Chapter 9

1 1/2 cups water 1 tablespoon sugar 2 tablespoons stale white bread crumbs 1/4 cup white wine 1 tablespoon lemon juice Nutmeg

Put water and sugar on to cook, just before it commences to boil add the bread crumbs; stir well, and let it boil three or four minutes. Add the wine, lemon and a grating of nutmeg; let it boil up once more, remove from fire, and keep it closely covered until it is wanted for use.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] Without Milk.

[9] Estimated on one-half the oatmeal.

[10] Without sugar.

THE COOK SAYS

Cook has discovered some little things which help to make her dishes so much above the average.

When next making griddle cakes add a little brown sugar or molasses to the batter, the cakes will brown better and more easily.

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Pie crust is best kept cold in the making; to this end an excellent substitute for a rolling pin is a bottle filled with ice water.

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When boiling turnips, add a little sugar to the water; it improves the flavor of the vegetables and lessens the odor in the cooking.

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Hard boiled eggs should be plunged into cold water as soon as they are removed from the saucepan. This prevents a dark ring from appearing round the yolk.

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Instead of mixing cocoa with boiling water to dissolve it, try mixing it with an equal amount of granulated sugar and then pouring it into the boiling water in the pot, stirring all the while.

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What gave her peas she served such a nice color and taste was the adding of a lettuce leaf and a tablespoon of sugar.

Do not cover rising bread in bowls and tins with a dry cloth. Instead, cover with a damp cloth which has been wrung out of warm water. In cold weather the damp cloth should be placed over a dry cloth.

As a result, the dough will not dry on the top and the loaves when baked will be much more uniform.

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To prevent holes appearing in brown bread prick twice with needle, once when the loaves are placed in tins and once immediately before loaves are placed in the oven.

Cake Hints

For those who would excel in cake making these admonitions are offered:

First--Cream the shortening.

Second--Add sugar slowly and cream it again.

Third--Add yolks of eggs well beaten.

Fourth--Mix and sift the dry ingredients.

Fifth--Add the dry materials to the mixture, which has the baking powder in it; alternate flour and liquid.

Sixth--Cut and fold in (do not beat or stir) the whites of eggs which are beaten to a dry stiff froth.

Seventh--Have a fire and pans ready. Put the cake into the oven quickly; remember that the oven can wait, but the cake never. Bake according to rule.

To test the oven heat--A hot oven will brown flour in five minutes; or you can try if you can hold the hand in it and count twenty.

Time of baking--Layer cakes, 20 or 25 minutes; loaf cakes, from 40 to 80 minutes; gem cakes, from 20 minutes to half an hour.

Never bang the oven door. The cake will fall if you do.

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To prevent icing from cracking when it cuts add a teaspoon sweet cream to each unbeaten egg. When boiling syrup for icing add a pinch of cream of tartar.

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Brown sugar frosting which will not crack is made of one tablespoon of vinegar, brown sugar enough to mix and the beaten white of half an egg. Beat all well together and add sugar enough to spread.

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I have many times been asked how I retained the color of preserved fruits. I allow for all preserves equal measure of sugar and fruit.

It is impossible to have success if you make large quantities. I never make over three pints at a time--usually one quart.

The same method applies to all preserves. If possible, I extract some juice to start with. I then put this with one quart of sugar, (no water if the fruit contains plenty of juice, but if not, I add a little water). Allow this to boil until thick then have fruit ready to drop in; when it boils up, remove scum, and, as the juice is extracted by the boiling, dip off and allow only enough to thicken quickly.

This juice can be used for sauces, beverages of all kinds--Fruit darkens on account of continued boiling.

Economical Soap

Soap without boiling, will float if not too much ham or bacon drippings are used.

Into 1 quart of cold water dissolve the contents of one can of Babbits potash or lye. Melt to luke warm heat, 6 lbs, (light weight) of clean drippings that have been strained through cheesescloth several times.

Before adding the lye to the strained grease, add 1 large cupful of borax. Stir lye into kettle containing grease and stir constantly until very thick. Pour into a pan, score; in 10 or 12 hours turn out of pan and let dry. A little perfume may be added if you wish. Lamb drippings makes the finest soap.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Italic text is denoted by _; bold by = and underlined text by ~.

Text uses both "today" and "to-day." It also used both "tablespoon" and "tablespoons" when referring to an ingredient with an additional fraction of a tablespoon added, i.e. "1 1/2 tablespoon" and "1 1/2 tablespoons."

Page 13, The original had the portrait pages out of order on the list. These have been reordered. The original read:

Fanny Garrison Villard 34 Helen Ring Robinson 40 Jane Addams 38 Julia Lathrop 44 Jack London 46 Mrs. J. O. Miller 42 Mrs. Desha Breckinridge 52

This also occurred on the following pages. The original text is below.

Page 15:

Potato Puffers 78 Baked Tomatoes 80 Stuffed Tomatoes 79

Page 16:

Virginia Butter Bread 102 Bran Bread 102 Excellent Nut Bread 101 Dr. Wylies' Recipes 103

Page 17:

Jam Cake 136 Hickory Nut Cake 138 Lace Cakes 137

Page 18:

Suet Pudding 157 Raw Carrot Pudding 161 Cottage Fruit Pudding 158 Prune Souffle 158 Plain Suet Pudding 157 Plum Pudding 159 Lemon Cream 160 Corn Pudding 161 Lemon Hard Sauce 161

Pear Salad 168 Potato Salad 168 Bean Salad 170 Codfish Salad 169 Swedish Wreathes 169

Orange Salad 173 Cucumber Aspic 175 Tomato Aspic 174 Mayonnaise Dressing Without Oil 176 Mayonnaise Dressing Boiled 175 Suffrage Salad Dressing 174

Page 19:

Pittsburgh Sherbet 198 Lemon Sherbet 198 Synthetic Quince 200 Fruit Cocktails 199 Grape Juice Cup 201 Peppermint Cup 202

PRESERVES, PICKLES, ETC.

Sour Pickles 204 Sweet Pickles 204 Amber Marmalade 203 Grape Juice 203 Lemon Butter 205

Page 15, "Lienn" changed to "Lunn" (Sally Lunn)

Page 37, "tablespons" changed to "tablespoons" (2 tablespoons butter)

Page 37, "stock" changed to "stalk" (stalk of celery chopped)

Page 37, "ramkins" changed to "ramekins" (serve in ramekins)

Page 47, "majoram" changed to "marjoram" (thyme, and sweet marjoram)

Page 64, "carbonhydrate" changed to "carbohydrate" (bulky carbohydrate foods)

Page 74, "mussy" changed to "mushy" (mushy before the)

Page 76, "Wash" changed to "Mash" (Mash all well together)

Page 80, "his" changed to "this" (Put this sauce)

Page 95, "dispositon" changed to "disposition" (the disposition of)

Page 95, "on" changed to "or" (or a finger)

Page 95, "or" changed to "of" (finger of buttered brown)

Page 103, "while" changed to "whole" (whole Indian corn)

Page 148, "thoroughy" changed to "thoroughly" (and heat thoroughly)

Page 166, "seive" changed to "sieve" (a wire sieve and)

Page 168, "lovlier" changed to "lovelier" (Nothing lovelier can be)

Page 174, "Lavarin" changed to "Savarin" (Brillat Savarin)

Page 174, "proporton" changed to "proportion" (proportion of a dessertspoon)

Page 176, "Mayonaise" changed to "Mayonnaise" (Mayonnaise Dressing Without)

Page 202, "sieze" changed to "seize" (seize the pleasures of)

Page 207, "Peal" changed to "Peel" (Peel chestnuts and)

Page 214, "alspice" changed to "allspice" (1/4 pound allspice)

Page 218, "Asosciation" changed to "Association" (Coffee Roasters' Association)

Page 241, "leaves" changed to "loaves" (the loaves when baked)