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To Pickle Mushrooms | Stew them in salted water, just enough to keep them from sticking. When
tender, pour off the water, and pour on hot spiced vinegar. Then cork
them tight if you wish to keep them long. Poison ones will turn black
if an onion is stewed with them, and then all must be thrown away. |
To Pickle Cucumbers | Wash the cucumbers in cold water, being careful not to bruise, or break
them. Make a brine of rock, or blown salt (rock is the best), strong
enough to bear up an egg, or potato, and of sufficient quantity to
cover the cucumbers.
Put them into an oaken tub, or stone-ware jar, and pour the brine over
them. In twenty-four hours, they should be stirred up from the bottom
with the hand. The third day pour off the brine, scald it, and pour it
over the cucumbers. Let them stand in the brine nine days, scalding it
every third day, as described above. Then take the cucumbers into a
tub, rinse them in cold water, and if they are too salt, let them stand
in it a few hours. Drain them from the water, put them back into the
tub or jar, which must be washed clean from the brine. Scald vinegar
sufficient to cover them, and pour it upon them. Cover them tight,
and in a week they will be ready for use. If spice is wanted, it may
be tied in a linen cloth, and put into the jar with the pickles, or
scalded with the vinegar, and the bag thrown into the pickle jar. If a
white scum rises, take it off and scald the vinegar, and pour it back.
A small lump of alum added to the vinegar, improves the hardness of
the cucumbers. |
Pickled Walnuts | Take a hundred nuts, an ounce of cloves, an ounce of allspice, an ounce
of nutmeg, an ounce of whole pepper, an ounce of race ginger, an ounce
of horseradish, half pint of mustard seed, tied in a bag, and four
cloves of garlic.
Wipe the nuts, prick with a pin, and put them in a pot, sprinkling
the spice as you lay them in; then add two tablespoonfuls of salt;
boil sufficient vinegar to fill the pot, and pour it over the nuts and
spice. Cover the jar close, and keep it for a year, when the pickles
will be ready for use.
Butternuts may be made in the same manner, if they are taken when
green, and soft enough to be stuck through with the head of a pin. Put
them for a week or two in weak brine, changing it occasionally. Before
putting in the brine, rub them about with a broom in brine to cleanse
the skins. Then proceed as for the walnuts.
The vinegar makes an excellent catsup. |
Mangoes | Take the latest growth of young muskmelons, take out a small bit from
one side, and empty them. Scrape the outside smooth, and soak them four
days in strong salt and water. If you wish to green them, put vine
leaves over and under, with bits of alum, and steam them a while. Then
powder cloves, pepper, and nutmeg in equal portions, and sprinkle on
the inside, and fill them with strips of horseradish, small bits of
calamus, bits of cinnamon and mace, a clove or two, a very small onion,
nasturtions, and then American mustard-seed to fill the crevices. Put
back the piece cut out, and sew it on, and then sew the mango in cotton
cloth. Lay all in a stone jar, the cut side upward.
Boil sharp vinegar a few minutes, with half a tea-cup of salt, and a
tablespoonful of alum to three gallons of vinegar, and turn it on to
the melons. Keep dried barberries for garnishes, and when you use them
turn a little of the above vinegar of the mangoes heated boiling hot on
to them, and let them swell a few hours. Sliced and salted cabbage with
this vinegar poured on hot is very good. |
Fine Pickled Cabbage | Shred red and white cabbage, spread it in layers in a stone jar, with
salt over each layer. Put two spoonfuls of whole black pepper, and the
same quantity of allspice, cloves, and cinnamon, in a bag, and scald
them in two quarts of vinegar, and pour the vinegar over the cabbage,
and cover it tight. Use it in two days after. |
An excellent Way of Preparing Tomatoes to eat with Meat | Peel and slice ripe tomatoes, sprinkling on a little salt as you
proceed. Drain off the juice, and pour on hot spiced vinegar. |
To Pickle Martinoes | Gather them when you can run a pin head into them, and after wiping
them, keep them ten days in weak brine, changing it every other day.
Then wipe them, and pour over boiling spiced vinegar. In four weeks
they will be ready for use. It is a fine pickle. |
A convenient Way to Pickle Cucumbers | Put some spiced vinegar in a jar, with a little salt in it.
Every time you gather a mess, pour boiling vinegar on them, with a
little alum in it. Then put them in the spiced vinegar. Keep the same
vinegar for scalding all. When you have enough, take all from the
spiced vinegar, and scald in the alum vinegar two or three minutes,
till green, and then put them back in the spiced vinegar. |
Indiana Pickles | Take green tomatoes, and slice them. Put them in a basket to drain
in layers, with salt scattered over them, say a tea-cup full to each
gallon. Next day, slice one quarter the quantity of onions, and lay
the onions and tomatoes in alternate layers in a jar, with spices
intervening. Then fill the jar with cold vinegar. Tomatoes picked
as they ripen, and just thrown into cold spiced vinegar, are a fine
pickle, and made with very little trouble. |
To Pickle Cauliflower, or Brocoli | Keep them twenty-four hours in strong brine, and then take them out and
heat the brine, and pour it on scalding hot, and let them stand till
next day. Drain them, and throw them into spiced vinegar. |
Ice Cream | One quart of milk.
One and a half tablespoonfuls of arrowroot.
The grated peel of two lemons.
One quart of thick cream.
Wet the arrowroot with a little cold milk, and add it to the quart of
milk when boiling hot; sweeten it very sweet with white sugar, put in
the grated lemon peel, boil the whole, and strain it into the quart
of cream. When partly frozen, add the juice of the two lemons. Twice
this quantity is enough for thirty-five persons. Find the quantity of
sugar that suits you by measure, and then you can use this every time,
without tasting. Some add whites of eggs, others think it just as good
without. It must be made _very_ sweet, as it loses much by freezing. |
Directions for freezing Ice Cream | If you have no apparatus for the purpose (which is _almost_
indispensable), put the cream into a tin pail with a very tight cover,
mix equal quantities of snow and blown salt (not the coarse salt), or
of pounded ice and salt, in a tub, and put it _as high as the pail,
or freezer_; turn the pail or freezer half round and back again with
one hand, for half an hour, or longer, if you want it very nice. Three
quarters of an hour steadily, will make it good enough. While doing
this, stop four or five times, and mix the frozen part with the rest,
the last time very thoroughly, and then the lemon juice must be put in.
Then cover the freezer tight with snow and salt till it is wanted. The
mixture must be perfectly cool before being put in the freezer. Renew
the snow and salt while shaking, so as to have it kept tight to the
sides of the freezer. A hole in the tub holding the freezing mixture
to let off the water, is a great advantage. In a tin pail it would
take much longer to freeze than in the freezer, probably nearly twice
as long, or one hour and a half. A long stick, like a coffee stick,
should be used in scraping the ice from the sides. Iron spoons will be
affected by the lemon juice, and give a bad taste.
In taking it out for use, first wipe off every particle of the freezing
mixture dry, then with a knife loosen the sides, then invert the
freezer upon the dish in which the ice is to be served, and apply two
towels rung out of hot water to the bottom part, and the whole will
slide out in the shape of a cylinder.
If you wish to put it into moulds, pour it into them when the cream is
frozen sufficiently, and then cover the moulds in the snow and salt
till they are wanted. Dip the moulds in warm water to make the ice slip
out easily.
If you wish to have a freezer made, send the following directions to a
tinner.
Make a tin cylinder box, eighteen inches high and eight inches in
diameter at the bottom, and a trifle larger at the top, so that the
frozen cream will slip out easier. Have a cover made with a rim to
lap over three inches, and fitted tight. Let there be a round handle
fastened to the lid, an inch in diameter, and reaching nearly across,
to take hold of, to stir the cream. This will cost from fifty to
seventy-five cents.
The tub holding the ice and freezer should have a hole in the bottom,
to let the water run off, and through the whole process the ice must be
close packed the whole depth of the freezer. |
Philadelphia Ice Cream | Two quarts of milk (cream when you have it).
Three tablespoonfuls of arrowroot.
The whites of eight eggs well beaten.
One pound of powdered sugar.
Boil the milk, thicken it with the arrowroot, add the sugar, and pour
the whole upon the eggs. If you wish it flavored with vanilla, split
half a bean, and boil it in the milk. |
Another Ice Cream | Three quarts of milk.
Two pounds and a half of powdered sugar.
Twelve eggs, well beaten.
Mix all together in a tin pail, add one vanilla bean (split), then put
the pail into a kettle of boiling water, and stir the custard all the
time, until it is quite thick. After it is cooled, add two quarts of
rich cream, and then freeze it. |
Strawberry Ice Cream | Rub a pint of ripe strawberries through a sieve, add a pint of cream,
and four ounces of powdered sugar, and freeze it. |
Ice Cream without Cream | A vanilla bean, or a lemon rind, is first boiled in a quart of milk.
Take out the bean or peel, and add the yolks of four eggs, beaten well.
Heat it scalding hot, but do not boil it, stirring in white sugar till
_very_ sweet. When cold, freeze it. |
Fruit Ice Cream | Make rich boiled custard, and mash into it the soft ripe fruit, or the
grated or cooked hard fruit, or grated pineapples. Rub all through
a sieve, sweeten it very sweet, and freeze it. Quince, apple, pear,
peach, strawberry, and raspberry, are all good for this purpose. |
Rich Custards | One quart of cream.
The yolks of six eggs.
Six ounces of powdered white sugar.
A small pinch of salt.
Two tablespoonfuls of brandy.
One spoonful of peach water.
Half a tablespoonful of lemon brandy.
An ounce of blanched almonds, pounded to a paste.
Mix the cream with the sugar, and the yolks of the eggs well beaten,
scald them together in a tin pail in boiling water, stirring all the
time, until sufficiently thick. When cool, add the other ingredients,
and pour into custard cups. |
Wine Cream Custard | Sweeten a pint of cream with sifted sugar, heat it, stir in white wine
till it curdles, add rose water, or grated lemon peel in a bag, heated
in the milk. Turn it into cups.
Or, mix a pint of milk with the pint of cream, add five beaten eggs, a
spoonful of flour wet with milk, and sugar to your taste. Bake this in
cups, or pie plates. |
Almond Custard | Blanch and pound four ounces of sweet almonds, and a few of the bitter.
Boil them five minutes in a quart of milk, sweeten to your taste, and
when blood warm, stir in the beaten yolks of eight eggs, and the whites
of four. Heat it, and stir till it thickens, then pour into cups. Cut
the reserved whites to a stiff froth, and put on the top. |
A Cream for Stewed Fruit | Boil two or three peach leaves, or a vanilla bean, in a quart of cream,
or milk, till flavored. Strain and sweeten it, mix it with the yolks of
four eggs, well beaten; then, while heating it, add the whites cut to a
froth. When it thickens, take it up. When cool, pour it over the fruit,
or preserves. |
Currant, Raspberry, or Strawberry Whisk | Put three gills of the juice of the fruit to ten ounces of crushed
sugar, add the juice of a lemon, and a pint and a half of cream. Whisk
it till quite thick, and serve it in jelly glasses, or a glass dish. |
Lemonade Ice, and other Ices | To a quart of lemonade, add the whites of six eggs, cut to a froth,
and freeze it. The juices of any fruit, sweetened and watered, may be
prepared in the same way, and are very fine. |
Lemon and Orange Cream | Grate the outer part of the rind of eight oranges, or lemons, into a
pint of cold water, and let it stand from night till morning. Add the
juice of two dozen of the fruit, and another pint of cold water. Beat
the yolks of six eggs, and add the whites of sixteen eggs, cut to a
stiff froth. Strain the juice into the egg. Set it over the fire, and
stir in fine white sugar, till quite sweet. When it begins to thicken,
take it off, and stir till it is cold. Serve it in glasses, or freeze
it. |
Vanilla Cream | Boil a vanilla bean in a quart of rich milk, till flavored to your
taste. Beat the yolks of eight eggs, and stir in, then sweeten well,
and lastly, add the whites of the eggs, cut to a stiff froth. Boil
till it begins to thicken, then stir till cold, and serve in glasses,
or freeze it. |
A Charlotte Russe | Half a pint of milk, and half a vanilla bean boiled in it, and then
cooled and strained.
Four beaten yolks of eggs, and a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf
sugar stirred into the milk. Simmer five minutes, and cool it.
An ounce of Russia isinglass boiled in a pint of water till reduced one
half, and strained into the above custard.
Whip a rich cream to a froth, and stir into the custard.
The preceding is for the custard that is to fill the form.
Prepare the form thus:--Take a large round, or oval sponge cake, three
or four inches thick, with perpendicular sides. Cut off the bottom
about an inch thick, or a little less, and then turn it bottom upwards
into a form of the same size and shape. Then dig out the cake till it
is a shell, an inch thick, or less. Fill the opening with the custard,
and cover it with the slice cut from the bottom. Then set it into a tub
of pounded ice and salt, for forty minutes, being careful not to get
any on to the cake. When ready to use it, turn it out of the form on to
a flat oval dish, and ornament the top with frosting, or syringe on it
candy sugar, in fanciful forms. This can be made by fitting slices of
sponge cake nicely into a form, instead of using a whole cake. |
A Plainer Charlotte Russe | Half an ounce of Russia isinglass, or a little more.
Half a pint of milk, and a pint of thick cream.
Four eggs. Three ounces sifted white sugar.
A gill and a half of white wine.
Boil the isinglass in the milk, flavoring with vanilla or lemon. Stir
the sugar into the yolks of the eggs. Put the wine to the cream, and
beat them to a froth. Then strain the isinglass into the yolks, then
add the cream and wine, and last of all the whites of the eggs cut to
a stiff froth. Then line a dish with sponge cake, making the pieces
adhere with whites of eggs, and pour in the above. |
A Superior Omelette Souflée | Take eight eggs. Put the whites on one plate, and the yolks on another
(two persons do it better than one); beat up the whites to a perfect
froth, and at the same time stir the yolks with finely-powdered sugar,
flavored with a little lemon peel, grated. Then, while stirring the
whites, pour the yolks into the whites, _stir_ them a little (but not
beat them). Then pour all on a round tin plate, and put it in the oven;
when it begins to rise a little, draw it to the mouth of the oven,
and with a spoon pile it up in a pyramidal shape, and leave it a few
minutes longer in the oven. The whole baking requires but three or four
minutes, and should be done just as wanted for the table. |
Almond Cheese Cake | Three well-beaten eggs.
A pint of new milk, boiling while the eggs are mixed in.
Half a glass of wine, poured in while boiling.
On adding the wine, take it from the fire, strain off the whey, and
put to the curds sifted white sugar, to your taste, three eggs, well
beaten, a teaspoonful of rose water, half a pound of sweet almonds,
and a dozen of bitter ones, all blanched and pounded, and sixteen even
spoonfuls of melted butter. Pour this into patties lined with thin
pastry. Ornament the top with Zante currants, and almonds cut in thin
slips. Bake as soon as done. |
Flummery | Cut sponge cake into thin slices, and line a deep dish. Make it moist
with white wine; make a rich custard, using only the yolks of the
eggs. When cool, turn it into the dish, and cut the whites to a stiff
froth, and put on the top. |
Chicken Salad | Cut the white meat of chickens into small bits, the size of peas.
Chop the white parts of celery nearly as small.
Prepare a dressing thus:—
Rub the yolks of hard-boiled eggs smooth, to each yolk put half a
teaspoonful of mustard, the same quantity of salt, a tablespoonful of
oil, and a wine-glass of vinegar. Mix the chicken and celery in a large
bowl, and pour over this dressing.
The dressing must not be put on till just before it is used. Bread and
butter and crackers are served with it. |
Gelatine, or American Isinglass Jelly | Two ounces of American isinglass, or gelatine.
One quart of boiling water.
A pint and a half of white wine.
The whites of three eggs.
Soak the gum in cold water half an hour. Then take it from the water,
and pour on the quart of boiling water. When cooled, add the grated
rind of one lemon, and the juice of two, and a pound and a half of loaf
sugar. Then beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and stir them
in, and let the whole boil till the egg is well mixed, but do not stir
while it boils. Strain through a jelly-bag, and then add the wine.
Wine jelly is made thus, except that half a pint more of wine is added.
In cold weather, a pint more of water may be added. This jelly can be
colored by beet juice, saffron, or indigo, for fancy dishes. |
Oranges in Jelly | Peel and divide into halves several small-size oranges; boil them
in water till a straw will pierce them, then put them into a syrup
made of half a pound of sugar for each pound of fruit, and boil the
oranges in it till clear. Then stir in an ounce, or more, of clarified
isinglass, and let it boil a little while. Take the oranges into a
dish, and strain the jelly over. Lemons may be done the same way. |
Jelly Tarts | One pound of sifted flour.
Three quarters of a pound of butter, rubbed in well.
Wet it up with about a pint of cold water, in which a bit of sal
volatile, the size of a large pea dissolved in a little cold water, has
been put. Beat the whole with a rolling-pin, cut it into round cakes,
wet the tops with beaten egg, and strew on fine white sugar. Bake in a
quick oven, and when done put a spoonful of jelly in the centre of each. |
Sweet Paste Jelly Tarts | A pint of dried and sifted flour.
A pint of sifted sugar.
Two-thirds of a pint of sweet butter.
A bit of sal volatile, the size of two large peas, dissolved in a
tablespoonful of cold water.
Mix the butter and sugar to a cream, work in the flour, add the sal
volatile, and cold water, if needed, for making a paste to roll. Beat
the whole with a rolling-pin, roll it half an inch thick, cut it with a
tumbler, wet the tops with milk, put them on buttered tins into a quick
oven, and when done, heap a spoonful of jelly on the centre of each.
They are excellent for a dessert, or for evening parties. |
An Apple Lemon Pudding | Six spoonfuls of grated, or of cooked and strained apple. Three lemons,
pulp, rind, and juice, all grated. Half a pound of melted butter. Sugar
to the taste. Seven eggs, well beaten.
Mix, and bake with or without paste. It can be made still plainer by
using nine spoonfuls of apple, one lemon, two-thirds of a cup full of
butter, and three eggs. |
Buttermilk Pop | Rub an ounce of butter into a tea-cup of flour, wet it up to a thin
paste with cold buttermilk, and pour it into two quarts of boiling
fresh buttermilk. Salt to the taste. |
Wheat Flour Blanc Mange | Wet up six tablespoonfuls of flour to a thin paste, with cold milk, and
stir it into a pint of boiling milk. Flavor with lemon peel, or peach
leaves boiled in the milk. Add a pinch of salt, cool it in a mould, and
eat with sweetened cream and sweetmeats. |
Orange Marmelade | Take two lemons, and a dozen oranges; grate the yellow part of all the
oranges but five, and set it aside. Make a clear syrup of an equal
weight of sugar. Clear the oranges of rind and seeds, and put them with
the grated rinds into the syrup, and boil about twenty minutes, till it
is a transparent mass.
_A Simple Lemon Jelly_ (_easily made_).
One ounce of cooper’s isinglass. A pound and a half of loaf sugar.
Three lemons, pulp, skin, and juice, grated.
Pour a quart of boiling water on to the isinglass, add the rest, mix
and strain it, then add a glass of wine, and pour it to cool in some
regular form. If the lemons are not fresh, add a little cream of
tartar, or tartaric acid. _American gelatine_ is used for this. |
Cranberry | Pour boiling water on them, and then you can easily separate the good
and the bad. Boil them in a very little water till soft, then sweeten
to your taste. If you wish a jelly, take a portion and strain through
a fine sieve. |
Fruits Preserved without Cooking | Pineapples peeled and cut in thin slices, with layers of sugar under
and over each slice, will keep without cooking, and the flavor is fully
preserved. Use a pound and a half of sugar for each pound of fruit.
Quinces peeled and boiled soft, and then laid in sugar, pound to a
pound, in the same way, are very beautiful.
_Apple Ice_ (_very fine_).
Take finely-flavored apples, grate them fine, and then make them _very_
sweet, and freeze them. It is very delicious.
Pears, peaches, or quinces, also are fine either grated fine or stewed
and run through a sieve, then sweetened _very_ sweet and frozen. The
flavor is much better preserved when grated than when cooked. |
Lemon, or Orange Ice Cream | Squeeze a dozen lemons, and make the juice thick with sugar; then stir
in slowly three quarts of cream, and freeze it. Oranges require less
sugar. |
Cream Tarts | One pound of sifted flour, and a salt spoon of salt.
A quarter of a pound of rolled sugar.
A quarter of a pound of butter, and one beaten egg.
Sal volatile the size of a nutmeg, dissolved in a spoonful of cold
water. Mix the above, and wet up with cold water, and line some small
patties, or tartlet pans. Bake in a quick oven, then fill with mock
cream, sprinkle on powdered sugar, put them back into the oven a few
minutes till a little browned. |
Whip Syllabub | One pint of cream.
Sifted white sugar to your taste.
Half a tumbler of white wine.
The grated rind and juice of one lemon.
Beat all to a stiff froth. |
Trifles | One well-beaten egg, and one tablespoonful of sugar.
A salt spoonful of salt, and flour enough for a stiff dough.
Cut it in thin round cakes, and fry in lard; when they rise to the
surface and are turned over, they are done. Drain on a sieve, and put
jam or jelly on the centre of each. |
Nothings | Three well-beaten eggs, a salt spoonful of salt, and flour enough for
a very stiff paste. Roll and cut into very thin cakes, fry them like
trifles, and put two together with jam, or jelly between. |
Apple Snow | Put twelve very tart apples in cold water over a slow fire. When soft,
take away the skins and cores, and mix in a pint of sifted white sugar;
beat the whites of twelve eggs to a stiff froth, and then add them
to the apples and sugar. Put it in a dessert dish, and ornament with
myrtle and box. |
Iced Fruit | Take fine bunches of currants on the stalk, dip them in well-beaten
whites of eggs, lay them on a sieve and sift white sugar over them, and
set them in a warm place to dry. |
Ornamental Froth | The whites of four eggs in a stiff froth, put into the syrup of
preserved raspberries, or strawberries, beaten well together, and
turned over ice cream, or blanc mange. Make white froth to combine with
the colored in fanciful ways. It can be put on the top of boiling milk,
and hardened to keep its form. |
To Clarify Isinglass | Dissolve an ounce of isinglass in a cup of boiling water, take off the
scum, and drain through a coarse cloth. Jellies, candies, and blanc
mange should be done in brass, and stirred with silver. |
Blanc Mange | A pint of cream, and a quart of boiled milk.
An ounce and a half of clarified isinglass, stirred into the milk.
Sugar to your taste.
A teaspoonful of fine salt.
Flavor with lemon, or orange, or rose water.
Let it boil, stirring it well, then strain into moulds.
Three ounces of almonds pounded to a paste and added while boiling, is
an improvement. Or filberts, or hickory-nuts, can be skinned and used
thus.
It can be flavored by boiling in it a vanilla bean, or a stick of
cinnamon. Save the bean to use again. |
Calf’s Foot Blanc Mange | Take a pint of calf’s foot jelly, or American isinglass jelly, and put
it in a sauce-pan, with the beaten yolks of six eggs, and stir till it
_begins_ to boil. Then sweeten and flavor to your taste; set it in a
pan of cold water, and stir it till nearly cold, to prevent curdling,
and when it begins to thicken, put it into moulds. |
Variegated Blanc Mange | For evening parties a pretty ornamental variety can be made thus.
Color the blanc mange in separate parcels, red, with juice of boiled
beets, or cochineal; yellow, with saffron; and blue, with indigo.
Put in a layer of white, and when cool, a layer of another color, and
thus as many as you like. You can arrange it in moulds thus, or in a
dish, and when cold cut it in fanciful shapes. |
Jaune Mange | Boil an ounce of isinglass in a little more than half a pint of water,
till dissolved; strain it, add the juice and a little of the grated
rind of two oranges, a gill of white wine, the yolks of four eggs,
beaten and strained, and sugar to your taste. Stir over a gentle fire
till it just boils, and then strain into a mould. |
Ivory Dust Jelly | Boil a pound of the dust in five pints of water, till reduced to one
quart, strain it, add a quart more of water, boil till a stiff jelly,
then add lemon, or orange juice and rind, and sugar to your taste, and
strain into moulds. |
Apple Jelly | Boil tart, peeled apples in a little water, till glutinous, strain
out the juice, and put a pound of white sugar to a pint of the juice.
Flavor to your taste, boil till a good jelly, and then put it into
moulds. |
Another Lemon Jelly | Take the clear juice of twelve lemons, and a pound of fine loaf sugar,
and a quart of water. For each quart of the above mixture, put in an
ounce of clarified isinglass, let it boil up once, and strain into
moulds. If not stiff enough, add more isinglass, and boil again. |
Orange Jelly | The juice of nine oranges and three lemons.
The grated rind of one lemon, and one orange, pared thin.
Two quarts of water, and four ounces of isinglass, broken up and boiled
in it to a jelly.
Add the above, and sweeten to your taste. Then add the whites of eight
eggs, well beaten to a stiff froth, and boil ten minutes, strain and
put into moulds, first dipped in cold water. When perfectly cold, dip
the mould in warm water, and turn on to a glass dish. |
Floating Island | Beat the yolks of six eggs with the juice of four lemons, sweeten it to
your taste, and stir it into a quart of boiling milk till it thickens,
then pour it into a dish. Whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth,
and put it on the top of the cream. |
Another Syllabub | The juice and grated outer skin of a large lemon.
Four glasses of white wine.
A quarter of a pound of sifted white sugar.
Mix the above, and let them stand some hours.
Then whip it, adding a pint of thick cream, and the whites of two eggs
cut to a froth. |
An Ornamental Dish | Pare and core, without splitting, some small-sized tart apples, and
boil them very gently with one lemon for every six apples, till a straw
will pass through them.
Make a syrup of half a pound of white sugar for each pound of apples,
put the apples unbroken, and the lemons sliced, into the syrup, and
boil gently till the apples look clear. Then take them up carefully, so
as not to break them, and add an ounce, or more, of clarified isinglass
to the syrup, and let it boil up. Then lay a slice of lemon on each
apple, and strain the syrup over them.
_Carrageen Blanc Mange_ (_Irish Moss_).
Take one tea-cup full of Carrageen, or Irish moss, after it has been
carefully picked over. Wash it thoroughly in pearlash water, to take
out the saline taste; then rinse it in several waters, put it in a tin
pail, and pour to it a quart of milk. Set the pail, closely covered,
into a kettle of boiling water. Let it stand until the moss thickens
the milk, then strain through a fine sieve, sweeten with powdered loaf
sugar, and flavor with rose or lemon. Wet the moulds in cold water,
then pour in the blanc mange, and set it in a cool place. In two, or
three hours, or when quite firm, it may be used. Loosen the edges from
the moulds, and then turn it out upon china or glass plates. It may be
served with powdered sugar and cream. |
A Dish of Snow | Grate the white part of cocoanut, put it in a glass dish and serve with
currant or cranberry jellies. |
To Clarify Sugar | Take four pounds of sugar, and break it up.
Whisk the white of an egg, and put it with a tumblerful of water into
a preserving pan, and add water gradually, till you have two quarts,
stirring well. When there is a good frothing, throw in the sugar, boil
moderately, and skim it. If the sugar rises to run over, throw in a
little cold water, and then skim it, as it is then still. Repeat this,
and when no more scum rises, strain the sugar for use. |
To Prepare Sugar for Candies | Put a coffee cup of water for each pound of sugar, into a brass, or
copper kettle, over a slow fire. Put in, for each pound, say half a
sheet of isinglass, and half a teaspoonful of gum-arabic, dissolved
together. Skim off all impurities, and flavor to your taste.
All sugar for candy is prepared thus, and then boiled till, when drawn
into strings and cooled, it snaps like glass.
A little hot rum, or vinegar, must be put to loaf sugar candy, to
prevent its being too brittle.
Candies made thus, can be colored with boiled beet juice, saffron, and
indigo, and it can be twisted, rolled, and cut into any forms.
It can have cocoanut, almonds, hickory-nuts, Brazil, or peanuts,
sliced, or chopped and put in.
It can be flavored with vanilla, rose, lemon, orange, cloves, cinnamon,
or anything you please. |
Sugar Kisses | Whisk four whites of eggs to a stiff froth, and stir in half a pound
of sifted white sugar, and flavor it as you like.
Lay it, when stiff, in heaps, on white paper, each the shape and size
of half an egg, and an inch apart. Place them on a board which is half
an inch thick, and put them into a hot oven. When they turn a little
yellowish, slip off the paper on to a table, and let them cool five
minutes. Then slip off two of the kisses with a knife, and join the
bottom parts together which touched the paper, and they, if pressed
gently, will adhere. Then lay them on a plate, and continue till all
are thus prepared. These look handsomely, and are very delicate and
good. |
Almond Macaroons | Half a pound of almonds blanched, and pounded with a teaspoonful of
essence of lemon till a smooth paste.
Add an equal quantity of sifted white sugar, and the beaten whites of
two eggs. Work well together with a spoon.
Dip your hand in water, and work them into balls the size of a nutmeg,
lay them on white paper, an inch apart; then dip your hand in water,
and smooth them. Put them in a cool oven for three quarters of an hour.
Cocoanut can be grated and used in place of the almonds, and thus make
cocoanut macaroons. |
Filbert Macaroons | Heat a quarter of a pound of filbert meats till the skin will rub off,
and when cold pound them, and make a paste with a little white of an
egg, add a quarter of a pound of white sifted sugar, and the white of
an egg; when well mixed, bake them like almond macaroons.
Flour macaroons look as well, and are nearly as good. To make them,
work a pint of sifted white sugar into one beaten egg, till a smooth
paste, and add a little sifted flour, so as to mould it in your hands.
Flavor with essence of lemon, or rose water, and proceed as with almond
macaroons. |
Cocoanut Drops | The white part of a cocoanut, grated.
The whites of four eggs, well beaten.
Half a pound of sifted white sugar.
Flavor with rose water, or essence of lemon.
Mix all as thick as can be stirred, lay in heaps an inch apart, on
paper, and on a baking tin; put them in a quick oven, and take them out
when they begin to look yellowish. |
Candied Fruits | Preserve the fruit, then dip it in sugar boiled to candy thickness, and
then dry it. Grapes and some other fruits may be dipped in uncooked,
and then dried, and they are fine. |
Another Way | Take it from the syrup, when preserved, dip it in powdered sugar, and
set it on a sieve in an oven to dry. |
To make an Ornamental Pyramid for a Table | Boil loaf sugar as for candy, and rub it over a stiff form, made for
the purpose, of stiff paper, which must be well buttered. Set it on a
table, and begin at the bottom, and stick on to this frame, with the
sugar, a row of macaroons, kisses, or other ornamental articles, and
continue till the whole is covered. When cold, draw out the pasteboard
form, and set the pyramid in the centre of the table with a small bit
of wax candle burning with it, and it looks very beautifully. |
Ginger Beer Powders, and Soda Powders | Put into blue papers, thirty grains to each paper, of bicarbonate of
soda, five grains of powdered ginger, and a drachm of white powdered
sugar. Put into white papers, twenty-five grains to each, of powdered
tartaric acid.
Put one paper of each kind to half a pint of water. The common soda
powders of the shops are like the above, when the sugar and ginger are
omitted.
Soda powders can be kept on hand, and the water in which they are used
can be flavored with any kind of syrup or tincture, and thus make a
fine drink for hot weather. |
Currant Ice Water | Press the juice from ripe currants, strain it, and put a pound of
sugar to each pint of juice. Put it into bottles, cork and seal it, and
keep it in a cool, dry place. When wanted, mix it with ice water for
a drink. Or put water with it, make it _very_ sweet, and freeze it.
Freezing always takes away much of the sweetness.
The juices of other acid fruits can be used in the same way. |
Sarsaparilla Mead | One pound of Spanish sarsaparilla. Boil it in four gallons of water
five hours, and add enough water to have two gallons. Add sixteen
pounds of sugar, and ten ounces of tartaric acid.
To make a tumbler of it, take half a wine-glass of the above, and then
fill with water, and put in half a teaspoonful of soda. |
Effervescing Fruit Drinks | Very fine drinks for summer are prepared by putting strawberries,
raspberries, or blackberries into good vinegar and then straining it
off, and adding a new supply of fruit till enough flavor is secured, as
directed in Strawberry Vinegar. Keep the vinegar bottled, and in hot
weather use it thus. Dissolve half a teaspoonful or less of saleratus,
or soda in a tumbler, very little water till the lumps are all out.
Then fill the tumbler two-thirds full of water, and then add the fruit
vinegar. If several are to drink, put the soda, or saleratus into the
pitcher, and then put the fruit vinegar into each tumbler, and pour the
alkali water from the pitcher into each tumbler, as each person is all
ready to drink, as delay spoils it. |
Effervescing Jelly Drinks | When jams or jellies are too old to be good for table use, mix them
with good vinegar, and then use them with soda, or saleratus, as
directed above. |
Summer Beverage | Ten drops of oil of sassafras. Ten drops of oil of spruce. Ten drops
of oil of wintergreen. Two quarts of boiling water poured on to
two great spoonfuls of cream tartar. Then add eight quarts of cold
water, the oils, three gills of distillery yeast (or twice as much
home-brewed), and sweeten it to the taste. In twenty-four hours, bottle
it, and it is a delicious beverage. |
Simple Ginger Beer | One great spoonful of ginger and one of cream tartar. One pint of
home-brewed yeast and one pint of molasses. Six quarts of water. When
it _begins_ to ferment bottle it, and it will be ready for use in eight
hours. |
Orange, or Lemon Syrup | Put a pound and a half of white sugar to each pint of juice, add some
of the peel, boil ten minutes, then strain and cork it. It makes a fine
beverage, and is useful to flavor pies and puddings. |
Acid Fruit Syrups | The juice of any acid fruit can be made into a syrup by the above
receipt, using only a pound of sugar for each pint of juice, and kept
on hand for summer drink. |
Imitation Lemon Syrup | Four ounces tartaric acid, powdered. Two drachms oil of lemon. This
can be kept in a vial for a month, and then must be renewed. A
tablespoonful put to water sweetened with loaf sugar, makes six glasses
of lemonade. |
Superior Ginger Beer | Ten pounds of sugar.
Nine ounces of lemon juice.
Half a pound of honey.
Eleven ounces bruised ginger root.
Nine gallons of water. Three pints of yeast.
Boil the ginger half an hour in a gallon and a half of water, then add
the rest of the water and the other ingredients, and strain it when
cold, add the white of one egg beaten, and half an ounce of essence of
lemon. Let it stand four days then bottle it, and it will keep good
many months. |
Lemon Sherbet | Dissolve a pound and a half of loaf sugar in one quart of water, add
the juice of ten lemons, press the lemons so as to extract not only the
juice, but the oil of the rind, and let the skins remain a while in the
water and sugar. Strain through a sieve, and then freeze it like ice
cream. |
Orange Sherbet | Take the juice of a dozen oranges, and pour a pint of boiling water on
the peel, and let it stand, covered, half an hour. Boil a pound of loaf
sugar in a pint of water, skim, and then add the juice and the water in
the peel to the sugar. Strain it and cool it with ice, or freeze it.
The juice of two lemons and a little more sugar improves it. |
Sham Champagne | One lemon sliced.
A tablespoonful of tartaric acid.
One ounce of race ginger.
One pound and a half of sugar.
Two gallons and a half of boiling water poured on to the above. When
blood warm, add a gill of distillery yeast, or twice as much of
home-brewed. Let it stand in the sun through the day. When cold in the
evening, cork and wire it. In two days it is ready for use. |
Coffee | Mocha and Old Java are the best, and time improves all kinds. Dry it a
long time before roasting. Roast it quick, stirring constantly, or it
will taste raw and bitter. When roasted, put in a bit of butter the
size of a chestnut. Keep it shut up close, or it loses its strength and
flavor. Never grind it till you want to use it, as it loses flavor by
standing.
To prepare it, put two great spoonfuls to each pint of water, mix
it with the white, yolk, and shell of an egg, pour on hot, but not
boiling water, and boil it not over ten minutes. Take it off, pour in
half a tea-cup of cold water, and in five minutes pour it off without
shaking. When eggs are scarce, clear with fish skin, as below. Boiled
milk improves both tea and coffee, but must be boiled separately. Much
coffee is spoiled by being burned black instead of brown, and by being
burned unequally, some too much and some too little. Constant care and
stirring are indispensable. |
Fish Skin for Coffee | Take the skin of a mild codfish which has not been soaked, rinse and
then dry it in a warm oven, after bread is drawn. Cut it in inch
squares. One of these serves for two quarts of coffee, and is put in
the first thing. |
Chocolate | Allow three large spoonfuls of scraped chocolate to each pint of water,
or take off an inch of the cake for each quart of water, boil it half
an hour, and do not boil the milk in it, but add it when wanted. |
Cocoa and Shells | Dry the nut in a warm oven after bread is drawn, pound it, and put an
ounce to each pint of water. Boil an hour, and do not add milk till
it is used. If shells are used, soak them over night, then boil them
an hour in the same water. Put in as much as you like. Boil cocoa and
chocolate the day before, cool and take off the oil, and then heat for
use, and it is as good, and more healthful. |
Tea | The old-fashioned rule to put one teaspoonful for each person, is not
proper, as thus fifty persons would require fifty teaspoonfuls, which
is enormous. Every person must be guided by taste in this matter.
Tea is spoilt unless the water is boiling when it is made. Black tea
improves by boiling, but green is injured by it. |
Ochra | It is said that the seeds of ochra burnt like coffee, make a beverage
almost exactly like it. |
Children’s Drinks | There are drinks easily prepared for children, which they love much
better than tea and coffee, for no child at first loves these drinks
till trained to it. As their older friends are served with _green_ and
_black_ tea, there is a _white_ tea to offer them, which they will
always prefer, if properly trained, and it is _always_ healthful. |
White Tea | Put two teaspoonfuls of sugar into half a cup of good milk, and fill it
with boiling water. |
Boy’s Coffee | Crumb bread, or dry toast, into a bowl.
Put on a plenty of sugar, or molasses.
Put in one half milk and one half boiling water.
To be eaten with a spoon, or drank if preferred.
Molasses for sweetening is preferred by most children. |
Strawberry Vinegar | Put four pounds very ripe strawberries, nicely dressed, to three quarts
of the best vinegar, and let them stand three, or four days. Then drain
the vinegar through a jelly-bag, and pour it on to the same quantity of
fruit. Repeat the process in three days a third time.
Finally, to each pound of the liquor thus obtained, add one pound of
fine sugar. Bottle it and let it stand covered, but not tight corked, a
week; then cork it tight, and set it in a _dry_ and cool place, where
it will not freeze. Raspberry vinegar can be made in the same way. |
Royal Strawberry Acid | Take three pounds of ripe strawberries, two ounces of citric acid, and
one quart of spring water. Dissolve the acid in the water and pour it
on to the strawberries, and let them stand in a cool place twenty-four
hours. Then drain the liquid off and pour it on to three pounds more
of strawberries, and let it stand twenty-four hours. Then add to the
liquid its own weight of sugar, boil it three or four minutes (in a
porcelain lined preserve kettle, lest metal may affect the taste), and
when cool, cork it in bottles lightly for three days, and then tight,
and seal them. Keep it in a dry and cool place, where it will not
freeze. It is very delicious for the sick, or the well. |
Delicious Milk Lemonade | Pour a pint of boiling water on to six ounces of loaf sugar, add a
quarter of a pint of lemon juice, and half the quantity of good sherry
wine. Then add three quarters of a pint of cold milk, and strain the
whole, to make it nice and clear. |
Portable Lemonade | Mix strained lemon juice with loaf sugar, in the proportion of four
large lemons to a pound, or as much as it will hold in solution; grate
the rind of the lemons into this, and preserve this in a jar. If this
is too sweet, add a little citric acid. Use a tablespoonful to a
tumbler of water. |
General Remarks on the Preparation of Articles for the Sick | Always have everything you use very sweet and clean, as the sense of
taste and smell are very sensitive in sickness. Never cook articles for
the sick over a smoke or blaze, as you will thus impart a smoky taste.
When the mixture is thick, stir often to prevent burning. Be very
careful, in putting in seasoning, not to put in _too much_, as it is
easy to add, but not to subtract.
The nicest way to flavor with orange or lemon peel, is to rub loaf
sugar on the peel till the oil is absorbed into it, and then use the
sugar to flavor and sweeten. Herbs and spice, when boiled to flavor,
should be tied in a rag, as they will not then burn on to the vessel at
the edges.
Always have a shawl at hand, also a clean towel, a clean handkerchief,
and a small waiter when you present food or drink. Many of the articles
for desserts and evening parties are good for the sick. |
An Excellent Relish for a Convalescent | Cut some codfish to bits the size of a pea, and boil it a minute in
water to freshen it. Pour off all the water, and add some cream and a
little pepper.
Split and toast a Boston cracker, and put the above upon it. Milk with
a little butter may be used instead of cream.
Ham or smoked beef may be prepared in the same way. For a variety, beat
up an egg and stir it in, instead of cream, or with the cream.
These preparations are also good for a relish for a family at breakfast
or tea. |