The Vernon Clipper
February 20 1880
TOPICS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD

OATMEAL – One quart water, one and a half cups oatmeal, one-half teaspoon salt. Let boil over a brisk fire for one hour, do not burn. Set back on the stove and boil gently for another hour. Serve in soup plates with sugar and milk.

BAKED BEETS – These excellent vegetables are quite as good baked as boiled, and the sugar is better developed by the baking process. The oven should not be too hot, and the beets must be frequently turned. Do not peel them until they are cooked, then serve with butter, pepper, and salt.

WHEAT CAKES – Three cups flour, two of Indian meal, white. Dissolve one small cake compressed yeast in a cup of water, pour into a jar, add flour and meal. Mix to a stiff batter with lukewarm water, set in a warm place to rise over night. In the morning add a tablespoon syrup, one teaspoon salt, one teaspoon soda, bake on a hot griddle. Save a cup batter to commence next day.

SWEET POTATO PUDDING – Ingredients: Two pounds of raw sweet potato, half pound brown sugar, one-third pound butter, one gill cream, one grated nutmeg, a small piece of lemon-peel, and four eggs. Boil the potato well and mash thoroughly, passing it through a colander. While it is warm mix in sugar and butter. Beat eggs and yolks together and add when the potatoes cold. Add a tablespoonful of sifter flour. Mix all in the grated lemon peel and nutmeg very thoroughly. Butter a pan, and bake twenty-five minutes in a moderately hot oven. May be eaten with a wine sauce.

FISH PIE – Boil one quart of potatoes in boiling water and salt. Soak one pound of stale bread in cold water, and wring it dry in a clean towel. Season it well with the pepper, salt, and a tablespoon of chopped parsley. Cut two pounds of codfish in small pieces, and lay in cold water. When the potatoes are done, peel them, mash them through a colander, and season them with salt and pepper. Put the fish and bread in alternate layers in a pudding dish. Make a top crush of the potatoes, and bake the pie an hour in a moderate oven.

A QUEER POT-AU-FEU – The Courier des Etats Unis contains the following original recipes, which it declares may be found in an English cookery-book: “Pot-au-f-u-a-la Francaise – Put in an earthen-ware crock a pound of beef or mutton. Boil it in from six to eight pints of water, with potatoes, onions, and chopped mint. Let it boil an hour or two, and color it with three tablespoons of molasses. It can now be understood why English people do not take kindly to French cooking. Very possibly those who have tried this ragout must have entertained a very sad idea of our culinary tastes.”

CRANBERRY DUMPLINGS – One quart of flour, one teaspoon of soda, and two teaspoons of cream of tartar, sifted together; mix into a soft dough with sweet milk; roll the dough out very thin in oblong shapes, and spread over it one quart of cranberries picked and washed clean. Add half a pound sugar, sprinkled evenly. Fold over and over, then tie in a pudding cloth and put into steamer, where let it cook over a steady fire for one hour, with faith, never looking into the pot. Serve with sweet meat sauce. – [Harper’s Bazaar]

MUTTON SOUP – A shoulder of mutton weighing about four pounds, remove skin and fat, then put in four quarts cold water, simmer two hours. Boil one yellow turnip, one medium-sized carrot, four potatoes, two bulbs soup celery. Cook the turnip and carrot one hour, the potatoes and celery half an hour. When cooked put in cold water, peel, chop fine. Remove the meat, add the vegetables and one cup boiled rice or barley. Let simmer ten minutes, then add one tablespoon chopped onion and parsley. Cook ten minutes more, as cooking onion or parsley too much destroys the flavor.

PORK AND BEANS - One quart white beans, put in three quarts water, let come slowly to a boil. Cook three ours, do not boil rapidly or they will not cook evenly. Season, teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper, and as much cayenne as will go on the end of a pen-knife blade. Put in a deep baking pan; if they have not absorbed all the water, keep some of what they were boiled in as they will need it if too dry. One and a half pounds bacon, nicer than port, skin and score. After the beans have been baking in a slow oven four hours put on top of them the bacon, bake two hours; if too dry, add boiling water.

GOLDEN BUCK – A golden buck is simply a Welsh rarebit with a poached egg place d upon it. Take fresh, but rather rich cheese, and cut into small even-sized pieces, the quantity to be regulated by the size or number of rarebits needed, and melt upon a rather slow fire. If the cheese be dry, add a small quantity of butter. A little (say a sherry-glass to each rarebit) sour ale, or in absence, ordinary bitter or fresh ale should be added as the cheese melts. After the cheese is thoroughly melted and the above ingredients stirred in, add a quantity of celery salt, and immediately pour upon a piece of toast previously placed upon a hot plate. By placing a poached egg upon this becomes a golden buck, the further addition of a slice of boiled bacon renders it a Yorkshire buck.
 
 

The Vernon Clipper
February 13 1880
 

CORN BREAD – Take two quarts of Indian meal, one pint of bread sponge, water enough to wet it. Mold in a half pinto of wheat flour, a tablespoonful of salt. Let it rise, and knead a second time. Bake an hour and a half.

CORN BREAD, No. 2 – Take three teacupfuls of corn meal, on eof wheat flour, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar. Mix well while dry. Dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in warm water. Mix to a thin batter, and bake in a quick oven three-fourths of an hour.

Single cream is cream that has stood on the milk twelve hours. It is best for tea or coffee. Double cream stands on its milk twenty-four hours, and cream for butter frequently stands forty-eight hours. Cream that is to be whipped should not be butter cream lest in whipping it change to cutter.

CUSTARD PIES WITHOUT MILK – Boil together five eggs, five tablespoonful of sugar, and a little salt. Pour one pint of boiling water, stirring briskly while adding the water. Flavor with spices most pleasing to the taste, and complete the pie the same as other custards. The quantity is sufficient for two.

CORN FRITTER PUDDING – A teacupful of milk, three eggs, a pint of green corn grated, a little sugar, and as much flour as will form a batter. Beat the eggs, yolks and whites, separately. To the yolks, add the corn, sugar, milk, and flour enough to form the batter. Beat the whole well. Stir in the whites, and drop the batter a teaspoonful at a time into hot lard.

BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES – Mix a large cupful of lukewarm milk with about a quarter of a pound of buckwheat flour. Add to this three eggs and a little more milk to form it into a smooth batter. Let it stand in a warm place for an hour. Add a teaspoonful of baking powder, and fry as usual. Serve rolled up with sugar and lemon juice.

PICKLED OYSTERS – Take of oysters six quarts, salt, four tablespoonfuls; vinegar, half a pint; of black pepper, whole, allspice, and mace, each two tablespoonfuls; of cloves, two dozen. Drain all the liquor from the oysters, add the spice to it. Boil fifteen minutes, skimming carefully, then put in the oysters and boil till they are done, which will be when they are nicely plumped.

CORN BREAD NO. 3 – Take two quarts of corn meal wet with three pints of warm water. Add a tablespoonful of yeast, the same of salt, two of sugar. Let it stand in a warm place five hours. Then add one and a half teacups of flour and a half pint of warm water. Let it rise again an hour and a half. Then pour it into a well-greased pan and when light, bake it in a hot oven. It is best cold.

CABINET PUDDING – One-quarter of a pound of butter and one and a half pound of granulated sugar beaten to a cream. Add the well-beaten yolks of five eggs and one-half0cupful of milk. Then half a pound of flour, with the whites of five eggs. Lastly half a pound of seeded and chopped raisins, with a quarter of a pound of well-washed and dried currants. The fruit must be floured before mixing. Use a buttered mold or floured bag. Boil three hours. Then plunge quickly into cold water. Turn it out at once to prevent sticking. Serve hot with sweet sauce.

PRESSED CHICKEN – Two chickens boiled until the meat leaves the bones easily. Then pull to pieces and chop fine, letting the liquor in which they were cooked, boil away until only a cupful remains. About half as much ham as chicken is then added, roll two soda crackers, season highly and pour the stock over. Mix all well together, put in a deep, long pan, pressing down hard with the hand. Fold a napkin several times over the top and put on a weight. This should be prepared the day before using, when it will slice down easily. I examined my pickles which are cucumbers made sweet, after the following recipe. To one gallon of vinegar, add one quart of water, five pounds of sugar, a tablespoonful of salt, one stick of cinnamon. Pour over boiling hot, let stand ten days, then pour over the liquor and boil again, after which they are ready to be set away for us. I found them all right. [Mrs. Endicott]

ENGLISH APPLE TART – Lay a disk of puff paste n a round time, and place a strip of paste all round it, as for an ordinary jam tart. Spread on the inside a layer of apple marmalade a quarter of an inch thick. Peel and core some apples, cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick, trim all the slices to the same shape, dispose these slices over the marmalade, overlapping each other, and in some kind of pattern; strew plenty of sugar over, and bake in a quick oven till the apples are a good color.

FRENCH PANCAKES – Beat two ounces of granulated sugar, and two ounces of butter to a cream. Beat two eggs separately, the yolks to a cream and the whites to a froth, and add the yolks to the butter and sugar. Stir a half-pint of milk into these ingredients. Butter six tin pie-plates. Sift two ounces of flour with a teaspoonful of baking powder, and stir it quickly into the above mixture with the whites of the eggs. Put the batter quickly upon the buttered plates, and bake the pancakes brown in a quick over. Dust with powdered sugar, lay them one over the other, with a little jelly between, and serve hot.

CODFISH WITH CREAM – Pick out carefully in flakes all the flesh from the remnants of some boiled codfish. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, and add to it a large pinch of flour and a gill of milk or cream, with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste, also the least bit of cayenne. Stir well, put in the fish, and gently shake it in this sauce until quite war,. If the composition be too dry, add a little milk or cream. Then dry, add a little milk or cream. Then add, off the fire, the yolks of two eggs beaten up with a little milk, and serve.

PEA SOUP – Soak a pint of split peas in water for twelve hours, drain off the water, put the peas into a saucepan with three pints of cold water, a piece of bacon (about half a pound), two springs of dried mint, a bay leaf, some parsley, an onion stuck with two or three cloves, some whole pepper, and salt to taste. Let the whole boil three hours, then pas the puree through a hair sieve, make it hot again, and serve with dice of bread fried in butter.

OMELET – Break three eggs, putting the whites in one dish, and the yolks in another. Add quarter of a saltspoon of salt and a dash of pepper to the yolks, and beat half a minute. Put a bit of butter as large as a chestnut into a clean omelet pan, and set over the fire to heat. Beat the whites to a stiff froth, mix the yolks gently into it, and put the omelet into the pan. Stir the omelet with a fork, running it close to the bottom of the pan, and piling the omelet in a heap in the center. When done enough, pile it on one side of the pan, hold a hot dish close to it, and toss the omelet out on it. Serve immediately. An omelet of three eggs is large enough for two persons; if more are to be served, cook another the same size, as a larger one will not be so light.
 
 

The Vernon Clipper
November 28 1879

POTATO SALAD – Pare and slice some cold boiled potatoes. Peel and slice thin one onion. Mix on a salad dish, and pour over them the following dressing: Stir together one saltspoon of salt, quarter of a saltspoon of pepper, one tablespoonful of vinegar, and three of oil. Dress the salad with this mixture, and serve with chopped parsley.

POTATO SOUP – Boil two or three pounds of potatoes well, mash them, add slowly good broth sufficient for your tureen. Let this well boil, and then add some spinach, sorrel, a little parsley, lemon thyme, mint, and sage, all chopped fine. Boil all five minutes. Pepper and salt to taste. Just before taking off the fire add two well beaten eggs.

PICKLED ONIONS – Take some small onions, peel and throw them into a stew pan of boiling water. Set them over the fire, and let them remain until quite clear. Then take them out quickly, and lay them between two cloths to dry. Boil some vinegar with ginger and a whole pepper, and when cold pour it over the onions in glass jars, and tie them closely over.

SALAD CREAM – Take the yolks of three fresh eggs. Whisk them well up with ten grains of cayenne pepper. Then take an ounce of mustard, salt one dram and a half, salad oil half an ounce. Mix well with half a pint of the best vinegar, and then add the two lots together. Shake them well, and you will have an excellent mixture, which will keep for twelve months.

FRIED POTATOES – Pare some potatoes so as to give each the form of a cylinder, then cut each cylinder in slices the eighth of an inch thick. By this means all the pieces of potato will be the same size. Dry them thoroughly in a napkin. Put them in the frying basket, and plunge it in boiling hot lard. Shake the basket continually, and as soon as the potatoes have acquired a light yellow color, turn them out on a cloth in front of the fire and sprinkle them with fine salt.

BARONESS PUDDING – Shred one-half pound of suet, and chop fine. Seed and chop one-half pound raisins. Mix the suet and raisins with half a pound of stale bread-crumbs, four ounces of sugar, and a pint of milk. Wring a pudding cloth out of boiling water, dust thickly with flour, tie the pudding up in it, put into a large pot of boiling water, and boil steadily for four hours. Turn out of the cloth, dust thickly with powdered sugar, and serve hot with any pudding sauce.

PIG’S FEET – If you have more than you want to use now, boil them until the bones drop out, them mince them coarsely and boil in a little of the same water. Season well. Pour into a crock. Press down closely, and when cold cover with vinegar, and it will keep until warm weather. It will be firm, like jelly, and can be cut into slices. This is very good for laboring men who work out of doors. There is no oil or grease for boots and shoes that can compare with the grease skimmed, when cold, off the kettle in which pigs’ feet have been oiled. It is very softening, and there will be jut enough of the gluey substance in it to make a good mixture and give a nice “shine.”

MARMALADE – Half a peck of pippin apples, a quarter of a peck of pears, half a peck of peaches, a quarter of a peck of quinces, two quarts of water and the peel of a large orange grated and added with the juice half an hour before the marmalade is done. Put the parings and cores of the quinces into the water and boil a short time, closely covered to prevent evaporation. Strain them out and put the water on the quinces and pears, all cut small. Boil them for an hour. Then add the other fruit and five pounds of sugar. Boil gently two hours, stirring them to prevent burning. Add the juice and rind of the orange, and boil half an hour longer.

BUTTERSCOTCH – One pound of white sugar, three-fourths of a pint of water, once and a half teaspoonfuls of butter, lemon juice. Boil sugar and water over a slow fire until it ropes; add butter and juice of lemon. Pour on a pan to cool. Any other flavoring can be used.

ICING – The white of an egg not beaten, one teaspoonful of cold water and a pint of powdered sugar, stirred together. Will make icing for one cake. Less sugar makes the soft icing on baker’s cake.

LEMON BUTTER – One and a half cupfuls of white sugar, whites of three eggs, yolk of one, grated rind and juice of a lemon and a half, or two small ones; cook over a slow fire twenty minutes, stirring all the while. Very nice for tarts, or to be eaten as preserves.

MARYLAND STEWED OYSTERS – Put the juice into a saucepan and let it simmer, skimming it carefully. Then rub the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs and one large spoonful of lour well together, and stir into the juice. Cut in small pieces quarter of a pound of butter, half a teaspoonful of whole allspice, a little salt, a little cayenne, and the juice of a fresh lemon. Let all simmer ten minutes, and just before dishing add the oysters. This is for two quarts of oysters.

CROQUETTES OF CHICKEN – Put in a stewpan a piece of butter the size of an egg, one spoonful of flour, salt and pepper to taste, mix well and let it melt. One cold chicken well chopped and stirred in the mixture till hot. When cold, add the yolk of one egg well beaten. Take large spoonfuls and rub them into oblong shapes, and dip them in egg in which you have stirred a little pepper and salt. Roll in cracker crumbs and fry in hot, lard. These croquettes are very nice made of meal.

PEAR PICKLES – One peck of pears, three pounds of sugar, one pint of good cider vinegar; steam the pears over water until tender; then boil in the sirup, with spices, same as for peaches. I always peel the pears for pickling, but do not peaches.

MIXED PICKLES – Slice green tomatoes and cover with salt and water, let them stand three or four days; then boil tender in water and a little vinegar. Drain well after boiling; then put a layer of tomatoes in a jar and sprinkle with (whole) allspice, cinnamon, cloves and thinly sliced horse radish; a layer of shredded cabbage, slightly salted; a layer of onions, and so repeat until the jar is filled; put spices between each layer; cover the whole with boiling, hot vinegar.

PEACH PICKLES – To one peck of peaches allow four pounds of sugar and a pint of sharp cider vinegar; use nice yellow peaches if you can get them. Take a coarse towel and rub them until smooth or the fur is removed. Put two or three cloves in each one; when your sirup is melted and boiling hot, add a small bag of ground cinnamon and enough peaches to boil without crowding. Let them boil from two to five minutes, skim out, place in a jar, and continue until all are boiled. Cook sirup until thick as desired and pour on them (hot) three times.

RAGAN PICKLES – Two gallons of cabbage, sliced fine; one gallon of chopped green tomatoes; twelve onions, also chopped; one gallon best vinegar; one pound brown sugar; one tablespoonful of black pepper; half an ounce turmeric powder; one ounce celery seed; one tablespoonful ground allspice; one teaspoonful ground cloves, one-fourth pound white mustard, one gill of salt. Boil all together, stirring well, for two hours. Take from the fire, and add the spices; then put in air-tight jars. Set in a cool, dry place, and this delicious pickle will keep all winter.

PICKLED BUTTERNUT OR WALNUTS – Gather them when soft enough to be pierced with a pin. Lay them in strong brine for five days, changing this twice in the meantime. Drain and wipe dry; pierce each by running a large darning needle through it, and lay them in cold water for six hours. To each gallon of vinegar allow one cup of sugar, three dozen each of whole cloves and black pepper corns, half as much allspice and a dozen blades of mace. Boil five minutes; pack the nuts in small jars and cover with the scalding vinegar. Repeat this twice within a week; tie up and set away. Good to eat in a month.

TOMATO CATSUP – Take a bushel of ripe tomatoes; rub them with a damp cloth; cut out the hearts and place them over the fire with two heaping handfuls of peach leaves, one dozen large onions (cut in small pieces) and one quart of water. Boil until soft and strain through a coarse sieve. It will take about two hours to boil soft enough. Put the liquid in the boiler again over the fire, adding a half gallon of strong vinegar. Have ready two ounces ground allspice, two ounces ground black pepper, two ounces cayenne pepper, two ounces mustard, and, if preferred, two ounces celery seed, one ounce ground cloves, two grated nutmegs, two pounds brown sugar and one pint of salt; mix the ingredients thoroughly before putting them in the boiler. Boil two hours and when cool put in bottles, cork, seal and keep in a cool place.

CANNED PUMPKINS – Wash the pumpkin (do not peel, as the sweetest part lies next the rind); but up in rings, then in small squares; fill your kettle and put in a few spoonfuls of water to start it; cover closely and let it steam until tender. Remove the cover and let it cook until as dry as possible without burning (stirring often) whether it be half or a whole day. Seal while hot in tine cans (it must be kept dark). When wanted for pies remove from the can to the colander and thoroughly sift; allow two eggs for three pies; make quite sweet with brown sugar; flavor with ginger and make thin as sweet cream with equal parts of milk and water, or two-thirds water (I prefer it to all milk); bake slowly in a good crust until it is solid like custard. If properly baked it will be a rich brown, shiny to look at and delicious to the palate.

BLACK BEAN SOUP
One of the most delightful and economical of soups can be made of black beans. Allow one teacupful for each pint of soup. Soak the beans over night in cold water, and put them over a slow fire in the same water. When they commence to boil add a pinch of soda, drain and cover with boiling water. Add from two to eight ounces of park, according to the quantity of beans used, onions, parsley, and pepper. Boil slowly until the beans are very soft, strain through a sieve, pressing them well through and scraping off the pulp from the underside. Finish the seasoning with a dash of butter and a bit of red pepper. This makes a very elegant company soup if croutons and dice of the yolks of hard boiled eggs be placed in the tureen just before serving. For the croutons have plenty of very hot sweet drippings on the fire, and throw in a number of very small dice of stale bread. As soon as they take on a light brown color drain through a sieve and keep in a dry place until wanted. Of course the fat is to be poured off for future frying purposes.
CORN LOAF – Take one pint of sweet milk, half pint of sour milk, half cup of butter, one of molasses, three eggs, one of wheat flour, a little salt, corn meal to make a thick batter, one teaspoonful of soda. Bake two hours slowly.

The Vernon Clipper
January 9 1880

BROWN BREAD – Take on quart of buttermilk, one of sweet milk. Thicken with half Indian meal, and half rye flour or wheat. Add salt and molasses, if wished, a heaping teaspoonful of soda.

ENGLISH COOKIES – One cup of brown sugar, half cup butter, one egg, two tablespoonfuls sour cream, a little soda, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg. Make hard enough with flour to roll out. Cut in thin cakes.

BROWN BREAD NO. 2 – Take one quart of corn meal, pour on boiling water or milk. When cool add a cup of yeast, two spoonfuls of molasses, a little salt and one quart of rye flour, wet with milk, and stir with a spoon. Pour in tins or pans to rise. Bake slow.

OYSTER SAUCE – One pint of oysters boiled three or four minutes in their own liquor. Stir in two tablespoonfuls of butter rolled in a spoonful of flour, the juice of half a lemon with pepper and salt to taste. Heat a teacupful of milk, pour into the oysters and turn at once into the sauce-boat – Rural New-Yorker.

ORANGE CAKE – The whites of six eggs beaten to a froth; three tablespoonful of melted butter; one cup of sugar; half a cup of milk; a cup and a half of flour, in which have been stirred two teaspoonful of baking powder and a very little salt. This makes three thin cakes. About half an hour before eating, take the juice of one large orange, the white of one egg, beaten stiff, and thicken with granulated sugar, spread between the three cakes, and dust powdered sugar over it. I doubled these proportions making two cakes. – [Mrs. Endicot]
 

The Vernon Clipper
December 12 1879

PAGE 4

THE SOUTHERN FARMER

DRIED FRUIT - A correspondent at Buffalo Gap, Texas, says he keeps his dried peaches by putting them, after drying, into boiling water for a few minutes, and them, when the water is drained off pack close in a barrel while hot, and put away headed up. He has kept peaches two years that way. The barrel should be left open until the fruit dries from the heat of the water.

DRINK FOR THE SICK – Two tablespoonfuls arrow root in a quart pitcher with a little cold water; three tablespoonfuls white sugar, the juice of one lemon, and part of the rind. Stir all quickly while pouring boiling water until the pitcher is full. Drink cold.
 
 

The Vernon Clipper
October 24 1879

TOMATO PICKLE – Take the small-sized round tomatoes, those which are called “volunteers”; wash thoroughly and dry. Take a knitting needle, pass it once or twice through each tomato; get a large jar and put in a layer of salt on bottom, then layers of tomatoes and salt until the jar is full; Let them remain for a week. To each gallon of tomatoes take four ounces of ground mustard, four ounces of ground pepper, one ounce of cloves, and twelve small onions which have been sliced. Take out tomatoes from jar, wipe them and replace again in the jar, putting in the above ingredients as layers of tomatoes are made. Heat vinegar almost to boiling point and pour on the tomatoes. The tomatoes will keep their form and color.

HAM PIE – Cut the ham into very small pieces; boil rice soft; beat the eggs and mix with rice and ham. Season with pepper, and a little fine chopped onion. Put this in a deep pan, and bake a short time. When cold it can be cut in slices and put between bread for sandwiches.

MIXED PICKLES – Boil the beans till they are tender, then pour them into boiling vinegar. Scald the cucumbers and put them in. Slice the onions and the cauliflower and scald them. Tie two ounces of allspice, two of cloves and a quarter pound cinnamon bark in a bag and put in.

TO PICKLE PEACHES. One gallon of vinegar, four pounds of brown sugar, five or six cloves in each peach; make the vinegar hot, add the sugar, boil and skim it well. Pour the vinegar boiling hot over them, then cover, and set in a cold place for ten days. Drain off vinegar, make it hot, skim again, and pour it over the peaches. Let them become cold. Secure as for jam. Unripe peaches are best.

VEAL LOAF – To three pounds of veal and three-quarters of a pound of salt pork, chopped very fine together (having removed all lean parts, and the rind from the pork), add a half dozen rolled crackers, two eggs, and pepper. Mix together, and press firmly into a baking-dish. Put bits of butter over the top, and spread with rolled crackers (one-half dozen); bake three-quarters of an hour, and slice when cold.

SPONGE DROPS – Mix half pound powdered sugar and the yolks of four eggs well together, add quarter pound flour, the juice of one lemon and half the rind; then add in small quantities the well beaten whites; drop on buttered paper two or three inches apart. Try one, and if it runs, beat the mixture well, and add a little flour. The oven should be very hot – the cakes delicately browned.

BAKED HAM – Make a thick paste of flour and water (not boiled) and cover the entire ham with it, bone and all. Put in a pan on a spider, or two muffin rings, or anything that will keep it an inch from the bottom, and bake in a hot over. If a small ham, fifteen minutes for each pound; if large, twenty minutes. The oven should be hot when put in. The paste forms a hard crust round the ham, and the skin comes off with it. Slice very thin, when cold, for sandwiches.

DRIED FRUITS – A bushel of dried apples, weighing about fifty pounds, will furnish about seven pounds of good dried fruit, or, if the cores are not cut out, nor the skins removed, there will be nine dried pounds. There is consequently about eighty-two percent of water in the apples; but fruits generally have about eighty-five percent. Tomatoes have a much larger percentage, so that one bushel will dry down to three pounds. In drying peaches, the skins and stones being removed, it requites ten fresh bushels to make one dried bushel.

TO CAN GRAPES – Take your clusters of grapes, look them over carefully, cutting out all the imperfect ones with a pair of scissors; then lay them as closely as possible without crushing into the cans. Take your wash-boiler, lay a folded towel on the bottom, set the cans of grapes in as closely as they will stand. For a boiler that will hold a dozen cans pour in about two-thirds of a pail of cold water. Set the boiler on the stove, and let it heat slowly. When boiling, allow it to boil twenty minutes, then set it off. Have boiling sirup of sugar and water, fill up the cans and seal them. We put up all our small fruit in that way, and the cans never break unless over-ripe.

To boil potatoes so they will be dry and mealy, when the skins break, pour off the water and let them finish cooking in their own steam.

In making a crust of any kind do not melt the shortening. Let it be as cold as possible and knead it through the flour. Melting it injures the crust.

TO BROWN SUGAR FOR PUDDINGS – Put the sugar in a perfectly dry pan. If the pan is the least wet, the sugar will burn and spoil both it and the pan.

OLD POTATOES may be freshened up by plunging them into cold water before cooking them.

NEVER put a pudding that is to be steamed in anything else than a dry mould.

TO CLEAN RAISINS – Wipe them with a dry towel. Never wash them, for it will make cakes or puddings heavy.
 

EXTRAVAGANCE OF AMERCIAN HOUSEKEEPERS. – Mr. Delmonico, talking about entrees, says that Americans ought to copy “the French method of utilizing small bits of raw meats and fowls, and of recooking all kinds of cold joints and pieces of cooked meat which remain dry be day from every dinner in almost every family. The success of such dishes depends mainly on the sauce, which is best made from broth. The following is his recipe for sauce: Take an ounce of ham or bacon, cut it up in small pieces and fry in hot fat. Add an onion and carrot, cut up, thicken with flour, then add a pint or quart of broth, according to quantity desired. Season with pepper and salt and any spice or herb that is relished (better though without the spice) and let simmer for an hour, skim carefully and strain. A wine glass of any wine may be added if liked. Cold roast or boiled beef or mutton may be cut into small squares, fried brown in butter, and then gently stewed in the sauce above described. M. Delmonico describes croquettes as the attractive French substitute for American has, and tells how to make them: “Veal, mutton, lamb, sweetbreads, almost any of the lighter meats, besides cold chicken and turkey, can be most deliciously turned into croquettes. Chop the meat very fine. Chop up an onion, fry it in an ounce of butter, add a tablespoonful of flour. Stir well and then add the chopped meat and a little broth, salt, pepper, little nutmeg. Stir for two or three minutes, then add the yolks of two eggs, and turn the whole mixture into a dish to cool. When cold mix well together again, divide up into parts for the croquettes. Roll into the desired shape in bread crumbs, dip in beaten egg, then into bread crumbs again, and fry crisp, a bright golden color. Any of these croquettes may be served plain, or with tomato sauce or garniture of vegetables.
 

PRESERVING CITRON
A correspondent at Richmond, Ky., furnishes the following recipe:
Pare the citron, take out the seed, and cut it into small pieces. Put it into cold water and let it boil very tender. When about half done, put in one teaspoonful of dry saleratus and a piece of alum about the size of a very small walnut. When perfectly clear, take them up and place them on a large dish to drain. Then make the syrup and place them in.
Directions for making syrup: To every pound of sugar add one gil of water, and let stand until it is dissolved. For every twelve pounds of sugar allow half an ounce of Russian isinglass; dissolve the isinglass by pouring over it a little boiling water. Put it in with the sugar. When cold, place the whole over the stove. As soon as it begins to boil skim it until no more scum will rise. The syrup is ready for the citron.
To ten pounds of citron, take six lemons, which was and cut into thin slices, and, after removing all the seed, add them to the syrup, with one-quarter of a pound of green ginger. When done put in small tumblers or jars. Cover close and keep in a dry, cool place.
 

VEGETABLES – Miss M. Parlos, in her new book of “First Principles of Household Management and Cookery” gives the following general rule for cooking all kinds of vegetables. Green vegetables should be thoroughly washed in cold water, then be dropped into water which has been salted, and is just beginning to boil. There should be a tablespoonful of salt for every two quarts of water. If the water boils a long time before the vegetables are put in, it has lost all its gases, and the mineral ingredients are deposited on the bottom and sides of the kettle; so that the water is flat and tasteless; then the vegetables will not look of have a fine flavor. The time for boiling green vegetables depends very much upon the age and how long they have been gathered. The younger and more freshly gathered, the more quickly they are cooked. Below is a good time-table for cooking vegetables.
min
Potatoes, boiled…………………………….30
Potatoes, baked…………………………….45
Sweet potatoes, boiled…………………….45
Sweet potatoes, baked…………………….60
Squash, boiled……………………………...25
Squash, baked………………………………45
Green peas, boiled……………………20 to 40
Shelled beans, boiled………………………60
Green corn……………………………25 to 60
Asparagus…………………………….15 to 30
Turnips, white………………………..45 to 60
hours
String beans, boiled…………………..1 to 2
Spinach…………………………………1 to 2
Tomatoes, fresh…………………………….1
Tomatoes, canned………………………… ½
Cabbage…………………………………3/4 to 2
Cauliflower……………………………..1 to 2
Dandelions…………………………….. 2 to 3
Beet greens…………………………………...1
Onions…………………………………..1 to 2
Beets…………………………………….1 to 5
Turnips, yellow………………………..1 ½ to 2
Parsnips………………………………..1 to 2
Carrots………………………………….1 to 2
Nearly all these vegetables are eaten with salt, pepper and butter, but sometimes a small piece of lean pork is boiled with them and seasons them sufficiently.
 
 

PAGE 4

THE SOUTHERN FARMER
TOPICS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD.

SAUCE FOR GAME – One saltspoon of salt, half to two-thirds saltspoon of cayenne, one dessertspoon of lemon juice, one dessertspoon of pounded sugar, two dessertspoons of Harvey and three of port wine. To be well mixed, heated and poured over the bird, it having been previously sliced in several places, so that the sauce may mix with its own gravy. The bird to be put in the dish without anything.

LYONNAISE POTATOES – Take your boiled potatoes, let them get cold, and slice them thin, and cut the slices once or twice across; take one onion and slice that very thin, and cut it once across, dividing the circles of the onion so that they no longer hold together. Just put a piece of butter in a pan and fry it brown. Say, for a peck of potatoes, two onions – not more. When your onion is fried, put in a little more butter, and brown onion and all together; serve hot; salt and pepper slightly.

ROAST FOWL – The German way. Truss the fowl for roasting, stuff the breast with veal stuffing, and fill the body with chestnuts boiled tender, peeled and roasted; split it, and put it to roast at a brisk fire. Have a dozen more roasted chestnuts peeled, stew them in a pint of gravy, season it with pepper and salt, and thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour. Boil until it is smooth. Fry half a dozen sausages, pour the sauce into the dish, place the fowl in it, and the sausages around the fowl. Garnish with slices of lemon.

ENGLISH MINCE MEAT – Of scraped beef or tongue (cooked), free from skin and strings, weigh two pounds, four pounds of suit, picked and chopped. Then dry six pounds of currants, rub them in a cloth first, to clean them.; raisins, stoned and chopped, two pounds; three pounds of apples, the peel and juice of two lemons, one nutmeg, quarter of an ounce of cloves, ditto mace, ditto pimento, in finest powder. Put the whole into a deep jar, and keep covered in a dry, cool place. Half the quantity is enough for a very large family. Have citron, orange, and lemon peel ready, and put some of each in the pies when made. English mince pies are made in pattypans. Brandy and wine.

BAKED CHICKEN PIE – To make the crust, use on-half pound of butter to every pound of flour, and three teaspoonfuls of baking powder; chop one-half of the butter into the prepared flour until it is well mixed in. Add a little ice-cold water, and work it into a stiff dough. Roll it into a thin sheet, and spread on one-half of the remaining butter, fold it up, and re-roll it. Then spread on all of the butter; fold again as before, and roll out thin. Cut it the size required for the pie. Line the bottom and sides of a well-buttered earthen cake-pan or pudding-dish with the crust. Then, to a large, tender chicken, add almost half a pound of salt pork. Have the pork chopped fine, and lay on one layer of pork. Pepper it, using no salt, and cover with pieces of chicken.; then another layer of pork, and so on until the chicken is used up. Have three hard-boiled eggs chopped up and added with the chicken. Before laying on the top crust, place a few small lumps of butter about the top, and add water enough to make as much gravy as may be desired. Cut a star or other ornament on the top, and bake for an hour in a slow oven.

TO MAKE COFFEE. – A gentleman from Ceylon states that the custom there to make coffee was as follows: Put sufficient ground coffee into cold water over night; in the morning strain off; then heat. He adds his testimony that coffee made under this plan is excellent in flavor, and those who are bilious will not find the evil effect produced by the old method.

CHICKEN PIE – Boil the chicken until tender, salt to the taste, make a crust with one quart flour, two small tablespoons lard, one teaspoon salt, one teaspoon soda, two of cream tartar, sifted with the flour; two cups sweet milk. Work the lard in the flour as quickly as possible, and make the dough as soft as you can roll out. Line a deep dish with the crust, put in the chicken, with the large bones removed, one small teacup of the chicken broth, a little salt and pepper; cover with the crust, and bake one hour. Serve with gravy made form the chicken broth.

FRITTERS – OYSTER – Beat two eggs very light; then stir in two tablespoons cream or milk, three tablespoons sifted flour, a pinch of salt. Dip the oysters in this, and fry in hot lard. CLAM – Take twenty-five clams and stew them in their own liquor. Salt and pepper them slightly. Cook for fifteen minutes slowly. Drain the clams, chopping them as fine as possible, removing all the hard portions first. Make a batter of four eggs, with a half-pint of sifter flour and a pint of milk. Get it as smooth as possible. Mix the clams with tit. Use butter for frying. A small addition of parsley is excellent. PEA – Cook a pint, or three ups, more peas than you need for dinner. Mash while hot, seasoning with pepper, salt, and butter. Put by until morning. Make a batter of two beaten eggs, a cup of milk, quarter of a teaspoon soda, half a teaspoonful of cream tartar, and half a cup of flour. Stir the peas into this, beaten very hard, and cook as you would griddle cakes. BRAIN – Half pint of milk, quarter of a pound of flour, two eggs, half light teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of white pepper, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley. Stir the milk gradually into the flour and salt and the well-beaten yolks of the eggs, parsley and pepper, then the whites of the eggs. Drain all the salt and water from the brains, break them up thoroughly with a fork, and then put them in the batter, beating them well in. Fry them by the tablespoonful in boiling drippings or a mixture of lard band butter with an expenditure of sixty-five cents, or with wine seventy-five cents, if you use wine for the stew, you have three dishes, sufficient for quite two days’ dinner for six people.

WHEN AN EGG IS FRESH – An egg is said to be fresh, when in the summer it has been laid only a couple of days, and in the winter three to six. The shells being porous, the water in the interior evaporates and leaves a cavity of greater or less extent. To determine the exact age of eggs, dissolve about four ounces of common salt in a quart of pure water, and then immerse the egg. If it be only a day or so old, it will sink to the bottom of the vessel, but if it be three days old it will float in the liquid. If more than five it comes to the surface, and rises above in proportion to its increased age.

STORING ONIONS
A dry, cold, airy loft is the best for storing onions. Do not let them lie more than two or three bulbs thick, and often look them over and pull out bad ones. Do not remove any of the outer rind, but what comes off in the handling. They also keep well in ropes and hung up, the easiest way to make them which is to tie them on a hay or straw band, which is better than a stake. This plan is useful where shelf room is scarce; but the points to observe are a cool, airy situation, warmth and moisture being more inimical to their keeping than frost.

A common sized tumbler holds half a pint. A tablespoonful is equal to sixty drops, or half an ounce of liquids. Four teaspoonful are equal to one tablespoonful.

TO BROIL A STEAK – Always butter your gridiron, cook the steak quickly over a bright fire, turning as often as they drip. Lay upon a hot dish, season with butter and salt, cover with heated platter.

To beat the white of eggs quickly, add a pinch of salt, which will cool and freshen them, as the cooler the eggs are, the quicker they will froth.