Chapter II: Part 2

Filets of beef may be supplied by the butcher already trimmed and larded, but a more economical way is to buy the large piece which contains the tenderloin. Have the butcher cut the tenderloin out and the rest of the meat into slices one-half or one inch thick; these pieces may be used to advantage in beef olives, stews or pies, the bones in the piece of meat to be broken up for the soup pot. The filet is then to be prepared by the cook in this manner: Remove all skin and fat; fold the thin end under and skewer in place; the upper side must present a smooth surface for larding; with a larding needle lard the filet of beef in regular and even rows, with strips of firm, fat pickled pork one-quarter of an inch square and about two and one- quarter inches long. The lardoon should be about one-third of an inch under the surface and come out about three-quarters of an inch from where it went in, one-half inch projecting on each side. Place the filet in a small baking pan, with minced salt pork and suet on the bottom of the pan, and six spoonfuls of stock to baste the filet. One-half to three-quarters of an hour will roast it, depending on heat of oven and whether it is preferred underdone or well done. Serve with mushroom sauce or à la jardiniêre.

_Mushroom Sauce_--Melt one tablespoon butter; stir in a tablespoon of flour, and when it is well browned, add, after heating, six tablespoons of stock with half the juice from the can of mushrooms and one-half teaspoonful of lemon juice, seasoned with pepper and salt; add the button mushrooms and let all simmer about ten minutes. Pour over the filet of beef and serve.

_À la Jardiniêre_--Potatoes, turnips, beets, and carrots, cut in round balls, tiny onions, cauliflower blossoms, French beans or peas, are boiled separately in salted water, seasoned with salt, butter and cream, drained and then piled in little groups around the filet of beef, each pile being one kind of vegetable.

_Beef Olives_--Slices of beef one-half inch thick and about four inches square, spread with a force meat of cold meat, bacon or ham, with one cup of bread crumbs, the yolks of three eggs, one pint of gravy or stock, a tablespoon of catsup, salt and pepper to taste. Roll up the slices of beef and fasten with tiny skewers; brush them over with egg and crumb and brown slightly in the oven; then put in stew pan and stew till tender. Serve in gravy in which they were cooked, with fried or toasted croutons of bread.

ROAST BEEF.

From MRS. MATILDA B. CARSE, of Chicago, Lady Manager,

In roasting meats of all kinds, the method adopted should be the one that in the most perfect manner preserves the juices inside the meat. To roast beef in the best possible manner, place the clean-cut side of the meat upon a _very_ hot pan. Press it close to the pan until seared and browned. Reverse and sear and brown the other side. Then put at once in the oven, the heat of which should be firm and steady, but not too intense, and allow 20 minutes to the pound: if it is to be rare, less half an hour deducted from the aggregate time on account of searing. For example, a five-lb. roast of beef will require one and one-quarter hours, a six-lb. roast one and one-half hours, and so on. If the oven is in not too hot, the beef requires no basting. When it is at the proper temperature and the cooking is going all right, the meat will keep up a gentle sputtering in the pan. A roast of beef should never be washed but carefully wiped off with a damp cloth. When meal is done, take it from the oven, cut off the outside slices, then salt and pepper well. The meat, if roasted in this way, will be sweet, juicy and tender.

YORKSHIRE PUDDING.

From MRS. HARRIET A. LUCAS of Pennsylvania, Lady Manager.

This pudding, as its name indicates is a great English dish, and to be used as vegetables are, with _roast beef only_. When vegetables are scarce, it adds a change to the ménu, which everybody likes but few know how to make successfully, because _it is very simple_.

For a small family, put one pint of milk into a bowl, a small pinch of salt: break into this (without beating) two fresh eggs. Now have a good egg beater in your hand; dust into this one-half pint of sifted flour; beat vigorously and rub out all the lumps of flour. Have ready a smaller roasting pan than that in which your beef is roasting, and put in it a good tablespoonful of sweet lard, _very hot_; pour your light batter into this, place a spit or wire frame in the pudding, lift the roast from the pan about 20 minutes before it is done and put it on the spit, so that the juices of the beef will drop on to the pudding. About 20 minutes will cook it. Make gravy in the pan from which the roast has been removed. Slide into a hot meat dish and serve with the meat. Most cooks persistently raise it by adding some sort of baking powder, thinking it of no importance that the meat is over the pudding.

I never yet found a person that did not enjoy a _good_ Yorkshire pudding. This is a small one, for four or five persons. If you increase the pudding, also select a larger pan, as the batter should be fully one-half to an inch in the pan; if not, it will become too crusty.

ROULARDS.

From MRS. RALPH TRAUTMANN, of New York City, First Vice President Board of Lady Managers.

Secure slices of beef cut very thin from the round or cross rib. Take tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, parsley, and hard boiled eggs, all chopped very fine. Mix with a good sized piece of butter, cracker crumbs, a pinch of ginger and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and spread on the slices of beef. Make a roll of each slice, folding in the edges to retain the dressing, and tie up securely with cord. Have beef suet on the fire; after rendering and straining, add a little water to prevent scorching and bring to a boil in a flat-bottomed pot or kettle. Drop in the roulards, rolled and tied; stir with a spoon until well browned; then set back on the stove and let simmer gently for two hours with pot tightly covered. Drain well on napkin or sieve, and garnish with hard boiled eggs, parsley and slices of lemon. Serve hot. Each roulard should be about the size of an egg.

BEEF LOAF.

From MRS. CARRINGTON MASON, of Tennessee, Alternate Lady Manager.

Three pounds lean finely chopped beef; one dozen rolled butter crackers; four beaten eggs; one tablespoonful black pepper; one tablespoonful salt; butter the size of an egg. Mix thoroughly, mold into two bricks and bake like a roast. This makes a very nice dish sliced cold for ten. A very little sage can be added if desired.

HASH.

From MRS. ANNIE L. Y. ORFF, of Missouri, Alternate Lady Manager.

Chop any kind of meat fine; to one cupful add one cup of chopped boiled potatoes, three-fourths cup bread crumbs, put one-half cup milk, one tablespoon butter, a little pepper and salt in a sauce pan on the stove; when boiling stir in the hash which should be well mixed together; take from the fire and add one well-beaten egg; heat gem pans, and grease; put a spoonful of the hash in each, and put in the oven till nicely browned.

MUTTON CHOPS.

From MISS MARY B. HANCOCK, of Iowa, Treasurer of State Board and Alternate Lady Manager.

Sprinkle the chops with salt, pepper and flour; put them in the double broiler; broil over or before the fire for eight minutes. Serve on a _hot_ dish with butter, salt, and pepper, or tomato sauce. The fire for chops should not be as hot as for steak. Chops can be seasoned with salt and pepper, wrapped in buttered paper, and broiled ten minutes over a hot fire.

ROAST LAMB.

From MRS. ROBT. B. MITCHELL, of Kansas, Lady Manager.

Brush three ounces of melted butter over the inner part of a well trimmed quarter of lamb, and strew thick with finely grated bread crumbs, seasoned with salt, pepper and parsley; roll and skewer four or five slices of bacon to the outer side; put in rather quick oven. When thoroughly done (not over cooked) remove the bacon and baste the meat with well beaten yolk of egg and gravy; cover thick with bread crumbs and brown nicely. Garnish the platter on which it is served with sprays of mint. Mint sauce should be an accompaniment. This makes not only an attractive looking, but delicious roast of lamb.

LAMB CHOPS.

From MRS. HESTER A. HANBACK, of Kansas, Lady Manager.

Trim neatly and hack with sharp knife until tender; dip each piece in beaten egg and roll in cracker crumbs; place in pan equal quantities of butter and lard very hot; fry until nicely browned and serve with green peas.

POTTED TONGUE.

From MRS. FRANK H. DANIELL, of New Hampshire, Alternate Lady Manager.

Take the remains of a cold boiled tongue, remove all the hard parts, cut the meat into small pieces and afterwards pound it to a smooth paste. Season with cayenne, and beat with it one-fourth of its weight in clarified butter. Press it into small jars, cover it one-fourth inch deep with clarified butter, melted drippings or melted suet. A smaller proportion of butter will be required if a little of the fat of the tongue is used instead of the lean only, but the butter must not be entirely dispensed with. It can be seasoned by the addition of one teaspoonful of mixed mustard, one saltspoonful of white pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and as much grated nutmeg as will cover a three-cent piece to each pound of tongue. Potted tongue is excellent when pounded with its weight in well dressed cold chicken, cold veal, or partridge. The tongue must be pounded to a perfectly smooth paste.

VEAL CROQUETTES.

From MRS. ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER, of Connecticut, Lady Manager.

Mince cold roast or boiled veal; add one-fourth as much of minced oysters scalded in their own liquor. Season with a dusting of red pepper, salt, a flavor of onion (two fine cut rounds of onion is sufficient), a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Stir this into a half pint of drawn butter made thick with flour; mould the croquettes; roll them in egg, then in cracker crumbs, salted and peppered; put them where they will be cold; when chilled put them in a frying basket into hot fat; two minutes will brown them.

VEAL CROQUETTES.

From MISS KATHARINE L. MIKOR, of Louisiana, Fourth Vice President Board of Lady Managers.

Two pounds of veal, boiled until done; remove skin and hone and chop very fine; crumb a half loaf of bread and mix with the veal broth; add three eggs, two tablespoons of butter, salt, pepper, parsley, etc. Then form into egg-shaped balls and fry brown in boiling lard. It is necessary to dust the balls with cracker-dust or flour.

VEAL POT PIE

From MISS SUSAN W. BALL, of Indiana, Alternate Lady Manager.

Take two pounds of veal--a rib piece is good; cut it in small pieces; put it into a pot, having placed a small plate in the bottom to keep the meat from burning. Put in two quarts of water, either hot or cold. Keep it boiling for about an hour and a half. Then make a quart of flour into biscuit dough; drop in small lumps; cover closely. Twenty or twenty--five minutes will generally cook them. Be sure that there is water sufficient to cover the meat entirely when the dumplings are put in.

CASSELETTES DE VEAU.

From MRS. JAMES R. DEANE, of California, Lady Manager.

This is a very simple, attractive and palatable dish for a luncheon table and may be used either warm or cold. Yours, cordially, Ingredients for one dozen: One-quarter pound macaroni; one pound filet of veal; one ounce butter; one ounce flour; one gill of white stock or milk; three eggs; pepper; salt, and a little cayenne to taste. Chop the veal and then pass it twice through a sausage cutter or mincing machine. Cook the butter and flour together for about ten minutes; then add the milk or stock; then turn on a plate to cool; then add the minced veal; then add the seasoning; break the eggs in one by one; stir well. Boil the macaroni in salt and water until soft; drain it well and cut into rings about one-quarter inch long; have some small cups shaped like egg-cups; grease the sides slightly and place in the bottom of each cup a circular piece of cold boiled ham, fitting closely. Then arrange the macaroni on the sides, the open part to the side of the cup; then fill each cup with the chopped veal; cover with a greased paper and steam for twenty minutes. If eaten warm, use any gravy that may be used with veal. Will keep for two or three days.

VEAL FRICASSEE.

From MRS. T. J. BUTLER, of Arizona, Lady Manager.

Take a knuckle of veal; boil two hours in sufficient water to cover it; when thoroughly cooked, remove the meat and thicken the gravy with one tablespoonful of flour; add a little salt and one egg, well beaten; pour over the meat and serve hot with slices of lemon.

VEAL LOAF

From MRS. WHITING S. CLARK, of Iowa, Lady Manager.

Three pounds raw veal, chopped fine; two-thirds cup butter or its equivalent of salt pork, chopped; three eggs, well beaten with tablespoon milk; four Boston crackers, pounded fine; two even teaspoons pepper; one teaspoon sage; one tablespoon salt. Mix well in a loaf and bake two-hours. Baste often with butter and water.

SWEETBREADS

SWEET-BREAD CROQUETTES.

From MRS. SCHUYLER COLFAX, of Indiana, Alternate Lady Manager-at- Large.

_It gives me great pleasure to send you the recipes you request, and thus further, in this small way, your unique and most generous project. The recipe for sweetbread croquettes is from Mrs. Henderson's Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving, but as it is the best one that I have ever tried, I send it. Cordially yours,_

Two pair of sweetbreads blanched and cut into dice. Half a box of mushrooms also cut into dice. Make a sauce by putting into a sauce pan one and a half ounces of butter, and when it bubbles, sprinkle in two ounces of flour, mix the butter and flour well together and cook thoroughly; then put in a gill of strong stock; stock for this is best made of chicken with some pieces of beef and veal added, or a gill of cream may be used instead of the stock. When the flour, butter and stock are well mixed, put in the sweetbreads and mushrooms and stir over the fire until they are thoroughly heated. Now take them off the fire, add the beaten yolks of two eggs, return to the fire long enough to set the eggs but do not allow them to boil. When cool, form into croquettes, roll first in cracker or bread crumbs, then in egg, and again in crumbs and fry in boiling lard.

SWEETBREADS AND OYSTERS.

From SEÑORA TERESA ARMIJO DE SYMINGTON, of New Mexico.

Soak and blanch your sweetbreads, cut them into equal sizes and remove the skins and little pipes. Take about three dozen fine oysters, strain off the liquor. Put the sweetbreads into a stew pan and cover them with the oyster liquor; add also, if you have it, three large spoonfuls of gravy of roast veal and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter cut into bits and each bit rolled in flour. When the sweetbreads are done put in the oysters and let them cook for about five minutes and take them out again; add at the last two wineglasses of sweet cream; stir up well for a few minutes and serve in a hot dish.

SWEETBREADS AND MUSHROOMS,

From MRS. P. B. WINSTON, of Minnesota, Alternate Lady Manager.

Take all the fat off sweetbreads; throw into boiling water; add one teaspoonful of salt and let stand on fire for twenty minutes; take from fire, remove all skin and pick to pieces. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a pan and let melt, add tablespoonful flour and one-half pint of cream; stir until it boils, add sweetbreads and five mushrooms chopped fine, one-half teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper. Serve in patties or paper cases.

SWEETBREADS EN COQUILLE.

From MISS JENNIE TORREYSON, of Nevada, Alternate Lady Manager.

One pound sweetbreads. Soak them one hour in salt water; boil till tender in salt water in which an onion has been put. One can mushrooms ("champignons") cut into small pieces, stew a bit till tender and mix with sweetbreads after they are boiled till tender and cut into small pieces. One pint cream, one tablespoonful butter, one tablespoonful flour. Cream the butter, mixing with the flour till smooth; stir with the cream, add one tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce and stir together over the fire until it boils, then pour it over the sweetbreads and mushrooms. Serve in shells or cases. Can be used also without mushrooms if desired.

SWEETBREAD PATTIES.

From MISS WILHELMINE REITZ, of Indiana, Lady Manager.

Wash one pair of sweetbreads; throw them into boiling water and simmer gently twenty minutes; then throw them into cold water to blanch and cool. When cool pick them into small pieces, rejecting all the fine membrane. Chop fine a half can of mushrooms. Put a large tablespoonful of butter in a sauce pan to melt without browning; add an even tablespoonful of flour, mix until smooth; add a half pint of cream, stir continually until it boils; add a half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of white pepper; the mushrooms and sweetbreads mix and stand over boiling water for five minutes. Serve in paper cases, silver shells or in puff-paste cases.

POULTRY

BOILED CHICKEN.

From MRS. GOVERNOR EDWIN C. BURLEIGH, of Maine, Second Vice President Board of Lady Managers.

Joint the chicken; cut in small pieces; remove the skin; put into tepid water. Have ready a frying pan with hot melted butter; put the chicken into the pan and fry to a delicate brown; then put into a kettle, cover with water and boil very slowly for an hour. Season. Remove chicken and thicken gravy with flour.

JAMBOLAYA. (A Spanish Creole Dish)

From MISS KATHARINE L. MINOR, of Louisiana, Fourth Vice President Board of Lady Managers.

Cut up the remains of a chicken or turkey, cover with water, and stew until the substance is extracted; then shred the meat. Wash one pound of rice carefully and set aside. Put one tablespoon of lard into a porcelain-lined saucepan; add a small spoon of finely chopped onion and a tomato; then put in the shredded fowl and liquid in which it was boiled, adding the rice, red pepper and salt; sufficient water must be added to cover the rice, which must cook and steam until soft, but not wet or like mush.

CHICKEN LIVERS, EN BROCHETTE, WITH BACON.

From MRS. COL. JAMES A. MULLIGAN, of Chicago, Lady Manager.

Take eighteen fresh chicken livers; dry well; season with pepper and salt; cut each liver in two pieces. Prepare six slices of lean bacon, broil one minute; cut each slice into six pieces. Take six silver skewers; run the skewer through the centre of the piece of chicken liver, then through a slice of bacon, until each skewer is filled with alternate slices of chicken liver and bacon. Roll each one in olive oil, then in bread crumbs, and broil five minutes on each side over moderate fire. Arrange on hot dish, pour Maître d'Hotel butter over them. Garnish with watercress and serve.

POLLO CON ARROZ.

From SEÑORA DON MANUEL CHAVES, of New Mexico.

Primeramente se pone a herbir el pollo hasta que este bien cosido y despues so frie una poca de cobolla en manteca junto con el arroz y se le hecha pimienta entera y se le anade el caldo, colado, en que se cosio el pollo. Despues se anade el pollo cortado en pedazos pequeños y se le hecha sal.

POLLO CON TOMATES.

Lomismo que con arroz, con la excepcion que en lugar de arroz se le echan tomates.

TAMALES DE CHILE.

Lomismo, con la excepcion que en lugar de echarles azucar, canela y pasas se les echa en el medio carne con chile y sal.

COQUILLES DE VOLAILLE.

From MISS JOSEPHINE SHAKSPEARE, of Louisiana, Lady Manager.

Boil the chicken until very tender; pull the meat from the bones in flakes; remove all the skin and cut the meat into very small pieces. Take one-half pint of the chicken broth, one teaspoonful of minced onion, the same of minced parsley, two tablespoons of butter rubbed into same quantity of flour, let this cook for a few moments and add one-half pint of cream or rich milk. Season the meat with a little cayenne pepper and some salt; add to this a small box of truffles, cut fine, also a box of mushrooms thinly sliced; stir all this into the sauce. If there should not be enough to cover the meat, add more broth, cream, butter and pepper, little by little, until you have enough sauce and of the right consistency. It should be as thick as rich cream. When cold add a claret glass of sherry wine. Before taking from the fire, add to it two more tablespoons of butter, a little at a time, never add all at once, it may oil it. Fill the shells, sprinkle bread crumbs on top and about twenty minutes before ready to serve them, place in a very hot oven to brown. Must not _stand after cooked_.

CROQUETTES.

From MRS. L. C. GILLESPIE, of Tennessee, Lady Manager.

Breast of a large turkey; five sweetbreads; one and one-half pint of milk; one-half pound butter; five tablespoonfuls of flour; two eggs. Chop the turkey and sweetbreads very fine, using a silver knife for chopping the sweetbreads. Beat the whites and yolks of the eggs separately as you would for a cake. Mix the eggs, butter, flour and milk in a porcelain vessel and cook until the mixture comes to the consistency of cream sauce; and that it may cook smoothly, it will be necessary to make first a thick paste of the flour by stirring into it a very small quantity of the milk, gradually thinning it with more of the milk. While cooking it must be stirred constantly, and as soon as it is sufficiently thick add to the mixture the chopped turkey and sweetbreads and cook the whole for two minutes longer. Use no seasoning but pepper (white or cayenne) and salt to the taste. This quantity will make twenty-two large croquettes, which are prettiest moulded in a pear-shaped wine glass. With a little practice you can mould them in your hand. Have ready some cracker crumbs rolled very fine and dust like. Fry the croquettes in boiling lard and enough to cover them. When a rich brown take them out and place on sieve or brown paper to rid them of the surplus grease. Run them into a well heated oven for a few minutes before serving. Put a teaspoonful of cream sauce on the top of each croquette.

CHICKEN CROQUETTES.

From MRS. SARAH H. BIXBY, of Maine, Alternate Lady Manager.

Chop one-half pound chicken quite fine; add one teaspoonful salt; one saltspoonful pepper; one saltspoonful celery salt; one teaspoon lemon juice; one tablespoon chopped parsley and a few drops of onion juice; moisten with the thick cream sauce.

_Thick Cream Sauce_--Melt two tablespoons butter; add two heaping tablespoons cornstarch; one teaspoon salt and one saltspoon pepper; add slowly one pint hot cream and beat well.

CURRY OF CHICKEN IN PUFFS.

From SEÑORA TERESA ARMIJO DE SYMINGTON, of New Mexico.

First prepare your puffs by the following recipe. Ingredients: Two cupfuls of milk, two of flour, two eggs and a piece of butter the size of an egg melted; a little salt; heat the eggs separately and well; add the milk to the yolks, then the flour and so on, the whites last; beat all well together. They may be baked in teacups. This quantity will make about a dozen puffs.

_Curry of Chicken_--Buy a young chicken, cut it into pieces, leaving out all the bones; season with pepper and salt to taste; fry them in butter until well done; cut an onion fine, which fry in the same butter until brown; add a teacupful of clear stock, a teaspoonful of sugar. Take about a tablespoonful of curry powder and a little flour, mix and rub together with a little of the stock until quite smooth; add to the sauce pan; put in the chicken and let it boil for a few minutes; just before taking out add the juice of half a lemon. When this is all ready proceed to fill puffs while hot and serve immediately. Garnish puffs with parsley and serve a dish of cold slaw with it.

PILAUF.

From MISS FLORIDE CUNINGHAM, of South Carolina, Lady Manager.

Select a good fat hen, one pound of bacon strip, and one dozen whole black peppers, and boil together until quite done. Take them out of the pot, and put into the liquid left a pint and a half of rice, seasoned with a dessertspoonful of salt, boil twenty minutes, drain from it any of the juice that may remain, and place the pot again on the range, where the rice cannot burn, but where it will have the opportunity to dry thoroughly--each grain remaining apart. Keep the chicken hot and brown the bacon in the oven. When the rice is ready serve in an open dish, place the chicken on the top and pour over it a rich sauce of melted butter and hard boiled eggs chopped fine. The bacon can be sliced very thin and served with lettuce as a course.

FRICASSEE CHICKEN.

From MRS. HELEN C. BRAYTON, of South Carolina, Vice-President of State Board and Lady Manager.

Cut the chicken in pieces and stew in as much water as will cover it. Add a bunch of sweet herbs, white pepper and onions. When cooked, add the yolks of six eggs, glass of white wine, chopped parsley, butter, and tablespoonful of cream, all beaten together.

A GOOD ROAST TURKEY.

From MRS. HELEN A. PECK, OF MISSOURI, Alternate Lady Manager-at- Large.

An ordinary turkey weighing eight to ten pounds requires at least two hours for proper and thorough cooking. Prepare your fowl and rub dry with a clean towel; then mix a little pepper and salt and rub both inside and outside of the turkey before putting in the dressing. Grate stale bread, about three cups; then add a small teaspoon of pepper and the same amount of powdered sage or sweet marjoram, salt and a little salt fat pork chopped very fine or a piece of butter the size of an egg; use warm water to mix the whole to the consistency of thick batter; beat an egg and stir into it the last thing; stuff the breast with half of the dressing, then sew up with coarse white thread and put the remaining dressing into the body and sew up. Take skewers of wood or iron and pin the wings closely to the sides, then turn the neck back and pin that firmly. One can use twine and tie them if they haven't the skewers. Force the legs down and tie tightly to the body before placing the turkey in the dripping pan with nearly a pint of water. Have a brisk fire and baste the turkey at least every fifteen minutes with these drippings. This frequent basting is of great importance as it keeps in the juices and allows thorough cooking. Turn the turkey two or three times during the cooking. During the last half hour dredge with flour and butter freely. The crisp pasty look so desirable and appetizing comes from this. Cook gizzard and liver in a sauce pan on the stove until thoroughly tender, then chop very fine and put them in the gravy to boil thoroughly in the dripping pan in the gravy which is delicious, and to be served from a tureen.

DRESSING FOR TURKEY.

From MRS. W. H. FELTON, OF GEORGIA, Lady Manager.

Bread crumbs and cold rice, equal quantities; season with pepper, onion and salt to taste, mixing well with cup of butter and yolks of three hard boiled eggs; dress the outside with circles of white hard boiled eggs and sprigs of parsley or celery.

HOW TO COOK CHESTNUTS.

From MISS ELOISE L. ROMAN, OF MARYLAND, Alternate Lady Manager.

Two quarts of water to one quart of fresh chestnuts. If dried they should be soaked several hours in cold water. Boil from three- quarters to one hour. Abut five minutes before they are done add a handful of salt. Peel and skin, serve hot, browned in butter, or cold with salad dressing and equal parts of chopped celery. When parboiled and skinned with salt and a little pepper it makes an excellent dressing for turkeys.

GAME

WILD DUCK IN MARYLAND.

From MRS. WILLIAM REID, of Maryland, Lady Manager.

Wild ducks, canvassback, redheads, etc., are roasted without stuffing. After they are picked and thoroughly cleansed, roast them in a tin kitchen before a hot fire or in a quick oven for twenty-one minutes. They should be well browned on the outside, but the blood should run when cut with a knife. Unless underdone the flavor of the duck is destroyed. Fried hominy is generally served with wild duck; and fresh celery. Currant jelly is sometimes used.

SNIPE AND WOODCOCK BROILED ON TOAST.

From MRS. RUFUS S. FROST, of Massachusetts, Lady Manager.

Prepare the birds with great care; place in baking tin and put in oven. Pour into the tin enough water, boiling hot, to cover the bottom of the tin or bake pan; cover the bake pan with another tin; keep them closely covered and let them cook very steadily until tender, adding from time to time enough boiling hot water to keep birds from burning, or even _sticking_ to the tin. When very tender remove from the oven and from the bake pan, carefully saving all the liquid in the pan, which you set on top of the stove, which is the foundation and the _flavor_ for your sauce or gravy which you make _in this_ pan for your birds after they are broiled. Have in an earthen dish some melted butter; dip the birds in the butter and then in Indian or corn meal and put on the gridiron to brown and finish cooking; keep them hot as possible until you serve. Arrange nicely trimmed pieces of toasted bread on the heated platter, put on each piece a bird, pour over and around the birds on the platter a sauce which you make _in_ the bake pan in which your birds were semi- cooked, and which you have kept on top of the range while your birds were broiling. Pour into this pan of _liquid_ or "juice" one teacup sweet cream, and thicken with one tablespoon butter, yolk of one egg and two tablespoons of Indian meal; let it boil up once just to thicken, and pour boiling hot onto the birds and toast on platter, saving some to send in separate serving dish. If you prefer flour to the corn meal to dip the birds in after the melted butter bath, use flour also to thicken the sauce or gravy, which should be a brown sauce or gravy and is generally brown enough if made in roasting pan. A prize cook in Washington once confided to me that "a leetle last year's spiced pickle syrup am luscious flavor for gravy of the wee birds, robins, quail, snipe and them like." Alas! In the same moment of flattering triumph for _me_, she added--triumphantly on _her_ part also--"Lor, chile, I'se de only one libing dis day dat knows nuff to use that same, sure!"

PRAIRIE CHICKEN.

From MRS. E. S. THOMSON, of Maryland, Lady Manager.

Do not wash prairie chickens. Cover this breasts with very thin slices of bacon, or rub them well with butter; roast them before a good fire, basting them often with butter. Cook twenty minutes, salt and pepper them, and serve on a hot dish as soon as cooked.

_Sauce for the above_--First roll a pint of dry bread crumbs and pass half of them through a sieve. Put a small onion into a pint of milk and when it boils remove the onion and thicken the milk with the half pint of sifted crumbs; take from the fire and stir in a heaping teaspoonful of butter, a grating of nutmeg, pepper and salt. Put a little butter in a sautée pan, and when hot throw in the half pint of coarser crumbs which remained in the sieve; stir them over the fire until they assume a light brown color, taking care that they do not burn, and stir into them a pinch of cayenne pepper. For serving, pour over the chicken, when helped, a spoonful of the white sauce and on this place a spoonful of the crumbs.

VEGETABLES

VEGETABLE OYSTER.

From MRS. GOVERNOR BAGLEY, of Michigan, Lady Manager-at-Large.

_I regret that the long distance I am from home prevents me from sending you many valuable recipes I would be glad to contribute to your book. One, however, occurs to me that you may consider worthy a place, and, I assure you, makes a very delicious dish.

Sincerely yours,_

While cooking vegetable oyster put in the kettle a small piece of codfish. This adds very much to its flavor and delicacy and makes a delicious dish out of what would otherwise be an almost tasteless vegetable. The codfish should, of course, be removed before sending to the table.

CAULIFLOWER WITH TARTAR SAUCE.

From MRS. MYRA BRADWELL, of Chicago, Lady Manager.

Serve the cauliflower with one cup of drawn butter in which has been stirred the juice of a lemon, and a half teaspoonful of French mustard, mixed up well with the sauce.

SCALLOPED POTATOES.

From MRS. BERIAH WILKINS, of District of Columbia, Fifth Vice- President, Board of Lady Managers.

Slice six raw potatoes as thin as wafers. This can be done with a sharp knife, although there is a little instrument for the purpose, to be had at the house furnishing stores, which flutes prettily as well as slices evenly. Lay in ice water a few minutes; then put a layer in the bottom of a pudding dish, and over this sprinkle salt and pepper and small bits of butter; then another layer of potatoes and so on until the dish is full. Pour over this a pint of milk, stick bits of butter thickly over it, cover the dish, set it in the oven, bake half an hour. Remove the cover if not sufficiently brown.

ESCALLOPED SWEET POTATOES.

From MRS. P. B. WINSTON, of Minnesota, Alternate Lady Manager.

Take large sweet potatoes; parboil them slightly and cut them in transverse slices. Prepare a deep baking dish and cover the bottom with a layer of slices; add a little butter, a very little sugar and nutmeg. Strew over this a few bits of orange peel and add a little juice of the orange. Fill the dish in like manner, finishing with fine shred of orange peel. Bake until tender and you will have a dish to satisfy an epicure.

POTATO PUFF. (A la Geneve)

From MRS. H. F. BROWN, of Minnesota, Lady Manager.

Whip mashed potatoes light and soft, with milk, butter and two raw eggs; season with pepper and salt, and beat in a few spoonfuls of powdered cheese. Pile upon a bake-dish and brown nicely. Serve in dish.

POTATO CROQUETTES.

From MRS. FRANCES P. BURROWS, of Michigan, Alternate Lady Manager.

Four large mealy potatoes, cold. Mash them; add two tablespoons of fresh, melted butter, pinch of salt, a little pepper, one tablespoon of cream. Whip it for about five minutes or until very smooth and light. Make into forms, roll them in a beaten egg and bread crumbs. Fry in boiling lard.

POTATOES--MASHED.

From MRS. E. J. P. HOWES, of Michigan, Lady Manager.

Peel potatoes thin; put into boiling water with a little salt added. Cook until tender; drain off the water and remove the cover a few moments to dry the potatoes; turn into an earthen dish that has been heated, and beat up with a wire heater or silver fork, moistening the whole with cream; or, if not available, milk with a little butter will answer; salt to taste and mold in any desired form when it is ready to serve. A wooden masher in apt to make it heavy, while beating will make it light and creamy.

BOSTON BAKED BEANS.

From MRS. ELIZABETH C. LANGWORTHY, of Nebraska, Lady Manager.

Soak one quart of small, dry beans over night. Parboil in the morning and place in earthen jar, with salt and pepper to taste. Add one-half teaspoon soda and two tablespoons of molasses; also a small piece of salt pork. Cover with water and bake eight hours, adding boiling water as needed.

LIMA BEANS

From MRS. MARIAN D. COOPER, of Montana, Alternate Lady Manager.

Soak beans over night; cook one hour in water, leaving very little water when done. Just before serving season with pepper, salt, cream and butter and heat thoroughly.

BAKED TOMATOES.

From MRS. GOVERNOR RICKARDS, of Montana, President State Board and Lady Manager.

Select large-sized, smooth and round tomatoes. Cut from the stem end a slice and lay aside. Scoop all the inside of tomato out, being careful not to break through; add half as much cracker or bread crumbs; season highly with salt and pepper; add plenty of butter, a dash or two of cayenne; put on the stove and cook for ten minutes. Now fill the hollow tomatoes with this dressing; when full, add four or six whole cloves, putting them on top of the dressing; either pile up high or make level and put on the sliced top. Place tomatoes in a large baking pan, with a little hot water to prevent sticking. Bake fifteen minutes.

BAKED TOMATOES.

From MRS. AUGUSTA TRUMAN, of California, Lady Alternate-at-Large.

Select smooth, medium-sized tomatoes; make a small aperture at the stalk end; remove the pulp and seeds with a spoon and put into a sieve to drain. Chop equal parts of cold chicken and veal and one green pepper; add a well-beaten egg, half cup grilled bread crumbs, piece of butter, pepper, salt, sage and a suspicion of onion; mix well together; moisten with some of the juice; fill the tomatoes; bake half an hour in a moderate oven. Serve each tomato on a lettuce leaf. This makes a pretty as well as a savory entrée.

STEWED TOMATOES.

From MISS MARY H. KROUT, of Indiana, Alternate Lady Manager.

Take one quart of firm ripe tomatoes; stew one hour and a half over an even fire and stir frequently to prevent scorching; then add half a cup of bread crumbs, one teaspoonful of sugar, salt to taste, a pinch of cayenne pepper, a heaping tablespoonful of good butter and half a cup of sweet cream. Boil together twenty minutes and serve hot.

BEETS.

From MRS. GOVERNOR JOHN M. STONE, of Mississippi, Lady Manager.

Boil until perfectly done; then pour melted butter, salt and pepper over and serve hot.

PARSNIPS--STEWED.

From MRS. M. R. LEE, of Mississippi, Lady Manager.

Wash, scrape, and slice about half an inch thick; have a skillet prepared with half pint hot water and a tablespoon butter; add the parsnips, season with salt and pepper, cover closely and stew until the water is cooked away, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. When done the parsnips will be of a creamy, light brown color.

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS.

From MRS. ALICE B. CASTLEMAN, of Kentucky, Alternate Lady Manager.

Cut off the small end of the pepper; make a slit down the side; remove all the seeds. Mince fine cold chicken, veal or shrimps, and add a little stale bread soaked in water and well squeezed to dry it; one- half teaspoonful minced onion; a little minced parsley, pepper, salt and one tablespoonful butter. Put a large tablespoonful of butter in a spider and heat the dressing for the peppers in it for a few minutes; then stuff them, tie on the tops and the sides together also. In a sauce pan put a heaping tablespoonful of butter; when hot add one-half tablespoonful of flour, which brown in the butter; add a little onion minced fine and a cup of water; put in the peppers, cover closely and let them simmer slowly until tender; when done, add one tablespoonful of butter, pepper and salt to taste.

CORN OYSTERS.

From MRS. JOHN S. BRIGGS, of Nebraska, Lady Manager.

One teacup milk, three eggs, one pint green corn grated very fine, a little salt and as much flour as will make a slightly stiff batter; beat the eggs, the yolks and whites separately. To the yolks of the eggs add the milk, corn, salt and flour; beat the whole very hard, then stir in the whites of the eggs and the oysters; after having dredged them in a portion of the grated corn, drop this batter, a spoonful at a time, into hot lard and fry until done.

FRIED EGG PLANT.

From MRS. LILY ROSECRANS TOOLE, of Montana, Lady Manager.

Pare the egg plant and cut in very thin slices; sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper; pile them evenly; put a tin plate over them and on this stand a flatiron to press out the juice. Let stand one hour. Beat an egg lightly and add to it a tablespoonful of boiling water; dip each slice first in this and then in bread crumbs. Put three tablespoonfuls of lard into a frying pan; when hot sauté the slices, a few at a time; brown one side then turn and brown the other. As the fat is consumed add more, waiting each time for it to heat before putting in the egg plant. Drain on brown paper and serve very hot. Tomato catsup should be served with it. (_Mrs. Rohrer's Cook Book._)

MACARONI--GOOD.

From MRS. SAM S. FIFIELD, of Wisconsin, Alternate Lady Manager.

Five tablespoons of grated cheese, one of flour, one of butter, one egg, one-half cup of cream, salt and pepper; put over the fire and stir until the cheese is dissolved. Boil one-fourth package of macaroni in suited water about fifteen minutes, drain, cover with milk and boil again. Stir all together and bake until brown.

RICE AS A VEGETABLE.

From MRS. CHARLES H. OLMSTEAD, of Georgia, Lady Manager.

Wash and pick thoroughly one quart of rice; put in pot containing two quarts of boiling water; salt to taste; let the rice boil for fifteen minutes; then pour off all the water that has not been absorbed by the rice and place the pot on back of stove to steam; stir occasionally until grains of rice separate.

CRANBERRIES.

From MRS. LANA A. BATES, of Nebraska, Alternate Lady Manager.

After removing all soft berries, wash thoroughly; place for about two minutes in scalding water, remove, and to every pound of fruit add three-quarters of a pound of granulated sugar and a half pint of water; stew together over a moderate but steady fire. Be careful to _cover_ and _not stir_ the fruit, but shake the vessel. If attention to these particulars be given the berries will retain their shape to quite an extent, which materially adds to their appearance on the table. Boil from five to seven minutes; remove from the fire; turn into a deep dish, and set aside to cool. If strained sauce be preferred, one and a half pounds of fruit should be stewed in one pint of water for ten or fifteen minutes or until quite soft; then strain through a colander or fine wire sieve; add three quarters of a pound of sugar and return to the fire and boil three minutes, stirring constantly; set away to cool, when it will be ready for use.

EGGS

PLAIN OMELET WITH EIGHT EGGS.

From MRS. L. BRACE SHATTUCK, of Chicago, Lady Manager.

Beat separately and very lightly the whites and yolks of eight eggs. To one tablespoon of flour add one-half teaspoon of baking powder and one-half cup of sweet milk. Add the beaten yolks and lastly the beaten whites of the eggs. Have ready a hot frying pan, with a generous amount of melted butter, into which pour, a cupful at a time, the mixture. As soon as it _sets_, lift carefully the one half over upon the other, and when done remove to a hot plate and serve immediately. This omelet is exceedingly light and is sufficient for four or five persons.

GREEN CORN OMELET.

From MRS. FRANCES P. BURROWS, of Michigan, Alternate Lady Manager.

Grate twelve ears of boiled corn. Beat five eggs until light and stir into the corn; season with pepper and salt, and one tablespoon butter; fry until brown. If fried in small cakes with a little flour and milk stirred in to make a batter, it will be found excellent.

OMELET WITH HAM.

From MRS. NAOMI T. COMPTON, of New Jersey, Alternate Lady Manager.

Have a teacupful of very finely minced ham prepared for use as soon as the eggs are ready. Beat the whites of eight eggs separately and have the yolks beaten the same length of time as the whites. We always put the eggs in the refrigerator over night if the omelet is to be used for breakfast, for the eggs will beat much better if thoroughly cold. We use the same amount of flour and milk as of ham, but moisten the flour with milk until it is of the consistency of cream, pouring in the milk and flour with the yolks of the eggs. Add lastly the whites, beaten stiff, alternating with the finely minced ham and whites, until all are combined. Do not stir around in one direction, but lift the yellow mixture up through and into the white. Get it into the oven as soon as possible, which must be blazing hot. If baked in a bread tin it will usually rise to double the amount. If you prefer baking on the top of a stove, have your frying pan hot, with plenty of butter, and turn the omelet as soon as the edges are cooked. Great care must be taken not to have the pan keep too hot after the cooking begins, for nothing burns so quickly as egg, and if scorched the delicate flavor is lost. Plain flour can be used with the proper proportions of baking powder.

Omelet must be eaten directly after it comes from the fire to be tasted at its best. A little chopped parsley may be added as a flavoring, but it need not he chopped so finely as the ham.

OMELET--PLAIN.

From MISS MARY E. BUSSELLE, of New Jersey, Lady Manager.

Four eggs, well beaten; four tablespoons milk; two tablespoons melted butter. Bake in a quick oven, in buttered round jelly tins, and when browned, turn half over and send to the table hot.

STUFFED EGGS.

From MRS. RALPH TRAUTMANN, of New York City, First Vice-President Board of Lady Managers.

Boil twelve eggs for twenty minutes; cut in halves; take out the yolks and mash to a paste, adding one onion chopped fine, butter size of an egg, one-half cup of milk, a little chopped parsley, with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well; roll this paste into balls and refill the empty halves, joining the cut eggs together again with the white of a raw egg. Roll the stuffed eggs in beaten yolk and cracker crumbs, and brown in boiling lard, same as crullers. Drain well and serve on toast or lettuce leaves.

DEVILED EGGS FOR LUNCHEON OR PICNICS.

From MRS. ISABELLA LANING CANDEE, of Illinois, Alternate Lady Manager.

Boil any number of eggs very hard, turning over carefully in the water several times to prevent their being unevenly cooked; put into cold water a few moments and then take off shells; cut in halves carefully and take out the yolks; mash these fine with a silver spoon (use a _silver_ knife for cutting and filling) and add to them as much good mayonnaise dressing as may be required to make a smooth paste with which fill the empty halves; put them evenly together, fasten with toothpicks, and wrap each egg in white tissue paper and put in the ice chest until ready to serve.

ESCALLOPED EGGS.

From MRS. HELEN A. PECK, of Missouri, Alternate Lady Manager-at- Large.

Escalloped eggs makes a savory dish and this is how to prepare them: Put half a dozen eggs into a sauce pan of boiling water and keep the pan where it will be hot for half an hour, but not where the water will boil. At the end of the prescribed time lay the eggs in cold water for five minutes, and then remove the shells. Cut the whites into thin slices and rub the yolks through a coarse sieve. Mix both parts lightly, and after putting the mixture into an escallop dish pour over it a sauce made as follows: Put two tablespoonfuls of butter into a frying pan, and when it has been melted add a heaping tablespoonful of flour. Stir until the mixture is smooth and frothy, then gradually add a pint of cold milk. Boil up once and season with salt and pepper. After pouring the sauce over the eggs spread a large cupful of grated bread crumbs on top of the dish and cook for fifteen minutes in a hot oven. If care be taken to prevent the eggs from boiling at any time during the thirty minutes the dish will be delicate and digestible.

HOW TO TAKE EGG.

From MRS. NAOMI T. COMPTON, of New Jersey, Alternate Lady Manager.

Have never seen this recipe for preparing an egg for invalids or convalescents, so I venture to add it on account of its excellence. Some people dislike the taste of raw egg, and would find it palatable in other ways than beaten up with wine, or taken in a glass of sweetened milk. Prepare a cup of coffee to the taste, with cream and sugar, keeping it very hot until ready for the egg, which must be beaten thoroughly in another cup, and the prepared coffee added by degrees to the egg; drink it hot, and you will never want to take coffee again without the addition of egg.

SALAD

LOBSTER SALAD.

From MRS. CHARLES PRICE, of North Carolina, Third Vice President, Board of Lady Managers.

Lobsters are done when they assume a red color, which will only require a few minutes hard boiling. Remove the skin and bones, pick to pieces with a fork, marinate them, _i.e._, place in a dish and season with salt, pepper and a little oil, plenty of vinegar and a little onion cut up; then cover and let stand two or three hours. Cut up hard boiled eggs for a border, line the bottom of the dish with lettuce leaves, place the lobster on the dish in a ring. Mayonnaise can be used if desired, but the lobster is excellent without it.

CHICKEN SALAD.

From MRS. A. M. PALMER, of New York, Alternate Lady Manager.

Ingredients: One fowl (boiled); one cucumber; two heads lettuce; two beets (boiled). Dressing made according to the following recipe: One teaspoonful mixed mustard; one-half teaspoonful sugar; four tablespoonfuls salad oil; four tablespoonfuls milk; two tablespoonfuls vinegar; cayenne and salt to taste; add the oil, drop by drop, to the mustard and sugar, mixing carefully; next add milk and vinegar _very gradually_, lest the sauce curdle, and the seasoning. Place the shredded chicken on a bed of lettuce, and pour the dressing over it. Around the edge arrange rings of hard boiled eggs, sliced cucumber and beet root.

SOUTHERN CHICKEN SALAD. SPLENDID--TRY IT ONCE.

From MRS. CHARLES J. MCCLUNG, of Tennessee, Alternate Lady Manager.

Cut one chicken into small pieces (not too small); boil _one_ egg hard and pulverize the yolk (cut the white into the chicken); add the beaten yolks of _three_ raw eggs; one-half teaspoonful each of ground mustard, white pepper, salt, sugar and celery salt or seed, the juice of one lemon, one tablespoonful melted butter, one tablespoonful salad oil (some prefer all butter); beat all well together until light and pour into one gill of boiling vinegar and let all cook until thick as cream, stirring constantly to avoid curdling. When _cold_ pour over your chicken, to which has been added as much chopped celery, and salt and pepper to taste.

CHICKEN SALAD.

From MRS. MARGARET M. RATCLIFFE, of Arkansas, Alternate Lady Manager.