CHAPTER XXIII.

PRESERVES.

FRUIT for every sort of preserve, ought to be the best of its kind; ripe enough, but not over ripe; gathered _on_ a dry day, and _after_ a dry day. The sugar of the best quality, and plenty of it, otherwise they are not good, neither will they keep; and much is wasted by boiling up a second time. Long boiling injures the colour of preserves, and they _must_ be boiled too long, if there be not sugar enough. The bags and sieves should be kept delicately clean; wring them out of hot water the moment before you use them. Do not squeeze the bag, or press the fruit much, or the jelly will not be clear; this is not wasteful, for the fruit which is left, and a little fresh added to it, will make jam, or black butter; a very useful preserve. In boiling jams, try a little in a saucer; if the juice runs off as it cools, the jam requires longer boiling.

Some persons clarify all the sugar they use, but, for common preserves for private families, good loaf sugar, not clarified, answers the same purpose. After the {304}preserve is poured into the jar, let it stand uncovered two days, then put brandy paper over, and cover with bladders, or paper, tied down close. Keep in a dry place, or they will be musty; but very hot, they will dry up, and be spoiled.

_To Clarify Sugar._

Break lump sugar in pieces, and to every pound you put into the preserving-pan, add ¼ pint of water, and to every 2 lbs. sugar, the white of 1 egg, beaten; stir over the fire, till the sugar dissolves. When it boils it will throw up scum; take that off, with a slice, and lay it on a sieve, reversed, over a basin, that the syrup may run off. Pour into the pan the same quantity of cold water as you put in at first, and boil it up gently. Take off the scum, and return into the pan all the syrup which drains from it; keep it gently boiling until no scum rises.--_To Candy Sugar_, boil it till the surface is covered with little clusters, in the form of pearls.--_Moist Sugar_ is clarified in the same way, but requires longer boiling and scumming; it answers for common jams, for immediate use, but they will not keep so long as when made of lump sugar.

_Red Currant Jelly._

Strip the currants and put them into an earthen pan or jar, set that in a vessel of boiling water, and keep it boiling till the fruit is all burst; then pass through a jelly bag, but do not squeeze it. When the juice has all run off, put it into a preserving-pan, and to each pint allow 1¼ lb. of lump sugar; less may do, but the jelly will not be so sure to keep. Boil the jelly, rather quickly, from fifteen to twenty minutes, scumming carefully all the time; try a little in a saucer, to see if it be stiff enough, then fill your pots or glasses; leave them uncovered two days; cover brandy papers over, and tie skins over tight. _White Currant Jelly_--The same; but rather less boiling. The sugar must be very fine, to insure delicate clearness for the jelly. _Black Currant Jelly_--The same as red currant jelly. When the juice is put into the preserving-pan, with the sugar, add a very little water. Less sugar _may_ do. But boil it well.

{305}_Currant Jam._

When jelly is made, if the bag be not squeezed, the fruit in it will have juice enough for jam; or, if not, put a fourth part of fresh fruit to it, then boil it up, with its weight of sugar, fifteen or twenty minutes.

_Raspberry Jam._

Take 4 parts of raspberries and 1 part of red currant juice, boil it fifteen or twenty minutes, with an equal weight of sugar. Skim off the dross, as it rises.--_Or_: use raspberries alone, and no juice.--_Or_: some persons recommend the _Antwerp_, they are so juicy as to require boiling by themselves until nearly dry; then add 1 lb. fine lump sugar to 1 quart fruit, then boil again fifteen minutes, and no more, or the colour will be injured.

_Strawberry Jam._

Gather fine scarlet strawberries, just ripe, bruise, and put them into a preserving-pan, with about a fifth part of red currant juice; strew over nearly their weight of sifted lump sugar, and boil quickly fifteen minutes.

_Gooseberry Jam._

This may be made of gooseberries only, in the same manner as directed for currant jam, or of a mixture of red or black currants and gooseberries.

_Green Gooseberry Jam._

First crack them in a mortar, put them into a preserving-pan with ¾ lb. lump sugar, to 1 lb. fruit, and boil till it begins to look clear. A nice preserve for tartlets.

_Damson Jam._

Boil 1 lb. sugar to 1 lb. fruit, till the juice adheres to the fruit. For _open tarts_.

_Rhubarb Jam._

Boil an equal quantity of rhubarb, cut in pieces, and {306}gooseberries, before they are quite ripe, with ¾ lb. loaf sugar to 1 lb. of fruit. Well boiled, it forms a rich jam, similar to apricot. _Or_: boil 6 lbs. fruit cut in square pieces, 6 lbs. lump sugar, and let it stand a few hours, to draw out the juice, boil the juice three different times, and pour over the rhubarb.

_Black Butter._

A very nice preserve to spread on bread, and is a mixture of currants, gooseberries, cherries, raspberries, or strawberries. To every 2 lbs. fruit, put 1 lb. sugar, and boil it till reduced one-fourth.

_Fruit for Puddings._

Pare apples, pears, plums, and any fruit you have, and put them in a stone jar with brown sugar, to sweeten. Place the jar in a cool oven till the fruit is cooked.

_To preserve Damsons, Bullaces, Morella Cherries, Gooseberries, and Currants, for Winter use._

All these fruits may be put into wide-mouthed bottles, with about 6 oz. Lisbon sugar to each; put corks lightly in, and set them in a vessel of cold water, and then let it boil very gently till the syrup rises over the fruit; when the fruit is cold, make the corks tight, dip them in rosin, and tie bladders over.

_To Bottle Green Gooseberries and Currants._

The same as the last receipt, only without sugar. Let them remain in the water till the fruit begins to shrivel; take them out, and when the fruit is cold, cork the bottles tight, and dip them in melted rosin. The rough sort is best.

_To Bottle Raspberries._

Mix an equal weight of crushed fruit and powdered loaf sugar, put them into wine-bottles, cork tight, and rosin the corks.

{307}_Damsons for Tarts._

Gather damsons quite dry, put them into large stone jars, having pricked them with a pin, tie bladders over, and put the jars into a vessel of cold water; set that over the fire, and let it simmer (not boil) for two hours, or till you see the damsons begin to sink (the water should reach nearly to the top of the jars), then wipe the jars, and put them away in a dry place.--_Or_: choose jars to hold 8 or 9 lbs., of equal size at top and bottom; put in each jar one fourth of the fruit, then a fourth of good moist sugar (allow 3 lbs. sugar to 9 lbs. fruit), then another layer of fruit, and so on, till the jar is full; put it in an oven just hot enough to bake it through. When household bread is drawn the oven is generally hot enough for this purpose, and the jars may remain in all night. When the fruit is cold, put a clean stick, a little forked at one end, into the middle of the jar, leaving the forked end a little above the top; put a piece of white paper over the fruit (which ought to reach the neck of the jar), then run melted mutton suet over it, of an inch thick, and keep the jar in a cool place. When you open it, lift up the covering of suet by the stick.

_Apricots for Tarts._

Cut the apricots in two, but do not pare them, take out the stones, and to every pound of fruit put 1 lb. lump sugar, pounded. Let them stand all night, then stew them gently over a slow fire till tender; skim them, as they simmer, till they are quite clear. Put them in pots, and when quite cold, cover with silver papers dipped in brandy, and tie down close.

_Apple Marmalade._

Pare and core the apples, leave them in a cool oven all night; the next day boil them up gently with an equal quantity of sugar, a little lemon peel and pounded cinnamon.

_Apple Jelly._

Take the blossoms and stalks out of 6 lbs. ripe apples, but do not pare them; put them into a stew-pan with {308}scarcely enough water to cover them, cover close, and stew them to a pulp, pour it into a cloth, and hang that up to drain, but do not squeeze it. To a quart of juice allow 1½ lb. lump sugar, boil gently to the consistency of other jelly, and before it is quite done add the juice of 2 lemons.--_Or_: pare and core your apples as if for pies, put them in the oven till quite soft, then squeeze them through thin muslin: to every pint add 1 lb. of lump sugar, half a wine-glassful of white wine, and a tea-spoonful of brandy, with the rind of a lemon; boil twenty minutes, or till it sets.

_Peach, Apricot, or Plum Marmalade._

Skin the fruit, take out the stones, and mash it in a bowl; put an equal weight of fruit and sugar into a preserving-pan, boil it fifteen minutes, taking off all the scum. The kernels may be bruised and added.

_Quince Marmalade._

Cut the fruit in quarters, and to 5 lbs. weight, and 3 lbs. sugar, add a pint of water; cover a piece of white paper over to keep in the steam, and simmer gently three hours; then beat them up to a jam, add ½ lb. more sugar, and simmer the jam another half hour.--_Or_: take the parings and cores of 2 lbs. quinces, cover them with water, and let it boil well; add 2 lbs. sugar, and when that is dissolved in the liquor, set it over a slow fire, and let it boil till it becomes a thick syrup; but the scum must be taken off as it rises. Let it get cold, then put in the quinces, with a little cochineal, and set it over a slow fire; stir and beat with a pewter spoon till it is done.

_Quince Jelly._

Weigh them and measure 1 pint of water to 1 lb. fruit; pare the quinces as quickly as possible, as they are done, throw them into the water, then simmer gently until they are a little broken, but not long enough to redden the liquid, which should be very pale. Turn the whole into a jelly bag, and let it drain without pressure. Weigh the juice and boil it quickly 20 minutes, take it from the fire and stir in till dissolved, ¾ lb. lump sugar to each pound of juice, or {309}rather more, if the fruit be very acid; then boil gently from ten to twenty minutes, or until it jellies strongly in falling from the skimmer, but stir it all the while, and take off all the scum as it rises. Pour it into glasses or moulds: it ought to be firm enough to turn out of the latter, and be rich and transparent.

_Damson and Bullace Cheese._

Put the fruit into a stone jar, cover it, and set it on a hot hearth, or in an oven, and let it coddle for about six hours, stirring it now and then. Pulp the damsons through a sieve, add ½ lb. lump sugar to every 2 lbs. of fruit, and some of the kernels, blanched, and beaten in a mortar. Put it all in a stew-pan, and boil very gently for two or three hours (it can hardly boil too long, as boiling makes it firm), skimming carefully all the time. Some persons boil it only one hour; it is clearer, but less firm. Some add a very few bitter almonds, blanched and cut small.

_Apricot Cheese._

Pare, then boil them with their weight of sugar, previously melted with a very little water; as the fruit breaks, take out the stones, blanch and pound the kernels, and put them to the fruit. Let the apricots boil, not more than half an hour. Pour the cheese into shapes.

_Orange Cheese._

Scrape off the outward rind of Seville oranges, take out the pulp and skin, boil the peel tender, in water, beat it in a marble mortar to a pulp, add its weight of loaf sugar (already dissolved in the juice), and boil it quickly an hour; when done pour it into moulds, or on plates, to cut in shapes. Keep it in a dry place.

_Pine Apple to Preserve._

Pare off the rind, and divide the pine apple into rather thick slices; boil the rind in ½ pint water, with 1 lb. loaf sugar in powder, and the juice of a lemon, twenty minutes. Strain this liquor, and boil the slices in it for half an hour; {310}next day pour off the syrup, and boil it, taking care to scum as it rises, and pour it hot over the fruit; tie down the jar with a bladder, brandied paper being over the preserve.

_Cucumbers to Preserve._

Choose the greenest and most free from seeds, some small, to preserve whole, others large, to cut in long slices. Put them in strong salt and water, cover with vine leaves, and set them in a warm place till yellow; then wash, and set them over the fire, in fresh water, with a little salt and fresh vine leaves; cover the pan close, but take care the fruit does not boil. If they are not of a fine green, change the water, and that will help to green them; cover as before, and make them hot. When of a good colour, take them off the fire and let them get cold; then cut the large ones into quarters, take out the seeds and soft parts, put them into cold water, for two days, but change the water twice every day to take out the salt. Boil 1 lb. loaf sugar, and ½ pint of water, scum well, add the rind of a lemon, and 4 oz. scraped ginger. When the syrup is very thick, take it off the fire, and when cold, wipe the cucumbers dry, and put them in. The syrup should be boiled once in two or three days, for a fortnight, and you may add more to it if necessary. When you pour the syrup upon the cucumbers, be sure that it is cold. Cover close and keep in a dry place.

_Strawberries to Preserve whole._

Choose fine scarlets, not over ripe; have their weight in sifted sugar, and sprinkle _half_ over the fruit, and let it stand all night. Next day simmer it gently with the rest of the sugar, and 1 pint of currant juice, to 1 lb. of fruit, till it jellies.

_Raspberries whole._

Gather them on a dry day, after a dry night. To 1 lb. fruit, ¾ lb. sugar; put these in alternate layers in a preserving-pan, and keep shaking till it boils, then boil ten minutes, taking off all the scum. When cold, cover with brandy papers and bladders.

{311}_Strawberries in Wine._

Fill a wide mouthed bottle three parts full of strawberries gathered quite dry, strewing amongst them 4 table-spoonsful of finely pounded sugar; fill up with fine old sherry, and cork it close.

_Red Gooseberries whole._

They must be just ripe, but no more. Clip off the top of each berry, make a little slit in the side, with a needle, that the sugar may penetrate, and take an equal weight of fruit and of sugar: boil them together, very gently, scum well, and when the skins begin to look transparent, take out the fruit, with a skimmer, and put it into jars or glasses; boil the syrup till it jellies, then strain, and pour it over the fruit.

_Morella Cherries._

Cut off the stalks, and prick the fruit with a needle, boil a fourth more than its weight of sugar, about five minutes, with ¼ pint of red or white currant jelly; then put in the cherries, and simmer gently till they look bright. Some take out the stones.

_Cherries en Chemise._

Cut off half the stalk of large ripe cherries; roll them, one by one, in beaten white of egg, and then lightly in sifted sugar. Spread a sheet of thin white paper on a sieve reversed, and place that on a stove, spread the fruit on the paper, and send them from the stove to table. Bunches of currants, or strawberries, in the same way.

_Cherries in Syrup._

Take out the stones, put the fruit into a preserving-pan, with 2 lbs. lump sugar to 6 lbs. fruit, let it come slowly to a boil, set it by till next day, boil up again, repeat this the third day, when they will begin to look bright and plump; then pot them in the syrup.

{312}_To dry Apricots._

Pare thin, then cut in half, 4 lbs. of apricots, weighed after they are pared, and add 3 lbs. sifted sugar. When the sugar is nearly all melted, put it into a pan, and simmer it very gently over a slow fire; as each piece becomes tender lift it out into a china bowl, and when all are done, let the syrup cool a little, then pour it over the fruit. In two days pour out the syrup, leaving only a little in each half. Keep the apricots in a sunny place, and turn them every day, till quite dry. Keep in boxes, between layers of paper.

_Dried Cherries._

To every 6 lbs. cherries, stoned, allow 1 lb. lump sugar. Scald the fruit in a preserving-pan, with very little water, then take it out, dry it: put it into the pan, with the sugar powdered, and put it over the fire to get scalding hot, then set it aside to get cold, put it on the fire again, and repeat this a third time, then drain them from the syrup, and lay them singly to dry on dishes, in the sun, or on a stove. Keep in boxes, between layers of white paper.

_Orange Chips._

Cut oranges in halves, squeeze the juice through a sieve; cut the peel off very thin, and steep it a night in water, and the next day boil it till tender in the same water. Then cut the peel in strips and put them with the juice, in an earthen pan, with an equal weight of lump sugar, set it high over a moderate fire or stove, till the chips candy, stirring frequently; then spread them out in a cool room for a fortnight, to dry.

_Orange Marmalade._

Get the clearest Seville oranges you can; cut them in 2, scoop out all the pulp and juice into a basin, and pick out the seeds and skins. Boil the rinds in spring water, changing that two or three times, to take off their bitterness: if for smooth marmalade, heat the rinds in a marble mortar, if for thick marmalade cut the rinds in thin pieces, {313}add it to the juice and pulp, put it all into a preserving-pan, with double the weight of lump sugar, boil it over a fire, rather more than half an hour. Put it into pots, cover with brandy papers, and tie down close.--_Or_: put 6 Seville oranges into a scale, and weigh their weight, and half their weight again, of lump sugar: to every lb. of fruit measure a wine-pint of cold spring water. Cut the fruit in quarters, remove the pips, and throw them into the water; then cut the oranges in slices on plates, so as not to lose any part of the juice or pulp, then take the pips out of the water, put all the fruit, juice, and sugar in, and boil it gently an hour, or until it is sufficiently consistent. Put by in pots. Both these are good receipts.

_Oranges to Preserve._

Cut a hole at the stalk end, and scoop out the pulp, tie each one in muslin, and lay them in cold spring water, to cover them, for two days, changing the water twice a day; then boil them in the last water, till tender. Take the oranges out of the liquor and allow 2 lbs. of the best lump sugar, and 1 pint of water, to every lb. of fruit, and put it into the liquor; boil and scum till it is a clear syrup, let it cool, then put in the oranges, and boil them gently half an hour. Boil the syrup every day, for a week, or till it looks clear.--_Or_: grate the oranges, put them in water, change it twice a day, then boil gently, till tender, and put them in cold water again, for two or three hours. Cut a small piece off the top, take out the seeds, and to every orange allow ½ lb. of lump sugar, strew it over them in a preserving-pan, without any water, and set that over a gentle fire, turning the oranges occasionally: when clear, lift them out, put them into little pots, boil up the syrup, and pour it hot over the oranges. If the oranges do not look clear, boil them half an hour, for two or three days: then boil the syrup by itself, or make a fresh one thus: pare and core some green apples, and boil them to make the water taste strong; do not stir the apples, only put them down, with the back of a spoon; strain the water till quite clear, and to every pint put 1 lb. double refined sugar, and the juice of a lemon strained, boil it to a strong jelly, drain the oranges out of the syrup, each one in a {314}jar the size of an orange, the hole upwards, and pour the jelly over. Cover with brandy papers, and bladders. Do _lemons_ the same way.--_Or_: pare the oranges, tie them separately in cloths, boil them in water till tender, that a straw may pass through them: cut a hole in the stalk end, take out the seeds, but not the pulp. Make a syrup of sweet oranges, lemons, and sugar, and when clear, put in the oranges.

_Apricots, Peaches, Magnum Bonum Plums, and Greengages._

Pare and stone the finest fruit, not over ripe, and weigh rather more than their weight of lump sugar. Spread the fruit in a dish, the split part upwards, strew the sugar over, and let them stand all night. Break the stones, blanch the kernels, and simmer the whole gently, till the fruit looks transparent: scum well, lift the fruit out carefully into pots, pour the syrup over, and, when quite cold, cover close.

_To Preserve Green Apricots._

Spread vine or apricot leaves at the bottom of the pan, then fruit, then leaves, till the pan be full, but the upper layer thick of leaves, fill up with water, and cover quite close, to keep the steam in. Keep the pan at such a distance from the fire, that in four or five hours, the fruit may be soft, not cracked. Make a thin syrup of sugar and some of the water, and drain the fruit; when both are cold, put the fruit and syrup back into the pan, no leaves, and keep it over the fire till the apricots are green, but they must not boil or crack; repeat this for two or three days: then pour off as much of the syrup as you think necessary, and boil it with more sugar and some sliced ginger to make a rich syrup; when this is cold, drain the apricots, and pour it over them. What there is left of the _thin_ syrup will be useful to sweeten fruit tarts.

_Orlean Plums._

An equal quantity of sugar and of plums. The fruit gathered before it is quite ripe. Put it into a pan with {315}cold water, simmer it till the skins appear to crack, so that you may peel them off. Have ready, a thin clear syrup made of 1 lb. sugar, and a gill of water, put in the plums, give them a gentle boil, and put them by in a basin, till the next day; if they then appear done enough, drain them from the syrup, if not, boil again, and remain till the following day; then drain them, add the remainder of the sugar to the syrup, boil it till rich, and quite clear; put the plums into jars, pour the syrup over, leave them open till the next day, then put brandy papers over, and over them run mutton suet.

_Jargonelle Pears._

Pare smoothly and thinly, some large, well shaped pears. Simmer in a thin syrup, and let them lie two days. Then pour off the syrup, add more sugar: simmer and scum it; then put the pears in, simmer till they look transparent, lift them out into pots, pour the syrup over, and tie closely. Rather more than the weight of fruit in sugar. A grain of pounded cochineal may be put in the syrup; lemon juice is an improvement.

_Quinces._

Pare the quinces very thin, and put them into a stew-pan; cover with their parings, and fill the saucepan with hard water, set it over a slow fire, and keep the lid close that the steam may not escape; when the fruit is tender take it out, and put to it 1 quart of water, 2½ lbs. lump sugar, to make a clear syrup: put in the quinces, boil them ten or twelve minutes, and set them by, for four or five hours; then boil again five or six minutes, take them off the fire, and set them by two days: boil again, ten minutes, with the juice of 2 lemons. Let the quinces be quite cold, put them into broad pans, singly, and pour the syrup over. Cover with brandy papers, and skins over the whole.--_Or_: cut them in quarters, and to 5 lbs. fruit, put 3 lbs. sugar, and ½ pint water; lay a piece of white paper over, to keep in the steam, and let them simmer gently, three hours.

Fruit _pastes_ are made by boiling the fruit with clarified sugar to a thick marmalade; moulded into thin cakes, and dried in a stove.

{316}_To Candy Fruit._

Put fruit, finished in syrup, in a layer, in a new sieve, and dip it quickly into hot water; spread it on a napkin before the fire to drain, and do more in the sieve; sift double refined sugar over the fruit, till white all over. Spread it on the shallow ends of sieves to dry in a _warm_ oven, turning it two or three times. Do not let it get cold before it is dry. Watch it carefully.

_Almacks._

1 lb. each of baking pears, apples, apricots, and plums; slice the two first, and open the others, put them, in alternate layers, in an earthen jar, in a slow oven. When the fruit is soft, squeeze it through a cullender, put to it 1 lb. lump sugar, and simmer gently, stirring all the while, till it leaves the pan clear, then put it in small moulds, or drop it in little cakes; when cold, put them by.

_Peaches, Apricots, and Plums in Brandy._

Gather peaches before they are quite ripe, prick them with a needle, and rub off the down with a piece of flannel. Pass a quill carefully round the stone to loosen it. Put them into a large preserving-pan, with cold water, rather more than enough to cover them, and let it gradually become scalding hot. If the water does more than simmer very gently, or the fire be fierce, the fruit may crack. When tender, lift them carefully out, and fold them in flannel, or a soft table cloth, in several folds. Have ready a quart, or more, as the peaches require, of the best brandy, and dissolve in it 10 oz. of powdered sugar. When cool, put them into a glass jar, and pour the brandy and sugar over. Cover with leather, or a bladder.

_Cherries in Brandy._

Gather morella cherries on a dry day, when quite ripe; cut off _half_ the stalk, and put them into wide mouthed bottles, strewing layers of finely pounded sugar between. Allow to each bottle half the weight of the fruit in sugar. {317}When the fruit reaches the neck of the bottle, fill up with brandy; cork and rosin it tight.

_Grapes in Brandy._

Put some close bunches, of any sort, into a jar (having pricked each grape), strew a good quantity of pounded sugar candy over them, and fill up the jar with brandy. Tie a bladder over, and keep in a cool place.

_Barberries for Tartlets._

Pick barberries without stones, from their stalks, and put them into a stone jar, in a kettle of water, or on a hot hearth, and simmer very slowly till the fruit is soft: then put it into a pan with ¾ lb. lump sugar to 1 lb. barberries, and boil slowly for fifteen minutes. Use no metal but silver.

_Barberries in Bunches._

Tie the stalks of the fruit on little flat pieces of wood, 3 inches long, a ¼ inch wide. Simmer these in syrup two successive days, and when cold, cover them with the syrup. On the third day candy them. (See to candy fruit.)

{318}CHAPTER XXIV.

PICKLES.

THE great art of pickling consists in using good vinegar, and in selecting the various articles, at the proper seasons.--Pickles are indigestible, but their liquor is good to give relish to cold meat, therefore the strongest vinegar should be used, because a less quantity will suffice. They should be kept in a dry place, and glass jars are best, because then it is easy to perceive whether the vinegar diminishes, and if it does, more should be boiled with spice, and poured over the pickles. Fill the jars 3 parts full with the pickles, but always let there be 3 inches above their surface of vinegar. If earthenware jars are used, let them be unglazed; and vinegar should always be boiled in unglazed earthenware; indeed, it ought never to _boil_ at all, but be just scalding hot, for boiling causes much of the strength to evaporate. Keep the bottles closely stopped, with bungs, and a bladder, wetted in the pickle. When you have opened a bottle, cork it again, put a fresh bladder over, if you wish the pickles to keep. When the pickles are all used, the vinegar should be boiled up with a little more spice, and bottled when cold. The colour of pickles is a matter of no small difficulty, though of the greatest consequence, when used by way of ornament. A fine colour is sometimes preserved by keeping pickles a long time in scalding hot vinegar, the vessel being covered. When a bottle of capers or pickles is opened, it should be kept filled, by fresh boiled vinegar.

Artichokes are in season in July and August.

Cauliflowers, in July and August.

Capsicum pods, end of July and beginning of August.

Cucumbers, the end of July to the end of August.

French beans, July.

{319}Mushrooms, September.

Nasturtium pods, middle of July.

Onions from the middle to the end of July.

Radish pods, July.

Red cabbage, August.

Samphire, August.

Tomatas, the end of July to the end of August.

_Walnuts._

Make a strong brine of salt and water, about ¼ lb. salt to a quart of water, and steep the walnuts in it a week, previously pricking them with a large needle; then put them, with the brine, into a stew-pan, gently simmer them, pour off the liquor, lay the walnuts on a sieve to drain in the air two days, to turn them black. Have ready made a pickle of strong vinegar; add to each quart 1 oz. ginger, 1 oz. strong pepper, 1 oz. eschalots, 1 oz. salt, ½ oz. allspice, and ½ a drachm of cayenne (some persons add garlic, brown mustard-seed, bay leaves, cloves, mace, chopped chilies, and horse-radish); put all into a stone jar, tie over a bladder wetted with vinegar, and over that a leather; keep it close by the side of the fire two days and nights; shake it frequently. Put the walnuts into jars, and pour the pickle hot over them; when cold, put in bungs, and tie wetted bladder over.

_Walnuts, Green._

The best time is while the shells are still tender, and before they are quite ripe. Lay them in a strong brine of salt and water for ten days, changing the brine twice during that time; put in a thin board to float over, that the air may not get to them and turn them black; then pour the brine from the walnuts, and run a large needle several times through each one; lay some vine leaves at the bottom of an earthen pan, put in the walnuts, and cover with more leaves, fill up the vessel with water, and put it on the fire till scalding hot; then pour off the water, put fresh in, let that become hot, pour it off, and repeat this once again; scrape off the husks, rub the walnuts smooth with flannel, and throw them into a vessel of hot water. Boil, three minutes, a quart of vinegar for every 50 walnuts, with {320}white pepper, salt, ginger, cloves, and cayenne (in the proportion of the last receipt), and after rubbing the walnuts, dry them out of the water, and pour the vinegar over them.

_Gherkins._

The best are about 4 inches long, and 1 inch in diameter. Put them into unglazed jars, or open pans, and pour salt and water over (¼ lb. salt to a quart of water), cover, and set them by the side, when not convenient for them to stand before the fire; in two or three days they will be yellow; pour off the water, and cover them with scalding hot vinegar: set them again before the fire, and keep them of an equal heat, if possible, for ten days, and they will become green; then pour off the vinegar, and have ready to pour over the gherkins (in jars), the same pickle as that for walnuts, leaving out the eschalots if you choose. The vinegar poured from the gherkins should be bottled, for it will be good cucumber vinegar.

_Onions._

Take off the tops and coats of small round silver button onions, the size of a nutmeg, and put them into a stew-pan three parts full of boiling water; put no more at once than just enough to cover the top of the water. As soon as the onions look transparent, take them up in a sieve, lay them on a folded cloth, whilst you scald the remainder. Make them quite dry with these cloths, then fill the jars three parts full, and pour over them the following pickle, quite hot: to a quart of strong vinegar put 1 oz. allspice, 1 oz. ginger, 1 oz. mace, 1 oz. scraped horse-radish, 1 oz. black pepper, and 1 oz. salt; infuse it by the fire three or four days; when the pickle and the onions are cold, bung the jars, and cover them, first with bladder wetted in vinegar, then with leather.--_Or_: put the onions into salt and water, change that every day for three days, then put them in a stew-pan with cold milk and water, let that stand over a fire till _near_ to a boil, take out the onions, dry, and put them into jars, and pour a pickle over of good vinegar, salt, mace, and pepper, boiled and become cold.

{321}_Cucumbers and Onions._

Boil in 3 pints of vinegar ¼ lb. flour of mustard, mixed as for table use; let it get cold; slice 12 large cucumbers, and ½ gallon large onions; put them into jars with 2 oz. ginger, ½ oz. white pepper, and a small quantity of mace and cloves, and pour the vinegar, cold, over them.

_Red Cabbage._

Cut out the stalk, and divide a firm, dark coloured middling sized cabbage, then cut in slices the breadth of straws; sprinkle salt over, and let it lie two days; then drain the slices very dry; fill the jar, 3 parts full, and pour a hot pickle over them, of strong vinegar, heated with black pepper, ginger, and allspice. Cover the jar to keep the steam in, and when the pickle is cold, put in bungs, and tie bladders over.

_Melon Mangoes._

Cut a small square piece out of one side, and take out the seeds; fill them with brown mustard seeds, garlic, eschalot, scraped horse-radish, ripe capsicums, and a little finely pounded ginger: stuff the melons as full as the space will allow, replace the square piece, and bind them up tightly with thread. Boil a gallon of white wine vinegar, with ¼ oz. mace, ¼ oz. cloves, ½ oz. ginger, ½ oz. black and long pepper, and ½ oz. cayenne; as it is coming to a boil, pour in a wine-glassful of essence of horse-radish, and of garlic vinegar.

_Beet Root._

Boil them very gently from an hour and a half to two hours, or till 3 parts done; take them out of the water to cool; peel and cut them in slices about half an inch thick. Prepare a pickle of good vinegar, and to each quart 1 oz. black pepper, ½ oz. salt, ½ oz. horse-radish, ½ oz. ginger, and a little cayenne; infuse these by the fire three days, and let the pickle be cold before you pour it over the beet-root.

{322}_Mushrooms._

Take the red inside out of the large ones, and rub both large and small, with a piece of flannel and salt; put them into a stew-pan, with a little mace and pepper, and strew salt over; keep them over a slow fire, till the liquor which will be drawn, dries up again; shake the stew-pan often; then pour over as much vinegar as will cover them, let it become hot, but not boil, and put all into a jar.--_Or_: boil buttons in milk and water till rather tender, put them into a cullender, and pump cold water on them till they are cold; put them into salt and water, for twenty-four hours, then dry them in a cloth. Make a pickle of distilled vinegar, mace, and ginger, if to be _white_, if not, white wine vinegar. It must be cold before you pour it over the pickle.

_India Pickle._

Put into a jar a gallon of white wine vinegar, 1 lb. sliced ginger, ½ oz. turmeric bruised, ½ lb. flour of mustard, ½ lb. salt, 1 oz. long pepper, bruised; peel ½ lb. garlic, lay it on a sieve, sprinkle it with salt, let it stand in the sun, or before the fire, three days to dry, then put it into the vinegar. Place the jar by the side of the fire, cover close, and let it remain three days, shake it every day, and it will be ready to receive the vegetables.--_Or_: boil in a gallon of vinegar, ten minutes, 2 oz. black and white peppercorns, 2 oz. flour of mustard, 2 oz. turmeric, and 2 oz. ginger, 1 oz. of the best cayenne, and a good quantity of young horse-radish: (you may add ½ oz. more turmeric, and 2 oz. white mustard seed), add curry powder and eschalots.--_Or_: to a gallon of the strongest vinegar allow 3 oz. curry powder, the same of flour of mustard, rub these together with ½ pint of olive oil, 3 oz. ginger bruised, 1 oz. turmeric, and ½ lb. of eschalots, and 2 oz. garlic (both these sliced and slightly baked in the Dutch oven), ¼ lb. salt, and 2 drachms cayenne; put it all into a jar, cover with bladder wetted in the vinegar, and keep it by the side of the fire three days, shake it several times during each day, and it will be ready to receive the vegetables. Great care is required, to prepare the vegetables; they should be gathered, as they come in season, on a dry day. {323}Parboil in salt and water strong enough to bear an egg, then drain and spread them in the sun, before the fire, or on a stove, to dry; this will occupy two days; then put them into the pickle. The vegetables are, large cucumbers sliced, gherkins, large onions sliced, small onions, cauliflowers, and brocoli in branches, celery, French beans, nasturtiums, capsicums, white turnip radishes, coddling apples, siberian crabs, green peaches, a large carrot in slices, nicked round the edges, and a white cabbage cut up; neither red cabbage nor walnuts. Small green melons are good; cut a slit to take out the seeds, parboil the melons in salt and water, drain and dry, then fill them with mustard seed, and 2 or 3 cloves, tie round, and put them into the pickle.--Some persons boil it up after the vegetables are in. These receipts are all good.

_Lemons._

Cut them across, about half way through, and put 1½ tea-spoonful of salt into each one, let them lie in a deep dish five or six days; to each lemon add 1½ nutmeg, grated, 1 table-spoonful of black mustard seed, and a little mace; boil till tender, in vinegar to cover them, then put them by. Keep the jar filled with vinegar.--_Or_: cut the lemons in 4 parts, but not through, fill with fine salt, put them in layers in a jar, and sprinkle fine salt over each layer. Examine and turn them, every five or six days, and in six weeks they will be ready. If dry, add lemon juice to them.--_Or_: grate the rind of 8 lemons, rub well with salt, and turn them every day for a week: put them into a jar with 2 oz. race ginger, a large stick of horse-radish sliced, 2 tea-spoonsful flour of mustard, 3 of cayenne, 1 oz. turmeric, and vinegar enough to cover them. Put more vinegar if required.

_Cauliflower_ and _brocoli_ before they are quite ripe, may be picked in neat branches, and pickled, the same way as _gherkins_; also _French beans_, nasturtiums and radish pods, in the same way.

{324}CHAPTER XXV.

VINEGARS.

VINEGAR is seldom made at home, and as the best is made from wine only, it is scarcely worth the trouble, for, for every purpose, the best vinegar is the cheapest.

_Gooseberry Vinegar._

To every quart of bruised ripe gooseberries, put 3 quarts of spring water, stir well, and steep them eight and forty hours; then strain into a barrel, and to every gallon of liquor, put 2 lbs. white pounded sugar, and a toast soaked in yeast. Put it in the sun in summer, and by the fire in winter, for six months, without stopping the bung hole, but keep it always covered with a plate. White currants, stripped, in the same way.--_Or_: boil 1 lb. coarse brown sugar in a gallon of water, a quarter of an hour, scumming well; put it in a pan; when nearly cold put in a thick slice of toasted bread spread with yeast: let it work twenty-four hours, put it in a cask or jar, and place that in the sun, or near the fire. You may add some ripe gooseberries, bruised.

_Good Common Vinegar._

To every gallon of water, put 2 lbs. coarse sugar, boil and skim. Put it in a pan or tub, and when sufficiently cold add a slice of toast, spread on both sides with fresh yeast. Let it stand a week, then barrel, and set it in the sun or by the fire, for six months.

_Cider Vinegar._

To every gallon of cider, put 1 lb. white sugar, shake well, and let it ferment, four months.

{325}_Vinegar of Wine Lees._

Boil the lees half an hour, during which, skim well. Pour it into a cask, with a bunch of chervil. Stop the cask close, and in a month it will be ready.

_Cayenne Vinegar._

Put into a quart of the best vinegar, 10 oz. cayenne, 1 oz. salt, 1 oz. cloves, 1 oz. garlic broken, and 2 grains cochineal bruised; shake it every day, for a fortnight.

_Chili Vinegar._

Put 100 fresh gathered red chilies into a quart of the best white wine vinegar; infuse them, ten days, shaking the bottle every other day. ½ an ounce of really good cayenne will answer the purpose of the chilies.--A spoonful or two in melted butter, for fish sauce. _Chili Wine._--The same way as the last, using sherry, or brandy, instead of vinegar. A fine flavouring ingredient.

_Eschalot Vinegar or Wine._

Infuse in a pint of vinegar, 1 oz. eschalots, peeled and sliced, a little scraped horse-radish, and 2 tea-spoonsful cayenne: shake the jar or bottle, once a day for three weeks, then strain and bottle the liquor. _Wine._--Very good for flavouring made dishes: peel, mince and pound in a mortar, 3 oz. eschalots and steep them in a pint of sherry ten days, pour off the liquor and put in 3 oz. fresh eschalots, and let it stand again ten days, then pour off and bottle it.

_Tarragon Vinegar._

Pick the leaves on a dry day, about Midsummer, make them perfectly dry before the fire, then put them into a wide-mouthed bottle or jar, and pour in vinegar to cover them; steep them fourteen days, then strain through a flannel jelly bag, into half pint bottles; cork carefully, and keep in a dry place.

{326}_Vinegar for Salads._

Take of chives, savory, tarragon, and eschalots, each 3 oz., of balm and mint tops, a handful each. Dry, pound, and put them into a wide mouthed bottle or jar, with a gallon of the best vinegar, and cork close. Set it in the sun, for a fortnight, strain it, squeeze the herbs; let it stand a day, then strain and bottle it.

_Garlic Vinegar._

Peel and bruise 2 oz. garlic, infuse it in a quart of vinegar, three weeks. Strain and bottle it. A few drops to a pint of gravy; a very slight flavour is approved of by some, which by others, is considered highly offensive.

_Green Mint Vinegar._

Fill a wide mouthed bottle with the green leaves, cover with vinegar and steep them a week; pour off the vinegar, put in fresh leaves, let it stand another week, then bottle it.

_Horse-radish Vinegar._

Prepare this about November. Scrape 3 oz., also 2 oz. eschalots, and 1 drachm of cayenne, pour on them a quart of vinegar, and let it stand a week, then strain, and it is ready.

_Camp Vinegar._

Put into a pint of the best vinegar, 1 drachm of cayenne, 3 table-spoonsful soy, 4 table-spoonsful walnut catsup, a small clove of garlic, minced fine, and 4 anchovies chopped. Steep a month, shake it every other day, strain it, pour it into pint or ½ pint bottles.

_Cucumber Vinegar._

Pare 8 or 10 large cucumbers, cut in thin slices, and put them into a china bowl, with 2 onions sliced, a few eschalots, a little salt, white pepper, and cayenne. Boil a quart of {327}vinegar, let it cool, then pour it into the bowl; cover close, let it stand three days, and bottle it.

_Basil Wine._

About the end of August fill a wide mouthed bottle with fresh leaves of basil, cover with sherry and infuse them ten days; strain and put in fresh leaves, infuse another ten days, then pour off, and bottle it. A table-spoonful to a tureen of mock turtle, just before it is served.

_Raspberry Vinegar._

This, besides being a nice sauce for batter and other light puddings, is good with water, as a summer drink, also for colds, sore throat or fever. It will not be good unless made with fresh fruit; and the finer the sugar, the clearer the syrup.--To 1 quart of fruit add 1 pint of vinegar (cold); cover close for twenty-four hours; pour off the liquor, and put to it a quart of fresh fruit, cover close and let it again stand for twenty-four hours; repeat this for the third time. Then boil up the vinegar, with a lb. of lump sugar to each pint, until it becomes a syrup.

{328}CHAPTER XXVI.

ESSENCES.

SOME of the following are useful in culinary, others in medicinal compounds, and some in both.

_Essence of Ginger._

Put 3 oz. fresh grated ginger, and 1 oz. thinly cut lemon peel into a quart of brandy, let it stand ten days, and shake it every day.--_Essence of Allspice_--Oil of pimento, 1 drachm, strong spirits of wine, 2 oz., mix them by degrees; a few drops will flavour a pint of gravy or wine.--_Essence of Nutmeg, Clove, or Mace_--Put 1 drachm of either into 2 oz. of the strongest spirit of wine. A few drops will be sufficient.--_Essence of Cinnamon_--2 oz. spirits of wine, and 1 drachm of oil of cinnamon.

_Essence of Savoury Spice._

1 oz. black pepper, ½ oz. allspice finely pounded, ¼ oz. grated nutmeg, infused in a pint of brandy ten days.

_Essence of Cayenne._

Steep 1 oz. good cayenne in 1 pint of brandy, or spirits of wine, a fortnight, then strain and bottle it, for use.

_Essence of Seville Orange and Lemon Peel._

Rub lump sugar on the lemon or orange, till quite saturated with the rind, then scrape the sugar so saturated into the jar you keep it in, rub the rind again, and so on, till you have enough, press the sugar down close, and keep it for use. This imparts a very nice flavour to custards and puddings. Tincture of lemon peel is made by paring the peel, and steeping it in brandy.

{329}CHAPTER XXVII.

CATSUPS.

THESE should be made at home, as well as pickles. A small quantity of catsup every year is sufficient, and very little time and trouble will provide it. It should be put into small bottles (filled to the neck), for when a cork is once drawn, catsups, essences, and pickles begin to decay. The bottles kept lying on their side, because this tends to preserve the cork. Keep them in a dry place.

_Mushroom Catsup._

Made in September. The large flaps are best. Break off whatever parts are dirty or decayed, and lay the rest in pieces, in an earthen pan in layers, with salt between; put a folded cloth over, and let it stand a day and night, or longer, by the side of the fire; then strain off the liquor into the saucepan, and to every quart, put ½ oz. black peppercorns, a ¼ oz. allspice, ½ oz. sliced ginger, a few cloves, and 2 or 3 blades of mace. Boil the liquor, fifteen minutes, over a quick fire, though it will be stronger and keep longer, if boiled until the quantity be reduced one half, and then the spices need not be put in until it has been boiling about twenty minutes. When you take it off the fire, let it stand to settle, pour off clear, and bottle it; the sediment may be strained and bottled also, for it answers for fish sauce and brown soup. Anchovies, bay leaves, and cayenne, may be added to the spices. Dip the corks in melted rosin. Some put a table-spoonful of brandy into each pint bottle. A table-spoonful of mushroom catsup is sufficient to flavour ½ pint of sauce.--_Or_: break them in a pan, sprinkle salt between and let them stand till the next day, when, if their liquor be not drawn, add fresh mushrooms and more salt: the next day pour off {330}the liquor, boil it three hours, let it settle, strain and add to every 2 quarts, ½ oz. of cloves, ½ oz, nutmegs, ½ oz. mace, 1 oz. race ginger, 1 oz. jamaica, and 1 oz. black pepper, some eschalots and horse-radish, and 1 pint of Port wine, then boil it again half an hour. This will keep well.

_Walnut Catsup._

Gather them green, prick them with a large needle, and let them lie three days, in an earthen pan, sprinkled with a handful of salt, and a very little water. Mash them well each day, with a rolling pin. On the fourth day, pour some scalding hot salt and water over, mash again, and let them stand the whole day; then with a spoon or cup, lift out what liquor there is, pound the walnuts well, and pour a little good vinegar and water over them, which will extract all their juice; pour this off, and put to it what you already have, boil it slowly, and scum well. When there is no longer any scum, put to every quart 1 oz. bruised ginger, 1 oz. allspice, 1 oz. black pepper, a ¼ oz. each of cloves, mace, and nutmeg; simmer it three quarters of an hour, when cold, bottle it.--_Or_: when of a full size, but tender, pound the walnuts, strain out the juice, let it settle and boil it up, taking off the scum as it rises: to each 2 quarts allow 3 lbs. anchovies, and boil gently till they are dissolved, then strain, and boil again with a small quantity of garlic and eschalots, a stick of cinnamon, ½ an oz. each of black pepper, cloves and mace, the rind of 2 lemons, 3 pints of vinegar, 4 wine-glassfuls of port wine, and the same of strong beer; boil it gently three quarters of an hour; scum well. The longer this is kept the better.

_Oyster Catsup._

Use fresh Melton oysters. Pound them in a marble mortar, and to a pint of oysters add a pint of sherry. Boil them up, then add 1 oz. salt, 2 drachms of pounded mace, and 1 drachm of cayenne; boil up again, skim, then strain it through a sieve, and when cold, bottle it, and seal down the corks. Brandy will assist to keep it: it is a nice catsup for white sauces.--Cockles and muscles, the same way, but a pounded anchovy or two may be added to give {331}flavour.--_Or_: boil 100 oysters in 3 pints of sherry, with 1 lb. of anchovies, and 1 lemon sliced, for half an hour; then strain it, add a ¼ oz. cloves, ¼ oz. mace, 2 oz. eschalots, and 1 nutmeg sliced, boil it a quarter of an hour: when cold, bottle it, with the spice and eschalots. If the oysters are large they should be cut.

_Tomata Catsup._

Take 6 doz. tomatas, 2 doz. eschalots, 1 doz. cloves of garlic, 2 sticks of horse-radish, and 6 bay leaves; slice and put them in 1½ pint of vinegar, with a handful of salt, 2 oz. pepper, 2 oz. allspice, and a little mace. Boil well together, ten minutes, pour it into a pan, let it stand till the next day, add a pint of sherry, give it one boil, take it off the fire, skim it, and after it has stood a few minutes, add a tea-cupful of anchovy sauce, and a tea-spoonful of cayenne. Strain, and when cold, bottle it. The pulp may be rubbed through a sieve for sauce.

_Lobster Catsup._

Get a lobster of about 3 lbs. weight, and full of spawn, pick out all the meat, and pound the coral with 6 anchovies in a marble mortar: when completely bruised, add the meat, pound and moisten it with ½ a pint of sherry or Madeira, a tea-spoonful of cayenne, a wine-glassful of chili or eschalot vinegar, and 1½ pint of eschalot wine; mix well, put it into wide-mouthed bottles, on the top put a dessert-spoonful of whole black peppers, to each bottle: cork tightly, rosin them, and tie leather over. Keep in a cool place. 4 or 5 table-spoonsful to a tureen of thick melted butter.

{332}CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE CELLAR.

A GOOD cellar, besides its general convenience, in regard to a variety of household purposes, is indispensable to every one who wishes to have good beer. However skilful and successful the brewer, no beer, nor, indeed, any fermented liquors (with few exceptions), can be kept good, any length of time, especially in the summer months, unless they be secured from being turned sour by heat, and by sudden variations of the atmosphere. No cellar can be considered perfect which is not below the surface of the ground. Houses in the country are frequently without the convenience of underground cellaring; but every house ought, where it is practicable, to be built over cellars, which, independently of other advantages, contribute very materially to the dryness and warmth of the building.

The directions for brewing, given by my father, in his "_Cottage Economy_," are so circumstantial, and so simple, clear, and intelligible, that any person, however inexperienced, who reads them with attention, may, without further instruction, venture to brew without risk of a failure. It is certain that many families, who had previously never thought of brewing their own beer, have been encouraged by the plainness and simplicity of his directions to attempt it, and have never since been without good home-made beer. Brewing is not, perhaps, in strictness, a feminine occupation; there are, nevertheless, many women who are exceedingly skilful in the art. It is obviously not within the province of the mistress of a house, even to superintend the brewing department, but, when circumstances may render it necessary that she should undertake the task, she cannot, when about to give her directions, do better than consult the "_Cottage Economy_."

{333}The utensils necessary are: a copper, a mash-tub and stand, an under-back, to stand under the edge of the mash-tub, when the malt is put in, two buckets, a strainer, a cooler, a tun-tub, and a cask to put the beer in.

Having these utensils, the next thing is, materials for making the beer. These are, soft water, malt, and hops. The water should be _soft_, because hard water does not so well extract the goodness of the malt; but if you have none but hard water, soften it by letting it stand two days in some open vessel in the air. The malt should be (or, at least, usually is) ground or bruised into a very coarse meal. The hops should be fresh, of a bright yellow, and highly scented. Farnham hops are the cleanest and best. I give receipts for finings, but do not recommend them, though they certainly will make beer clear which might not be so without them.

The process is this: if you mean to make about a hogshead of beer, take 120 gallons of water (soft, or softened by exposure to the air), and put it into the copper. When it has boiled, pour it into the malt. This is rather a nice matter; if you put in the malt too soon, it cakes and becomes dough. The old-fashioned rule is, to let the steam keep flying off till you can see your features in the water; but as the weather frequently renders this an uncertain criterion, take your thermometer, and plunge it into the water now and then, and when the quicksilver stands at 170, the heat is about right. Pour the malt in gently, taking care to stir it about as it goes in, so as to separate it, and make every particle come in contact with the water; when it is all in, stir it for twenty minutes or half an hour; then put your stirring-stick across the mash-tub, and cover cloths all over to keep in the heat. Let this, which is called _mashing_, go on for four or five hours. It cannot well be too long about. When the malt has remained soaking all this time, draw off the liquor by means of your buckets, and put it into the copper again. This liquor is called the "_sweet wort_." Light the fire under the copper, and pour into it, for _every bushel_ of malt that you have mashed, ¾ lb. of _hops_, or, if not very good, 1 lb. for every bushel. Stir these well into the wort, and keep it on a good hard boil for an hour, being very particular to make it boil all the while. This being done, you have now to cool the beer: {334}rake the fire out from under the copper, and again take out your liquor in your buckets; put the cooler in some place away from the chances of dirt falling into it, and where it may stand level; then strain the liquor into it. The next operation is, the _working_; and the most difficult part of this is, to ascertain when, precisely, the liquor is cool enough to bear it. Experienced brewers generally ascertain this by the feel of the liquor, by merely putting the finger into it; but it is better to use the thermometer again; plunge it in, and when the quicksilver stands at 70 the heat is right. Then, with your buckets again, put the whole of the liquor out of the cooler into the tun-tub; and take a pint, or thereabouts, of fresh yeast (balm), and mix it in a bowl with some of the liquor; then pour it into the tun-tub with the liquor that is now cool enough to be set to work; mix it up a little by dipping the bowl in once or twice, and pouring it down from a height of two or three feet above the surface of the liquor in the tun-tub; then cover the tun-tub with cloths, as you did the mash-tub. In a few hours it will begin to work; that is, a little froth, like that of bottled porter, will begin to rise upon the surface; when this has risen to its height, and begins to flatten at the top and sink, it should be skimmed off, and is good yeast, and the beer is ready to put into the cask in your cellar. When you put it into the cask, let it stand a day, without being bunged down, because it may work a little there. When you find that it does not, then, if you use finings, put them in, and bung down tightly.

The following receipt is given to me by a gentleman who is celebrated for the excellence of his beer.

Suppose the brewer is about to make a hogshead of beer of good strength. Eight bushels of malt will be sufficient. Let the water, if not _soft_, stand two days in some vessel in the open air, which will soften it. One hundred and twenty gallons will be sufficient; and, if he uses ground malt, let him remember to attend to the heat of the water in the mash-tub before he puts it in, and also to the stirring and separating as it goes in. When it has stood long enough in the mash-tub, he must draw it off, and put it into the copper, and then throw in ¾ lb. of good hops _for every bushel of malt_; or, if the hops be not really good and strong, 1 lb. _to the bushel_. Boil the liquor at least an hour; {335}but be very particular to make it boil the whole time; for much depends on this. Beer that has not boiled well is always crude, and soon spoils. It is the great fault of most brewers, that, to save the evaporation caused by a good boiling, they cool the liquor before it is sufficiently cooked. When it has boiled the proper time, pour it immediately, hot as it is, into a clean cask; put the bung and vent-peg in lightly; watch the cask, and when you find fermentation going on, which will show itself by a little oozing out of froth round the bung, take out both bung and vent-peg, and let them remain out till the working is over, and the froth begins to sink down into the cask; then put the bung and vent-peg in tightly, and the brewing is over. The cask should not be filled to running over, yet very little space should be left below the bung when driven in, as the body of air that would fill this vacancy would deaden the beer.

This mode deviates from that practised by my father, in two essential points: namely, the _cooling_ and the _working_ of the beer; for, in the last receipt it is not cooled at all, and no yeast is required to work it. If it answers, it is a less troublesome, and, calculating the cost of the coolers, less expensive mode of brewing than that detailed in the "_Cottage Economy_."

The "Cottage Economy" speaks of the necessity of keeping the casks in good order; and this is a matter, though of great importance, often neglected. New casks should be seasoned before they are used; one way recommended is, to boil 2 pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, pour it hot into the cask, stop close, and let it stand two days, then wash it out well, and drain the cask. Servants are negligent about vent-pegs and bungs. They should be put in tight, the tap taken out, and a cork put in, as soon as the last beer is drawn. If the casks were kept in proper order, beer would not so often be spoiled. Of equal consequence, is the cleanness of the brewing utensils. They should be scoured well with a brush and scalding water, after they have been used. Do not use soap or any thing greasy. A strong ley of wood ashes may be used, if there be any apprehension of taint. When hops are dear, gentian may be substituted in part for them, in the proportion of 8¼ oz. gentian, and 2 lbs. hops, to 12 bushels of malt.

{336}_To Fine Beer._

Draw out a gallon of ale, put to it 2 oz. isinglass, cut small and beaten; stir the beer, and whip it with a whisk, to dissolve the isinglass, then strain, and pour it back into the cask, stir well, a few minutes, and put the bung in lightly, because a fresh fermentation will take place. When that is over stop it close; let the vent-peg be loose. Fermentation is over, make the vent-peg tight; and in a fortnight the beer will be fine. Drink 3 parts, and bottle the rest.--A good way to fine new beer, is to run the wort through a flannel into the tun, before it has worked.

_For Stale Small Beer._

Put 1 lb. chalk, in small pieces, into a half hogshead, and stop it close. It will be fit to drink on the third day.--_Or_: put half chalk, and the other half hops.

_To Bottle Beer._

Stone bottles are best. The best corks the cheapest, put them in cold water half an hour before you use them. The bottles perfectly clean and sweet, fill them with beer, put in each bottle a small tea-spoonful of powdered sugar, and let them stand uncorked, till the next day: then cork, and lay the bottles on their sides; or, better still, stand them with the necks downwards.--When a bottle is emptied, the cork should be returned into it directly, or it will become musty.

_To Make Cider._

The apples quite ripe, but not rotten. If the weather be frosty, gather the apples, and spread them from 1 to 2 feet thick, on the ground, and cover with straw; if mild, let them hang on the trees, or remain under, if fallen, until you are ready to make the cider. It should not be made in warm weather, unless they are beginning to rot, in which case you must not delay. Unripe fruit should be made by itself, as the cider never keeps.--Large cider mills will make from 100 to 150 gallons in a day, according to the difference in the quality of fruit, some sorts of apples being {337}more tough and less juicy than others, consequently requiring more grinding. Not more than 7 or 8 bushels should be put into the mill at once. They should be ground, till the kernels and rinds are all well mashed, to give the flavour to cider. Pour the cider from the mill into a press; press the juice well, then pour it into hogsheads. When it has done fermenting, and the time for this is very uncertain, rack it off into other hogsheads, let it settle, and then bung it down.

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ENGLISH WINES AND CORDIALS.

Fruit of every kind should be gathered in dry sunny weather, quite ripe. All home made wines are the better for a little brandy; though some persons never use any.

_To Clear Wine._

Dissolve ½ lb. hartshorn shavings in cider or rhenish wine; this is sufficient for a hogshead.--_Or_: to 2 table-spoonsful boiled rice, add ½ oz. burnt alum in powder: mix with a pint, or more, of the wine, stir it into the cask, with a stout stick, but do not agitate the lees.--_Or_: dissolve ½ oz. isinglass, in a pint or more of the wine, mix with it ½ oz. of chalk in powder, and put it into the cask: stir the wine, but not the lees.

_British Sherry, or Malt Wine._

Take 12 quarts of the best sweet wort, from pale malt, let it cool and put it into a 10 gallon cask. Take as much water as will be required to fill up the cask, put it on the fire, with 22 lbs. of the best lump sugar, stir from time to time, and let it boil gently about a quarter of an hour, taking off the scum as it rises. Take it off the fire, let it cool, pour it into the cask, and put in a little good yeast. It may, perhaps, continue to ferment two or three weeks; when this has ceased, put in 3 lbs. raisins, chopped fine; these may cause fresh fermentation, which must be allowed to subside; then put in the rinds of 4 Seville oranges, and their juice, also a quart of good brandy; at the end of three {338}or four days, if a fresh fermentation have not taken place, put the bung in tight. Keep it a year in the cask, then bottle it; the longer it is kept the better.--_Or_: stir 42 lbs. good moist sugar into 14 gallons of water, till it is dissolved, then boil it twenty minutes; let it cool in a tub, then put in 16 lbs. good Malaga raisins, picked and chopped; when it is quite cold pour in 2 gallons of strong beer ready to be tunned, and let it stand eight days; then taking out the raisins, put it into a 16 gallon cask, with 2 quarts of the best brandy, 1 lb. bitter almonds blanched, and 2 oz. isinglass. Bottle it in a year.

_British Madeira._

Boil 30 lbs. moist sugar in 10 gallons of water, half an hour, and scum well. Let it cool, and to every gallon put 1 quart of ale, out of the vat; let this work, in a tub, a day or two; then put it in the cask, with 1 lb. sugar candy, 6 lbs. raisins, 1 quart of brandy, and 2 oz. isinglass. When it has ceased to ferment, bung it tight, for a year.

_English Frontiniac._

Boil 11 lbs. lump sugar in 4 gallons of water, half an hour; when only milk warm, put it to nearly a peck of elder flowers, picked clear from the stalks, the juice and peel of 4 large lemons, cut very thin, 3 lbs. stoned raisins, and 2 or 3 spoonsful yeast: stir often, for four or five days. When quite done working, bung it tight, and bottle it in a week.

_Red Currant Wine._

To 28 lbs. of moist sugar, allow 4 gallons of water, pour it over the sugar, and stir it well. Have a sieve of currants (which usually produces between 10 and 11 quarts of juice), squeeze the fruit with the hand, to break the currants, and as you do so, put the crushed fruit into a horse-hair sieve, press it, and when no more will run through the sieve, wring the fruit in a coarse cloth. Pour the juice on the sugar and water, mix it, and then pour it all into a 9 gallon cask, and fill it with water, if the barrel should not be full.--The cask should be filled up {339}with water every day, while the wine ferments, and be bunged up tight, when it ceases. This is a cheap and simple method of making currant wine.--_Or_: put a bushel of red, and a peck of white currants, into a tub or pan, squeeze well; strain them through a sieve upon 28 lbs. of powdered sugar; when the sugar is dissolved put in some water in the proportion of 1½ gallon to 1 gallon of juice, pour it all into the barrel, add 3 or 4 pints of raspberries, and a little brandy.

_Raisin Wine._

Put the raisins in at the bung-hole of a close cask (which will be the better for having recently had wine in it), then pour in spring water, in the proportion of a gallon to 8 lbs. raisins; the cask should stand in a good cellar, not affected by external air. When the fermentation begins to subside, pour in a bottle of brandy, and put the bung in loosely; when the fermentation has wholly subsided, add a second bottle of brandy, and stop the cask close. In a year it will be fit to bottle, immediately from the cask, without refining. Malaga raisins make the finest wine: Smyrna, rich and full, and more resembling foreign wine.

_Gooseberry Wine._

To every pound of green gooseberries, picked and bruised, add 1 quart of water, steep them four days, stirring twice a day. Strain the liquor through a sieve, and to every gallon add 3 lbs. loaf sugar; also to every 20 gallons, a quart of brandy, and a little isinglass. When the sugar is dissolved, tun the wine, and let it work, which it will do in a week, or little more, keeping back some of the wine to fill up the cask, before you stop it close. Let it stand in the barrel six months, bottle it, in six more begin to drink it.

_To make 4 gallons of Elder Wine._

Boil 1 peck of berries in 4 gallons of water, half an hour; strain and add 2½ lbs. moist sugar. To every gallon of water add ½ oz. cloves, and 2 oz. ginger, tied in a linen {340}bag, boil it again five minutes, and pour it into a pan. When cold, toast a piece of bread on both sides, spread it with good yeast, and put it in the wine. When worked sufficiently, put it into a spirit cask, and cork it down; take the spice out of the cloth, and put it into the cask, with a tumbler of brandy. Leave the vent peg out a few days; in three weeks or a month bottle it. _Elder Wine to drink cold._--Boil 1 gallon of berries in 2 gallons of water, two hours and a half. Add 3 lbs. moist sugar to every gallon of wine; boil it twenty minutes. Next day work it with a yeast toast. When worked enough, cask it, with ½ a bottle of brandy, and 7 lbs. raisins.

_Ginger Wine._

Boil in 9 gallons of water 12 lbs. loaf sugar, 12 lbs. of moist, 12 oz. good ginger sliced, and the rind of 8 lemons, half an hour, scumming all the time; let it stand till lukewarm, put it into a clean cask with the juice of the lemons, 6 lbs. chopped raisins, and a tea-cupful of yeast, stir every day for ten days, add ¾ oz. of isinglass and 2 quarts of brandy. Stop close, and in four months bottle it.--_Or_: in 12 gallons of water boil 12 lbs. loaf sugar, 12 oz. ginger, and the rind of 24 lemons, half an hour, scumming all the time; then put it in the cask with the lemon juice, 12 lbs. raisins, and the yeast, stir every day for a fortnight, add 2 oz. isinglass and 1 quart of brandy.

_Mountain Wine._

To 5 lbs. of large Malaga raisins, chopped very small, put a gallon of spring water; steep them a fortnight; squeeze out the liquor, and put it in a barrel: do not stop close until the hissing is over.

_Primrose Wine._

Boil 18 lbs. lump sugar in 6 gallons of water, with the juice of 8 lemons, 6 Seville oranges, and the whites of 8 eggs; boil half an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; when cool put in a crust of toasted bread, soaked in yeast, let it ferment thirty-six hours: put into the cask the peel of 12 lemons, and of 10 Seville oranges, with 6 gallons of {341}primrose pips, then pour in the liquor. Stir every day for a week, add 3 pints of brandy; stop the cask close, and in six weeks bottle the wine.

_Cowslip Wine._

Boil 3½ lbs. lump sugar in 4 quarts of water an hour, skim and let it stand until lukewarm, pour it into a pan, upon 4 quarts of cowslip flowers; add a piece of toasted bread spread with yeast, and let it stand four days: put in as many lemons, sliced, as you have gallons of wine, mix and put it into a cask, and stop close.

_Grape Wine._

To 1 gallon of bruised grapes (not over ripe), put 1 gallon of water. Let it stand six days, without stirring, strain it off fine, and to each gallon put 3 lbs. moist sugar; barrel, but do not stop it, till it has done hissing.--_Or_: the fruit barely half ripe, pick from the stalks, and bruise it, then put it in hair cloths, add an equal weight of water, and let it stand eighteen hours, stirring occasionally: dissolve in it from 3 lbs. to 3½ lbs. lump sugar, to each gallon, as you wish the wine to be more or less strong. Put it in a cask, fill it to the brim, and have 2 or 3 quarts in reserve to fill up with, as it diminishes by fermenting. Let it ferment ten days, when that is over, and there is no danger of the cask bursting, fasten it tight, leaving a small vent to open once a week, for a month. Fine and rack the wine in March, and bottle it in October; for a _brisk_ wine, it must ferment eight days longer, and be bottled the following March, in cold weather.

_Parsnip Wine._

Boil 1 bushel of sliced parsnips in 60 quarts of water, one hour, then strain it, add 45 lbs. lump sugar, boil one hour more, and when cold ferment with yeast; add a quart of brandy, then bottle it.--_Or_: to each gallon of water add 4 lbs. of parsnips, washed and peeled, which boil till tender; drain, but do not bruise them, for no remedy will make the wine clear: to each gallon of the liquor add 3 lbs. loaf sugar, and ½ oz. crude tartar, and when cooled to the {342}temperature of 75, put in a little new yeast; let it stand four days, in a tub, in a warm room; tun it, and bung up when the fermentation has ceased. March and October are the best seasons. It should remain twelve months in cask before it is bottled.

_Almond Wine._

Warm a gallon of water, add 3 lbs. loaf sugar, stir well from the bottom, and put in the white of an egg well beaten. When the water boils, stir, skim, and boil it an hour, put it in a pan to cool, and add ½ pint of yeast. Tun it next day, work it ten days, stirring once a day, then add to every gallon 1 lb. of sun raisins chopped, and rather less than ¼ lb. of almonds (pounded), more of bitter than sweet, and a little isinglass. Stop the cask close, for twelve months.

_Cherry Bounce._

To 4 quarts of brandy, 4 lbs. of red cherries, 2 lbs. of black cherries, and 1 quart of raspberries, a few cloves, a stick of cinnamon, and a bit of orange peel: let it stand a month, close stopped, then bottle it; a lump of sugar in each bottle.

_Orange Wine._

To 10 gallons of spring water put 30 lbs. of lump sugar: mix well, and put it on the fire with the whites of 7 eggs well beaten; do not stir before it boils: when it has boiled half an hour, skim well, put it into a tub, and let it stand till cold. Then put to it a pint of good ale yeast, and the peels of 10 Seville oranges very thin, let it stand two days, stirring night and morning. Then barrel it, adding the juice of 40 Seville oranges, and their peels. When it has done working, stop it close for six months before it is bottled.--_Or_: to 10 gallons of water, put 32 lbs. loaf sugar, and the whites of 4 eggs, beaten, boil as long as any scum rises, take that off, pour it through a sieve, and boil again, until quite clear; then pour it into a pan. Peel 100 Seville oranges, very thin; when the steam is a little gone off the water, put the peel into it, keeping back about a double handful. When the liquor is quite cold, squeeze in the {343}juice; let it stand two days, stirring occasionally; then strain it, through a hair sieve, into the cask, with the peel in reserve. If the fermentation has ceased, it may be bunged down in a week or ten days.

_Orange Brandy._

Steep the rinds of 8 Seville oranges and 3 lemons with 3 lbs. lump sugar, in 1 gallon of brandy, four days and nights. Stir often, and run it through blotting paper.

_A Liqueur._

Fill one third of a quart bottle with black currants and a quarter part as much of black cherries, fill up with brandy, put in a cork, and let it stand a month; strain it through linen, put in sugar to taste, let it stand again a month, then strain and bottle it.--_Quince_ may he used the same way, but in _Rum_.

_Shrub._

To 1 quart of strained orange juice, put 2 lbs. loaf sugar, and 9 pints of rum or brandy; also the peels of half the oranges. Let it stand one night, then strain, pour into a cask, and shake it four times a day for four days. Let it stand till fine, then bottle it.--_Lemon Shrub_: to 1 gallon of rum or whiskey, put 1½ pint of strained lemon juice, 4 lbs. of lump sugar, the peel of 9 lemons, and 5 bitter almonds. Mix the lemon juice and sugar first, let it stand a week, take off all the scum, then pour it from one jug carefully to another, and bottle it.

_Currant Rum._

To every pint of currant juice 1 lb. lump sugar, and to every 2 quarts of juice, 1 pint of water, set it over the fire, in a preserving pan, boil it, take off the scum, as it rises, and pour it into a pan to cool, stir till nearly cold, add to every 3 pints of liquor, 1 quart of rum, and bottle it.

_Ratafia._

Infuse 1 oz. each of anise, dill, carraway, coriander, {344}carrot, fennel, and angelica seeds, in 2 quarts of brandy, a fortnight in summer, and three weeks in winter: in the sun in summer, and in a chimney corner in winter. Shake it every day; strain through a jelly bag, and to every pint put 6 oz. of sugar, dissolved in water. Strain again, that it may be quite fine.--_Or_: _for Pudding Sauces_: blanch an equal quantity of peach, apricot, and nectarine kernels, slit and put them into a wide-mouthed bottle, with 1 oz. white sugar candy; fill it with brandy.

_Noyeau._

Put ¼ lb. sweet and ¼ lb. bitter almonds with 2 lbs. sugar and the rinds of 3 lemons into a quart of brandy (white is best), with ½ pint new milk: shake and mix well together, every day for a fortnight; then strain and bottle it.

_Real Drogheda Usquebaugh._

1 oz. anise seeds, ½ oz. fennel, 1 oz. green liquorice, 1 drachm coriander seeds, of cloves and mace, each 1 drachm, 1 lb. raisins of the sun, and ½ lb. figs. Slice the liquorice, bruise the other ingredients, and infuse all in a gallon of brandy eight days. Shake it 2 or 3 times a day; strain it, add 1 oz. of saffron in a bag: in two days bottle it.

_Milk Punch._

Take 2 quarts of water, 1 quart of milk, ½ pint of lemon juice, 1 quart of brandy, and sugar to your taste: put the milk and water together a little warm, then the sugar, then the lemon juice, stir well, then add the brandy; stir again, run it through a flannel bag, till very fine; then bottle it. It will keep a fortnight or more.--_Or_: steep the rinds of 6 lemons in a bottle of rum three days; add 1 quart of lemon juice, 3 quarts of cold soft water, 3 quarts of rum, 3 lbs. lump sugar, and 2 nutmegs grated; mix well, add 2 quarts boiling milk, let it stand five hours; strain through a jelly bag, and bottle it.

_Excellent Punch._

Put a piece of lemon peel into 3 pints of barley water, let {345}it cool, add the juice of 6 lemons, and ½ pint of brandy; sweeten to taste, and put it in the cool, for four hours. Add a little fine old rum.

_Norfolk Punch._

Steep the pulp of 12 lemons and 12 oranges, in 4 gallons of rum or brandy, twenty-four hours. Boil 12 lbs. of double refined sugar in 6 gallons of water, with the whites of 6 eggs, beaten to a froth; scum well; when cold, put it into the vessel with the rum, 6 quarts of orange juice, the juice of 12 lemons, also 2 quarts of new milk. Shake the vessel, to mix it; stop close, and let it stand in the cask two months, before you bottle it.

_Roman Punch._

To the juice of 12 lemons and 2 oranges, add the peel of 1 orange cut thin, and 2 lbs. pounded loaf sugar, mix well, pass through a sieve, and mix it, gradually, with the whites of 10 eggs, beaten to a froth. Ice it a little, then add champagne or rum to your taste.

_Regent's Punch._

A bottle of champagne, a ¼ pint of brandy, a wine glass of good old rum, and a pint of very strong green tea, with capillaire or any other syrup, to sweeten.

_A cool Tankard._

Mix 2 wine-glassfuls of sherry, and 1 of brandy, in a tankard, with a hot toast, and sugar to taste; pour in a bottle of clear nice tasted ale, and stir it with a sprig of balm: then let it settle and serve it.

_Porter Cup._

Put a bottle of porter, the same of table ale, a wine-glass of brandy, a dessert-spoonful of syrup of ginger, 3 lumps of sugar, and half a nutmeg grated into a covered jug, and set it in a cold place half an hour; just before you serve it stir in a table-spoonful of carbonate of soda.

{346}_Cider Cup._

Begin with whatever quantity of brandy you choose, and go on, doubling the other ingredients, namely: sherry, cider, soda water, a little lemon peel and cinnamon, sugar to your taste, and a bush of borage. Some persons put in a very little piece of the peel of cucumber, but this must be used sparingly, as the flavour is strong.

_Ginger Beer._

Boil 14 lbs. lump sugar in 1½ gallon of water, with 2 oz. ginger, bruised, one hour; then add the whites of 8 eggs, well beaten; boil a little longer, and take off the scum as it rises; strain into a tub, and let it stand till cold; put it into a cask with the peel of 14 lemons cut thin, also the juice, a pint of brandy, and half a spoonful of ale-yeast at the top. Stop the cask close for a fortnight: then bottle, and in another fortnight it will be ready. Stone bottles are best.--_Or_: 1 oz. powdered ginger, ½ oz. cream of tartar, 1 large lemon sliced, 2 lbs. lump sugar, to 1 gallon of water, simmered half an hour: finish as above. _Ginger Imperial._--Boil 2 oz. cream of tartar, the rind and juice of 2 lemons, 4 pieces of ginger bruised, and 1 lb. of sugar, in 6 quarts of water, half an hour. When cool, add 2 or 3 spoonsful yeast, and let it stand twenty-four hours, then bottle in ½ pint bottles, and tie down the corks. In three days it will be ready. An improvement to this is ¾ lb. sugar, ¼ lb. honey, and 1 tea-spoonful of essence of lemon.

_Spruce Beer._

Mix a pint of spruce with 12 lbs. of treacle, stir in 3 gallons of water, let it stand half an hour, put in 3 more gallons of water, and a pint of yeast, stir well, and pour it into a 10 gallon cask, fill that with water, and let it work till fine; bottle it; let the bottles lie on their sides three days, then stand them up, in three more days it will be ready.

_Crême d'Orange._

Slice 16 oranges, pour over them 1 gallon of rectified {347}spirits, and 1¼ pint of orange flower water; in ten days, add 7 lbs. of clarified syrup, a quart of water, and ½ oz. of tincture of saffron: keep it closed, and in a fortnight strain the liquor through a jelly bag, let it settle, then pour from the sediment, and bottle it.

_Raspberry or Mulberry Brandy or Wine._

Bruise fine ripe fruit with the back of a wooden spoon, and strain into a jar through a flannel bag, with 1 lb. of fine powdered loaf sugar to every quart of juice; stir well, let it stand three days, covered close; stir each day: pour it off clear, and put 1 quart of brandy, or 2 of sherry, to each quart of juice; bottle it, and it will be ready in a fortnight.

_Spring Sherbet._

Scrape 10 sticks of rhubarb and boil them, ten minutes, in a quart of water; strain the liquor through a tammis cloth into a jug, add the peel of 1 lemon, very thin, and 2 table-spoonsful of clarified sugar; in six hours it is ready.

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FLIP.

While a quart of ale is warming on the fire, beat 3 eggs with 4 oz. moist sugar, a tea-spoonful of grated ginger or nutmeg, and a quart of rum or brandy. When the ale is near boiling, pour it into one pitcher, the eggs and rum into another, and turn it from one to the other, until smooth as cream.

_Egg Wine._

To 1 quart of Lisbon white wine, put 1 quart of water, sweeten to taste, and add a little nutmeg. Have ready the yolks of 3 eggs well beaten; boil the mixed wine and water, and pour it quickly on the beaten eggs, and pour from one bason to another, until it froths high. Serve in cups.

_To Mull Wine._

Boil the quantity you choose, of cinnamon, nutmeg {348}grated, cloves or mace, in a ¼ pint of water; add a pint of Port, and sugar to taste, boil it up, and serve it hot.

_The Pope's Posset._

Blanch, pound, then boil in a little water, ½ lb. sweet, and a very few bitter almonds, strain, and put the liquid into a quart of heated white wine, with sugar to sweeten; beat well, and serve hot.