Part 4
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.