Chapter 12

To three pints of French brandy, put four ounces of bitter almonds, or peach meats, and a couple of ounces of sweet almonds--they should be bruised before they are mixed with the brandy. Add half an ounce each of powdered cinnamon and mace, a quarter of an ounce of cloves. Let the whole remain a fortnight, shaking it up well each day, then drain off the brandy into another bottle, and put to the almonds a quart of water. Let it stand three days, then turn back the brandy, and put in a pound and a half of white sugar. Let the whole remain a week, stirring it up frequently, then strain the liquor off, free from the dregs, into bottles for use.

356. _Mead._

Put to a pound of honey three pints of warm water--stir it up well, and let it remain till the honey is held in complete solution--then turn it into a cask, leaving the bung out. Let it ferment in a temperate situation--bottle it as soon as fermented, cork it up very tight.

357. _Essence of Lemon._

Turn gradually on to a drachm of the best oil of lemons a couple of ounces of strong rectified spirit. The best method of obtaining the essence of the lemon peel, is to rub all the yellow part of the peel off, with lumps of white sugar, and scrape off the surface of the sugar into a preserving pot, as fast as it becomes saturated with the oil of the lemon. The sugar should be pressed down tight, and covered very close. A little of this sugar gives a fine flavor to puddings, cakes, and pies. This mode of preserving the essence of the lemon is superior to the one in which spirit is used, as the fine aromatic flavor of the peel is procured without any alloy.

358. _Essence of Ginger._

Take three ounces of fresh ginger--grate and put it into a quart of French brandy, together with the rind of a fresh lemon--none of the white part of the peel should be put in. Shake the whole up well every day, for eight or ten days--at the end of that time, it will be fit for use. A little of this, mixed with water, or put on a lump of sugar, answers all the purposes of ginger tea, and is much more palatable. It is also nice to flavor many kinds of sweetmeats.

359. _Spice Brandy._

Put into a jar French brandy, and rose or peach leaves, in the proportion of a quart of the former to half a pint of the latter. Let them steep together, till the strength is obtained from the leaves--then turn off the brandy, squeeze the leaves dry, throw them away, and put fresh leaves to the brandy. Continue to go through the above process until the brandy is strongly impregnated with the leaves--then turn the brandy off clear, and bottle it--keep it corked tight. Lemon or orange peel, and peach meats, steeped in a bottle of brandy, give it a fine flavor. It takes the rind of three or four lemons, or a quarter of a pound of peach meats, to flavor a pint of brandy. When all the brandy is used, put in more, with a few fresh rinds. Spice brandy is very nice to season cakes, puddings, and mince pies.

360. _Rosewater._

Gather fragrant, full-blown roses, on a dry day--pick off the leaves, and to each peck of them put a quart of water. Put the whole in a cold still, and set the still on a moderate fire--the slower they are distilled, the better will be the rosewater. Bottle the water as soon as distilled.

361. _To extract the Essential Oil of Flowers._

Procure a quantity of fresh, fragrant leaves--both the stalk and the flower leaves will answer. Cord very thin layers of cotton, and dip them into fine Florence oil--put alternate layers of the cotton and leaves in a glass jar, or large tumbler. Sprinkle a very small quantity of fine salt on each layer of the flowers, cover the jar up tight, and place it in a south window, exposed to the heat of the sun. In the course of a fortnight a fragrant oil may be squeezed out of the cotton. Rose leaves, mignonette, and sweet-scented clover, make fine perfumes, managed in this way.

362. _Perfume Bags._

Rose and sweet-scented clover leaves, dried in the shade, then mixed with powdered cloves, cinnamon, mace, and pressed in small bags, are very nice to keep in chests of linen, or drawers of clothes, to perfume them.

363. _Cologne Water._

Turn a quart of alcohol gradually on to the following oils: a couple of drachms of the oil of rosemary, two of the oil of lemon, or orange-flower water, one drachm of lavender, ten drops of oil of cinnamon, ten of cloves, and a tea-spoonful of rosewater. Keep the whole stopped tight in a bottle--shake it up well. It will do to use as soon as made, but it is much improved by age.

364. _Lavender Water._

Turn a pint of alcohol slowly on to an ounce and a half of the oil of lavender, two drachms of ambergris. Keep the lavender water in a tight-corked bottle--it should be shook up well when first put in.

365. _Aromatic Vinegar._

Mix with a table-spoonful of vinegar enough powdered chalk to destroy the acidity. Let it settle--then turn off the vinegar from the chalk carefully, and dry it perfectly. Whenever you wish to purify an infected room, put in a few drops of sulphuric acid--the fumes arising from it will purify a room where there has been any infectious disorder. Care is necessary in using it, not to inhale the fumes, or to get any of the acid on your garments, as it will corrode whatever it touches.

366. _Barley Water._

Boil a couple of ounces of barley, in two quarts of water, till soft--pearl barley is the best, but the common barley answers very well. When soft, strain and mix it with a little currant jelly, to give it a pleasant, acid taste. If the jelly is not liked, turn it, when boiled soft, on to a couple of ounces of figs or raisins, and boil it again, till reduced to one quart, then strain it for use.

367. _Rice Gruel._

Put a large spoonful of unground rice into six gills of boiling water, with a stick of cinnamon or mace. Strain it when boiled soft, and add half a pint of new milk--put in a tea-spoonful of salt, and boil it a few minutes longer. If you wish to make the gruel of rice flour, mix a table-spoonful of it, smoothly, with three of cold water, and stir it into a quart of boiling water. Let it boil, five or six minutes, stirring it constantly. Season it with salt, a little butter, and add, if you like, nutmeg and white sugar to your taste.

368. _Water Gruel._

Mix a couple of table-spoonsful of Indian meal with one of wheat flour, and sufficient cold water to make a thick batter. If the gruel is liked thick, stir it into a pint of boiling water--if liked thin, more water will be necessary. Season the gruel with salt, and let it boil six or eight minutes, stirring it frequently--then take it from the fire, put in a piece of butter, of the size of a walnut, and pepper to the taste. Turn it on toasted bread, cut in small pieces.

369. _Caudle._

Make rice or water gruel, as above--then strain it, and add half a wine glass of ale, wine, or brandy. Sweeten it with loaf sugar, and grate in a little nutmeg.

370. _Arrow Root Custards._

Boil a pint of milk, and stir into it, while boiling, a table-spoonful of arrow root, mixed smooth, with a little cold milk. Stir it in well, and let the whole boil three or four minutes--take it from the fire to cool--when so, stir in a couple of beaten eggs, sweeten it to the taste, and grate in a small piece of nutmeg. Set the whole where it will boil, stirring it constantly. As soon as it boils up, take it from the fire, and turn it into custard cups. The arrow root, prepared in the same manner as for the custards, omitting the sugar, spice, and eggs, is excellent food for invalids, and can be eaten when the custards are too rich for the stomach.

371. _Wine Whey._

Stir into a pint of boiling milk a couple of glasses of wine. Let it boil a minute, then take it from the fire, and let it remain till the curd has settled--then turn off the whey, and sweeten it with white sugar.

372. _Stomachic Tincture._

Bruise a couple of ounces of Peruvian bark, one of bitter dried orange peel. Steep them in a pint of proof spirit a fortnight, shaking up the bottle that contains it once or twice every day. Let it remain untouched for a couple of days, then decant the bitter into another bottle. A tea-spoonful of this, in a wine glass of water, is a fine tonic.

373. _Thoroughwort Bitters._

Make a strong tea of the thoroughwort--strain it, and when cool, put to a couple of quarts of it half a pint of French brandy, the peel of two or three fresh oranges, cut into small bits, and half a dozen bunches of fennel, or smallage seed. The seed and orange peel should be crowded into a bottle, then the tea and brandy turned in. The bottle should be corked tight. The bitters will keep good almost any length of time, and is an excellent remedy for bilious complaints, and can often be taken when the thoroughwort tea will not sit on the stomach. A wine glass of these bitters to a tumbler of water is about the right proportion. It should have a little sugar added to it before drinking it.

374. _Cough Tea._

Make a strong tea of everlasting--strain, and put to a quart of it two ounces of figs or raisins, two of liquorice, cut in bits. Boil them in the tea for twenty minutes, then take the tea from the fire, and add to it the juice of a lemon. This is an excellent remedy for a tight cough--it should be drank freely, being perfectly innocent. It is the most effectual when hot.

375. _Beef Tea._

Broil a pound of fresh lean beef ten minutes--then cut it into small bits, turn a pint of boiling water on it, and let it steep in a warm place half an hour--then strain it, and season the tea with salt and pepper to the taste. This is a quick way of making the tea, but it is not so good, when the stomach will bear but a little liquid on it, as the following method: Cut the beef into small bits, which should be perfectly free from fat--fill a junk bottle with them, cork it up tight, and immerse it in a kettle of lukewarm water, and boil it four or five hours. This way is superior to the first, on account of obtaining the juices of the meat, unalloyed with water, a table-spoonful of it being as nourishing as a tea-cup full of the other.

376. _Moss Jelly._

Steep Carragua, or Irish moss, in cold water a few minutes, to extract the bitter taste--then drain off the water, and to half an ounce of moss put a quart of fresh water, and a stick of cinnamon. Boil it till it becomes a thick jelly, then strain it, and season it to the taste with white wine and white sugar. This is very nourishing, and recommended highly for consumptive complaints.

377. _Sago Jelly._

Rinse four ounces of sago thoroughly, then soak it in cold water half an hour--turn off the water, and put to it a pint and a half of fresh cold water. Let it soak in it half an hour, then set it where it will boil slowly, stirring it constantly--boil with it a stick of cinnamon. When of a thick consistency, add a glass of wine, and white sugar to the taste. Let it boil five minutes, then turn it into cups.

378. _Tapioca Jelly._

Take four table-spoonsful of tapioca--rinse it thoroughly, then soak it five hours, in cold water enough to cover it. Set a pint of cold water on the fire--when it boils, mash and stir up the tapioca that is in water, and mix it with the boiling water. Let the whole simmer gently, with a stick of cinnamon or mace. When thick and clear, mix a couple of table-spoonsful of white sugar, with half a table-spoonful of lemon-juice, and half a glass of white wine--stir it into the jelly--if not sweet enough, add more sugar, and turn the jelly into cups.

MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS RELATIVE TO HOUSEWIFERY.

379. _To renew Old Bread and Cake._

Fill a bread steamer about half full of water, and lay the dry bread on it, and set it on the fire, where it will steam the bread from half to three-quarters of an hour; then wrap the bread in a towel, and let it remain till dry. In this way, bread that is old and dry may be made moist and good. Where a steamer cannot be procured, soak the bread in cold water till it has absorbed sufficient water to be moist inside--then put it in a bake pan, without any cover, and heat it very hot. If broken pieces of bread are put in the oven, five or six hours after baking, and rusked, they will keep good a long time. Sour heavy bread, treated in this manner, will make very decent cakes and puddings, provided there is enough saleratus used in making them to correct the acidity of the bread. Rich cake, that has wine or brandy in it, will remain good in cold weather several months, if it is kept in a cool, dry place. The day in which it is to be eaten, put it in a cake pan, and set it in a bake pan that has half a pint of water in it--set on the bake-pan cover, and let the cake bake till it is heated very hot. Let it get cold before cutting it.

380. _To preserve Cheese from Insects._

Cover the cheese, while whole, with a paste made of wheat flour; then wrap a cloth round it, and cover it with the paste. Keep the cheese in a cool, dry place. Cheese that has skippers in it, if kept till cold weather, will be freed from them.

381. _To pot Cheese._

Cheese that has begun to mould, can be kept from becoming any more so, by being treated in the following manner: Cut off the mouldy part, and if the cheese is dry, grate it--if not, pound it fine in a mortar, together with the crust. To each pound of it, when fine, put a table-spoonful of brandy--mix it in well with the cheese, then press it down tight, in a clean stone pot, and lay a paper wet in brandy on the top of it. Cover the pot up tight, and keep it in a cool, dry place. This is also a good way to treat dry pieces of cheese. Potted cheese is best when a year old. It will keep several years, without any danger of its breeding insects.

382. _To pot Butter for winter use._

Mix a large spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of powdered white-sugar, and one of saltpetre. Work this quantity into six pounds of fresh-made butter. Put the butter into a stone pot, that is thoroughly cleansed. When you have finished putting down your butter, cover it with a layer of salt, and let it remain covered until cold weather.

383. _To make Salt Butter Fresh._

When butter has too much salt in it, put to each pound of it a quart of fresh milk, and churn it an hour; then treat it like fresh butter, working in the usual quantity of salt. A little white sugar worked in, improves it. This is said to be equal to fresh butter. Salt may be taken out of a small quantity of fresh butter, by working it over, in clear fresh water, changing the water a number of times.

384. _To extract Rancidity from Butter._

Take a small quantity, that is wanted for immediate use. For a pound of the butter, dissolve a couple of tea-spoonsful of saleratus in a quart of boiling water, put in the butter, mix it well with the saleratus water, and let it remain till cold, then take it off carefully, and work a tea-spoonful of salt into it. Butter treated in this manner answers very well to use in cooking.

385. _To preserve Cream for Sea Voyages._

Take rich, fresh cream, and mix it with half of its weight of white powdered sugar. When well mixed in, put it in bottles, and cork them tight. When used for tea or coffee, it will make them sufficiently sweet without any additional sugar.

386. _Substitute for Cream in Coffee._

Beat the white of an egg to a froth--put to it a small lump of butter, and turn the coffee to it gradually, so that it may not curdle. It is difficult to distinguish the taste from fresh cream.

387. _To keep Eggs several months._

It is a good plan to buy eggs for family use when cheap, and preserve them in the following manner: Mix half a pint of unslaked lime with the same quantity of salt, a couple of gallons of water. The water should be turned on boiling hot. When cold, put in the eggs, which should be perfectly fresh, and care should be taken not to crack any of them--if cracked, they will spoil directly. The eggs should be entirely covered with the lime-water, and kept in a stone pot, and the pot set in a cool place. If the above directions are strictly attended to, the eggs will keep good five months. The lime-water should not be so strong as to eat the shell, and all the eggs should be perfectly fresh when put in, as one bad one will spoil the whole.

388. _To melt Fat for Shortening._

The fat of all kinds of meat, excepting that of ham and mutton, makes good shortening. Roast meat drippings, and the liquor in which meat is boiled, should stand until cold, to have the fat congeal, so that it can be taken off easily. When taken up, scrape off the sediment which adheres to the under side of the fat, cut the fat into small pieces, together with any scraps of fat from broiled meat that you may happen to have. Melt the fat slowly, then strain it, and let it remain till cold. When formed into a hard cake, take it up--if any sediment adheres to the under side, scrape it off. Melt the fat again--when partly cooled, sprinkle in salt, in the proportion of a tea-spoonful to a pound of the shortening. The dregs of the fat are good for soap grease. This shortening answers all the various purposes of lard very well, excepting in the hottest weather. The fat of cooked meat should not be suffered to remain more than a week in winter, and three days in summer, without being melted. Ham fat, if boiled in fresh water, and then clarified, answers very well to fry in. Mutton fat, if melted into hard cakes, will fetch a good price at the tallow-chandler's. The leaves, and thin pieces of pork, should be used for lard. Cut them in small bits, and melt them slowly; then strain them through a cullender, with a thick cloth laid in it. As soon as the fat cools and thickens, sprinkle in salt, in the proportion of a tea-cup full to twenty weight of the lard. Stir it in well, then set the pot that contains it in a cool place. Some people have an idea that the pork scraps must be on the fire until they become brown, in order to have the lard kept sweet the year round, but it is not necessary, if salt is mixed with it.

389. _To keep Vegetables through the Winter._

Succulent vegetables are preserved best in a cool, shady place, that is damp. Turnips, Irish potatoes, and similar vegetables, should be protected from the air and frost by being buried up in sand, and in very severe cold weather covered over with a linen cloth. It is said that the dust of charcoal, sprinkled over potatoes, will keep them from sprouting. I have also heard it said, that Carolina potatoes may be kept a number of months, if treated in the following manner: Take those that are large, and perfectly free from decay--pack them in boxes of dry sand, and set the boxes in a place exposed to the influence of smoke, and inaccessible to frost.

390. _To preserve Herbs._

All kinds of herbs should be gathered on a dry day, just before, or while in blossom. Tie them in bundles, and suspend them in a dry, airy place, with the blossoms downwards. When perfectly dry, wrap the medicinal ones in paper and keep them from the air. Pick off the leaves of those which are to be used in cooking, pound and sift them fine, and keep the powder in bottles, corked up tight.

391. _To preserve various kinds of Fruit through the Winter._

Apples can be kept till June, by taking only those that are hard and sound, wiping them dry, then packing them in tight barrels, with a layer of bran to each layer of apples. Envelope the barrel in a linen cloth, to protect it from frost, and keep it in a cool place, but not so cold as to freeze the apples. It is said that mortar, laid over the top of a barrel of apples, is a good thing to preserve them, as it draws the air from them, which is the principal cause of their decaying. Care should be taken not to have it come in contact with the apples. To preserve oranges and lemons several months, take those that are perfectly fresh, and wrap each one in soft paper; put them in glass jars, or a very tight box, with white sand, that has been previously dried in an oven a few hours, after it has been baked in. The sand should be strewed thick over each one of the oranges, as they are laid in the jar, and the whole covered with a thick layer of it. Close the jar up tight, and keep it in a cool dry place, but not so cool as to freeze the fruit. To preserve grapes, gather them on a dry day, when they are not quite dead ripe, and pick those that are not fair off from the stems. Lay the bunches of grapes in a glass jar, and sprinkle around each of them a thick layer of dry bran, so that they will not touch each other. Have a thick layer of bran on the top, and cork and seal the jar very tight, so that the air may be entirely excluded. Whenever they are to be eaten, restore them to their freshness by cutting off a small piece from the end of the stalks, and immerse the stalks of each bunch in sweet wine for a few minutes. The stalks will imbibe the wine, and make the grapes fresh and juicy. Various kinds of fruit, taken when green, such as grapes, gooseberries, currants, and plums, can be kept through the winter, by being treated in the following manner: Fill junk bottles with them, and set them in an oven six or seven hours, after having baked in it. Let them remain till they begin to shrink, then take the fruit from one bottle to fill the others quite full. Cork and seal up the bottles. Whenever you wish to make pies of them, put the quantity you wish to use into a tin pan, turn on boiling water sufficient to cover them, and stew them in it till soft, then sweeten, and make them into pies. Ripe blackberries and whortleberries, to be kept long, should be dried perfectly in the sun, then tied up in bags that are thick enough to exclude the air. When used for pies, treat them in the same manner as the green fruit. Ripe currants, dried on the stalks, then picked off, and put in bags, will keep nice for pies during the winter. They also make a fine tea for persons that have a fever, particularly the hectic fever--it is also an excellent thing to counteract the effects of opium.

392. _To keep Pickles and Sweetmeats._

Pickles should be kept in unglazed earthen jars, or wooden kegs. Sweetmeats keep best in glass jars; unglazed stone pots answer very well for common fruit. A paper wet in brandy, or proof spirit, and laid on the preserved fruit, tends to keep it from fermenting. Both pickles and sweetmeats should be watched, to see that they do not ferment, particularly when the weather is warm. Whenever they ferment, turn off the vinegar or syrup, scald and turn it back while hot. When pickles grow soft, it is owing to the vinegar being too weak. To strengthen it, heat it scalding hot, turn it back on the pickles, and when lukewarm, put in a little alum, and a brown paper, wet in molasses. If it does not grow sharp in the course of three weeks it is past recovery, and should be thrown away, and fresh vinegar turned on, scalding hot, to the pickles.

393. _Cautions relative to the use of Brass and Copper Cooking Utensils._

Cleanliness has been aptly styled the cardinal virtue of cooks. Food is more healthy, as well as palatable, cooked in a cleanly manner. Many lives have been lost in consequence of carelessness in using brass, copper, and glazed earthen cooking utensils. The two first should be thoroughly cleansed with salt and hot vinegar before cooking in them, and no oily or acid substance, after being cooked, should be allowed to cool or remain in any of them.

394. _Durable Ink for Marking Linen._