Chapter XXI: Part II: Choice Family Receipts (4)

=Another Way.=--Pare and quarter two or three egg-plants, according to the size of your family. Soak them in salt and water, as directed above, then boil till soft enough to mash like turnips. Mash them smooth, add a few bread crumbs soaked in milk, and one or two table-spoonfuls of butter, according to the quantity; a little chopped parsley, an onion boiled and mashed, and salt and pepper. Mix all thoroughly; pour into a baking-dish, cover the top with grated bread, and bake for a half-hour. Serve hot. For a fancy dish some boil the plant till soft, then cut in halves and scoop out the flesh, leaving the skin whole. Mash the inside smooth, and dress as above. Mix well, and stew half an hour, then put it back into the shell or skin; strew bread crumbs over, and brown slightly.

Cucumbers after they begin to turn yellow, and muskmelons that come on too late to ripen, may be sliced and fried like the egg-plant, and can scarcely be distinguished from it. Some think they are better.

=Fricasseed Egg-plant.=--Peel and slice the egg-plant; lay the slices in salt-water two hours, to remove the bitterness and the black which it would otherwise have; after soaking, drain off all the water; have enough boiling water in a clean, bright saucepan to cover the slices; throw in a table-spoonful of salt, and lay in the egg-plant; let them boil till thoroughly cooked; then drain off the water, pour in sufficient milk to cover the slices, and add two table-spoonfuls of butter, rolled in flour; let it simmer gently, shake the pan over the fire till the sauce is thick, and then stir in the beaten yelks of three eggs just before serving.

=To Stew Tomatoes.=--Pour boiling water over fair and fully ripe tomatoes, that you may peel them quickly; let the water remain only long enough to start the skin. When peeled, cut into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain-lined kettle, as tin or iron turns them dark and gives a bad taste. If onions are agreeable, cut one small one in with the tomatoes. Cover closely and set where they will gently simmer, but not boil hard. Stir them occasionally to prevent burning, and when they have cooked two hours add salt and pepper to suit your own taste, and to a quart of tomatoes add a table-spoonful and a half of sugar, and two and a half even spoonfuls of bread or cracker crumbs. After the crumbs are added stir often or they will stick to the bottom of the dish and soon burn. Twenty minutes before dinner beat two eggs, or if you have more than a quart of tomatoes increase the number in the proportion of two eggs to a quart; stir briskly and often after the eggs are added, and serve hot. If possible the tomatoes should be skinned and on the back part of the stove before breakfast, as the longer they simmer the better they will be. Three hours’ slow cooking at least, _five is better_. If prepared according to rule, they are thought very nice by tomato-lovers, and are better warmed over the second day than they were the first.

=Baked Tomatoes.=--Peel and slice good, firm, but ripe tomatoes; put them in a pudding-dish, season with pepper, salt, two great spoonfuls of sugar to a quart of tomatoes, and one spoonful of butter. Sprinkle some finely powdered bread crumbs over the top and bake slowly two hours.

To add two well-beaten eggs is thought by some to improve this dish.

=Scalloped Tomatoes.=--Peel as many large, ripe tomatoes as you wish to prepare; cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick; pack in a pudding-dish first a layer of tomatoes, then a thick layer of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, a little white sugar, and a teaspoonful of butter; then a layer of tomatoes, then bread crumbs, etc., till the dish is nearly full, having tomatoes last. Now dust over pepper, a little sugar, and more butter; strew the top with bread crumbs, and bake, _covered_, half an hour; then remove the cover, and bake brown, but be careful not to scorch.

We have received from a South Carolina lady the two following receipts:--

=Boiled Rice.=--One pint of rice, as new as it can be had,--old rice has a dead taste,--to one quart of boiling water and one table-spoonful of salt. Boil briskly a few minutes, until the water seems absorbed; then, keeping it closely covered, set on one side of the stove, where it can be kept hot and steam itself done,--not become soft and mushy. In about half an hour it will be cooked sufficiently. Serve very hot with the meats, like potatoes. If cooked soft and watery, and stirred till gluey--as is so often done--it would not be thought eatable at the South. _Never_ stir more than once, and then only when it first boils. Some prefer only one pint of water to one pint of rice.

=Cooking Rice.=--Pick over and wash a cup of rice; cover with cold water, and set where it will cook slowly. When the rice has absorbed all the water, pour in a cup of milk; stir often and cook slowly; in ten or fifteen minutes it will take up all the milk; then add another cup, and so on, till the rice is soft, then add a little salt, and dish. Eat with meat, or as dessert; if the latter, sweeten rich sweet cream and grate in nutmeg, and use as sauce to the pudding.

=Peas.=--To prepare any article of food in the _best_ way should not be thought “too much trouble.” Many kinds of early peas are dry, almost tasteless, and if what sweetness there may be in the pod is not added to the peas to remedy this deficiency, they will be very insipid.

“Carter’s Full Crop” and the “Daniel O’Rourke” are among our earliest, but neither is a very sweet pea. To use these with any enjoyment, _securing_ all the saccharine properties of the pod, is very essential. They are of the smooth, round kind, and these are never as sweet as the _wrinkled_ peas,--that is, those that wrinkle in boiling or drying.

“The Little Gem” and the “Champion of England” are later, but among our best and sweetest peas. They do not need the juices of the pod so much in cooking, but we think are enough sweeter and richer for it to pay for the trouble. Some cooks throw in a little sugar to increase the flavor, as they use _soda_ to make them tender; but don’t do it unless your taste is so deficient that you can be satisfied with simple sweetness and tenderness, without regard to rich, genuine flavor. For such, any tasteless thing, so that it is sweet and tender, is as good as peas.

=Green Peas.=--The first rule is to use the peas fresh from the vines, every hour’s delay in cooking after they are gathered destroys something of their finest flavor. Wash them _before_ shelling, _never after_. Shell and pick over nicely. First put in the _fresh pods_. Press them down, leaving only water enough to cover them. Let them boil fifteen minutes, then skim out, and put in the peas. If there is more than enough water to cover the peas after the pods have been removed, pour it out. Let them boil fifteen or twenty minutes. Peas that require more than twenty minutes, or need soda to make them tender, are only fit for soup. When done, put what butter is needed into the dish, and pour the peas on it, adding a little pepper. Some prefer them dry, and drain them through a strainer, but we think some of the water in which they were boiled is a very great improvement. The amount of butter needed must be decided by the quantity of peas and the taste. Boiling the pods adds greatly to the sweetness and richness of the peas.

=Beans.=--The dwarf wax beans are among the best string-beans. The pod is very tender and white, almost transparent when cooked. The Valentine is also very good. Of the pole-beans the Horticultural and Lima are the best. If you cannot raise the Lima, the Saba is a good substitute, though by no means equal to it.

In cooking the wax bean, simply cut off the ends, and snap the pod in small bits. Put salt into boiling water and then put in the beans. If the salt is thrown in before the vegetables, they retain their color; but if salt is added _after_ they are in hot water, they will be of a faded olive color when cooked, and not so well flavored. String-beans should cook a full hour unless very tender. When done put in your vegetable-dish some butter, allowing an even great spoonful to a pint of string-beans; add a little pepper and pour the beans upon it, with some of the water in which they were boiled. Like peas, some prefer them quite moist; those who do not can easily be suited by having theirs taken out free from the liquor. Lima beans are not good to use for _string-beans_, but the bean itself is delicious. It requires a full hour to boil. When ready to dish, season the same as peas or string-beans. Many consider cream an addition both for peas and beans, but we think much of the peculiar delicacy is lost by it. The more simple such articles can be prepared the more of the true flavor is retained.

=Asparagus.=--Wash it clean, but do not leave in water. Cut off all of the white ends that are woody and tough, and when ready to boil tie up the stalks in a neat bunch, lay them in the saucepan, sprinkle over as much salt as is needed to season, then just cover the bunch or bunches with boiling water. Cook twenty minutes. When done, take the asparagus out and with a sharp knife cut off any part that has not cooked tender and throw away. Then cut the stalks up into pieces half an inch long and put them back into the saucepan with two table-spoonfuls of butter to each good-sized bunch; a little pepper, one cup of good cream, and enough finely rolled bread crumbs to thicken it a little, say only two even table-spoonfuls. If there is enough water left after boiling to make the dish too liquid, pour off part of it before returning the asparagus, cream, and bread crumbs to the saucepan. Let it all boil up for two or three minutes, then dish and send to the table hot.

=Spinach.=--Pick and wash it with great care. Put into a saucepan that will just hold it; sprinkle in some salt, and pour over only one cup and a half of boiling water; cover close, set on the stove, and shake the pan often to prevent the spinach from burning. When done, beat it up with a little butter and pepper. It should come to the table quite dry. It looks nicely when pressed into a mold in the form of a leaf. Serve with poached eggs.

=To Boil Cabbage.=--Wash very thoroughly in cold water; look between the leaves, where insects and worms are very often secreted; then put into boiling water, some say without any salt; we prefer to add salt, when half done; boil quickly till tender; then take it out with a skimmer into a colander or sieve, and drain free from all water. Season with a little butter and pepper.

=To Boil Cabbage with Meat.=--Select small, white, firm heads; cut in quarters; examine carefully; then lay the quarters an hour in cold salted water, to drive out any insects that may have escaped your observation. Skim all the fat from the pot in which the pork or beef is boiling, and put in the cabbage while the water boils; cook till tender; then drain, and serve as whole and compact as possible. If the meat is to be used cold, take out some of the water in which it is boiling, and put in another kettle and boil the cabbage in that, as it gives a disagreeable taste to meat when cold.

=Another Way.=--After washing and examining the cabbage, put it into a kettle of fast-boiling water, into which you have put some salt and a small bit of soda. Press it down into the water, then let it boil quickly eight minutes; have on hand another kettle of fast-boiling water prepared as above, and transfer the cabbage to that; press it down into the water and let it boil twelve minutes more; meanwhile throw away the first water and prepare more like it; after the second boiling remove the cabbage once more to another water, and boil ten minutes if the cabbage is small, twenty if large; then take it up in a colander, lay a plate over, and drain well; dish on toasted bread that has been dipped in drawn butter, and pour a little over the cabbage.

=Cabbage like Cauliflower.=--Chop a good, solid head of cabbage fine, as if for cold slaw. Put it into boiling water. Boil till tender; then drain quite free from water; season with salt, pepper, and butter; add a cup of cream or milk, and simmer a few minutes. Send to table hot.

=Cauliflower.=--Soak the head two hours in salt and water, and boil until tender in milk and water, if you have plenty of milk, if not, boiling water will answer. Serve whole with drawn butter, or cut it up and season richly with butter, and a little pepper and salt. The first way is the most stylish, the last the most palatable. In either case it must be well drained.

=Hot-Slaw.=--Cut a firm white head of cabbage in thin shreds; put it into boiling water; cook till tender; only just cover with water, so that when done there may be hardly any remaining. Just before dishing, add to one good-sized head half a teacupful of good cider vinegar and a piece of butter half the size of an egg, with salt and pepper to suit your taste.

=Cold Slaw.=--Shave a firm head of cabbage fine; put a teaspoonful of salt, the same of sugar, and a little pepper into a small cup of vinegar, and pour over the cabbage.

=To Cook Onions.=--The strong, disagreeable taste and smell from onions may be in a large degree removed by leaving them to soak in cold salt and water an hour after the outside skin has been removed; then boil them in milk and water till thoroughly tender; lay into a deep dish, season with pepper and salt, and pour over them drawn butter.

CAKE.

GENERAL RULES.

First examine the range or stove. See that the ashes are shaken out, and sufficient coal added to keep the oven in working order till your cake is put together and baked; for fuel should never be added while bread or cake is baking. See if the dampers are all right, and ovens at the proper heat,--a slow, even heat for rich cake, a quick heat for plain cake.

The range being in proper condition, next collect all the ingredients to be used. Line the tins with buttered paper.

Sift the flour, then weigh or measure it and the sugar, butter, fruit, and milk. Baking-powder or cream of tartar should always be sifted in with the flour, which should then be covered up, and set near the fire to dry while you are getting other articles ready. If Jewell’s _prepared_ flour is used, no salt, soda, or cream of tartar is needed for anything; and those ingredients may be omitted in using the following receipts.

Dissolve soda in a little cold water.

Put the eggs in cold water. They will beat easier and lighter. Beat yelks and whites separately.

Never mix sweet and sour milk.

When fruit is to be used, it is always better to pick it over, slice or stone, and, if need be, wash and dry it, the evening before, covering it over closely, to keep from the heat and air.

Everything being now in readiness, put the butter into a deep earthen dish. Stir it with a wooden spoon till soft, then add sugar, and beat until light and white, like thick cream. Next add the yelks of the eggs well beaten, then a little of the flour, and very gradually the milk, beating the batter steadily; then add spices, and the whites, well beaten to a very stiff foam, with the remainder of the flour, alternately. Now beat the batter till all is thoroughly combined, and you will be sure of light, fine-grained cake.

Fruit should be rolled in flour and added the last thing, or add it in alternate layers with the batter, as you fill it into the pans. Use some of the flour weighed out for the cake to dredge the fruit.

So far it is well; but quite as much depends on baking, as in the preparation of the cake, and if you have not the most trusty, reliable servants, your watch and care is not ended.

Unless a _raised cake_, it should be put into the oven as soon as you have put it into the pans, opening the oven door, after the cake is in, as seldom as consistent with proper oversight, as a draught of cold air passing through the oven will tend to make the cake heavy.

If the oven is too hot, cover the cake for a while with a piece of brown paper.

Whenever you buy a broom, break off a few of the splints; tie them up and lay away safely to use in _trying_ cake. It is not pleasant to think of using a splint from a broom that has been used in sweeping a kitchen floor, or any other floor, however nicely kept. Try the cake with one of these clean splints, or a small knitting-needle. If it comes out quite free from any particle of batter, the cake is done.

Cake keeps fresher to be allowed to remain in the pan in which it was baked; but if necessary to remove it, place it on the top of a sieve until quite cold, when it may be frosted if desirable, and put into a large stone pot, or cake-safe, and covered with clean linen.

Steam stale cake, and eat with a nice hot sauce, and you have a very good pudding.

=Loaf Cake.=--Two cups sugar; two of milk; two of flour; one of yeast; make into a sponge overnight. In the morning, if this sponge is light, beat together two cups sugar, one of butter, and four eggs; add these to the sponge with enough more flour to make it quite stiff; add spice and fruit to suit the taste; a cup and a half of stoned raisins, well floured, and half a cup of citron cut thin and in small pieces. Raise till light, and bake in an even oven.

=Mrs. Breedley’s Fruit Cake.=--Five eggs; five cups of flour; two and a half cups of sugar; one and a half cups butter, and two cups sour milk; two cups raisins. Beat sugar and butter to a cream; add the egg-yelks and whites, beaten separately; then three cups of the flour and the milk; beat well and then add one gill wine, cloves and cinnamon to suit your taste, and the remainder of the flour; and last, one teaspoonful soda dissolved in a very little water. Bake as soon as put together.

Spices, in all receipts, may be increased or diminished to suit the taste. One nutmeg and a teaspoonful of other spices will be a medium allowance; cloves are generally undesirable, except in fruit cake.

=Rosie’s Raised Cake.=--Three cups bread dough, two cups sugar, one cup butter, or half cup butter and half cup lard, two eggs, nutmeg to suit the taste, one wineglass of wine, half a teaspoonful of soda, one pound of raisins chopped or stoned; beat all thoroughly together, and let it stand to rise till quite light. Always roll raisins in plenty of flour before putting into the dough, to prevent their sinking.

=Fruit Cake.=--Three cups sugar, half a pound butter, four cups flour, three eggs well beaten, one cup of milk, two nutmegs, two pounds of raisins stoned, one pound Zante currants, or half a pound of preserved orange peel sliced very thin and cut fine, one teaspoonful soda. Bake two hours and a half.

=Farmer’s Fruit Cake.=--Three cupfuls of sour dried-apples soaked overnight in warm water. In the morning drain off the water, chop not too fine, leaving the apple about as large as raisins, then simmer in two cupfuls of molasses two hours or until quite done, that is, until the apple has absorbed all the molasses; one and a half cupfuls of butter well beaten; one of sugar, four eggs, one cupful of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of cloves, one of cinnamon, one of nutmeg, one and a half teaspoonfuls of soda, one wineglass of wine, four and a half teacupfuls of flour; add one cup raisins or currants, if you please, but roll in flour before putting them to other ingredients; beat all together thoroughly; bake carefully in a well-heated oven. This is excellent to our taste, far better than the richer kind, and more easily digested.

=Whortleberry Cake.=--Prepare the batter just like Sally Lunn, then stir in one coffee-cup of whortleberries rolled in flour the last thing before putting into the oven. If the berries are not well floured, they will sink to the bottom of the cake and be worthless. Stir them in gently and quickly. Bake half an hour. Very good for breakfast or tea.

=Olic Cake.=--Three pounds of flour, five eggs, three quarters of a pound of butter, one and a half pints of milk, one pound of sugar, and one penny’s worth of bakers’ yeast; beat and knead well and put to rise; knead over every time it rises,--say three times a day for three days,--using as little flour as possible at each kneading. After the first rising, keep it in the cellar or a cool place. When ready for use, break off small bits, flatten with the hand, and lay a bit of citron on them; then roll into a ball and fry in boiling lard, like doughnuts. Roll in sugar after they are fried. This is a Dutch receipt, and, if properly made, very fine. We have never _fried_ these cakes, but often make a large bowlful in cold weather, and keep it on the ice a fortnight at a time, using as we want it, kneading it every day an hour before tea, and using it for biscuits instead of cake. Let it stand a short time to rise, then bake. _They are very light and tender._

=Nice little Cakes.=--Whites of six eggs left from Spanish cream, three and a half cups of flour, two cups sugar, one small cup butter, one cup milk, one teaspoonful soda, and two of cream of tartar. Flavor to taste.

=Queen Charlotte’s Cake.=--One pound of flour, one of sugar, one of raisins (Sultana or _stoneless_ raisins are the best), one half-pound butter, four eggs, one gill brandy, one gill wine, one gill cream, half a nutmeg, half-teaspoonful each cloves and cinnamon. Bake in one loaf.

=Lemon Cake.=--Two cups of flour, two of sugar, six eggs, six table-spoonfuls of butter, four of milk, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar sifted with the flour, and one teaspoonful of soda. Beat all well together, and bake in two loaves. For the jelly to use with it, take three fourths of a pound of sugar, one fourth of a pound of butter, six eggs, the rind of three lemons grated, and their juice. Beat the sugar, butter, and eggs thoroughly together, and set in a dish of hot water until heated, then add the grated lemon and juice; stir till thick enough and quite smooth, then split the cake and put this jelly in while warm. It is very delicious.

=Molasses Drop Cake.=--One cup of molasses, half a cup of butter or lard, half a cup of water, three cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, one teaspoonful of soda. Beat well together, and drop with a spoon on a buttered pan or in muffin-rings. Bake quickly.

=Chicago Fruit Cake.=--One and one fourth pound flour, six eggs, one pound sugar, half-pint of milk, three fourths pound butter, one pound raisins, two teaspoonfuls soda, half a gill molasses, three teaspoonfuls mace, one teaspoonful cloves, one of cinnamon, one of allspice, one of nutmeg. Beat the yelks and whites of eggs separately, and beat the cake well before baking.

=Cider Cake.=--Two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one and a quarter-pound of sugar, one pound of raisins (stoned), five eggs, two teaspoonfuls of soda (only even full), a teaspoonful of cloves, cinnamon, and half a nutmeg, and one pint of cider. Put in the soda the last thing.

=Snow-flake Cake.=--Half a cup of butter, two cups of sugar, four of flour, one of sweet milk, three eggs well beaten, one table-spoonful cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda; or, if you use prepared flour, use no soda or cream of tartar. Bake the cake in shallow jelly-cake pans; while baking, grate two fresh cocoa-nuts carefully, and spread over each cake, as it comes from the oven, a thin frosting, and then sprinkle thickly with the grated nut. Three layers of cake make one cake. This receipt will make two loaves.

=Cocoa-nut Cake.=--One coffee-cup butter, two and a half sugar, four and a half of flour, whites of nine eggs beaten stiff, half a cup of milk, two cocoa-nuts grated, one small teaspoonful soda, two of cream of tartar. Save out a saucer of grated cocoa-nut to sprinkle on the frosting after the cake is baked.

=Macaroons.=--One pound of sugar, whites of three eggs, one quarter-pound blanched and pounded almonds. Sprinkle sugar on paper and drop in little round cakes.

=Delicate Cake.=--When making cocoa-nut custard (see Puddings, etc.), use the whites of the eggs as follows: One cup white sugar, five table-spoonfuls of butter, whites of six eggs, one teacup of sweet milk, three cups of “prepared flour,” or to the same quantity of common flour, add one small teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tartar sifted in the flour. Flavor with orange, lemon, or vanilla.

=Sponge Cake= (very good).--Three eggs, one cup of sugar, one of flour, three table-spoonfuls of water, and one teaspoonful of yeast powder; flavor with lemon and nutmeg.

=Pineapple Cake.=--Make a cake as for jelly-cake; bake it in three or four jelly-pans; grate a large ripe pineapple in one bowl and a cocoa-nut in another. When the cakes are done, spread over one a layer of pineapple, and over that a layer of cocoa-nut; then place the second cake over this, and on that put another layer of pineapple and cocoa-nut, and so on till the last; cover that with the pineapple and grated cocoa-nut, and then beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff meringue; lay it over the top, and place the cake in the oven just a few minutes to stiffen.

=Molasses Cup Cake= (very good).--One cup each, sugar, molasses, and milk, three cups flour, half a cup butter, three eggs, one table-spoonful ginger, one small even teaspoonful of soda, half a teaspoonful of salt. Pour the milk to the flour, beat butter and sugar to a cream and add to it the salt and ginger, then the well-beaten yelks of the eggs; beat the soda into the molasses, and when it foams pour in with the rest, adding the whites of the eggs, beaten stiff, the last thing.

=Loaf Cake.=--One and a half pints of well-raised sponge, two and a half cups sugar, two thirds cup of butter, three eggs, yelks and whites beaten separately, half a pound stoned raisins well rolled in flour to prevent their sinking to the bottom, half-teaspoonful each cinnamon and cloves, one nutmeg. Beat into the sponge a half-teaspoonful soda before adding these ingredients, then stir all together thoroughly; let it stand till quite light, then stir up from the bottom with a wooden spoon to prevent raisins from settling, and bake slowly. If the sponge is very thin, add a little more flour.

=Walnut Cake.=--One pound of flour, one of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, one and a half pounds raisins stoned, the meats from two quarts of walnuts, one nutmeg, half a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half a cup of milk, one wineglassful of cider or wine, six eggs, whites and yelks beaten separately, half a teaspoonful of soda. Pick over the walnut-meats to see that no bits of shells remain; pour boiling water over to take off the skin, drain and rub dry, then mix with raisins, flour well, and stir into the batter. Bake in a quick oven, but not scorching hot.

=Loaf Cake.=--Two cups of sugar, two of milk, two of flour, one of yeast. Make into sponge overnight. In the morning rub together two cups of sugar, one of butter, and four eggs. Flour to make quite stiff; one nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves; if wished, one pound of fruit. Raise till light, and bake in an even oven.

=Western Cake.=--Four cups of flour, two and a half of sugar, one of butter, one of new milk, and five eggs, one teaspoonful of soda. Spice to taste.

=Snowball Cake.=--One cup of sugar, half a cup of butter, half a cup of sweet milk, two cups of flour, the whites of three eggs, half a teaspoonful of soda, one spoonful of cream of tartar sifted with the flour; beat butter and sugar thoroughly together; add the whites of eggs beaten to a stiff foam; then the flour, and milk and soda the last.

=Molasses Cake.=--Half a cup of molasses, half cup sugar, half cup sour milk, piece of butter size of an egg, one egg, two cups flour, spices, and a few chopped raisins. Spice with a little ginger, cloves, and cinnamon.

=Corn-Starch Cake.=--One cupful of butter, two of sugar; beat to a white foam; add four eggs beaten quite stiff, one cupful of corn-starch, one cupful of milk, two cupfuls of prepared flour, and flavor with one teaspoonful of bitter almonds. If you have no prepared flour, sift one teaspoonful of cream of tartar with the flour, and add half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a teaspoonful of milk, the last thing; beat thoroughly after the soda is added, and bake immediately.

=Moss Cake.=--Two cupfuls of sugar, half a cupful of butter, three eggs, one cupful of milk, three cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar sifted with the flour, and one teaspoonful of soda.

=Jenny Lind Cake.=--Half cup butter, one teacup of milk, two table-spoonfuls cream, two cups sugar, three eggs, one teaspoonful cream tartar, half-teaspoonful soda, and four cups flour. Any spice that is palatable.

=Sugar Cookies.=--One cup butter, two cups sugar, three eggs, five cups flour, two table-spoonfuls sour milk (or sweet milk, with two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar added), one small teaspoonful of soda; spice to suit your taste. Bake quickly.

=Cookies.=--Two cups of sugar, one of butter, one of sweet milk, one teaspoonful soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, just flour enough to roll; rub butter and sugar into the dry flour, as if for pastry, and then wet up, using no eggs; spice to suit the taste; cream of tartar to be sifted in with the flour, soda added the last. Be careful not to use too much flour, more can easily be added if not stiff enough.

=Another Way.=--Three cups of flour, one cup of sugar a trifle heaped, half cup of butter, one third cup half cream and half sweet milk, two eggs, half-teaspoonful soda,--if you don’t use prepared flour; spice with cinnamon. Work butter and sugar to a smooth white cream, then add yelks of eggs, beat well, and then add milk and soda; whites beaten stiff, added the last thing before the flour; make as thin as they can be rolled, putting the hands to the dough as little as possible. Much handling makes them hard and tough.

=Molasses Gingerbread.=--Half a cupful of sugar, half a cupful molasses, half a cupful of milk, half a cupful of butter, three cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, and half a teaspoonful of soda. Beat the sugar, butter, and ginger together; then add the milk, then the flour; beat the soda into the molasses, and as soon as it foams, beat it in with the other ingredients. Better beat all together with the hand. Bake it either in a shallow pan or in little cups. This is very nice, if a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of cloves, and a teacupful of stoned raisins are added, and the whole baked in a loaf.

=Plain Gingerbread.=--One cupful of sugar, one of molasses, half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of milk, one cupful of raisins or currants, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, and one of yeast powder, with flour enough to make it as stiff as cup cake.

=Excellent Ginger-Snaps.=--Boil together one pint molasses, one cup butter, one table-spoonful of ginger. Let them only boil up once, then set aside to cool. When cold, roll two small teaspoonfuls of soda perfectly smooth, and beat into the molasses; while foaming pour it upon just as little flour as will make it possible to roll out very thin. Bake quick.

In measuring by spoonfuls, be careful that the spoon is _even_ full, not _heaped_. Careless measurement spoils many good dishes.

PIES, PUDDINGS, AND DESSERTS.

=Pastry.=--One quart flour, half-pound butter; mix half the flour with ice-cold water, stiff enough to roll; put it on a well-floured paste-board, sprinkle flour over and roll half an inch thick. Divide the butter into three parts; shave one of the three portions quite thin and put it lightly over the paste, shake one third of the dry flour over it, fold the four ends inward, then double the sheet together and beat it with the rolling-pin till it is about half an inch thick; shave a second portion of the butter and put on the paste, flour, fold up and beat out as at first. Repeat this process for the third and last time, using up all the butter and flour, and put the paste on the ice for a half-hour. Then cut off a piece large enough to cover a plate, roll out,--always rolling from you,--and handle as little as possible; cover the plate, trim it by passing the knife round the plate, cutting _upwards_. (This should be borne in mind with all pastry. If cut round the edge of the plate _upwards_, it will be light; if _downwards_, it will cling to the plate and be heavy.) Cut a strip an inch wide and lay round the edge, fill in the fruit or whatever the contents are to be, and if it is to have an upper crust roll out, put it on and trim as above directed. Prick the top to let out steam and prevent the waste of the juice.

=Puff Paste.=--Half a pound of butter, half a pound of lard, one and a quarter pounds of flour; wet half the flour to a paste; mix the other half with the shortening, chopping it fine, but do not use your hand; stir together with a silver or wooden spoon. Roll the paste out on the board about a quarter of an inch thick, and add one third of the mixed flour and shortening; fold the four ends over it, and beat out with the rolling-pin till again a quarter of an inch thick; spread over it one third more of the shortening; fold over the ends; beat out thin again; add the remainder of the shortening; beat, roll out, and use.

=Potato Pastry for Meat Pies.=--Six good-sized potatoes, boiled and mashed mealy and white, one teacup of sweet cream, a teaspoonful of salt, and flour enough to make it stay together and roll out. Work and handle as little as possible, and roll thicker than common pastry.

=Pumpkin Pies.=--Cut the pumpkin into small pieces; take out the seeds and inside, but do not pare it. It must be a well-grown and thoroughly ripened pumpkin, and not watery. Put the pieces in a saucepan, with only a few spoonfuls of water, not more than four; cover close and let it cook gently, so as not to scorch, until the water has all evaporated, and the pumpkin has cooked quite dry and of a rich, dark orange color. While hot sift it through a coarse sieve. Season only as much as you are needing for the day. For one large pie, one egg, one table-spoonful of molasses, four table-spoonfuls of condensed milk, and enough of new milk to make it as thin as you wish, or if you have it, half milk and half cream, instead of condensed milk; sugar and spice to suit the taste. Ginger and cinnamon are very nice. Bake to a clear, rich brown, but do not blister or scorch.

=Dried-Apple Pies.=--Wash the apples in several waters, then put them into an earthen dish or stone pot, and pour on rather more water than will cover them; for if the apples are good, they will absorb a good deal of water and become twice as large by soaking. Never soak or cook fruit in tin or iron. A few hours should soak the apples sufficiently for cooking. If soaked overnight they become insipid. Put them into an earthen pipkin or porcelain kettle and cook in the water they are soaked in. If you like it, cut up a little dried orange or lemon peel and stew with the apples. Some use dried plums with apples, but they make it too sharp for our taste. Let them cook slowly, till very tender. When they rise up in the kettle, _press_ them down gently, but never _stir_ them. When perfectly tender, before taking from the fire, stir in a little butter--about one table-spoonful to a quart of cooked apples--and sugar to suit your taste. Season with very little nutmeg and cinnamon, if you do not use the orange or lemon peel,--nothing else is needed if you do. Bake with an upper and under crust, but do not make the pie very thick with apples. Half an inch deep is sufficient.

Dried plums and peaches may be prepared in the same way, but require no spice.

=Pies of Canned Fruit.=--Canned pears, peaches, and quinces usually will bear scalding in their own liquor before putting them in the pie-plate. When tender, skim out and lay on a dish to cool. Then add to the liquor enough sugar to make a syrup, more or less rich, according to the taste of those who are to eat them. When both fruit and liquor are cold, if the pears, peaches, or quinces are in halves, cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick, and lay into the pie-plate; pour over as much of the syrup as it will hold, having first put on the under crust and laid an edge of crust around it. Fill the plate not quite an inch thick. This is more economical, and, to our taste, much nicer than to use the fruit in large pieces. Cut a few small bits of butter (half a table-spoonful in all) and lay the spice over; put on the upper crust and bake a rich brown, but be careful not to scorch the crust, as a little scorch spoils the best of pastry.

Plums must not be scalded before baking, as they come to pieces very easily, but prepare the liquor in which they are canned the same as for pears, peaches, and quinces.

=Mince Pie.=--Put a large-sized tongue into boiling water, with a little salt and pepper. A fresh tongue is better than one smoked and dried. Boil slowly till tender, then take out and dip for a minute in cold water; then peel it, beginning at the tip, as it peels easier. Cut off all the gristly parts and chop fine. Pare and chop enough of the best flavored sour apples to fill a three-pint bowl when chopped. The finer the meat and apples are chopped the better the pies will be. Pick over and rub clean one pound Sultana, or stoneless raisins, one pound Malaga, or bloom raisins, stoned and chopped, and one pound whole raisins. Slice thin half a pound citron and half a pound candied orange peel; chop and pick clean from skinny pieces three quarters of a pound of suet; add a table-spoonful salt, five grated nutmegs, one and a half table-spoonfuls ground cloves, the same of cinnamon, a pound of sugar, half a pint maple syrup, one pint cider, one of Madeira wine, one of brandy. Syrups from preserves, or small portions of jelly of any kind left over, and not sufficient to be put on the table again, are a great improvement to mince-meat for pies, beside finding an economical way of use. Put all these ingredients into a porcelain kettle, and set over the range to scald, not boil, one hour, stirring all the time; then pack in a stone jar and cover closely, ready for use.

=Rice Pie.=--Take cold rice, cooked with milk, add sufficient cream to make quite thin, mash it with a wooden or silver spoon till free from lumps. Beat up four eggs very light,--yelks and whites separately,--sweeten the rice to suit your taste, and pour in the egg,--the whites last; stir well, grate a little nutmeg over all; cover a deep custard or pumpkin pie-plate with pastry, pour in the rice, and bake, but not long enough to make the custard watery.

=Apple Puffs.=--Peel and core as many sour apples as will be needed, simmer with a little water till tender, then add a half-pound of sugar to a pound of apples, let it simmer till the apples become a kind of marmalade; take it up, and when cold put it into puff paste and bake quickly; when done ice it, return to the oven just long enough to turn the icing golden.

=Marlborough Pie.=--One cup stewed apples, sifted; one cup sugar, one cup cream or milk; one fourth cup butter if cream is used, if milk, one third; half a gill wine, three well-beaten eggs, whites whisked separately, and a little nutmeg; beat sugar, butter, and apple together, then add the wine, then milk or cream, nutmeg and yelks, adding the whites the last thing. No upper crust.

=Chess Pie.=--Four eggs, two cups sugar, one of cream, two thirds of a cup butter, one table-spoonful flour; flavor with nutmeg. When a delicate brown, try with a spoon as for a custard.

=English Christmas Plum Pudding.=--One pound of clean, dry currants, half a pound of the best raisins, stoned; mix these with one pound of bread crumbs, half a pound of fine flour, and one pound and a half of finely shred suet; add a quarter of a pound of sifted sugar, one grated nutmeg, a drachm of cinnamon, two drachms of cloves, half a dozen almonds, pounded, and an ounce each of candied orange and lemon, sliced thin; mix all these materials thoroughly together in a bowl, with a glass of brandy and one of sherry, then beat six eggs very light, and slowly stir them in till all is well blended; cover the bowl, and let this mixture stand for twelve hours; then pour it into a pudding-bag, and tie it not very tight, leaving room for it to swell; or fill a pudding-mold not quite two thirds full, lay a clean cloth over the top, and shut the cover over tightly to exclude all water; put the bag or mold into boiling water; keep it covered, and keep it boiling all the time, for six hours. Serve with sugar sifted over, and wine sauce. Brandy is usually sent in with a Christmas pudding, to be poured over the whole pudding, or over each slice, then lighted, and served while burning.

=A Family Christmas Pudding.=--Beat up four eggs very light (which always means yelks and whites beaten separately); add to the yelks, after beating, a quarter of a teaspoonful each of ginger, nutmeg, grated lemon peel, and salt; four ounces of sugar, half a pound of well-cleaned and dried currants, one pound of flour, half a pound of well-shred and chopped suet; beat this all up thoroughly, adding the whites of the eggs last. Wine or brandy, or both, may be added, if one has no scruples about using them in cooking; but the pudding will be good without this addition. Tie it in a cloth or pudding-bag, or put it into a mold, and boil six hours. Serve with any good sauce.

In boiling puddings of all kinds, the cloth should be dipped in hot water before the batter is put in, or the mold be well buttered. Any of these Christmas puddings may be kept for a month after boiling, if the cloth in which they are boiled be replaced by a clean one, and the pudding be hung up to the ceiling of a kitchen, or in a warm store-room. When wanted, they will require one hour’s boiling to heat them through, as all such puddings should be sent to the table hot.

=A Simple Christmas Pudding.=--Six ounces of finely chopped suet, six ounces of Malaga raisins, stoned and chopped; eight ounces of well-cleaned and dried currants, three ounces of fine bread crumbs, three ounces of flour, three well-beaten eggs, the sixth part of a nutmeg, grated; half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, and mace; four ounces of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a pint of milk; one ounce of candied orange or lemon peel, and the same of citron, all sliced thin. Beat all together thoroughly; pour into a pudding-bag or mold; put into boiling water, and keep it boiling six hours. Serve with sauce to suit your taste.

=Bread Pudding.=--One quart fine bread crumbs, one cup of sugar, two table-spoonfuls of molasses, half-pound suet chopped fine, one coffee-cup raisins, half a rind of preserved orange peel or citron cut thin and fine, a very little nutmeg and cinnamon, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, one small teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful of salt. Stir in milk enough to make it thick as pound-cake, beating all thoroughly together; put it into a buttered pudding-mold, and boil three hours. Be careful to keep the water boiling all the time.

=Boiled Indian Pudding.=--Two cupfuls of sour milk, two spoonfuls of molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, one of salt, half a cupful of sifted flour, mixed with enough corn meal to make a batter not very stiff; half a cupful of chopped suet, from which all the stringy substance has been removed; a cup and a half of chopped sweet apples, or huckleberries, dried or fresh, as you have on hand. Boil from two and a half to three hours.

=Baked Indian Pudding.=--Boil one quart of milk, and pour over a pint of sifted Indian meal; stir it well till the meal is thoroughly wet and scalded. Mix three table-spoonfuls of wheat flour with one pint of milk, and beat to a smooth batter, entirely free from lumps; then pour it in with the Indian batter, and beat well together. When the whole is lukewarm, beat three eggs and three table-spoonfuls of sugar, and mix with the batter, together with two table-spoonfuls of molasses; add two teaspoonfuls of salt, two of nutmeg, cinnamon, or ginger, as you prefer; two great spoonfuls of suet chopped fine, or the same of melted butter; let it bake a few minutes, and then add half a pound of raisins and half a pint of milk, which the raisins will soak up. Bake till the pudding is of a rich color, but do not let it whey.

=Palmyra, or Date Pudding.=--One pound of fresh dates, chopped fine and free from stones; one pound of suet, chopped fine; a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, and a pound of flour. Mix all well together; add a little salt and nutmeg, and make into a soft dough with milk. Beat three eggs very stiff, yelks and whites separately, and add the last thing. Boil in a pudding-dish three hours, or bake slowly two hours. Eat with liquid sauce.

=Sponge-Cake Pudding.=--Make a batter as for good sponge-cake. Bake on a flat, square pan, so as to be an inch thick, when done. When cold, cut it into pieces about three inches square; slice and butter them, and lay each slice together as it was before you split it. Make a custard with four eggs and a quart of new milk, flavor and sweeten as you like it. Almond in the cake, and lemon or vanilla in the custard, are very good. Put the buttered slices of cake in a baking-dish, so that when the custard is poured over them, the dish will be full. Bake half an hour; eat with or without sauce as you prefer.

=Steamed Pudding.=--Two eggs, two teacupfuls of sour milk, one teaspoonful of soda, a little salt, flour enough to make it quite thick, or it will be heavy. Beat this smooth. Add cherries, raspberries, currants, or any _dried_ fruit you may have. Steam two hours, taking care that the water is kept over the pudding or bag all the time, and that it does not stop boiling. Eat with cream and sugar, hard sauce, or any liquid sauce you may prefer.

=An Excellent Pudding.=--One cup of sugar, one cup of milk, three eggs, beaten stiff; one table-spoonful of butter, a little clove and cinnamon, about half a teaspoonful of each; one cup of raisins, stoned; half a teaspoonful of salt, and three cups of prepared flour. Bake quick. Eat with liquid or hard sauce, according to taste. We think this would also be excellent steamed or boiled.

=Apple and Tapioca Pudding.=--Put a teacup of tapioca into a pint and a half of cold water overnight. Before breakfast the next morning set it where it will become quite warm, but not hot enough to cook. After breakfast pare six good-sized sour apples, or eight if not very large; quarter them and _steam_ them in a dish till tender. Lay them into the pudding-dish, stir a cup and a half of sugar into the soaked tapioca, add a teacup of water and an even teaspoonful of salt, stir together and pour over the apple, slice a lemon very thin and lay over the top, bake slowly three hours; eat with butter, with wine sauce, or hard sauce, as you prefer.

=Sweet-Apple Pudding.=--One pint of scalded milk, half a pint of Indian meal, one teaspoonful of salt, six sweet apples cut in small pieces, one small teacupful of finely chopped suet, two great spoonfuls of molasses, half a teaspoonful of ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon,--whichever is most desirable,--two eggs well beaten, and half a teaspoonful soda. Beat all well together, put into a pudding-mold, and boil two hours.

=Fig Pudding.=--Half a pound of the best figs, washed and chopped fine, two teacupfuls of grated bread, half a cupful of sweet cream, half a cupful of sugar, and one cupful of milk. Mix the bread and cream, add the figs, then the sugar, and lastly the milk. Pour the mixture into a mold, and boil three hours. Eat with wine or hard sauce.

=Barley Cream for Invalids.=--Boil two pounds of lean veal in one quart of water, add to it a quarter of a pound of pearl barley, and boil till it can be rubbed through a sieve. It should be about as thick as cream. Add a little salt.

=Apple Float.=--One pint stewed and well-mashed apples; whites of three eggs, and four large spoonfuls of sugar, beaten until stiff; then add the apples, and beat all together till stiff enough to stand alone. Fill a deep dish with rich cream, or boiled soft custard, and pile the float on top. This is excellent with other fruits in place of the apples.

=Sago Pudding.=--One dozen tart apples, one and a half cup of sago,--soak the sago in water till soft; peel and core the apples and place in a dish, fill the apples with sugar, a very little cinnamon and nutmeg, pour the sago over and bake until the apples are cooked. Eat with wine sauce or hard sauce.

=Cocoa-nut Custard.=--One pound grated cocoa-nut, one pint of rich milk, and six ounces of sugar. Beat the yelks of six eggs, and stir them into the milk with the nut and sugar. Put into a farina-kettle, or into a small pail which you can set into a kettle of boiling water; stir all the time till very smooth and thick; as soon as it comes to a hard boil, take off and pour into cups.

=Apple Pudding.=--One pint of stewed and sifted apples, three eggs well beaten, whites and yelks separate, sugar enough to make the apple quite sweet, one cup of stoned raisins rolled in flour; half-pint each of milk and cream or condensed milk, and a little salt and nutmeg.

=Sauce.=--One cup of sugar and half a cup of butter, rubbed to a cream; the white of one egg well beaten, a little nutmeg or orange, and when ready to serve, stir in two great spoonfuls of boiling water; if preferred, add half a gill of wine instead of orange juice.