necks into the 
 gravy to boil. Wine and eggs may be added, if 
 preferred, to other seasoning. 
 
 Curry of Chickens. Cut the chicken into good 
 shaped pieces. Try out a few slices of salt pork, and 
 put in the chicken to brown a little ; fry also the onions 
 after the chickens are browned ; then add hot water 
 to cover the whole, with a little salt ; let it simmer 
 about half an hour, then add a table-spoonful of curry 
 mixed with water; stir it into the gravy, and let it boil 
 with the chickens until tender. To be served with 
 boiled rice. In India, curries are never served without 
 an acid accompaniment. The East Indians make a 
 curry paste, in which the acid is mixed with the pow- 
 der to cook with the meat ; or they use chutney. 
 
 Chicken Pilau. Put one pound of best rice into 
 a fryingpan with two ounces of butter, which keep 
 moving over a slow fire until it is slightly browned. 
 19 
 
218 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Take a fowl trussed as for boiling, and put it into a 
 stewpan with five pints of good broth, seasoning it with 
 pepper, cloves, allspice, mace, salt, and a few pounded 
 cardamom seeds, with fresh tomatoes, or catchup ; let 
 it boil slowly until nearly done^ then add the rice, and 
 let it stew until quite tender and almost dry. Take 
 three or four onions, and cut them into slices ; sprinkle 
 them with flour, and fry, without breaking them, of a 
 good brown color. Boil three eggs hard, and slice 
 them. Lay the fowl upon the dish, and cover it with 
 the rice, forming a pyramid ; garnish it with the fried 
 onions and hard-boiled eggs. Serve very hot. Some- 
 times raisins are boiled with the rice. 
 
 To roast Ducks. For a pair of ducks, make a stuf- 
 fing of one onion, bread crums, sage, butter, pepper, 
 and salt ; flour them thick, baste, and turn them often. 
 Black ducks cook in half an hour ; canvas-back in 
 twenty-five minutes. Wild ducks should be cooked 
 after the soup is served. 
 
 To roast Geese. Clean well a common goose, 
 and wash it, and truss it as turkey. Make a stuffing 
 of six boiled potatoes, mashed fine, or six spoonfuls 
 of boiled rice, two onions, one spoonful of salt, one 
 of pepper, with two of powdered sage. Stuff the 
 goose ; if you have any stuffing left, put it into the 
 body, and sew it up. Roast it two hours. Baste it 
 with its own drippings. 
 
 Goose, stewed. If an old o*ne, this is by far the 
 better way to cook it. Use any vegetables to your 
 taste, with pepper and salt, and a little sage. 
 
 A Wild Goose should be roasted rare ; one hour is 
 sufficient time. Add a glass of red wine and half a 
 cup of currant jelly to the gravy. 
 
 Moxgrel Goose is cooked as the common goose. 
 It requires no stuffing. An hour and a half will cook 
 a goose without stuffing. 
 
 To roast Partridges. Lard them well with salt 
 pork ; tie the legs down to the rump, (if you have not 
 
POULTRY AND GAME. 219 
 
 the proper small skewers,) leaving the feet on. Baste 
 them well with butter. 
 
 To boil Partridges. Cut off the feet, and tie down 
 the legs. Boil them in water in which a piece of salt 
 pork has been boiling for three fourths of an hour. 
 
 To broil Partridges. Split them down the back, 
 and broil them twenty minutes ; dredge them with 
 pepper and salt, and put on them a little butter. 
 
 To roast Pigeons. They may be stuffed or not, as 
 it suits one's taste. Prepare the following stuffing for 
 a dozen birds : Two large cups of pounded crackers ; 
 one spoonful of pepper; two of salt; one of allspice; 
 one onion ; a little butter, or salt pork scraped ; one or 
 two eggs ; a little mace, with two spoonfuls of sweet 
 marjoram or thyme. Mix this well, and stuff the 
 bodies ; sew them up, and truss them well. Roast 
 them half an hour; baste them with butter, and lard 
 them with a small strip of pork on the breast. 
 
 Potted Pigeons. Stuff them as for roast. Try 
 out a few slices of pork, and brown the pigeons ; 
 brown also a few slices of onions ; then cover the 
 pigeons with a little water, with salt, pepper, a little 
 pounded clove, and stew them until tender. Some 
 persons split a few crackers, dip them in cold water, 
 and, after the pigeons have stewed about an hour, 
 cover them over with the crackers, and stew twenty 
 minutes longer. Serve them in a deep dish, crackers 
 underneath, and pour over the whole the gravy. 
 
 Stewed Pigeon. Cut them open on the backhand 
 season them well with salt and pepper ; put a layer of 
 pigeons in the pot, then a layer of split crackers, 
 dipped in cold water, then pigeons again in succession 
 with crackers. Cover them with water, and let them 
 simmer gently. A knuckle of veal is very good cooked 
 in this way. 
 
 Quails. Tie the legs down to the rump ; let the 
 feet be uppermost. Dredge them with flour, baste 
 them with butter, and roast twenty minutes. 
 
220 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 Woodcock should be trussed with the bills running 
 through the legs and wings. Roast them as quails. 
 Epicures wish them not drawn. When eaten hot, to 
 be served on toast. 
 
 Plovers. Roast the same as quails, without taking 
 out the trail, and serve on toast. 
 
 Rabbits may be eaten various ways. 
 
 Roasted, with stuffing, as turkey. It should be 
 trussed with the head on, and the front leg turned 
 back, and skewered through the body. The hind leg 
 straightened out, so that it be upright when dished. 
 
 Boiled, and smothered with fried onions. 
 
 Fried, in joints, with fried parsley. 
 
 Fricasseed, as chickens, or in a pie, or curried, as 
 chickens. 
 
 Chicken Salad. Roast or boil either chickens, tur- 
 key, or veal ; remove all the skin and gristle, and chop 
 it very fine. Put the lettuce into cold water. If made 
 with celery, it should be slivered very fine, and put 
 into iced water to crisp. 
 
 Five pounds of meat, an equal quantity of lettuce 
 or celery. Add the dressing to the salad only a few 
 minutes before it is sent to table. See Dressing, p. 161. 
 
 PICKLES. 
 
 Pickles should never be kept in potters' ware, as 
 arsenic and other poisonous substances are employed 
 in the glazing; neither should they be prepared in 
 metal saucepans, as acid dissolves the lead that is in 
 the tinning of some, and corrodes the brass of others. 
 One may not be instantly poisoned after eating pickles 
 prepared or kept in such vessels ; but if constantly used, 
 a deleterious influence must be operating on the health 
 from this cause, even when least suspected. 
 
 Keep pickles closely covered ; and have a wooden 
 spoon (with holes, if to be obtained) attached to each 
 
PICKLES. 221 
 
 jar or firkin. No metal article should be allowed. 
 The air must be excluded. It is well to keep a small 
 jar into which all that was left from any meal may be 
 put, and the top closely covered. When necessary to 
 boil vinegar, do it either in a stone jar or in the por- 
 celain-lined saucepans. 
 
 Pickled Cabbage. Slice the cabbage ; put it into 
 a colander, and sprinkle it with salt; then let it drain 
 for two days. Put it into a jar, and pour boiling 
 vinegar to cover it. Select purple cabbages. Those 
 who like spice should boil it in the vinegar. Cauli- 
 flower, cut in branches, after being salted and put with 
 the cabbage, will look a beautiful red. 
 
 To pickle Nuts. Lay them in salt water, and let 
 them stand nine or ten days, changing the water three 
 times. Take them out, wipe them dry, and put them 
 into a stone pot. Boil some white wine vinegar with 
 cloves, mace, race ginger, pepper, and horse radish, 
 and pour over the nuts. The last of June or first of 
 July is the time to gather butternuts or walnuts for 
 pickling. To one hundred of nuts put a spoonful of 
 mustard seed, one third of an ounce of nutmeg, one 
 quarter of an ounce of cloves, one quarter of mace, 
 one half ounce of allspice. 
 
 Martinoes. Gather them when rather small ; wipe 
 off the down, and put them into cold, weak brine for 
 ten days, changing it three times. Boil vinegar with 
 allspice, mace, cloves, and cinnamon, and pour over 
 the martinoes boiling hot. 
 
 Nasturtions. Gather the seed when green, and 
 throw them into cold vinegar. They need a little salt. 
 Used instead of capers. 
 
 Peppers. Keep them warm by the fire for a week, 
 in brine as strong as sea water. Stuff them, if you 
 please. Pour hot vinegar over them. Do not put 
 peppers, in any quantity, with other pickles ; a few im- 
 prove cucumbers. 
 
 Pickled Cucumbers. Put them into an earthen 
 19* 
 
222 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 pot, and pour boiling hot water, with a very little salt 
 in it, over them. Cover them, and let them stand two 
 days. Then take them out, and put them into a jar, 
 and cover them with boiling vinegar. Look at them 
 occasionally, as they may need more vinegar, or the 
 vinegar may require scalding. 
 
 Mangoes. Choose small muskmelons. Cut a small 
 square piece out from one side, and remove the seeds 
 with a spoon. Fill the melons with a stuffing made 
 of cloves, mustard seeds, salt, scrapings of horse radish, 
 and chopped onion. Sew in the piece with coarse 
 thread, and pour boiling vinegar over them four suc- 
 cessive days. Then lay them in fresh vinegar, and 
 cover closely. 
 
 Lemons. They should be small, with thick rinds ; 
 rub them with a piece of flannel ; then slit them half 
 down in four quarters, but not through to the pulp. 
 Fill the slits with salt, pressed in ; set, them upright in 
 a pan for four or five days, until the salt melts ; turn 
 them every day in their own liquor, until tender. Boil 
 vinegar, with a little pepper and race ginger, and pour 
 over the lemons when cold. When the lemons are 
 used, the pickle will be useful in fish or other sauces. 
 
 Peaches. Choose peaches that are ripe, but not 
 soft enough to eat. Put a clove into each one. Boil 
 a pound of brown sugar with a gallon of vinegar ; 
 skim it well, and pour hot over the peaches. Cover 
 them closely. It may be necessary to scald the vine- 
 gar again in a week or two. They retain their flavor 
 well. 
 
 Basil Vinegar. Sweet basil is in perfection about 
 the middle of August. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle 
 with the fresh leaves, and cover them with vinegar or 
 wine, and let them steep ten days. If you wish it 
 very strong, strain this liquor off, and fill up the bottle 
 with fresh leaves ; add the strained liquor. This is an 
 agreeable addition to sauces, salads, and soups. This 
 is a secret the makers of mock-turtle soups make free 
 
OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 223 
 
 use of to give a zest to their soups. A table-spoonful, 
 put in when the soup is finished, will flavor a tureen 
 of soup with basil and acid. 
 
 The flavor of celery and other sweet herbs may be 
 preserved in the same way. Horse radish, when in 
 perfection, scraped, and one quart of vinegar poured 
 over three ounces of radish, with a little black or cay- 
 enne pepper, is an excellent relish for cold beef and 
 veal. 
 
 Lemon Peel Pickles. Take six large and very 
 thick-skinned lemons ; quarter them ; take the juice 
 and core out; put the peels in salt and water. Let 
 them remain six days where they will be warm all the 
 time. Put the juice in the brine, with a few cloves, 
 allspice, and a few pieces of ginger root. Keep the 
 whole (except the core) warm for another week, when 
 they will be found ready for eating, and exceedingly 
 nice. 
 
 Radish Pods. Gather them, in sprigs or bunches, 
 "when young and tender. Let them stand in salt and 
 water three days ; pickle like cucumbers. 
 
 Green Beans. Gather them half grown, and pickle 
 in cold vinegar, with spices. 
 
 OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 
 
 Of the indirect products of agriculture, milk, and 
 the butter and cheese manufactured from it, are among 
 the most important. 
 
 The milk of most animals is a white, opaque liquid, 
 having a slight but peculiar odor, which becomes more 
 distinct when the milk is warmed, and an agreeable 
 sweetish taste. When newly taken from the animal, 
 cow's milk is almost always slightly alkaline. It soon 
 loses this character, however, when exposed to the 
 air; and hence even new milk sometimes exhibits a 
 slight degree of acidity. It is said, that if the animal 
 
224 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 remains long unmilked, the milk begins to sour in the 
 udder ; and, of course, it would be slightly acid when 
 freshly drawn from the cow. 
 
 Ewes' milk does not differ much, in its appearance, 
 from that of the cow, but it is generally thicker, and 
 gives a pale yellow butter, which is soft, and soon be- 
 comes rancid. 
 
 Goats' milk generally possesses a characteristic un- 
 pleasant odor and taste, which is said to be less marked 
 in animals of a white color and such as are destitute 
 of horns. The butter is always white and hard, and 
 keeps long fresh. The milk is said to be very whole- 
 some, and is often recommended to invalids. 
 
 Asses' milk has much resemblance to that of woman. 
 It yields little cream, and the butter is white and light, 
 and soon becomes rancid. 
 
 Milk consists, besides water, of sugar, butter, and 
 the curd, with some saline matter, partly soluble and 
 partly insoluble in water. These proportions vary with 
 different animals. The milk of the cow, goat, and 
 ewe, contains more cheesy matter than that of woman 
 or the ass. It is probably the similarity of asses' milk 
 to that of the human species, together with a de- 
 ficiency in butter, which, from the most remote times, 
 has recommended it to invalids, as a light and easily- 
 digested drink. 
 
 The quality and quantity of milk is modified by 
 many circumstances, viz., the breed, the food and pas- 
 ture, the age and health of the animal, the time and 
 frequency of milking, the treatment and temperament 
 of the animal, and the distance from the time of 
 calving. 
 
 The quality of cows' milk depends much, especially, 
 upon the race and size of the animal. As a general 
 rule, small races, or small individuals of the larger 
 races, give the richest milk, from the same kind of food. 
 A milch cow should have a long, thin head, with a 
 brisk but placid eye, and Mr. Youatt states, " that she 
 
OP MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 225 
 
 should be thin and hollow in the neck, narrow in the 
 breast and point of the shoulder, and altogether light 
 in the fore quarter ; but wide in the loins, with little 
 dewlaps, and neither too full fleshed along the chine, 
 nor showing in any part an inclination to put on much 
 fat. The udder should be large, round, and full, with 
 the milk veins protruding, yet thin skinned, but not 
 hanging loose or tending far behind. The teats should 
 also stand square, all pointing out, at equal distances, 
 and of the same size ; and although neither very large 
 nor thick towards the udder, yet long and tapering 
 towards a point. A cow with a large head, a high 
 back bone, a small udder and teats, and drawn up in 
 the belly, will, beyond all doubt, be found a bad 
 milker." 
 
 The kind of food has probably more influence upon 
 the quality of the milk than any other circumstance. 
 It is familiar to every dairy farmer, that the taste and 
 color of his milk and cream are affected by the plants 
 on which his cows feed, and by the food he gives them 
 in the stall. All vegetable productions which contain 
 much water, mixed with nutritive matter, increase the 
 quantity of milk. The quality of milk is affected by 
 almost every change in the health of the animal. The 
 poorer the apparent condition of the cow, — good food 
 being given, — -the richer, in general, is the milk. 
 
 If the cow be milked only once a day, the milk will 
 yield a seventh part more butter than an equal quan- 
 tity of that which is obtained by two milkings in the 
 day. When milk is drawn three times a day, it is 
 more abundant, but still less rich. It is also univer- 
 sally remarked that the morning's milk is of better 
 quality than that obtained in the evening. The milk 
 in the udder of the cow is not of uniform quality. 
 That which is first drawn off is thin and poor, and 
 gives little cream. That which is last drawn — the 
 strippings or afterings — is rich in quality, and yields 
 much cream. Compared with the first milk, the same 
 
226 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 measure of the last will give at least eight, and often- 
 times sixteen times as much cream. The quality of 
 the cream, also, and of the skimmed milk, is much 
 better in the latter than in the earlier drawn portions 
 of the milk. 
 
 A state of comparative repose is favorable to the 
 performance of all the important functions in a healthy 
 animal. Any thing which frets, torments, disturbs, or 
 renders it uneasy, affects these functions, and, among 
 other results, lessens the quantity and changes the 
 quality of the milk. 
 
 There is no kind of milk of which different exami- 
 nations of the products afford such different results, as 
 that of woman : not only does the milk of different 
 individuals present very different results, but that of 
 the same nurse, when analyzed at various times, offers 
 dissimilar proportions. This milk, like every other, 
 becomes covered with a coat of cream ; but it is often 
 the case that the most prolonged churning cannot 
 produce butter. The astonishing differences which 
 appear in woman's milk may be attributed to the pas- 
 sions of the mind, to nervous agitation, and to fre- 
 quent changes of diet. The action of the two first 
 agents is of the most powerful kind ; and as they are 
 exercised most vigorously and frequently upon the hu- 
 man species, it is not wonderful that they should exert 
 a decided influence upon the milk of women. The 
 suspicion that hereditary or constitutional affections 
 alter the condition of milk, is strengthened by the 
 common observation that the milk of different nurses 
 does not equally suit the same child, nor that of the 
 same nurse different children. That mental emotions 
 affect the quality of the milk is proved by the fact, 
 that the action of the bowels of the child is frequently 
 disordered, in consequence of some sudden emotion on 
 the part of the nurse. The influence which many 
 medicines, taken by the patient, have over the child, is 
 a circumstance known to every nurse. We can modify 
 
OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 227 
 
 the color of the milk by mixing saffron or madder with 
 the food ; the odor may be affected by various plants ; 
 the taste may be altered by the use of bitters, as worm- 
 wood ; and lastly, the medicinal effect may be also in- 
 fluenced. Children may be salivated by sucking nurses 
 under the influence of mercury, or purged by the exhi- 
 bition of drastics, or narcotized by the administration 
 of opiates to the nurse, or stupefied by the frequent 
 use of intoxicating drinks by the parent. These ob- 
 servations deserve great attention from those interested 
 in the nursing of children. The sugar of milk is ob- 
 tained, by boiling and evaporation, in the shape of 
 crystals. It is less sweet than the sugar of the grape 
 or of the sugar-cane. It undergoes no change when 
 exposed to the air. It is used by homceopathists as a 
 foundation of their powders and pellets, as it con- 
 tains no lime like common sugar. When milk is ex- 
 posed to the air for any length of time, it acquires a 
 sour taste, which gradually increases in intensity till 
 the whole ferments. This sour taste is owing to the 
 production of a peculiar acid, to which the name of 
 acid of milk, or lactic acid, has been given. This acid 
 is rarely found in milk when first drawn from the cow, 
 but it very soon begins to form. It is produced from 
 the sugar, through the influence of the cheesy matter 
 of the milk. The pure acid may be mixed with cold 
 milk, without causing it to curdle ; but if the mixture 
 be heated, the curd forms and speedily separates. It 
 is for the same reason, that milk may be distinctly sour 
 to the taste, and yet may not coagulate. But if such 
 milk be heated, it will curdle immediately. So cream, 
 when sour, may not appear so till it is poured into hot 
 tea, when it will separate, and leave its cheesy matter 
 floating on the surface. 
 
 If milk be kept at a low temperature, it may be pre- 
 served for several days without becoming sensibly 
 sour. This is done in Switzerland," by immersing the 
 milk vessels' in a shallow trough of cool water, which 
 
228 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 is renewed often. In such cases, the operation of the 
 cheesy matter is going on, though slowly. The curd 
 of milk, or any substance which possesses the power 
 of changing sugar into lactic acid, loses that power if 
 the solution in which they are present be raised to the 
 boiling point. If milk be put into bottles, be well 
 corked, put into a pan of cold water, and gradually 
 raised to the boiling point, and then allowed to cool, 
 and put into a cool place, the milk may be preserved 
 sweet for upwards of half a year. If milk be exposed 
 to the air, after being boiled, the cheesy matter will 
 gradually resume the property of transforming the 
 sugar into the acid. Hence, if milk be boiled, it is pre- 
 served sweet for a longer time, though at the end of a 
 day or two it will turn sour. If the milk be boiled every 
 morning, or every other morning, the souring property 
 of the cheesy matter is at every boiling destroyed 
 again, and the milk may thus be kept fresh for two 
 months or more. Milk is in general readily digested 
 by children, unless it contain too large a quantity of 
 nutritious matter. It frequently disagrees with adults. 
 With some it proves heavy and difficult of digestion, 
 owing to its oily constituent, (butter.) With such, 
 asses' milk, or skimmed cows' milk, usually agrees. 
 
 The fatty part of the milk, which exists in the 
 cream and forms the butter, is merely mixed with and 
 held in solution by the water of which the milk chiefly 
 consists. In the udder of the cow, it is in some meas- 
 ure separated from, and floats on the surface of the 
 milk, the latter drawn portions being always the richest 
 in cream. During the milking, the rich and poor por- 
 tions are usually mixed together again ; and thus the 
 separation afterwards is rendered slower, more difficult, 
 and less complete. This is proved by two facts : first, 
 if the milk be shaken or stirred, so as to mix all its 
 parts together before setting it aside, the cream will 
 be considerably longer in coming to the surface ; and 
 second, more cream is obtained by keeping the milk in 
 
OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 
 
 229 
 
 different vessels, as it is drawn, and setting these aside 
 to *throw up their cream, than by mixing the whole 
 milking together. When the collection of cream is 
 the principal object, economy suggest* that the first, 
 second, third, and last drawn portions of the milk 
 should be kept apart. This would be easily done by 
 having three or four pails to put the milk into. Cream 
 does not readily rise through any considerable depth 
 of milk ; it is proper, therefore, to use broad, shallow 
 vessels, in which the milk stands at a depth of not 
 more than two or three inches. The temperature of 
 the surrounding air materially affects the quantity of 
 cream which milk yields, and the rapidity with which 
 it rises to the surface. An equal quantity of cream 
 from the same milk may be taken off in a much shorter 
 time in warm weather than in the cold season. The 
 reason of this is, that the fatty matter of the milk 
 becomes partially solid in cold weather, and is thus 
 prevented from rising to the surface of the milk as 
 easily as when in a perfectly fluid state. In very thin, 
 or poor milk, in which little cheesy matter is contained, 
 the cream will rise more quickly. 
 
 The composition of cream is even more variable 
 than that of milk ; and its richness depends much on 
 the manner in which it is collected. It does not con- 
 sist wholly of fatty matter, but these globules of fat, 
 as they rise, bring up with them a variable proportion 
 of the curd and some of the sugar. It is the sugar 
 which makes the cream turn sour, and the cheesy mat- 
 ter which makes it curdle, when mixid with acid liquids 
 or acid fruits. 
 
 The clotted, or clouted cream, used so much in 
 England, as well as the butter prepared from it, con- 
 tains, probably, an unusually large quantity of cheese. 
 It is prepared by straining the warm milk into large 
 shallow pans, into which a little water has previously 
 been put, allowing these to stand from six to twelve 
 hours, and then carefully heating over a slow fire to 
 20 
 
230 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 the boiling point. The milk must not boil, neither 
 must the skin of the cream be broken. The dishes 
 are now removed to the dairy and allowed to cool. In 
 summer, the cream should be churned the following 
 day ; in winter, it may stand over two days. The 
 quantity of cream obtained is said to be one fourth 
 greater by this method, and the milk is proportionably 
 poor. When milk, on which there is no cream, is 
 heated to boiling, a pellicle of cheesy matter forms on 
 its surface. Such a pellicle may form, in a less de- 
 gree, in the above scalding process ; and may thus 
 increase the quantity of cream. 
 
 In milk and cream, the oily globules appear to be 
 surrounded with a thin white shell or covering, probably 
 of the cheesy matter, by which they are prevented 
 from running into one another and collecting into 
 larger oily drops. But when cream is heated for a 
 length of time, these globules, by their lightness, rise 
 to the surface, press nearer to each other, break through 
 their coverings, and unite into a film of melted fat. In 
 like manner, when milk or cream are strongly agitated 
 by any mechanical means, the temperature is found to 
 rise, the coverings of the globules are broken or sepa- 
 rated, and the fatty matter unites into small grains, and 
 finally into lumps. This is our ordinary butter. The 
 union of these globules appears to be greatly promoted 
 by the presence of a small quantity of acid, since, in 
 churning, it never takes place until the milk or cream 
 has become sour. 
 
 Cream, for churning, is usually allowed to become 
 sour. It ought to be, at least, one day old ; but may 
 with advantage be kept several days in cold weather. 
 It should be frequently stirred. This sour cream is put 
 into churns, and worked in the usual way till the butter 
 separates. This is collected in lumps, well beaten and 
 squeezed free from milk, and in some dairies is washed 
 with pure cold water, as long as the water is milky. In 
 other localities, the butter is not washed; but, after 
 
OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 231 
 
 being well beaten, is carefully freed from the remaining 
 milk by repeated squeezings and dryings. Both meth- 
 ods, no doubt, have their advantages. In the same 
 circumstances, the washed butter may be more easily 
 preserved in the fresh state, while the unwashed butter 
 will probably possess a higher flavor. 
 
 If cream be put into the churn sweet, butter will be 
 obtained, but, in most cases, it requires more labor and 
 time, without affording, in general, a finer quality of 
 butter. The cream becomes sour before the butter 
 begins distinctly to form. 
 
 The method of churning the whole milk is very 
 laborious, from the difficulty of keeping in motion such 
 large quantities of fluid. It is said, however, to give a 
 larger quantity of butter. In churning clotted cream, 
 there is an exception to the general rule just stated — 
 that more time is required in churning sweet cream. 
 In clotted cream, the heating of the cream has disposed 
 the oily globules to adhere ; an incipient running to- 
 gether of these has taken place before the cream is 
 removed from the milk ; and hence the comparative 
 ease with which the churning is effected. I presume 
 there is some peculiar flavor in butter prepared in this 
 way ; as it is known, in other countries, by the name 
 of " Bohemian butter." 
 
 It is probable that the proportion of cheesy matter 
 contained in butter varies much. The thickness and 
 richness of the milk ; the mode of preparing the butter, 
 whether from the milk or cream ; the way in which 
 the cream is separated from the milk, whether by 
 clotting or otherwise ; and the nature of the food and 
 pasture, — must all affect, in a great degree, the propor- 
 tions of the fatty and cheesy matters of which butter 
 consists. The pure fat of the butter may be obtained 
 in a nearly pure state ; and it can be preserved for a 
 long time without becoming rancid. It is the various 
 substances with which its fatty matter is mixed that 
 give to common butter its tendency to become rancid 
 and to acquire an unpleasant taste. 
 
232 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 The more quickly milk or cream is churned, the 
 paler, softer, and the less rich is the butter. Cream 
 may be safely churned in from -one to one and a half 
 hours ; while milk ought to have from two to three 
 hours. The churning should be regular, and slower in 
 warm weather, that the butter may not be soft and 
 white ; and quicker in winter, that the proper temper- 
 ature may be kept up. "When the process of churning 
 is continued after the full separation of the butter, it 
 loses its fine yellowish, waxy appearance, and becomes 
 soft and light colored. The weight is said to be in- 
 creased ; and hence over-churning is frequently prac- 
 tised in making butter for immediate sale. 
 
 Much depends on the temperature of the cream when 
 the churning is commenced. Cream, when first put 
 into the churn, should never be warmer than 53° to 55° 
 Fahr. It rises during the churning. Milk should be 
 at 65° Fahr. In winter, either of these temperatures 
 may be easily attained. In cold weather, it is often 
 necessary to add hot water to the cream to raise it 
 even to 55°. In summer, even in cool and well-or- 
 dered dairies, it is difficult to keep the cream down to 
 this point. 
 
 It seems almost unnecessary to mention, that clean- 
 liness is peculiarly necessary in the manufacture of 
 butter. Cream is remarkable for the rapidity with 
 which it absorbs and becomes tainted by unpleasant 
 odors. It is necessary that the air of the dairy should 
 be sweet, and that it be often renewed ; and that it 
 should be open in no direction from which bad odors 
 can come. 
 
 "When butter becomes rancid, there are two sub- 
 stances which change — the fatty matters, and the milk- 
 sugar, with which they are mixed. There are two 
 agencies by which these changes are induced — the 
 caseine or cheesy matter present in the butter, and the 
 oxygen of the air. The quantity of cheesy matter 
 which butter usually contains is very small ; but it is 
 
OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 233 
 
 the singular property of this substance to induce chem- 
 ical change of a very remarkable kind upon other 
 compound bodies, even when mixed with them in very 
 minute quantity. In butter, the same changes take 
 place as in milk. The caseine alters the sugar and the 
 fatty matters, producing acids, to which its rancid taste 
 and smell are to be ascribed. 
 
 In the making of butter, it is of much consequence 
 to free it, as completely as possible, from the curd and 
 sugar of milk. The washing of the butter must be the 
 most effectual method, and is generally recommended 
 for butter that is to be eaten fresh. In some dairies, 
 it is carefully abstained from in the case of butter 
 which is to be salted for long keeping. 
 
 There are two circumstances which, in the case of 
 butter that is to be kept any length of time, may render 
 it inexpedient to adopt the method of washing. The 
 water may not be of the purest kind, and thus may 
 promote the future decomposition of the butter. The 
 water should contain as little lime as possible, as the 
 butter would retain the lime and acquire a bad taste 
 from it. The water may also contain organic sub- 
 stances in solution — vegetable or animal matters, not 
 visible perhaps, yet usually present even in spring water. 
 These the butter is sure to extract, and they may ma- 
 terially contribute to its decay, and to the difficulty of 
 preserving it from rancidity. 
 
 The washing of butter also exposes the particles of 
 butter to the action of the oxygen of the air much 
 more than when the butter is merely squeezed. The 
 effect of this oxygen, in altering either the fatty mat- 
 ters or the small quantity of caseine which remains, 
 contributes to render butter more susceptible of decay. 
 But the caseine, after it has been for a longer time 
 exposed to the air, undergoes another alteration, and 
 induces a still more unpleasant acid during this period 
 of its action. In the preservation of butter, therefore, 
 it is of indispensable necessity to exclude the air. In 
 20* 
 
234 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 butter that is to be salted, the sooner the salt is applied, 
 and the whole packed close, the better and sweeter the 
 butter is likely to remain. 
 
 The action of this cheesy matter and its tendency 
 to decay are arrested, or greatly retarded, by putting 
 over the butter a solution of salt, saltpetre, and sugar. 
 Where the butter has been washed, this mixture of 
 cane-sugar may supply the place of the milk-sugar 
 which the butter originally contained, and may impart 
 to it a sweeter taste. 
 
 The salt should be as pure as possible, and as free 
 from lime and magnesia as can be obtained. It is 
 easy to purify the common salt by pouring a couple of 
 quarts of boiling water upon fourteen pounds of salt, 
 — stirring the whole well, for a couple of hours, and 
 afterwards straining it. The water, which runs through, 
 is a solution of salt, and contains all the impurities, 
 but may be used for common culinary purposes, or 
 may be mixed with the food of cattle. The salt in the 
 cloth is free from salts of lime and magnesia, and 
 should be hung up to dry. 
 
 The salt must be thoroughly incorporated with the 
 butter. The first sensible effect is to make the butter 
 shrink and diminish in bulk. It becomes more solid, 
 and squeezes out a portion of the water, with which 
 part of the salt also flows away. The most important 
 point to be attended to, in the salting of butter, is to 
 take care that all the water which remains in the but- 
 ter shall have dissolved as much salt as it can possibly 
 take up ; and that, in no part of the butter, shall there 
 be a particle of cheesy matter which is not also in con- 
 tact with salt. If you exclude the air, the solution 
 of salt will not only preserve this cheesy matter from 
 decay itself, but will enable it to prevent decay in the 
 sugar and fat which are in contact with it. 
 
 It seems almost extraordinary that such rigid pre- 
 cautions should be necessary, to prevent the evil influ- 
 ence of half a pound of cheesy matter in one hundred 
 
OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 235 
 
 pounds of butter. The second agent to be guarded 
 against is the oxygen of the atmosphere. It must be 
 carefully excluded. Its effect is to change the solid acid 
 into the disagreeable liquid acid of butter. 
 
 To this action of the air is partly to be ascribed that 
 peculiar kind of rancidity, which, without penetrating 
 into the interior of well-packed butter, is yet percepti- 
 ble on its surface wherever the air has come in contact 
 with it. A knowledge of this action of the air urges 
 strongly the necessity of incorporating and kneading 
 together the butter in the cask or firkin ; that no air- 
 hole or openings for air be left; that the cask itself 
 be not only water-tight, but air-tight ; and that it 
 should never be finally closed till the butter has shrunk 
 in as far as it is likely to do, and the vacancies, which 
 may have arisen between the butter and the cask, have 
 been carefully filled up again. 
 
 Buttermilk, when made from the whole milk, differs 
 from the milk in the absence of butter. As it contains 
 the caseine, the sugar, and the salts of milk, it must 
 possess nutritive qualities. The lower classes in Ire- 
 land use it extensively as an article of food. It forms 
 a very agreeable, cooling beverage, in febrile and in- 
 flammatory cases. In various parts of Switzerland 
 and Germany there are special establishments for the 
 cure of chronic diseases by the use. of pure or aroma- 
 tized whey, — " Cures de Petit Lait" The whey is 
 obtained from the milk of the cow, the goat, or the ass ; 
 and is used as a drink, as a lavement, or as a bath. 
 Its use is often associated with that of mineral waters. 
 
 Rennet is prepared from the salted stomach of the 
 calf, lamb, young kid, or pig. That from the calf is 
 generally preferred. 
 
 Differences prevail in the mode of using and salting 
 the stomach ; and perhaps the different flavors of 
 cheese, made in different countries and districts, is 
 owing to this. It is the universal opinion, however, 
 that the stomach must be kept for ten or twelve months 
 
236 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 before it yields the strongest and best rennet. Some 
 put a handful of salt into and around it, then roll to- 
 gether and hang it in a warm place to dry. Others 
 salt it in pickle for a few days, and then hang it to dry ; 
 while others, again, pack several of them in layers, 
 with much salt within and without, and preserve them 
 in a cool place till the cheese-making season of the 
 next year. 
 
 In making the rennet, there are different customs. 
 A bit of the dried stomach is put into half a pint 
 of lukewarm water, with a little salt. It is allowed to 
 stand over night, and, in the morning, the infusion is 
 turned into the milk. In some counties in England, 
 the dried stomach is chopped, and put, with a handful 
 or two of salt, and one or two quarts of water, into a 
 jar, and allowed to stand for two or three days ; and 
 when the liquid is strained, it is bottled for use — this 
 may be kept for many months. Some use pure water 
 only, others a decoction of the leaves of the sweetbrier, 
 and the bramble, or of aromatic herbs and flowers ; 
 while others, again, put in lemons, cloves, mace, or 
 brandy. This is done, both to preserve the rennet, and 
 to impart a flavor to the cheese. 
 
 The milk must be heated to about 90° or 95° Fahr., 
 and the rennet poured in, and well mixed with it. The 
 quantity necessary varies with the quality of the ren- 
 net — from a table-spoonful to half a pint for thirty or 
 forty gallons of milk. The time necessary for the 
 complete fixing of the curd varies from fifteen minutes 
 to an hour, or even an hour and a half. This is owing 
 chiefly to the different temperatures of the milk, and 
 the quality and quantity of the rennet employed. 
 
 Whatever gives rise to natural differences, in the 
 quality of the milk, must affect also that of the cheese 
 prepared from it. If the milk is poor in butter, so 
 must the cheese be. The milk of different animals 
 gives cheese of different qualities. Ewes' milk and 
 goats' milk cheeses are celebrated for qualities which 
 are not possessed by cheeses made from cows' milk. 
 
OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 237 
 
 The Schabzieger, or Zapzieger, or Sap-Sago cheese 
 is readily distinguished by its marbled appearance and 
 aromatic flavor, both produced by the bruised leaves 
 of the melitot, (melitotus officinalis,) or wild oats. The 
 bruised flowers, powdered and sifted, or the seeds alone, 
 are used. Our sage cheese is a humble imitation of 
 these celebrated Swiss green cheeses. 
 
 Further differences are produced, according to the 
 proportion of cream which is added to the milk. If 
 cream alone is used, we have rich cream cheeses, which 
 must be eaten fresh. Or, if the cream of the previous 
 night's milking be added to the new milk of the morn- 
 ing, we may have such cheese as the Stilton of Eng- 
 land. If the entire milk only be used, we have the 
 Cheshire, the Wiltshire, or the Double Gloucester. In 
 fact, in every county of England and Ireland, as in 
 Holland and France, there is some difference in the 
 mixture of milk and cream, which produces like differ- 
 ence in their famous cheeses. 
 
 From buttermilk a poor cheese is also obtained. 
 From this milk the curd separates naturally by gentle 
 heating. But, being prepared from sour milk without 
 the use of rennet, buttermilk cheese differs more or less 
 in quality from that made from sweet skimmed milk. 
 
 The acid of the buttermilk, especially after standing 
 a day or two, is capable of coagulating new milk ; and 
 thus, by mixing more or less sweet milk with the but- 
 termilk before it is warmed, several other qualities of 
 cheeses may be made. 
 
 Potato Cheese is made in various ways. One 
 pound of sour milk is mixed with five pounds of boiled 
 potatoes and a little salt, and the whole beaten to a 
 pulp, which, after standing five or six days, is worked 
 up again, and then dried in the usual way. If the 
 milk is raised to a higher temperature than 97° Fahr., 
 the curd will be hard and tough ; if colder, it is soft, 
 and difficult to obtain it free from whey. When the 
 first happens, a portion of the first whey that separates 
 
238 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 may be taken out, allowed to cool, and then poured in 
 again. If it proves to have been too cold, add hot 
 milk. The quality of the cheese will always be more 
 or less affected, when either of these expedients are 
 adopted. It is safer to attain the true temperature. 
 Be careful, in warming the milk, that it is not scorched 
 or fire-fanged. 
 
 The curd should be broken up as soon as the milk 
 is coagulated. The longer it stands after this, the 
 harder and tougher it will be. 
 
 The goodness of the cheese depends upon the qual- 
 ity and quantity of the rennet, with the way in which 
 it is made, and also the method of treating the curd. 
 All the whey must be extracted from the curd, and 
 yet the quickest way may not be the best. 
 
 The kind of salt used, some people think, affects the 
 taste of the cheese. The coloring matter — as saffron, 
 annatto, the carrot, or marigold, boiled in the milk — is 
 thought by many to affect its quality. 
 
 From the same milk, cheeses of different sizes, if 
 treated in the same way, will, at the end of a given 
 number of months, possess qualities in a considerable 
 degree different. 
 
 The care with which cheese is salted, the warmth 
 of the place in which it is kept for the first two or 
 three weeks, the temperature and closeness of the 
 cheese room, the frequency of turning, of cleaning from 
 mould, and of rubbing with butter — all these exercise 
 a great influence upon its flavor. 
 
 It is said that a cheese possessed of no very striking 
 taste of its own, may be inoculated with any flavor 
 we choose by putting into it a small portion of the 
 cheese we are desirous it should be made to resemble. 
 Of course, this can only apply to cheeses of equal 
 richness. 
 
 Cheese is subject to the attacks of both animals and 
 vegetables. A fly deposits its larvae on the cheese. The 
 cheese mite is also frequently found. Both the blue 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 239 
 
 and red mould of cheese is composed of minute fungi. 
 Cheese is difficult to be digested, especially by dys- 
 peptics. " By many," says Dr. Dunglison, " cheese is 
 supposed to be an excellent condiment, and, accord- 
 ingly, it is often systematically taken at the end of 
 a dinner as a digestive, in accordance with the old 
 proverb, — 
 
 • Cheese is a surly elf, 
 Digesting all things but itself.' " 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 
 
 To preserve Beefsteaks. Take any quantity of 
 steak, envelop each piece completely in corn meal, 
 and pack it away, with a sufficient quantity of meal 
 between the pieces to prevent their coming immedi- 
 ately in contact. When wanted, remove the meal, 
 and prepare as usual for the table. Steak may be kept, 
 in moderate weather, from a fortnight to three weeks, 
 and in cold, proportionably longer. 
 
 Preserving Fruits. Send to your tinsmith, and 
 get a sufficient number of tin canisters, very carefully 
 and tightly made. They should be of uniform size. 
 The shape preferred is seven inches high by five in 
 diameter, uniform cylinders. Select the fairest fruit — 
 peaches, strawberries, tomatoes, or whatever you 
 choose. It should be just ripe, but not past the 
 mature stage. Fill the canisters, place the tin lids 
 on their tops, and solder them down very carefully. 
 Only a small hole, the size of a pin, should be left 
 for the air to escape. The next point is to drive out 
 the air from these canisters, to prevent the decay of 
 the fruit. To do this, take a broad boiler pan, with a 
 flat bottom, place the canisters in it, and fill it with 
 boiling water, within about three fourths of an inch 
 of the tops of canisters. The boiler being over a 
 gentle fire, the water must be made to boil ; this will 
 
240 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 drive the air in each canister through the small hole 
 left in the top, and, in order to know when it is all 
 expelled, you must drop a few drops of water upon 
 this hole ; when the bubbles of air cease rising through 
 these drops of water, the air is all expelled, and then 
 you may pass a dry cloth over the hole, and let a drop 
 of solder fall upon it. Or, have a small pointed wedge 
 of wood ready, to fill the hole. While one person 
 puts in the wood, and cuts it off close to the tin, 
 another must have ready sealing wax and light (either 
 candle or lamp) to seal it over immediately. This seals 
 the canister hermetically, so that the fruit will remain 
 unchanged for a couple of years, or longer. The 
 immersion of the tins in hot water does not impart the 
 slightest taste of their having been cooked to the fruit. 
 Place the canisters in a cool place. When wanted to 
 use, unsolder the tops with a hot iron, and the fresh 
 fruit is ready. 
 
 Tea Kettles. When the fur (or lime) collects on 
 the inside of a tea kettle, take one quarter pound of 
 Spanish whiting, and put it into the kettle, filled with 
 water. Boil it for an hour, or until the lime can be 
 removed. 
 
 Cellars. The reason, probably, why vegetables of 
 certain kinds, such as carrots, beets, and turnips, rot 
 so soon after being deposited in the bins, is the want 
 of proper care in ventilating the cellars in which they 
 are deposited. The Germans, who are famed for their 
 exemplary domestic economy, are rigidly circumspect 
 in this particular. In all or most of their houses there 
 is a communication maintained between the cellar 
 and the chimney, in order to facilitate the escape of 
 the noxious and stagnant gases engendered by the 
 vegetables and other contents. It is a well-known 
 fact, that the air in cellars, from its rapid deterioration 
 and impregnation by nauseous miasma, soon becomes 
 highly deleterious to health ; and to this fact, doubt- 
 less, is attributable, in a great measure, the almost 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 241 
 
 uninterrupted ill health of many families among us, 
 both in town and country. 
 
 Preserving Lard. Take lard in the leaf, excluding 
 all bloody or lean pieces, then salt it down as you 
 would pork, using about as much salt as for pork. 
 When wanted for use, try out enough to last a few 
 weeks. If lard has become rancid, cut a green apple in 
 two, and fry before putting in the cakes, or whatever 
 you may intend frying — it will restore the sweetness. 
 
 To whiten Linen. Stains occasioned by fruit, iron 
 rust, or other similar causes, may be removed by ap- 
 plying to the parts injured a weak solution of the chlo- 
 ride of lime, or soda, oxalic acid, or salts of lemon, the 
 cloths having previously been well washed in warm 
 water ; the parts subjected to this operation should be 
 subsequently well rinsed in soft, clear water, without 
 soap, and then immediately dried in the sun. 
 
 Husk Beds. No one who has not tried them 
 knows the value of husk beds. Straw and hair mat- 
 tresses would be less used if these beds were once 
 tried. They are not only more pliable than mattresses, 
 but they are more durable. To have husks nice, they 
 should be split as straw is split for braiding. The 
 finer it is split the softer will be the bed, although it 
 will not probably last as long as when the husk is put 
 in whole. Three barrels full, well stowed in, will fill a 
 good sized tick, that is, after they have been split. 
 The bed will be light, and the husks do not become 
 matted, like feathers. 
 
 To take out Mildew. Wet the cloth, and rub on 
 bar soap and powdered chalk, mixed together. Lay it 
 in the sun. 
 
 To preserve Poultry in hot Weather. Wipe 
 the chickens or birds out with a nice, clean cloth ; then 
 fill the belly with cut grass, and hang them in a cool 
 place. This is better than putting them on ice. 
 
 Lime Water. Put a piece of lime as big as your 
 fist into a tureen, and pour boiling water over it; when 
 21 
 
242 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 thoroughly slacked, fill the tureen, and cover it over. 
 Let it stand twenty-four hours, stirring it often. After 
 this, let it settle some hours. Skim off the top very 
 carefully, and dip up the water, not to disturb the set- 
 tlings, and strain it through flannel. Bottle it, cork 
 it well, and keep it in a cool place ; but do not let it 
 freeze. 
 
 To ALLAY GREAT SlCKNESS AT THE STOMACH. To 
 
 one and. one half table-spoonful of fine Indian meal 
 pour one pint of boiling water, gradually ; add a spoon- 
 ful of salt. Stir it well. Let it then stand until cold. 
 Dip off a table-spoonful of the liquid, and take every 
 half hour until the sickness abates or goes off. 
 
 Camphorated Spirit. One ounce of camphor to 
 one pint of alcohol is quite strong; but the alcohol 
 will dissolve more gum if wished. 
 
 To remove the black Dye left on the skin from 
 wearing mourning in hot weather. One half ounce 
 of cream of tartar; one half ounce of oxalic acid. 
 Mix and pound these together in a mortar. Put some 
 of this mixture in a gallicup, and moisten it slightly 
 with a little water, to prevent it after a while becoming 
 thick and hard, and cover it closely. 
 
 To use it. Wet the black stains on your skin all 
 over with water, and then with your finger rub on a 
 little of the mixture. Then immediately wash it off 
 with water, and afterwards use soap and water. This 
 mixture will also remove ink stains from the fingers, 
 and from white cloth. Rubbed, with warm water, on 
 the stains of a straw bonnet, before sent to be cleaned, 
 and it will effectually obliterate them. This powder, 
 if sivalloioed, is a poison. 
 
 Liquorice. One ounce of ball liquorice dissolved 
 in a pint of Madeira wine. Cut the liquorice into 
 small pieces; stand it by the fire until dissolved. 
 Shake it, and take a wine glass two or three times a 
 day, for a cold. 
 
 Cologne. Fifty drops of essence of bergamot; 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 243 
 
 sixty drops of essence of lemon ; forty drops essence 
 of lavender ; forty drops essence of juniper ; and one 
 pint of the highest proof alcohol. 
 
 Lip Salve. One ounce and one half white wax ; 
 two ounces of fresh suet ; four great spoonfuls o olive 
 oil ; one ounce oil of sweet almonds ; one halt ounce 
 spermaceti ; fifty cents' worth of the otto of roses ; two 
 drachms balsam Peru; two drachms of alkanet root; 
 one ounce of finely-powdered white sugar ; six raisins, 
 sliced. Simmer these all together ten minutes, and 
 strain through muslin. This is a very fine recipe. 
 
 To make a Barrel of Soap. Twenty pounds of 
 grease, after straining ; ten pounds of potash ; one 
 bucket of water. Put over the fire, and boil. Put it 
 into a barrel ; add a bucket of water every day until 
 filled, and stir it well. 
 
 Recipe for keeping Eggs. To one pint of un- 
 slacked lime add one pint of coarse salt and a pailful 
 of water. Put the eggs in a firkin, with the small end 
 down, and cover them with this mixture. Or, to two 
 quarts of lime, one ounce of cream of tartar, and one 
 ounce of salt, pour two quarts of cold water. I think 
 this last recipe is to be preferred. This quantity will 
 be sufficient for about four or five dozen eggs. 
 
 Cold Cream. Oil of almonds, two ounces ; sper- 
 maceti, one half an ounce ; white wax, two drachms. 
 Mix these together, or beat into them as much rose 
 water as they will take up. 
 
 Tooth Wash. One half pint of brandy ; one half 
 pint of rose water ; pale Peruvian bark, one ounce ; 
 tincture of myrrh, one ounce. 
 
 Tooth Powder. One ounce pale Peruvian bark; 
 one ounce of pulverized orris root ; one half ounce pre- 
 pared chalk ; one quarter ounce of myrrh. 
 
 Cure for Sore Throat. Take vinegar and sale- 
 ratus and mix them in such proportions that neither 
 shall predominate. Put this mixture into a bottle, and 
 keep it from the air. Let the patient take a tea-spoon- 
 ful once in three hours, or gargle often. 
 
244 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 To rub Furniture. Six or ten cents' worth of alka- 
 net root; six or ten cents' worth of pink root. Put 
 them into a junk bottle nearly full of cold-drawn 
 painter's oil. Shake the bottle frequently for a few 
 days. Afterwards, let it settle, and it is fit for use. 
 E,ub it on with flannel, and polish with silk. 
 
 To dislodge a Fish-bone. It sometimes happens 
 that a fish-bone, accidentally swallowed, will remain 
 in the oesophagus, and be troublesome. In fact, death 
 has been occasioned by the great irritation of a fish- 
 bone. In such cases, as soon as possible, take four 
 grains of tartar emetic dissolved in one half pint of 
 warm water, and, immediately after, the whites of six 
 eggs. This will not remain in the stomach more than 
 two or three minutes, and probably the bone will be 
 ejected with the coagulated mass. If tartar emetic is 
 not convenient, a tea-spoonful of mustard dissolved in 
 milk-warm water and swallowed, will answer every 
 purpose of the emetic. 
 
 Corn Plaster. Take of purified ammonia, yellow 
 wax, each two ounces ; acetate of copper, six drachms ; 
 melt the two first together over the fire, and after re- 
 moving from the fire, add the verdigris just before it 
 grows cold. Spread the mixture on soft leather, or lin- 
 en ; pare away the corn, and apply the plaster. Keep 
 it on a fortnight, and then renew it. 
 
 To cure Chilblains. Dissolve one quart of white 
 copperas in a quart of water, and apply it to the parts 
 affected. This should be applied before the chilblains 
 break, or it will do injury. 
 
 Antidote for Poison. A dessert-spoonful of made 
 mustard mixed in a tumbler of warm water, and drank 
 immediately. It acts as an instantaneous emetic. 
 
 Cure for the Sting of a Bee. Common whiting, 
 moistened with cold water, and applied immediately. 
 It can be washed off in a few minutes, when all pain 
 and swelling will be destroyed. 
 
 To cure Hydrophobia. Make a strong wash of 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 245 
 
 two table-spoonfuls of chloride of lime, mixed in half 
 a pint of water, and instantly and repeatedly bathe 
 the part bitten. The poison will be thus decomposed. 
 This wash has proved successful when applied six 
 hours after the animal was bitten. 
 
 To preserve Furs. Sprinkle the boxes or drawers 
 in which they are kept with spirits of turpentine, or 
 place sheets of paper, moistened with it, between the 
 furs, flannels, or pieces of cloth. 
 
 Potatoes. If your potatoes are " watery," put into 
 the water, before cooking them, a small piece of lime. 
 This will make them dry and mealy. The lime should 
 be fresh, and, for a family of six, the piece should not 
 exceed the size of an English walnut. 
 
 To preserve Vegetables to eat in Winter. 
 
 For Beans. Pick them young and tender, and 
 throw into a wooden keg a layer of them three inches 
 deep ; then sprinkle them with salt ; put another layer 
 of beans, and do the same, until the keg is nearly full. 
 Do not put on too much salt. Lay over them a plate 
 or cover that will go into the keg, and put a weight 
 on it. A pickle will rise from the beans and salt. 
 When to be eaten, cut, soak, and boil them as if they 
 were fresh. 
 
 To preserve Corn. Take the corn when young 
 and tender, and barely full grown. Let it remain on 
 the cob till you have boiled it ten or fifteen minutes 
 (not more) in a large pot of slightly salted water, that 
 must be boiling hard when the corn is put in. When 
 thus parboiled, take it out, and when cool enough to 
 handle, cut the grains from the cob ; spread them out 
 in flat, shallow pans, and set them in an oven after the 
 bread and pies are done. Let it remain until well 
 dried. If your oven is heated every day, you may put 
 the corn into it a second time. When dry and cool, 
 put it up in bags, tie it up, and hang it in a cool place. 
 When wanted, soak it over night, and boil it as fresh 
 21* 
 
246 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 corn. It will boil soft, and taste as fresh as when first 
 picked. Add to it some butter, and pepper, and salt. 
 You can mix beans and corn, as in summer season. 
 
 To PRESERVE GREEN PEAS FOR WlNTER USE. Shell 
 
 them, and put them into a kettle of water to boil. 
 After they have just boiled up, pour them into the 
 colander. When drained, turn them out on a cloth, 
 and cover them with another, to dry. You can put 
 them in a warm oven to finish drying, and then put 
 them in bags or bottles. When to be used, soak them 
 an hour in water, and then put them on in cold water 
 and a little salt to boil tender. Serve them as fresh 
 peas. 
 
 Parsley should be cut close to the stalks ; dried in a 
 cool oven it preserves its flavor and color, and is very 
 useful to the cook in winter. 
 
 Parched Corn Coffee. Pound parched corn so as 
 to break it, but not very fine ; pour boiling water over 
 it, and boil a few minutes. Add sugar and boiled 
 milk. This is excellent for a weak stomach, or for 
 children with teething complaints. 
 
 For Children sick while teething. Tie up in a 
 piece of thick cotton cloth a coffee-cup of wheat flour. 
 Put it into boiling water, and keep it boiling steadily 
 three hours. Take it up, remove the cloth, and lay 
 the lump where it will become dry. To use it, grate 
 it, and thicken two gills of boiling milk with a dessert- 
 spoonful of it wet in cold water. Put a little salt into 
 the milk. 
 
 Another. Take raspberry or strawberry leaves, 
 and boil them in water. Add to this some milk, which 
 sweeten, and allow children whose bowels are disor- 
 dered to drink freely of it. 
 
 Cabbage Leaves. If the upper side be applied to 
 a wound, the sore is protected, and quickly heals, 
 while the under side draivs it, and produces a constant 
 discharge. This should be remembered in the dressing 
 of blisters with cabbage leaves. It is from the pores 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 247 
 
 in the upper part of the leaf that substances are sup- 
 posed to be exhaled, while every thing that is inhaled 
 enters by those in the under side. This is illustrated 
 by the action of a cabbage leaf on a wound. 
 
 Cucumber Catchup. For a small quantity, take 
 twelve fine, full-grown cucumbers, and lay them an 
 hour in cold water. Pare them, and grate them into 
 a deep dish. Grate also six small onions, and mix 
 with cucumbers. Season to your taste with pepper, 
 salt, and vinegar, making it of the consistency of rich 
 marmalade. When thoroughly mixed, put it into a 
 jar. Cover it closely from the air. This is very nice 
 to eat with beef and mutton. 
 
 Tomato Catchup. Slice the tomatoes, and sprinkle 
 them with salt. If you intend to let them stand until 
 you have gathered several parcels, put in plenty of 
 salt. After you have gathered all, boil them, and 
 strain through a coarse sieve. Slice two good-sized 
 onions to every gallon ; add one not very large spoon- 
 ful of ginger, two of pounded cloves, two of allspice, 
 and one tea-spoon of pepper. Boil twenty minutes 
 after the spices are in. Keep it in a covered jar. This 
 is excellent for soups and stewed beef, and keeps well. 
 
 Tomato Catchup. Skin, slice, and boil the toma- 
 toes well ; then put to one gallon, not strained, a quar- 
 ter of an ounce of mace, nutmegs, and cloves, one 
 handful of scraped horse radish, two pods of red pepper, 
 or one spoonful of ground pepper, and salt to your 
 taste. Boil this away to three quarts, and strain, add- 
 ing a pint of wine and half a pint of vinegar. Bottle 
 it, and leave the bottles open two or three days, as it 
 sometimes ferments a little, and requires scalding. 
 Then cork tightly. 
 
 Hasty Pudding. Have ready boiling four quarts 
 of water with some salt ; mix a pint of Indian meal 
 with cold water, and stir into the boiling water. Let 
 this boil, stirring it often to prevent burning. Taste it, 
 and be sure it is salt enough. Let this boil from one 
 
243 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 to two hours. If you have any left, fry it for breakfast. 
 Cut it into slices an inch thick, and butter the griddle. 
 It will brown in fifteen minutes to turn. It can be 
 warmed in the stove oven with less fat, and will take 
 about forty minutes. 
 
 Welsh Rabbit. Cut half a pound of cheese in 
 slices, quarter of an inch thick. Put a small piece of 
 butter into a spider ; when hot, lay in the cheese ; 
 melt it slowly, and then add one egg, well beaten, a 
 spoonful of mustard, little pepper ; stir it well together, 
 with a large spoonful of wine. Toast and butter 
 some slices of bread ; pour a little wine over them, 
 and turn the cheese on, and send to table. This 
 should not be cooked till wanted, and served immedi- 
 ately very hot. 
 
 Roasted Cheese. Grate three ounces of cheese ; 
 mix it with the yolks of two eggs, four ounces of grated 
 bread, three ounces of butter ; beat the whole together 
 with a dessert-spoonful of mustard, a little salt and 
 pepper. Toast some slices of bread ; lay the paste 
 over them ; put them into the oven, covered, until hot 
 through ; remove the cover, and brown, if you choose. 
 Serve hot. 
 
 Cheese Toast. Mix some made mustard, butter, 
 and salt together ; spread it on some slices of bread 
 toasted, and grate cheese on them. 
 
 Sandaviches. Spread butter very thinly upon a 
 slice of stale bread, cut very smooth ; cut off another 
 slice, but spread it with butter on the under side ; 
 without this precaution, the two slices will not fit each 
 other. Take some cold beef or ham, and chop it very 
 fine, and season it with a little mustard and pepper. 
 Sprinkle it thickly over the butter ; put the slices to- 
 gether, and press them well. A little salad mixture, 
 starred in with the beef or ham, is a great improvement. 
 Or, spread on the bread, after it is buttered, a slight 
 coating of " French mustard," omitting the seasoning 
 from the meat. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 249 
 
 To prevent Iron and Steel from rusting. Heat 
 the iron or steel till it burns the hand, and then rub it 
 with pure white wax, and polish it with a piece of cloth 
 or leather till it shines well. This simple operation fills 
 the pores of the metal, and defends it completely from 
 rust, even though it should be exposed to moisture. 
 
 To prevent Lamp Glasses from cracking, by sud- 
 den expansion of heat, run the point of a diamond 
 along the base of the tube. 
 
 To transplant Shrubs in full Growth. Dig a 
 narrow trench around the plant, leaving its roots in the 
 middle, in an isolated mass of earth. Fill the trench 
 with powdered plaster of Paris, which will harden it 
 in five minutes, and form a case to the ball and plants, 
 which may be lifted and removed at pleasure. 
 
 Potato Cheese. Boil good white potatoes, and 
 when cold, peel and mash them till not a lump re- 
 mains. To five pounds thus prepared add a pint and 
 a half of sour milk, and salt to the taste. Work it 
 well, and let it stand covered for two or four days, 
 according to the state of the weather ; then work 
 again. Make the cheese any size, and let them dry in 
 the shade. After they are dry, put them into pots or 
 pans, and let them remain a fortnight or more. In 
 this way most excellent cheese may be made, and it 
 can be kept for years without the slightest deteriora- 
 tion, provided it is kept dry. 
 
 To cleanse the Inside of Jars. Fill up the jar 
 with hot water, and then stir in a tea-spoonful or 
 more of soda or saleratus. Whatever there is impure 
 around or about the jar will soon float loose through 
 the water. Empty it, and, if the bad odor remains, 
 fill again with water, adding soda, and let it stand 
 some hours, and then empty it, and rinse with cold 
 water. 
 
 To extract Lamp Oil from a Dress. If lamp oil 
 is spilled on a dress that will not be injured by wetting, 
 lay it immediately in a small tub of cold water. Part 
 
250 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 of the oil will rise to the surface. Pour off this water, 
 adding fresh, and continue to repeat this process until 
 no more oil can be discovered on the surface. Take 
 out the dress, wring it well, and dry and iron it. 
 
 To remove Proud Flesh. Pulverize loaf sugar 
 very fine, and apply it to the part affected. This is a 
 simple remedy, and is said, to remove proud flesh 
 entirely without pain. It has been practised in Eng- 
 land for years. 
 
 To prevent the spreading of Contagion. Nitrous 
 acid possesses the properties of destroying the conta- 
 gion of typhus fevers and other malignant disorders. 
 Place a little saltpetre on a saucer, and pour on it as 
 much oil of vitriol as will just cover it. The quantity 
 of gas may be regulated by the ingredients used. 
 
 To PREVENT FLATIRONS FROM STICKING. If the 
 
 irons are rough or smoky, lay a little fine salt on a 
 flat surface, and rub them well ; this will prevent 
 them from sticking to any starched article, and make 
 them smooth. 
 
 Walnuts. When they have- been kept until the 
 kernel is dried, soak them eight hours in milk and 
 water. Dry them, and they will be fresh as new. 
 
 To preserve Lemon Juice. A pint of juice to a 
 pound of powdered loaf sugar. When all melted, 
 bottle close, and keep it in a dry place. 
 
 Dissolved Chloride of Lime. One quarter of a 
 pound of the lime. Pour one gallon of water, a little 
 at a time. When dissolved, put it into glass or earthen 
 vessels, and cork it tightly. When to be used, put 
 some in shallow vessels, daily, in every room. For 
 sinks, &c, one pint of dry chloride to seven gallons of 
 water. Throw down a quantity of clear water, then 
 a pailful of this mixture. If this does not answer the 
 purpose in fifteen minutes, repeat the quantity. 
 
 To purify the Air. Mix four parts of dry, ground 
 plaster of Paris with one part of fine charcoal, by 
 weight, and strew them around the premises affected 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 251 
 
 with any unpleasant odor arising from decayed animal 
 matter, and the gases producing the odor will directly 
 be absorbed. 
 
 Blacking. Ivory black, four ounces ; one table- 
 spoonful of sweet oil ; molasses, one gill ; mix these 
 well. Add one and one half pint of good vinegar; 
 one ounce oil vitriol ; the juice of one lemon, and one 
 ounce of lavender. Mix it well. 
 
 Washing Fluid. Put three ounces of quick lime 
 into a bucket or tub ; pour on two quarts of hot water; 
 let it settle and cool. Strain it through a cloth into a 
 jug. Take a pound of washing soda and pour over it 
 two quarts of boiling hot water. When dissolved, 
 pour it into the jug with the lime water. Shake it 
 well together, and it is fit for use. 
 
 Water-proof Dressing for Shoes. Take a piece 
 of India rubber about the size of a walnut; cut it in 
 small pieces, and put it into a phial with four ounces 
 of highly rectified spirits of turpentine. Cork it up for 
 about a fortnight, (more or less, according to the 
 weather,) and shake it every day. When this mixture 
 has come to a consistence about the thickness of 
 treacle, it is fit for use. You may then work it, with 
 a paint brush, into leather, ropes, or what you please. 
 But, when used for the soles of shoes, leather trunks, 
 or any thing that does not require flexibility, you 
 should add to this composition three times the quan- 
 tity of copal varnish. The most effectual mode of 
 application is to anoint, not only the outside seams, 
 but also the whole inside of the soles. If you want 
 this dressing in a hurry, and an extra expense is no 
 object, you will find that ether or naphtha will dissolve 
 the India rubber, and dry much quicker than the spir- 
 its of turpentine. 
 
 New Plan for making Shoes Water proof. This 
 recipe is equally applicable to the clod-hopping thick 
 boots of a tramper in wet and dirt, and the delicate 
 French slipper of the ladies. Put between the sole 
 
252 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 leathers, and an inch or more up the sides, and over 
 the toes, two thicknesses of oil silk. Let the glazed 
 sides come together, so as to stick fast to each other. 
 This will render shoes water proof, and is an effectual 
 remedy against creaking. 
 
 Corns. To walk with corns, and without torture, 
 get a piece of wash leather, spread with diachylon 
 plaster. Cut, with a large punch, as many rounds as 
 will form sufficient thickness to prevent the boot or 
 shoe from pressing your stocking on the corn, for the 
 reception of which you must punch a small hole 
 through the centre. 
 
 To preserve Guns from Salt "Water. Three 
 ounces of black lead, half a pound of hog's lard, one 
 quarter of an ounce of camphor, boiled upon a slow 
 fire ; the gun barrels to be rubbed with this, and, after 
 three days, wiped with a linen cloth. Twice in a 
 winter will be sufficient to keep off the rust. 
 
 Mercurial Ointment is said to answer this purpose, 
 and it will give less trouble. If the barrels of guns are 
 stained with the salt water, yellow soap and warm 
 water will restore the color. 
 
 To press Silk. Silk cannot be ironed smoothly, 
 so as to press out all the creases, without first sprink- 
 ling it with water, and rolling it up tightly in a towel, 
 letting it rest for an hour or two. If the iron is the 
 least hot, it will injure the color; and it should be 
 tried on an old piece of the same silk. Bright-colored 
 silks or ribbons, such as pinks, blues, yellows, greens, 
 &c, always change color on application of a hot iron. 
 Blacks, browns, olives, grays, look very well after iron- 
 ing. Silks should always be ironed on the wrong side. 
 Black silks may be washed in cold coffee or tea, to 
 restore them from rustiness. The chemical olive soap 
 injures silks less than any other preparation of soap. 
 
 For Fever and Ague. One ounce of red Peruvian 
 bark ; one half ounce cream of tartar ; one table-spoon- 
 ful of whole cloves. One bottle Sicily Madeira wine. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 253 
 
 Let these stand three days, and when taken, to be well 
 shaken. Dose — One wine glass full three times a 
 day, between meals, and decreasing as the disorder 
 abates. This is said, by some who have tried it, to be 
 a perfect cure. 
 
 Gentlemen's Cravats. If the cravats which are 
 imported from India are washed in rum, or rum and 
 water, the colors will not fade at all. 
 
 Drying Pears. When dried in ovens, this fruit will 
 keep for years. This mode of preserving is common 
 in France. In some cantons of that country, the cul- 
 tivators annually preserve, by these means, supplies of 
 subsistence extremely agreeable and wholesome during 
 winter and spring. In this mode of drying, those Vari- 
 eties of middle size, melting and sweet, are preferred. 
 After the bread is drawn from the oven, they are placed 
 on the swept hearth, or on hurdles or boards. This 
 operation is repeated a second, a third, and even a 
 fourth time, according to their size and the degree of 
 heat. The heat must not be so great as to scorch, and 
 the fruit must not be dried to hardness. Lastly, they 
 are placed in bags, and preserved in a dry place. 
 
 The second mode of preserving is practised on the 
 finest-flavored varieties. They are gathered a little 
 before their maturity, and, after being parboiled in a 
 small quantity of water, they are peeled and drained. 
 They are next carried on hurdles to the oven, after the 
 bread is drawn, or the oven is heated to a suitable 
 degree. Here they remain twelve hours, after which 
 they are steeped in the sirup, to which have been 
 added sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and brandy. They are 
 again returned to the oven, which is now heated to a 
 less degree than at first. This operation is thrice 
 repeated, until they are sufficiently dried, or of a clear 
 brown color, and firm, transparent flesh ; and, finally, 
 they are packed in boxes lined with paper. 
 22 
 
254 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 OF DIET. 
 
 The term assimilation, as used, in its most general 
 sense, by Dr. Prout, has been applied to those processes 
 by which alimentary substances are converted into the 
 organized tissues of the body : primary assimilation 
 comprises those concerned in the conversion of food 
 into blood ; secondary assimilation, those by which or- 
 ganized or living textures are formed from the blood, and 
 afterwards redissolved and removed from the system. 
 
 Digestion is one of the primary assimilating pro- 
 cesses. It comprehends those changes affected on the 
 food in the stomach and intestines, and is partly a 
 mechanical, but principally a chemical process. By 
 digestion, starch is converted into gum and sugar ; oily 
 or fatty matters are minutely subdivided, not dissolved; 
 other substances (as fibrine, albumen, caseine, and glu- 
 ten) are dissolved or liquefied in the stomach. All 
 these processes have been imitated, out of the body, 
 by physicians to determine many facts. 
 
 The formation or secretion of the matters necessary 
 to produce the requisite chemical changes in the food, 
 so far as at present known, is a result produced solely 
 by the vital principle. Saccharine matter, oily or 
 fatty substances, and the finely-divided and dissolved 
 matters, are absorbed. 
 
 Two substances are required (an acid and a matter 
 called pepsine by chemists) to dissolve all compounds. 
 The first softens these bodies, and causes them to 
 swell ; the second perfects the dissolving or melting 
 process. 
 
 The necessity of certain agents in the stomach to 
 effect the solution or liquefaction of the food is obvi- 
 ous ; and, if it is admitted that these are formed by 
 the vital powers, it can be readily comprehended how, 
 in certain morbid conditions of the body, the digestive 
 agents are altered in their nature, and the natural and 
 
OF DIET. 255 
 
 healthy process of digestion thereby deranged. The 
 digestibility of food is effected by two classes of cir- 
 cumstances, the one relating to the foods themselves, 
 the other to those constituting the state of the indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 Some foods, as oily or fatty substances, are more 
 difficult to digest than others. There is, however, one 
 form of impaired digestion, says Dr. Combe, in which 
 the fat of bacon is digested with perfect ease, where 
 many other apparently more appropriate articles of 
 food oppress the stomach for hours. Some cases of 
 cholera infantum have been thus treated, where every 
 thing would be rejected from the stomach, except salt 
 pork or fat bacon, rare broiled, and given in small quan- 
 tities at a time. Many cases have recovered under 
 such treatment, where farinaceous foods could not be 
 retained, or, if retained, passed through the alimentary 
 canal undigested. Vegetables are slower of digestion 
 than meats and farinaceous substances, though they 
 sometimes pass out of the stomach before them in an 
 undigested state. 
 
 Tenderness of fibre facilitates the digestive process ; 
 and therefore all circumstances which affect the texture 
 of flesh have an influence over its digestibility. Incip- 
 ient decomposition promotes the tendei-ness and diges- 
 tibility of food. Most people are aware that fresh- 
 killed meat is tougher than that which has been kept 
 some time. The flesh of young animals is more ten- 
 der and soluble than that of the full-grown animal ; 
 yet the latter is more digestible. 
 
 It might be supposed that liquids would be more 
 digestible than solid foods. Dr Beaumont says, " Solid 
 food is sooner disposed of by the stomach than fluid, 
 and its nutritive principles are sooner carried into cir- 
 culation." Still, exhaustion from abstinence is quicker 
 removed by liquid than solid aliment. Minuteness of 
 division of solids is an important aid to digestion. 
 Potatoes, when cooked so that they fall in pieces, are 
 
258 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 more easily digested than when cooked a shorter time, 
 so as to retain their form ; and, for the same reason, 
 mealy potatoes are more healthy than waxy ones. 
 Perfect mastication, by effecting the division of food, 
 is an important aid to digestion ; and this fact cannot 
 be too strongly urged on the strong, healthy man, and 
 on the pining, miserable dyspeptic. If the food is im- 
 perfectly chewed, and hastily swallowed, greater diffi- 
 culty is experienced in the subsequent operation of 
 digestion. The process of insalivation, as effecting 
 foods, should not be overlooked. When food has been 
 thoroughly intermixed with the saliva of the mouth, it 
 is more readily operated upon by the gastric juice. If 
 dry food be hastily swallowed, without being thus 
 mixed, we instinctively desire drink, to moisten the 
 mass. 
 
 The state of body and mind ; constitutional pecu- 
 liarities ; habits ; the interval that has elapsed since 
 the preceding meal; the keenness of the appetite ; the 
 amount of exercise taken either immediately before or 
 after eating ; and the quantity swallowed at one meal, 
 are some of the circumstances relating to the individu- 
 al, which affect digestion. Violent anger, for instance, 
 disturbs this process ; and, in some diseases, accom- 
 panied with thirst, dryness of mouth, &c, very little or 
 no gastric juice is secreted. Under such circumstances, 
 food should not be taken ; if it be, no nourishment 
 can be obtained from it, while its presence in the stom- 
 ach is a source of irritation. Considerable difference 
 of opinion exists regarding the influence of repose after 
 eating. Some say exercise promotes digestion ; others, 
 again, say it retards it ; and both parties appeal to ex- 
 perience in proof of their opinion. After a plentiful 
 repast, all will agree in admitting that the functions of 
 the body are more or less impaired ; sluggishness is 
 brought on, and a tendency to repose experienced. 
 These effects are universal in the animal kingdom. 
 We feel them ourselves, we see them in our fellow- 
 
OF DIET. 257 
 
 men, and we notice them in the inferior animals. The 
 dog, after satisfying his natural appetite, lies down 
 and sleeps ; and the boa lies torpid for months, after 
 gorging himself with a goat. These facts are satisfac- 
 tory proofs to some minds that repose is natural after 
 a hearty meal ; and the practice of taking a siesta, or 
 after-dinner nap, is not injurious, if moderately in- 
 dulged in. The old distich may be considered as 
 reasonable advice : — 
 
 " After dinner, rest a while ; 
 After supper, walk a mile." 
 
 " A diet wholesome in kind, but spare in measure, 
 is essential to the preservation of health among all 
 classes of men. This position, which is so true in 
 itself, is the result of a dissection of man's physical 
 constitution ; but true as it may be in principle, and 
 important as it is in its practical consequences, that 
 form of economy which inculcates the spare meas- 
 ure of diet has the semblance of poverty; and pov- 
 erty, though often the best, friend of man, is viewed 
 with abhorrence by almost all the human race, more 
 especially the Anglo-Saxons. Economy, or the proper 
 measure of means to ends, preserves the balance, 
 maintains effective action, and insures prosperity in 
 times and trials of difficulty. Its value is great ; but 
 it is not well understood or appreciated ; and it cannot 
 be seen by those who consider excess the object and 
 end of their being. A full habit is vulgarly supposed 
 to constitute animal power; and, as a rich diet makes 
 the habit, so high living is, by inference, considered 
 the direct means of attaining high bodily strength." 
 
 " The Spartans were abstemious ; they were restrict- 
 ed to a diet which the soldiers of the present day 
 would consider coarse and stinted ; yet the Spartans 
 were conspicuous for physical strength, and they were, 
 morally, the most resolute military that ever appeared 
 in war. The Swiss occupied a high station among 
 22* 
 
258 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 military nations in the days of their glory; yet the 
 Swiss, while brave in the field, and virtuous in the 
 domestic circle, were homely and frugal in the manner 
 of living. The Highlanders of Scotland have some 
 claim to be ranked with the Swiss and Spartans. 
 Their virtues are known in war ; their fare was coarse 
 in the days of their heroism, and even now it is home- 
 ly. Animal food rarely fell to the lot of the Scotch 
 peasant, Highland or Lowland, till within these few 
 years ; yet the Scot was always a good soldier, ardent 
 in courage, and powerful in the close conflict of battle. 
 The Irish peasant is little inferior in physical force to 
 the peasant of England. He is, moreover, spirited 
 and bold as a soldier, and not wanting in energy where 
 his powers are suitably animated and judiciously 
 directed ; yet the food of the Irish peasant consists, at 
 best, of potatoes and buttermilk. The fishermen on 
 the coast of Spain, and on the shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean, live frugally. They subsist on the simplest 
 food. They are, notwithstanding, strong and sinewy, 
 insomuch that the highest-fed boat's crew in the Eng- 
 lish navy does not equal a boat's crew of Biscayen 
 fishermen, or of Turkish watermen, either in power or 
 endurance at the oar. Those persons who have made 
 the experiment in their own persons assert that en- 
 durance of toil, similar to military toil, is better sup- 
 ported under a diet that is light in kind, and of a rather 
 scanty measure, than under full meals of rich and solid 
 food." — Jackson's Formation, Discipline, and Economy 
 of Armies. 
 
 OF THE TIME OF EATING. 
 
 Dr. Combe, in his volume on Digestion and Dietet- 
 ics, observes, that " the grand rule in fixing the num- 
 ber and period of our meals is to proportion them to 
 the real wants of the system, as modified by age, sex, 
 health, and manner of life, and as indicated by the 
 true returns of appetite." 
 
OF THE TIME OF EATING. 259 
 
 The time required for the digestion of the food by 
 the healthy stomach varies from one to three or four 
 hours. If fresh food be taken before that of the previ- 
 ous meal has been digested, the process of digestion is 
 disturbed. 
 
 A variety of circumstances affect the length of the 
 interval that should be allowed between each meal. 
 On account of the greater activity of the organs of 
 respiration, children require to be more frequently fed 
 than adults ; and they bear hunger less easily. For 
 the same reason, those who exercise much, or labor 
 hard, require more frequent and heartier meals than 
 the indolent and sedentary. It is not doubted that 
 the having fixed periods for eating is more conducive 
 to health than eating at irregular intervals. These 
 periods must vary, however, for different classes of in- 
 dividuals. Three meals only, for adults, are essential 
 to health, though five are in frequent use. 
 
 Breakfast. " It is well known," says Dr. Combe, 
 " that the system is more susceptible of infection, and 
 of the influence of cold and miasma, in the morning, 
 before eating, than at any other time; and hence \t 
 has become a duty with naval and military command- 
 ers, especially in bad climates, always to give their 
 men breakfast before exposing them to morning dews 
 and other noxious influences." 
 
 Much exercise, for those who have delicate constitu- 
 tions, — either of body or mind, — before breakfast, 
 operates injuriously ; producing exhaustion, languor, 
 and unfitness for the ordinary occupations of the day. 
 
 Most people, therefore, are benefited by breakfasting 
 soon after rising. There are, doubtless, some few ex- 
 ceptions. " To children, especially, who require plen- 
 ty of sustenance," says Dr. Combe, " and are often 
 obliged to rise early, an early breakfast is indispensa- 
 ble. For travellers, a light breakfast is a great protec- 
 tion against colds, and fatigue, or exhaustion." 
 
 The occupation of the individual and the quantity 
 
260 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 of food taken at breakfast affect the length of the in- 
 terval between breakfast and dinner. Five hours is a 
 very good general rule for adults ; of course there are 
 exceptions to this. 
 
 " As a people, we, in the United States, eat far too 
 much hearty food ; we take in more rich nutriment 
 than we require ; and the consequence is, our system 
 becomes overloaded, and the proneness to derange- 
 ment and diseased action is greatly increased." 
 
 Observation and experiment have fully proved the 
 absolute necessity of considerable variety of food, for 
 the preservation of health and life. The body is made 
 up of many principles, differing the one from the other 
 in composition and chemical properties; and, of course, 
 textures which are chemically different require differ- 
 ent aliments. 
 
 In children, the function of nutrition is more active 
 than in adults. They have not merely to repair the 
 daily waste, but also to grow. Their circulation and 
 respiration are more active than in after life, and they 
 require food at shorter intervals. 
 
 Children, for the most part, show an almost instinc- 
 tive fondness for sugar, which is supplied to them in 
 their mother's milk. The natural appetite is, perhaps, 
 an index of the wants of the system, and ought, there- 
 fore, to be consulted, to a certain extent, in the dieting 
 of children. 
 
 " Arrowroot, tapioca, sago, sugar, butter, are ele- 
 ments to support respiration, and, if used in greater 
 quantity than is necessary for combustion in the 
 lungs, they contribute to the increase of fat ; but they 
 do not contain the ingredients necessary for the growth 
 of bone, cartilage, muscle, &c. The caseine or curd 
 of milk is supplied by nature for this purpose." Chil- 
 dren may be over fed or under fed. Instances of the 
 former are comparatively rare. Of the ill consequences 
 of defective nutriment, we have, unfortunately, too 
 many instances. 
 
OF THE TIME OF EATING. 261 
 
 As regards the nutritive qualities of different foods, 
 I will extract the conclusions which Magendie drew 
 up in the name of the commission appointed to report 
 to the Academy of Sciences in Paris. 
 
 1. " We cannot, by any known proceeding, extract 
 from bones an aliment which, either alone or mixed 
 with other substances, can be substituted for meat. 
 
 2. " Gelatine, albumen, and fibrine, taken separately, 
 nourish animals for a very limited period only, and in 
 an incomplete manner. In general, they soon excite 
 such an insurmountable disgust that animals die rather 
 than partake of them. 
 
 3. " The above elementary principles, artificially re- 
 united and rendered agreeably savory by seasoning, 
 are eaten more readily and for a longer period than the 
 same substances singly ; but their ultimate influence 
 on nutrition is no better ; for animals that take them, 
 even in considerable quantities, die, finally, with all the 
 symptoms of complete inanition. 
 
 4. " Muscular flesh, in which gelatine, albumen, and 
 fibrine are united, according to the laws of organic na- 
 ture, and where they are associated with other matters, 
 as fats, salts, &c, suffices, even in small quantities, for 
 complete and prolonged nutrition. 
 
 5. " Raw bones have the same effect ; but the quan- 
 tity consumed in twenty-four hours ought not to be 
 much greater than in the case of meat. 
 
 6. " Every kind of preparation, such as decoction 
 with water, the action of hydrochloric acid, (muriatic 
 acid,) and especially the transformation into gelatine, 
 diminishes, and, in some cases, seems to destroy, the 
 nutritive quality of bones. 
 
 7. " Gluten, from wheat or maize, is sufficient for 
 complete and prolonged nutrition. 
 
 8. "Fat, taken alone, sustains life during some time, 
 but the nutrition is imperfect and disordered." 
 
 I will here add Dr. Beaumont's table, showing the 
 mean time of digestion of various articles of food, as 
 
262 
 
 THE AMERICAN MATRON. 
 
 ascertained by experiment. Still, it should be remem- 
 bered that " the rapidity of digestion varies according 
 to the quantity eaten, the amount and nature of the 
 previous exercise, the interval of the preceding meal, 
 the state of health and of the weather, and also the 
 state of the mind." 
 
 Articles of Diet. 
 
 Preparation. Hours and Minutes. 
 
 Rice, .... 
 
 Boiled, .... 1 
 
 Pigs' feet, soused, . 
 
 cc 
 
 
 . 1 
 
 Tripe, "... 
 
 cc 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Eggs, whipped, 
 
 . Raw, 
 
 
 
 1.30 
 
 Trout, salmon, 
 
 Boiled or fried, 
 
 
 
 1.30 
 
 Apples, sweet, mellow, . 
 
 . Raw, 
 
 
 
 . 1.30 
 
 Venison, steak, 
 
 Broiled, 
 
 
 
 1.35 
 
 Sago, .... 
 
 . Boiled, 
 
 
 
 . 1.45 
 
 Tapioca, .... 
 
 cc 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Milk, .... 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 . 2 
 
 Liver, beef's, fresh, 
 
 Broiled. 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Eggs, fresh, . 
 
 Raw, 
 
 
 
 . 2 
 
 Codfish, cured dry, 
 
 Boiled, 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Apples, sour, mellow, 
 
 Raw, 
 
 
 
 . 2 
 
 Cabbage, with vinegar, 
 
 cc 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Milk, .... 
 
 cc 
 
 
 
 . 2.15 
 
 Eggs, fresh, 
 
 Roasted, 
 
 
 
 2.15 
 
 Turkey, wild, 
 
 cc 
 
 
 
 2J 8 
 
 Turkey, domestic, 
 
 Boiled, 
 
 
 
 2.25 
 
 u a 
 
 
 
 
 . 2.30 
 
 Goose, wild, 
 
 cc 
 
 
 
 2.30 
 
 Pig, sucking, 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 . 2.30 
 
 Lamb, fresh, 
 
 Broiled, 
 
 
 
 2.30 
 
 Hash, meat, and vegetables, 
 
 Warmed, 
 
 
 
 . 2.30 
 
 Beans, pod, 
 
 Boiled, 
 
 
 
 2.30 
 
 Sponge cake, 
 
 
 
 
 . 2,30 
 
 Parsnips, .... 
 
 Boiled, 
 
 
 
 2.30 
 
 Potatoes, fresh, 
 
 Roasted or baked, 
 
 
 
 . 2.30 
 
 Chicken, .... 
 
 Fricasseed, 
 
 
 
 2.45 
 
 Custard, 
 
 
 
 
 . 2.45 
 
 Oysters, fresh, 
 
 Raw, 
 
 
 
 2.55 
 
 Eggs, fresh, . 
 
 Soft-boiled, 
 
 
 
 . 3 
 
 Beef, fresh, lean, rare, 
 
 Roasted, 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Beefsteaks, . 
 
 Broiled, 
 
 
 
 . 3 
 
 Pork, recently salted, 
 
 Raw, 
 
 
 3 
 
 cc cc ' « 
 
 Stewed, 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 Mutton, fresh, 
 
 Broiled, 
 
 
 
 3 
 
OF THE TIME OF EATfNG. 
 
 263 
 
 Articles of Diet. 
 
 Preparation. 
 
 Hours and Minutes. 
 
 Mutton, fresh, 
 
 . Boiled, 
 
 m . 
 
 . 3 
 
 Dumpling, apple, 
 Cake, corn, 
 
 « 
 
 . Baked, 
 
 
 3 
 . 3 
 
 Oysters, 
 Porksteaks, 
 
 Roasted, 
 . Broiled, 
 
 
 3.15 
 . 3.15 
 
 Mutton, fresh, 
 
 Roasted, 
 
 
 3.15 
 
 Bread, corn, 
 
 . Baked, 
 
 . , 
 
 . 3.15 
 
 Carrot, 
 
 Boiled, 
 
 
 3.15 
 
 Sausages, fresh, 
 
 . Broiled, 
 
 . . 
 
 . 3.20 
 
 Oysters, 
 
 Beef, fresh, lean, 
 Beef, salted, 
 Butter, . 
 
 Stewed, 
 . Roasted, 
 
 Boiled, 
 . Melted, 
 
 • 
 
 3.30 
 . 3.30 
 
 3.30 
 . 3.30 
 
 Cheese, old, strong, 
 
 Raw, 
 
 
 3.30 
 
 Soup, mutton, and oyster, 
 
 . Boiled, 
 
 . , 
 
 . 3.30 
 
 Bread, wheat, fresh, 
 
 Baked, 
 
 
 3.30 
 
 Potatoes, fresh, 
 
 . Boiled, 
 
 . , 
 
 . 3.30 
 
 Eggs, fresh, 
 
 Hard-boiled 
 
 or fried, 
 
 3.30 
 
 Green corn and beans, 
 
 . Boiled, 
 
 . . 
 
 . 3.45 
 
 Beets, 
 
 u 
 
 
 3.45 
 
 Veal, fresh, 
 
 . Broiled, 
 
 . . 
 
 . 4 
 
 Fowls, domestic, 
 
 Boiled, 
 
 
 4 
 
 Fowls, ducks, 
 
 . Roasted, . 
 
 . B 
 
 . 4 
 
 Soup, beef, vegetables, and 
 Veal, fresh, 
 
 bread, Boiled, 
 . Fried, 
 
 
 4 
 . 4.30 
 
 Ducks, wild, 
 
 Roasted, 
 
 
 4.30 
 
 Pork, fat and lean, . 
 
 u 
 
 . 
 
 . 5.15 
 
20 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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