Transcriber's Note:

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original document have been preserved.

Ditto marks have been replaced with the text which they represent.

On page 51, the phrase starting "the over-night" may be missing words.

On page 214, the phrase "half a cup of water" may be missing words.

Index spellings were made consistent with the text.

Housekeeping
In Old Virginia.
CONTAINING
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY
LADIES IN VIRGINIA AND HER SISTER
STATES,
DISTINGUISHED FOR THEIR SKILL IN THE CULINARY ART AND OTHER BRANCHES OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

EDITED BY
MARION CABELL TYREE.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.... She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness."
Prov., chap. 31, verses 10 and 27.

JOHN P. MORTON & CO.,
LOUISVILLE, KY.
1878.

Copyright by
MARION CABELL TYREE.
1877.

Dedicated
TO
THE SISTER HOUSEKEEPERS,
WHOSE KIND ASSISTANCE AND CONTRIBUTIONS HAVE SO MUCH
LIGHTENED THE LABORS OF THE WRITER AND
ENHANCED THE VALUE OF HER WORK.

GENERAL CONTENTS.

PREFACE.

Virginia, or the Old Dominion, as her children delight to call her, has always been famed for the style of her living. Taught by the example of her royal colonial governors, and the numerous adherents of King Charles, who brought hither in their exile the graces and luxuriousness of his brilliant court, she became noted among the colonies for the princely hospitality of her people and for the beauty and richness of their living. But when at length her great son in the House of Burgesses sounded the cry of war, and her people made haste to gird themselves for the long struggle, her daughters, not to be outdone either in services or patriotism, set about at once the inauguration of a plan of rigid retrenchment and reform in the domestic economy, while at the same time exhibiting to their sisters a noble example of devotion and self-sacrifice.

Tearing the glittering arms of King George from their sideboards, and casting them, with their costly plate and jewels, as offerings into the lap of the Continental Congress, they introduced in their homes that new style of living in which, discarding all the showy extravagance of the old, and retaining only its inexpensive graces, they succeeded in perfecting that system which, surviving to this day, has ever been noted for its beautiful and elegant simplicity.

This system, which combines the thrifty frugality of New England with the less rigid style of Carolina, has been justly pronounced, by the throngs of admirers who have gathered from all quarters of the Union around the generous boards of her illustrious sons, as the very perfection of domestic art.

It is the object of the compiler of this book, for she does not claim the title of author, to bring within the reach of every American housekeeper who may desire it, the domestic principles and practices of these famous Virginia homes. In doing this she has not sought to pursue the plan adopted by so many authors of such books—to depend upon her own authorship for her rule. She confesses that in this matter her labors have been largely editorial.

Through a long life it has been her good fortune to be a frequent visitor, and often the intimate guest and kinswoman, at many of these homes; and she has sought, by the opportunities thus afforded, and guided by her own extensive experience as a housekeeper, to gather and select from these numerous sources those things which seemed to her best and most useful to the practical housewife, and which, carefully observed, would bring the art within reach of all who have the ambition to acquire it.

It will be seen that she is indebted to near 250 contributors to her book. Among these will be found many names famous through the land. Associated with them will be discovered others of less national celebrity, but who have acquired among their neighbors an equally merited distinction for the beautiful order and delightful cuisine of their homes.

The labors of the writer have been greatly lightened by the kindness of these contributors. And she desires in this public way to renew her thanks for the aid which they have given her, but even more for the goodness which prompts them, at cost of their sensitiveness, to allow her to append their names to the recipes which they furnish.

The book, after great care in its preparation, is now offered to the public with much confidence. All that is here presented has been so thoroughly tested, and approved by so many of the best housekeepers in Virginia, that she feels it must meet with a cordial and very general reception at the hands of all accomplished housewives throughout the land, and will supply a long-felt and real need.

If she shall thus succeed in disseminating a knowledge of the practice of the most admirable system of domestic art known in our country; if she shall succeed in lightening the labors of the housewife by placing in her reach a guide which will be found always trusty and reliable; if she shall thus make her tasks lighter and home-life sweeter; if she shall succeed in contributing something to the health of American children by instructing their mothers in the art of preparing light and wholesome and palatable food; if she, above all, shall succeed in making American homes more attractive to American husbands, and spare them a resort to hotels and saloons for those simple luxuries which their wives know not how to provide; if she shall thus add to the comfort, to the health and happy contentment of these, she will have proved in some measure a public benefactor, and will feel amply repaid for all the labor her work has cost.

MARION CABELL TYREE.

Lynchburg, Va., January, 1877.

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS.

HOUSEKEEPING IN OLD VIRGINIA.

BREAD.

Bread is so vitally important an element in our nourishment that I have assigned to it the first place in my work. Truly, as Frederika Bremer says, "when the bread rises in the oven, the heart of the housewife rises with it," and she might have added that the heart of the housewife sinks in sympathy with the sinking bread.

I would say to housewives, be not daunted by one failure, nor by twenty. Resolve that you will have good bread, and never cease striving after this result till you have effected it. If persons without brains can accomplish this, why cannot you? I would recommend that the housekeeper acquire the practice as well as the theory of bread-making. In this way, she will be able to give more exact directions to her cook and to more readily detect and rectify any blemish in the bread. Besides, if circumstances should throw her out of a cook for a short time, she is then prepared for the emergency. In this country fortunes are so rapidly made and lost, the vicissitudes of life are so sudden, that we know not what a day may bring forth. It is not uncommon to see elegant and refined women brought suddenly face to face with emergencies which their practical knowledge of household economy and their brave hearts enable them to firmly meet and overcome.

To return to the bread question, however. Good flour is an indispensable requisite to good bread. Flour, whether old or new, should always be sunned and aired before being used. In the morning, get out the flour to be made up at night for next morning's breakfast. Sift it in a tray and put it out in the sun, or, if the day is damp, set it near the kitchen fire. Only experience will enable you to be a good judge of flour. One test is to rub the dry flour between your fingers, and if the grains feel round, it is a sign that the flour is good. If after trying a barrel of flour twice, you find it becomes wet and sticky, after being made up of the proper consistency, you had better then return it to your grocer.

The best flour is worthless without good yeast. Yeast made up in the morning ought to be fit for use at night. It should be foamy and frothy, with a scent slightly like ammonia. After closely following the directions for yeast-making, given in the subsequent pages, the bread will be apt to succeed, if the flour employed is good.

There is a great art in mixing bread, and it is necessary to observe a certain rotation in the process. To make a small quantity of bread, first sift one quart of flour; into that sift a teaspoonful of salt, next rub in an Irish potato, boiled and mashed fine, then add a piece of lard the size of a walnut, and next a half teacup of yeast in which three teaspoonfuls of white sugar have been stirred. (Under no circumstances use soda or saleratus in your light dough.) Then make into a soft dough with cold water in summer, and lukewarm in winter. Knead without intermission for half an hour, by the clock. Otherwise five minutes appear to be a half hour when bread is being kneaded or beaten. Then place it in a stone crock, greased with lard at the bottom, and set it to rise. In summer, apply no artificial heat to it, but set it in a cool place. As bread rises much more quickly in summer than in winter, you must make allowance for this difference, during the respective seasons. The whole process, including both the first and second rising, may be accomplished in seven or eight hours in summer, though this will be regulated partly by the flour, as some kinds of flour rise much more quickly than others. In summer you may make it up at nine o'clock P.M., for an eight o'clock breakfast next morning, but in winter, make it up at seven P.M., and then set it on a shelf under which a lighted coal-oil lamp is placed. If you can have a three-cornered shelf of slate or sheet-iron, placed in a corner of the kitchen, just above the bread block, it will be all the better, though a common wooden shelf, made very thin, will answer, where you cannot get the other. The coal-oil lamp underneath without running the risk of burning the shelf (if wooden), will keep the bread gently heated all night, and will answer the double purpose of keeping a light burning, which most persons like to do at night, and which they can do with scarcely any expense, by using a coal-oil lamp.

Never knead bread a second time in the morning, as this ruins it. Handle lightly as possible, make into the desired shapes and put into the moulds in which it is to be baked. Grease your hands before doing this, so as to grease the loaf or each roll as you put it in, or else dip a feather in lard and pass lightly over the bread just before putting it in the oven to bake. Let it be a little warmer during the second rise than during the first. Always shape and put in the moulds two hours before breakfast. If hot bread is desired for dinner, reserve part of the breakfast dough, keeping it in the kitchen in winter, and in the refrigerator in summer till two hours before dinner.

In baking, set the bread on the floor of the stove or range, never on the shelf. Always turn up the damper before baking any kind of bread. As you set the bread in the stove, lay a piece of stiff writing paper over it to keep it from browning before heating through. Leave the door ajar a few minutes, then remove the paper and shut the door. When the top of the loaf is a light amber color, put back the paper that the bread may not brown too much while thoroughly baking. Turn the mould around so that each part may be exposed to equal heat. Have an empty baking-pan on the shelf above the bread, to prevent it from blistering: some persons fill the pan with water, but I think this is a bad plan, as the vapor injures the bread. When thoroughly done, wrap the bread a few moments in a clean, thick, bread towel and send to the table with a napkin over it, to be kept on till each person has taken his seat at table.

I would suggest to housekeepers to have made at a tinner's, a sheet-iron shape for bread, eight inches long, four and one-half inches wide, and five and one-half deep. This is somewhat like a brickbat in shape, only deeper, and is very desirable for bread that is to be cut in slices, and also for bread that is to be pulled off in slices. A quart of flour will make eight large rolls, six inches high, for this mould, and three or four turnovers. It is a nice plan after making out the eight rolls to roll them with greased hands till each one will reach across the pan (four and one-half inches), making eight slices of bread which will pull off beautifully when well done, and thus save the task of slicing with a knife. It requires an hour to bake this bread properly.

Do not constantly make bread in the same shapes: each morning, try to have some variation. Plain light bread dough may be made into loaves, rolls, twist, turnovers, light biscuit, etc., and these changes of shape make a pleasant and appetizing variety in the appearance of the table. The addition of three eggs to plain light bread dough will enable you to make French rolls, muffins, or Sally-Lunn of it. As bread is far more appetizing, baked in pretty shapes, I would suggest the snow-ball shape for muffins and egg bread. Very pretty iron shapes (eight or twelve in a group, joined together) may be procured from almost any tinner.

If you should have indifferent flour of which you cannot get rid, bear in mind that it will sometimes make excellent beaten biscuit when it will not make good light bread. In making beaten biscuit, always put one teaspoonful of salt, a piece of lard the size of an egg, and a teacup of milk to a quart of flour, adding enough cold water to make a stiff dough: no other ingredients are admissible. Make the dough much stiffer than for other breads, beat steadily a half hour, by the clock. Cut with a biscuit cutter or shape by hand, being careful to have the shape of each alike and perfect. Make them not quite half an inch thick, as they rise in baking. Do not let them touch each other in the pan, and let the oven be very hot. It is well not to have beaten biscuit and light bread baked at the same time, as they require different degrees of heat. When two kinds of bread are required, try to have two such as require the same amount of heat. Egg bread and corn muffins require the same degree of heat as beaten biscuit, while Sally-Lunn and muffins need the same as light bread.

There is no reason why the poor man should not have as well prepared and palatable food as the wealthy, for, by care and pains, the finest bread may be made of the simplest materials, and surely the loving hands of the poor man's wife and daughter will take as much pains to make his bread nice and light as hirelings will do for the wealthy. The mistake generally made by persons in restricted circumstances is to make too great a use of soda bread, which is not only less wholesome, but is more expensive than light bread or beaten biscuit, as it requires more ingredients. The bread, coffee and meat, which constitute the poor man's breakfast, properly cooked, furnish a meal fit for a prince.

The furnishing of the kitchen is so important that I must here say a few words on the subject. First, the housekeeper must have a good stove or range, and it is well for her to have the dealer at hand when it is put up, to see that it draws well. Besides the utensils furnished with the range or stove, she must provide every kitchen utensil needed in cooking. She must have a kitchen safe,—a bread block in the corner, furnished with a heavy iron beater; trays, sifters (with iron rims) steamers, colanders, a porcelain preserving kettle, perforated skimmers and spoons, ladles, long-handled iron forks and spoons, sharp knives and skewers, graters, egg beaters (the Dover is the best), plenty of extra bread pans, dippers and tins of every kind, iron moulds for egg bread and muffins, wash pans, tea towels, bread towels, and hand towels, plates, knives, forks and spoons for use of the servants, a pepper box, salt box and dredge box (filled), a match safe, and last, but not least, a clock. Try as far as possible to have the utensils of metal, rather than of wood. In cases where you cannot have cold and hot water conveyed into the kitchen, always keep on the stove a kettle of hot water, with a clean rag in it, in which all greasy dishes and kitchen utensils may be washed before being rinsed in the kitchen wash pan. Always keep your cook well supplied with soap, washing mops and coarse linen dish rags. I have noticed that if you hem the latter, servants are not so apt to throw them away. Insist on having each utensil cleaned immediately after being used. Have shelves and proper places to put each article, hooks to hang the spoons on, etc. If you cannot have an oilcloth on your kitchen floor, have it oiled and then it may be easily and quickly wiped over every morning. Once a week, have the kitchen and every article in it thoroughly cleaned. First clean the pipe of the stove, as the dust, soot and ashes fly over the kitchen and soil everything. Then take the stove to pieces, as far as practicable, cleaning each part, especially the bottom, as neglect of this will prevent the bread from baking well at the bottom. After the stove is thoroughly swept out,—oven and all, apply stove polish. I consider "Crumbs of Comfort" the best preparation for this purpose. It comes in small pieces, each one of which is sufficient to clean the stove once, and is thus less apt to be wasted or thrown away by servants than stove polish that comes in a mass. Next remove everything from the kitchen safe and shelves, which must be scoured before replacing the utensils belonging to them, and these too must first be scoured, scalded, and wiped dry. Then wash the windows, and lastly the floor, scouring the latter unless it is oiled, in which case, have it merely wiped over.

Never let a servant take up ashes in a wooden vessel. Keep a sheet-iron pan or scuttle for the purpose. At night, always have the water buckets filled with water and also the kettles, setting the latter on the stove or range, in case of sickness or any emergency during the night. Have kindling wood at hand also, so that a fire may be quickly made, if needed.

Sometimes a discoloration is observable in iron kettles or other iron vessels. This may be avoided by filling them with hay before using them. Pour water over the hay, set the vessel on the fire and let it remain till the water boils. After this, scour in sand and ashes—then wash in hot soap-suds, after which process, there will be no danger of discoloration.

Household Measures.

Wheat Flour. 1 lb. is 1 quart.

Indian Meal. 1 lb. 2 oz. are 1 quart.

Butter, when soft, 1 lb. is 1 pint.

Loaf sugar, broken, 1 lb. is 1 quart.

White sugar, powdered, 1 lb. 1 oz. are 1 quart.

Best brown sugar, 1 lb. 2 oz. are 1 quart.

Ten eggs are 1 lb.

Flour. 8 quarts are 1 peck.

Flour. 4 pecks are 1 bushel.

16 large tablespoonfuls are ½ pint.

8 large tablespoonfuls are 1 gill.

2 gills are ½ pint.

A common sized tumbler holds ½ pint.

A tablespoonful is ½ oz.

60 drops are equal to a teaspoonful.

4 teaspoonfuls are equal to 1 tablespoonful.

YEAST.

Boil one quart of Irish potatoes in three quarts of water. When done, take out the potatoes, one by one, on a fork, peel and mash them fine, in a tray, with a large iron spoon, leaving the boiling water on the stove during the process. Throw in this water a handful of hops, which must scald, not boil, as it turns the tea very dark to let the hops boil.

Add to the mashed potatoes a heaping teacupful of powdered white sugar and half a teacupful of salt; then slowly stir in the strained hop tea, so that there will be no lumps. When milk-warm add a teacupful of yeast and pour into glass fruit jars, or large, clear glass bottles, to ferment, being careful not to close them tightly. Set in a warm place in winter, a cool one in summer. In six hours it will be ready for use, and at the end of that time the jar or bottle must be securely closed. Keep in a cold room in winter, and in the refrigerator in summer. This yeast will keep two weeks in winter and one week in summer. Bread made from it is always sweet.—Mrs. S. T.

Irish Potato Yeast.

1 quart of potatoes, boiled and mashed fine.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

½ teacup of sugar.

Put two cups of flour in a bowl, and pour over it three cups of strong hop-water, scalding hot, and stir it briskly.

Then put all the ingredients in a jar together, and when cool enough, add a cup of yeast, or leaven.

Set it by the fire to rise.

It will be ready for use in five or six hours.—Mrs. E.

Another Recipe for Yeast.

12 large potatoes, boiled and mashed fine.

1 teacup of brown sugar.

1 teacup of salt.

1 gallon of hop tea.

Mix the ingredients well, and when milk-warm, add a pint of yeast. Set it in a warm place to rise. Put one teacupful of this yeast, when risen, to two quarts of flour.—Mrs. Dr. S.

Yeast that Never Fails.

Boil twelve potatoes in four quarts of water till reduced to three quarts.

Then take out and mash the potatoes, and throw into the water three handfuls of hops.

When the hops have boiled to a good tea, strain the water over the potatoes, a small quantity at a time, mixing them well together.

Add one teacup of brown sugar.

1 teacup of salt.

1 tablespoonful of ground ginger.

When milk-warm, add yeast of the same sort to make it rise.

Put it in bottles, or a jug, leaving it uncorked for a day.

Set it in a cool place.

Put two large tablespoonfuls of it to a quart of flour, and when making up, boil a potato and mix with it.

This yeast never sours, and is good as long as it lasts.—Mrs. A. F.

Alum Yeast.

On one pint of flour pour enough boiling water to make a thick batter, stirring it until perfectly smooth, and then let it stand till milk-warm.

Then add a teaspoonful of powdered alum.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 tablespoonful of sugar.

Half a teacup of yeast.

After it ferments, add enough meal to make it a stiff dough.

Let it stand till it works, and then spread it in the shade to dry.

To a quart of flour put a tablespoonful of crumbs.—Mrs. P.

Leaven.

2 tablespoonfuls of flour.

1 tablespoonful of lard or butter.

2 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

2 eggs.

1 potato.

2 teaspoonfuls of sugar.

Make the leaven soon after breakfast in winter, and at one o'clock P.M. in summer. Let it be of the consistency of batter. Put it in a small bucket, in a warm place, to rise till four o'clock P.M. This amount of leaven is sufficient for two quarts of flour. If for loaf bread, leave out the eggs and butter.—Mrs. M.

Excellent Bread for Breakfast.

1 quart of flour.

Lard the size of a walnut.

1 small Irish potato, boiled and mashed fine.

1 heaping teaspoonful of salt.

Half a teacup of good yeast, into which put a tablespoonful of white sugar.

Make up a soft dough with cold water in summer and milk-warm water in winter. This must be kneaded for thirty minutes, and then set to rise, in a cool place in summer, and a warm one in winter; must never be kept more than milk-warm.

Two hours before breakfast, make the dough into the desired shapes, handling it lightly, without kneading it, first rubbing lard over the hands, and taking especial care to grease the bread on top. Then set it to rise again.

Thirty minutes are sufficient for baking it, unless it be in the form of a loaf or rolls, in which case, it must be baked fifteen minutes longer. Excellent muffins may be made by the above receipt, adding two eggs well beaten, so that from the same batch of dough both plain bread and muffins may be made.

Iron moulds are best for baking.

For those who prefer warm bread for dinner, it is a good plan to reserve a portion of the breakfast dough, setting it away in a cool place till two hours before dinner, then make into turnovers or twist, set it to rise and bake it for dinner, as for breakfast. Very nice on a cold day, and greatly preferable to warmed-over bread.—Mrs. S. T.

Recipe for Family Bread.

2 quarts of flour.

2 tablespoonfuls of lard or butter.

2 teaspoonfuls of salt.

Enough sponge for a two-quart loaf of bread.

Mix with one pint of sweet milk.

Make into rolls and bake with very little fire under the oven.—Mrs. A. C.

Loaf Bread.

First make a batter of the following ingredients.

1 pint of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 teaspoonful of sugar.

A cup of water.

A cup of good yeast.

Set this to rise and when risen work in two pints of flour, or, if the batter is not sufficient to work up this flour, add a little water.

Work it smoothly and set it to rise.

When risen, add a small piece of lard, work it well again, let it stand an hour and then bake it slowly.—Mrs. P. W.

Old Virginia Loaf Bread.

Sponge for the same.

Boil one large Irish potato, until well done, then peel and mash it fine, adding a little cold water to soften it. Stir into it

1 teaspoonful of brown sugar.

1 tablespoonful of sweet lard.

Then add three tablespoonfuls of good hop yeast.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly, then put the sponge in a mug with a close-fitting top, and let it stand several hours to rise.

Sift into the tray three pints of the best family flour, to which add a teaspoonful of salt. Then pour in the sponge and add enough cold water to the flour to work it up into a rather stiff dough. Knead it till the dough is smooth, then let it stand all night to rise. Work it over in the morning, using just enough flour to keep it from sticking to the hands. Allow it one hour to rise before baking and one hour to bake in a moderate oven. Then it will be thoroughly done and well dried.

Use a little lard on the hands when making out the loaf, as it keeps the crust from being too hard.—Mrs. S.

Another Recipe for Loaf Bread.

Good flour is the first requisite, and next, good yeast and sufficient kneading.

For a loaf of ordinary size, use

2 lbs. of flour.

Lard the size of a hen's egg.

A saltspoonful of salt.

2 gills of yeast.

Mix up these ingredients into a moderately stiff dough, using for the purpose, from three gills to a pint of water. Some flour being more adhesive than others, you have to learn by experience the exact amount of water required.

Knead the dough till perfectly smooth, then set it to rise, in a cool place, in summer, but in a warm place, free from draughts, in winter. In the latter season it is better to keep a blanket wrapped around it.

This amount of flour will rise to the top of a gallon and a half jar or bucket. If it is ready before time, stir it down and set it in a cooler place.

When you put it in the baking-pan (in which it will be in an inch of the top, if the pan be of a suitable size for the amount of flour) cover it well, or a hard crust will form from the effects of the atmosphere. Keep it a little warmer during the second rise than during the first. When ready for baking, set it in the oven and bake it for three-quarters of an hour with a moderate fire, evenly kept up. It will then come out without sticking, if the pans are well cared for.—Mrs. J. J. A.

Light Bread.

2 quarts of flour.

1 teaspoonful of sugar.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Half a teacup of yeast.

One egg, well beaten.

1 pint of water.

Sift the flour and divide it into three parts. Mix one third in the batter, one third in the jar to rise in, and pour the other third over the batter. Let it stand two hours and then work it well, adding a small piece of lard before baking.—Mrs. Dr. S.

Recipe for Hot Rolls Or Cold Loaf Bread.

Mix the following ingredients.

Four pints of flour.

1 pint of fresh milk.

2 eggs, well beaten.

1 large tablespoonful of melted lard.

1 large tablespoonful of hop yeast.

Set it to rise at eleven o'clock in the morning, for early tea. Make into rolls at five o'clock P.M., and bake as soon as risen. In cool weather, set before the fire, both before and after making it into rolls.—Mrs. S.

French Rolls.

1 quart of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

2 eggs.

1 large tablespoonful of lard.

2 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

Work and knead it well at night, and in the morning work it well again, make it into rolls, put them in the oven to take a second rise, and when risen, bake them.—Mrs. Col. W.

Another Recipe for French Rolls.

3 pints of flour.

1 gill of yeast.

1 egg (beaten up).

1 tablespoonful of butter.

Mix up with milk and warm water and set to rise.—Mrs. Dr. E.

Another Recipe for French Rolls or Twist.

1 quart of lukewarm milk.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 teacup of yeast.

Enough flour to make a stiff batter.

When very light, add one beaten egg and two teaspoonfuls of butter, and knead in the flour till stiff enough to roll. Let it rise a second time, and, when very light, roll out, cut in strips and braid it. Bake thirty minutes, on buttered tins.—Mrs. S.

Velvet Rolls.

Three pints of flour.

Two eggs.

One teacup of sweet milk.

One teacup of yeast.

1 tablespoonful of lard, and the same of butter.

Mix well and beat the dough till it blisters.

Let it rise, work in a small quantity of flour, beat as before and make into rolls. After the second rising, bake quickly.—Mrs. Dr. S.

Pocketbook Rolls.

1 quart of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

2 teaspoonfuls of sugar.

2 tablespoonfuls of lard.

3 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

2 eggs.

Mix up these ingredients with warm water, making up the dough at ten A.M. in summer and eight A.M. in winter. Put in half the lard when it is first worked up, and at the second working put in the rest of the lard and a little more flour.

Roll out the dough in strips as long and wide as your hand, spread with butter and roll up like a pocketbook. Put them in buttered tins, and, when they are light, bake them a light brown—Mrs. L. C. C.

Turnovers.

1 quart of flour.

1 large Irish potato, boiled and mashed.

3 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of butter or lard.

2 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

1 teacup of milk.

Rub the potato in the flour, then the lard and other ingredients, making it into a soft dough. Then set it to rise, at night if you wish it for breakfast next morning. Early in the morning, take off a piece of dough, the size of a biscuit, roll it out, about five inches long, then turn it about half over. When you have made up all the dough, in shapes like this, place them on a dish or board, cover with a napkin and set aside for a second rising. When ready to bake, dip a feather in water and pass over them to prevent the crust being too hard. If the dough should be sour, knead in a little soda, which will correct it—Mrs. A. C.

Another Recipe for Turnovers.

1 quart of flour.

4 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of lard or butter.

1 tablespoonful of yeast.

Set it to rise, then make them up round and flat, greasing the upper side with lard and turning over one side. When well risen the second time, bake—Mrs. I.

Twist.

From the dough of loaf bread or French rolls, reserve enough to make two long strips or rolls, say, fifteen inches long and one inch in diameter. Rub lard well between the hands before handling and shaping these strips. Pinch the two ends so as to make them stick together. Twist them, pressing the other ends together to prevent unrolling.—Mrs. S. T.

Pockets.

1 quart of flour.

4 eggs.

1 cup of butter.

1 cup of yeast.

1 large Irish potato, boiled and mashed into the flour.

Add the yeast, butter and eggs, after mashing the potato in the flour. Knead all together and set to rise.

Sally-Lunn.

1 quart of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 tablespoonful of white sugar.

Rub in a heaping tablespoonful of butter and lard in equal parts,
then rub in an Irish potato, mashed fine.

Half a teacup of yeast.

3 eggs well beaten.

Make up the dough to the consistency of light bread dough, with warm water in winter, and cold in summer. Knead half an hour. When it has risen light, handle lightly, put into a cake-mould and bake without a second kneading.—Mrs. S. T.

Another Recipe for Sally-Lunn.

1 quart of flour.

1 tablespoonful of yeast.

4 eggs well beaten.

2 oz. of butter or lard.

1 pint of milk.

Set it to rise in the pan in which it is to be baked.—Mrs. A. C.

Another Recipe for Sally-Lunn.

3 pints of flour.

1 tablespoonful of butter and the same of lard.

3 eggs.

1 light teacup of yeast.

2 large tablespoonfuls of sugar.

Use as much milk in mixing as will make a soft dough. Work this well, as it gets only one working. Then grease it, put it in a greased pan, and set it in a warm place to rise. Bake about an hour.—Mrs. Dr. T.

Recipe for the Same.

1 quart of flour.

3 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

3 eggs.

1 saltspoonful of salt.

Butter the size of an egg.

Make up with new milk into a tolerably stiff batter. Set it to rise and when risen pour into a mould and set to rise again, as light bread. Bake quickly.—Mrs. L.

Quick Sally-Lunn.

1 quart of flour.

Half cup of butter.

2 eggs.

2 cups of milk.

Two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

2 tablespoonfuls of sugar.

1 saltspoonful of salt.

Bake fifteen minutes.—Mrs. Dr. S.

Muffins.

1 quart of flour.

6 eggs, beaten very light.

2 tablespoonfuls of butter.

2 tablespoonfuls of yeast.—Mrs. Dr. E.

Sweet Spring Muffins.

Sift three good pints of flour. Beat well six eggs, leaving out one and a half of the whites. Then beat into them as much flour as they will take in; then add milk and flour alternately (beating all the while) till all the flour is used. Add five tablespoonfuls of yeast, and when this batter is well beaten, stir into it two ounces of melted butter, cooled but liquid. The batter must be as stiff as can be beaten with an iron spoon. Bake in a hot oven.—Mrs. L.

Salt Sulphur Muffins.

Work together, about twelve o'clock in the day, one pint of yeast, half a pint of water, six eggs, one pound of butter and enough flour to make a dough just stiff enough not to stick to the fingers. After the dough is risen, make it out in biscuit and allow half an hour or more for them to rise before baking.—Mrs. L.

Superior Muffins.

1 quart of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 tablespoonful of white sugar.

Rub in one heaping tablespoonful of butter and lard mixed, and one tablespoonful of Irish potato, mashed free from lumps.

Pour in three well beaten eggs and a half teacup of yeast. Make into a soft dough with warm water in winter and cold in summer. Knead well for half an hour. Set to rise where it will be milk-warm, in winter, and cool in summer. If wanted for an eight o'clock winter breakfast, make up at eight o'clock the night before. At six o'clock in the morning, make out into round balls (without kneading again), and drop into snow-ball moulds that have been well greased. Take care also to grease the hands and pass them over the tops of the muffins. Set them in a warm place for two hours and then bake.

These are the best muffins I ever ate.—Mrs. S. T.

Parker House Muffins.

Boil one quart of milk. When nearly cool stir in one quart sifted flour, one teaspoonful salt, one half cup of yeast. Then stir in three well beaten eggs. Let it rise in a warm place in winter and a cool one in summer, eight or ten hours. When risen light, stir in one tablespoonful melted butter and bake in iron muffin moulds.—Mrs. W. H. M.

Muffins.

1 quart of flour.

1 pint milk.

3 eggs.

1 heaping tablespoonful lard.

1 heaping tablespoonful butter.

½ cup yeast.

1 teaspoonful sugar.

Mix and beat till perfectly light.—Mrs. W. S.

Another Recipe for Muffins.

One quart of milk, one dozen eggs, one pound of butter. Beat the butter and yolks together. Beat the whites to a stiff froth. Make the batter the consistency of pound cake, and bake in snow-ball cups as soon as made.—Mrs. C. W. B.

Muffin Bread.

3 pints of flour.

4 eggs.

1 pint of milk.

1 large tablespoonful of butter.

1 gill of yeast.

A little salt.

Make up at night. This makes two loaves.—Mrs. A. F.

Soda Muffins.

1 quart of flour.

2 eggs.

3 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

Add enough buttermilk to make a stiff batter, and bake immediately.

White Egg Muffins.

1 pint of flour.

Whites of 8 eggs, beaten to a stiff froth.

Add enough milk to make it into a thin batter. Put in a little salt. Very nice.—Mrs. C. C. McP.

Cream Muffins.

Beat the whites and yolks of four eggs separately. When well beaten, mix them and add to them a half pint of cream, a lump of melted butter half the size of an egg. Then mix in slowly one pint of flour and bake it quickly, in small tins, without any further beating. A delicious breakfast bread.—Mrs. McG., Ala.

Miscellaneous Yeast Breads.

Bunns.

1 pint of potato yeast.

4 ounces of sugar.

4 ounces of butter.

1 egg and as much flour as will make a soft dough.

Make as Sally-Lunn and bake in rolls.—Mrs. Dr. S.

Cottage Loaf.

1 quart of flour.

1 tablespoonful of sugar.

1 tablespoonful of butter.

1 tablespoonful of yeast.

2 eggs, and a little salt.

Make up at night for breakfast, mixing it with water. Bake in a quart tin pan.—Mrs. A. B.

Potato Bread.

1 quart of flour.

4 eggs.

4 good sized Irish potatoes, boiled, mashed and strained through a colander.

2 ounces of butter.

As much yeast as is needed to make it rise.

To be made up with water, not so stiff as light bread dough. Bake in a loaf or rolls.—Mrs. J. H. F.

Old Maids.

Made at night like common light bread. Roll out the size of saucers in the morning, for the second rising. Bake on a hoe, turning over as a hoe cake. Then toast the sides, in front of a fire. A very nice, old-fashioned bread.—Mrs. Dr. E.

Graham Bread.

The night before baking, make a sponge of white flour, using half new milk and half cold water, with a teacup two thirds full of home-made yeast. In the morning, put four tablespoonfuls of this sponge in a separate dish, adding three tablespoonfuls of molasses, a little milk or water, and stirring in as much Graham flour as you can with a spoon. Then let it rise and mould the same as white bread.

Brown Bread.

One quart of light bread sponge, one-half teacup of molasses. Stir into the above, with a large spoon, unbolted wheat meal, until it is a stiff dough. Grease a deep pan, put the mixture in; when light, put the pan over a kettle of hot water (the bread well covered), and steam for half an hour. Then put in the oven and bake until done. Especially good for dyspeptics.—Mrs. D. Cone.

Box Bread.

One quart of flour, one teacup of yeast, one teacup of melted lard or butter, four eggs, one teaspoonful of salt. Let it rise as light bread, and, when risen, make it into square rolls, without working it a second time. Let it rise again and then bake it.—Mrs. R. E. W.

Rusks.

1 cup of yeast.

1 cup of sugar.

1 cup of cream.

4 eggs.

Enough flour to make a batter, mixed with the other ingredients. Let it rise; then add enough flour to make rolls, and also add a teacup of lard and butter mixed. Bake as rolls after they have risen.—Mrs. H.

Egg Rusks.

Melt three ounces of butter in a pint of milk. Beat six eggs into one-fourth of a pound of sugar. Mix these ingredients with enough flour to make a batter, adding a gill of yeast and half a teaspoonful of salt. When light, add flour to make a dough stiff enough to mould. Make into small cakes and let them rise in a warm place while the oven is heating.—Mrs. Dr. S.

German Rusks.

1 quart of flour.

2 eggs.

2 cups of sugar.

2 cups of lard and butter mixed.

2 cups of potato yeast.

2 cups of milk.

1 nutmeg.

Put all the ingredients in the middle of the flour, work well together and set to rise as loaf bread. Wash the rolls over with butter and sugar.—Mrs. C. L. T.

French Biscuit.

1 quart of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Rub in one tablespoonful of butter and lard mixed.

Pour in half a teacup of yeast, two well beaten eggs, and enough water to make a soft dough. Knead half an hour. Then set to rise; when well risen, roll out, without kneading again. Handle lightly, first greasing the hands with butter. Cut with a biscuit cutter, greasing one biscuit and placing another on it. Set to rise a second time before baking.—Mrs. S. T.

Vanity Biscuit.

One pint of flour, one of milk, three eggs beaten well together. Bake in cups.—Miss D.

Beaten Biscuit.

One quart of flour, lard the size of a hen's egg, one teaspoonful of salt. Make into a moderately stiff dough with sweet milk. Beat for half an hour. Make out with the hand or cut with the biscuit cutter. Stick with a fork and bake in a hot oven, yet not sufficiently hot to blister the biscuit.—Mrs. S. T.

Another Recipe for Beaten Biscuit.

1 quart of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 egg.

1 tablespoonful of butter and the same of lard.

Mix up these ingredients with skimmed milk, work them well together and beat fifteen minutes. Stick with a fork and bake quickly.—Mrs. E. B.

Soda Biscuit.

1 quart of flour.

1 heaping teaspoonful of cream of tartar, the same of soda, and the same of salt. Sift these together, then rub in a tablespoonful of lard and make up the dough with milk and water.—Mrs. E. B.

Cream Biscuit.

1 quart of sifted flour.

Four teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar and two teaspoonfuls of fine table salt, which must be well diffused through the flour. Then add two ounces of fresh, good butter. Take one pint of pure, sweet cream, put in it two even teaspoonfuls of soda and then add it to the flour. The dough ought to be very soft; but should it be too soft, add a little more flour. Work it well, roll it out half an inch thick, cut with a biscuit cutter and bake in a quick oven five minutes.—Mrs. J. H. F.

Excellent Light Biscuit.

Boil four large Irish potatoes. While hot, mash them with a piece of lard the size of an egg. Add one teacup of milk and one of yeast. Stir in enough flour to make a good batter and set it to rise. It will take about two quarts of flour. When light, make up the dough. You generally have to add more water or milk. Roll thick, let them rise slowly, but bake them quickly.—Mrs. M. G. H.

Light Biscuit.

Two quarts flour, one large tablespoonful lard, and the same of butter. Salt to the taste. One teaspoonful soda and enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. Bake quickly.—Mrs. Dr. S.

Thick Biscuit.

One quart flour, one large tablespoonful lard and butter mixed, one teaspoonful salt, enough morning's milk to make a stiff dough. Work well and beat with a rolling-pin or iron pestle, at least half an hour. Make into small biscuit and bake in a quick oven. This will make sixteen biscuit.—Mrs. M. A. P.

Thin Biscuit or Crackers.

One quart of flour, one tablespoonful lard and butter mixed, a little salt. Make a stiff paste with water. Beat the dough till it blisters. Roll thin, stick, and bake quickly.—Mrs. A. C.

Soda Crackers.

1 quart of flour.

1 tablespoonful of lard and butter mixed.

1 egg; a little salt.

1 teaspoonful of soda, sifted into the flour.

Make a stiff paste with buttermilk, beat until light, roll tolerably thin, cut in squares, prick, and bake quickly.—Mrs. A. C.

Huntsville Crackers.

Take a lump of risen dough, as large as your double fist, a heaping teaspoonful of loaf sugar, beaten with the yolk of an egg. Mix with the dough a lump of butter the size of a hen's egg and an equal quantity of lard, a tablespoonful of soda, dissolved in a cup of cream. Beat a long time, stirring in flour all the while, till quite stiff. Roll out, cut in square cakes and bake in a brisk oven.—Miss E. P.

Water Crackers.

1 lb. of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt and the same of soda.

1 tablespoonful of lard.

Make up with sweet milk, beat well, roll thin, and bake quickly.

Wafers.

1 quart flour.

Yolk of one egg.

1 heaping tablespoonful lard.

A little salt.

Mix with milk, as stiff as you would for biscuit. Beat well with the biscuit beater, roll out thin and put in the wafer irons. Put in the fire and bake.—Mrs. W. S.

Nun's Puffs.

Boil one pint of milk with half a pound of butter. Stir them into three-quarters of a pound of flour and let them cool. Then add nine eggs, yolks and whites to be beaten separately, and whites to be added last. Fill cups or tins half full and bake. When done, sprinkle with white sugar while hot. Very nice for tea.—Mrs. A. D.

Miscellaneous Flour Breads.

Lapland Bread.

1 quart of flour.

1 quart of cream.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Twelve eggs (whites and yolks beaten separately and very light). Put the whites in the batter the last thing, beat very light, bake in a quick oven, in small tins, which must be perfectly dry and sprinkled with a little flour before being greased. A delicious bread.—Mrs. Dr. J.

A Plainer Recipe for the Same.

1 pint of flour.

1 pint of milk.

2 eggs.

Beat the eggs well and stir in the flour and milk. Bake in little pans.

New Bread.

1 quart of flour.

1 dessertspoonful of lard and the same of butter.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

Work the lard and butter in the flour, and sprinkle in the soda, with salt to taste. Mix with buttermilk or clabber to the consistency of biscuit. Roll it round to the size of a teaplate. Made just before eating.—Mrs. F.

Henrietta Bread.

1 pint of flour.

1 pint of sweet milk.

2 eggs, beaten separately.

1 tablespoonful of lard or butter.

Make the consistency of poor man's pudding. Bake in cups.—Mrs. K.

Jenny Lind Bread.

1 quart of sifted flour.

A lump of butter the size of an egg.

2 teacups of milk.

4 eggs.

1½ teaspoonfuls of soda.

2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar.

Bake twenty minutes.—Mrs. L.

Lunch Bread.

1 pint of flour.

1 tablespoonful of butter.

3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

2 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar.

2 eggs.

1 cup of milk and a little salt.

Bake in a flat pan in a quick oven. To be eaten hot with butter.—Mrs. I. H.

Breakfast Puffs.

One tumbler of flour, one tumbler of milk, and one egg. Beat the yolk and milk together, then add the flour, and lastly the white of the egg. Bake a few minutes in a hot oven.—Mrs. I. H.

Another Recipe for the Same.

Take two eggs well beaten and stir into a pint of milk; add a little salt, two spoonfuls of melted butter, one and one-half pints of flour. Stir thoroughly, so as to avoid lumps. Grease the cups in which you pour the batter, and fill them two-thirds full.

Salt-Risen Bread.

Make into a thin batter:

1 pint of flour.

1 tablespoonful of corn meal.

Half-teaspoonful salt.

Set in a warm place to rise. After it has risen, pour into it two quarts of flour, with sufficient warm water to make up a loaf of bread. Work it well, set it to rise again, and when risen sufficiently, bake it.—Mrs. T. L. J.

Another Recipe for the Same.

Into a pitcher, put one teacup of milk fresh from the cow, two teacups of boiling water, one tablespoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt. Into this stir thoroughly a little less than a quart of flour. Set the pitcher in a kettle of moderately warm water and keep it at a uniform temperature. Keep a towel fastened over the mouth of the pitcher. Set the kettle in front of the fire to keep the water warm. Let it stand three hours, then beat it up well, after which do not interrupt it. If in two hours it does not begin to rise, put in a large slice of apple. As soon as it rises sufficiently, have ready two quarts of flour, half a tablespoonful of lard and more salt, and make up immediately. Should there not be yeast enough, use warm water. Put into an oven and set before a slow fire to rise, after which bake slowly. The yeast must be made up at seven o'clock in the morning.—Miss N. C. A.

Waffles.

1 pint milk.

3 tablespoonfuls flour.

1 tablespoonful corn meal.

1 tablespoonful melted butter.

1 light teaspoonful salt.

Three eggs, beaten separately, the whites added last. To have good waffles, the batter must be made thin. Add another egg and a teacup of boiled rice to the above ingredients, if you wish to make rice waffles.—Mrs. S. T.

Waffles.

1 quart of flour.

1 quart of sour cream (or buttermilk, if you have no cream).

6 eggs.

1½ teaspoonful of soda.

Half a tablespoonful of melted lard, poured in after the batter is mixed.

This may be baked as flannel cakes or muffins.—Mrs. H. D.

Another Recipe for Waffles.

1 quart of flour.

6 eggs beaten very light,

1½ pint of new milk.

2 teaspoonfuls of salt.

3 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

Set it to rise at night, and stir with a spoon, in the morning, just before baking. When you want them for tea, make them up in the morning, in winter, or directly after dinner, in summer.—Mrs. Dr. J.

Soda Waffles.

1 pint of flour.

1 pint of milk.

1 teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in the milk.

2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, mixed in the flour.

2 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of butter.

Beat up and bake quickly.

Another Recipe for Waffles.

1 quart of flour, with a kitchen-spoonful of corn meal added.

3 eggs beaten separately.

1 quart of milk.

1 teacup of water.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Lump of butter large as a walnut, melted and poured in.

Bake in hot irons.

One secret of having good waffles is to have the batter thin.—Miss R. S.

Superior Rice Waffles.

1 quart flour.

3 eggs.

1 cup boiled rice, beaten into the flour.

1 light teaspoonful soda.

Make into a batter with buttermilk. Bake quickly in waffle irons. Batter made as above and baked on a griddle makes excellent breakfast cakes.—Mrs. D. B. K.

Rice Waffles.

1 pint of flour.

1 pint of new milk.

The yolks of three eggs.

Lump of butter the size of an egg.

Half teacup of boiled rice.

A pinch of salt and a pinch of soda, sprinkled in the flour and sifted with it.

Beat well.—Mrs. F.

Another Recipe for the Same.

Two gills of rice, mixed with three ounces of butter, three eggs, three gills of flour, a little salt, and cream enough to make the batter. Beat till very light.—Mrs. Dr. S.

Mush Waffles.

With one pint of milk, make corn mush. When cool, add a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt, and thicken with flour to a stiff batter. Bake quickly in irons.—Mrs. C. L. T.

Breakfast Cakes.

In the morning take the dough of a pint of flour. Beat two eggs light and mix them with a half pint of milk, then add these ingredients to the dough, let it stand an hour to rise, and then bake as buckwheat cakes.—Mrs. Dr. J.

Madison Cakes.

Two pounds of flour, two eggs, two ounces of lard, three tablespoonfuls of yeast. Make up with new milk, the consistency of roll dough, at night. Flour the biscuit board and roll out the dough in the morning about three quarters of an inch thick, cutting the cakes with a dredging-box top. Let them rise, covered with a cloth, till fifteen minutes before breakfast.—Mrs. L.

Orange Cakes.

1 quart of flour.

1 teacup of butter.

4 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of yeast.

Make into a stiff batter with milk, the over-night. Next morning, add a teacup of Indian meal. Beat well and put in cups to rise before baking.—Mrs. A. C.

Velvet Cakes.

1 quart of flour.

1 quart of milk.

1 tablespoonful of yeast.

1 tablespoonful of melted butter.

3 eggs.

Bake in muffin rings.—Mrs. A. C.

Flannel Cakes.

1 quart of flour.

1 pint of meal.

1 teacup of milk.

1 teacup of yeast.

3 eggs.

2 teaspoonfuls of salt.

Beat well together and let it rise till usual time in a warm place. Excellent.—Mrs. W. B.

Another Recipe for Flannel Cakes.

1 quart of flour.

2 eggs.

1½ pint boiled milk (used cold).

2 teaspoonfuls of salt.

3 tablespoonfuls of yeast
(added after the other ingredients have been mixed).

Beat light, and set to rise till morning.

Bake on a griddle.—Mrs. Dr. J.

Another Recipe for the Same.

4 eggs.

1 quart of milk.

Half teacup of butter or lard.

2 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Flour to make the batter like pound cake.—Mrs. S.

Buckwheat Cakes.

1 quart buckwheat flour.

1 pint sifted corn meal.

Half teacup of yeast.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Enough water to make a stiff batter.

After rising, stir in a half teacup of butter or lard. Let it rise a second time, grease the griddle, dip the spoon in lightly, and cook quickly.—Mrs. P. W.

Another Recipe for Buckwheat Cakes.

1 pint of buckwheat flour.

1 tablespoonful of meal.

1 tablespoonful of yeast.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Make up with water the over-night, and beat till it bubbles. In the morning beat again, and just before baking stir in a pinch of soda dissolved in milk or water.—Mrs. Col. W.

Buckwheat Cakes.

1 quart buckwheat flour.

1 pint wheat flour.

½ teacup yeast.

A pinch of salt.

Make into a batter with warm water. Set to rise. Thin the batter with a cup of milk (to make them brown well). Add a pinch of soda and bake quickly on a griddle. Butter and send to the table hot.—Mrs. D. B. K.

Another Recipe for the Same.

1 pint buckwheat.

½ pint sifted meal.

2 teaspoonfuls of salt.

4 tablespoonfuls of yeast.

1½ pint lukewarm water.

Beat well and set to rise till morning.—Mrs. Dr. J.

Cream Cakes.

1 pint of flour.

1 pint of cream (or milk).

2 eggs, well beaten.

Lump of butter size of an egg.

Put the milk and butter on the fire till it boils. Mix and bake quickly in pans. Salt to taste.

Another Recipe for Cream Cakes.

1 quart of cream (sour is preferable).

4 eggs.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Flour for a thick batter.—Mrs. G.

Another Recipe for the Same.

1 quart of flour.

3 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of lard.

1 pint of cream.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Bake in tins.—Mrs. A. C.

Boston Cream Cakes.

2 cups of flour.

2½ cups of water.

1 cup of butter.

5 eggs.

Boil the butter and water together, stir in the flour while boiling; after it is cool, add the eggs, well beaten. Put a large spoonful in muffin rings, and bake twenty minutes in a hot oven.

The cream for them is made as follows:

Put over the fire one cup of milk and not quite a cup of sugar, one egg, mixed with three teaspoonfuls of corn starch and one tablespoonful of butter. Boil a few moments only. When cool, add vanilla to the taste.

Open the cakes and fill them with this cream.—M. H. K.

Buttermilk Cakes.

1 quart of flour.

2 eggs, well beaten.

1½ pint of buttermilk.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Beat very light, after mixing the ingredients. Just before baking, stir in a little soda, mixed in a little of the buttermilk.

Bake on a griddle, free from grease.—Mrs. L.

Sour Milk Cakes.

1 pint sour milk.

1 pint flour.

Butter size of a small egg.

1 tablespoonful of sugar.

1 saltspoonful of salt.

Half teaspoonful of soda.

Bake in hot and well greased iron clads.

Farina Cakes.

Melt together one pint of milk and one tablespoonful of butter. Then add four tablespoonfuls of farina and boil till quite thick. Set aside to cool. When ready to bake, add three well beaten eggs, a few spoonfuls of flour, and salt to your taste.—Mrs. S.

Rice Cakes.

Put one pound of rice in soak the over-night. Boil very soft in the morning, drain the water from it and mix with it, while hot, a quarter of a pound of butter. After it has cooled, add to it one quart of milk, a little salt, and six eggs. Sift over it and stir into it gradually a half pound of flour. Beat the whole well and bake on a griddle like other batter cakes.—Mrs. W.

Another Recipe for Rice Cakes.

One cup of cold boiled rice, rubbed in a quart of milk, one pint of flour, a teaspoonful of salt, two eggs beaten light. Beat all till free from lumps. Bake as soon as made, on a well greased griddle.

Batter Cakes.

Two eggs beaten separately. Pour into the yolks a pint of buttermilk, then put in two handfuls of meal and one of flour, then the whites of the eggs, half a teaspoonful of soda and a little salt. Fry with very little grease, or with egg shells. Put two spoonfuls of batter to a cake.—Mrs. C. L. T.

Another Recipe for Batter Cakes.

1 quart of flour.

1 pint of meal.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

3 eggs.

Make up with buttermilk.—Mrs. Dr. J.

Batter Cakes made of Stale Bread.

Put a loaf of stale bread to stand all day in a pint of milk. Just before tea add three eggs and one large spoonful of butter. If too thin, add a little flour.—Mrs. R.

Old Virginia Batter Cakes.

Beat two eggs very light in a bowl. Add one teacup of clabber, one of water, one of corn meal, a teacup of flour, one-half teaspoonful of salt. Just before baking, sift in half a teaspoonful of soda and stir well. It is better to grease the griddle with fat bacon than with lard.

The above proportions will make enough batter cakes for two or three persons.—Mrs. S. T.

Another Recipe for the Same.

1 quart sweet milk.

1 heaping pint corn meal.

4 eggs.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Half teaspoonful of soda.

1 tablespoonful of warmed butter or fresh lard.

Break the eggs, whites and yolks together, beat slightly, then add the milk, stir in the meal and beat until it looks light. Bake on a griddle.—Mrs. J. P.

Cheap Recipe for Batter Cakes.

1 pint of sour milk.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

1 tablespoonful of flour.

Enough meal to make a good batter.

Bake on a hoe.—Miss E. P.

Indian Griddle Cakes.

1 quart of sour milk.

1 large tablespoonful of butter, melted after measuring.

2 eggs.

1 teaspoonful of soda.

Half a teaspoonful of salt.

Make a thin batter, with two-thirds Indian meal, and one-third flour.

A small bag made of coarse but thin linen or cotton, and filled with common salt, is much better to rub over the griddle than lard, when cakes are to be fried or baked.

Batter Bread.

Break two eggs into a bowl. Beat to a stiff froth. Pour in one teacup of clabber or butter-milk, one of water, one of corn meal, one of flour, half teaspoonful of salt, a heaping teaspoonful of butter melted. Beat all well together. Have already heated on the stove or range, iron-clad muffin moulds (eight or ten in a group). Grease them well with a clean rag, dipped in lard. Fill each one nearly full with the batter, first sifting in half a teaspoonful soda. Set in a hot oven and bake a nice brown. Oblong shapes are the nicest. If preferred, sweet milk may be used instead of sour milk and water. In this case add another egg and dispense with the soda.—Mrs. S. T.

Batter Bread.

Four cups of meal, two cups sweet milk, four eggs, two tablespoonfuls flour, one tablespoonful lard, one teaspoonful salt, half teaspoonful soda.—Mrs. F.

Batter Bread.

One cup meal, one cup sweet milk, one cup butter-milk, two eggs, one tablespoonful butter, one tablespoonful flour, half teaspoonful of salt, and same of soda. Bake in cups.—Mrs. G.

Corn Muffins.

3 eggs, beaten light.

1 pint of buttermilk (if very sour, use less).

1 teacup of cream or milk.

1 small teaspoonful of soda.

Lard or butter size of an egg.

Meal enough to make the batter of the consistency of pound-cake batter.—Mrs. I.

Corn Meal Waffles.

One pint of corn meal scalded. While hot add to it, two tablespoonfuls of lard or butter, three well beaten eggs, a cup of boiled rice, a pint of flour, a teaspoonful of salt. Thin to the proper consistency with milk.—Mrs. Dr. S.

St. Nicholas' Pone.

1 quart of meal.

1 quart of milk.

4 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of melted butter.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

2 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar.

1 teaspoonful of soda.—Mrs. C. C.

Grit or Hominy Bread.

2 eggs, beaten separately.

1 pint of milk.

Small piece of butter.

Add enough meal and hominy to make a batter, and bake quickly.—Mrs. C. L. T.

Hominy Bread.

Mix with two teacups of hot hominy a very large spoonful of butter. Beat two eggs very light and stir into the hominy. Next add a pint of milk, gradually stirring it in. Lastly, add half a pint of corn meal. The batter should be of the consistency of rich boiled custard. If thicker, add a little more milk. Bake with a good deal of heat at the bottom, but not so much at the top. Bake in a deep pan, allowing space for rising. When done, it looks like a baked batter pudding.—Mrs. F. D.

Corn Cake.

1 pint of corn meal.

1 pint of sweet milk.

2 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of butter.

2 tablespoonfuls of flour.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Boil the milk and pour it over the meal, flour, and butter. Beat light. When cool, add eggs well beaten. Bake in a buttered pan.—Mrs. G. W. P.

Mush Bread.

Make a thin mush of corn meal and milk (or hot water, if milk is scarce). Cook till perfectly done, stirring all the time to keep it smooth. Then add a good lump of butter; and, after it cools a little, two eggs, one at a time. Beat in a very small pinch of soda and a little salt.

Butter a yellow dish and bake slowly till brown.—Mrs. C. L. T.

Light Corn Bread.

Pour one quart of boiled milk over one pint of corn meal. Add a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half teaspoonful of soda, three well beaten eggs, four tablespoonfuls of flour, a little butter.—Miss E. P.

Soft Egg Bread.

1 quart of milk.

Half pint of meal.

3 eggs.

Large spoonful of butter.

Make in a pudding dish. Rice is an improvement to the above.—Mrs. P.

Old-fashioned Egg Bread.

1 pint of meal.

3 eggs well beaten.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 tablespoonful melted butter.

Add enough sweet milk to make a rather thin batter. Bake quickly.—Mrs. S. T.

Another Recipe for Egg Bread.

1 quart of milk.

3 eggs.

1 tablespoonful of butter.

1 pint of corn meal.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

Beat the eggs very light and add to the other ingredients. Bake in a pan or dish. Add a little soda dissolved in milk, if you desire it.—Mrs. I. H.

Indian Bread.

Beat two eggs very light, mix alternately with them one pint of sour milk or buttermilk, and one pint of fine corn meal. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, and add to the mixture. Dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in a small portion of the milk, and add to the other ingredients, last of all. Beat hard and bake in a pan, in a hot oven.

Rice Bread.

1 pint sweet milk.

1 teacup boiled rice.

2 teacups sifted corn meal,

½ teacup melted butter.

3 eggs, beaten separately,

½ teaspoonful salt.

Bake in a very hot oven, using buttered iron muffin moulds.—Mrs. S. T.

Cracklin Bread.

Take one quart sifted corn meal and a teacup of cracklins. Rub the latter in the meal as fine as you can. Add a teaspoonful of salt and make up with warm water into a stiff dough. Make into pones, and eat hot.—Mrs. P. W.

Virginia Ash Cake.

Add a teaspoonful of salt to a quart of sifted corn meal. Make up with water and knead well. Make into round, flat cakes. Sweep a clean place on the hottest part of the hearth. Put the cake on it and cover it with hot wood ashes.

Wash and wipe it dry, before eating it. Sometimes a cabbage leaf is placed under it, and one over it, before baking, in which case it need not be washed.—Mrs. S. T.

Plain Corn Bread.

1 pint sifted meal.

1 teaspoonful salt.

Cold water sufficient to make a stiff dough.

Work well with the hands, pat out in long, narrow pones, six or seven inches long and as wide as the wrist. Bake quickly in a hot pan.—Mrs. P. W.

COFFEE, TEA, AND CHOCOLATE.

To toast Coffee.

Wash and pick the coffee, put it in a very large stove-pan in a hot oven. Stir often, giving constant attention. It must be toasted the darkest brown, yet not one grain must be burned. It should never be glazed, as this destroys the aroma.

Two pints of coffee become three pints after toasting.—Mrs. S. T.

Boiled Coffee.

To one quart of boiling water (poured in after scalding the pot) stir in three gills of coffee, not ground too fine. Boil twenty minutes, scraping from the sides and stirring occasionally. Five minutes before breakfast, scrape from the spout, pour out half a teacupful, and return to the pot. Do this a second time. Set it with the side of the pot to the fire, so that it will be just at the boiling point. Do not let it boil, however. Serve in the same coffee-pot.

Coffee should never be glazed.

Have a liberal supply of thick, sweet cream, also of boiled milk, to serve with the coffee.

If the members of the family drop in at intervals, it is well to keep the coffee over a round iron weight, heated just enough to keep the coffee hot, without boiling it. This answers better than a spirit lamp for keeping coffee hot.—Mrs. S. T.

Coffee.

Take equal quantities of Mocha, Java, Laguayra and Rio coffee. Have the coffee roasted a chestnut brown. To every twelve cups of coffee to be drawn, use eighteen heaping tablespoons of the ground coffee. Have the water boiling hot, scald the biggin or percolator, put the ground coffee in the upper part, then pour on some boiling water for it to draw—about two teacups if you are to make twelve cups of coffee. Let it stand a few moments and pour again into the upper part of the percolator the first drawn coffee. Then add, one by one, the cups of boiling water required. It will take ten minutes for the coffee to be ready for the table.

Use the best white sugar, and in winter let the milk stand twenty-four hours for the cream to rise. Use together with rich cream, a cream jug of boiling sweet milk.—Mrs. M. C. C.

Coffee.

Buy Java and Laguayra mixed, two-thirds Java and one-third Laguayra, which will give a delightful aroma to the Java.

Scald the pot. Then put in a teacup of coarsely ground coffee, parched a light brown and mixed with cold water till it forms a paste, to six cups of boiling water. Before you put in the boiling water, add to the grounds one or more egg-shells or whites of eggs, to keep it clear. Let it boil ten or fifteen minutes. Before taking it off the fire, drop in about a teaspoonful of cold water, which will settle all the floating grounds.—Mrs. J. P.

Dripped or Filtered Coffee.

If one quart of coffee is desired, grind three gills of coffee, put it in the filterer and pour boiling water over it. If not sufficiently strong, pour out and return to the filterer. Then set on the fire and boil up, taking from the fire immediately.—Mrs. S. T.

Dripped Coffee.

One-half pint Java coffee ground and put in the dripper. Pour over it two and one-half pints boiling water. If not strong enough, pass through the dripper a second time.—Mrs. J. R. McD.

Café au Lait.

1 cup German chiccory.

2 cups ground coffee.

Put in three pints boiling water with a pinch of isinglass, boil five minutes and allow it to settle, or, if made in a percolator it will be better. Use three-quarters of a cup boiling milk and one-quarter of strong coffee, with sugar to suit the taste.—Mrs. J. W. S.

Green Tea.

Scald the teapot, and add one-half pint boiling water to two teaspoonfuls of the best green tea. Set it where it will keep hot, but not boil. When it has drawn fifteen or twenty minutes, add boiling water till it has the strength desired.—Mrs. J. R. McD.

Green Tea.

Scald the teapot. If you wish a pint of tea, put in one heaping teaspoonful tea after putting in a pint boiling water. Set this where it will keep hot, but not quite boil.—Mrs. S. T.

A good Cup of Green Tea.

Before putting in any water, set the teapot with the tea in it before the fire and let it get thoroughly hot. Then fill the pot with boiling water and let it stand five minutes.—Mrs. M. E. L. W.

Black Tea.

If you wish a quart of tea, put that quantity of boiling water into the teapot, after scalding it. Add four teaspoonfuls of tea. Boil twenty minutes. It is a great improvement to put in a little green tea.—Mrs. S. T.

Black Tea.

Add one and one-half pint boiling water to a half-teacupful of the best black tea. Boil gently for ten or fifteen minutes. If too strong, weaken with boiling water.—Mrs. J. R. McD.

Iced Tea.

After scalding the teapot, put into it one quart of boiling water and two teaspoonfuls green tea. If wanted for supper, do this at breakfast. At dinner time, strain, without stirring, through a tea-strainer into a pitcher. Let it stand till tea time and then pour into decanters, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the pitcher. Fill the goblets with ice, put two teaspoonfuls granulated sugar in each, and pour the tea over the ice and sugar. A squeeze of lemon will make this delicious and healthful, as it will correct the astringent tendency.—Mrs. S. T.

Chocolate.

Scrape fine one square of Baker's chocolate (which will be an ounce). Put it in a pint of boiling water and milk, mixed in equal parts. Boil it ten minutes, and during this time mill it or whip it with a Dover egg-whip (one with a wheel), which will make it foam beautifully. Sweeten to the taste, at table.—Mrs. S. T.

Cocoa.

To one pint milk and one pint cold water add three tablespoonfuls grated cocoa. Boil fifteen or twenty minutes, milling or whipping as directed in foregoing recipe. Sweeten to taste, at the table. Some persons like a piece of orange-peel boiled with it.—Mrs. S. T.

Broma.

Dissolve one large tablespoonful broma in one tablespoonful warm water. Pour on it one pint boiling milk and water (equal parts). Boil ten minutes, milling or whipping as above directed. Sweeten to the taste.—Mrs. S. T.

A cream-pitcher of whipped cream should always accompany chocolate or any preparation of it, such as cocoa or broma.—Mrs. S. T.

MILK AND BUTTER.

The most exquisite nicety and care must be observed in the management of milk and butter. A housekeeper should have two sets of milk vessels (tin or earthenware, never stoneware, as this is an absorbent). She should never use twice in succession the same milk vessels without having them scalded and aired.

In warm weather, sweet milk should be set on ice, if practicable, or if not, in a spring-house. Never put ice in sweet milk, as this dilutes it. One pan of milk should always be set aside to raise cream for coffee. A bucket with a close-fitting lid should be filled with milk and set aside for dinner, one for supper, one for breakfast, and a fourth for cooking purposes.

For making butter, strain unskimmed milk into a scalded churn, where the churning is done daily. This will give sweeter butter and nicer buttermilk than when cream is skimmed and kept for churning, as this sometimes gives a cheesy taste to the butter. Do not let the milk in the churn exceed blood heat. If overheated, the butter will be white and frothy, and the milk thin and sour. Churn as soon as the milk is turned. In summer try to churn early in the morning, as fewer flies are swarming then, and the butter can be made much firmer.

A stone churn is in some respects more convenient than a wooden churn; but no matter which you use, the most fastidious neatness must be observed. Have the churn scalded and set out to sun as soon as possible after churning. Use your last made butter for buttering bread, reserving the staler for cookery.

Butter should be printed early in the morning, while it is cool. A plateful for each of the three meals should be placed in the refrigerator ready for use. Do not set butter in a refrigerator with anything else in it but milk, or in a safe with anything but milk. It readily imbibes the flavor of everything near it. After churning, butter should be taken up in what is called "a piggin," first scalded and then filled with cold water. With an old-fashioned butter-stick (scalded) wash and press the butter till no water is left. Then add a little salt, finely beaten. Beat again in a few hours, and make up in half-pound prints. I would advise all housekeepers (even those who do not make their own butter) to keep a piggin, a butter-stick, and a pretty butter-print.

To secure nice Butter for the Table in Winter.

In October and November, engage butter to be brought weekly, fresh from the churn in rolls. Wrap each roll in a piece of old table cloth, and put in a sweet firkin or stone jar which has been washed with soda water, scalded and sunned for a month before using. Pour over it a clear strong brine, which also must have been prepared at least a week beforehand, by pouring off the settlings and repeated strainings. Have a nice flat rock washed and weight the butter down with it, being careful to keep it always under the brine.—Mrs. S. T.

Recipe for Putting up Butter.

2 quarts best common salt.

1 ounce pulverized saltpetre.

1 ounce white sugar.

Work the butter over three times, the last time adding an ounce of the above mixture to every pound butter. Of course, the butter is salted, when first made. Make the butter into rolls and wrap in cloths or pack in jars, within four inches of the top of each jar. If the latter is done, fill the jars with brine and tie up closely. If the former is preferred, drop the rolls into brine, prepared as follows:

To every gallon brine that will bear an egg, add one pound white sugar and one-half ounce saltpetre. Boil well and skim. Keep the brine closely covered. I have used butter on my table in May, put up in this way, and it tasted as well as when put up in October.—Mrs. R. C.

Clabber.

To have clabber in perfection, place in small glass dishes or bowls enough milk to make clabber for each person. After it has turned, set it in the refrigerator, if in summer, till called for. By the way, refrigerators (as well as water-coolers) should be washed every morning with water in which a tablespoonful of common soda has been dissolved. They should then be aired before filling with ice for the day.—Mrs. S. T.

Cottage Cheese.

When the tea-kettle boils, pour the water into a pan of "loppered" milk. It will curd at once. Stir it and turn it into a colander, pour a little cold water over it, salt it and break it up. A better way is to put equal parts of buttermilk and thick milk in a kettle, over the fire, heat it almost boiling hot, pour into a linen bag and let it drain till next day. Then take it out, salt it, put in a little cream or butter, as it may be thick or not, and make it up into balls the size of an orange.

SOUP.

As making soup is a tedious process, it is best to make enough at once to last several days. Beef shank is most generally used in making nutritious soup. It is best to get this the day before using it, and soak it all night in cold, clear water. If you cannot do this, however, get it as early in the morning as you can. Break the bones, wash it, soak it a few minutes in weak salt and water, and put it in a large boiler of cold water. As soon as it begins to simmer, remove the dark scum that rises on top. Keep the boiler closely covered, and boil very slowly till an hour or two before dinner. Then, with a ladle, remove all the fat from the top, as it is this element that makes soup unwholesome. Strain and season, or, if you prefer, season just enough for one meal, reserving the rest as foundation for another sort of soup. It is well always to keep some of this stock on hand in cold weather, as by the addition of a can of tomatoes, or other ingredients, a delicious soup may be quickly made of it. Never throw away water in which any sort of meat has been boiled, as it is much better to simmer hash or a stew in this liquor than in water, and it is also invaluable for basting fowls or meats that have not been parboiled.

Directions for soup making are so fully given in the following pages that it is needless for me to say anything further on the subject here.

Oyster Soup.

100 oysters.

1 teaspoonful salt.

1 tablespoonful black pepper.

¼ pound butter.

Yolks of 3 eggs.

1 pint rich milk, perfectly fresh.

3 tablespoonfuls flour.

Separate the oysters from the liquor: put the liquor to boil, when boiled add salt, pepper and butter, then the flour, having previously made it into a batter. Stir all the time. When it comes to a boil, add the eggs well beaten, then the milk, and when the mixture reaches a boil, put in the oysters; let them also just boil, and the soup is done. Stir all the time to prevent curdling.—Mrs. Judge M.

Economical Oyster Soup.

1 quart oysters.

2 quarts water.

Boil with salt and pepper.

Cut up one tablespoonful butter with flour and put in while boiling; beat the yolks of four eggs light, mix them with one-half pint milk.

When the oysters are well cooked, pour on the milk and eggs, stirring all the time. Let it boil up, and take off quickly, and pour into the tureen, over toasted bread cut into dice—if preferred rich, leave out some of the water.—Mrs. Lt.-Gov. M.

Oyster Soup.

Empty the oysters into a colander and drain off all the liquor; then strain the liquor through a very coarse cloth to rid it of all scum, etc. To a whole can of oysters take a quart of milk.

Put the milk, oyster liquor, one level tablespoonful flour rubbed very smooth with one heaping tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoonful salt, one-half teaspoonful pepper, all on the fire together in a farina-boiler (or put a skillet one-third filled with boiling water under the saucepan, to prevent the milk burning). When it comes to a boil, put in the oysters and let them stew for twenty minutes or till the gill of the oyster turns and begins to ruffle and crimp at the edge. Serve immediately, for if they are cooked too long, they become hard, dark and tasteless. If you put the salt in last, it will not curdle the soup. Some add one level teaspoonful whole cloves and same of mace, tied up in a net bag, but they are little improvement.—Mrs. R.

Purée of Oysters.

For fifty oysters.

Put the oysters on in their own liquor—let them come to a boil—take them out and mince them; skim the liquor when nearly done. Beat well together:

1 egg.

1 dessertspoonful butter.

½ pint milk.

1 cracker sifted.

Salt, pepper (mace, also, if liked).

Pour this into boiling liquor and then add the minced oysters. When done, the soup is smooth. The milk must be fresh or it will curdle.—Mrs. John Walker, Alabama.

Oyster Soup.

Take two quarts of oysters, wash them, and add,

2 quarts water.

A bundle of herbs.

1 small onion sliced.

Let it boil until all the substance is out of the oysters. Strain the liquor from the ingredients and put it back in the pot. Add a large spoonful butter mixed with flour. Have ready two dozen oysters to throw in just as it is ready to be dished—at the same time stir up two yolks of eggs with a cup of cream. Cayenne pepper is an improvement.—Mrs. E. W.

Turtle Soup.

Kill the turtle at daylight in summer, the night before in winter, and hang it up to bleed. After breakfast, scald it well and scrape the outer skin off the shell; open it carefully, so as not to break the gall. Break both shells to pieces and put them into the pot. Lay the fins, the eggs and some of the more delicate parts by—put the rest into the pot with a quantity of water to suit the size of your family.

Add two onions, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, cloves and allspice to suit your taste.

About half an hour before dinner thicken the soup with brown flour and butter rubbed together. An hour before dinner, take the parts laid by, roll them in brown flour, fry them in butter, put them and the eggs in the soup; just before dinner add a glass of claret or Madeira wine.—Mrs. N.

Turtle Soup.

To one turtle that will weigh from four to five pounds, after being dressed, add one-half gallon water, and boil until the turtle will drop to pieces, then add:

2 tablespoonfuls allspice.

1 tablespoonful black pepper.

2 tablespoonfuls butter, and salt to the taste.

When nearly done, put in a small handful pot marjoram, thyme and parsley tied together, and two large onions; when ready to come off, add two sliced lemons, one pint good wine, and a small quantity of curry powder; thicken with flour.—Mrs. D.

Turtle Soup.

To 2½ quarts soup add:

1 ounce mace.

1 dessertspoonful allspice.

1 teaspoonful cloves.

Pepper, black and cayenne, and salt to your taste.

Tie up a bunch of parsley, thyme, and onion in a cloth, and throw into soup when boiling. When nearly done, thicken with two tablespoonfuls flour. To give it a good color, take one tablespoonful brown sugar and burn it; when burnt, add a wineglass of water. Of this coloring, put two tablespoonfuls in soup, and just before serving, add half a pint Madeira wine.—Miss E. W.

Mock Turtle Soup.

Put on beef and boil very tender; take out, chop fine, and put back to boil. Put potatoes, mace, cloves, cinnamon, parsley, thyme, spice, celery seed, and ten hard-boiled eggs; pepper and salt to your taste.

Thicken with flour and add brandy and wine.—Miss E. P.

Mock Terrapin Soup.

Cut up two pounds roast or boiled beef in small pieces. Put one large teacup new milk, one large teacup of wine, a piece of butter size of an egg (rolled in flour), a little nutmeg, two or three spoonfuls mixed mustard—all in a stewpan, and cook ten or fifteen minutes. Good way to use up cold meats.—Mrs. S. M.

Clam Soup.

Boil half a peck of clams fifteen minutes; then take them from the shells, clean and wash them. Have ready the stew-kettle; strain the water, in which clams have been boiled; chop up clams, and put in with three or four slices of salt pork, some mashed potatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Thicken with grated cracker, and add two spoonfuls butter rolled in flour. Let it boil twenty minutes and serve.—Mrs. C.

Clam Soup.

Open the clams and chop them up fine. To twenty clams, add:

½ gallon water.

3 good onions.

2 tablespoonfuls butter.

A small bunch of parsley and thyme.

Just before taking off, add one quart rich milk and thicken with flour.—Mrs. D.

Crab Soup.

Open, and cleanse of the deadman's fingers and sandbag, twelve small fat crabs raw. Cut the crabs into two parts. Parboil and extract the meat from the claws, and simply extract the fat from the back shells of the crabs. Scald eighteen ripe tomatoes, skin them and squeeze the pulp from the seeds through a colander. Chop them fine and pour boiling water over the seeds and juice, and strain them. Stew a short time in the soup-pot one large onion, one clove of garlic, in one spoonful butter and two spoonfuls lard, and put them in the tomatoes.

After stewing a few minutes, add the meat from the claws, then the crabs, and lastly the fat from the back shells. Season with salt, cayenne and black pepper, parsley, sweet marjoram and thyme, one-half teaspoonful lemon juice, and peel of one lemon. Pour in the water with which the seeds were scalded, adding more should there not be the quantity of soup required. Boil moderately one hour. About a quarter of an hour before serving, sift in grated bread crumbs or pounded crackers as a thickening. Any firm fish prepared by this recipe is excellent.—Mrs. J. I.

Crab Soup.

One dozen crabs to one gallon water. Take off top shell; clear body of crabs. Cut through the middle, put them into a kettle, mix with some butter, and brown them. Then add one gallon water, and simmer for half an hour. Skim slightly, and add the hock of an old ham, and strained tomato juice one pint. Boil two hours. Season with pepper, spice if liked, and half-pint wine.

The claws are to be cracked and divested of the jaws. A Hampton recipe.—Miss E. W.

Beef Soup.

Crack the bone of a shin of beef, and put it on to boil in one quart water. To every pound meat add one large teaspoonful salt to each quart water. Let it boil two hours and skim it well. Then add:

4 turnips, pared and cut into quarters.

4 onions, pared and sliced.

2 carrots, scraped and sliced.

1 root of celery, cut into small pieces.

When the vegetables are tender, add a little parsley chopped fine, with salt and pepper to the taste. Serve hot.—Mrs. P. McG.

Another Recipe for Beef Soup.

One shin beef in one-half gallon water, put on before breakfast and boiled until dinner. Thicken with brown flour two or three hours before dinner. Put in one carrot, two turnips, one onion, thyme, cabbage, and celery-seed.—Mrs. H. P. C.

To prepare a Beef's Head as Stock for Soup.

Cut up the head into small pieces, and boil in a large quantity of water until it is all boiled to pieces. Take out all the bones as for souse cheese, and boil again until thick. Then while hot, season very highly with pepper, salt, catsup, allspice, and onions chopped fine.

Put into a mould to get cold. For a small family cut a thick slice, say five inches square, whenever you want soup in a hurry, adding about a quart of water. It need cook for a few minutes only, and is valuable as keeping well and being ready in times of emergency. By adding a few slices of hard-boiled egg and a gill of good cooking wine, this soup may have very nearly the flavor of mock turtle.—Mrs. A. M. D.

Calf's Head Soup.

Take one-half liver and the head of a mutton, veal or beef, and boil until the meat drops from the bone. Cut up fine and add one-half the brains; then:

1 onion.

1 spoonful spice.

½ spoonful cloves.

1 spoonful black pepper and a piece of mace.

3 tablespoonfuls flour.

3 tablespoonfuls flour, and salt to the taste.

Put in enough water at first, as adding it makes the soup thin.

Cut up three hard boiled eggs, and add, when done, one glass of wine.

A little brandy and walnut catsup, with more eggs, will improve it, though it is a delightful soup as it is.—Mrs. W. A. C.

Calf's Head Soup.

Clean the head, laying aside the brains. Put the head in a gallon of water, with pepper and salt. Boil to pieces and take out bones; return to the pot with—

1 teacup of mushroom or tomato catsup.

1 teaspoonful allspice.

1 lemon rind, grated.

1 grated nutmeg.

1 tablespoonful butter.

1 teacup of browned flour.

Fry, and add the brains when nearly ready for the table. About five minutes before serving, add:

1 teacup of wine.

1 teaspoonful cloves.

1 teaspoonful mace.

When sent to the table have two hard-boiled eggs sliced and floating on top.—Mrs. J. D.

Calf's Head Soup.

Take a large calf's head and boil it with four gallons water and a little salt; when tender, bone and chop it fine, keeping out the brains, and put the meat back in the pot and boil down to a tureenful. Half an hour before serving the soup, add:

1 tablespoonful mustard.

1 teaspoonful black pepper.

1 teaspoonful powdered cloves.

1 teaspoonful mace.

1 teaspoonful nutmeg.

Brown a cup of flour to thicken and just as the soup is dished, add one cup walnut catsup, and one cup port or claret wine.

The brains must be beaten up with an egg, fried in little cakes, and dropped in the tureen.—Miss N.

Calf's Head Soup.

Take the head, split it open and take out the brains; then put the head, brains, and haslet in salt water—let them soak one hour. Put on to boil at eight o'clock; after boiling four hours, take it up and chop up the head and haslet, removing all the bones; return to the soup, with a small pod of pepper. Thicken it with one pint browned flour with one tablespoonful butter rubbed in it. Have—

1 tablespoonful mace.

1 tablespoonful allspice.

½ doz. cloves.

Beat all together and put in the tureen with,

1 teacup of tomato catsup.

1 teacup of cooking wine.

Pour the soup on them. Have the brains fried, and two hard boiled eggs sliced and dropped in the soup.—Mrs. T. C.

Brown Calf's Head Soup.

Scald and clean the head, and put it to boil in two gallons water, with

A shank of veal.

2 carrots.

3 onions.

A small piece of bacon.

A bunch of sweet herbs.

When they have boiled half an hour, take out the head and shank, and cut all the meat off the bone in pieces two inches square. Let the soup boil half an hour longer, then strain it and put in the meat, and season with salt, black and cayenne pepper (and a few cloves, if you like them). Thicken with butter and brown flour.

Let it now boil nearly an hour longer, and just before serving it, stir in one tablespoonful sugar browned in a frying-pan, and half a pint wine. A good substitute for turtle soup.—Mrs. Col. A. F.

Calf's Head Soup.

Have a head nicely cleaned, the brains taken out and the head put to soak. Put it on with,

1 gallon water.

1 piece of fat ham.

Thyme, parsley, pepper and salt.

Boil together until the flesh is tender; take out and chop—strain the water—two tablespoonfuls brown flour, four ounces butter—returning the "dismembered" fragments; let it boil till reduced to two quarts. Season with one-half pint wine, one gill catsup, nutmeg, mace, allspice.

Cut up the liver, and fry; beat the brains up with an egg, pepper and salt; fry in cakes and lay in the soup when served up, and hard boiled eggs sliced up and put in.—Miss B. L.

Ox-tail Soup.

Wash and soak three tails; pour on them one gallon cold water; let them be brought gradually to boil, throw in one and a half ounce salt, and clear off the scum carefully as soon as it forms on the surface. When it ceases to rise, add:

4 moderate sized carrots.

2 or 3 onions.

1 large bunch savory herbs.

1 head celery.

2 turnips.

6 or 8 cloves, and ½ teaspoonful peppercorns.

Stew these gently from three hours to three and a half hours. If the tails be very large, lift them out, strain the liquor and strain off all the fat. Cut the meat from the tails and put it in two quarts or more of the stock. Stir in, when this begins to boil, a thickening of arrow-root or of rice flour, mixed with as much cayenne and salt as may be required to flavor the soup, and serve very hot.—Mrs. P.

Chicken Soup.

Put on the chickens with about three quarts water and some thin slices bacon. Let it boil well, then put in:

A spoonful butter.

1 pint milk.

1 egg, well beaten.

Pepper, salt, and celery or celery-seed or parsley.

Let all boil up. Some dumplings made like biscuits are very nice in it.—Mrs. W.

Roast Veal and Chicken-bone Soup.

Boil the veal and chicken bones with vegetables, and add one handful maccaroni, broken up fine. Boil the soup half an hour. Color with a little soy or catsup.—Mrs. S.

Chicken Soup.

Put on the fire a pot with two gallons water and a ham bone, if you have it; if not, some slices of good bacon. Boil this two hours, then put in the chickens and boil until done: add one-half pint milk and a little thickening; pepper and salt to the taste. After taking off the soup, put in a piece of butter size of an egg. Squirrel soup is good made the same way, but takes much longer for a squirrel to boil done.—Mrs. P. W.

Giblet Soup.

1 pint dried green English peas.

1 pound giblets.

1 dozen cloves.