Chapter M: G. H

=Whortleberry Cake, No. 2.=—One cupful of sugar, two eggs, one and a half cupfuls of milk with half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it; butter size of an egg, one quart of berries, one teaspoonful of cream-tartar, and flour enough to make a stiff batter. Bake in muffin-rings or tins.

=Cocoanut Pound Cake.=—Beat half a pound of butter to a cream; add gradually a pound of sifted flour, one pound of powdered sugar, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a pinch of salt, a teaspoonful of grated lemon-peel, quarter of a pound of prepared cocoanut, four well-beaten eggs, and a cupful of milk; mix thoroughly; butter the tins, and line them with buttered paper; pour the mixture in to the depth of an inch and a half, and bake in a good oven. When baked take out, spread icing over them, and return the cake to the oven a moment to dry the icing.

=Icing.=—One cupful white sugar, enough water to dissolve it; set on the stove and let it boil until it will “hair”; beat the white of one egg to a stiff froth, pour the heated sugar on the egg, and stir briskly until cool enough to stay on the cake. The icing should not be applied until the cake is nearly or quite cold. This will frost the tops of two common-sized cakes.

=Cream Cake.=—Sift half a pound of flour into three ounces of creamed butter; add an even teaspoonful of baking powder, two tablespoonfuls powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, half a teaspoonful of grated lemon-peel, a cupful of cream that has turned a little, and beaten egg. Mix the batter, pour it into a buttered and papered tin, and bake in a moderate oven.

=Windsor Cake.=—Beat the yolks and whites of six eggs separately. Have ready the crumbs of three Vienna rolls soaked in milk, and squeeze dry; mix the crumbs with four ounces of melted butter, add the beaten yolks and two ounces crushed sugar, with a teaspoonful of grated lemon-peel; work the mixture, and add gradually two ounces each of raisins, almond paste, and candied orange-peel. Next add the frothed whites of eggs; butter and paper a shallow tin, and bake in a moderate oven. When done sprinkle powdered sugar over it. If preferred, chopped almonds may be sprinkled over the bottom of the cake-tin before adding the cake.

=Ginger Cup Cake.=—Mix two cupfuls of powdered sugar with two cupfuls of warmed butter; add three well-beaten eggs, a cupful of molasses, four heaping cupfuls of flour, a tablespoonful of fresh ground ginger, and a tablespoonful of dissolved saleratus; mix thoroughly, and pour into buttered moulds or patty pans. Bake in moderate oven.

=Macaroons.=—Blanch and pound six ounces of sweet almonds; add one pound of powdered sugar, the beaten whites of six eggs, two ounces of rice flour, and one tablespoonful of brandy; mix all well together, and drop the mixture in small quantities through a cornucopia on a sheet of confectionery paper, leaving a small distance between each, and bake in a moderate oven. It is best to bake one little cake at first, and if it is at all heavy add a little more beaten white of egg. A strip of blanched almond in the middle of each will be an improvement. They should be baked a fawn color.

=Neapolitan Cake.=—Blanch and pound to a smooth paste six ounces of sweet and one ounce of bitter almonds; add a few drops of orange-flower water while pounding to prevent oiling; add a pinch of salt, the grated rind of one lemon, four ounces of butter from which the salt has been extracted, half a pound of crushed loaf-sugar, ten ounces of flour; mix thoroughly, and add the well-beaten yolks of six eggs after the eggs have cooled a little. Roll the paste out to the thickness of about one-quarter of an inch, and stamp out into small forms with a cake-cutter; lay them upon a floured tin, and bake in a good oven. When they are done take them out, and when cold cover the tops with a little icing. Return them to the oven one moment to dry the icing.

=Marbled Cake.=—One cupful of butter, two of sugar, three of flour, four well-beaten eggs, and one cupful of milk; two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; dissolve a large spoonful of chocolate with a little cream, and mix with a cupful of the batter; cover the bottom of your pan with the batter, and drop upon it in two or three places a spoonful of the chocolate, forming rings, then another layer of the batter, and so on until all is used. Bake in a moderate oven.

=Pound Cake without Soda.=—One pound powdered sugar, half pound butter, eight eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately and well; ten ounces flour, one nutmeg; bake one hour or longer. Never fails, and will keep one week.

=Lady Fingers, No. 1.=—Beat the whites and yolks of four eggs separately; mix with the yolks three ounces of flour and three of powdered sugar; add the beaten whites, and afterwards a gill of rosewater; beat all together a few minutes; put the mixture in a paper funnel, and squeeze it out into the shape of fingers on paper which has had a little powdered sugar dusted over it; dust a little sugar over the fingers; let them stand five minutes, then bake to a fawn color in a moderate oven; fasten together after they have been baked with a little white of egg. Keep them in close-covered tin till wanted.

=Lady Fingers, No. 2.=—Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of flour; add half a pound of sugar; grate in the rinds of two lemons, and squeeze in the juice of one; then add three eggs; make into a roll the size of the middle finger; it will spread in the oven to a thin cake; dip in chocolate icing.

=Crescents.=—Mix three ounces of rice flour with three ounces of powdered sugar; add three well-beaten eggs; mix all thoroughly, then spread the mixture thinly on paper and bake for twenty minutes. Take it out, and stamp into the shape of crescents; cover each crescent with icing, and return them to the oven for a minute or two to dry; add to a portion of the icing a little cochineal, to make some of the cakes pink-colored.

=Maids of Honor.=—One cup _each_ of sour and sweet milk, one small cup of white pounded sugar-candy, one tablespoonful of melted butter, the yolks of four eggs, and the juice and rind of one lemon. Put both kinds of milk together in a vessel, which is set in another, and let it become sufficiently heated to set the curd; then strain off the milk, rub the curd through a strainer, add butter to the curd, also sugar-candy, well-beaten eggs, and lemon. Line the little pans with the richest of paste, and fill with the mixture; bake until firm in the centre—from ten to fifteen minutes.

=Charlotte Russe.=—Take one-fifth of a package of gelatine and half a cupful cold milk; place in a farina boiler, and stir gently over the fire until the gelatine is dissolved; pour into a dish, and place in a cool room; take one pint of rich cream and whisk it with a tin egg-beater until it is thick; flavor the cream with either vanilla or wine, and sweeten to taste; when the gelatine is cool strain carefully into the prepared cream; line a mould with ladyfingers; then pour the cream in carefully until it is filled; cover with ladyfingers.

=Manioca Cream.=—Three tablespoonfuls of manioca, one pint of milk, three eggs, vanilla and sugar to taste; soak the manioca in water till soft; boil the milk; while boiling stir in the manioca and the yolks of the eggs, beaten with the sugar; when cooked sufficiently, pour into a dish to cool; when cold, add the vanilla; beat the whites of the eggs till stiff, sweeten and flavor them, and stir part into the pudding, putting the rest on top.

=Blanc-Mange.=—Blanch ten bitter almonds with two ounces of sweet almonds, and pound them to a paste; add by degrees a third of a pint of cold water; let it stand till settled, and strain off the almond milk. Put into a pint of milk five ounces of loaf-sugar, three inches of stick vanilla, and pour it into an enamelled saucepan; boil slowly till the sugar is dissolved, then stir in an ounce of well-soaked isinglass; strain into a basin; add the milk of almonds with a gill of cream; remove the sticks of vanilla, and when cold pour the mixture into individual moulds and place in ice-box till wanted.

=Meringues.=—Take one pound of powdered sugar, and add it to the beaten whites of eight eggs (slowly), until it forms a stiff froth; fill a tablespoon with the paste, and smooth it with another spoon to the desired shape; sift a little sugar over a sheet of paper, drop the meringues about two inches apart; dust a little sugar over them, and bake in a quick oven with door left open, so they can be watched constantly; when fawn-colored, take them out; remove them from the paper with a thin knife; scrape out of each a little of the soft part. They may be neatly arranged around a dish of whipped cream, or filled with ice-cream. If whipped cream is used, they would be improved by the addition of a little bright jelly inside each méringue.

=Macaroon Basket.=—This is a pretty and unconventional way of serving up macaroons with whipped cream, etc. Make a cement of sugar boiled to crackling, into which dip the edges of macaroons. Line a two-quart (deep) cakepan with them, bottom and sides, taking care that the edges of macaroons touch each other firmly; also have a care not to pack them so tightly in the pan as to prevent easy removal. Set aside to dry, and when wanted fill with the desired cream, and serve on a glass dish.

=Italian Cream.=—Put one ounce of soaked isinglass, six ounces of loaf-sugar, half a stick of vanilla, and one pint of milk into a saucepan; boil slowly, and stir all the time until the isinglass is dissolved; strain the mixture, and when a little cool mix it with a pint of thick cream. Beat thoroughly until it thickens. Pour into a large or individual moulds, and put in ice-box until wanted.

=Whipped Coffee Cream.=—Sweeten one pint of rich cream rather liberally; roast two ounces of coffee beans; when they are lightly browned throw them into the cream at once and let the dish stand one hour before using; strain and whip the cream to a firm froth. A teaspoonful of powdered gum-arabic, dissolved in a little orange-flower water, may be added to give the cream more firmness, if desired.

=Whipped Cream with Liqueurs.=—Proceed as with coffee cream, flavoring the cream before whipping with Curaçoa, Maraschino, or any other cordial that may be desired. Other creams can be made on the same principle with chocolate extracts or highly-flavored wines.

=Bavarian Cream.=—Whip one pint of cream to a stiff froth and set in a colander one minute, to allow unwhipped portion to drip away; boil one pint of milk with a stick of vanilla and half a cupful of sugar until flavor is extracted; then take out stick of vanilla, and remove saucepan from fire; add half a box of Cox’s gelatine that has been soaked in water; add the well-beaten whites of four eggs, and when the mixture has become quite cold add the whipped cream gradually until it is well mixed; put into individual moulds a teaspoonful of some bright jelly or jam, then pour in the mixture and place in ice-box until wanted. This cream may be flavored in any way desired.

=Ice-Cream.=—Use only the best materials for making and flavoring. Avoid using milk thickened with arrowroot, corn-starch, or any farinaceous substance. Pure cream, ripe natural fruits, or the extracts of same, and sugar of the purest quality, combine to make a perfect ice-cream. In the first place secure a good ice-cream freezer. Of these several are made. Without recommending any particular make, we would suggest that one be secured working with a crank and revolving dashers. Next secure an ice-tub, not less than eight inches greater in diameter than the freezer. See that it has a hole in the side near the bottom, with a plug, which can be drawn at pleasure, to let off water accumulated from melting ice. Get a spatula of hard wood—not metal—with a blade about twelve inches long and four or five inches wide, and oval-shaped at end. This is used to scrape off cream which may adhere to the sides of freezer in process of freezing, also for working flavorings and fruits into cream. A smaller spade is also necessary for mixing salt and ice together and for depositing this mixture in the intervening space between can and ice-tub. Ice must be pounded fine in a coarse, strong bag. To freeze the cream, assuming it to be already flavored, first pound up ice and mix with it a quantity of coarse salt, in the proportion of one-third the quantity of salt to amount of ice used. Put freezing-can in centre of tub, taking care that lid is securely fastened down, and pile the mixed ice and salt around it on inside of tub to within three inches of top. First turn crank slowly, and as cream hardens increase the speed until mixture is thoroughly congealed, and revolving dashers are “frozen in.” Remove the lid, take out dashers, cut away the cream which has adhered to the sides, and proceed to work the mixture with the spatula until it is smooth and soft to the tongue. Reinsert the dashers, cover can again, and work crank until entire contents are hard and well set. It is now ready to be served.

=Vanilla Cream.=—Four quarts of very rich cream, containing no milk; split two good-sized vanilla beans and cut up into small pieces; two pounds of powdered sugar and four fresh eggs; beat the eggs thoroughly in a porcelain-lined dish; add the sugar, and stir both well together; add the cream and throw in vanilla; place on fire, stirring constantly until boiling commences, but do not retain it there an instant after that time; strain through a hair sieve, and when cool pour it into the freezer and freeze.

=Lemon Ice-Cream.=—Grate off the yellow rind of two large fresh lemons, with half a pound of loaf-sugar, using care not to grate a particle of the white, leathery pith beneath; crush the sugar to a powder, strain over it the juice of one lemon; add a pint of rich cream; stir until sugar is dissolved and freeze.

=Peach Ice-Cream.=—Pound to a pulp twelve whole canned peaches; strain through a hair sieve and add six ounces of loaf-sugar which has been setting on fire to dissolve a few minutes; add one pint and a half of cream and a few drops of cochineal to give it a nice peach-color; freeze. Fruit creams of any kind can be made in same manner.

=Water Ices.=—_Lemon Ice_: Rub the rinds of six lemons upon twelve square lumps of sugar; squeeze over them the strained juice, half a pint of water, and a pint of syrup made by boiling three-quarters of a pound of sugar in nearly a pint of water; put in an earthen crock for one hour and a half, then mix, strain, and freeze. The ice will be improved by adding the whites of three eggs beaten to a froth with six ounces of powdered sugar. Serve in glasses.

_Apricot Ice_: Skin, divide, and stone six large ripe apricots; blanch, pound, and add the kernels to the fruit, with the juice of two lemons, half a pint of water and two ounces of clarified sugar; put in an earthen crock for one hour and a half, then strain and mix the whites of three eggs beaten to a firm froth with four ounces of powdered sugar; add this to the prepared water, mix thoroughly, and freeze.

=Orange Basket.=—Remove the fruit from interior of the orange carefully by making a small incision on one side of the orange, then cut the skin into shape of a basket, leaving about one-half an inch of the stalk end for a handle. Fill the basket with ices, ice creams, frozen punches, whipped creams, jellies, etc. They look very pretty on a table. The fruit portion of orange can be utilized by removing the pith and seeds and sending to table sweetened with sugar, or used to make orange ice-cream or ices.

=Good Coffee.=—The following remarks addressed to the trade by Messrs. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. are so true and brief, yet so comprehensive, that I introduce them here:

“Nothing is more generally desired or appreciated, nothing harder to find, than a uniformly good cup of coffee. Its production is generally considered an easy matter, but it involves the observance of a considerable number of conditions by a considerable number of persons, and a volume might be written about these and still leave much to be said. We will, however, briefly state the most important requisites.

“The wholesale dealer must exercise care and judgment in his selections, as there is almost as much difference in the flavor of coffee as there is of tea; this is especially true of Mocha, Java, Maracaibo, and other fancy coffees, of which frequently the brightest and handsomest looking lots are greatly lacking in the flavor and aroma which constitute the chief value of coffee, and which can be ascertained only by testing carefully each invoice purchased. It should be roasted by a professional roaster, as this is a very important part of the programme, and requires skill, experience, and constant practice. Expert roasters are usually experienced men and command high salaries. A bad coffee-roaster is dear at any price, as the coffee may be ruined or its value greatly injured by an error in judgment or an instant’s inattention. Owing to these circumstances, in addition to the fact that in order to do good work it is necessary to roast a considerable quantity at a time, none of the small hand-machines produce uniformly good results, and they are only to be tolerated where distance makes it impossible for the retail merchant to obtain regular and (when not in air-tight packages) frequent supplies of the roasted article. _How much_ it should be roasted is also an important part of the question; for making “BLACK” or “French” coffee, it should be roasted higher than usual (the French also often add a little chiccory), and some sections are accustomed to a higher roast than others, but as a whole the customary New York standard will best suit the average American palate.

“Retail dealers should buy their roasted coffee of a reliable house that has a reputation to sustain, and that cannot be induced to cut down prices below what they can afford to furnish an article that will do them credit; do not buy much at a time (unless in air-tight packages), a week or ten days’ supply is enough, and if you are situated so you can buy it twice a week so much the better. Keep it in a dry place, and, if possible, in a tin can which shuts tightly, never in a pine box or bin, for the smell of the wood is quickly absorbed by the coffee. Get your customers in the habit of buying it in the berry, or, if they have no mill at home and want you to grind it for them (every grocer should have a mill), grind it pretty fine, so that when used the strength is readily extracted, but do not sell them much at a time, as it is a _necessity_ to have coffee _freshly ground_.

“Consumers should adopt the above suggestions to retail dealers—buy of a reliable dealer who will not represent an inferior article as ‘Java’; buy in small quantities, and buy often; keep it dry and in a tightly-closed tin can, or in a glass or earthen jar. Have a small ‘hand coffee-mill,’ and grind only when ready to use it; and if during rainy weather the kernels become damp and tough, warm them up in a _clean_ pot or skillet, but do not scorch them; this drives off the moisture, restores the flavor, and makes it grind better. The grinding is an important feature; if ground too coarse, you lose much of the strength and aroma of the coffee; if too fine, it is hard to make it clear, but of the two the latter is least objectionable; both the strength and flavor of the coffee, however, is a necessity, and if a little of the finely-powdered coffee flows out with the liquid extract, it is clean and will hurt nobody. It is better, however, to grind it _just right_, which is so that the largest pieces will be no larger than pinheads.

“We now come to the important part of making coffee. For this there are many receipts and formulas, including a large number of new and so-called improved coffee-pots, but we have never seen any of the new methods which in the longrun gave as satisfactory results as the following old-fashioned receipt:

“Grind moderately fine a large cup of coffee; break into it one egg with shell; mix well, adding just enough cold water to thoroughly wet the grounds; upon this pour one pint of boiling water; let it boil slowly for ten to fifteen minutes, and then stand three minutes to settle; pour through a fine wire sieve into coffee-pot, which should be first rinsed with hot water; this will make enough for four persons. _Coffee should be served as soon as made._ At table first rinse the cup with hot water, put in the sugar, then fill half full of _hot_ milk, add your coffee, and you have a delicious beverage that will be a revelation to many poor mortals who have an indistinct remembrance of and an intense longing for _an ideal cup of coffee_. If you have cream, so much the better; and in that case boiling water can be added either in the pot or cup to make up for the space occupied by the milk, as above; or condensed milk will be found a good substitute for cream.

“_General remarks._—We have thus briefly indicated the points necessary to be observed in obtaining uniformly good coffee, whether made from Rio, or Java, and other mild-flavored coffees. In the Eastern and Middle States Mocha, Java, Maracaibo, Ceylon, etc., are most highly esteemed and generally used; but at the West and in the South more Rio coffee is consumed. The coffee _par excellence_, however, is a mixture of Mocha and Java roasted together, and thus thoroughly blended. Mocha alone is too rough and acrid to suit many palates, but blended as above it is certainly delicious. In all varieties, however, there is a considerable range as to quality and flavor, and, as before stated, the best guide for the consumer is to buy of a reliable dealer, and throw upon his shoulders the responsibility of furnishing a satisfactory article.

“Hotels and restaurants that desire good coffee should make it in _small quantities_ and _more frequently_. It is impossible for coffee to be good when it is kept simmering for hours after it is made.”

“=A Cup of Coffee.=”—The author of “Salad for the Solitary,” etc., has so well covered all the facts concerning the origin and history of this domestic beverage that little remains to be said; but as the establishment of the first coffee-house in London is connected with a curious anecdote, perhaps my readers will like to hear it.

Mr. D. Edwards, a Turkish merchant, on his return from Smyrna to London, brought with him a Greek of Ragusa, named Pasquet Rossee, who used to prepare coffee every morning for his master. Edwards’s neighbors, beginning to appreciate the good qualities of this beverage, became so numerous as visitors at breakfast-time that in order to get rid of them he ordered Rossee to open a coffee-house, which the latter did in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill. This was the first coffee-house in the city.

Now, taking its popularity as a basis, let us laugh at the doctors who maintain the theory that hot coffee irritates the stomach and injures the nerves. Let us tell them that Voltaire, Fontenelle, and Fourcroy, who were great coffee-drinkers, lived to a good old age. Let us laugh, too, at Madame Sévigné, who predicted that coffee and Racine would be forgotten together.—_Exchange._

_VEGETABLES._

=Potatoes.=—To boil a potato properly is very naturally supposed to be a very easy matter, but how seldom do we meet with one boiled to a proper turn? In 1873, while out hunting in northwestern Minnesota, I stopped at an old log-cabin for dinner. The proprietor of the hostelry was an old down-East Yankee, who, suffering from a lung complaint, had taken his family out West, and had pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres, there to remain the rest of his days. I had the good fortune of having a well-filled pocket-pistol of brandy with me (to be used for medicinal purposes only), which I soon converted into Apple-Sauce while his wife was preparing dinner. He was delighted with it, and told me that it was the first drop of spirits he had seen or tasted for several years (and I believed him, from the manner in which that punch disappeared). This set him to telling me what a splendid cook his wife was, and that she could beat “all tarnation a’ biling taters.” I left him immediately and offered my services to madam as second cook, my object being to learn her _trick_ of boiling potatoes. At last dinner was ready, the cloth spread, and while the judge (as he was called) set the table I looked for a garden (?) to get a salad. Not finding the cultivated article, I had to resort to the field, and obtained a few edible weeds, washed and dried them, and prepared them for dinner.

OUR BILL OF FARE.

Vegetable Soup.
Smoked Shad with drawn Butter.
Roast Rump of Salted Beef.
Boiled Potatoes.
Parsnip Fritters.
Weed Salad.
Home-made Cheese. Cold Johnny-cake.
Acorn Coffee.

My long tramp over the prairie hunting prairie-chickens may possibly have had something to do with my ferocious appetite, but I do not remember an occasion when I enjoyed myself so much at table or ate so heartily. The dinner was a success, and the potatoes surpassed all expectations. I am not much of a potato-eater, but on this occasion I surprised myself by asking for a potato the third time.

Her receipt for boiling potatoes was very simple. She washed them well and peeled off a strip about a quarter of an inch wide lengthwise round each potato, placed them in an old iron pot, covered them with fresh rain-water (cold), and added a teaspoonful of salt. She allowed them to boil fifteen minutes, and then poured out a quart of the hot water and added a quart dipperful of cold water. When the edge of the peel began to curl up, she pronounced them done, and removed them from the pot, covered the bottom of a baking-tin with them, placed them in the oven with a towel over them for fifteen minutes, with the oven-door open. They were splendid.

The roast rump of salt beef was a new dish to me, but it was very good. It had stood in water twenty-four hours to extract the salt from it. It was a little dry and a trifle too well done.

My salad was composed of a few dandelions that had grown in a shady spot, a few inch dock-leaves, the tip-ends of the milk-weed, and a few wild chives, with bacon dressing; but I had no vinegar. As a substitute I gathered a handful of sheep sorrel, chopped it up fine, and sprinkled it over the salad.

On my departure the _judge_ addressed me as Mr. Weedeater, and requested me to make his cabin my home whenever I was in Minnesota.

=Cabbage.=—Never buy overgrown cabbages. They may appear very pleasing to the eye, but they are apt to be too coarse and too full of fibres to make a palatable dish. Do not trim off the outer leaves until the day they are wanted. It is a good plan to purchase a few dozen heads of cabbage with the stalks on, and hang them up in the cellar, heads down; then cut them down when wanted. Cut the heads into quarters; trim off all wilted leaves; cover them with cold water; add a handful of salt, and let them stand an hour before boiling. This process thoroughly cleanses them from insects, etc., that may be concealed between the leaves. When ready to boil cover them with boiling water; add a pea of soda, a little salt, and boil till tender. The old-fashioned way of boiling cabbage and other vegetables for a boiled dinner with the joint is not to be recommended for families outside of the farm, as it makes altogether too hearty a meal for those taking but little exercise.

=Boiled Asparagus.=—If the cut end of asparagus is brown and dry and the heads bent on one side, the asparagus is stale. It may be kept a day or two with the stalks in cold water, but it is much better fresh. Scrape off the white skin from the lower end, and cut the stalks of equal length; let them lie in cold water until it is time to cook them; tie the asparagus in small bundles, put them into a pot with plenty of water, and a handful of salt. When the asparagus is sufficiently cooked serve it on toast with drawn butter or with cream dressing, sauce vinaigrette, etc.

=Boiled Artichokes.=—Soak the artichokes and wash them in several waters; cut the stalks even; trim away the lower leaves, and the ends of the others; boil in salted water with the tops downwards, and let them remain until the leaves can be easily drawn out. Before serving remove the choke and send to table with melted butter.

=Jerusalem Artichokes.=—Peel the artichokes and throw each root into cold water and vinegar immediately, to preserve the color. Put them into boiling water, with a little salt, until sufficiently tender for a fork to pass through them easily; then pile them on a dish, and serve as hot as possible with melted butter or white sauce poured over. Soyer shaped them like a pear, then stewed them gently in three pints of water with two or three onions thinly sliced, one ounce of salt, and one ounce of butter. He then placed a border of mashed potatoes round a dish, stuck the artichokes in it points upwards, poured over them either white sauce or melted butter, and put a fine Brussels sprout between each. It made a pretty, inviting dish. Time to boil, about twenty minutes. They should be tried with a fork frequently after a quarter of an hour, as they will become black and tasteless if allowed to remain on the fire longer than necessary.

=Brussels Sprouts.=—Pick, trim, and wash a number of sprouts; put them into plenty of fast-boiling water. The sudden immersion of the vegetables will check the boiling for some little time, but they must be brought to a boil as quickly as possible, that they may not lose their green color. Add a tablespoonful of salt and a pea of soda, and boil very fast for fifteen minutes. Lose no time in draining them when sufficiently done; and serve plain, or with a little white sauce over the top.

=Green Peas.=—To have green peas in perfection, care should be taken to obtain them young, freshly-gathered, and freshly-shelled. The condition of the peas may be known from the appearance of the shells. When the peas are young the shells are green, when newly-gathered they are crisp, when old they look yellow, and when plump the peas are fine and large. If peas are shelled some hours before they are cooked they lose greatly in flavor.

=Bottled Green Peas.=—Shell the peas; put them into dry, wide-mouthed bottles, and shake them together so that they may lie in as little space as possible; cork the bottles closely, and seal the corks; bury the bottles in dry earth in the cellar, and take them up as they are wanted. They will keep three or four months.

=Boiled Turnips.=—Turnips should only be served whole when they are very young, and then they should be covered with white sauce. When they have reached any size they should be mashed. Pare the turnips, and wash them; if very young a little of the green top may be left on; if very large they should be divided into halves or even quarters; throw them into slightly-salted water, and let them boil gently till tender; drain and serve them.

=Carrots.=—This vegetable is almost invariably sent to table with boiled beef. When the carrots are young they should be washed and brushed, not scraped, before cooking—and old carrots also are better prepared in this way—then rubbed with a clean coarse cloth after boiling. Young carrots require an hour for cooking, and fully-grown ones from one hour and a half to two hours. The red is the best part. In order to ascertain if the root is sufficiently cooked, stick a fork into it. When they feel soft they are ready for serving.

=Boiled Celery.=—Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, with a little salt in it. Wash the celery carefully; cut off the outer leaves, make the stalks even, and lay them in small bunches; throw these into the water, and let them boil gently until tender, leaving the saucepan uncovered. When done, drain, and place them on a piece of toast which has been dipped in the liquid; pour over them a little good melted butter, and serve.

=Boiled Spinach.=—Take two pailfuls of spinach, young and freshly-gathered. Pick away the stalks, wash the leaves in several waters, lift them out with the hands that the sand or grit may remain at the bottom, and drain them on a sieve. Put them into a saucepan with as much boiling water slightly salted as will keep them from burning, and let them boil until tender. Take the spinach up, drain it, and press it well; chop it small, and put it into a clean saucepan with a little pepper and salt and a slice of fresh butter; stir it well for five minutes. Serve with the yolk of hard-boiled egg.

=Onion.=—This vegetable may be regarded either as a condiment or as an article of real nourishment. By boiling it is deprived of much of its pungent volatile oil, and becomes agreeable, mild, and nutritious. There is no vegetable about which there is so much diversity of opinion as there is about the onion, some persons liking a little of it in every dish, and others objecting to it entirely. Generally speaking, however, a slight flavoring of onion is an improvement to the majority of made dishes, but it should not be too strong. The smell which arises from the esculent during cooking and the unpleasant odor it imparts to the breath of those who partake of it are the principal objections which are urged against it. The latter may be partially remedied by eating a little raw parsley before and after it. When onions are used for stuffing, the unpleasant properties belonging to them would be considerably lessened if a lemon, freed from the outer rind but covered as thickly as possible with the white skin, were put in the midst of them, and thrown away when the dish is ready for the table. Onions may be rendered much milder if two or three waters are used in boiling them. Spanish onions are not so strong as the English, and are generally considered superior in flavor. The largest are the best.

=Boiled Beets.=—Wash, but do not cut them, as it would destroy their sweetness; put them on to boil in a sufficiency of water, and let them boil from two to three hours, or until they are perfectly tender; then take them up, peel and slice them, and pour vinegar or melted butter over them. The root is excellent as a salad, and as a garnish for other salads it is desirable on account of the brightness of its color.

=Boiled Corn.=—Strip the ears, pick off the silk, and put them in a pot of water with a little salt; boil half an hour. When done, cut off the corn from the cob and season it with butter, pepper, and more salt if necessary, or serve on the ear.

=Oyster-Plant.=—Scrape the roots lightly; either cut them into three-inch lengths, or leave them whole, and throw them into water with a little lemon till wanted; put them into boiling salt and water, and keep them boiling quickly till tender; drain them, arrange on toast upon a hot dish, and pour over them good melted butter, white sauce, or sauce maître d’hôtel.

=Boiled Cauliflower.=—Cut the stalk close to the bottom, and pare away the tops of the leaves, leaving a circle of shortened leafstalks all round. Put the cauliflower head downwards into a little vinegar and water for a quarter of an hour. Put it into a pan of boiling water, with a tablespoonful of salt in it. Some persons prefer milk and water. Remove the scum carefully as it rises or the cauliflower will be discolored. Boil till tender. This may be ascertained by taking a little piece of the stalk between the finger and thumb, and if it yields easily to pressure it is ready. Drain, and serve. Put a lump of butter the size of an egg into a saucepan with a cupful of cold water; add gradually a teaspoonful of flour, mix smoothly, boil, and strain over the vegetable.

=Boiled Horse Radish.=—Cut each root into pieces two inches in length, and each piece into quarters; boil in water containing a little salt and one tablespoonful of vinegar. When tender drain, place the strips on a napkin, and send to table with drawn butter. This vegetable is seldom used except as a condiment or sauce ingredient. Although ignored in any other form, it is one of the most nutritious and healthful of all vegetables. It makes an excellent dish when used in equal portions with any vegetables handled in making fritters.

=Stewed Cucumber.=—Peel and quarter two cucumbers lengthwise; put them in a saucepan, add one teaspoonful of salt and one dozen whole peppers. When tender take them out; place them on toast, the edges of which have been dipped in water used in stewing. Pour drawn butter over them, well seasoned with cayenne pepper, and serve.

=Stewed Dandelion.=—The first mention of this dish will perhaps inspire most American people with aversion, but I can honestly advise them to try it. It is an inexpensive dish, and easily obtained; for fresh growths after showery weather may be had throughout the year. Gather a quantity of fresh dandelion; pick off all the withered tips and hard parts; shred them into strips, and wash them free from grit; put the dandelion into a stew-pan with a strip of bacon, and add one tablespoonful of vinegar; cover it with a small quantity of boiling water, and stew until tender. Mash with a wooden spoon; stir in a lump of butter; flavor with pepper and salt, and serve like spinach. The dish may be garnished in a variety of ways, either with hard-boiled eggs, sippets of fried bread, or slices of boiled carrot cut into shapes. It is usually served with white meats, as veal, sweet-breads, etc., but it is excellent as a garnish for poached eggs.

=The following weeds= are all good greens if properly treated: the milk-weed, the different docks, fat hen, ox-tongue, jack-by-the-hedge, sea-holly (a substitute for asparagus), sea beet, shepherd’s purse, sow thistle, hawk-weed, stinging nettle, willow herb, pile-wort, Solomon’s seal, lamb’s quarter, and a number of other weeds common to this country, and known only to a few. Once known they would be much sought after.

_TABLE ETIQUETTE._

The following article from _Harper’s Bazaar_ is so appropriate under this head that we take the liberty of inserting it entire:

“TABLE ETIQUETTE.—There are a few points of table etiquette not directly connected with the giving and receiving of dinners and teas, but which are of the first importance, as they concern individual behavior. We would be inclined to think every one acquainted with them, and allusion to them a matter of supererogation on our part, if it were not that we see them so frequently violated. Those of our readers who are, or who have always been, familiar with them will perhaps pardon our speaking of them for the sake of those who are not.

“We do not expect to see these gaucheries in the best society; but there are many people perfectly well fitted for the best society but for ignorance concerning these things, which, although trifles in themselves, are of such infinite importance on the whole. For instance, where all the requirements are not fully known, if a general cessation of conversation should suddenly supervene upon the serving of the soup, would there be silence in the place? Not at all; the gap would be filled with a continuous bubbling sound from the mouth of some one or other unlucky wight whose mother never taught him to take soup properly, and who is possibly disturbing and disgusting all those that do better, and who know how easily the trouble might be avoided. Soup is to be taken from the side of the spoon, not from the tip, and it is not to be sucked in, but the spoon being slightly tilted, it is rather poured into the mouth than otherwise, the slightest silent inhalation being sufficient for the rest.

“Another generally neglected obligation is that of spreading butter on one’s bread as it lies in one’s plate, or but slightly lifted at one end from the plate; it is very frequently buttered in the air, bitten in gouges, and still held in the face and eyes of the table with the marks of the teeth on it. This is certainly not altogether pleasant, and it is better to cut it a bit at a time, after buttering it, and put piece by piece in the mouth with one’s finger and thumb.

“Let us mention a few things concerning the eating of which there is sometimes doubt. A cream cake, and anything of similar nature, should be eaten with knife and fork—never bitten. Asparagus—which should always be served on bread or toast, so as to absorb superfluous moisture—may be taken from the finger and thumb; if it is fit to be set before you, the whole of it may be eaten. Peas and beans, as we all know, require the fork only. Potatoes, if mashed, should be eaten with the fork. Green corn should be eaten from the cob; but it must be held with a single hand, and not after the fashion of the alderman’s wife at the lord mayor’s dinner. French artichokes are to be eaten with the fingers, slightly pulled apart at the top and one of the leaves pulled out with finger and thumb; the fleshy end of this leaf is then dipped in the salad dressing served with it, and only that atom of a paler color at the bottom of the leaf is taken as it peels off between the lips, when the dry portion is to be laid back in the plate. It is always served as a separate course by itself; a pretty hand looks very pretty indeed when fingering a French artichoke. Celery, cresses, radishes, and all that sort of thing are, of course, to be eaten from the fingers; the salt should be laid upon one’s plate, not upon the cloth. Fish is to be eaten with the fork, without the assistance of the knife; a bit of bread in the left hand sometimes helps one to master a refractory morsel.

“It is best to be very moderate in the beginning of a dinner, as one does not know what is to follow, and all the rest may be spoiled for one by an opposite course. We remember the case of a lady in Mexico, who, dining with the governor of the province, was served for the first course with a hash. She was somewhat surprised; but it was a very good hash, and she really made her dinner upon it. But the next course was also hash—there were seventeen courses of hash before the main dinner, of every delicious delicacy under the sun, made its appearance! Of course, a tiny morsel of each hash, for the sake of the flavoring, was all she should have taken; as it was, she sat afterwards like Tantalus.

“Berries, of course, are to be eaten with a spoon. In England they are served with their hulls on, and three or four are considered an ample quantity. But, then, in England they are many times the size of ours; there they take the big berry by the stem, dip it into powdered sugar, and eat it as we do the turnip-radish. It is not proper to drink with a spoon in the cup, nor should one, by the way, ever quite drain cup or glass. Spoons are sometimes used with puddings, but forks are the better style. A spoon should never be turned over in the mouth. Ladies have frequently an affected way of holding the knife half-way down its length, as if it were too big for their little hands, but this is as awkward a way as it is weak; the knife should be grasped freely by the handle only, the forefinger being the only one to touch the blade, and that only along the back of the blade at its root, and no further down. In sending one’s plate to be helped a second time, one should retain one’s knife and fork, for the convenience of waiter and carver. At the conclusion of a course where they have been used, knife and fork should be laid side by side on the plate—never crossed; the old custom of crossing them was in obedience to an ancient religious formula. The servant should offer everything at the left of the guest, that the guest may be at liberty to use the right hand. If one has been given a napkin ring, it is necessary to fold one’s napkin and use the ring; otherwise the napkin should be left unfolded. One’s teeth are not to be picked at table; but if it is impossible to hinder it, it should be done behind the napkin. One may pick a bone at the table, but, as with corn, only one hand is allowed to touch it; yet one can usually get enough from it with knife and fork, which is certainly the more elegant way of doing; and to take her teeth to it gives a lady the look of caring a little too much for the pleasures of the table; one is, however, on no account to suck one’s fingers after it.

“Wherever there is any doubt as to the best way to do a thing, it is wise to follow that which is the most rational, and that will almost invariably be found to be the proper etiquette. There is a reason for everything in polite usage; thus, the reason why one does not blow a thing to cool it is not only that it is an inelegant and vulgar action intrinsically, but because it may be offensive to others—cannot help being so, indeed; and it, moreover, implies haste, which, whether resulting from greediness or from a desire to get away, is equally rude and objectionable. Everything else may be as easily traced to its origin in the fit and becoming.

“If, to conclude, one seats one’s self properly at table, and takes reason into account, one will do tolerably well. One must not pull one’s chair too closely to the table, for the natural result of that is the inability to use one’s knife and fork without inconveniencing one’s neighbors; the elbows are to be held well in and close to one’s side, which cannot be done if the chair is too near the board. One must not lie or lean along the table, nor rest one’s arms upon it. Nor is one to touch any of the dishes; if a member of the family, one can exercise all the duties of hospitality through servants, and wherever there are servants, neither family nor guests are to pass or help from any dish.”

I would here disclaim against the disgusting habit of mouth-rinsing so prevalent at many dinner-parties. The bad taste of such a procedure seems to me so evident that everybody of refinement would avoid it. Yet I have repeatedly seen it resorted to in fashionable society.

_BANQUET SERVICE._

The correct or proper manner of taking care of a number of guests that have assembled before the hour of dinner or supper has always been a puzzling problem to the novice in this line of business; but a first-class caterer will always be willing to help the host out of the dilemma, provided the host does not pretend to know more about the business than the caterer. It is a very good plan to have a colored servant at the door, another to receive the coat, hat, and cane, and give a paper check therefor, and still another to usher the guests to the reception-room, where they will find the host holding court over a bowl of lemonade or a light punch. The guests are eventually summoned to the banquet-room, but just before they enter it is “in good form” to serve them with a glass of plain Vermouth, or a Vermouth cocktail, as an appetizer. White servants are particularly to be recommended for the dining-room.

They then sit down to a repast, served in the following order (assuming of course that the table is set for a banquet):

No less than three, or more than five, oysters on the plate of each guest (with celery on table if in season). The oyster plates and forks are removed. Next serve the soups, with a grated rusk, plain roll, or French bread. _Hors-d’œuvres_, or whets, are now in order. Next serve the boiled releve; then the heavy entrée; after which serve the light entrée. Your guests will now expect the punch Roumaine, after which serve a good Russian cigarette (if gentlemen only). Then the roast joint; after which serve the game. Then the light salad, with a plain French dressing. Next the sweet entremet. The table should now be cleared; cheese and hard cracker offered; then the ices, with cake, etc., confectionery, dessert, coffee, liquors and cigars. The appropriate vegetables to be passed round with each joint or dish where they _naturally_ belong.

The proper wines for above banquet are: with oysters, white Burgundies, Sauternes, and, if no other wine is at hand, a bottle of still Moselle may be served; with the soup, Sherry and Madeira; with the releves of fish, Hock wines; with the boiled joints, light Bordeaux (claret) and Burgundy wines; with the entrées, champagnes (though champagne may be served from the beginning to the end of dinner if asked for), after the last entrée serve the punch Roumaine, cardinal, etc., with cigarette if desired. A Rhenish wine may be on table to prepare the palate for the roast, and to counteract the sweetness of the punch. With the roasts and game heavy Burgundy and Bordeaux. At many English banquets port wine is sprinkled over the lettuce, and cheese and crackers are served at the same time, but it is not a modern custom. With the sweets, sherry and Madeira. A spoonful of brandy added to the coffee will aid digestion.

A _pony_ of half green Chartreuse and S. O. P. brandy is excellent at the end of a dinner.

Serve the punch Roumaine after the last entrée, and not after the _roast_, as I have occasionally seen it on bills of fare.

Remember that venison cools rapidly. Iced or cold wines should not be served with it. Hot plates should not be forgotten.

Rhine wine takes kindly to boiled or roast ham.

Have you tried blanched almonds sautéed with a little butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper, and served after the cheese?

But one might suggest in this way indefinitely. The subject is inexhaustible.

=Remarks on Wines.=—A guest should not be censured “by looks” from the host if he refuses to drink any other wine than that served with the first course, provided it is of a good vintage and pleases his palate. Good, honest wines should be served at all large entertainments, but “private stock” and “rare vintages” should be reserved for the more private affairs, where the guests are personal friends of the host, and, though not recognized as wine-drinkers, they are good judges of and appreciate thoroughly a good glass of wine. The promiscuous gathering (with few exceptions) seldom appreciates a rare bottle of still wine. Their ideal wine is the champagne. I have often seen a bottle of splendid Chateau Yquem and Johannesberger pushed aside as “stuff” the moment the champagne appeared, and by gentlemen whom I had previously considered _bon vivants_. They will tell you that a wine with a deposit or crust cannot be pure, and it is only a waste of time to attempt to explain that old wines without a deposit are more or less _doctored_.

The host should be censured for sending his cellar curiosities to table when the majority of the guests are strangers to him.

On decanting wines, Denman has observed: “To fully develop the flavor and bouquet of any wine a little gentle warmth is necessary, and it is therefore advisable that the wines intended for immediate use should be placed in a warmer temperature than that of the cellar”; and Fin-Bee adds “that the dining-room is the proper place,” which is the custom among first-class caterers. The heavy wines should remain in the dining-room uncorked a few hours under the supervision of a trusty person, for the average waiter is partial to good wine, and can remove a bottle as dexterously as a king of legerdemain.

Francatelli insists that the different kinds of sherries, ports, Madeira, and all Spanish and Portuguese wines are improved by being decanted several hours before dinner.

His advice and suggestions are proper; but does it not please the eye—is there not an unwritten history in all the dark cobwebs, etc., that cling with a brotherly affection to the original bottle?

The favorite Hocks with Americans are P. A. Mumm’s Johannesberg, Barton & Guestier’s, Henkell & Co.’s wines, and a few other well-known reliable firms. Prince Metternich, Schloss Johannesberg wines are very good, but “Blue Seal” is held at too high a figure ($150 per case) to ever become popular.

P. A. Mumm’s Hock wines are favorites, and justly so, for they are entirely free from adulteration.

At an American banquet recently given in London, the favorite wine was Heidsieck, on the ground that it was one of the first wines to find popular favor in America. This information will, no doubt, surprise wine-drinking Americans, for if our custom-house reports of importation are reliable, we have discovered several Rheims wines that are decidedly superior to Heidsieck. The importation in 1879 of G. H. Mumm’s champagne alone was twenty-two thousand five hundred and twenty-six cases more than of any other brand.

Pommery and Cliquot (the two widows), Roederer dry, Moët & Chandon, Imperial, and a few others are all good dinner wines.

Sparkling Hock, if properly handled, is a wine that should find favor in this country, but the demand is so limited that it is very apt to spoil before the case is used up. That made from the Riesling grape is the best.

American champagnes (and it grieves me to say it) are not the proper wines to serve at a banquet or dinner. Their peculiar acrid taste does not suit a palate that has been educated on foreign wines. They may be served at a banquet given in a foreign country where every dish and every wine is purely American, or sent to the cook for his champagne(?) sauce, etc. A bottle of “Cook’s Imperial” may be served at lunch, and it is proper enough at the end of the bar where the crackers and cheese hold court. It finds favor with the youth “seeing the sights” of a great city, but not elsewhere.

Pierre Blot, in the _Galaxy_, observed “that American wines are just as good as foreign wines for the table and for cooking purposes. Bogus wines,” he said, “are sold to native Americans almost entirely.” Friend Blot evidently got in with the _wrong crowd_ when he visited us.

=The First Champagne.=—It happened that about the year 1668 the office of cellarer was conferred upon a worthy monk named Perignon. Poets and roasters, we know, are born, and not made; and this precursor of the Moëts and Cliquots, the Heidsiecks and the Mumms of our days, seems to have been a heaven-born cellarman, with a strong head and a discriminating palate. The wine exacted from the neighboring cultivators was of all qualities, good, bad, and indifferent; and with the spirit of a true Benedictine, Dom Perignon hit upon the idea of “marrying” the produce of one vineyard with that of another. He had noted that one kind of soil imparted fragrance and another generosity, and discovered that a white wine could be made from the blackest grapes, which would keep good, instead of turning yellow and degenerating like the wine obtained from white ones. Moreover, the happy thought occurred to him that a piece of cork was a much more suitable stopper for a bottle than the flax dipped in oil which had heretofore served that purpose. The white, or, as it was sometimes styled, the gray wine of Champagne grew famous, and the manufacture spread throughout the province, but that of Hautvillers held the predominance. The cellarer, ever busy among his vats and presses, barrels and bottles, alighted upon a discovery destined to be far more important in its results. He found out the way of making an effervescent wine, a wine that burst out of the bottle and overflowed the glass, that was twice as dainty to the taste, and twice as exhilarating in its effects. It was at the close of the seventeenth century that this discovery was made, when the glory of the Roi Soleil was on the wane, and with it the splendor of the court of Versailles. The king for whose especial benefit liquors had been invented found a gleam of his youthful energy as he sipped the creamy, foaming vintage that enlivened his dreary tête-à-tête with the widow of Scarron. It found its chief patrons, however, among the bands of gay young roysterers, the future _roués_ of the Regency, whom the Duc d’Orléans and the Duc de Vendôme had gathered round them at the Palais Royal and at Anet. It was at one of the famous _soupers_ d’Anet that the Marquis de Sillery, who had turned his sword into a pruning-knife and applied himself to the cultivation of his paternal vineyards on the principles inculcated by the cellarer of St. Peter’s, first introduced the wine bearing his name. The flower-wreathed bottles which, at a given signal, a dozen of blooming young damsels scantily draped in the guise of Bacchanals placed upon the table were hailed with rapture, and thenceforth sparkling wine was an indispensable adjunct at all the _petits soupers_ of the period. In the highest circles the popping of champagne-corks seemed to ring the knell of sadness, and the victories of Marlborough were in a measure compensated for by this grand discovery.—_London Society._

_MIXED DRINKS._

My receipts under this head are inserted for the benefit of _the gentlemen_, many of whom in the course of my experience have bewailed their lack of knowledge on this point when wishing to entertain their male friends at home.

=Lemonade.=—Take half a pound of loaf-sugar and reduce it to a syrup with one pint of water; add the rind of five lemons and let stand an hour; remove the rinds and add the strained juice of the lemons; add one bottle of “Apollinaris” water, and a block of ice in centre of bowl. Peel one lemon and cut it up into thin slices, divide each slice in two, and put in lemonade. Claret or fine cordials may be added if desired. Serve with a piece of lemon in each glass.

=Milk Punch.=—For a small party: Dissolve half a pound of sugar in a little hot water which has been flavored slightly with a little lemon-peel; add the syrup to two quarts of rich milk (cream is preferable); pour in one pint of brandy and one gill of Jamaica rum; mix thoroughly, dust a little grated nutmeg over it, and set it in a cool place. Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth with a little sugar and float on top of punch same as with egg-nogg. Sprinkle a little confectionery sugar over froth. Place a small piece of ice in each tumbler when serving.

=Egg-nogg.=—For a small party: Separate the yolks and whites of twelve eggs; beat the yolks thoroughly, add two heaping cupfuls of sugar and half a grated nutmeg; beat the whole together thoroughly; add half a pint of brandy, half that quantity of Jamaica or Santa Cruz rum, and two quarts of rich milk. Beat up the whites of six of the eggs to a stiff froth, float it on top of mixture, and dust with a little confectioner’s sugar. Place a piece of ice in each tumbler when serving.

=Hot Tom and Jerry.=—Separate the yolks and whites of ten eggs. Beat the yolks up thoroughly and add gradually four pounds of sugar. Beat up whites of eggs to a stiff froth and add gradually to above mixture. Flavor this batter with one wineglassful of Maraschino and a little nutmeg. Put one tablespoonful of this mixture into a china mug with a wineglassful of brandy and one tablespoonful of rum, and fill up the mug with hot water, stir well and dust a little more grated nutmeg over it if desired. Sherry may be used instead of brandy if preferred.

=Hot Apple Toddy.=—Heat a tumbler with hot water; throw out the water; put in one teaspoonful of sugar and one wineglassful of apple brandy; fill glass two-thirds full with hot water, add one-quarter of a warm baked apple, a trifle of grated nutmeg, and send to table with spoon in the glass and some hard water crackers.

=Hot Spiced Rum.=—Heat a glass with a little hot water; throw out the water; put in one teaspoonful of sugar, one wineglassful of rum, a walnut of butter, three whole allspice, one clove, and fill up with hot water. Dust a little grated nutmeg over top if desired. Substitute Scotch whiskey for rum if preferred.

=Santa Cruz Punch.=—Place the juice of two lemons, one heaping tablespoonful of sugar, and a little water in a tumbler; stir a few minutes to dissolve the sugar; add a wineglassful of Santa Cruz rum; fill up the goblet with fine ice; add a slice each of orange, lemon, and pineapple. Stir well and serve with straws.

The favorite brands of whiskies are the famous “Old Crow” Bourbon, “Hermitage” and “Monongahela Monogram” rye.

Orange Co., N. Y., apple-jack is superior to that made in New Jersey.

Have you tried the sherries from the oldest house in Spain—Juan Gmo. Burdon? They are excellent. Served with our favorite dish, terrapin, the epicure exclaims: “The eternal fitness of things!”

_PRESERVING, ETC._

It is not many years since every good housewife felt called upon at least once a year to take a great deal of trouble in preserving a supply of fruit for use during the winter months. The purchase of fruit-jars, the picking, or purchase, and sorting of fruit, the purchase of sugar, the boiling and preparation of the syrup, oftentimes in the hottest weather, was a task which many a good housewife looked forward to with some trepidation, while the uncertainties attending the keeping qualities of the preserves, after they were manufactured, made this a rather undesirable feature in housekeeping.

Within a few years, however, all this has become unnecessary; the manufacture of preserves on a large scale, with skilled labor and improved appliances, has proven, as in many other branches of manufacture, a great success; and while there are some thrifty housewives who still think their “home-made” preserves are better than the “store” article, it is undoubtedly true that the high-class preserves, such as are sold by Thurber, Park & Tilford, Acker, Merrall & Condit, and other first-class grocers, are decidedly fine, and in a number of cases far more appetizing and delicate than the home-made article. I say this with all due respect for the skill shown by many careful, conscientious housewives throughout the land, but in this case the doctrine “survival of the fittest,” I think, is quite applicable. Too many people are apt to sit down, fold their hands, and disclaim against anything not made at home, at least as far as preserves and candied fruits are concerned. The sword, I must admit, cuts both ways. While I have wrestled carefully and conscientiously at many houses with _alleged_ preserves made at home, I have suffered the “pangs of Tantalus” from atrocious compounds put on the market by conscienceless manufacturers. For the benefit of those who desire to “do up” their own fruits I append a few trustworthy receipts. For preserving, the “Almy jar” is particularly to be recommended.

In using this jar, fill it with the desired fruit while cold. Make a syrup of sugar (quantity as given below) by boiling well to prevent fermentation, or it can be put on fruit dry. Fill jar with fruit, pour sugar over it until jar is full half-way up the neck; screw on covers of jars without rubber rings; put a board indented with holes in bottom of wash-boiler and stand jars on it; fill boiler with cold water up to neck of jars; boil (time necessary for different fruits is given below), then remove jars one by one, take off covers, fill with boiling water, put on rubber rings and screw covers on tightly as possible. The same process is used in preserving all kinds of fruits.

PREPARING FRUITS FOR PRESERVING.
Boil Cherries moderately 5 minutes.
„ Raspberries „ 6 „
„ Blackberries „ 6 „
„ Plums „ 10 „
„ Strawberries „ 8 „
„ Whortleberries 5 „
„ Pie-Plant sliced 10 „
„ Small Sour Pears, whole 30 „
„ Bartlett Pears, in halves 20 „
„ Peaches „ 8 „
„ Peaches, whole 15 „
„ Pineapple, sliced ½ inch thick 15 „
„ Siberian or Crab Apple, whole 25 „
„ Sour Apples, quartered 10 „
„ Ripe Currants 6 „
„ Wild Grapes 10 „
„ Tomatoes 90 „
Pour into warm jars.

The amount of sugar to a quart jar should be:

For Cherries 6 ounces.
„ Raspberries 4 „
„ Lawton Blackberries 6 „
„ Field „ 6 „
„ Strawberries 8 „
„ Whortleberries 4 „
„ Quince 10 „
„ Small Sour Pears, whole 8 „
„ Wild Grapes 8 „
„ Peaches 4 „
„ Bartlett Pears 6 „
„ Pineapples 6 „
„ Siberian or Crab Apples 8 „
„ Plums 8 „
„ Pie-Plant 10 „
„ Sour Apples, quartered 6 „
„ Ripe Currants 8 „

=Cider= may be kept fresh and sweet by simply heating it until it throws off steam, then putting into hot jars and sealing immediately.

=Apple-Sauce= ready for table use or pies may be preserved by putting in hot jars and sealing at once. Remember cold fruit requires cold jars, hot fruit requires hot jars.

=To open the Jar.=—Take the blade of a penknife, or any other thin instrument, and push the rubber in towards the neck at the O on the shoulder of the jar. The air will enter and the lid will easily unscrew.

=Currant-Jelly.=—One pound of granulated sugar to each pint of juice. Squeeze the currants and boil juice twenty minutes, then add sugar, which should be heating while the juice boils; stir well together until sugar is well dissolved.

M. G. H.

=Wine Jelly.=—One box of Cox’s gelatine, dissolved in one pint of cold water, one pint of wine, one quart of boiling water, one quart of granulated sugar, and three lemons.