Part 8

Take five gallons of water, and boil with a couple of ounces of hops, when it has boiled four or five hours, strain it, put to it two quarts of molasses, when lukewarm, put in a pint of fresh yeast, without any salt in it, (brewer's is the best,) put in three table spoonsful of the essence of spruce. A decoction made of the leaves of white or black spruce, is equally as good as the essence; boil the hops with the leaves. Let the beer stand in a temperate situation, several days exposed to the air, then put it in a cask, or bottle it, it will be fit to drink in the course of a few days. This is a nice summer drink, and a powerful antiscorbutic.

262. _Spring Beer._

Take a small bunch each of sarsaparilla, sweet fern, wintergreen, sassafras, and spice wood, boil them with three ounces of hops, to six gallons of water, pare two or three raw potatoes, and throw them into the beer while it is boiling. When it has boiled five or six hours, strain it, and put to it three pints of molasses, when cool stir in a pint of fresh yeast, if the beer is too thick, dilute it with a little cold water. When fermented, bottle and keep it in a cool place.

263. _Ginger Beer._

Take three table spoonsful of ginger, one of cream of tartar, and boil them gently in a gallon of water, with a lemon cut in slices; sweeten it to your taste, with loaf or Havana sugar, boil it three quarters of an hour. Strain it, and when cool, put in a tea cup of yeast; as soon as it has ceased fermenting, bottle it.

264. _A good Family Wine._

Take equal parts of red and white currants, grapes, raspberries and English cherries, bruise and mix them with soft water, in the proportion of four pounds of fruit, to one gallon of water, let the liquid remain for two or three hours, then strain it, and to each gallon of wine add three pounds of sugar. Let it stand open three days, stirring it frequently, skim, and put it in a cask, place it in a temperate situation, where it will ferment slowly, when fermented add to it a ninth part of brandy, and stop it up tight. In two or three years it will be very rich.

265. _Currant Wine._

Strain the currants, which should be perfectly ripe, to each quart of juice, put two of water, and three pounds of sugar. Stir the whole well together, and let it stand twenty four hours, then skim it, and set it in a cool place, where it will ferment slowly, let it remain three or four days, if at the end of that time, it has fermented, add one quart of French brandy, to every fifteen gallons, stop it tight, when it is clear, it is fit to bottle. This wine is better for being kept several years.

266. _Raspberry Shrub._

To a quart of vinegar, put three quarts of fresh ripe raspberries, let it stand a day, then strain it, and to each pint, put a pound of white sugar. Put it in a jar, and set it in a kettle of boiling water, boil it an hour, skim it till clear. When cool add a wine glass of wine, to each pint of shrub. A couple of table spoonsful of this, mixed with a tumbler of water, is a very wholesome and refreshing drink in fevers.

267. _Noyeau._

To three pints of good French brandy, put four ounces of bitter almonds, or peach meats bruised, put in half an ounce of cinnamon, the same quantity of mace and amber, pounded fine, add a tea spoonful of cloves; let it stand for a fortnight, shaking it often, then add a quart of water, and a pound and a quarter of sugar, let it stand a week, shaking it each day, then strain it off for use.

268. _Spring Fruit Sherbet._

Boil in a quart of water six or eight stalks of the rhubarb plant, with the peel of a lemon pared very thin, and the juice of it. When it has boiled eight, or ten minutes, take it, sweeten it to the taste with any kind of syrup you like, or honey, flavor it with rosewater, strain it, let it stand five or six hours, it will then be fit to drink. It is a fine thing to assuage thirst.

269. _Grape Wine._

To every gallon of ripe grapes, put a gallon of soft water, bruise the grapes, and let them stand a week, without stirring, then draw off the liquor carefully; to each gallon, put three pounds of lump sugar, when fermented, put it in a cask, stop it up tight, in six months it will be fit to bottle.

270. _Smallage Cordial._

Take the young sprouts of smallage, wash and drain them till perfectly dry. Cut them into small pieces, and put them in a bottle, with stoned raisins, a layer of each alternately; when the bottle is two thirds full, fill it up with good French brandy. Cork it up, let it stand four or five days, then pour in as much more brandy, as you can get in. It will be fit for use in the course of a few days.

_Miscellaneous Receipts, and observations useful to young housekeepers._

1. _To make Essence of Lemon._

Take one drachm of the best oil of lemon, and two ounces of strong rectified spirit. Mix the spirit by degrees, with the oil. Another way to procure the essence of the peel, is to rub the peel with lumps of sugar, till the yellow part is all taken up. Scrape off the surface of the sugar, and press it down tight, in a preserving pot, and cover it tight; a little of this sugar gives a fine flavor to pies or cake. This mode of procuring the essence of the peel, is superior to any other, as the fine flavor of the peel is extracted without any alloy.

2. _Essence of Ginger._

Put three ounces of fresh grated ginger, an ounce of thin cut lemon peel, into a quart of brandy, or proof spirit, bottle and cork it, let it stand for ten days, shaking it up each day, it will then be fit for use. A few drops of this, in a little water, or on a lump of sugar, answers all the purposes of ginger tea, and is much more convenient and palatable.

3. _Rose Water._

Gather your roses on a dry day, when full blown, pick off the leaves, and to a peck of them, put a quart of water. Put them in a cold still, and put it over a slow fire, the slower they are distilled the better. When distilled put it in the bottles, let it stand a couple of days, then cork it tight.

4. _Spice Brandy._

Into a large wide mouthed bottle, put French brandy, and fresh rose leaves, or lemon and orange peel. When this has stood a week, it is nice spice for pies, puddings and cake. Peach meats or almonds steeped in brandy are very good spice for custards.

5. _Barley Water._

Take a couple of ounces of pearl barley, wash it in cold water, and put it into half a pint of boiling water, and let it boil four or five minutes, then turn off the water, and pour on two quarts of boiling water, strain it, and put to it two ounces of figs sliced, two of stoned raisins, half an ounce of liquorice cut into small bits, and bruised, boil it till reduced to a quart, and strain it. This is a very wholesome drink in fevers.

6. _Water Gruel._

Mix a couple of table spoonsful of Indian meal, with one of flour and a little water, stir it into a pint of boiling water, let it boil six or eight minutes, then take it up put in a piece of butter of the size of a walnut, pepper and salt, to your taste, and nutmeg, or cinnamon if you like, turn it on to toasted bread or crackers. To convert this into caudle, add a little ale; wine or brandy, and loaf sugar.

7. _Wine Whey._

Into a pint of milk while boiling, stir a couple of wine glasses of wine, let it boil for a moment, then take it off, when the curd has settled, turn off the whey, and sweeten it with loaf sugar. Where wine cannot be procured, cider, or half the quantity of vinegar, is a good substitute.

8. _Stomachic Tincture._

Bruise an ounce and a half of Peruvian bark, and one of bitter dried orange peel. Steep it in brandy or proof spirit, for a fortnight, shaking it each day. Let it remain for a couple of days without shaking it, then decant the liquor. A tea spoonful of it in a wine glass of water, is a fine tonic.

9. _Beef Tea._

Broil a pound of fresh beef ten minutes, take it up, pepper and salt it, cut it into small pieces, and turn a pint of boiling water on to it, let it steep in a warm place for half an hour, then strain it off, and it is fit to drink. This is a quick way of making it, but the best way is to cut beef into small bits, and fill a junk bottle with it, stop it up tight, and immerse it in a kettle of cold water, put it where it will boil four or five hours. This way is superior to the other, as the juices of the meat are obtained unmixed with water; a table spoonful of this is as nourishing as a cup full of that which is made by broiling.

10. _Carrageen or Irish Moss._

American, or Irish Carrageen, is a very nutritious and light article of food for children, and invalids, and is a good thickener of milk and broths, and for blanc mange is equal to the most expensive ingredients, while the cost is very trifling. The following decoction for consumptive patients, is recommended. Steep half an ounce of the moss in cold water, for a few minutes, then take it out, boil it in a quart of milk until it attains the consistency of warm jelly, strain it, and sweeten it to the taste, with white sugar or honey, flavor it with whatever spice is most agreeable, if milk is disagreeable, water may be substituted. If a tea spoonful of the tincture of rhutany is mixed with a cup full of the decoction, a tone will be given to the stomach, at the same time that nourishment is conveyed to the system.

11. _Moss Blanc Mange._

Steep half an ounce of Irish moss in a pint and a half of milk; when it becomes a thick jelly sweeten it with loaf sugar, and flavor it with white wine and cinnamon. To make orange, lemon or savory jellies, use a similar process, substituting water for milk. Jellies made of it, are more nourishing, than those made of sago, tapioca or arrow root.

12. _Elderberry Syrup._

Wash and strain the berries, which should be perfectly ripe, to a pint of the juice put a pint of molasses. Boil it twenty minutes, stirring it constantly; then take it from the fire, and when cold add to each quart four table spoonsful of brandy; bottle and cork it. This is an excellent remedy for a tight cough.

13. _New Bread and Cake from old and rusked bread._

Bread that is several days old, may be renewed by putting it into a steamer, and steaming it from half to three quarters of an hour, according to its size; the steamer should not be more than half full, otherwise the water will boil up on to the bread. When steamed, wrap it up loosely in a dry cloth, and let it remain till quite dry, it will then appear like bread just baked. If pieces of bread are put in the oven and dried, several hours after baking in it, they will keep good a long time. They are good as fresh bread for dressing to meat, and for puddings, if soaked soft in cold water. Rich cake with wine or brandy in it, will keep good several months in winter, if kept in a cool place. The day it is to be eaten, it should be put in a tin pan, and set in a bake pan that has a tea cup of water in it, when heated thoroughly through take it up.

14. _To Preserve Cheese from Insects and Mould._

Cover the cheese while whole with a paste made of wheat flour, put a piece of paper or cloth over it, and cover it with the paste, keep it in a cool dry place. Cheese that has skippers in it, if kept till cold weather will be free from them. Cheese that is growing mouldy can be prevented from becoming any more so, by grating it fine and moistening it with wine, and covering it up in a jar. It is preferred by many people to that which is not grated.

15. _To keep Vegetables and Herbs._

Succulent vegetables, are preserved best in a cool shady place that is damp. Turnips, potatoes, and similar vegetables should be protected from the air and frost, by being buried in earth; in very severe cold weather, they should be covered with a linen cloth. It is said that the dust of charcoal will keep potatoes from sprouting, if sprinkled over them.--Herbs should be gathered on a dry day, either just before or while in blossom; they should be tied in bundles and hung in a shady airy place, with the blossoms downwards. When perfectly dry, put away the medicinal ones in bundles; pick off the leaves of those that are to be used in cooking, pound and sift them, and keep them in bottles corked tight.

16. _To preserve various kinds of Fruit over winter._

Apples can be kept till June, by taking only those that are perfectly sound, and wiping them dry, and putting them in barrels with a layer of bran to each layer of apples. Cover the barrel with a linen cloth to protect them from the frost. Mortar put on the top of the apples, is said to be an excellent thing to prevent their decaying, as it draws the air from them, which is the principal cause of decay; the mortar should not touch the apples. To preserve oranges and lemons for several months, take those that are perfectly fresh, and wrap each one by itself in soft paper, and put them in glass jars, or a very tight box, strew white sand thickly round each one and over the top. The sand should be previously perfectly dried in the oven, several hours after baking in it. Cover the fruit up tight, and keep it in a cool dry place, but not so cold as to freeze it. To preserve grapes gather them on a dry day, when not quite dead ripe; pick those off from the stem, that are not perfectly fair, lay them in a glass jar and on each layer sprinkle a layer of dry bran, taking care that none of the grapes touch each other, have a layer of bran on the top of them, and cork and seal them tight. A box will do to keep them in if covered with mortar. To restore them to their freshness when they are to be eaten, cut the ends of the stalks and immerse them in wine, let them remain in it for a few moments before they are to be eaten. Various kinds of green fruit, such as grapes, currants, gooseberries and plums, can be kept the year round by putting them in bottles, and setting them in an oven four or five hours after baking in it; let them remain in it till they begin to shrink, then cork and seal them tight, they will be fit for pies, whenever you wish to use them. Ripe blackberries, and whortleberries, dried perfectly in the sun, and tied up in bags so as to exclude the air, will keep good over the winter. Whenever you wish to use them for pies, pour on boiling water enough to cover them, and let them remain in it till they swell to nearly the original size, then drain off the water, and use them.

17. _To extract essences from various kinds of flowers._

Procure a quantity of the petals of any kind of flowers that have an agreeable fragrance. Card thin layers of cotton, which dip into the finest Florence oil. Sprinkle a small quantity of salt on the flowers, and put a layer of them in a glass jar or wide mouthed bottle, with a layer of the cotton, put in a layer of each alternately until the jar is full, then cover the top up tight with a bladder. Place the vessel in a south window, exposed to the heat of the sun. In the course of a fortnight, a fragrant oil may be squeezed from the cotton, little inferior if rose leaves are made use of, to the imported otto of rose.

18. _Indelible Ink for marking linen._

Dissolve a drachm of lunar caustic, in half an ounce of pure cold water. Dip whatever is to be marked in pearlash water, dry it perfectly, then rub it smooth with a silver spoon, (ironing it sets the pearlash water,) write on it, and place it in the sun, and let it remain until the name appears plain and black. Red ink for marking linen, is made by mixing and reducing to a fine powder, half an ounce of vermilion, a drachm of the salt of steel, and linseed oil enough to render it of the consistency of black durable ink.

19. _Perfume Bags._

Rose leaves dried in the shade, and mixed with powdered cloves, cinnamon and mace, put in small bags and pressed, is a fine thing to keep in drawers of linen, to perfume them.

20. _Lip Salve._

Dissolve a small lump of white sugar, in a table spoonful of rose water, clear water will do but is not as good. Mix it with a table spoonful of sweet oil, a piece of spermaceti of the size of half a butternut. Simmer the whole together about eight or ten minutes.

21. _Bread Seals._

Take the crust of newly baked bread, moisten it with gum water and milk, add either vermilion in powder or rose pink, to color it. When moistened work it with the fingers till it forms a consistent paste without cracking; it should then be laid in a cellar, till the next day. Then break it into pieces of the size you wish to have the seals, warm and roll them into balls, press one at a time, on the warm impression of a seal press. The bread should go into every part of the sealing wax impression; while the bread remains on it, pinch the upper part so as to form a handle, to hold the bread seal when in use. Take off the bread seal, trim all the superfluous parts, put the seals where they will dry slowly. The more the bread has been worked with the fingers, the more glossy and smooth will be the seals, and the better impression will they make.

22. _To loosen the Glass Stopples of Decanters or Smelling Bottles when wedged in tight._

Rub a drop or two of oil with a feather round the stopple, close to the mouth of the bottle or decanter, then place it between one and two feet from the fire. The heat will cause the oil to run down between the stopple and mouth. When warm strike it gently on both sides with any light wooden instrument, you may happen to have; then try to loosen it with the hand. If it will not move, repeat the process of rubbing oil on it, and warming it. By persevering in this method, you will at length succeed in loosening it, however firmly it may be wedged in.

23. _Cement for broken China, Glass and Earthenware._

To half a pint of skimmed milk, add an equal quantity of vinegar to curdle it, then separate the curd from the whey, and mix the curd with the whites of five eggs, beat the whole well together, then add enough of the finest quicklime to form a consistent paste. (Plaster of Paris is still better if it can be procured, than lime.) Rub this mixture on the broken edges of the china or glass, match the pieces and bind them tightly together, and let them remain bound several weeks. They will then be as firm as if never broken. Boiling crockery in milk is a good thing to cement them, the pieces should be matched, bound with pieces of cloth, and boiled half an hour, they should remain in the milk till cold, and not be used for several weeks. Pulverized quicklime mixed with the white of an egg and rubbed in the cracks of china and glass, will prevent their coming apart; the dishes should be bound firmly for several weeks, after it is rubbed in. The Chinese method of mending broken china, is to grind flint glass, on a painter's stone, as fine as possible, and then beat it, with the white of an egg to a froth, and lay it on the edges of the broken pieces. It should remain bound several weeks. It is said, that no art will then be able to break it in the same place.

24. _Japanese Cement or Rice Glue._

Mix rice flour intimately with cold water, and then gently boil it. It answers all the purposes of wheat flour paste, and is far superior in point of transparency and smoothness. This composition made with a comparatively small proportion of water, that it may have the consistence of plastic clay, will form models, busts, statues, basso relievos and similar articles. The Japanese make fish of it which very much resemble those made of mother of pearl. Articles made of it when dry are susceptible of a very high polish. Poland starch, is a very nice cement, for pasting layers of paper together, and any fancy articles when it is necessary.

25. _Cement for Alabaster._

Take of bees' wax one pound, of rosin half a pound, and three quarters of a pound of alabaster. Melt the wax and rosin, then strew the alabaster, previously reduced to a fine powder, over in it lightly. Stir the whole well together, then knead the mass in water, in order to incorporate the powder thoroughly with the rosin and wax. Heat the cement and the alabaster, which should be perfectly dry, when applied join and keep it bound a week. This composition when properly managed forms an extremely strong cement.

26. _To Extract Fruit Stains._

Hold the spot over steam till quite moist, then over burning sulphur; the sulphurous gas will cause the spot to disappear.

27. _To extract spots of paint from Silk, Woolen and Cotton Goods._

Saturate the spots with spirits of turpentine, let it remain several hours, then take the cloth and rub it between the hands. It will crumble away and not injure either the texture or color of the cloth.

28. _To remove black stains on Scarlet Merinos or Broadcloths._

Wash the stain in water with a little tartaric acid in it, rinse it directly, and care should be taken not to get any of the acid water on the clean part of the dress. Weak pearlash water is good to remove stains produced by acids.

29. _To remove grease spots from Paper, Silk or Woolen._

Grate on chalk enough to cover the grease spots. French chalk is the best, but common chalk will answer very well. Cover the spots with brown paper, and set a warm flat iron on the top, and let it remain until cold. Care must be taken not to get the iron so hot as to change the color of the article. If the grease does not appear to be extracted, on removing the flat iron, grate on more chalk, and heat the iron, and put it on again.

30. _To extract stains from white Cotton goods and Colored Silks._

Spots of common or durable ink, can be removed by saturating them with lemon juice and salt in summer, and keeping them where the sun will shine on them several hours. Rub the juice and salt on them as fast as they get dry. Where lemons cannot be procured, tartaric acid dissolved in salt and water, is a good substitute. Iron mould can be removed in the same way; it is said that spirits of salts diluted with water will also extract iron mould. Sal ammoniac with lime, will take out the stains of wine. Mildew and most other stains on white goods, can be removed by rubbing on soft soap and salt, and putting them in a hot summer's sun, it should be rubbed on as fast as it dries. Where this fails, lemon juice and salt will be generally effectual. Colored cotton goods that have ink spilt on them, should be soaked in lukewarm milk or vinegar; sour milk is the best. Spirits of turpentine, alcohol or sal ammoniac, are all good to remove spots from colored silks.

31. _Rules for washing Calicoes._

Calicoes that incline to fade, can have the colors set by washing them with beef's gall in clear water previous to washing them in soap suds; a small tea cup full to a pail of water is the right proportion. By squeezing out the gall, and bottling and corking it up, it can be kept several months. A little vinegar in the rinsing water of calicoes, that have green, pink or red colors, will brighten them and prevent their mixing together. Yellow calicoes should be washed in soap suds and not rinsed. A little salt in the rinsing water of calicoes, particularly blues and greens, tends to prevent their fading by subsequent washing, it will also prevent their catching fire readily. Thin starch water is good to wash fading calicoes in, but it is rather hard to get them clean in it; no soap is necessary. Calicoes should not be washed in very hot suds and soft soap should never be used, excepting for buff and yellows, for which it is the best. The two latter colors should not be rinsed in clear water.

32. _Rules for washing Silks._