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Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,, by Mary Eaton

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Title: The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,

Author: Mary Eaton

Release Date: June 9, 2009 [EBook #29084]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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[Illustration: _Mrs. Eaton._

BUNGAY.

_Published by J. & R. Childs._]




_THE_

_Cook and Housekeeper's_

Complete & Universal Dictionary

Including

_A system of Modern Cookery in all its various Branches,_ adapted to the
use of Private Families.

_Also a variety of Original & Valuable Information._

_RELATIVE TO_

         _Baking
          Brewing
          Carving
          Cleaning
          Collaring
          Curing
          Economy of Bees
          ---- of a Dairy
          Economy of Poultry
          Family Medicine
          Gardening
          Home-made Wines
          Pickling
          Potting
          Preserving
          Rules of Health_

          And every other Subject connected with
          Domestic Economy.

BY MRS. MARY EATON.

BUNGAY.

_Printed & Published by J. & R. Childs_

1822.




THE

COOK AND HOUSEKEEPER'S

COMPLETE AND UNIVERSAL

DICTIONARY;

INCLUDING

A SYSTEM OF MODERN COOKERY,

IN ALL ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES,

ADAPTED TO THE USE OF

_PRIVATE FAMILIES_:

ALSO A VARIETY OF

ORIGINAL AND VALUABLE INFORMATION.

RELATIVE TO

          BAKING,
          BREWING,
          CARVING,
          CLEANING,
          COLLARING,
          CURING,
          ECONOMY OF BEES,
          ---- OF A DAIRY,
          ECONOMY OF POULTRY,
          FAMILY MEDICINE,
          GARDENING,
          HOME-MADE WINES,
          PICKLING,
          POTTING,
          PRESERVING,
          RULES OF HEALTH,

AND EVERY OTHER SUBJECT CONNECTED WITH

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

BY MRS. MARY EATON.

_EMBELLISHED WITH ENGRAVINGS._

BUNGAY:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. AND R. CHILDS.

1823.




INTRODUCTION.


NOTHING is more obvious, than that experience purchased by the sacrifice
of independence is bought at too dear a rate. Yet this is the only
consolation which remains to many females, while sitting on the ashes of
a ruined fortune, and piercing themselves with the recollection of the
numerous imprudencies into which they have been led, simply for the want
of better information. Not because there is any want of valuable
publications, for in the present age they abound; but rather because
they contain such a variety of superfluous articles, and are too
indiscriminate to become generally useful. A young female, just returned
from the hymeneal altar, is ready to exclaim on the first perusal, as
the philosopher did who visited the metropolis, 'How many things are
here which I do not want!' The volume when purchased is often found to
contain what is only or chiefly adapted to those who live in "king's
houses," or "who fare sumptuously every day."

Indeed, it has been the failing of most works of this nature, that they
have either been too contracted, or too diffuse; detailed what was
unnecessary, or treated superficially what was in fact of most
consequence to the great bulk of mankind. If it be objected to the
present work, that it exhibits nothing new; that the experiments are
founded upon the simplest rules of nature; that most of the things have
been rehearsed in various forms; it is not necessary to deny or to
conceal the fact, every other consideration having been subordinated to
one leading object, and that is GENERAL UTILITY. It is but justice
however to add, that many of the articles are perfectly ORIGINAL, having
been extracted from a variety of unpublished manuscripts, obligingly and
expressly furnished in aid of the present undertaking. A great number of
outlandish articles are intentionally omitted, as well as a farrago of
French trifles and French nonsense, in order to render the work truly
worthy of the patronage of the genuine English housekeeper.

It may also fairly be presumed, that the superior advantages of the
present work will immediately be recognized, not only as comprehending
at once the whole theory of Domestic Management, but in a form never
before attempted, and which of all others is best adapted to facilitate
the acquisition of useful knowledge. The alphabetical arrangement
presented in the following sheets, pointing out at once the article
necessary to be consulted, prevents the drudgery of going through
several pages in order to find it, and supplies by its convenience and
universal adaptation, the desideratum so long needed in this species of
composition.


_Importance of Domestic Habits and Acquirements._

Though domestic occupations do not stand so high in the general esteem
as they formerly did, there are none of greater importance in social
life, and none when neglected that produce a larger portion of human
misery. There was a time when ladies knew nothing beyond their own
family concerns; but in the present day there are many who know nothing
about them. If a young person has been sent to a fashionable
boarding-school, it is ten to one, when she returns home, whether she
can mend her own stockings, or boil a piece of meat, or do any thing
more than preside over the flippant ceremonies of the tea-table. Each
extreme ought to be avoided, and care taken to unite in the female
character, the cultivation of talents and habits of usefulness. In every
department those are entitled to the greatest praise, who best acquit
themselves of the duties which their station requires, and this it is
that gives true dignity to character. Happily indeed there are still
great numbers in every situation, whose example combines in a high
degree the ornamental with the useful. Instances may be found of ladies
in the higher walks of life, who condescend to examine the accounts of
their servants and housekeepers; and by overseeing and wisely directing
the expenditure of that part of their husband's income which falls under
their own inspection, avoid the inconveniences of embarrassed
circumstances. How much more necessary then is domestic knowledge in
those whose limited fortunes press on their attention considerations of
the strictest economy. There ought to be a material difference in the
degree of care which a person of a large and independent estate bestows
on money concerns, and that of one in inferior circumstances: yet both
may very commendably employ some portion of their time and thoughts on
this subject. The custom of the times tends in some measure to abolish
the distinctions in rank, the education given to young people being
nearly the same in all. But though the leisure of the higher sort may
very well be devoted to different accomplishments, the pursuits of those
in a middle sphere, if less ornamental, would better secure their own
happiness, and that of others connected with them. We sometimes bring up
children in a manner calculated rather to fit them for the station we
wish, than that which it is likely they will actually possess; and it is
in all cases worth the while of parents to consider whether the
expectation or hope of raising their offspring above their own situation
be well founded. There is no opportunity of attaining a knowledge of
family management at school, certainly; and during vacations, all
subjects that might interfere with amusement are avoided. The
consequence is, when a girl in the higher ranks returns home after
completing her education, her introduction to the gay world, and a
continued course of pleasures, persuade her at once that she was born to
be the ornament of fashionable circles, rather than descend to the
management of family concerns, though by that means she might in various
ways increase the comfort and satisfaction of her parents. On the other
hand, persons of an inferior sphere, and especially in the lower order
of middling life, are almost always anxious to give their children such
advantages of education as they themselves did not possess. Whether
their indulgence be productive of the happiness so kindly aimed at, must
be judged by the effects, which are not very favourable if what has been
taught has not produced humility in herself, and increased gratitude and
respect to her parents. Were a young woman brought to relish home
society, and the calm delights of an easy and agreeable occupation,
before she entered into the delusive scenes of pleasure, presented by
the theatre and other dissipations, it is probable she would soon make a
comparison much in favour of the former, especially if restraint did
not give to the latter an additional relish.

If our observations were extended to the marriage state, we should find
a life of employment to be the source of unnumbered pleasures. To attend
to the nursing, and at least the early instruction of children, and rear
a healthy progeny in the ways of piety and usefulness; to preside over
the family, and regulate the income allotted to its maintenance; to make
home the agreeable retreat of a husband, fatigued by intercourse with a
bustling world; to be his enlightened companion, and the chosen friend
of his heart; these, these are woman's duties, and her highest honour.
And when it is thus evident that high intellectual attainments may find
room for their exercise in the multifarious occupations of the daughter,
the wife, the mother, the mistress of the house; no one can reasonably
urge that the female mind is contracted by domestic employ. It is
however a great comfort that the duties of life are within the reach of
humbler abilities, and that she whose chief aim it is to fulfil them,
will very rarely fail to acquit herself well.


_Domestic Expenditure._

The mistress of a family should always remember, that the welfare and
good management of the house depend on the eye of the superior; and
consequently that nothing is too trifling for her notice, whereby waste
may be avoided. If a lady has never been accustomed while single to
think of family management, let her not on that account fear that she
cannot attain it. She may consult others who are experienced, and
acquaint herself with the necessary quantities of the several articles
of family expenditure, in proportion to the number it consists of,
together with the value of the articles it may be necessary to procure.
A minute account of the annual income, and the times of payment, should
be taken in writing; likewise an estimate of the supposed amount of each
item of expense. Those who are early accustomed to calculations of this
kind, will acquire so accurate a knowledge of what their establishment
demands, as will suggest the happy medium between prodigality and
parsimony, without in the least subjecting themselves to the charge of
meanness.

Few branches of female education are so useful as great readiness at
figures, though nothing is more commonly neglected. Accounts should be
regularly kept, and not the smallest item be omitted to be entered. If
balanced every week, or month at longest, the income and outgoings will
easily be ascertained, and their proportions to each other be duly
observed. Some people fix on stated sums to be appropriated to each
different article, and keep the money separate for that purpose; as
house, clothes, pocket, education of children, &c. Whichever way
accounts be entered, a certain mode should be adopted, and strictly
adhered to. Many women are unfortunately ignorant of the state of their
husband's income; and others are only made acquainted with it when some
speculative project, or profitable transaction, leads them to make a
false estimate of what can be afforded. It too often happens also that
both parties, far from consulting each other, squander money in ways
that they would even wish to forget: whereas marriage should be a state
of mutual and perfect confidence, with a similarity of pursuits, which
would secure that happiness it was intended to bestow.

There are so many valuable women who excel as wives, that it is fair to
infer there would be few extravagant ones, if they were consulted by
their husbands on subjects that concern the mutual interest of both
parties. Many families have been reduced to poverty by the want of
openness in the man, on the subject of his affairs; and though on these
occasions the women are generally blamed, it has afterwards appeared
that they never were allowed to make particular enquiries, nor suffered
to reason upon what sometimes appeared to them imprudent. Many families
have fully as much been indebted to the propriety of female management,
for the degree of prosperity they have enjoyed, as to the knowledge and
activity of the husband and the father.

Ready money should be paid for all such things as come not into weekly
bills, and even for them some sort of check is necessary. The best
places for purchasing goods should also be attended to. On some articles
a discount of five per cent is allowed in London and other large cities,
and those who thus pay are usually best served. Under an idea of buying
cheap, many go to new shops; but it is safest to deal with people of
established credit, who do not dispose of goods by underselling. To make
tradesmen wait for their money is very injurious, besides that a higher
price must be paid: and in long bills, articles never bought are often
charged. If goods are purchased at ready-money price, and regularly
entered, the exact state of the expenditure will be known with ease; for
it is delay of payment that occasions so much confusion. A common-place
book should always be at hand, in which to enter such hints of useful
knowledge, and other observations, as are given by sensible experienced
people. Want of attention to what is advised, or supposing things to be
too minute to be worth regarding, are the causes why so much ignorance
prevails on necessary subjects, among those who are not backward in
frivolous ones.

It is very necessary for the mistress of a family to be informed of the
price and quality of all articles in common use, and of the best times
and places for purchasing them. She should also be acquainted with the
comparative prices of provisions, in order that she may be able to
substitute those that are most reasonable, when they will answer as
well, for others of the same kind, but which are more costly. A false
notion of economy leads many to purchase as bargains, what is not
wanted, and sometimes never is used. Were this error avoided, more money
would remain of course for other purposes. It is not unusual among lower
dealers to put off a larger quantity of goods, by assurances that they
are advancing in price; and many who supply fancy articles are so
successful in persuasion, that purchasers not unfrequently go beyond
their original intention, and suffer inconvenience by it. Some things
are certainly better for keeping, and should be laid in accordingly; but
this applies only to articles in constant consumption. Unvarying rules
cannot be given, for people ought to form their conduct on their
circumstances. Some ladies charge their account with giving out to a
superintending servant such quantities of household articles, as by
observation and calculation they know to be sufficient, reserving for
their own key the large stock of things usually laid in for extensive
families in the country. Should there be more visitors than usual, they
can easily account for an increased consumption, and vice versa. Such a
degree of judgment will be respectable even in the eye of domestics, if
not interested in the ignorance of their employers; and if they are,
their services will not compensate the want of honesty.

A bill of parcels and receipt should be required, even if the money be
paid at the time of purchase; and to avoid mistakes, let the goods be
compared with these when brought home. Though it is very disagreeable to
suspect any one's honesty, and perhaps mistakes are often unintentional;
yet it is proper to weigh meat and grocery articles when brought in, and
compare them with the charge. The butcher should be ordered to send the
weight with the meat, and the checks regularly filed and examined. A
ticket should be exchanged for every loaf of bread, which when returned
will shew the number to be paid for, as tallies may be altered, unless
one is kept by each party. Those who are served with brewer's beer, or
any other articles not paid for weekly or on delivery, should keep a
book for entering the dates: which will not only serve to prevent
overcharges, but will show the whole year's consumption at one view.
`Poole's complete Housekeeper's Account book,' is very well adapted to
this purpose.

An inventory of furniture, linen, and china, should be kept, and the
things examined by it twice a year, or oftener if there be a change of
servants; into each of whose care the articles are to be entrusted, with
a list, the same as is done with plate. Tickets of parchment with the
family name, numbered, and specifying what bed it belongs to, should be
sewed on each feather bed, bolster, pillow, and blanket. Knives, forks,
and house cloths are often deficient: these accidents might be obviated,
if an article at the head of every list required the former to be
produced whole or broken, and the marked part of the linen, though all
the others should be worn out. Glass is another article that requires
care, though a tolerable price is given for broken flint-glass. Trifle
dishes, butter stands, &c. may be had at a lower price than cut glass,
made in moulds, of which there is a great variety that look extremely
well, if not placed near the more beautiful articles.


_Choice and Treatment of Servants._

The regularity and good management of a family will very much depend on
the character of the servants who are employed in it, and frequently one
of base and dishonest principles will corrupt and ruin all the rest. No
orders, however wise or prudent, will be duly carried into effect,
unless those who are to execute them are to be depended on. It behoves
every mistress therefore to be extremely careful whom she takes into her
service; to be very minute in investigating character, and equally
cautious and scrupulously just in giving recommendations of others. Were
this attended to, many bad people would be incapacitated for doing
mischief, by abusing the trust reposed in them. It may fairly be
asserted that the robbery, or waste, which is only a milder term for the
unfaithfulness of a servant, will be laid to the charge of that master
or mistress, who knowing or having well-founded suspicions of such
faults, is prevailed upon by false pity, or entreaty, to slide such
servant into another place. There are however some who are unfortunately
capricious, and often refuse to give a character because they are
displeased with the servant leaving; but this is an unpardonable
violation of the right of a servant, who having no inheritance, is
dependant on her fair name for employment. To refuse countenance to the
evil, and to encourage the good servant, are equally due to society at
large; and such as are honest, frugal, and attentive to their duties,
should be liberally rewarded, which would encourage merit, and stimulate
servants to acquit themselves with propriety. The contrary conduct is
often visited with a kind of retributive justice in the course of a few
years. The extravagant and idle in servitude are ill prepared for the
industry and sobriety on which their own future welfare so essentially
depends. Their faults, and the attendant punishment come home, when they
have children of their own; and sometimes much sooner. They will see
their own folly and wickedness perpetuated in their offspring, whom they
must not expect to be better than the example and instruction given by
themselves. Those who have been faithful and industrious in service,
will generally retain those habits in their own families, after they are
married; while those who have borne an opposite character are seldom
successful in the world, but more frequently reduced to beggary and
want.

It is in general a good maxim, to select servants not younger than
thirty. Before that age, however comfortable you may endeavour to make
them, their want of experience, and the hope of something still better,
prevent their being satisfied with their present state. After they have
had the benefit of experience, if they are tolerably comfortable, they
will endeavour to deserve the smiles of even a moderately kind master or
mistress, for fear they may change for the worse. Life may indeed be
very fairly divided into the seasons of hope and fear. In youth, we hope
every thing may be right: in age, we fear that every thing may be wrong.
At any rate it is desirable to engage a good and capable servant, for
one of this description eats no more than a bad one. Considering also
how much waste is occasioned by provisions being dressed in a slovenly
and unskilful manner, and how much a good cook, to whom the conduct of
the kitchen is confided, can save by careful management, it is clearly
expedient to give better wages for one of this description, than to
obtain a cheaper article which in the end will inevitably become more
expensive. It is likewise a point of prudence to invite the honesty and
industry of domestics, by setting them an example of liberality in this
way; nothing is more likely to convince them of the value that is
attached to talent and good behaviour, or to bind them to the interest
of those whom they are engaged to serve. The office of the cook
especially is attended with so many difficulties, so many disgusting and
disagreeable circumstances, and even dangers, in order to procure us one
of the greatest enjoyments of human life, that it is but justice to
reward her attention and services, by rendering her situation every way
as comfortable as we can. Those who think, that to protect and encourage
virtue is the best preventive to vice, should give their female servants
liberal wages. How else can they provide themselves the necessary
articles of clothing, and save a little to help themselves in a time of
a sickness, when out of place, or amidst the infirmities of age. The
want of liberality and of justice in this respect is a principal source
of the distress and of the degradation to which multitudes of females
are reduced, and who are driven at length to seek an asylum in Foundling
Hospitals and Female Penitentiaries.

Good wages however are not all that a faithful servant requires; kind
treatment is of far greater consequence. Human nature is the same in all
stations. If you can convince your servants that you have a generous and
considerate regard for their health and comfort, there is no reason to
imagine that they will be insensible to the good they receive. Be
careful therefore to impose no commands but what are reasonable, nor
reprove but with justice and temper; the best way to ensure which is,
not to lecture them till at least one day after the offence has been
committed. If they have any particular hardship to endure in service,
let them see that you are concerned for the necessity of imposing it.
Servants are more likely to be praised into good conduct, than scolded
out of bad behaviour. Always commend them when they do right; and to
cherish in them the desire of pleasing, it is proper to show them that
you are pleased. By such conduct ordinary servants will often be
converted into good ones, and there are few so hardened as not to feel
gratified when they are kindly and liberally treated. At the same time
avoid all approaches to familiarity, which to a proverb is accompanied
with contempt, and soon destroys the principle of obedience.

When servants are sick, you are to remember that you are their patron,
as well as their master or mistress; not only remit their labour, but
give them all the assistance of food and physic, and every comfort in
your power. Tender assiduity about an invalid is half a cure; it is a
balsam to the mind, which has the most powerful effect on the body; it
soothes the sharpest pains, and strengthens beyond the richest cordial.
The practice of some persons in sending home poor servants to a
miserable cottage, or to a workhouse, in time of illness, hoping for
their services if they should happen to recover, while they contribute
nothing towards it, is contrary to every principle of justice and
humanity. Particular attention ought to be paid to the health of the
cook, not only for her own sake, but also because healthiness and
cleanliness are essential to the duties of her office, and to the
wholesomeness of the dishes prepared by her hand. Besides the
deleterious vapours of the charcoal, which soon undermine the health of
the heartiest person, the cook has to endure the glare of a scorching
fire, and the smoke, so baneful to the complexion and the eyes; so that
she is continually surrounded with inevitable dangers, while her most
commendable achievements pass not only without reward, but frequently
without even thanks. The most consummate cook is seldom noticed by the
master, or heard of by the guests, who, while they eagerly devour his
dainties, and drink his wine, care very little who dressed the one or
sent the other. The same observations apply to the kitchen maid or
second cook, who have in large families the hardest place, and are
worse paid, verifying the old proverb, 'the more work the less wages.'
If there be any thing right, the cook has the praise, when any praise is
given: if any thing be wrong, the kitchen maid has the blame. For this
humble domestic is expected by the cook to take the entire management of
all roasts and boils, fish and vegetables, which together constitute the
principal part of an Englishman's dinner. The master or mistress who
wishes to enjoy the rare luxury of a table well served in the best
stile, should treat the cook as a friend; should watch over her health
with peculiar care, and be sure that her taste does not suffer, by her
stomach being deranged by bilious attacks. A small proportion of that
attention usually bestowed on a favourite horse, or even a dog, would
suffice to regulate her animal system. Cleanliness, and a proper
ventilation to carry off smoke and steam, should be particularly
attended to in the construction of a kitchen. The grand scene of action,
the fire-place, should be placed where it may receive plenty of light.
Too often the contrary practice has prevailed, and the poor cook is
continually basted with her own perspiration; but a good state of health
can never be preserved under such circumstances.


_Necessity of Order and Regularity._

No family can be properly managed, where the strictest order and
regularity is not observed. 'A house divided against itself cannot
stand;' and if the direction of its affairs be left to accident or
chance, it will be equally fatal to its comfort and prosperity. It is
the part of a prudent manager to see all that is doing, and to foresee
and direct all that should be done. The weakest capacity can perceive
what is wrong after it has occurred; but discernment and discretion are
necessary to anticipate and prevent confusion and disorder, by a
well-regulated system of prompt and vigorous management. If time be
wisely economised, and the useful affairs transacted before amusements
are allowed, and a regular plan of employment be daily laid down, a
great deal may be done without hurry or fatigue. The retrospect would
also be most pleasant at the end of the year, to be able to enumerate
all the valuable acquirements made, and the just and benevolent actions
performed, under the active and energetic management of the mistress of
a family. As highly conducive to this end, early and regular hours
should be kept in the evening, and an early hour especially for
breakfast in the morning. There will then be more time to execute the
orders that may be given, which in general should comprise the business
of the day; and servants, by doing their work with ease, will be more
equal to it, and fewer of them will be necessary. It is worthy of
notice, that the general expense will be reduced, and much time saved,
if every thing be kept in its proper place, applied to its proper use,
and mended, when the nature of the accident will allow, as soon as
broken or out of repair. A proper quantity of household articles should
always be ready, and more bought in before the others are consumed, to
prevent inconvenience, especially in the country. Much trouble and
irregularity would be prevented when there is company to dinner, if the
servants were required to prepare the table and sideboard in similar
order daily. As some preparation is necessary for accidental visitors,
care should be taken to have constantly in readiness a few articles
suited to such occasions, which if properly managed will be attended
with little expense, and much convenience.


_Bad habit of keeping Spare Rooms._

Though persons of large fortune may support an expensive establishment
without inconvenience, it ill becomes those in the middle rank to
imitate such an example. Nothing can be more ludicrous than the contrast
exhibited between two families of this description; the one living in
the dignified splendour, and with the liberal hospitality, that wealth
can command; the other in a stile of tinsel show, without the real
appropriate distinctions belonging to rank and fortune. They are lavish,
but not liberal, often sacrificing independence to support dissipation,
and betraying the dearest interests of society for the sake of personal
vanity, and gratifying what is significantly termed 'the pride of life.'

The great point for comfort and respectability is, that all the
household economy should be uniform, not displaying a parade of show in
one thing, and a total want of comfort in another. Besides the
contemptible appearance that this must have to every person of good
sense, it is often productive of fatal consequences. How common it is,
in large towns especially, that for the vanity of having a showy
drawing-room to receive company, the family are confined to a close back
room, where they have scarcely air or light, the want of which is
essentially injurious to health. To keep rooms for show belongs to the
higher classes, where the house is sufficiently commodious for the
family, and to admit of this also: but in private dwellings, to shut up
perhaps the only room that is fit to live in, is to be guilty of a kind
of self-destruction; and yet how frequently this consideration escapes
persons who are disposed to render their family every comfort, but they
have a grate, a carpet, and chairs too fine for every day's use. What a
reflection, when nursing a sick child, to think that it may be the
victim of a bright grate, and a fine carpet! Or, what is equally
afflicting, to see all the children perhaps rickety and diseased from
the same cause! Keeping a spare bed for ornament, rather than for use,
is often attended with similar consequences. A stranger or a friend is
allowed to occupy it once in so many months, and he does it at the peril
of his health, and even of his life.

Another bad effect of keeping spare rooms is the seeing more company,
and in a more expensive manner, than is compatible with the general
convenience of the family, introducing with it an expense in dress, and
a dissipation of time, from which it suffers in various ways. Not the
least of these is the neglect of parental instruction, which it is
attempted to supply by sending the children at an improper age to
school; the girls where they had better never go, and the boys where
they get but little good, and perhaps are all the worse for mending.
Social intercourse is not improved by parade, but quite the contrary;
real friends, and the pleasantest kind of acquaintance, those who like
to be social, are repulsed by it. The failure therefore is general,
involving the loss of nearly all that is valuable in society, by an
abortive attempt to become fashionable.


_Setting out a Table._

The direction of a Table is no inconsiderable part of a lady's concern,
as it involves judgment in expenditure, respectability of appearance,
the comfort of her husband, and those who partake of their hospitality.
It is true that the mode of covering a table, and providing for the
guests, is merely a matter of taste, materially different in a variety
of instances; yet nothing can be more ruinous of real comfort than the
too common custom of making a profusion and a parade, unsuited not only
to the circumstances of the host, but to the number of the guests; or
more fatal to true hospitality than the multiplicity of dishes which
luxury has made fashionable at the tables of the great, the wealthy, and
the ostentatious, who are often neither great, nor wealthy, nor wise.
Such excessive preparation, instead of being a compliment to the party
invited, is nothing better than an indirect offence, conveying a tacit
insinuation that it is absolutely necessary to provide such delicacies
to bribe the depravity of their palates, when we desire the pleasure of
their company, and that society must be purchased on dishonourable terms
before it can be enjoyed. When twice as much cooking is undertaken as
there are servants, or conveniences in the kitchen to do it properly,
dishes must be dressed long before the dinner hour, and stand by
spoiling; and why prepare for eight or ten more than is sufficient for
twenty or thirty visitors? 'Enough is as good as a feast;' and a prudent
provider, avoiding what is extravagant and superfluous, may entertain
her friends three times as often, and ten times as well.

Perhaps there are few incidents in which the respectability of a man is
more immediately felt, than the style of dinner to which he may
accidentally bring home a visitor. And here, it is not the multiplicity
of articles, but the choice, the dressing, and the neat appearance of
the whole that is principally regarded. Every one is to live as he can
afford, and the meal of the tradesman ought not to emulate the
entertainments of the higher classes; but if two or three dishes are
well served, with the usual sauces, the table linen clean, the small
sideboard neatly laid, and all that is necessary be at hand, the
expectation of the husband and the friend will be gratified, because no
irregularity of domestic arrangement will disturb the social
intercourse. The same observation holds good on a larger scale. In all
situations of life the entertainment should be no less suited to the
station than to the fortune of the entertainer, and to the number and
rank of those invited.

The manner of Carving is not only a very necessary branch of
information, to enable a lady to do the honours of the table, but makes
a considerable difference in the consumption of a family; and though in
large parties she is so much assisted as to render this knowledge
apparently of less consequence, yet she must at times feel the
deficiency; and should not fail to acquaint herself with an attainment,
the advantage of which is evident every day. Some people haggle meat so
much, as not to be able to help half a dozen persons decently from a
large tongue, or a sirloin of beef; and the dish goes away with the
appearance of having been gnawed by dogs. Habit alone can make good
carvers; but some useful directions on this subject will be found in the
following pages, under the article Carving.

Half the trouble of waiting at table may be saved, by giving each guest
two plates, two knives and forks, two pieces of bread, a spoon, a wine
glass, and a tumbler; and by placing the wines and sauces in the centre
of the table, one visitor may help another. If the party is large, the
founders of the feast should sit about the middle of the table, instead
of at each end. They will then enjoy the pleasure of attending equally
to all their friends; and being in some degree relieved from the
occupation of carving, will have an opportunity of administering all
those little attentions which contribute so much to the comfort of their
guests. Dinner tables are seldom sufficiently lighted, or attended; an
active waiter will have enough to do to attend upon half a dozen
persons. There should be half as many candles as there are guests, and
their flame should not be more than eighteen inches above the table. The
modern candelabras answer no other purpose than that of giving an
appearance of pomp and magnificence, and seem intended to illuminate the
ceiling, rather than to shed light upon the plates.


_Quality of Provisions to be regarded._

The leading consideration about food ought always to be its
wholesomeness. Cookery may produce savoury and elegant looking dishes,
without their possessing any of the real qualities of food. It is at the
same time both a serious and a ludicrous reflection, that it should be
thought to do honour to our friends and to ourselves to set out a table
where indigestion with all its train of evils, such as fever,
rheumatism, gout, and the whole catalogue of human diseases, lie lurking
in almost every dish. Yet this is both done, and taken as a compliment.
The practice of flavouring custards, for example, with laurel leaves,
and adding fruit kernels to the poison of spirituous liquors, though far
too common, is attended with imminent danger: for let it be remembered,
that the flavour given by laurel essence is the most fatal kind of
poison. Children, and delicate grown-up persons, have often died
suddenly from this cause, even where the quantity of the deleterious
mixture was but small.

How infinitely preferable is a dinner of far less show, where nobody
need to be afraid of what they are eating; and such a one will always be
genteel and respectable. If a person can give his friend only a leg of
mutton, there is nothing of which to be ashamed, provided it is good and
well dressed. Nothing can be of greater importance to the mistress of a
family, than the preservation of its health; but there is no way of
securing this desirable object with any degree of certainty, except her
eye watches over every part of the culinary process. The subject of
cookery is too generally neglected by mistresses, as something beneath
their notice; or if engaged in, it is to contrive a variety of
mischievous compositions, both savoury and sweet, to recommend their own
ingenuity. Yet it is quite evident that every good housewife ought to be
well acquainted with this important branch of domestic management, and
to take upon herself at least its entire direction and controul. This is
a duty which her husband, children, and domestics, have a right to
expect at her hands; and which a solicitude for their health and comfort
will induce her to discharge with fidelity. If cookery has been worth
studying as a sensual gratification, it is much more so as the means of
securing the greatest of human blessings.

A house fitted up with clean good furniture, the kitchen provided with
clean wholesome-looking cooking utensils, good fires, in grates that
give no anxiety lest a good fire should spoil them, clean good
table-linen, the furniture of the table and sideboard good of the kind
without ostentation, and a well-dressed plain dinner, bespeak a sound
judgment and correct taste in a private family, that place it on a
footing of respectability with the first characters in the country. It
is only conforming to our sphere, not vainly attempting to be above it,
that can command true respect.

  ==================================================================
                    _Explanation of the Plate._


                            VENISON.
  1. Haunch.      |2. Neck.      |3. Shoulder.      |4. Breast.

                              BEEF.
                   | 7. Thick Flank.          |13. Shoulder or Leg
   _Hind Quarter._ | 8. Thin Flank.           |    of Mutton Piece.
  1. Sirloin.      | 9. Leg.                  |14. Brisket
  2. Rump.         |10. Fore Rib; five Ribs.  |15. Clod.
  3. Edge Bone.    |                          |16. Neck or Sticking
  4. Buttock.      |  _Fore Quarter._         |    Piece.
  5. Mouse Buttock.|11. Middle Rib; four Ribs.|17. Shin.
  6. Veiny Piece.  |12. Chuck; three Ribs.    |18. Cheek.

                    VEAL.
  1. Loin, best End.  | 6. Neck, best End.
  2. Loin, Chump End. | 7. Neck, Scrag End.
  3. Fillet.          | 8. Blade Bone.
  4. Hind Knuckle.    | 9. Breast, best End.
  5. Fore Knuckle.    |10. Breast, Brisket End.

                 PORK.
  1. Sparerib.        |4. Fore Loin.
  2. Hand.            |5. Hind Loin.
  3. Belly or Spring. |6. Leg.

                             MUTTON.
  1. Leg.             |4. Neck, best End.  |7. Breast.
  2. Loin, best End.  |5. Neck, Scrag End. |A Chine is two Loins.
  3. Loin, Chump End. |6. Shoulder.        |A Saddle is two Necks.

[Illustration]




THE

COOK AND HOUSEKEEPER'S

COMPLETE AND UNIVERSAL

DICTIONARY.


ACID, lemon: a good substitute for this expensive article, suitable for
soups, fish sauces, and many other purposes, may be made of a dram of
lump sugar pounded, and six drops of lemon essence, to three ounces of
crystal vinegar. The flavour of the lemon may also be communicated to
the vinegar, by an infusion of lemon peel.


ACIDS, to remove stains caused by acids. See STAINS.


ACCIDENTS BY FIRE. Much mischief frequently arises from the want of a
little presence of mind on such occasions, when it is well known that a
small quantity of water speedily and properly applied, would obviate
great danger. The moment an alarm of fire is given in a house, some
blankets should be wetted in a tub of water, and spread on the floor of
the room where the fire is, and the flames beaten out with a wet
blanket. Two or three pails of water thus applied, will be more
effectual than a larger quantity poured on in the usual way, and at a
later period. If a chimney be on fire, the readiest way is to cover the
whole front of the fire-place with a wet blanket, or thrust it into the
throat of the chimney, or make a complete inclosure with the
chimney-board. By whatever means the current of air can be stopped
below, the burning soot will be put out as rapidly as a candle is by an
extinguisher, and upon the same principle. A quantity of salt thrown
into water will increase its power in quenching the flames, and muddy
water is better for this purpose than clear water. Children, and
especially females, should be informed, that as flame tends upward, it
is extremely improper for them to stand upright, in case their clothes
take fire; and as the accident generally begins with the lower part of
the dress, the flames meeting additional fuel as they rise, become more
fatal, and the upper part of the body necessarily sustains the greatest
injury. If there be no assistance at hand in a case of this kind, the
sufferer should instantly throw herself down, and roll or lie upon her
clothes. A carpet, hearth rug, or green baize table cloth, quickly
wrapped round the head and body, will be an effectual preservative; but
where these are not at hand, the other method may easily be adopted. The
most obvious means of preventing the female dress from catching fire, is
that of wire fenders of sufficient height to hinder the coals and sparks
from flying into the room; and nurseries in particular should never be
without them. Destructive fires often happen from the thoughtlessness of
persons leaving a poker in the grate, which afterward falls out and
rolls on the floor or carpet. This evil may in a great measure be
prevented by having a small cross of iron welded on the poker,
immediately above the square part, about an inch and a half each way.
Then if the poker slip out of the fire, it will probably catch at the
edge of the fender; or if not, it cannot endanger the floor, as the hot
end of the poker will be kept from it by resting on the cross. In cases
of extreme danger, where the fire is raging in the lower part of the
house, a Fire Escape is of great importance. But where this article is
too expensive, or happens not to be provided, a strong rope should be
fastened to something in an upper apartment, having knots or resting
places for the hands and feet, that in case of alarm it may be thrown
out of the window; or if children and infirm persons were secured by a
noose at the end of it, they might be lowered down in safety. No family
occupying lofty houses in confined situations ought to be without some
contrivance of this sort, and which may be provided at a very trifling
expense. Horses are often so intimidated by fire, that they have
perished before they could be removed from the spot; but if a bridle or
a halter be put upon them, they might be led out of the stable as easily
as on common occasions. Or if the harness be thrown over a draught
horse, or the saddle placed on the back of a saddle horse, the same
object may be accomplished.


ADULTERATIONS in baker's bread may be detected, by mixing it with lemon
juice or strong vinegar: if the bread contains chalk, whiting, or any
other alkali, it will immediately produce a fermentation. If ashes,
alum, bones, or jalap be suspected, slice the crumb of a loaf very thin,
set it over the fire with water, and let it boil gently a long time.
Take it off, pour the water into a vessel, and let it stand till nearly
cold; then pour it gently out, and in the sediment will be seen the
ingredients which have been mixed. The alum will be dissolved in the
water, and may be extracted from it. If jalap has been used, it will
form a thick film on the top, and the heavy ingredients will sink to the
bottom. See BEER, FLOUR, SPIRITS, WINE.


AGUE. Persons afflicted with the ague ought in the first instance to
take an emetic, and a little opening medicine. During the shaking fits,
drink plenty of warm gruel, and afterwards take some powder of bark
steeped in red wine. Or mix thirty grains of snake root, forty of
wormwood, and half an ounce of jesuit's bark powdered, in half a pint of
port wine: put the whole into a bottle, and shake it well together. Take
one fourth part first in the morning, and another at bed time, when the
fit is over, and let the dose be often repeated, to prevent a return of
the complaint. If this should not succeed, mix a quarter of an ounce
each of finely powdered Peruvian bark, grains of paradise, and long
pepper, in a quarter of a pound of treacle. Take a third part of it as
soon as the cold fit begins, and wash it down with a glass of brandy. As
the cold fit goes off, and the fever approaches, take a second third
part, with the like quantity of brandy; and on the following morning
fasting, swallow the remainder, with the same quantity of brandy as
before. Three doses of this excellent electuary have cured hundreds of
persons, and seldom been known to fail. To children under nine years of
age, only half the above quantity must be given. Try also the following
experiment. When the cold fit is on, take an egg beaten up in a glass of
brandy, and go to bed directly. This very simple recipe has proved
successful in a number of instances, where more celebrated preparations
have failed.


AIR. Few persons are sufficiently aware, that an unwholesome air is the
common cause of disease. They generally pay some attention to what they
eat and drink, but seldom regard what goes into the lungs, though the
latter often proves more fatal than the former. Air vitiated by the
different processes of respiration, combustion, and putrefaction, or
which is suffered to stagnate, is highly injurious to health, and
productive of contagious disorders. Whatever greatly alters its degree
of heat or cold, also renders it unwholesome. If too hot, it produces
bilious and inflammatory affections: if too cold, it obstructs
perspiration, and occasions rheumatism, coughs, and colds, and other
diseases of the throat and breast. A damp air disposes the body to
agues, intermitting fevers, and dropsies, and should be studiously
avoided. Some careful housewives, for the sake of bright and polished
stoves, frequently expose the health of the family in an improper
manner; but fires should always be made, if in the height of summer,
when the weather is wet or cold, to render the air wholesome; and let
the fire-irons take care of themselves. No house can be wholesome,
unless the air has a free passage through it: dwellings ought therefore
to be daily ventilated, by opening the windows and admitting a current
of fresh air into every room. Instead of making up beds as soon as
people rise out of them, a practice much too common, they ought to be
turned down, and exposed to dry fresh air from the open windows. This
would expel any noxious vapours, and promote the health of the family.
Houses surrounded with high walls, trees, or plantations, are rendered
unwholesome. Wood, not only obstructs the free current of air, but sends
forth exhalations, which render it damp and unhealthy. Houses situated
on low ground, or near lakes and ponds of stagnant water, are the same:
the air is charged with putrid exhalations, which produce the most
malignant effects. Persons obliged to occupy such situations should
live well, and pay the strictest regard to cleanliness. The effluvia
arising from church-yards and other burying grounds is very infectious;
and parish churches, in which many corpses are interred, become tainted
with an atmosphere so corrupt, especially in the spring, when the ground
begins to grow warm, that it is one of the principal sources of putrid
fevers, which so often prevail at that season of the year. Such places
ought to be kept perfectly clean, and frequently ventilated, by opening
opposite doors and windows; and no human dwelling should be allowed in
the immediate vicinity of a burying ground.--The air of large towns and
cities is greatly contaminated, by being repeatedly respired; by the
vapours arising from dirty streets, the smoke of chimneys, and the
innumerable putrid substances occasioned by the crowd of inhabitants.
Persons of a delicate habit should avoid cities as they would the
plague; or if this be impracticable, they should go abroad as much as
possible, frequently admit fresh air into their rooms, and be careful to
keep them very clean. If they can sleep in the country, so much the
better, as breathing free air in the night will in some degree make up
for the want of it in the day time. Air which stagnates in mines, wells,
and cellars, is extremely noxious; it kills nearly as quick as
lightning, and ought therefore to be carefully avoided. Accidents
occasioned by foul air might often be prevented, by only letting down
into such places a lighted candle, and forbearing to enter when it is
perceived to go out. The foul air may be expelled by leaving the place
open a sufficient time, or pouring into it a quantity of boiling water.
Introducing fresh air into confined rooms and places, by means of
ventilators, is one of the most important of modern improvements.--Dyers,
gilders, plumbers, refiners of metals, and artisans employed over or
near a charcoal fire, are exposed to great danger from the vitiated
state of the air. To avert the injury to which their lungs are thus
exposed, it would be proper to place near them a flat open vessel filled
with lime water, and to renew it as often as a variegated film appears
on the surface. This powerfully attracts and absorbs the noxious
effluvia emitted by the burning charcoal.--But if fresh air be necessary
for those in health, much more so for the sick, who often lose their
lives for want of it. The notion that sick people require to be kept hot
is very common, but no less dangerous, for no medicine is so beneficial
to them as fresh air, in ordinary cases, especially if administered with
prudence. Doors and windows are not to be opened at random; but the air
should be admitted gradually, and chiefly by opening the windows of some
other apartment which communicates with the sick room. The air may
likewise be purified by wetting a cloth in water impregnated with quick
lime, then hanging it in the room till it becomes dry, and removing it
as often as it appears necessary. In chronic diseases, especially those
of the lungs, where there is no inflammation, a change of air is much to
be recommended. Independently of any other circumstance, it has often
proved highly beneficial; and such patients have breathed more freely,
even though removed to a damp and confined situation. In short, fresh
air contains the vitals of health, and must be sought for in every
situation, as the only medium of human existence.


ALABASTER. The proper way of cleaning elegant chimney pieces, or other
articles made of alabaster, is to reduce some pumice stone to a very
fine powder, and mix it up with verjuice. Let it stand two hours, then
dip into it a sponge, and rub the alabaster with it: wash it with fresh
water and a linen cloth, and dry it with clean linen rags.


ALAMODE BEEF. Choose a piece of thick flank of a fine heifer or ox. Cut
some fat bacon into long slices nearly an inch thick, but quite free
from yellow. Dip them into vinegar, and then into a seasoning ready
prepared, of salt, black pepper, allspice, and a clove, all in fine
powder, with parsley, chives, thyme, savoury, and knotted marjoram,
shred as small as possible, and well mixed. With a sharp knife make
holes deep enough to let in the larding; then rub the beef over with the
seasoning, and bind it up tight with a tape. Set it in a well tinned pot
over a fire, or rather a stove: three or four onions must be fried brown
and put to the beef, with two or three carrots, one turnip, a head or
two of celery, and a small quantity of water. Let it simmer gently ten
or twelve hours, or till extremely tender, turning the meat twice. Put
the gravy into a pan, remove the fat, keep the beef covered, then put
them together, and add a glass of port wine. Take off the tape, and
serve with vegetables; or strain them off, and cut them into dice for
garnish. Onions roasted, and then stewed with the gravy, are a great
improvement. A tea-cupful of vinegar should be stewed with the
beef.--Another way is to take about eleven pounds of the mouse-buttock,
or clod of beef, or a blade bone, or the sticking piece, and cut it into
pieces of three or four ounces each. Put two or three ounces of beef
drippings, and two large onions, into a large deep stewpan; as soon as
it is quite hot, flour the meat, put it into the stewpan, and keep
stirring it with a wooden spoon. When it has been on about ten minutes,
dredge it with flour, and keep doing so till you have stirred in as much
as will thicken it. Then cover it with about a gallon of boiling water,
adding it by degrees, and stirring it together. Skim it when it boils,
and then put in a dram of ground black pepper, and two drams of
allspice. Set the pan by the side of the fire, or at a distance over it,
and let it stew very slowly for about three hours. When the meat is
sufficiently tender, put it into a tureen, and send it to table with a
nice sallad.


ALE, allowing eight bushels of malt to the hogshead, should be brewed in
the beginning of March. Pour on at once the whole quantity of hot water,
not boiling, and let it infuse three hours close covered. Mash it in the
first half hour, and let it stand the remainder of the time. Run it on
the hops, half a pound to the bushel, previously infused in water, and
boil them with the wort two hours. Cool a pailful after it has boiled,
add to it two quarts of yeast, which will prepare it for putting to the
rest when ready, the same night or the next day. When tunned, and the
beer has done working, cover the bung-hole with paper. If the working
requires to be stopped, dry a pound and a half of hops before the fire,
put them into the bung-hole, and fasten it up. Ale should stand twelve
months in casks, and twelve in bottles, before it be drank; and if well
brewed, it will keep and be very fine for eight or ten years. It will
however be ready for use in three or four months; and if the vent-peg be
never removed, it will have strength and spirit to the very last. But if
bottled, great care must be taken to have the bottles perfectly sweet
and clean, and the corks of the best quality. If the ale requires to be
refined, put two ounces of isinglass shavings to soak in a quart of the
liquor, and beat it with a whisk every day till dissolved. Draw off a
third part of the cask, and mix the above with it: likewise a quarter of
an ounce of pearl ashes, one ounce of salt of tartar calcined, and one
ounce of burnt alum powdered. Stir it well, then return the liquor into
the cask, and stir it with a clean stick. Stop it up, and in a few days
it will be fine. See BEER, BREWING.


ALE POSSET. Beat up the yolks of ten eggs, and the whites of four; then
put them into a quart of cream, mixed with a pint of ale. Grate some
nutmeg into it, sweeten it with sugar, set it on the fire, and keep it
stirring. When it is thick, and before it boils, take it off, and pour
it into a china bason. This is called King William's Posset. A very good
one may however be made by warming a pint of milk, with a bit of white
bread in it, and then warming a pint of ale with a little sugar and
nutmeg. When the milk boils, pour it upon the ale; let it stand a few
minutes to clear, and it will make a fine cordial.


ALEGAR. Take some good sweet wort before it is hopped, put it into a
jar, and a little yeast when it becomes lukewarm, and cover it over. In
three or four days it will have done fermenting; set it in the sun, and
it will be fit for use in three or four months, or much sooner, if
fermented with sour yeast, and mixed with an equal quantity of sour ale.


ALLSPICE, used as an essence, is made of a dram of the oil of pimento,
apothecaries' measure, mixed by degrees with two ounces of strong
spirits of wine. The tincture, which has a finer flavour than the
essence, is made of three ounces of bruised allspice, steeped in a quart
of brandy. Shake it occasionally for a fortnight, and then pour off the
clear liquor. A few drops of either will be a grateful addition to a
pint of gravy, or mulled wine, or in any case where allspice is used.


ALMOND BISCUITS. Blanch a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds, and pound
them fine in a mortar, sprinkling them from time to time with a little
fine sugar. Then beat them a quarter of an hour with an ounce of flour,
the yolks of three eggs, and four ounces of fine sugar, adding
afterward the whites of four eggs whipped to a froth. Prepare some paper
moulds like boxes, about the length of two fingers square; butter them
within, and put in the biscuits, throwing over them equal quantities of
flour and powdered sugar. Bake them in a cool oven; and when of a good
colour, take them out of the papers. Bitter almond biscuits are made in
the same manner, except with this difference; that to every two ounces
of bitter almonds must be added an ounce of sweet almonds.


ALMOND CHEESECAKES. Blanch and pound four ounces of almonds, and a few
bitter ones, with a spoonful of water. Add four ounces of pounded sugar,
a spoonful of cream, and the whites of two eggs well beaten. Mix all as
quick as possible, put it into very small pattipans, and bake in a
tolerable warm oven, under twenty minutes. Or blanch and pound four
ounces of almonds, with a little orange-flower or rose-water; then stir
in the yolks of six and the whites of three eggs well beaten, five
ounces of butter warmed, the peel of a lemon grated, and a little of the
juice, sweetened with fine moist sugar. When well mixed, bake in a
delicate paste, in small pans. Another way is, to press the whey from as
much curd as will make two dozen small cheesecakes. Then put the curd on
the back of a sieve, and with half an ounce of butter rub it through
with the back of a spoon; put to it six yolks and three whites of eggs,
and a few bitter almonds pounded, with as much sugar as will sweeten the
curd. Mix with it the grated rind of a lemon, and a glass of brandy; put
a puff-paste into the pans, and ten minutes will bake them.


ALMOND CREAM. Beat in a mortar four ounces of sweet almonds, and a few
bitter ones, with a tea-spoonful of water to prevent oiling, both having
first been blanched. Put the paste to a quart of cream, and add the
juice of three lemons sweetened; beat it with a whisk to a froth, which
take off on the shallow part of a sieve, and fill the glasses with some
of the liquor and the froth.


ALMOND CUSTARD. Blanch and beat four ounces of almonds fine, with a
spoonful of water. Beat a pint of cream with two spoonfuls of
rose-water, put them to the yolks of four eggs, and as much sugar as
will make it tolerably sweet. Then add the almonds, stir it all over a
slow fire till of a proper thickness, without boiling, and pour it into
cups.


ALMOND JUMBLES. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of flour, with
half a pound of loaf sugar powdered, a quarter of a pound of almonds
beat fine with rose-water, the yolks of two eggs, and two spoonfuls of
cream. Make them all into a paste, roll it into any shape, and bake on
tins. Ice them with a mixture of fine sugar, rose-water, and the white
of an egg, beat up together, and lay the icing on with a feather, before
the jumbles are put into the oven.


ALMOND PUDDINGS. Beat half a pound of sweet and a few bitter almonds
with a spoonful of water; then mix four ounces of butter, four eggs, two
spoonfuls of cream, warm with the butter, one of brandy, a little nutmeg
and sugar to taste. Butter some cups, half fill them, and bake the
puddings. Serve with butter, wine, and sugar.--For baked almond
puddings, beat a quarter of a pound of sweet and a few bitter almonds
with a little wine, the yolks of six eggs, the peel of two lemons
grated, six ounces of butter, nearly a quart of cream, and the juice of
one lemon. When well mixed, bake it half an hour, with paste round the
dish, and serve it with pudding sauce. Small almond puddings are made of
eight ounces of almonds, and a few bitter ones, pounded with a spoonful
of water. Then mix four ounces of butter warmed, four yolks and two
whites of eggs, sugar to taste, two spoonfuls of cream, and one of
brandy. Mix it together well, and bake in little cups buttered.


ALMONDS BURNT. Add three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar to a pound of
almonds, picked and cleaned, and a few spoonfuls of water. Set them on
the fire, keep them stirring till the sugar is candied, and they are
done.


ALMONDS ICED. Make an iceing similar to that for twelfth-night cakes,
with fine sifted loaf sugar, orange-flower water, and whisked white of
eggs. Having blanched the almonds, roll them well in this iceing, and
dry them in a cool oven.


AMBER PUDDING. Put a pound of butter into a saucepan, with three
quarters of a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered. Melt the butter, and
mix well with it; then add the yolks of fifteen eggs well beaten, and as
much fresh candied orange as will add colour and flavour to it, being
first beaten to a fine paste. Line the dish with paste for turning out;
and when filled with the above, lay a crust over as you would a pie, and
bake it in a slow oven. This makes a fine pudding as good cold as hot.


AMERICAN CAKES, though but little known in this country, form an article
of some importance in domestic economy: they are cheap, easily made, and
very nutritious. Mix a quarter of a pound of butter with a pound of
flour; then, having dissolved and well stirred a quarter of a pound of
sugar in half a pint of milk, and made a solution of about half a
tea-spoonful of crystal of soda, salt of tartar, or any other purified
potash, in half a tea-cupful of cold water, pour them also among the
flour; work up the paste to a good consistence, roll it out, and form it
into cakes or biscuits. The lightness of these cakes depending much on
the expedition with which they are baked, they should be set in a brisk
oven.


AMERICAN SPRUCE. In the spring of the year, this valuable extract is
obtained from the young shoots and tops of the pine or fir trees; and in
autumn, from their cones. These are merely boiled in water, to the
consistence of honey or molasses. The bark and softer part of the tops
and young shoots, being easily dissolved, make the finest essence; while
the cones and bark of larger branches, undergoing only a partial
solution, form an inferior article, after being strained from the dregs.
Both sorts, when decanted clear off, are put up in casks or bottles, and
preserved for making spruce beer.


ANCHOVIES. These delicate fish are preserved in barrels with bay salt,
and no other of the finny tribe has so fine a flavour. Choose those
which look red and mellow, and the bones moist and oily. They should be
high-flavoured, and have a fine smell; but beware of their being mixed
with red paint, to improve their colour and appearance. When the liquor
dries, pour on them some beef brine, and keep the jar close tied down
with paper and leather. Sprats are sometimes sold for anchovies, but by
washing them the imposition may be detected. See SPRATS.


ANCHOVY ESSENCE. Chop two dozen of anchovies, without the bone, add some
of their own liquor strained, and sixteen large spoonfuls of water. Boil
them gently till dissolved, which will be in a few minutes; and when
cold, strain and bottle the liquor. The essence can generally be bought
cheaper than you can make it.


ANCHOVY PASTE. Pound them in a mortar, rub the pulp through a fine
sieve, pot it, cover it with clarified butter, and keep it in a cool
place. The paste may also be made by rubbing the essence with as much
flour as will make a paste; but this is only intended for immediate use,
and will not keep. This is sometimes made stiffer and hotter, by the
addition of a little flour of mustard, a pickled walnut, spice, or
cayenne.


ANCHOVY POWDER. Pound the fish in a mortar, rub them through a sieve,
make them into a paste with dried flour, roll it into thin cakes, and
dry them in a Dutch oven before a slow fire. To this may be added a
small portion of cayenne, grated lemon peel, and citric acid. Pounded to
a fine powder, and put into a well-stopped bottle, it will keep for
years. It is a very savoury relish, sprinkled on bread and butter for a
sandwich.


ANCHOVY SAUCE. Chop one or two anchovies without washing, put them into
a saucepan with flour and butter, and a spoonful of water. Stir it over
the fire till it boils once or twice. When the anchovies are good, they
will soon be dissolved, and distinguished both by their colour and
fragrance.


ANCHOVY TOAST. Bone and skin six or eight anchovies, pound them to a
mass with an ounce of fine butter till the colour is equal, and then
spread it on toast or rusks. Or, cut thin slices of bread, and fry them
in clarified butter. Wash three anchovies split, pound them in a mortar
with a little fresh butter, rub them through a hair sieve, and spread on
the toast when cold. Garnish with parsley or pickles.


ANGELICA TARTS. Take an equal quantity of apples and angelica, pare and
peel them, and cut them separately into small pieces. Boil the apples
gently in a little water, with fine sugar and lemon peel, till they
become a thin syrup: then boil the angelica about ten minutes. Put some
paste at the bottom of the pattipans, with alternate layers of apples
and angelica: pour in some of the syrup, put on the lid, and bake them
carefully.


ANGLING APPARATUS. Fishing rods should be oiled and dried in the sun, to
prevent their being worm eaten, and render them tough; and if the joints
get swelled and set fast, turn the part over the flame of a candle, and
it will soon be set at liberty. Silk or hemp lines dyed in a decoction
of oak bark, will render them more durable and capable of resisting the
wet; and after they have been used they should be well dried before they
are wound up, or they will be liable to rot. To make a cork float, take
a good new cork, and pass a small red-hot iron through the centre of it
lengthways; then round one end of it with a sharp knife, and reduce the
other to a point, resembling a small peg top. The quill which is to pass
through it may be secured at the bottom by putting in a little cotton
wool and sealing wax, and the upper end is to be fitted with a piece of
hazel like a plug, cemented like the other, with a piece of wire on the
top formed into an eye, and two small hoops cut from another quill to
regulate the line which passes through the float. To render it the more
visible, the cork may be coloured with red wax. For fly fishing, either
natural or artificial flies may be used, especially such as are found
under hollow stones by the river's side, on the trunk of an oak or ash,
on hawthorns, and on ant hills. In clear water the angler may use small
flies with slender wings, but in muddy water a large fly is better: in a
clear day the fly should be light coloured, and in dark water the fly
should be dark. The rod and line require to be long; the fly when
fastened to the hook should be allowed to float gently on the surface of
the water, keeping the line from touching it, and the angler should
stand as far as may be from the water's edge with the sun at his back,
having a watchful eye and a quick hand. Fish may be intoxicated and
taken in the following manner. Take an equal quantity of cocculus
indicus, coriander, fenugreek, and cummin seeds, and reduce them to a
powder. Make it into a paste with rice flour and water, roll it up into
pills as large as peas, and throw them into ponds or rivers which abound
with fish. After eating the paste, the fish will rise to the surface of
the water almost motionless, and may be taken out by the hand.


ANTIDOTE to opium or laudanum. The deleterious effects of opium, which
are so often experienced in the form of laudanum, may in great measure
be counteracted by taking a proper quantity of lemon juice immediately
afterwards. Four grains of opium, or a hundred drops of laudanum, are
often sufficient for a fatal dose; but if an ounce of pure lemon juice,
or twice that quantity of good vinegar be added to every grain of opium,
or every twenty-five drops of laudanum, it will relieve both the head
and the bowels; and the use of vegetable acids cannot be too strongly
recommended to those who are under the necessity of taking considerable
doses of opiates.


ANTS. Though it does not become us to be prodigal of life in any form,
nor wantonly to seek its extinction, yet where any species of animals
are found to be really noxious or annoying, the good of man requires
that they should be destroyed. Houses are sometimes so infested with
ants, that they are not to be endured. In this case, sprinkle the places
they frequent with a strong decoction of walnut-tree leaves; or take
half a pound of sulphur, and a quarter of a pound of potash, and
dissolve them together over the fire. Afterwards beat them to a powder,
add some water to it; and when sprinkled, the ants will either die or
leave the place. When they are found to traverse garden walls or
hot-houses, and to injure the fruit, several holes should be drilled in
the ground with an iron crow, close to the side of the wall, and as deep
as the soil will admit. The earth being stirred, the insects will begin
to move about: the sides of the holes are then to be made smooth, so
that the ants may fall in as soon as they approach, and they will be
unable to climb upwards. Water being then poured on them, great numbers
may easily be destroyed. The same end may be answered by strewing a
mixture of quick lime and soot along such places as are much frequented
by the ants; or by adding water to it, and pouring it at the roots of
trees infested by them. To prevent their descending from a tree which
they visit, it is only necessary to mark with a piece of common chalk a
circle round its trunk, an inch or two broad, and about two feet from
the ground. This experiment should be performed in dry weather, and the
ring must be renewed: as soon as the ants arrive at it, not one of them
will attempt to cross over.--Ant hills are very injurious in dry
pastures, not only by wasting the soil, but yielding a pernicious kind
of grass, and impeding the operation of the scythe. The turf of the ant
hill should be pared off, the core taken out and scattered at a
distance; and when the turf is laid down again, the place should be left
lower than the ground around it, that when the wet settles into it, the
ants may be prevented from returning to their haunt. The nests may more
effectually be destroyed by putting quick lime into them, and pouring on
some water; or by putting in some night soil, and closing it up.


APPLE TREES may be preserved from the innumerable insects with which
they are annoyed, by painting the stems and branches with a thick wash
of lime and water, as soon as the sap begins to rise. This will be
found, in the course of the ensuing summer to have removed all the moss
and insects, and given to the bark a fresh and green appearance. Other
fruit trees may be treated in the same manner, and they will soon become
more healthy and vigorous. Trees exposed to cattle, hares and rabbits,
may be preserved from these depredators, without the expense of fence or
rails, by any of the following experiments. Wash the stems of the trees
or plants to a proper height with tanner's liquor, or such as they use
for dressing hides. If this does not succeed, make a mixture of night
soil, lime and water, and brush it on the stems and branches, two or
three times in a year: this will effectually preserve the trees from
being barked. A mixture of fresh cow dung and urine has been found to
answer the same purpose, and also to destroy the canker, which is so
fatal to the growth of trees.


APPLES are best preserved from frost, by throwing over them a linen
cloth before the approach of hard weather: woollen will not answer the
purpose. In this manner they are kept in Germany and in America, during
the severest winters; and it is probable that potatoes might be
preserved in the same way. Apples may also be kept till the following
summer by putting them into a dry jar, with a few pebbles at the bottom
to imbibe the moisture which would otherwise destroy the fruit, and then
closing up the jar carefully with a lid, and a little fresh water round
the edge.


APPLES DRIED. Put them in a cool oven six or seven times; and when soft
enough to bear it, let them be gently flattened by degrees. If the oven
be too warm they will waste; and at first it should be very cool. The
biffin, the minshul crab, or any tart apples, are the best for drying.


APPLE DUMPLINGS. Pare and slice some apples, line a bason with a thin
paste, fill it with the fruit, and close the paste over. Tie a cloth
tight over, and boil the dumpling till the fruit is done. Currant and
damson puddings are prepared in the same way.


APPLE FOOL. Stew some apples in a stone jar on a stove, or in a saucepan
of water over the fire: if the former, a large spoonful of water should
be added to the fruit. When reduced to a pulp, peel and press them
through a cullendar; boil a sufficient quantity of new milk, and a
tea-cupful of raw cream, or an egg instead of the latter, and leave the
liquor to cool. Then mix it gradually with the pulp, and sweeten the
whole with fine moist sugar.


APPLE FRITTERS. Pare some apples, and cut them into thin slices; put a
spoonful of light batter into a frying-pan, then a layer of apples, and
another spoonful of batter. Fry them to a light brown, and serve with
grated sugar over them.


APPLE JELLY. Prepare twenty golden pippins, boil them quite tender in a
pint and a half of spring water, and strain the pulp through a
cullendar. To every pint add a pound of fine sugar, with grated orange
or lemon peel, and then boil the whole to a jelly. Or, having prepared
the apples by boiling and straining them through a coarse sieve, get
ready an ounce of isinglass boiled to a jelly in half a pint of water,
and mix it with the apple pulp. Add some sugar, a little lemon juice and
peel; boil all together, take out the peel, and put the jelly into a
dish, to serve at table.--When apple jelly is required for preserving
apricots, or any sort of sweetmeats, a different process is observed.
Apples are to be pared, quartered and cored, and put into a stewpan,
with as much water as will cover them. Boil them to a mash as quick as
possible, and add a quantity of water; then boil half an hour more, and
run it through a jelly bag. If in summer, codlins are best: in autumn,
golden rennets or winter pippins.--Red apples in jelly are a different
preparation. These must be pared and cored, and thrown into water; then
put them in a preserving pan, and let them coddle with as little water
as will only half cover them. Observe that they do not lie too close
when first put in; and when the under side is done, turn them. Mix some
pounded cochineal with the water, and boil with the fruit. When
sufficiently done, take them out on the dish they are to be served in,
the stalk downwards. Make a rich jelly of the water with loaf sugar,
boiling them with the thin rind and juice of a lemon. When cold, spread
the jelly over the apples; cut the lemon peel into narrow strips, and
put them across the eye of the apple. The colour should be kept fine
from the first, or the fruit will not afterwards gain it; and use as
little of the cochineal as will serve, lest the syrup taste bitter.


APPLE MARMALADE. Scald some apples till they come to a pulp; then take
an equal weight of sugar in large lumps, just dip them in water, and
boil the sugar till it can be well skimmed, and is reduced to a thick
syrup. Put it to the pulp, and simmer it on a quick fire a quarter of an
hour. Grate a little lemon peel before boiling, but if too much it will
be bitter.


APPLE PASTY. Make a hot crust of lard or dripping, roll it out warm,
cover it with apples pared and sliced, and a little lemon peel and moist
sugar. Wet the edges of the crust, close it up well, make a few holes in
the top, and bake it in a moderate oven. Gooseberries may be done in the
same way.


APPLE PIE. Pare and core the fruit, after being wiped clean; then boil
the cores and parings in a little water, till it tastes well. Strain the
liquor, add a little sugar, with a bit of bruised cinnamon, and simmer
again. Meantime place the apples in a dish, a paste being put round the
edge; when one layer is in, sprinkle half the sugar, and shred lemon
peel; squeeze in some of the juice, or a glass of cider, if the apples
have lost their spirit. Put in the rest of the apples, the sugar, and
the liquor which has been boiled. If the pie be eaten hot, put some
butter into it, quince marmalade, orange paste or cloves, to give it a
flavour.


APPLE POSTILLA. Bake codlins, or any other sour apples, but without
burning them; pulp them through a sieve into a bowl, and beat them for
four hours. Sweeten the fruit with honey, and beat it four hours more;
the longer it is beaten the better. Pour a thin layer of the mixture on
a cloth spread over a tray, and bake it in a slow oven, with bits of
wood placed under the tray. If not baked enough on one side, set it
again in the oven; and when quite done, turn it. Pour on it a fresh
layer of the mixture, and proceed with it in like manner, till the whole
is properly baked. Apple postilla is also made by peeling the apples and
taking out the cores after they are baked, sweetening with sugar, and
beating it up with a wooden spoon till it is all of a froth. Then put it
on two trays, and bake it for two hours in an oven moderately hot. After
this another layer of the beaten apples is added, and pounded loaf sugar
spread over. Sometimes a still finer sort is made, by beating yolks of
eggs to a froth, and then mixing it with the apple juice.


APPLE PUDDING. Butter a baking dish, put in the batter, and the apples
whole, without being cut or pared, and bake in a quick oven. If the
apples be pared, they will mix with the batter while in the oven, and
make the pudding soft. Serve it up with sugar and butter. For a superior
pudding, grate a pound of pared apples, work it up with six ounces of
butter, four eggs, grated lemon peel, a little sugar and brandy. Line
the dish with good paste, strew over it bits of candied peel, put in the
pudding, and bake it half an hour. A little lemon juice may be added, a
spoonful of bread crumbs, or two or three Naples biscuits. Another way
is, to pare and quarter four large apples, boil them tender, with the
rind of a lemon, in so little water that it may be exhausted in the
boiling. Beat the apples fine in a mortar, add the crumb of a small
roll, four ounces of melted butter, the yolks of five and the whites of
three eggs, the juice of half a lemon, and sugar to taste. Beat all
together, and lay it in a dish with paste to turn out, after baking.


APPLE PUFFS. Pare the fruit, and either stew them in a stone jar on a
hot hearth, or bake them. When cold, mix the pulp of the apple with
sugar and lemon peel shred fine, taking as little as possible of the
apple juice. Bake them in thin paste, in a quick oven: if small, a
quarter of an hour will be sufficient. Orange or quince marmalade is a
great improvement; cinnamon pounded, or orange flower-water, will make
an agreeable change.


APPLE SAUCE. Pare, core, and slice some apples; put them in a stone jar,
into a saucepan of water, or on a hot hearth. If the latter, put in a
spoonful or two of water, to prevent burning. When done, mash them up,
put in a piece of butter the size of a nutmeg, and a little brown sugar.
Serve it in a sauce tureen, for goose and roast pork.


APPLE TRIFLE. Scald some apples, pass them through a sieve, and make a
layer of the pulp at the bottom of a dish; mix the rind of half a lemon
grated, and sweeten with sugar. Or mix half a pint of milk, half a pint
of cream, and the yolk of an egg. Scald it over the fire, and stir it
all the time without boiling; lay it over the apple pulp with a spoon,
and put on it a whip prepared the day before.


APPLE WATER. Cut two large apples in slices, and pour a quart of boiling
water on them, or on roasted apples. Strain it well, and sweeten it
lightly. When cold, it is an agreeable drink in a fever.


APPLE WINE. To every gallon of apple juice, immediately as it comes from
the press, add two pounds of lump sugar; boil it as long as any scum
rises, then strain it through a sieve, and let it cool. Add some yeast,
and stir it well; let it work in the tub for two or three weeks, or till
the head begins to flatten; then skim off the head, draw off the liquor
clear, and tun it. When made a year, rack it off, and fine it with
isinglass. To every eight gallons add half a pint of the best rectified
spirits of wine, or a pint of brandy.


APRICOTS DRIED. Pare thin and halve four pounds of apricots, put them in
a dish, and strew among them three pounds of fine loaf-sugar powdered.
When the sugar melts, set the fruit over a stove to do very gently; as
each piece becomes tender, take it out, and put it into a china bowl.
When all are done, and the boiling heat a little abated, pour the syrup
over them. In a day or two remove the syrup, leaving only a little in
each half. In a day or two more turn them, and so continue daily till
quite dry, in the sun or in a warm place. Keep the apricots in boxes,
with layers of fine paper.


APRICOTS PRESERVED. There are various ways of doing this: one is by
steeping them in brandy. Wipe, weigh, and pick the fruit, and have ready
a quarter of the weight of loaf sugar in fine powder. Put the fruit into
an ice-pot that shuts very close, throw the sugar over it, and then
cover the fruit with brandy. Between the top and cover of the pot, fit
in a piece of thick writing paper. Set the pot into a saucepan of water,
and heat it without boiling, till the brandy be as hot as you can bear
your finger in it. Put the fruit into a jar, and pour the brandy on it.
When cold, put a bladder over, and tie it down tight.--Apricots may also
be preserved in jelly. Pare the fruit very thin, and stone it; weigh an
equal quantity of sugar in fine powder, and strew over it. Next day boil
very gently till they are clear, remove them into a bowl, and pour in
the liquor. The following day, mix it with a quart of codlin liquor,
made by boiling and straining, and a pound of fine sugar. Let it boil
quickly till it comes to a jelly; put the fruit into it, give it one
boil, skim it well, and distribute into small pots.--A beautiful
preserve may also be made in the following manner. Having selected the
finest ripe apricots, pare them as thin as possible, and weigh them. Lay
them in halves on dishes, with the hollow part upwards. Prepare an equal
weight of loaf sugar finely pounded, and strew it over them; in the mean
time break the stones, and blanch the kernels. When the fruit has lain
twelve hours, put it into a preserving pan, with the sugar and juice,
and also the kernels. Let it simmer very gently till it becomes clear;
then take out the pieces of apricot singly as they are done, put them
into small pots, and pour the syrup and kernels over them. The scum must
be taken off as it rises, and the pots covered with brandy paper.--Green
apricots are preserved in a different way. Lay vine or apricot leaves at
the bottom of the pan, then fruit and leaves alternately till full, the
upper layer being thick with leaves. Then fill the pan with spring
water, and cover it down, that no steam may escape. Set the pan at a
distance from the fire, that in four or five hours the fruit may be
soft, but not cracked. Make a thin syrup of some of the water, and drain
the fruit. When both are cold, put the fruit into the pan, and the syrup
to it; keep the pan at a proper distance from the fire till the
apricots green, but on no account boil or crack them. Remove the fruit
very carefully into a pan with the syrup for two or three days, then
pour off as much of it as will be necessary, boil with more sugar to
make a rich syrup, and add a little sliced ginger to it. When cold, and
the thin syrup has all been drained from the fruit, pour the thick over
it. The former will serve to sweeten pies.


APRICOT CHEESE. Weigh an equal quantity of pared fruit and sugar, wet
the latter a very little, and let it boil quickly, or the colour will be
spoiled. Blanch the kernels and add them to it: twenty or thirty minutes
will boil it. Put it in small pots or cups half filled.


APRICOT JAM. When the fruit is nearly ripe, pare and cut some in halves;
break the stones, blanch the kernels, and put them to the fruit. Boil
the parings in a little water, and strain it: to a pound of fruit add
three quarters of a pound of fine sifted sugar, and a glass of the water
in which the parings were boiled. Stir it over a brisk fire till it
becomes rather stiff: when cold, put apple jelly over the jam, and tie
it down with brandy paper.


APRICOT PUDDING. Halve twelve large apricots, and scald them till they
are soft. Meanwhile pour on the grated crumbs of a penny loaf a pint of
boiling cream; when half cold, add four ounces of sugar, the yolks of
four beaten eggs, and a glass of white wine. Pound the apricots in a
mortar, with some or all of the kernels; then mix the fruit and other
ingredients together, put a paste round a dish, and bake the pudding in
half an hour.


AROMATIC VINEGAR. Mix with common vinegar a quantity of powdered chalk
or whiting, sufficient to destroy the acidity; and when the white
sediment is formed, pour off the insipid liquor. The powder is then to
be dried, and some oil of vitriol poured upon it, as long as white acid
fumes continue to ascend. This substance forms the essential ingredient,
the fumes of which are particularly useful in purifying rooms and places
where any contagion is suspected.


ARROW ROOT. This valuable article has often been counterfeited: the
American is the best, and may generally be known by its colour and
solidity. If genuine, the arrow root is very nourishing, especially for
weak bowels. Put into a saucepan half a pint of water, a glass of
sherry, or a spoonful of brandy, grated nutmeg, and fine sugar. Boil it
up once, then mix it by degrees into a dessert-spoonful of arrow root,
previously rubbed smooth with two spoonfuls of cold water. Return the
whole into the saucepan, stir and boil it three minutes.


ARSENIC. The fatal effects of mineral poisons are too often experienced,
and for want of timely assistance but seldom counteracted. Arsenic and
other baleful ingredients, if used for the destruction of vermin, should
never be kept with common articles, or laid in the way of children. But
if, unfortunately, this deadly poison should by some mistake be taken
inwardly, the most effectual remedy will be a table-spoonful of powdered
charcoal, mixed with honey, butter, or treacle, and swallowed
immediately. Two hours afterwards, take an emetic or an opening draught,
to cleanse away the whole from the stomach and bowels. The baneful
effects of verdigris, from the use of copper boilers and saucepans, may
be counteracted by the same means, if resorted to in time, and no remedy
is so likely to become effectual.


ARTICHOKES. Soak them in cold water, wash them well, and boil them
gently in plenty of water. If young, they will be ready in half an hour;
if otherwise, they will not be done in twice that time. The surest way
to know when they are boiled enough is to draw out a leaf, and see
whether they be tender; but they cannot be properly boiled without much
water, which tends also to preserve their colour. Trim and drain them on
a sieve, serve with melted butter, pepper and salt, and small cups.


ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS, if dried, must be well soaked, and stewed in weak
gravy. Or they may be boiled in milk, and served with cream sauce, or
added to ragouts, French pies, &c. If intended to keep in the winter,
the bottoms must be slowly dried, and put into paper bags.


ASPARAGUS. Having carefully scraped the stalks till they appear white,
and thrown them into cold water, tie them up in small bundles with tape,
and cut the stalks of an equal length. Put them into a stewpan of
boiling water a little salted, and take them up as soon as they begin to
be tender, or they will lose both their taste and colour. Meanwhile make
toasts well browned for the bottom of the dish, moisten them in the
asparagus liquor, place them regularly, and pour on some melted butter.
Then lay the asparagus on the toasts round the dish, with the heads
united at the centre, but pour no butter over them. Serve with melted
butter in a sauce tureen, and separate cups, that the company may season
with salt and pepper to their taste.--As this vegetable is one of the
greatest delicacies which the garden affords, no person should be
unacquainted with the means of producing it in constant succession.
Toward the end of July, the stalks of the asparagus are to be cut down,
and the beds forked up and raked smooth. If the weather be dry, they
should be watered with the drain of a dunghill, and left rather hollow
in the middle to retain the moisture. In about a fortnight the stalks
will begin to appear, and the watering should be continued once a week
if the weather be dry. Asparagus may thus be cut till near the end of
September, and then by making five or six hot-beds during the winter, a
regular succession may be provided for almost every month in the year.
To obviate the objection of cutting the same beds twice a year, two or
three others may be left uncut in the spring, and additional beds made
for the purpose. The seed is cheap, and in most places the dung may be
easily procured. There is no need to continue the old beds when they
begin to fail; it is better to make new ones, and to force the old roots
by applying some rotten dung on the tops of the beds, and to sow seed
every year for new plants.


ASSES' MILK, so beneficial in consumptive cases, should be milked into a
glass that is kept warm, by being placed in a bason of hot water. The
fixed air that it contains sometimes occasions pain in the stomach; at
first therefore a tea-spoonful of rum may be taken with it, but should
only be put in the moment it is to be swallowed. The genuine milk far
surpasses any imitation of it that can be made; but a substitute may be
found in the following composition. Boil a quart of water with a quart
of new milk, an ounce of white sugar-candy, half an ounce of
eringo-root, and half an ounce of conserve of roses, till the quantity
be half wasted. As this is an astringent, the doses must be proportioned
accordingly, and the mixture is wholesome only while it remains
sweet.--Another way. Mix two spoonfuls of boiling water, two of milk,
and an egg well beaten. Sweeten with white sugar-candy pounded: this may
be taken twice or thrice a day. Or, boil two ounces of hartshorn-shavings,
two ounces of pearl barley, two ounces of candied eringo-root, and one
dozen of snails that have been bruised, in two quarts of water till
reduced to one. Mix with an equal quantity of new milk, when taken,
twice a day.


ASTHMA. As this complaint generally attacks aged people, the best mode
of relief will be to attend carefully to diet and exercise, which should
be light and easy, and to avoid as much as possible an exposure to cold
and frosty air. The temperature of the apartment should be equalised to
moderate summer's heat by flues and stoves, and frequently ventilated. A
dish of the best coffee, newly ground and made very strong, and taken
frequently without milk or sugar, has been found highly beneficial. An
excellent diet drink may be made of toast and water, with the addition
of a little vinegar, or a few grains of nitre. Tar water is strongly
recommended, and also the smoking of the dried leaves of stramonium,
commonly called the thorn-apple.


ASTRINGENT BOLUS, proper to be taken in female complaints, arising from
excessive evacuations. Fifteen grains of powdered alum, and five grains
of gum kino, made into a bolus with a little syrup, and given every four
or five hours till the discharge abates.


ASTRINGENT MIXTURE, in case of dysentery, may be made of three ounces of
cinnamon water, mixed with as much common water, an ounce and a half of
spirituous cinnamon-water, and half an ounce of japonic confection. A
spoonful or two of this mixture may be taken every four hours, after the
necessary evacuations have been allowed, and where the dysentery has not
been of long standing, interposing every second or third day a dose of
rhubarb.




B.


BACON, though intended to be a cheap article of housekeeping, is often,
through mismanagement, rendered one of the most expensive. Generally
twice as much is dressed as need be, and of course there is a deal of
waste. When sent to table as an accompaniment to boiled poultry or veal,
a pound and a half is plenty for a dozen people. Bacon will boil better,
and swell more freely, if the rind is taken off before it is dressed;
and when excessively salt, it should be soaked an hour or two in warm
water. If the bacon be dried, pare off the rusty and smoked part, trim
it neatly on the under side, and scrape the rind as clean as possible.
Or take it up when sufficiently boiled, scrape the under side, and cut
off the rind: grate a crust of bread over it, and place it a few minutes
before the fire to brown. Two pounds will require to be boiled gently
about an hour and a half, according to its thickness: the hock or gammon
being very thick, will take more. See DRIED BACON.


BAKING. This mode of preparing a dinner is undoubtedly one of the
cheapest and most convenient, especially for a small family; and the
oven is almost the only kitchen which the poor man possesses. Much
however depends on the care and ability of the baker: in the country
especially, where the baking of dinners is not always considered as a
regular article of business, it is rather a hazardous experiment to send
a valuable joint to the oven; and more is often wasted and spoiled by
the heedless conduct of the parish cook, than would have paid for the
boiling or roasting at home. But supposing the oven to be managed with
care and judgment, there are many joints which may be baked to great
advantage, and will be found but little inferior to roasting.
Particularly, legs and loins of pork, legs of mutton, fillets of veal,
and other joints, if the meat be fat and good, will be eaten with great
satisfaction, when they come from the oven. A sucking pig is also well
adapted to the purpose, and is equal to a roasted one, if properly
managed. When sent to the baker, it should have its ears and tail
covered with buttered paper fastened on, and a bit of butter tied up in
a piece of linen to baste the back with, otherwise it will be apt to
blister. A goose should be prepared the same as for roasting, placing it
on a stand, and taking care to turn it when it is half done. A duck the
same. If a buttock of beef is to be baked, it should be well washed,
after it has been in salt about a week, and put into a brown earthen pan
with a pint of water. Cover the pan tight over with two or three
thicknesses of writing paper, and give it four or five hours in a
moderate oven. Brown paper should never be used with baked dishes; the
pitch and tar which it contains will give the meat a smoky bad taste.
Previously to baking a ham, soak it in water an hour, take it out and
wipe it, and make a crust sufficient to cover it all over; and if done
in a moderate oven, it will cut fuller of gravy, and be of a finer
flavour, than a boiled one. Small cod-fish, haddock, and mackarel will
bake well, with a dust of flour and some bits of butter put on them.
Large eels should be stuffed. Herrings and sprats are to be baked in a
brown pan, with vinegar and a little spice, and tied over with paper.
These and various other articles may be baked so as to give full
satisfaction, if the oven be under judicious management.


BAKED CARP. Clean a large carp, put in a Portuguese stuffing, and sow
it up. Brush it all over with the yolk of an egg, throw on plenty of
crumbs, and drop on oiled butter to baste with. Place the carp in a deep
earthen dish, with a pint of stock, a few sliced onions, some bay
leaves, a bunch of herbs, such as basil, thyme, parsley, and both sorts
of marjoram; half a pint of port wine, and six anchovies. Cover over the
pan, and bake it an hour. Let it be done before it is wanted. Pour the
liquor from it, and keep the fish hot while you heat up the liquor with
a good piece of butter rolled in flour, a tea-spoonful of mustard, a
little cayenne, and a spoonful of soy. Serve it on the dish, garnished
with lemon and parsley, and horse-radish, and put the gravy into the
sauce tureen.


BAKED CUSTARD. Boil a pint of cream and half a pint of milk with a
little mace, cinnamon and lemon peel. When cold, mix the yolks of three
eggs, and sweeten the custard. Make the cups or paste nearly full, and
bake them ten minutes.


BAKED HERRINGS. Wash and drain, without wiping them; and when drawn,
they should not be opened. Season with allspice in fine powder, salt,
and a few whole cloves. Lay them in a pan with plenty of black pepper,
an onion, and a few bay leaves. Add half vinegar and half small beer,
enough to cover them. Put paper over the pan, and bake in a slow oven.
If it be wished to make them look red, throw a little saltpetre over
them the night before.


BAKED MILK. A very useful article may be made for weakly and consumptive
persons in the following manner. Put a gallon of milk into a jar, tie
white paper over it, and let it stand all night in the oven when baking
is over. Next morning it will be as thick as cream, and may be drank two
or three times a day.


BAKED PEARS. Those least fit to eat raw, are often the best for baking.
Do not pare them, but wipe and lay them on tin plates, and bake them in
a slow oven. When done enough to bear it, flatten them with a silver
spoon; and when done through, put them on a dish. They should be baked
three or four times, and very gently.


BAKED PIKE. Scale and open it as near the throat as possible, and then
put in the following stuffing. Grated bread, herbs, anchovies, oysters,
suet, salt, pepper, mace, half a pint of cream, four yolks of eggs; mix
all over the fire till it thickens, and then sow it up in the fish.
Little bits of butter should be scattered over it, before it is sent to
the oven. Serve it with gravy sauce, butter and anchovy. In carving a
pike, if the back and belly be slit up, and each slice drawn gently
downwards, fewer bones will be given at table.


BAKED SOUP. A cheap and plentiful dish for poor families, or to give
away, may be made of a pound of any kind of meat cut in slices, with two
onions, two carrots sliced, two ounces of rice, a pint of split peas, or
whole ones if previously soaked, seasoned with pepper and salt. Put the
whole into an earthen jug or pan, adding a gallon of water: cover it
very close, and bake it.


BALM WINE. Boil three pounds of lump sugar in a gallon of water; skim it
clean, put in a handful of balm, and boil it ten minutes. Strain it off,
cool it, put in some yeast, and let it stand two days. Add the rind and
juice of a lemon, and let it stand in the cask six months.


BALSAMIC VINEGAR. One of the best remedies for wounds or bruises is the
balsamic or anti-putrid vinegar, which is made in the following manner.
Take a handful of sage leaves and flowers, the same of lavender, hyssop,
thyme, and savory; two heads of garlic, and a handful of salt. These are
to be infused in some of the best white-wine vinegar; and after
standing a fortnight or three weeks, it will be fit for use.


BANBURY CAKES. Work a pound of butter into a pound of white-bread dough,
the same as for puff paste; roll it out very thin, and cut it into bits
of an even form, the size intended for the cakes. Moisten some powder
sugar with a little brandy, mix in some clean currants, put a little of
it on each bit of paste, close them up, and bake them on a tin. When
they are taken out, sift some fine sugar over them.


BARBERRIES, when preserved for tarts, must be picked clean from the
stalks, choosing such as are free from stones. To every pound of fruit,
weigh three quarters of a pound of lump sugar; put the fruit into a
stone jar, and either set it on a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of water,
and let them simmer very slowly till soft. Then put them and the sugar
into a preserving-pan, and boil them gently fifteen minutes.--To
preserve barberries in bunches, prepare some fleaks of white wool, three
inches long, and a quarter of an inch wide. Tie the stalks of the fruit
on the stick, from within an inch of one end to beyond the other, so as
to make them look handsome. Simmer them in some syrup two successive
days, covering them each time with it when cold. When they look clear,
they are simmered enough. The third day, they should be treated like
other candied fruit. See CANDIED.


BARBERRY DROPS. Cut off the black tops, and roast the fruit before the
fire, till it is soft enough to pulp with a silver spoon through a sieve
into a china bason. Then set the bason in a saucepan of water, the top
of which will just fit it, or on a hot hearth, and stir it till it grows
thick. When cold, put to every pint a pound and a half of double refined
sugar, pounded and sifted through a lawn sieve, which must be covered
with a fine linen, to prevent waste while sifting. Beat the sugar and
juice together three hours and a half if a large quantity, but two and a
half for less. Then drop it on sheets of white thick paper, the size of
drops sold in the shops. Some fruit is not so sour, and then less sugar
is necessary. To know when there is enough, mix till well incorporated,
and then drop. If it run, there is not enough sugar; and if there be too
much, it will be rough. A dry room will suffice to dry them. No metal
must touch the juice but the point of a knife, just to take the drop off
the end of the wooden spoon, and then as little as possible.


BARLEY BROTH. Wash three quarters of a pound of Scotch barley in a
little cold water, put it in a soup pot with a shin or leg of beef, or a
knuckle of veal of about ten pounds weight, sawn into four pieces. Cover
it with cold water, and set it on the fire; when it boils skim it very
clean, and put in two onions. Set it by the side of the fire to simmer
very gently about two hours; then skim off all the fat, put in two heads
of celery, and a large turnip cut into small squares. Season it with
salt, let it boil an hour and a half longer, and it is done. Take out
the meat carefully with a slice, cover it up and keep it warm by the
fire, and skim the broth well before it is put into the tureen. This
dish is much admired in Scotland, where it is regarded, not only as
highly nutricious, but as a necessary article of domestic economy: for
besides the excellent soup thus obtained, the meat also becomes an
agreeable dish, served up with sauce in the following manner. Reserve a
quart of the soup, put about an ounce of flour into a stewpan, pour the
liquor to it by degrees, stirring it well together till it boils. Add a
glass of port wine or mushroom ketchup, and let it gently boil up;
strain the sauce through a sieve over the meat, and add to it some
capers, minced gherkins, or walnuts. The flavour may be varied or
improved, by the addition of a little curry powder, ragout, or any other
store sauces.


BARLEY GRUEL. Wash four ounces of pearl barley, boil it in two quarts of
water and a stick of cinnamon, till reduced to a quart. Strain and
return it into the saucepan with some sugar, and three quarters of a
pint of port wine. It may be warmed up, and used as wanted.


BARLEY SUGAR. This well known article of confectionary is made in the
following manner. Put some common or clarified syrup into a saucepan
with a spout, such as for melting butter, if little is wanted to be
made, and boil it till it comes to what is called carimel, carefully
taking off whatever scum may arise; and having prepared a marble stone,
either with butter or sweet oil, just sufficiently to prevent sticking,
pour the syrup gently along the marble, in long sticks of whatever
thickness may be desired. While hot, twist it at each end; and let it
remain till cold, when it will be fit for immediate use. The rasped rind
of lemon, boiled up in the syrup, gives a very agreeable flavour to
barley sugar; and indeed the best is commonly so prepared.


BARLEY WATER. Wash a handful of common barley, then simmer it gently in
three pints of water, with a bit of lemon peel. Or boil an ounce of
pearl barley a few minutes to cleanse it, and then put on it a quart of
water. Simmer it an hour: when half done, put into it a piece of fresh
lemon peel, and one bit of sugar. If likely to be thick, add a quarter
of a pint of water, and a little lemon juice, if approved. This makes a
very pleasant drink for a sick person; but the former is less apt to
nauseate.


BASIL VINEGAR. Sweet basil is in full perfection about the middle of
August, when the fresh green leaves should be gathered, and put into a
wide-mouthed bottle. Cover the leaves with vinegar, and let them steep
for ten days. If it be wished to have the infusion very strong, strain
out the liquor, put in some fresh leaves, and let them steep for ten
days more. This is a very agreeable addition to sauces and soups, and to
the mixture usually made for salads.


BASILICON. Yellow basilicon is made of equal quantities of bees-wax,
white rosin, and frankincense. Melt them together over a slow fire, add
the same weight of fresh lard, and strain it off while it is warm. This
ointment is used for cleansing and healing wounds and ulcers.


BASKET SALT. This fine and delicate article is chiefly made from the
salt springs in Cheshire, and differs from the common brine salt,
usually called sea salt, not only in its whiteness and purity, but in
the fineness of its grain. Some families entertain prejudices against
basket salt, notwithstanding its superior delicacy, from an idea, which
does not appear warranted, that pernicious articles are used in its
preparation; it may therefore be proper to mention, that by dissolving
common salt, again evaporating into dryness, and then reducing it to
powder in a mortar, a salt nearly equal to basket salt may be obtained,
fine and of a good colour, and well adapted to the use of the table.


BATH BUNS. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of fine flour, with
five eggs, and three spoonfuls of thick yeast. Set it before the fire to
rise; then add a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, and an ounce of
carraway seeds. Mix them well in, roll it out in little cakes, strew on
carraway comfits, and bake on tins.


BATTER PUDDING. Rub by degrees three spoonfuls of fine flour extremely
smooth, into a pint of milk. Simmer till it thickens, stir it in two
ounces of butter, set it to cool, and then add the yolks of three eggs.
Flour a wet cloth, or butter a bason, and put the batter into it. Tie it
tight, and plunge it into boiling water, the bottom upwards. Boil it an
hour and a half, and serve with plain butter. If a little ginger,
nutmeg, and lemon peel be added, serve with sweet sauce.


BEAN BREAD. Blanch half a pound of almonds, and put them into water to
preserve their colour. Cut the almonds edgeways, wipe them dry, and
sprinkle over them half a pound of fine loaf sugar pounded and sifted.
Beat up the white of an egg with two spoonfuls of orange-flower water,
moisten the almonds with the froth, lay them lightly on wafer paper, and
bake them on tins.


BEAN PUDDING. Boil and blanch some old green-beans, beat them in a
mortar, with very little pepper and salt, some cream, and the yolk of an
egg. A little spinach-juice will give a finer colour, but it is as good
without. Boil it an hour, in a bason that will just hold it; pour
parsley and butter over, and serve it up with bacon.


BEE HIVES. Common bee hives made of straw are generally preferred,
because they are not likely to be overheated by the rays of the sun;
they will also keep out the cold better than wood, and are cheaper than
any other material. As cleanliness however is of great consequence in
the culture of these delicate and industrious insects, the bottom or
floor of the hive should be covered with gypsum or plaster of Paris, of
which they are very fond; and the outside of their habitation should be
overspread with a cement made of two-thirds of cow-dung, and one-third
of ashes. This coating will exclude noxious insects, which would
otherwise perforate and lodge in the straw; it will also secure the bees
from cold and wet, while it exhales an odour which to them is very
grateful. The inner part of the hive should be furnished with two thin
pieces of oak, or peeled branches of lime tree, placed across each other
at right angles, which will greatly facilitate the construction of the
combs, and support them when filled with honey. A good bee-hive ought to
be so planned as to be capable of enlargement or contraction, according
to the number of the swarm; to admit of being opened without disturbing
the bees, either for the purpose of cleaning it, of freeing it from
noxious insects, or for the admission of a stock of provision for the
winter. It should also admit of the produce being removed without injury
to the bees, and be internally clean, smooth, and free from flaws. A
hive of this description may easily be made of three or four open square
boxes, fastened to each other with buttons or wooden pegs, and the
joints closed with cement. The whole may be covered with a moveable
roof, projecting over the boxes to carry off the rain, and kept firm on
the top by a stone being laid upon it. If the swarm be not very
numerous, two or three boxes will be sufficient. They should be made of
wood an inch thick, that the bees and wax may be less affected by the
changes of the atmosphere. This hive is so easily constructed, that it
is only necessary to join four boards together in the simplest manner;
and a little cement will cover all defects. Within the upper part of the
boxes, two bars should be fixed across from one corner to another, to
support the combs. At the lower end of each box in front, there must be
an aperture, or door, about an inch and an half wide, and as high as is
necessary for the bees to pass without obstruction. The lowest is to be
left open as a passage for the bees, and the others are to be closed by
a piece of wood fitted to the aperture. A hive thus constructed may be
enlarged or diminished, according to the number of boxes; and a
communication with the internal part can readily be effected by removing
the cover.


BEE HOUSE. An apiary or bee house should front the south, in a situation
between the extremes of heat and cold. It should stand in a valley, that
the bees may with greater ease descend loaded on their return to the
hive; and near a dwelling-house, but at a distance from noise and
offensive smells; surrounded with a low wall, and in the vicinity of
shallow water. If there be no running stream at hand, they ought to be
supplied with water in troughs or pans, with small stones laid at the
bottom, that the bees may alight upon them and drink. They cannot
produce either combs, honey, or food for their maggots, without water;
but the neighbourhood of rivers or ponds with high banks ought to be
avoided, or the bees will be blown into the water with high winds, and
be drowned. Care should also be taken to place the hives in a
neighbourhood which abounds with such plants as will supply the bees
with food; such as the oak, the pine, the willow, fruit trees, furze,
broom, mustard, clover, heath, and thyme, particularly borage, which
produces an abundance of farina. The garden in which the bee house
stands, should be well furnished with scented plants and flowers, and
branchy shrubs, that it may be easy to hive the swarms which may settle
on them. See BEES, HIVING, &c.


BEEF. In every sort of provisions, the best of the kind goes the
farthest; it cuts out with most advantage, and affords most nourishment.
The best way to obtain a good article is to deal with shops of
established credit. You may perhaps pay a little more than by purchasing
of those who pretend to sell cheap, but you will be more than in
proportion better served. To prevent imposition more effectually,
however, it is necessary to form our own judgment of the quality and
value of the articles to be purchased. If the flesh of ox-beef is young,
it will show a fine smooth open grain, be of a good red, and feel
tender. The fat should look white rather than yellow, for when that is
of a deep colour, the meat is seldom good. Beef fed with oil cakes is
generally so, and the flesh is loose and flabby. The grain of cow-beef
is closer, and the fat whiter, than that of ox-beef; but the lean is not
so bright a red. The grain of bull-beef is closer still, the fat hard
and skinny, the lean of a deep red, and a stronger scent. Ox-beef is the
reverse; it is also the richest and the largest; but in small families,
and to some tastes, heifer-beef as better still, if finely fed. In old
meat there is a horny streak in the ribs of beef: the harder that is,
the older: and the flesh is not finely flavoured.


BEEF BOUILLI. A term given to boiled beef, which, according to the
French fashion, is simmered over a slow fire, for the purpose of
extracting a rich soup, while at the same time the meat makes its
appearance at table, in possession of a full portion of nutricious
succulence. This requires nothing more than to stew the meat very
slowly, instead of keeping the pot quickly boiling, and taking up the
beef as soon as it is done enough. Meat cooked in this manner, affords
much more nourishment than when dressed in the common way, and is easy
of digestion in proportion to its tenderness. The leg or shin, or the
middle of a brisket of beef, weighing seven or eight pounds, is best
adapted for this purpose. Put it into a soup pot or deep stewpan with
cold water enough to cover it, and a quart over. Set it on a quick fire
to get the scum up, which remove as it rises; then put in two carrots,
two turnips, two leeks, or two large onions, two heads of celery, two
or three cloves, and a faggot of parsley and sweet herbs. Set the pot by
the side of the fire to simmer very gently, till the meat is just tender
enough to eat: this will require four or five hours. When the beef is
done, take it up carefully with a slice, cover it up, and keep it warm
by the fire. Thicken a pint and a half of the beef liquor with three
table spoonfuls of flour, season it with pepper, a glass of port wine or
mushroom ketchup, or both, and pour it over the beef. Strain the soup
through a hair sieve into a clean stewpan, take off the fat, cut the
vegetables into small squares, and add them to the soup, the flavour of
which may be heightened, by adding a table-spoonful of ketchup.


BEEF BROTH. If intended for sick persons, it is better to add other
kinds of meat, which render it more nourishing and better flavoured.
Take then two pounds of lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound
of scrag of mutton, some sweet herbs, and ten pepper corns, and put the
whole into a nice tin saucepan, with five quarts of water. Simmer it to
three quarts, clear it from the fat when cold, and add an onion if
approved. If there be still any fat remaining, lay a piece of clean
blotting or writing paper on the broth when in the bason, and it will
take up every particle of the fat.


BEEF CAKES, chiefly intended for a side-dish of dressed meat. Pound some
beef that is under done, with a little fat bacon or ham. Season with
pepper, salt, a little shalot or garlick; mix them well, and make the
whole into small cakes three inches long, and half as wide and thick.
Fry them to a light brown, and serve them in good thick gravy.


BEEF CECILS. Mince some beef with crumbs of bread, a quantity of onions,
some anchovies, lemon peel, salt, nutmeg, chopped parsley, pepper, and
a bit of warmed butter. Mix these over the fire a few minutes: when cool
enough, make them into balls of the size and shape of a turkey's egg,
with an egg. Sprinkle them with fine crumbs, fry them of a yellow brown,
and serve with gravy, as for Beef Olives.


BEEF COLLOPS. Cut thin slices of beef from the rump, or any other tender
part, and divide them into pieces three inches long: beat them with the
blade of a knife, and flour them. Fry the collops quick in butter two
minutes; then lay them into a small stewpan, and cover them with a pint
of gravy. Add a bit of butter rubbed in flour, pepper and salt, a little
bit of shalot shred very fine, with half a walnut, four small pickled
cucumbers, and a tea-spoonful of capers cut small. Be careful that the
stew does not boil, and serve in a hot covered dish.


BEEF FRICASSEE. Cut some thin slices of cold roast beef, shred a handful
of parsley very small, cut an onion into quarters, and put them all
together into a stewpan, with a piece of butter, and some strong broth.
Season with salt and pepper, and simmer very gently for a quarter of an
hour. Mix into it the yolks of two eggs, a glass of port wine, and a
spoonful of vinegar: stir it quick, rub the dish with shalot, and turn
the fricassee into it.


BEEF GRAVY. Cover the bottom of a stewpan, clean and well-tinned, with a
slice of good ham or lean bacon, four or five pounds of gravy beef cut
in pieces, an onion, a carrot, two cloves, and a head of celery. Add a
pint of broth or water, cover it close, and simmer it till the liquor is
nearly all exhausted. Turn it about, and let it brown slightly and
equally all over, but do not suffer it to burn or stick to the pan, for
that would spoil the gravy. Then put in three quarts of boiling water;
and when it boils up, skim it carefully, and wipe off with a clean
cloth what sticks round the edge and inside of the stewpan, that the
gravy may be delicately clean and clear. Let it stew gently by the side
of the fire for about four hours, till reduced to two quarts of good
gravy. Take care to skim it well, strain it through silk or muslin, and
set it in a cold place.


BEEF HAMS. Cut the leg of beef like a ham; and for fourteen pounds
weight, mix a pound of salt, a pound of brown sugar, an ounce of
saltpetre, and an ounce of bay salt. Put it into the meat, turn and
baste it every day, and let it lie a month in the pickle. Then take it
out, roll it in bran, and smoke it. Afterwards hang it in a dry place,
and cut off pieces to boil, or broil it with poached eggs.


BEEF HASH. Cut some thin slices of beef that is underdone, with some of
the fat; put it into a small stewpan, with a little onion or shalot, a
little water, pepper and salt. Add some of the gravy, a spoonful of
vinegar, and of walnut ketchup: if shalot vinegar be used, there will be
no need of the onion nor the raw shalot. The hash is only to be simmered
till it is hot through, but not boiled: it is owing to the boiling of
hashes and stews that they get hard. When the hash is well warmed up,
pour it upon sippets of bread previously prepared, and laid in a warm
dish.


BEEF HEART. Wash it carefully, stuff it as a hare, and serve with rich
gravy and currant-jelly sauce. Hash it with the same, and add a little
port wine.


BEEF OLIVES. Take some cold beef that has not been done enough, and cut
slices half an inch thick, and four inches square. Lay on them a
forcemeat of crumbs of bread, shalot, a little suet or fat, pepper and
salt. Roll and fasten them with a small skewer, put them into a stewpan
with some gravy made of the beef bones, or the gravy of the meat, and a
spoonful or two of water, and stew them till tender. Beef olives may
also be made of fresh meat.


BEEF PALATES. Simmer them in water several hours, till they will peel.
Then cut the palates into slices, or leave them whole, and stew them in
a rich gravy till they become as tender as possible. Season with
cayenne, salt and ketchup: if the gravy was drawn clear, add also some
butter and flour. If the palates are to be dressed white, boil them in
milk, and stew them in a fricassee sauce; adding cream, butter, flour,
mushroom powder, and a little pounded mace.


BEEF PASTY. Bone a small rump or part of a sirloin of beef, after
hanging several days. Beat it well with a rolling pin; then rub ten
pounds of meat with four ounces of sugar, and pour over it a glass of
port, and the same of vinegar. Let it lie five days and nights; wash and
wipe the meat very dry, and season it high with pepper and salt, nutmeg
and Jamaica pepper. Lay it in a dish, and to ten pounds add nearly one
pound of butter, spreading it over the meat. Put a crust round the
edges, and cover with a thick one, or it will be overdone before the
meat is soaked: it must be baked in a slow oven. Set the bones in a pan
in the oven, with no more water than will cover them, and one glass of
port, a little pepper and salt, in order to provide a little rich gravy
to add to the pasty when drawn. It will be found that sugar gives more
shortness and a better flavour to meat than salt, too great a quantity
of which hardens; and sugar is quite as good a preservative.


BEEF PATTIES. Shred some dressed beef under done, with a little fat;
season with salt and pepper, and a little shalot or onion. Make a plain
paste, roll it thin, and cut it in shape like an apple puff. Fill it
with mince, pinch the edges, and fry them of a nice brown. The paste
should be made with a small quantity of butter, egg and milk.


BEEF PIE. Season some cuttings of beef with pepper and salt, put some
puff paste round the inside of the dish, and lay in the meat. Add some
small potatoes, if approved, fill up the dish with water, and cover it
with the paste.


BEEF PUDDING. Roll some fine steaks with fat between, and a very little
shred onion. Lay a paste of suet in a bason, put in the rolled steaks,
cover the bason with a paste, and pinch the edges to keep in the gravy.
Cover with a cloth tied close, and let the pudding boil slowly a
considerable time.--If for baking, make a batter of milk, two eggs and
flour, or, which is much better, potatoes boiled, and mashed through a
cullender. Lay a little of it at the bottom of the dish, then put in the
steaks prepared as above, and very well seasoned. Pour the remainder of
the batter over them, and bake it.


BEEF SANDERS. Mince some beef small, with onion, pepper and salt, and
add a little gravy. Put it into scallop shells or saucers, making them
three parts full, and fill them up with potatoes, mashed with a little
cream. Put a bit of butter on the top, and brown them in an oven, or
before the fire, or with a salamander. Mutton may be made into sanders
in the same way.


BEEF SCALLOPS. Mince some beef fine, with onion, pepper and salt, and
add a little gravy. Put the mince into scallop shells or saucers three
parts full, and fill them up with potatoes, mashed with a little cream.
Lay a bit of butter on the tops, and brown them in an oven, or before
the fire.


BEEF STEAKS. To have them fine, they should be cut from a rump that has
hung a few days. Broil them over a very clear or charcoal fire; put into
the dish a little minced shalot, a table-spoonful of ketchup. The steak
should be turned often, that the gravy may not be drawn out on either
side. This dish requires to be eaten so hot and fresh done, that it is
not in perfection if served with any thing else. Pepper and salt should
be added when taking it off the fire, and a bit of butter rubbed on at
the moment of serving. If accompanied with oyster sauce, strain off the
liquor from the oysters, and throw them into cold water to take off the
grit, while you simmer the liquor with a bit of mace and lemon peel.
Then put in the oysters, stew them a few minutes, add a little cream,
and some butter rubbed in a bit of flour. Let them boil up once, and
throw the sauce over the steaks at the moment of sending the dish to
table.


BEEF STEW. Cut into small pieces four or five pounds of beef, with some
hard fat. Put these into a stewpan, with three pints of water, a little
salt and pepper, a sprig of sweet herbs, and three cloves. Cover the pan
very close, and let it stew four hours over a slow fire. Throw in some
carrots and turnips, cut into square pieces; the white part of a leek,
with two heads of celery chopped fine; a crust of bread, and two
spoonfuls of vinegar. When done, put it into a deep dish, set it over
hot water, and cover it close. Skim the gravy, and put in a few pickled
mushrooms; thicken it with flour and butter, make it hot, and pour it
over the beef.


BEEF TEA. Cut a pound of fleshy beef into thin slices; simmer it with a
quart of water twenty minutes, after it has once boiled, and been
skimmed. Season it, if approved; but a little salt only is sufficient.


BEEF VINGRETTE. Cut a slice of under-done boiled beef three inches
thick, and a little fat. Stew it in half a pint of water, a glass of
white wine, a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, and a bay leaf. Season it
with three cloves pounded, and pepper, till the liquor is nearly wasted
away, turning it once. Serve it up cold. Strain off the gravy, and mix
it with a little vinegar for sauce.


BEER. During the present ruinous system of taxation, it is extremely
difficult, though highly desirable, to procure a cheap and wholesome
beverage, especially for the labouring part of the community, to whom it
is as needful as their daily food. Beer that is brewed and drunk at
home, is more pure and nutricious than what is generally purchased at an
alehouse; and those who cannot afford a better article, may perhaps find
it convenient to adopt the following method for obtaining some cheap
drink for small families.--To half a bushel of malt, add four pounds of
treacle, and three quarters of a pound of hops. This will make
twenty-five gallons of wholesome beer, which will be fit for use in a
fortnight; but it is not calculated for keeping, especially in warm
weather. Beer brewed in this way will not cost one halfpenny a pint. An
agreeable table beer may be made ready for drinking in three or four
days, consisting of treacle and water, fermented with a little yeast.
Boil six or seven gallons of water, pour it on the same quantity of cold
water in a cask, and a gallon of treacle. Stir them well together; and
when the fermentation is abated, close the bung-hole in the usual way. A
little of the outer rind of an orange peel infused into the beer, and
taken out as soon as it has imparted a sufficient degree of bitterness,
will give it an agreeable flavour, and assist in keeping the beer from
turning sour. A little gentian root boiled in the water, either with or
without the orange peel, will give a wholesome and pleasant bitter to
this beer. A small quantity, by way of experiment, may be made thus. To
eight quarts of boiling water, put one ounce of treacle, a quarter of
an ounce of ginger, and two bay leaves. Let the whole boil a quarter of
an hour; then cool and work it with yeast, the same as other beer.
Another way to make a cheap malt liquor is to take a bushel of malt,
with as much water and hops as if two bushels of malt were allowed in
the common way, and put seven pounds of the coarsest brown sugar into
the boiling wort. This makes a very pleasant liquor; is as strong, and
will keep as long without turning sour or flat, as if two bushels had
been employed. Twenty gallons of good beer may be made from a bushel of
malt, and three quarters of a pound of hops, if care be taken to extract
all their goodness. For this purpose boil twenty-four gallons of water,
and steep the malt in it for three hours: then tie up the hops in a hair
cloth, and boil malt, hops, and wort, all together for three quarters of
an hour, which will reduce it to about twenty gallons. Strain it off,
and set it to work when lukewarm. See BREWING.--As however it does not
suit some persons to brew, in any way whatever, it may be necessary to
add a few brief remarks on the distinguishing qualities of sound beer,
that persons may know what it is they purchase, and how far their health
may be affected by it. Wholesome beer then ought to be of a bright
colour, and perfectly transparent, neither too high nor too pale. It
should have a pleasant and mellow taste, sharp and agreeably bitter,
without being hard or sour. It should leave no pungent sensation on the
tongue; and if drank in any tolerable quantity, it must neither produce
speedy intoxication, nor any of the usual effects of sleep, nausea,
headache, or languor; nor should it be retained too long after drinking
it, or be too quickly discharged. If beer purchased at the alehouse be
suspected of having been adulterated with the infusion of vitriol, for
the purpose of adding to its strength, it may be detected by putting in
a few nut galls, which will immediately turn it black, if it have been
so adulterated; and the beer ought by all means to be rejected, as
highly injurious to the constitution, and may be fatal even to life
itself.


BEES. A hive of bees may be considered as a populous city, containing
thirty thousand inhabitants. This community is in itself a monarchy,
composed of a queen, of males which are the drones, and of working bees
called neuters. The combs being composed of pure wax, serve as a
magazine for their stores, and a nursery for their young. Between the
combs there is a space sufficient for two bees to march abreast, and
there are also transverse defiles by which they can more easily pass
from one comb to another.--The queen bee is distinguishable from the
rest by the form of her body. She is much longer, unwieldy, and of a
brighter colour, and seldom leaves the parent hive; but when she goes to
settle a new colony, all the bees attend her to the place of
destination. A hive of bees cannot subsist without a queen, as she
produces their numerous progeny; and hence their attachment to her is
unalterable. When a queen dies, the bees immediately cease working,
consume their honey, fly about at unusual times, and eventually pine
away, if not supplied with another sovereign. The death of the queen is
proclaimed by a clear and uninterrupted humming, which should be a
warning to the owner to provide the bees if possible with another queen,
whose presence will restore vigour and exertion; of such importance is a
sovereign to the existence and prosperity of this community. It is
computed that a pregnant queen bee contains about five thousand eggs,
and that she produces from ten to twelve thousand bees in the space of
two months.--Drones are smaller than the queen, but larger than the
working bees, and when on the wing they make a greater noise. Their
office is to impregnate the eggs of the queen after they are deposited
in the cells; but when this is effected, as they become useless to the
hive, they are destroyed by the working bees and thrown out; and having
no sting, they are without the power of resistance. After the season of
the encrease of the bees is past, and when they attend to the collection
of winter stores, every vestige of the drones is destroyed to make room
for the honey. When drones are observed in a hive late in autumn, it is
usually a sign that the stock is poor.--Working bees compose the most
numerous body of the state. They have the care of the hive, collect the
wax and honey, fabricate the wax into combs, feed the young, keep the
hive clean, expel all strangers, and employ themselves in promoting the
general prosperity. The working bee has two stomachs, one to contain the
honey, and another for the crude wax. Among the different kinds of
working bees, those are to be preferred which are small, smooth, and
shining, and of a gentle disposition.--Considering the rich productions
of these little insects, and the valuable purposes to which they may be
applied, it is truly astonishing that so important an object in rural
economy has been so little attended to by the inhabitants of this
country. In Egypt, the cultivation of bees forms a leading object, and
their productions constitute a part of its riches. About the end of
October, when sustenance cannot be provided for them at home, the
inhabitants of Lower Egypt embark their bees on the Nile, and convey
them to the distant regions of Upper Egypt, when the inundation is
withdrawn, and the flowers are beginning to bud. These insects are thus
conducted through the whole extent of that fertile country; and after
having gathered all the rich produce of the banks of the Nile, are
re-conducted home about the beginning of February. In France also,
floating bee-hives are very common. One barge contains from sixty to a
hundred hives, which are well defended from the inclemency of the
weather. Thus the owners float them gently down the stream, while they
gather the honey from the flowers along its banks, and a little
bee-house yields the proprietors a considerable income. At other times
they convey bees by land, to places where honey and wax may be
collected. The hives are fastened to each other by laths placed on a
thin packcloth, which is drawn up on each side and tied with packthread
several times round their tops. Forty or fifty hives are then laid in a
cart, and the owner takes them to distant places where the bees may feed
and work. But without this labour the industrious bee might be
cultivated to great advantage, and thousands of pounds weight of wax and
honey collected, which now are suffered to be wasted on the desert air,
or perish unheeded amidst the flowers of the field.--Those whose
attention may be directed to the subject by these remarks, and who
intend to erect an apiary, should purchase the stocks towards the close
of the year, when bees are cheapest; and such only as are full of combs,
and well furnished with bees. To ascertain the age of the hives it
should be remarked, that the combs of the last year are white, while
those of the former year acquire a darkish yellow. Where the combs are
black, the hive should be rejected as too old, and liable to the inroads
of vermin. In order to obtain the greatest possible advantage from the
cultivation of bees, it is necessary to supply them with every
convenience for the support of themselves and their young. And though it
may be too much trouble to transport them to distant places, in order
to provide them with the richest food, and to increase their abundant
stores; yet in some instances this plan might in part be adopted with
considerable success. It has been seen in Germany, as well as in other
parts of the continent, that forty large bee hives have been filled with
honey, to the amount of seventy pounds each, in one fortnight, by their
being placed near a large field of buck wheat in flower; and as this and
various other plants adapted to enrich the hive are to be found in many
parts of England, there is no reason why a similar advantage might not
be derived from such an experiment.--Besides providing for them the
richest food in summer, in order to facilitate their labours, it is
equally necessary to attend to their preservation in the winter. To
guard against the effects of cold, the bees should be examined during
the winter; and if instead of being clustered between the combs, they
are found in numbers at the bottom of the hive, they should be carried
to a warmer place, where they will soon recover. In very severe seasons,
lay on the bottom of an old cask the depth of half a foot of fine earth
pressed down hard; place the stool on this with the hive, and cut a hole
in the cask opposite to the entrance of the hive, in which fix a piece
of reed or hollow elder, and then cover the whole with dry earth. This
will preserve a communication with the external air, and at the same
time keep out the cold. The bees remaining in a torpid state during the
winter, they require but little food; but as every sunny day revives and
prompts them to exercise, a small supply is necessary on these
occasions. Many hives of bees which are supposed to have died of cold,
have in reality perished by famine, especially when a rainy summer
prevented them from collecting a sufficient store of provision. Hence
the hives should be carefully examined in autumn, and ought then to
weigh at least eighteen pounds each. When bees require to be fed, the
honey should be diluted with water, and put into an empty comb, split
reeds, or upon clear wood, which the bees will suck perfectly dry. But
it is a much better way to replenish the weak hives in September, with
such a portion of combs filled with honey taken from other hives as may
be deemed a sufficient supply. This is done by turning up the weak hive,
cutting out the empty combs, and placing full ones in their stead, so
secure as not to fall down when the hive is replaced. If this be too
troublesome, a plate of honey may be set under the hive, and straws laid
across the plate, covered with paper perforated with small holes,
through which the bees will suck the honey without difficulty.--These
valuable insects are liable to various disorders, both from the food
they eat, from foreign enemies, and from one another. If they have fed
greedily on the blossoms of the milk thistle or the elm, it will render
them incapable of working, and the hive will be stained with filth. The
best cure in this case is pounded pomegranate seed, moistened with sweet
wine; or raisins mixed with wine or mead, and the infusion of rosemary.
When they are infested with vermin, the hive must be cleansed, and
perfumed with a branch of pomegranate or the wild fig-tree, which will
effectually destroy them. Butterflies sometimes conceal themselves in
the hives, and annoy the bees; but these intruders may easily be
exterminated by placing lighted candles in deep tin pots between the
hives, as they will be attracted by the flame, and so perish. In order
to extirpate wasps and hornets preying upon the honey, it is only
necessary to expose shallow vessels near the hive with a little water,
to which those depredators eagerly repair to quench their thirst, and
thus easily drown themselves. To prevent bees of one society from
attacking or destroying those of another, which is frequently the case,
the following method may be tried. Let a board about an inch thick be
laid on the bee bench, and set the hive upon it with its mouth exactly
on the edge. The mouth of the hive should also be contracted to about an
inch in length, and a semicircular hole made in the board immediately
under the mouth of the hive. By this simple method, the bees which come
to make the attack will be foiled, and constrained to act with great
disadvantage. If this do not succeed, remove the hive to a distant part
of the garden, and to a more easterly or colder aspect, which will
frequently end the contest.--When bees are to be taken up for the
purpose of obtaining the wax and honey, great care should be taken not
to destroy the insects; and for this end the following method is
recommended. The upper box on the hive, which principally contains the
honey, is first to be taken off. The joint should be loosened, the
cement scraped off, and then a piece of iron wire to be drawn through
the comb so as to divide it. When the upper box is thus separated, its
cover is to be taken off and immediately placed on the second box, which
is now the highest. Having taken out the contents of the box which has
been separated, it is to be placed again on the stand, under the lower
box, and its door only is to be left open. If any bees remain in the box
when taken away, a little smoke will drive them out, and they will
quickly return to their own hive. In this manner a second or a third box
of honey may be removed in succession, when the lower part of the hive
appears to be full; but care must be taken not to deprive the bees
entirely of the stock which they have collected for the winter. In
taking up a common straw hive of bees, the best way is to remove it
into a darkened room, that it may appear to the bees as if it were late
in the evening. Then gently turning the hive bottom upwards, and
supporting it in that position, cover it with an empty hive a little
raised towards the window, to give the bees sufficient light to guide
their ascent. Keep the empty hive steadily supported on the edge of the
full hive, and strike the hand round the full hive to frighten the bees,
till they have nearly all ascended into the other. The new hive
containing the bees must be placed on the stand of the apiary, to
receive the absent bees as they return from the fields.


BEET ROOT. This cooling and wholesome vegetable is good boiled, and
sliced with a small quantity of onion, or stewed with whole onions in
the following manner. Boil the beet tender with the skin on, slice it
into a stewpan with a little broth and a spoonful of vinegar. Simmer it
till the gravy is tinged with the colour; then put it into a small dish,
and make a round of button onions, first boiled tender. Take off the
skin just before serving, and let them be quite hot and clear. Or roast
three large onions, and peel off the outer skins till they look clear;
and serve round them the stewed beet root. The root must not be broken
before it is dressed, or it will lose its colour, and look ill.--To
preserve beet-root for winter use, they should not be cleared from the
earth, but kept in layers of dry sand.


BEETLES. When these insects become troublesome in the house, put some
small lumps of quick lime into the chinks or holes of the wall from
whence they issue, or scatter it on the ground. Or at night, lay a
spoonful of treacle on a piece of wood, and float it in a pan of water:
beetles are so fond of syrup, that they will be drowned in attempting to
get at it. The common black beetle may also be extirpated by placing a
hedgehog in the room, during the summer nights; or by laying a bundle of
pea straw near their holes, and afterwards burning it when the beetles
have crept into it.


BENTON CAKES. Mix a paste of flour, a little bit of butter, and milk.
Roll it as thin as possible, and bake on a backstone over the fire, or
on a hot hearth. Another sort of Benton tea-cakes are made like
biscuits, by rubbing into a pound of flour six ounces of butter, and
three large spoonfuls of yeast. Work up the paste with a sufficient
quantity of new milk, make it into biscuits, and prick them with a clean
fork. Or melt six or seven ounces of butter, with a sufficient quantity
of new milk warmed to make seven pounds of flour into a stiff paste.
Roll it thin, and make it into biscuits.


BENTON SAUCE. Grate some horse-radish, or scrape it very fine. Add to it
a little made mustard, some pounded white sugar, and four large
spoonfuls of vinegar. Serve it up in a saucer: this is good with hot or
cold roast beef.


BILLS OF FARE, or list of various articles in season in different
months.

JANUARY.----_Poultry._ Game, pheasants, partridges, hares, rabbits,
woodcocks, snipes, turkeys, capons, pullets, fowls, chickens, tame
pigeons.--_Fish._ Carp, tench, perch, eels, lampreys, crayfish, cod,
soles, flounders, plaice, turbot, skate, thornback, sturgeon, smelts,
whitings, crabs, lobsters, prawns, oysters.--_Vegetables._ Cabbage,
savoys, coleworts, sprouts, brocoli, leeks, onions, beet, sorrel,
chervil, endive, spinach, celery, garlic, potatoes, parsnips, turnips,
shalots, lettuces, cresses, mustard, rape, salsify, herbs dry and
green.--_Fruit._ Apples, pears, nuts, walnuts, medlars, grapes.

FEBRUARY, MARCH.----Meat, fowls and game, as in January, with the
addition of ducklings and chickens.--_Fish._ As the last two months,
except that cod is not thought so good, from February to
July.--_Vegetables._ The same as the former months, with the addition of
kidney beans.--_Fruit._ Apples, pears, forced strawberries.

APRIL, MAY, JUNE.----_Meat._ Beef, mutton, veal, lamb, venison in
June.----_Poultry._ Pullets, fowls, chickens, ducklings, pigeons,
rabbits, leverets.--_Fish._ Carp, tench, soles, smelts, eels, trout,
turbot, lobsters, chub, salmon, herrings, crayfish, mackarel, crabs,
prawns, shrimps.--_Vegetables._ As before, and in May, early potatoes,
peas, radishes, kidney beans, carrots, turnips, early cabbages,
cauliflowers, asparagus, artichokes, all sorts of forced
sallads.--_Fruit._ In June, strawberries, cherries, melons, green
apricots, gooseberries and currants for tarts. In July, cherries,
strawberries, pears, melons, gooseberries, currants, apricots, grapes,
nectarines, peaches; but most of these are forced.

JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER.--Meat as before.--_Poultry._ Pullets, fowls,
chickens, rabbits, pigeons, green geese, leverets, turkey poults,
plovers, wheatears, and geese in September.--_Fish._ Cod, haddock,
flounders, plaice, skate, thornback, mullets, pike, carp, eels,
shellfish, except oysters; mackarel the first two months, but are not
good in August.--_Vegetables._ Beans, peas, French beans, and various
others.--_Fruit._ In July, strawberries, gooseberries, pineapples,
plums, cherries, apricots, raspberries, melons, currants, damsons. In
August and September, peaches, plums, filberts, figs, mulberries,
cherries, apples, pears, nectarines, grapes, pines, melons,
strawberries, medlars, quinces, morella cherries, damsons, and various
plums.

OCTOBER.--Meat as before, and doe-venison.----_Poultry._ Game,
pheasants, fowls, partridges, larks, hares, dotterels, wild ducks,
teal, snipes, widgeon, grouse.--_Fish._ Dories, smelts, pike, perch,
holibets, brills, carp, salmon trout, barbel, gudgeons, tench,
shellfish.--_Vegetables._ As in January, French beans, runners, windsor
beans.----_Fruit._ Peaches, pears, figs, bullace, grapes, apples,
medlars, damsons, filberts, nuts, walnuts, quinces, services.

NOVEMBER.--_Meat._ Beef, mutton, veal, pork, house lamb, doe venison,
poultry and game. Fish as the last month.--_Vegetables._ Carrots,
turnips, parsnips, potatoes, skirrets, onions, leeks, shalots, cabbage,
savoys, colewort, spinach, cardoons, cresses, endive, celery, lettuces,
salad, herbs.--_Fruit._ Pears, apples, nuts, walnuts, bullace, chesnuts,
medlars, grapes.

DECEMBER.--_Meat._ Beef, mutton, veal, house lamb, pork and
venison.--_Poultry._ Game, turkeys, geese, pullets, pigeons, capons,
fowls, chickens, rabbits, hares, snipes, woodcocks, larks, pheasants,
partridges, sea-fowls, guinea-fowls, wild ducks, teal, widgeon,
dotterels, dunbirds, grouse.--_Fish._ Turbot, cod, holibets, soles,
gurnets, sturgeon, carp, gudgeons, codlings, eels, dories,
shellfish.--_Vegetables._ As in the last month; asparagus
forced.--_Fruit._ As the last, except bullace.


BIRCH WINE. The season for obtaining the liquor from birch trees, is in
the latter end of February or the beginning of March, before the leaves
shoot out, and as the sap begins to rise. If the time be delayed, the
juice will grow too thick to be drawn out. It should be as thin and
clear as possible. The method of procuring the juice is by boring holes
in the trunk of the tree, and fixing in facets made of elder; but care
should be taken not to tap it in too many places at once, for fear of
injuring the tree. If the tree is large, it may be bored in five or six
places at once, and bottles are to be placed under the apertures to
receive the sap. When four or five gallons have been extracted from
different trees, cork the bottles very close, and wax them till the wine
is to be made, which should be as soon as possible after the sap has
been obtained. Boil the sap, and put four pounds of loaf sugar to every
gallon, also the rind of a lemon cut thin; then boil it again for nearly
an hour, skimming it well all the time. Into a cask that will contain
it, put a lighted brimstone match, stop it up till the match is burnt
out, and then pour the liquor into it as quickly as possible. When
nearly cold, work it with a toast spread with yeast, and let it stand
five or six days, stirring it two or three times a-day. Put the bung
lightly in till it has done working; then close it down, and let it
stand two or three months. The wine may then be bottled, and will be fit
for use in about a week. It makes a rich and salutary cordial, and its
virtues are much relied on in consumptive and scorbutic cases.


BISCUIT CAKE. One pound of flour, five eggs well beaten and strained,
eight ounces of sugar, a little rose or orange flower water. Beat the
whole thoroughly, and bake it one hour.


BISCUITS. To make hard biscuits, warm two ounces of butter in as much
skimmed milk as will make a pound of flour into a very stiff paste. Beat
it with a rolling pin, and work it very smooth. Roll it thin, and cut it
into round biscuits. Prick them full of holes with a fork, and about six
minutes will bake them.--For plain and very crisp biscuits, make a pound
of flour, the yolk of an egg, and some milk, into a very stiff paste.
Beat it well, and knead it quite smooth; roll the paste very thin, and
cut it into biscuits. Bake them in a slow oven till quite dry and
crisp.--To preserve biscuits for a long time sweet and good, no other
art is necessary than packing them up in casks well caulked, and
carefully lined with tin, so as to exclude the air. The biscuits should
be laid as close as possible; and when it is necessary to open the cask,
it must be speedily closed again with care. Sea bread may also be
preserved on a long voyage, by being put into a bag which has been
previously soaked in a quantity of liquid nitre, and dried. This has
been found to preserve the biscuits from the fatal effects of the wevil,
and other injurious insects, which are destructive to this necessary
article of human sustenance.


BITTERS. Bruise an ounce of gentian root, and two drams of cardamom
seeds together: add an ounce of lemon peel, and three drams of Seville
orange peel. Pour on the ingredients a pint and half of boiling water,
and let it stand an hour closely covered: then pour off the clear
liquor, and a glass of it taken two or three times a day will be found
an excellent bitter for the stomach.--Or slice an ounce of gentian root,
and add half a dram of snakes' root bruised, half a dram of saffron,
three quarters of a dram of cardamom seeds, and the same of cochineal
bruised together, and the peel of three Seville oranges. Steep the
ingredients in a pint of brandy fourteen days, shaking them together
frequently; then strain the tincture through a piece of muslin, and a
tea-spoonful in a glass of wine may be taken two or three times a day.


BLACK BUTTER. Boil a pound of moist sugar with three pounds of
gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and cherries, till reduced to half
the quantity. Put it into pots covered with brandy paper, and it will be
found a pleasant sweetmeat.


BLACK CAPS. Divide and core some fine large apples, put them in a
shallow pan, strew white sugar over, and bake them. Boil a glass of
wine, the same of water, and sweeten it for sauce. Or, take off a slice
from the stalk end of some apples, and core without paring them. Mix
with grated lemon, and a few cloves in fine powder, as much sugar as
will sweeten them. Stuff the holes as close as possible with this, and
turn the flat end down on a stewpan; set them on a very slow fire, with
some raisin wine and water. Cover them close, and now and then baste
them with the liquor: when done enough, black the tops with a
salamander.


BLACK INK. Infuse in a gallon of rain or soft water, a pound of blue
galls bruised, and keep it stirring for three weeks. Then add four
ounces of green copperas, four ounces of logwood chips, six ounces of
gum arabac, and a glass of brandy.--To make ink of a superior quality,
and fit for immediate use, prepare the following ingredients. Four
ounces of blue galls, two ounces of chipped logwood, two of sulphate of
iron, one ounce and a half of gum arabac, half an ounce of sulphate of
copper, and half an ounce of brown sugar. Boil the galls and logwood in
six pints of spring or distilled water, until nearly three pints of
water are evaporated, then strain it through a piece of flannel. Powder
the salts in a mortar, dissolve the gum in a little warm water, then mix
the whole together, and shake it frequently for two or three days;
during which time expose it to the air, and it will become blacker.
Decant the liquor into stone bottles well corked, and it will be fit for
use directly. Those who wish to avoid the trouble of such a process,
will find an excellent substitute in Walkden's Ink Powder ready
prepared, with directions how to use it. If a cup of sweet wort be added
to two papers of the powder, it will give it the brightness of japan
ink.


BLACK LEAD. The best preparation for cleaning cast-iron stoves is made
of black lead, mixed with a little common gin, or the dregs of port
wine, and laid on the stove with a piece of linen rag. Then with a clean
brush, not too hard, and dipped in some dried black lead powder, rub the
stove till it comes to a beautiful brightness. This will produce a much
finer black varnish on the cast-iron, than either boiling the black lead
with small beer and soap, or mixing it with white of egg, as is commonly
practised.


BLACK PAPER, for drawing patterns, may easily be made in the following
manner. Mix and smooth some lamp-black and sweet oil, with a piece of
flannel. Cover a sheet or two of large writing paper with this mixture,
then dab the paper dry with a rag of fine linen, and prepare it for
future use by putting the black side on another sheet of paper, and
fastening the corners together with a small pin. When wanted to draw,
lay the pattern on the back of the black paper, and go over it with the
point of a steel pencil. The black paper will then leave the impression
of the pattern on the under sheet, on which you must now draw it with
ink. If you draw patterns on cloth or muslin, do it with a pen dipped in
a bit of stone blue, a bit of sugar, and a little water, mixed smooth in
a tea cup, in which it will be always ready for use.


BLACK PUDDINGS. The pig's blood must be stirred with a little salt till
it is cold. Put a full quart of it to a quart of whole grits, and let it
stand all night. Soak the crumb of a quartern loaf in rather more than
two quarts of new milk made hot. In the meantime prepare the guts by
washing, turning and scraping, with salt and water, and changing the
water several times. Chop fine a little winter savoury and thyme, a good
quantity of pennyroyal, pepper and salt, a few cloves, some allspice,
ginger and nutmeg. Mix these all together, with three pounds of beef
suet, and six eggs well beaten and strained. Have ready some hog's fat
cut into large bits; and as the skins are filling with the pudding, put
in the fat at intervals. Tie up in links only half filled, and boil in a
large kettle, pricking them as they swell, or they will burst. When
boiled, lay them between clean cloths till cold, and hang them up in the
kitchen. When to be used, scald them a few minutes in water; wipe, and
put them into a Dutch oven. If there be not skins enough, put the
stuffing into basins, and boil it covered with floured cloths. Slice and
fry it when used.--Another way is, to soak all night a quart of bruised
grits in as much boiling-hot milk as will swell them, and leave half a
pint of liquid. Chop a quantity of pennyroyal, savoury and thyme; add
salt and pepper, and allspice finely powdered. Mix the above with a
quart of the blood, prepared as before directed; clean the skins
thoroughly, half fill them with the stuffing, put in as much of the leaf
fat of the pig as will make it pretty rich, and boil as before directed.
A small quantity of leeks finely shred and well mixed, is a great
improvement.--A superior article may be made as follows: boil a quart of
half-grits in as much milk as will swell them to the utmost, drain them
and add a quart of blood, a pint of rich cream, a pound of suet, some
mace, nutmeg, allspice, and four cloves, all in fine powder. And two
pounds of hog's leaf cut into dice, two leeks, a handful of parsley, ten
leaves of sage, a large handful of pennyroyal, and a sprig of thyme and
knotted marjoram, all finely minced; eight eggs well beaten, half a
pound of bread crumbs scalded in a pint of milk, with pepper and salt.
Soak and clean the skins in several waters, last of all in rose-water,
and half fill them with the stuffing. Tie the skins in links, boil and
prick them with a clean fork, to prevent their breaking, and cover them
with a clean cloth till cold.


BLACKBERRY JAM. Put some red, but not ripe, blackberries into a jar, and
cover it up closely. Set the jar in a kettle or deep stewpan of water
over the fire, as a water bath; and when it has simmered five or six
hours, force the juice through a sieve. To every pint of juice, add two
pounds of powdered loaf-sugar, boiling and scumming it in the same
manner as for any other jam or jelly. This simple article is said to
afford effectual relief in cases of stone or gravel: a tea-spoonful to
be taken every night, and repeated in the morning, if necessary. A good
jam may also be made of ripe blackberries, in a similar manner; and
both, like other jams, should be kept in jars, closely tied over with
brandy paper.


BLACKBERRY WINE. Pick and clean a quantity of ripe blackberries; to
every quart of fruit, add a quart of cold water which has first been
boiled. Bruise them well, and let the whole stand twenty-four hours,
stirring it occasionally during that time. Express all the juice and run
it through a sieve or jelly bag, on a pound and a half of sugar to each
gallon of liquid. Stir it till thoroughly dissolved, put it in a well
seasoned barrel, add a little dissolved isinglass, and let it remain
open till the next day; then bung it up. This makes a pleasant wine,
which may be bottled off in about two months.


BLACKING for shoes is made of four ounces of ivory black, three ounces
of the coarsest sugar, a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and a pint of
small beer, gradually mixed together cold.


BLACKING BALLS. Portable shoe-blacking, in the form of cakes or balls,
is made in the following manner. Take four ounces of mutton suet, one
ounce of bees-wax, one of sweet oil, and a dram each of powdered
sugar-candy and gum-arabac. Melt them well together over a slow fire;
add a spoonful of turpentine, and lamp-black sufficient to give it a
good black colour. While hot enough to run, make the composition into a
ball, by pouring it into a tin mould; or let it stand till nearly cold,
and then it may be moulded into any form by the hand.


BLADE-BONE OF PORK. Cut it from the bacon-hog, with a small quantity of
meat upon it, and lay it on the gridiron. When nearly done pepper and
salt it. Add a piece of butter, and a tea-spoonful of mustard; and serve
it up quickly. This dish is much admired in Somersetshire. A blade-bone
of mutton may be dressed in the same way.


BLAMANGE. Boil two ounces of isinglass half an hour, in a pint and half
of water, and strain off the cream. Sweeten it, and add some peach
water, or a few bitter almonds; let it boil up once, and put it into
what forms you please. Be sure to let the blamange settle before you
turn it into the forms, or the blacks will remain at the bottom of them,
and be on the top of the blamange when taken out of the moulds. If not
to be very stiff, a little less isinglass will do.--For Yellow Blamange,
pour a pint of boiling water upon an ounce of isinglass, and the peel of
one lemon. When cold, sweeten with two ounces of fine sugar: add a
quarter of a pint of white wine, the yolks of four eggs, and the juice
of one lemon. Stir all together, and let it boil five minutes: strain
through a bag, and put into cups.


BLANKETS, if not in constant use, are liable to be moth-eaten. To
prevent this, they should be folded and laid under feather beds that are
in use, and occasionally shaken. When soiled, they should be washed, not
scoured: and well dried before they are laid by, or they will breed
moths.


BLEACHING OF STRAW. This is generally done by the fumes of sulphur, in a
place enclosed for that purpose: but to render the straw very white, and
encrease its flexibility in platting, it should be dipped in a solution
of oxygenated muriatic acid, saturated with potash. Oxygenated muriate
of lime will also answer the purpose. To repair straw bonnets, they must
be carefully ripped to pieces; the plat should be bleached with the
above solution, and made up afresh.


BLUE INK. Dissolve an ounce of finely powdered verdigris, and half an
ounce of cream of tartar, in three ounces of water. This will make a
fine blue writing ink, which has the singular property of giving to an
iron nail, immersed in it for twenty-four hours, a beautiful green
colour.


BOARDED FLOORS will preserve a beautiful appearance, if treated in the
following manner. After washing them very clean with soda and warm
water, and a brush, wash them with a large sponge and clean water,
observing that no spot be left untouched. Be careful to clean straight
up and down, not crossing from board to board: then dry with clean
cloths, rubbing hard up and down the same way. The floors should not be
often wetted, but very thoroughly when done; and once a week dry-rubbed
with hot sand, and a heavy brush, the right way of the boards. If oil or
grease have stained the floor, make a strong lye of pearl-ashes and soft
water, and add as much unslaked lime as it will take up. Stir it
together, and then let it settle a few minutes; bottle it, and stop it
close. When used, lower it with a little water, and scour the part with
it. If the liquor lie long on the boards, it will extract their colour;
it must therefore be done with care and expedition. Stone work may be
freed from stains in the same way.


BOCKINGS. Mix three ounces of buck-wheat flour with a tea-cupful of warm
milk, and a spoonful of yeast. Let it rise before the fire about an
hour; then mix four eggs well beaten, and as much milk as will make the
batter the usual thickness for pancakes, and fry them in the same
manner.


BOILING. Cleanliness here is of great consequence; and for this purpose
all culinary vessels should be made of iron, or of other metals well
tinned. The pernicious effects of copper or brass may be perceived by
rubbing the hand round the inside of a pot or kettle made of either of
those metals, and which has been scoured clean and fit for use; for
though it may not discolour the hand, yet it will cause an offensive
smell, and must in some degree affect every article which is put into
it. If copper or brass be used, they should be well cleaned, and nothing
suffered to remain in the vessels longer than is necessary for the
purposes of cooking. In small families however, block-tin saucepans and
boilers are much to be preferred, as lightest and safest. If proper care
be taken of them, and they are well dried after being cleaned, they are
also by far the cheapest; the purchase of a new tin saucepan being
little more than the expense of tinning a copper one. Care should be
taken to have the covers of boiling pots fit close, not only to prevent
an unnecessary evaporation of the water, but that the smoke may not
insinuate itself under the edge of the lid, and give the meat a bad
taste. A trivet or fish drainer placed in the boiler to lay the meat on,
and to raise it an inch and a half from the bottom, will prevent that
side of it which comes next the bottom from being done too much, and the
lower part of the meat will be as delicately done as any other. Instead
of a trivet, four skewers stuck into the meat transversely will answer
the purpose, or a soup plate whelmed the wrong side upwards. With good
management it will take less fire for boiling than for roasting, but it
should be kept to a regular pitch, so as to keep the pot gently boiling
all the time. If it boils too fast, it will harden the meat, by
extracting too much of the gravy; but if it be allowed to simmer only,
or to boil gently, it will become rich and tender. The scum must be
carefully taken off as soon as the water boils, or it will sink and
discolour the meat. The oftener it is scummed, and the cleaner the top
of the water is kept, the cleaner will be the meat; and if a little cold
water be occasionally thrown in, it will bring up the remainder of the
scum to the surface. Neither mixing milk with the water nor wrapping up
the meat in a cloth are necessary, if the scum be attentively removed;
and the meat will have a more delicate colour, and a finer flavour, if
boiled in clear water only. The general rule for boiling is to allow a
quarter of an hour to a pound of meat; but if it be boiled gently or
simmered only, which is by far the superior way, twenty minutes to the
pound will scarcely be found too much. At the same time care must be
taken to keep the pot constantly boiling, and not to suffer the meat to
remain in after it is done enough, or it will become sodden, and lose
its flavour. The quantity of water is regulated by the size of the meat;
sufficient to cover it, but not to drown it; and the less water, the
more savoury will the meat be, and the better the broth. It is usual to
put all kinds of fresh meat into hot water, and salt meat into cold
water; but if the meat has been salted only a short time it is better to
put it in when the water boils, or it will draw out too much of the
gravy. Lamb, veal, and pork require rather more boiling than other
meat, to make them wholesome. The hind quarters of most animals require
longer time to dress than the fore quarters, and all kinds of provision
require more time in frosty weather than in summer. Large joints of beef
and mutton are better a little underdone; they make the richer hash; but
meat that is fresh slain will remain tough and hard, in whatever way it
may be cooked. All meat should be washed clean before it is put into the
boiler, but salt meat especially. A ham of twenty pounds will take four
hours and a half in boiling, and others in proportion. A dried tongue,
after being soaked, will take four hours boiling: a tongue out of
pickle, from two hours and a half to three hours, or more if very large:
it must be judged by its feeling quite tender. Boiling is in general the
most economical mode of cooking, if care be taken to preserve the broth,
and apply it to useful purposes.


BOILED BACON. Soak it, and take off the rind before boiling. A pound of
bacon boiled without the skin will weigh an ounce heavier than a pound
boiled with it. Fat bacon should be put into hot water, and lean into
cold water, when it is to be dressed. Young bacon will boil in about
three quarters of an hour. Grate some toasted bread over it, and set it
near the fire to brown it a little, before it is sent to table.


BOILED BEEF. When the water boils put in the meat, whether beef or
mutton, and take off the scum as it rises. If the scum be suffered to
sink, it will stick to the meat, and spoil its colour. Turnips, greens,
potatoes, or carrots with the beef, and caper sauce with the mutton.


BOILED CUSTARD. Set a pint of cream over a slow fire, adding two ounces
of sugar, and the rind of a lemon. Take it off the fire as soon as it
begins to simmer; as the cream cools, add by degrees the yolks of eight
eggs well beaten, with a spoonful of orange water. Stir it carefully
over a slow fire till it almost boils, and strain it quickly through a
piece of thin muslin. Put it into cups, and serve it up cold.


BOILED DUCK. Choose a fine fat duck, salt it two days, and boil it
slowly in a cloth. Serve it with onion sauce, but melt the butter with
milk instead of water.


BOILED EELS. The small ones are best, provided they are bright, and of a
good colour. After they are skinned, boil them in a small quantity of
water, with a quantity of parsley, which with the liquor should be sent
to table with them. Serve chopped parsley and butter for sauce.


BOILED FOWL. For boiling, choose those that are not black-legged. Pick
them nicely, singe, wash, and truss them. Flour them, and put them into
boiling water: half an hour will be sufficient for one of middling size.
Serve with parsley and butter; oyster, lemon, liver, or celery sauce. If
for dinner, ham, tongue or bacon is usually served with them, and also
greens.--When cooked with rice, stew the fowl very slowly in some clear
mutton broth well skimmed, and seasoned with onion, mace, pepper and
salt. About half an hour before it is ready, put in a quarter of a pint
of rice well washed and soaked. Simmer it till it is quite tender,
strain it from the broth, and put the rice on a sieve before the fire.
Keep the fowl hot, lay it in the middle of the dish, and the rice round
it without the broth. The broth will be nice by itself, but the less
liquor the fowl is done with the better. Gravy, or parsley and butter,
for sauce.


BOILED HAM. Soak the ham in cold water the night before it is to be
dressed, scrape it clean, and put it into the boiler with cold water.
Skim the liquor while boiling; let it not boil fast, but simmer only,
and add a little cold water occasionally for this purpose. When the ham
is done, take it up, pull off the skin carefully, and grate a crust of
bread over it so as to cover it tolerably thick. Set it before the fire,
or put it into the oven till the bread is crisp; garnish it with
carrots, or any thing that is in season. A ham of twenty pounds will
require five hours boiling, and others in proportion.


BOILED LEG OF PORK. Salt it eight or ten days; and when it is to be
dressed, weigh it. Let it lie half an hour in cold water to make it
white: allow a quarter of an hour for every pound, and half an hour
over, from the time it boils up. Skim it as soon as it boils, and
frequently after. Allow plenty of water, and save some of it for
peas-soup. The leg should be small, and of a fine grain; and if boiled
in a floured cloth, it will improve the colour and appearance. Serve it
with peas-pudding and turnips.


BOILED SALMON. Clean it carefully, boil it gently, and take it out of
the water as soon as done. Let the water be warm, if the fish be split:
if underdone, it is very unwholesome. Serve with shrimp or anchovy
sauce.


BOILED TURBOT. The turbot kettle must be of a proper size, and in good
order. Set the fish in cold water sufficient to cover it completely,
throw a handful of salt and a glass of vinegar into it, and let it
gradually boil. Be very careful that no blacks fall into it; but skim it
well, and preserve the beautiful colour of the fish. Serve it garnished
with a complete fringe of curled parsley, lemon and horse-radish. The
sauce must be the finest lobster, anchovy and butter, and plain butter,
served plentifully in separate tureens.--If necessary, turbot will keep
two or three days, and be in as high perfection as at first, if lightly
rubbed over with salt, and carefully hung in a cold place.


BOILED TURKEY. A turkey will neither boil white nor eat tender, unless
it has been killed three or four days. Pick it clean, draw it at the
rump, cut off the legs, stick the end of the thighs into the body, and
tie them fast. Flour the turkey, put it into the water while cold, let
it boil gently half an hour or more, take off the scum, and cover the
kettle close. Make the stuffing of grated bread and lemon peel, four
ounces of shred suet, a few chopped oysters, two eggs, and a little
cream. Fill the craw with stuffing, and make the rest into balls, which
are to be boiled and laid round the dish. The stuffing may be made
without oysters; or force-meat or sausage may be used, mixed with crumbs
of bread and yolks of eggs. Celery sauce or white sauce is very proper.


BOILED VEAL. Dredge it with flour, tie it up in a cloth, and put it in
when the water boils. A knuckle requires more boiling in proportion to
its weight, than any other joint, to render the gristle soft and tender.
Parsley and butter, bacon and greens, are commonly eaten with it.


BOILERS. Copper boilers and saucepans are apt to become leaky, when they
have been joined or mended, or from bruises, which sometimes render them
unfit for use. In this case a cement of pounded quicklime, mixed with
ox's blood, applied fresh to the injured part, will be of great
advantage, and very durable. A valuable cement for such purposes may
also be made of equal parts of vinegar and milk mixed together so as to
produce a curd: the whey is then put to the whites of four or five eggs
after they have been well beaten, and the whole reduced to a thick paste
by the addition of some quicklime finely sifted. This composition
applied to cracks or fissures of any kind, and properly dried, will
resist the effects of fire and water.


BOLOGNA SAUSAGES. Cut into small pieces four pounds of lean beef, and
add to it a pound of diced suet, with the same quantity of diced bacon.
Season with allspice, pepper, bay salt, saltpetre, and a little powder
of bay leaves. Mix the whole together, tie the meat up in skins about
the thickness of the wrist, dry the sausages in the same manner as
tongues, and eat them without boiling.


BOLOGNA SOUP. Bind close with packthread, fifteen pounds of brisket of
beef, and put it into a pot with water sufficient to cover it. Then add
three large carrots, some good turnips, four onions, a bunch of sweet
herbs, and half a white cabbage sliced and fried in butter. The pot must
be well scummed before the herbs are put in. It must boil very slowly
for five or six hours; and when half boiled, prepare three or four
pounds of loin of mutton, with all the fat taken off, and put it into
the pot. Flavour the soup with whole pepper, and a head of celery; and
to make it of a good colour, draw the gravy from a pound of lean beef
over a slow fire, and add a ladleful to the soup, first carefully taking
off all the fat. Having cut and dried the crust of a French roll, lay it
in a stewpan with a little soup; and after stewing it over a slow fire,
place it with a slice in the soup tureen. The beef must be untied, and
served up with chopped parsley strewed over it; accompanied also with
gravy sauce, a few capers, and some chopped carrots, thickened with the
yolk of an egg. Add a little seasoning to the soup.


BOOTS. Persons who travel much, or are often exposed to the weather,
must be sensible of the importance of being provided with boots that
will resist the wet. The following is a composition for preserving
leather, the good effects of which are sufficiently ascertained. One
pint of drying oil, two ounces of yellow wax, two ounces of spirit of
turpentine, and half an ounce of Burgundy pitch, should be carefully
melted together over a slow fire. With this mixture, new shoes and boots
are to be rubbed in the sun, or at some distance from the fire, with a
sponge or brush. The operation is to be repeated as often as they become
dry, and until they are fully saturated. In this manner the leather
becomes impervious to the wet: the boots or shoes last much longer than
those of common leather, acquire such softness and pliability that they
never shrivel or grow hard, and in that state are the most effectual
preservation against wet and cold. It is necessary to observe, however,
that boots or shoes thus prepared ought not to be worn till they become
perfectly dry and flexible: otherwise the leather will be too soft, and
the boots unserviceable.


BOOT TOPS. Many of the compositions sold for the purpose of cleaning and
restoring the colour of boot tops, are not found to answer, and are
often injurious to the leather. A safe and easy preparation is made of a
quart of boiled milk, which, when cold, is to be mixed with an ounce of
the oil of vitriol, and an ounce of the spirit of salts, shaken well
together. An ounce of red lavender is then to be added, and the liquid
applied to the leather with a sponge. Or, mix a dram of oxymuriate of
potash with two ounces of distilled water; and when the salt is
dissolved, add two ounces of muriatic acid. Shake together in another
vial, three ounces of rectified spirits of wine, with half an ounce of
the essential oil of lemon, and unite the contents of the two vials,
keeping the liquid closely corked for use. It is to be applied with a
clean sponge, and dried gently; after which the tops may be polished
with a proper brush, so as to appear like new leather. This mixture will
readily take out grease, or any kind of spots, from leather or
parchment.


BOTTLES. The common practice of cleaning glass bottles with shot is
highly improper; for if through inattention any of it should remain,
when the bottles are again filled with wine or cider, the lead will be
dissolved, and the liquor impregnated with its pernicious qualities. A
few ounces of potash dissolved in water will answer the purpose much
better, and clean a great number of bottles. If any impurity adhere to
the sides, a few pieces of blotting paper put into the bottle, and
shaken with the water, will very soon remove it. Another way is to roll
up some pieces of blotting paper, steep them in soap and water, then put
them into bottles or decanters with a little warm water, and shake them
well for a few minutes: after this they will only require to be rinsed
and dried.


BOTTLING LIQUORS. Here the first thing to be attended to is, to see that
the bottles be perfectly clean and dry; if wet, they will spoil the
liquor, and make it turn mouldy. Then, though the bottles should be
clean and dry, yet if the corks be not new and sound, the liquor will be
damaged; for if the air can by any means penetrate, the liquor will grow
flat, and never rise. As soon as a cask of liquor begins to grow vapid,
and to lose its briskness, while it is on the tap, it should be drawn
off immediately into bottles; and in order to quicken it, put a piece of
loaf sugar into every bottle, about the size of a walnut. To forward the
ripening, wrap the bottles in hay, and set them in a warm place; straw
will not answer the purpose. When ale is to be bottled, it will be an
improvement to add a little rice, a few raisins, or a tea-spoonful of
moist sugar to each bottle. In the summer time, if table beer is bottled
as soon as it has done working, it will soon become brisk, and make a
very pleasant and refreshing drink.


BOTTLED CURRANTS. See that the bottles be perfectly clean and dry, and
let the fruit be gathered quite ripe, and when the weather is dry. The
currants should be cut from the large stalks, with the smallest bit of
stalk to each, and care taken not to wound the fruit, that none of the
moisture may escape. It would be best indeed to cut them under the
trees, and let them drop gently into the bottles. Stop up the bottles
with cork and rosin, and trench them in the garden with the neck
downwards: sticks should be placed opposite to where each sort of fruit
begins. Cherries and damsons may be kept in the same way.


BOTTLED GOOSEBERRIES. Pick some smooth gooseberries before they are
quite full grown, put them into gooseberry bottles lightly corked, and
set them up to their necks in a copper of cold water. Put a little hay
round the bottles to prevent their breaking, make a fire under them, and
let the heat increase gradually; let them simmer ten minutes, but not
boil. Take out the fire, and let them remain in the copper till cold.
Then take them out, dry the bottles, rosin down the corks close, and set
them in dry saw-dust with their necks downward.


BRAISING. To braise any kind of meat, put it into a stewpan, and cover
it with fat bacon. Then add six or eight onions, a bundle of herbs,
carrots, celery, any bones or trimmings of meat or fowls, and some
stock. The bacon must be covered with white paper, and the lid of the
pan must be kept close. Set it on a slow stove; and according to what
the meat is, it will require two or three hours. The meat is then to be
taken out, the gravy nicely skimmed, and set on to boil very quick till
it is thick. The meat is to be kept hot; and if larded, put into the
oven for a few minutes. Then put the jelly over it, which is called
glazing, and is used for ham, tongue, and various made-dishes. White
wine is added to some glazing. The glaze should be of beautiful clear
yellow brown, and it is best put on with a nice brush.


BRAISED CHICKENS. Bone them, and fill them with forcemeat. Lay the bones
and any other poultry trimmings into a stewpan, and the chickens on
them. Put to them a few onions, a handful of herbs, three blades of
mace, a pint of stock, and a glass or two of sherry. Cover the chickens
with slices of bacon, and then white paper; cover the whole close, and
put them on a slow stove for two hours. Then take them up, strain the
braise, and skim off the fat carefully: set it on to boil very quick to
a glaze, and lay it over the chicken with a brush. Before glazing, put
the chicken into an oven for a few minutes, to give it a colour. Serve
with a brown fricassee of mushrooms.


BRAISED MUTTON. Take off the chump end of a loin of mutton, cover it
with buttered paper, and then with paste, as for venison. Roast it two
hours, but let it not be browned. Have ready some French beans boiled,
and drained on a sieve; and while you are glazing the mutton, give the
beans one heat-up in gravy, and lay them on the dish with the meat over
them.


BRAISED VEAL. Lard the best end of a neck of veal with bacon rolled in
chopped parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Put it into a tosser, and
cover it with water. Add the scrag end of the neck, a little lean bacon
or ham, an onion, two carrots, two heads of celery, and a glass of
Madeira. Stew it quickly for two hours, or till it is tender, but not
too much. Strain off the liquor: mix a little flour and butter in a
stewpan till brown, and lay the veal in this, the upperside to the
bottom of the pan. Let it be over the fire till it gets coloured: then
lay it into the dish, stir some of the liquor in and boil it up, skim
it nicely, and squeeze orange and lemon juice into it.


BRANDY CREAM. Boil two dozen of blanched almonds, and pounded bitter
almonds, in a little milk. When cold, add to it the yolks of five eggs
beating well in cream; sweeten, and put to it two glasses of good
brandy. After it is well mixed, pour to it a quart of thin cream; set it
over the fire, but not to boil. Stir it one way till it thickens, then
pour into cups or low glasses, and when cold it will be ready. A ratafia
drop may be added to each cup; and if intended to keep, the cream must
be previously scalded.


BRANDY PUDDING. Line a mould with jar-raisins stoned, or dried cherries,
then with thin slices of French roll; next to which put ratafias, or
macaroons; then the fruit, rolls and cakes in succession, till the mould
is full, sprinkling in at times two glasses of brandy. Beat four eggs,
add a pint of milk or cream lightly sweetened, half a nutmeg, and the
rind of half a lemon finely grated. Let the liquid sink into the solid
part; then flour a cloth, tie it tight over, and boil one hour; keep the
mould the right side up. Serve with pudding sauce.


BRASS. Culinary vessels made of this metal, are constantly in danger of
contracting verdigris. To prevent this, instead of wiping them dry in
the usual manner, let them be frequently immersed in water, and they
will be preserved safe and clean.


BRAWN. Young brawn is to be preferred, the horny part of which will feel
moderately tender, and the flavour will be better; the rind of old brawn
will be hard. For Mock Brawn, boil a pair of neat's feet very tender;
take the meat off, and have ready a belly-piece of salt pork, which has
been in pickle for a week. Boil this almost enough, take out the bones
if there be any, and roll the feet and the pork together. Bind it tight
together with a strong cloth and coarse tape, boil it quite tender, and
hang it up in the cloth till cold. Keep it afterwards in souse till it
is wanted.


BREAD. Two very important reasons urge the propriety and necessity of
using home-baked bread, in preference to baker's bread, wherever it can
be done with tolerable convenience; these are, its superior quality, and
its cheapness. A bushel of wheat, weighing sixty pounds, will make
sixty-five pounds of household bread, after the bran has been taken out;
and if the pollard be separated also, to make a finer article, a bushel
of ground wheat will then make fifty-eight pounds of fine white bread,
free from any foreign mixture, leaving from ten to fifteen pounds of
bran and pollard, which may be applied to useful purposes. The
calculation then will be easy, and the difference between purchasing and
making bread will be seen at once. A bushel of ground wheat weighing
sixty pounds will produce thirteen quartern loaves and a half of fine
bread, after the bran and pollard have been taken out; add to the price
of the wheat, nine-pence a bushel for grinding, three-pence for yeast,
four-pence for salt and the expence of baking; and from this deduct
six-pence at least for the value of the bran and pollard, and it gives
the price of the quartern loaves made and baked at home. In general it
will be found that there is a saving of one third of the expense, if the
business be properly conducted. Then the wholesome and nutricious
quality of the bread is incomparably superior; there is no addition of
alum, ground potatoes, whiting, or any other ingredient to give weight
or colour to the bread, as is too often the case with baker's bread; but
all is nutricious, sound, and good. But supposing their bread to be
equal in quality, there is still a considerable saving in the course of
a year, especially in a large family; and if household bread be made
instead of fine bread, every bushel of good heavy wheat will produce
nearly fifteen quartern loaves. Besides this, rye, and even a little
barley mixed with the wheat, will make very good bread, and render it
cheaper still. Rye will add a sweetness to the bread, and make it cut
firmer, so as to prevent the waste of crumbs, and is unquestionably an
article of good economy. The addition of potatoes is by no means to be
approved, though so often recommended; any of the grains already
mentioned have in them ten times the nutrition of potatoes, and in the
end will be found to be much cheaper. Making bread with skim milk,
instead of water, where it can be done, is highly advantageous, and will
produce a much better article than can be purchased at a baker's
shop.--On the subject of making bread, little need be said, as every
common maid-servant is or ought to be well acquainted with this
necessary part of household work, or she is good for nothing. To make
good bread however, the flour should be kept four or five weeks before
it is baked. Then put half a bushel of it into a kneading trough, mix
with it between four and five quarts of warm water or skim milk, and a
pint and a half of good yeast, and stir it well together with the hand
till it become tough. Let it rise before the fire, about an hour and a
half, or less if it rise fast; then, before it falls, add four quarts
more of warm water, and half a pound of salt. Work it well, and cover it
with a cloth. Put the fire into the oven; and by the time it is heated,
the dough will be ready. Make the loaves about five pounds each, sweep
out the oven very clean and quick, and put in the bread; shut it up
close, and two hours and a half will bake it. In summer the water should
be milk warm, in winter a little more, and in frosty weather as hot as
the hand will bear, but not scalding, or the whole will be spoiled.
Bread is better baked without tins, which gives to the crust an
unnatural degree of hardness.--Those who are under the necessity of
purchasing baker's bread, for want of other convenience, may detect the
adulteration of alum by macerating a small piece of the crumb of
new-baked bread in cold water, sufficient to dissolve it; and the taste
of the alum, if it has been used, will acquire a sweet astringency. Or a
heated knife may be thrust into a loaf before it has grown cold; and if
it be free from that ingredient, scarcely any alteration will be visible
on the blade; but, in the contrary case, its surface, after being
allowed to cool, will appear slightly covered with an aluminous
incrustation.


BREAD CAKE. To make a common bread cake, separate from the dough, when
making white bread, as much as is sufficient for a quartern loaf, and
knead well into it two ounces of butter, two of Lisbon sugar, and eight
of currants. Warm the butter in a tea-cupful of good milk. By adding
another ounce of butter or sugar, or an egg or two, the cake may be
improved, especially by putting in a tea-cupful of raw cream. It is best
to bake it in a pan, rather than as a loaf, the outside being less hard.


BREAD CHEESECAKES. Slice a penny white loaf as thin as possible, pour
over it a pint of boiling cream, and let it stand two hours. Beat up
eight eggs, half a pound of butter, and a grated nutmeg. Put in half a
pound of currants, well washed and dried, and a spoonful of brandy or
white wine. Bake them in pattipans, or raised crusts.


BREAD PUDDING. Grate some white bread, pour over some boiling milk, and
cover it close. When soaked an hour or two, beat it fine, and mix with
it two or three eggs well beaten. Put it into a bason that will just
hold it, tie a floured cloth over it, and put it into boiling water.
Send it up with melted butter poured over: it may be eaten with salt or
sugar. Prunes, or French plums, make a fine pudding instead of raisins,
either with suet or bread pudding.--Another and richer. Pour half a pint
of scalding milk, on half a pint of bread crumbs, and cover it up for an
hour. Beat up four eggs, and when strained, add to the bread, with a
tea-spoonful of flour, an ounce of butter, two ounces of sugar, half a
pound of currants, an ounce of almonds beaten with orange-flower water,
half an ounce of orange, of lemon, and of citron. Butter a bason that
will exactly hold it, flour the cloth, tie it tight over, and boil the
pudding an hour.


BREAD SAUCE. Boil a large onion quartered, with some black pepper and
milk, till the onion is quite a pap. Pour the milk on white stale-bread
grated, and cover it. In an hour put it into a saucepan, with a good
piece of butter mixed with a little flour: boil the whole up together,
and serve with it.


BREAD SOUP. Boil some pieces of bread crust in a quart of water, with a
small piece of butter. Beat it with a spoon, and keep it boiling till
the bread and water be well mixed: then season it with a little salt.

[Illustration: _PATENT BREWING MACHINE._

A _The Machine ready for use, with the Cover raised._

B _Moveable Fire place._

C _Cylindrical Boiler to be placed on_ B, _with its Cover_ D.

E _Extracting perforated Cylinder to be placed within_ C.

F _Centre for ditto._

G. G _Coolers, one to pack within the other._]


BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING. Spread some butter on slices of bread, and lay
them in a dish, with currants between each layer. To make it rich, add
some sliced citron, orange, or lemon. Pour over an unboiled custard
of milk, two or three eggs, a few corns of pimento, and a very little
ratifia, two hours at least before it is to be baked, and lade it over
to soak the bread. A paste round the edge makes all puddings look
better, but it is not necessary.


BREAD AND RICE PUDDING. Boil a quarter of a pound of rice in some milk
till it is quite soft, put it into a bason, and let it stand till the
next day. Soak some sliced bread in cold milk, drain it off, mash it
fine, and mix it with the rice. Beat up two eggs with it, add a little
salt, and boil it an hour.


BREAKFAST CAKES. Take a pound and a half of flour, four ounces of
butter, a spoonful of yeast, and half a pint of warm milk. Rub the
butter into the flour, and mix the eggs, yeast, and milk together. Put
the liquid into the middle of the flour, and let it stand to rise for
two hours. Make it into cakes, let them stand to rise again, and wash
them over with skimmed milk before they are put into the oven.


BREAST OF LAMB. Cut off the chine-bone from the breast, and set it on to
stew with a pint of gravy. When the bones would draw out, put it on the
gridiron to grill; and then lay it in a dish on cucumbers nicely stewed.


BREAST OF MUTTON. Pare off the superfluous fat, and roast and serve the
meat with stewed cucumbers; or to eat cold, covered with chopped
parsley. Or half-boil, and then grill it before the fire: cover it with
bread crumbs and herbs, and serve with caper sauce. Or if boned, take
away a good deal of the fat, and cover it with bread, herbs, and
seasoning. Then roll and boil it; serve with chopped walnuts, or capers
and butter.


BREAST OF VEAL. Before roasting it, take off the two ends to fry and
stew, if the joint be large, or roast the whole together, and pour
butter over it. If any be left, cut it into regular pieces, put them
into a stewpan, and pour some broth over it. If no broth, a little water
will do: add a bunch of herbs, a blade or two of mace, some pepper, and
an anchovy. Stew till the meat be tender, thicken with flour and butter,
and add a little ketchup. Serve the sweetbread whole upon it, which may
either be stewed or parboiled, and then covered with crumbs, herbs,
pepper and salt, and browned in a Dutch oven. The whole breast may be
stewed in the same way, after cutting off the two ends. A boiled breast
of veal, smothered with onion sauce, is also an excellent dish, if not
old nor too fat.


BRENTFORD ROLLS. Mix with two pounds of flour, a little salt, two ounces
of sifted sugar, four ounces of butter, and two eggs beaten with two
spoonfuls of yeast, and about a pint of milk. Knead the dough well, and
set it to rise before the fire. Make twelve rolls, butter tin plates,
and set them before the fire to rise, till they become of a proper size,
and bake them half an hour.


BREWING. The practice of brewing malt liquor is but seldom adopted by
private families in large towns and cities, owing probably to a want of
conveniences for the purpose, and an aversion to the labour and trouble
which it might occasion. But if the disagreeable filthiness attending
the process in large public breweries were duly considered, together
with the generally pernicious quality of the beer offered to sale, as
well as the additional expense incurred by this mode of procuring it, no
one who regards economy, or the health and comfort of his family, would
be without home-brewed beer, so long as there were any means left of
obtaining it. Beer as strong of malt and hops, when all the foreign
ingredients are extracted, may be manufactured at home at less than one
third of what it could cost at a public brewery, besides the
satisfaction of drinking, what is known to be wholesome, and free from
any deleterious mixture. Twelve shillings for malt and hops will provide
a kilderkin of beer far superior to one that could be purchased under
license for a pound, while the yeast and the grains are sufficient to
repay all the labour and expense of brewing. On every account,
therefore, it is desirable that the practice of domestic brewing were
universally adopted. The health and comfort of the community would be
increased; and by a larger consumption of malt, the growth of barley
would be extended, and agriculture proportionably benefited. In order to
this however, the enormous duty upon malt requires to be diminished or
repealed. The farmer, unable to make three shillings a bushel of his
barley, is suffering severely under this grinding taxation, as well as
the consumer, who is compelled to pay a duty of four shillings and
six-pence for every bushel that is converted into malt.--The best
seasons of the year for brewing are March and October, the weather in
those months being generally free from the extremes of heat and cold,
which are alike injurious to the process of fermentation. If this is not
in all cases practicable, means should be used to cool the place where
the liquor is set for working in the summer, and of warming it in the
winter: otherwise the beer will be likely to turn sour or muddy. The
beer which is brewed in March should not be tapped till October, nor
that brewed in October till the following March; taking this precaution,
that families of an equal number all the year round, will drink at least
a third more in summer than in winter.--The most suitable water for
brewing is soft river water, which having had the rays of the sun and
the influence of the air upon it, will more easily penetrate and
extract the virtues of the malt. Hard water possesses an astringent
quality, which prevents the goodness of the malt from being freely
communicated to the liquor. If two parcels of beer be brewed in all
respects the same, except in the quality of the water, it will be found
that the beer brewed with soft river water will exceed the other in
strength above five degrees, in the course of twelve months' keeping.
Where water is naturally of a hard quality, it may in some measure be
softened by exposing it to the action of the sun and air, and infusing
in it some pieces of soft chalk. Throwing into it a quantity of bran
while it is boiling, and before it is poured on the malt, will likewise
have a good effect.--Previous to commencing the process of brewing, it
will be necessary to ascertain the quantity of malt and hops, which of
course will be regulated by the demands of the family, the convenience
of cellerage, and other circumstances. Supposing two or three sorts of
liquor be required, six bushels of malt, and about three quarters of a
pound of hops to each bushel, will make half a hogshead of ale, half a
hogshead of table beer, and the same of small beer; or about nine
gallons of each to the bushel. But if in a smaller brewing, only two
sorts are required, or the whole be blended into one, then eighteen
gallons of wholesome beverage may be produced at something less than
three farthings a pint.--Having thus adjusted the proportion of malt and
hops to the quantity of beer to be brewed, the next thing will be to
heat water sufficient for the purpose. Meanwhile see that the brewing
utensils be properly cleaned and scalded, and the pen-staff in the mash
tub well fixed. Then put a quantity of boiling water into the mash-tub,
in which it must stand till the greater part of the steam is gone off,
or you can see your own shadow in it. It will then be necessary that
one person should pour the malt gently in, while another is carefully
stirring it. A little malt should be reserved to strew over the mash in
order to prevent evaporation, and then the tub may be covered over with
sacks. If it be not sufficient to contain the whole at once, the mashing
must be repeated, observing that the larger the quantity that is mashed
at once, the longer it will require to stand before it is drawn off. The
mash of ale must be allowed to steep three hours, table beer one hour,
and small beer half an hour afterwards. By this mode of proceeding, the
boilings will regularly succeed each other, which will greatly expedite
the business. In the course of mashing, be careful to stir it thoroughly
from the bottom, especially round the basket, that there may be no
adhesion, in any part of the mash. Previous to running it off, be
prepared with a pail to catch the first flush, as that is generally
thick, and return it to the mash two or three times, till it run clear
and fine. By this time the copper should be boiling, and a convenient
tub placed close to the mash-tub. Put into it half the quantity of
boiling water intended for drawing off the best wort; after which the
copper must be filled up again, and proper attention paid to the fire.
Meanwhile, keep slopping and wetting the mash with the hot water out of
the tub, in moderate quantities, every eight or ten minutes, till all
the water is added to the mash. Then let off the remaining quantity,
which will be boiling hot, and this will finish the process for strong
beer. Boil up the copper as quick as possible for the second mash,
whether intended for strong or small beer. Empty the boiling water into
the tub by the side of the mash, as in the former instance, and renew
the process. Great care is required in boiling the wort after it is
drawn off, and the hops must be put in with the first boiling. In
filling the copper with the wort, leave sufficient room for boiling,
that there may be no waste in boiling over, and make a good fire under
it. Quick boiling is a part of the business that requires particular
attention, and great caution must be observed when the liquor begins to
swell in waves in the copper. The furnace door must be opened, and the
fire damped or regulated to suit the boiling of the wort. In order to
ascertain the proper time for boiling the liquor, lade out some of it;
and if a working be discovered, and the hops are sinking, the wort is
boiled enough. Long and slow boiling injures and wastes the liquor. As
soon as it is sufficiently boiled, run the liquor through a cloth or
fine sieve into some coolers, to free it from the hops, and to get a
proper quantity cooled immediately to set it to work. If the brewhouse
be not sufficiently airy to cool a quantity soon, the liquor must be
emptied into shallow tubs, and placed in a passage where there is a
thorough draught of air, but where it is not exposed to rain or wet. The
remainder in the copper may then be let into the first cooler, taking
care to attend to the hops, and to make a clear passage through the
strainer. The hops must be returned into the copper, after having run
off four or five pailfuls of the liquor for the first cooling, and then
it must be set to work in the following manner. Take four quarts of
yeast, and divide half of it into small wooden bowls or basons, adding
to it an equal quantity of wort nearly cold. As soon as it ferments to
the top of the basons, put it into two pails; and when that works to the
top, distribute it into two wide open tubs. Fill them half full with
cool wort, and cover them over, till it comes to a fine white head. This
will be accomplished in about three hours, and then both quantities may
be put together into the working tub, with the addition of as much wort
as is sufficiently cooled. If the weather be mild and open, it cannot be
worked too cold. If the brewing be performed in frosty weather, the
brewhouse must be kept warm; but hot wort must never be added to keep
the liquor to a blood heat. Attention also must be paid to the quality
of the yeast, or it may spoil all the beer. If it has been taken from
foxed beer, or such as has been heated by ill management in the working,
it will be likely to communicate the same bad quality. If the yeast be
flat, and that which is fresh and lively cannot be procured, put to it a
pint of warm sweetwort of the first letting off, when it is about half
the degree of milk-warm. Shake the vessel that contains it, and it will
soon gather strength, and be fit for use.--Tunning is the last and most
simple operation in the business of brewing. The casks being well
prepared, perfectly sweet and dry, and placed on the stand ready to
receive the liquor, first skim off the top yeast, then fill the casks
quite full, bung them down, and leave an aperture for the yeast to work
through. If the casks stand on one end, the better way is to make a hole
with a tap-borer near the summit of the stave, at the same distance from
the top as the lower tap-hole is from the bottom. This prevents the
slovenliness of working the beer over the head of the barrel; and the
opening being much smaller than the bung-hole, the beer by being
confined will sooner set itself into a convulsive motion, and work
itself fine, provided proper attention be paid to filling up the casks
five or six times a day.----Another method of brewing, rather more
simple but not more excellent than the above, may be adopted by those
whose conveniences are more limited. For table beer, allow three bushels
of malt to thirty-nine gallons of water, and a pound and a half of
hops. Pour a third part of the hot water upon the malt, cover it up warm
half an hour, then stir up the mash, and let it stand two hours and a
half more. Set it to drain off gently; when dry, add half the remaining
water, mash, and let it stand half an hour. Run that into another tub,
and pour the rest of the water on the malt; stir it well, cover it up,
and let it infuse a full hour. Run that off and mix all together. Put
the hops into a little hot water to open the pores, then put the hops
and water into the tub, run the wort upon them, and boil them together
for an hour. Strain the liquor through a coarse sieve, and set it to
cool. If the whole be not cool enough that day to add to it the yeast, a
pail or two of wort may be prepared, and a quart of yeast added to it
over night. Before tunning, all the wort should be put together, and
thoroughly mixed. When it has done working, paste a piece of paper on
the bung-hole, and after three days it may be fastened close. In less
than a month the beer will be fit for use. See ALE, MALT, BEER.


BREWING UTENSILS. The most desirable object in the process of brewing is
the fixing of the copper, so as to make the fire come directly under the
bottom of it. Many coppers are injured, and rendered unserviceable, for
want of proper attention to this particular. The method adopted by the
most experienced bricklayers is to divide the heat of the fire by a
stop; and if the door and the draft be in a direct line, the stop must
be erected from the middle of each outline of the grating, and parallel
with the centre sides of the copper. The stop is nothing more than a
thin wall in the centre of the right and left sides of the copper,
ascending half way to the top of it; on the top of which must be left a
small cavity, four or five inches square, for a draft of that half part
of the fire which is next to the copper door, to pass through, and then
the building must close all round to the finishing at the top. By this
method of fixing the copper, the heat will communicate from the outward
part of the fire round the outward half of the copper through the
cavity; as also will the furthest part of the fire, which contracts a
conjunction of the whole, and causes the flame to slide gently and
equally all round the bottom of the copper. Considerable advantages
result from this position of the copper. If the draught under it were
suffered at once to ascend, without being thus divided, the hops would
be scorched in the boiling, and liable to stick to the sides, which
would considerably injure the flavour of the liquor, unless kept
continually stirring. It will also save the consumption of fuel, and
preserve the copper much longer than any other method, as there will be
no difficulty in boiling half a copper full at a time without doing it
any injury.--The next article of consideration in this case is the
Mash-tub. This should be proportioned to the size of the copper, and the
quantity of beer intended to be brewed. The grains should not be kept in
the tub any longer than the day after brewing, as in hot weather
especially the grains begin to turn sour as soon as they are cold; and
if there be any sour scent in the brewhouse at the time the liquor is
tunned, it will be apt to injure the flavour of the beer.--Tubs and
Coolers require to be kept perfectly sweet and clean, and should not be
used for any other purpose. In small houses, where many vessels are
cumbersome and inconvenient, it is too common to use the same tubs for
both washing and brewing; but this ought not to be done where it can be
avoided; and where it is unavoidable, the utmost care is necessary to
give them a double washing, scouring, and scalding. Coolers also
require considerable care, or by the slightest taint they will soon
contract a disagreeable flavour. This often proceeds from wet having
infused itself into the wood, it being apt to lodge in the crevices of
old vessels, and even infect them to such a degree, that it cannot be
removed, even after several washings and scaldings. One cause incidental
to this evil is, using the brewhouse for the purposes of washing, which
ought never to be permitted, where any other convenience can be had; for
nothing can be more injurious than the remains of dirty suds, left in
vessels intended for brewing only. Nor should water be suffered to stand
too long in the coolers, as it will soak into them, and soon turn
putrid, when the stench will enter the wood, and render them almost
incurable. More beer is spoiled for want of attention to these niceties
than can well be imagined, and the real cause is seldom known or
suspected; but in some families, after all the care that is taken in the
manufacture of the article, the beer is never palatable or
wholesome.--Barrels should be well cleaned with boiling water; and if
the bung-hole will admit, they should be scrubbed inside with a hard
brush. If they have acquired a musty scent, take out the heads, and let
them be well scrubbed with sand and fuller's earth. Then put in the head
again, and scald it well; throw in a piece of unslaked lime, and close
up the bung. When the cask has stood some time, rinse it well with cold
water, and it will then be fit for use. New casks likewise require
attention, for they are apt to give the liquor a bad taste, if they be
not well scalded and seasoned several days successively before they are
used; and old casks are apt to grow musty, if they stand any time out of
use. To prevent this, a cork should be put into every one of them as
soon as the cock or fosset is taken out; the vent and the bung-hole
must also be well closed. The best way to season new casks is to boil
two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, and pour it in hot;
then stop it up close, and let it stand two days. When the cask is
washed and dried, it will be fit for use.


BREWING MACHINE. Where a family usually consume ten gallons of beer, or
upwards, in a week, there is a Brewing Machine lately invented, which
will be found singularly convenient and advantageous, and comparatively
of little expense. The use of it in brewing curtails the labour,
shortens the time in which the operation may be performed, greatly
diminishes the quantity of fuel, and may be placed within very narrow
limits, in the house of any tradesman in the most crowded city. Eighteen
gallons of good beer may be brewed with this machine in the course of
six hours, or a larger quantity with a machine of proportionate
dimensions, in the same space of time. The process is so simple, that it
may be comprehended by any person of ordinary capacity, and once seeing
the operation performed will be sufficient. In the common mode of
brewing, the principal difficulty consists in ascertaining the degrees
of heat necessary to the production of good beer, without the use of a
thermometer; but in the use of this machine, this difficulty is
completely obviated.--The machine complete is represented by figure A;
and B, C, D, E, F, represent its several parts. B is the bottom, made of
strong sheet-iron, standing upon three legs. The hollow part of it
contains the fire, put in at a door, the latch of which appears in
front. The tube which projects upwards, is a stove pipe to carry off the
smoke; and the circular pan that is seen between the legs, is a
receptacle for the ashes or cinders that fall down through the grate
above. C is a sheet-iron vessel, tinned on the inside, the bottom of
which fits into the top of B; and the cock in C is to let off the wort,
as will be seen hereafter. D is the lid of this vessel. E is made of
sheet-iron, tinned inside and out, and full of holes to act as a
strainer. It is to hold the malt first, and the hops afterwards; it goes
into C, as may be seen in figure A. In the middle of E is a round space,
F, made of the same metal, and rising up from the bottom, having itself
no bottom. It has holes in it all the way up, like the outer surface of
E.--In preparing for brewing, the machine is put together as in A,
except placing on the lid. The first thing is to put the malt, coarsely
ground, into E, and no part into F, or into the circular space between C
and E; otherwise E cannot act as a strainer, when the liquor is drawn
off; and in this consists its principal use. Having put in the malt,
then add the water which of course flows into any part of the vessel C.
Stir the malt well with a stick, or with something that will separate it
completely, so that no adhesion may be formed by the flour of the malt.
This is very apt to be the case in the common mode of brewing, when
water is poured hot upon the malt; but here the water is applied in a
cold state, so that there is little trouble in separating the malt
completely in the water. If the small machine be used, which is adapted
to a bushel of malt, and the beer is to be fully equal in strength to
London porter, then eighteen gallons to the bushel may be considered as
the general estimate; and for this purpose the first mash is to receive
twelve gallons of cold soft water, which will produce nine gallons of
wort. Having stirred the malt very carefully, light the fire under it,
and get the liquor quickly to 170 or 180 degrees of heat. This may be
ascertained by lifting off the lid, and dipping the thermometer from
time to time into the centre F, and keeping it there a minute to give
the quicksilver time to rise. While the mash is coming to this heat,
stir the malt well three or four times. When the liquor has acquired its
proper heat, put out the fire, and cover the whole of the machine with
sacks, or something that will exclude the external air. In this state
the mash remains for two hours: the cock is then turned, and nine
gallons of wort will be drained off. Put the wort into a tub of some
sort, and keep it warm. Then put into the machine twelve gallons more of
water, rekindle the fire, and bring the heat to 170 degrees as soon as
possible; when this is done, extinguish the fire, and let the mash now
stand an hour. Draw off the second wort; and if only one sort of beer is
wanted, add it to the first quantity. Now take out the grains, lift out
E, clean it well, and also the inside of C. Replace E, put the hops into
it, and the whole of the wort into the machine. Cover it with the lid,
light the fire a third time, and bring the liquor to a boil as soon as
possible. Let it boil a full hour with the lid off, and boil briskly all
the time. The use of the centre F will now appear; for the machine being
nearly full to the brim, the bubbling takes place in the centre F only,
where there are no hops. There is a great boiling over in this centre,
but the liquor sent up falls into E, and so there is no boiling over of
C. When the full hour of brisk boiling has expired, put out the fire,
draw off the liquor, leaving the hops of course in E. The liquor is now
to go into shallow coolers; and when the heat is reduced to 70 degrees,
take out about a gallon of the liquor, and mix it with half a pint of
good yeast. Distribute it equally among the different parcels of wort,
afterwards mix the whole together, and leave the liquor till it comes
down to about sixty degrees of heat. The next removal is into the
tun-tub, in which capacity C, without the addition of E, will serve very
well. While the liquor is cooling, remove the spent hops from E, the
stove pipe from B, the ash-receiver from the bottom. The machine
remaining now as a tun-tub, draw off the liquor as soon as it is down to
60 degrees; or take it out of the coolers, pour it into the tun-tub, and
put on the lid. If the weather be very cold, or the tun-tub be in a cold
place, cover it with something to keep it warm. Here the fermentation
takes place, sometimes sooner and sometimes later; but it generally
shows itself by a head beginning to rise in about eight or ten hours;
and at the end of eight and forty hours the head assumes a brownish
appearance, and is covered with yeast instead of froth. The beer is then
to be tunned into well-seasoned casks, sweet and sound, or all the
expense and labour will be lost. The cask being fixed on the stand in
the cellar, and the beer ready, skim off the yeast, and keep it in a
deep earthen vessel. Draw off the beer into a pail, and with the help of
a wooden funnel fill the cask quite full. The beer will now begin to
ferment again, and must be allowed to discharge itself from the
bung-hole. When the working has ceased, the cask is again filled up with
the surplus beer; and a handful of fresh hops being added, the bung is
finally closed down. If the whole process has been properly attended to,
such a cask of beer will be clear in a week; and as soon as clear it may
be tapped. Small beer may be tapped in less time. On a larger scale, or
with casks of a smaller size, two sorts may be made, ale and small beer,
taking the first wort for the former, and the second for the
latter.--The advantages attending the Patent Machine are very obvious;
for though the process appears to be minute, it is easily conducted, and
but little time is required for the purpose. In the common method of
brewing, the water must be carried from the copper to the mash-tub,
while the machine serves for both purposes at once. With the common
utensils the process is necessarily much slower, and the fuel consumed
is nearly ten times as much; but the great convenience of all is the
little room required and the place of brewing. In the common way there
is wanted a copper fixed in brick-work, and for a family of any
considerable size a brewhouse is indispensable. On the contrary, the
machine is set up opposite any fire place, and the pipe enters the
chimney, or is put into the fire place. There is no boiling over, no
slopping about; and the operation may be performed upon a boarded floor,
as well as upon a brick or stone floor. If there be no fire place in the
room, the pipe can be projected through an opening in the window, or
through the outside of any sort of building, not liable to suffer from
the heat of the pipe. Even a garden walk, a court, or open field will
answer the purpose, provided there be no rain, and the mash-tub be kept
sufficiently warm. When the brewing is finished, the machine should be
well scalded, rubbed dry, and kept in a dry place. The two coolers, G G,
placed on different casks, have no necessary connection with the
machine. They are made of wood or cast-iron, of a size to fit one within
another to save room. The Patent Machine is sold by Messrs. Needham and
Co. 202, Piccadilly, London. The price of one for brewing a bushel of
malt is £8, for two bushels £13, for three £18, for four £24, for five
£30, and for six £33. If the article be thought expensive, a few
neighbouring families might unite in the purchase, and the money would
very soon be more than saved in the economy of brewing.


BRIDE CAKE. Mix together a pound of dried flour, two drams of powdered
mace, and a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf sugar. Add a quarter of
a pint of cream, and half a pound of melted butter; a quarter of a pint
of yeast, five eggs, with half of the whites beaten up with the yolks,
and a gill of rose water. Having warmed the butter and cream, mix them
together, and set the whole to rise before the fire. Pick and clean half
a pound of currants, put them in warm and well dried.


BRIGHT BARS of polished stoves, may be restored to their proper lustre,
by rubbing them well with some of the following mixture on a piece of
broad-cloth. Boil slowly one pound of soft soap in two quarts of water,
till reduced to one. Of this jelly take three or four spoonfuls, and mix
it to a consistence with the addition of emery. When the black is
removed, wipe them clean, and polish with glass, not sand-paper.


BRISKET OF BEEF, if intended to be stewed, should have that part of it
put into a stewpot which has the hard fat upon it, with a small quantity
of water. Let it boil up, and skim it well; then add carrots, turnips,
onions, celery, and a few pepper corns. Stew it till it is quite tender;
then take out the fat bones, and remove all the fat from the soup.
Either serve that and the meat in a tureen, or the soup alone, and the
meat on a dish, garnished with vegetables. The following sauce with the
beef, will be found to be very excellent.--Take half a pint of the soup,
and mix it with a spoonful of ketchup, a glass of port wine, a
tea-spoonful of made mustard, a little flour and salt, and a bit of
butter. Boil all together a few minutes, and pour it round the meat.
Chop capers, walnuts, red cabbage, pickled cucumbers, and chives or
parsley, small, and place them in separate heaps over it.


BROAD BEANS. Boil them tender, with a bunch of parsley, which must
afterwards be chopped and put into melted butter, to serve with them.
Bacon or pickled pork is usually boiled with the beans, but the meat
will be of a better colour, if boiled separately.


BROCOLI. To dress brocoli, cut the heads with short stalks, and pare off
the tough skin. Tie the small shoots into bunches, and boil them a
shorter time than the heads. A little salt should be put into the water.
Serve them up with or without toast.


BROILING. Cleanliness is extremely necessary in this mode of cookery;
and for this purpose the gridiron, which is too frequently neglected,
ought to be carefully attended to, keeping it perfectly clean between
the bars, and bright on the top. When hot, wipe it well with a linen
cloth; and before using it, rub the bars with mutton suet, to prevent
the meat being marked by the gridiron. The bars should be made with a
small gutter in them to carry off the gravy into a trough in front, to
prevent the fat from dropping into the fire and making a smoke, which
will spoil the flavour of the meat. Upright gridirons are therefore the
best, as they can be set before the fire, without fear of smoke, and the
gravy is preserved in the trough under them. A brisk and clear fire is
also indispensable, that the bars of the gridiron may all be hot through
before any thing be laid upon them, yet not so as to burn the meat, but
to give it that colour and flavour which constitute the perfection of
this mode of cooking. Never hasten any thing that is broiling, lest it
be smoked and spoiled; but the moment it is done, send it up as hot as
possible.


BROILED COD. Cut the fish in thick slices, dry and flour it well; rub
the gridiron with chalk, set it on a clear fire, and lay on the slices
of cod. Keep them high from the fire, turn them often, till they are
quite done, and of a fine brown. Take them up carefully without
breaking, and serve with lobster or shrimp sauce.


BROILED EELS. Skin and clean a large eel, cut it in pieces and broil it
slowly over a good fire. Dust it well with dried parsley, and serve it
up with melted butter.


BROILED FOWL. Cut a large fowl into four quarters, put them on a
bird-spit, and tie that on another spit, and half roast. Or half roast
the whole fowl, and finish it on the gridiron, which will make it less
dry than if wholly broiled. Another way is to split the fowl down the
back, pepper, salt, and broil it, and serve with mushroom sauce.


BROILED HERRINGS. Flour them first, broil them of a good colour, and
serve with plain butter for sauce.


BROILED PIGEONS. After cleaning, split the backs, pepper and salt them,
and broil them very nicely. Pour over them either stewed or pickled
mushrooms in melted butter, and serve them up as hot as possible.


BROILED SALMON. Cut slices an inch thick, and season with pepper and
salt. Lay each slice in half a sheet of white paper, well buttered;
twist the ends of the paper, and broil the slices over a slow fire six
or eight minutes. Serve them in the paper, with anchovy sauce.


BROKEN CHINA. To repair any article of this description, beat some lime
into the finest powder, and sift it through muslin. Tie some of it into
a thin muslin, put on the edges of the broken china some white of an
egg, and dust on a little lime as quickly as possible; but be careful to
unite the broken parts very exactly.


BROTH. A very nourishing kind of broth for weakly persons may be made as
follows. Boil two pounds of loin of mutton, with a large handful of
chervil, in two quarts of water, till reduced to one. Any other herb or
roots may be added. Remove part of the fat, and take half a pint three
or four times a day. If a broth is wanted to be made quickly, take a
bone or two of a neck or loin of mutton, pare off the fat and the skin,
set it on the fire in a small tin saucepan that has a cover, with three
quarters of a pint of water, the meat being first beaten, and cut in
thin bits. Put in a bit of thyme and parsley, and if approved, a slice
of onion. Let it boil very quick, skim it nicely; take off the cover, if
likely to be too weak; otherwise keep it covered. Half an hour is
sufficient for the whole process.


BROWN GRAVY. Cover the bottom of a stewpan with lean veal an inch thick,
overlay it with slices of undressed gammon, two or three onions, two or
three bay leaves, some sweet herbs, two blades of mace, and three
cloves. Cover the stewpan, and set it over a slow fire; but when the
juices come out, let the fire be a little quicker. When the meat is of a
fine brown, fill the pan with good beef-broth, boil and skim it, then
simmer it an hour. Add a little water, thickened with flour; boil it
half an hour, and strain it. Gravy thus made will keep a week.


BROWN BREAD ICE. Grate some brown bread as fine as possible, soak a
small proportion in cream two or three hours, sweeten and ice it.


BROWN BREAD PUDDING. Half a pound of stale brown bread grated, half a
pound of currants, ditto of shred suet, sugar and nutmeg. Mix it up
with four eggs, a spoonful of brandy, and twice as much cream. Boil it
in a cloth or bason of proper size three or four hours.


BROWNING. Powder four ounces of double-refined sugar, put it into a very
nice iron fryingpan, with one ounce of fresh butter. Mix it well over a
clear fire; and when it begins to froth, hold it up higher: when of a
very fine dark brown, pour in a small quantity of a pint of port, and
the whole by very slow degrees, stirring it all the time. Put to the
above half an ounce of Jamaica, and the same of black pepper, six cloves
of shalots peeled, three blades of mace bruised, three spoonfuls of
mushroom and the same of walnut ketchup, some salt, and the finely-pared
rind of a lemon. Boil gently fifteen minutes, pour it into a bason till
cold, take off the scum, and bottle it for use. This article is intended
to colour and flavour made-up dishes.


BRUISES. When the contusion is slight, fomentations of warm vinegar and
water, frequently applied, will generally relieve it. Cataplasms of
fresh cow-dung applied to bruises, occasioned by violent blows or falls,
will seldom fail to have a good effect. Nothing however is more
certainly efficacious than a porter plaster immediately applied to the
part affected. Boil some porter in an earthen vessel over a slow fire
till it be well thickened; and when cold spread it on a piece of leather
to form the intended plaster.


BUBBLE AND SQUEAK. Boil, chop and fry some cabbage, with a little
butter, pepper and salt. Lay on it slices of underdone beef, lightly
fried.


BUGS. Dip a sponge or brush into a strong solution of vitriol, and rub
it on the bedstead, or in the places where these vermin harbour, and it
will destroy both them and their nits. If the bugs appear after once
using it, the application must be repeated, and some of the liquid
poured into the joints and holes of the bedstead and headboard. Beds
that have much woodwork require to be taken down and well examined,
before they can be thoroughly cleared of these vermin, and the mixture
should be rubbed into all the joints and crevices with a painter's
brush. It should also be applied to the walls of the room to insure
success; and if mixed with a little lime, it will produce a lively
yellow. The boiling of any kind of woodwork or household furniture in an
iron cauldron, with a solution of vitriol, will prevent the breeding of
bugs, and preserve it from rottenness and decay. Sulphur made into a
paste, or arsenic dissolved in water, and applied in the same manner,
will also be found an effectual remedy for the bugs. But if these do not
completely succeed, take half a pint of the highest rectified spirits of
wine, and half a pint of spirits of turpentine; dissolve in this mixture
half an ounce of camphor, and shake them well together. Dust the bed or
the furniture, dip a sponge or brush into the mixture, wet them all
over, and pour some of the liquid into the holes and crevices. If any
should afterwards appear, wet the lacings of the bed, the foldings of
the curtains near the rings, and other parts where it is at all likely
the bugs may nestle and breed, and it will not fail to destroy them. The
smell of this mixture is not unwholesome, and may be applied to the
finest damask bed without any fear of soiling it. It should be well
shaked together, but never used by candle-light, for fear of its taking
fire.


BULLACE CHEESE. To every quart of full ripe bullace, add a quarter of a
pound of loaf sugar finely powdered. Put them into a pot, and bake them
in a moderate oven till they are soft. Rub them through a hair sieve;
to every pound of pulp add half a pound of loaf sugar powdered, and in
the meantime keep it stirring. Pour the pulp into preserving pots, tie
brandy paper over; and keep them in a dry place. When it has stood a few
months, it will cut out very bright and fine.


BUNS. To make a good plain bun, that may be eaten with or without
toasting and butter, rub four ounces of butter into two pounds of flour,
four ounces of sugar, a nutmeg, a few Jamaica peppers, and a
dessert-spoonful of caraways. Put a spoonful or two of cream into a cup
of yeast, and as much good milk as will make the above into a light
paste. Set it to rise by the fire till the oven be ready, and bake the
buns quickly on tins.--To make some of a richer sort, mix one pound and
a half of dried flour with half a pound of sugar. Melt eighteen ounces
of butter in a little warm water, add six spoonfuls of rose-water, and
knead the above into a light dough, with half a pint of yeast. Then mix
in five ounces of caraway comfits, and put some on them.


BURNS. In slight cases, the juice of onions, a little ink or brandy
rubbed immediately on the part affected, will prevent blisters. The
juice of burdock, mixed with an equal quantity of olive oil, will make a
good ointment for the purpose, and the fresh leaves of that plant may
also be applied as a kind of plaster. Houseleek used by itself, or mixed
with cream, will afford quick relief in external inflammations. A little
spirit of turpentine, or linseed oil, mixed with lime water, if kept
constantly to the part will remove the pain. But warm vinegar and water,
frequently applied with a woollen cloth, is most to be depended on in
these cases.


BURNT CREAM. Boil a pint of cream with a stick of cinnamon, and some
lemon peel. Take it off the fire, and pour it very slowly into the
yolks of four eggs, stirring it till half cold. Sweeten it, take out the
spice, and pour it into a dish. When cold, strew over it some white
pounded sugar, and brown it with a salamander. Or, make a rich custard
without sugar, and boil in it some lemon peel. When cold, sift over it
plenty of white sugar, and brown the top with a salamander.


BUTTER. No one article of family consumption is of greater consequence
than butter of a superior quality, and no one requires more care and
management. It possesses various degrees of goodness, according to the
food on which the cows are pastured, and the manner in which the dairy
is conducted; but its sweetness is not affected by the cream being
turned, of which it is made. When cows are in turnips, or eat cabbages,
the taste is strong and disagreeable; and to remedy this, the following
methods have been tried with advantage. When the milk is strained into
the pans, put to every six gallons one gallon of boiling water. Or
dissolve one ounce of nitre in a pint of spring water, and put a quarter
of a pint to every fifteen gallons of milk. Or, in churning, keep back a
quarter of a pint of sour cream, and put it into a well-scalded pot,
into which the next cream is to be gathered. Stir that well, and do so
with every fresh addition.--TO MAKE BUTTER, skim the milk in the summer,
when the sun has not heated the dairy. At that season it should stand
for butter twenty-four hours without skimming, and forty-eight in
winter. Deposit the cream-pot in a very cold cellar, unless the dairy
itself is sufficiently cold. If you cannot churn daily, shift the cream
into scalded fresh pots; but never omit churning twice a week. If
possible, place the churn in a thorough air; and if not a barrel one,
set it in a tub of water two feet deep, which will give firmness to the
butter. When the butter is come, pour off the buttermilk, and put the
butter into a fresh scalded pan, or tubs, which have afterwards been in
cold water. Pour water on it, and let it lie to acquire some hardness
before it is worked; then change the water, and beat it with flat boards
so perfectly, that not the least taste of buttermilk remain, and that
the water which must be often changed, shall be quite clear. Then work
some salt into it, weigh, and make it into forms; throw them into cold
water, in an earthen pan with a cover. Nice cool butter will then be had
in the hottest weather. It requires more working in hot than in cold
weather; but care should be taken at all times not to leave a particle
of buttermilk, or a sour taste, as is too often done.--TO PRESERVE
BUTTER, take two parts of the best common salt, one part of fine
loaf-sugar, and one of saltpetre; beat them well together. To sixteen
ounces of butter, thoroughly cleansed from the milk, add one ounce of
this mixture: work it well, and pot down the butter when it becomes firm
and cold. Butter thus preserved is the better for keeping, and should
not be used under a month. This article should be kept from the air, and
is best in pots of well-glazed ware, that will hold from ten to fourteen
pounds each. Put some salt on the top; and when that is turned to brine,
if not enough to cover the butter entirely, add some strong salt and
water. It then requires only to be covered from the dust, and will be
good for winter use.--IN PURCHASING BUTTER at market, recollect that if
fresh, it ought to smell like a nosegay, and be of an equal colour
throughout. If sour in smell, it has not been sufficiently washed: if
veiny and open, it is probably mixed with stale butter, or some of an
inferior quality. To ascertain the quality of salt butter, put a knife
into it, and smell it when drawn out: if there is any thing rancid or
unpleasant, the butter is bad. Salt butter being made at different
times, the layers in casks will greatly vary; and it is not easy to
ascertain its quality, except by unhooping the cask, and trying it
between the staves.


BUTTER DISH. Roll butter in different forms, like a cake or a pine, and
mark it with a tea-spoon. Or roll it in crimping rollers, work it
through a cullender, or scoop it with a tea-spoon; mix it with grated
beef, tongue, or anchovies. Garnish with a wreath of curled parsley, and
it will serve as a little dish.


BUTTERMILK, if made of sweet cream, is a delicious and very wholesome
article of food. Those who can relish sour buttermilk, will find it
still more light, and it is reckoned very beneficial in consumptive
cases. If not very sour, it is also as good as cream to eat with fruit;
but it should be sweetened with white sugar, and mixed with a very
little milk. It does equally well for cakes and rice puddings, and of
course it is economical to churn before the cream is too stale for any
thing but to feed pigs.--The celebrated Dr. Boerhaäve recommended the
frequent use of sweet buttermilk in all consumptive cases, and that it
should form the whole of the patient's drink, while biscuits and rusks,
with ripe and dried fruits of various kinds, should chiefly be depended
on as articles of food. For this purpose take the milk from the cow into
a small churn; in about ten minutes begin churning, and continue till
the flakes of butter swim about pretty thick, and the milk is discharged
of all the oily particles, and appears thin and blue. Strain it through
a sieve, and let the patient drink it as frequently as possible.


BUTTERMILK PUDDING. Warm three quarts of new milk, turn it with a quart
of buttermilk, and drain the curd through a sieve. When dry pound in a
marble mortar, with nearly half a pound of sugar, a lemon boiled tender,
the crumb of a roll grated, a nutmeg grated, six bitter almonds, four
ounces of warm butter, a tea-cupful of good cream, the yolks of five and
whites of three eggs, a glass of sweet wine and a glass of brandy. When
well incorporated, bake in small cups or bowls well buttered. If the
bottom be not brown, use a salamander; but serve as quick as possible,
and with pudding sauce.


BUTTERED CRABS. Pick out the inside when boiled, beat it up in a little
gravy, with wine, pepper, salt, nutmeg, a few crumbs of bread, a piece
of butter rolled in a little flour, and some vinegar or lemon juice.
Serve it up hot.


BUTTERED EGGS. Beat four or five eggs, yolk and white together; put a
quarter of a pound of butter in a bason, and then put that into boiling
water. Stir it till melted, then put that butter and the eggs into a
saucepan; keep a bason in your hand, just hold the saucepan in the other
over a slow part of the fire, shaking it one way, as it begins to warm.
Pour it into the bason and back again, then hold it over the fire,
stirring it constantly in the saucepan, and pouring it into the bason,
more perfectly to mix the egg and butter, until they shall be hot
without boiling. Serve on toasted bread, or in a bason, to eat with salt
fish or red herrings.


BUTTERED LOAF. Take three quarts of new milk, and add as much rennet as
is sufficient to turn it; then break the curd, and drain off all the
whey through a clean cloth. Pound it in a stone mortar, add the white of
one and the yolks of six eggs, a good handful of grated bread, half as
much of fine flour, and a little salt. Mix them well together with the
hand, divide the whole into four round loaves, and place them upon white
paper. After they are well buttered, varnish them all over with a
feather, dipped in the yolk of an egg stirred up with a little beer. Set
the loaves in a quick oven three quarters of an hour; while baking, take
half a pound of new butter, add to it four spoonfuls of water, half a
nutmeg grated, and sugar sufficient to sweeten it. Stir them together
over the fire till they boil; when sufficiently thickened, draw the
loaves from the oven, open their tops, pour in the butter and sugar, and
send them up with sugar strewed over them.


BUTTERED LOBSTERS. Pick out the meat, cut and warm it, with a little
weak brown gravy, nutmeg, salt, pepper, butter, and a little flour. If
done white, a little white gravy and cream.


BUTTERED ORANGES. Grate off a little of the outside rind of four Seville
oranges, and cut a round hole at the blunt end opposite the stalk, large
enough to take out the pulp and seeds and juice. Then pick the seeds and
skin from the pulp, rub the oranges with a little salt, and lay them in
water for a short time. The bits cut out are to be saved. Boil the fruit
in fresh water till they are tender, shifting the water to take out the
bitterness. In the meantime make a thin syrup with fine sugar, put the
oranges into it, and boil them up. As the quantity of syrup need not be
enough to cover them, turn them round, that each part may partake of the
syrup, and let them remain in it hot till they are wanted. About half an
hour before serving, put some sugar to the pulp, and set it over the
fire; mix it well, and let it boil. Then add a spoonful of white wine
for every orange, give it a boil, put in a bit of fresh butter, and stir
it over the fire to thicken. Fill the oranges with it, and serve them
with some of the syrup in the dish, with the bits on the top.


BUTTERED ORANGE-JUICE. Mix the juice of seven Seville oranges with four
spoonfuls of rose-water, and add the yolks of eight and the whites of
four eggs well beaten. Strain the liquor on half a pound of sugar
pounded, stir it over a gentle fire; and when it begins to thicken, add
a piece of butter the size of a small walnut. Keep it over the fire a
few minutes longer, then pour it into a flat dish, and serve it to eat
cold. If no silver saucepan for the purpose, do it in a china bason in a
saucepan of boiling water, the top of which will just receive the bason.


BUTTERED PRAWNS. Take them out of the husk; warm them with a little good
gravy, a bit of butter and flour, a taste of nutmeg, pepper and salt.
Simmer them together a minute or two, and serve with sippets; or with
cream sauce, instead of brown. Shrimps are done in the same manner.


BUTTERED RICE. Wash and pick some rice, drain, and set it on the fire,
with new milk sufficient to make it swell. When tender, pour off the
milk, and add a bit of butter, a little sugar and pounded cinnamon.
Shake and keep it from burning on the fire, and serve it up as a sweet
dish.




C.


CABBAGE. Wash and pick it carefully, and if very large, quarter it. Put
it into a saucepan with plenty of boiling-water, and a large spoonful of
salt; if any scum rises, take it off, and boil it till the stalk is
tender. Keep the vegetable well covered with water all the time of
boiling, and see that no smoke or dirt arises from stirring the fire.
With careful management the cabbage will look as beautiful when dressed,
as it did when growing. The flavour of an old cabbage may be much
improved, by taking it up when half done, and putting it directly into
another saucepan of fresh boiling water. When taken up, drain it in a
cullender. It may be chopped and warmed with a piece of butter, pepper
and salt, or sent to table whole with melted butter. Savoys and greens
in general are dressed in the same way.


CAKES. In making and baking cakes the following particulars should be
attended to. The currants should be nicely picked and washed, dried in a
cloth, and set before the fire. If damp, they will make cakes or
puddings heavy. Before they are added, a dust of dry flour should be
scattered among them, and then shaken together, which will make the cake
or pudding lighter. Eggs should be beaten a long time, whites and yolks
apart, and always strained. Sugar should be rubbed to a powder on a
clean board, and sifted through a fine hair or lawn sieve. Lemon peel
requires to be pared very thin, and with a little sugar beaten to a
paste in a marble mortar. It should then be mixed with a little wine or
cream, so as to divide easily among the other ingredients. After all the
articles are put into the pan, they should be long and thoroughly
beaten, as the lightness of the cake depends much on their being well
incorporated. Both black and white plumb cakes, being made with yeast,
require less butter and eggs, and eat equally light and rich. If the
leaven be only of flour, milk and water, and yeast, it becomes more
tough, and is less easily divided, than if the butter be first put with
those ingredients, and the dough afterwards set to rise by the fire. The
heat of the oven is of great importance for cakes, especially large
ones. If not pretty quick, the batter will not rise; and if too quick,
put some white paper over the cake to prevent its being burnt. If not
long enough lighted to have a body of heat, or it is become slack, the
cake will be heavy. To know when it is soaked, take a broad-bladed knife
that is very bright, and thrust it into the centre; draw it out
instantly, and if the paste in any degree adheres, return the cake to
the oven, and close it up. If the heat is sufficient to raise but not to
soak the baking, a little fresh fuel should be introduced, after taking
out the cakes and keeping them hot, and then returning them to the oven
as quickly as possible. Particular care however should be taken to
prevent this inconvenience, when large cakes are to be baked.


CAKE TRIFLE. Bake a rice cake in a mould; and when cold, cut it round
with a sharp knife, about two inches from the edge, taking care not to
perforate the bottom. Put in a thick custard, and some spoonfuls of
raspberry jam; and then put on a high whip.


CALF'S FEET BROTH. Boil two feet in three quarts of water till reduced
to half the quantity; strain it, and set it by. When to be used, take
off the fat, put a large tea-cupful of the jelly into a saucepan, with
half a glass of sweet wine, a little sugar and nutmeg, and heat it up
till it be ready to boil. Then take a little of it, and beat it by
degrees to the yolk of an egg, adding a bit of butter the size of a
nutmeg; stir it all together, but do not let it boil. Grate a little
fresh lemon peel into it.--Another way is to boil two calves' feet with
two ounces of veal, and two of beef, the bottom of a penny loaf, two or
three blades of mace, half a nutmeg, and a little salt, in three quarts
of water, till reduced to half the quantity. Then strain it, and take
off the fat.


CALF'S FEET JELLY. Boil two feet, well cleaned, in five pints of water
till they are broken, and the water half wasted. Strain it, take off the
fat when cold, and remove the jelly from the sediment. Put it into a
saucepan, with sugar, raisin wine, lemon juice and lemon peel. When the
flavour is rich, add the whites of five eggs well beaten, and their
shells broken. Set the saucepan on the fire, but do not stir the jelly
after it begins to warm. Let it boil twenty minutes after it rises to a
head, then pour it through a flannel bag, first dipping the jelly bag in
hot water to prevent waste, and squeezing it quite dry. Run the jelly
repeatedly through the bag, until it is quite clear, and then put it
into glasses or forms. The following method will greatly facilitate the
clearing of the jelly. When the mixture has boiled twenty minutes, throw
in a tea-cupful of cold water; let it boil five minutes longer, then
take the saucepan off the fire covered close, and keep it half an hour.
It will afterwards be so clear as to need only once running through the
bag, and much waste will be prevented.--Another way to make jelly is to
take three calf's feet, or two cow-heels, that have been only scalded,
and boil them in four quarts of water, till it be half wasted. Remove
the jelly from the fat and sediment, mix with it the juice of a Seville
orange and twelve lemons, the peels of three ditto, the whites and
shells of twelve eggs, brown sugar to taste, nearly a pint of raisin
wine, one ounce of coriander seed, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, a
bit of cinnamon, and six cloves, all bruised and previously mixed
together. The jelly should boil fifteen minutes without stirring, and
then be cleared through a flannel bag. Take a little of the jelly while
running, mix it with a tea-cupful of water in which a piece of beet root
has been boiled, and run it through the bag when all the rest is run
out. The other jelly being cooled on a plate, this will serve to garnish
it. Jelly made in this way will have a fine high colour and flavour. But
in all cases, to produce good jelly, the feet should only be scalded to
take off the hair. Those who sell them ready prepared generally boil
them too long, and they become in consequence less nutricious. If
scalded only, the liquor will require greater care in removing the fat;
but the jelly will be far stronger, and of course allow more water.
Jelly is equally good if made of cow-heels nicely cleaned, and will be
much stronger than what is made from calf's feet.


CALF'S FEET PUDDING. Boil four feet quite tender, pick off the meat, and
chop it fine. Add some grated bread, a pound of chopped suet, half a
pint of milk, six eggs, a pound of currants, four ounces of citron, two
ounces of candied peel, a grated nutmeg, and a glass of brandy. Butter
the cloth and flour it, tie it close, and boil it three hours.


CALF'S HEAD BOILED. Clean it carefully and soak it in water, that it may
look very nice, and take out the brains for sauce. Wash them well, tie
them up in a cloth, with a little sage and parsley; put them into the
pot at the same time with the head, and scum the water while boiling. A
large head will take two hours, and when the part which joined the neck
becomes tender it is done. Take up the brains and chop them with the
sage and parsley, and an egg boiled hard. Put them into a saucepan with
a bit of butter, pepper and salt, and warm them up. Peel the tongue, lay
it in the middle of the dish, with the brain sauce round it. Strew over
the head some grated bread and chopped parsley, and brown it by the fire
in a separate dish, adding bacon, pickled pork, and greens.


CALF'S HEAD COLLARED. Scald the skin off a fine head, clean it nicely,
and take out the brains. Boil it tender enough to remove the bones, and
season it high with mace, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Put a layer of
chopped parsley, then a quantity of thick slices of fine ham, or a
beautiful coloured tongue skinned, and then the yolks of six nice yellow
eggs stuck here and there about. Roll the head quite close, and tie it
up tight, placing a cloth under the tape, as for other collars. Boil it,
and then lay a weight upon it.


CALF'S HEAD FRICASSEED. Clean and half-boil part of a head; cut the meat
into small bits, and put it into a tosser, with a little gravy made of
the bones, some of the water it was boiled in, a bunch of sweet herbs,
an onion, and a blade of mace. The cockscombs of young cockrels may be
boiled tender, and then blanched, or a sweetbread will do as well.
Season the gravy with a little pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Rub down some
flour and butter, and give all a boil together. Then take out herbs and
onion, and add a small cup of cream, but do not boil it in. Serve with
small bits of bacon rolled up and forcemeat balls.


CALF'S HEAD HASHED. When half boiled, cut off the meat in slices, half
an inch thick, and two or three inches long. Brown some butter, flour,
and sliced onion; and throw in the slices with some good gravy, truffles
and morels. Give it one boil, skim it well and set it in a moderate
heat to simmer till very tender. Season at first with pepper, salt, and
cayenne; and ten minutes before serving, throw in some shred parsley,
and a very small bit of taragon and knotted marjoram cut as fine as
possible. Send it up with forcemeat balls, and bits of bacon rolled
round, adding the squeeze of a lemon.--Another way is to boil the head
almost enough, and take the meat of the best side neatly off the bone
with a sharp knife. Lay this into a small dish, wash it over with the
yolks of two eggs, and cover it with crumbs, a few herbs nicely shred, a
little pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg all mixed together first. Set the
dish before the fire, and turn it now and then, that all parts of the
head may be equally brown. In the mean time slice the remainder of the
head, peel the tongue and slice it. Put a pint of good gravy into a pan
with an onion, and a small bunch of herbs, consisting of parsley, basil,
savoury, taragon, knotted marjoram, and a little thyme. Add a small
quantity of salt and cayenne, a few truffles and morels, and two
spoonfuls of ketchup. Then beat up half the brains, put it to the rest
with a little butter and flour, and simmer the whole together. Beat the
other part of the brains with shred lemon peel, a little nutmeg and
mace, some shred parsley and an egg. Then fry it in small cakes of a
beautiful yellow brown. Dip some oysters into the yolk of an egg, and do
the same; and also some relishing forcemeat balls, made as for mock
turtle. Garnish with these, and small bits of bacon just made hot before
the fire.


CALF'S HEAD PIE. Stew a knuckle of veal till fit for eating, with two
onions, a few isinglass shavings, a bunch of herbs, a blade of mace, and
a few peppercorns, in three pints of water. Keep the broth for the pie.
Take off a bit of the meat for the balls, and let the other be eaten;
but simmer the bones in the broth till it is very good. Half boil the
head, and cut it into square bits; put a layer of ham at the bottom,
then some head, first fat and then lean, with balls and hard eggs cut in
half, and so on till the dish be full; but great care must be taken not
to place the pieces close, or the pie will be too solid, and there will
be no space for the jelly. The meat must be first seasoned pretty well
with pepper and salt, and a scrape or two of nutmeg. Put a little water
and gravy into the dish, cover it with a tolerably thick crust, and bake
it in a slow oven. When done, fill it up with gravy, and do not cut it
till quite cold. Use a very sharp knife for this purpose, first cutting
out a large piece, and going down to the bottom of the dish: thinner
slices may afterwards be cut. The different colours, and the clear
jelly, will have a beautiful marbled appearance. A small pie may be made
to eat hot, and will have a good appearance, if seasoned high with
oysters, mushrooms, truffles and morels. The cold pie will keep several
days, and slices of it will make a handsome side-dish. If the isinglass
jelly be not found stiff enough, a calf's foot or a cow heel may be used
instead. To vary the colour, pickled tongue may be cut in, instead of
ham.


CALF'S HEAD ROASTED. Wash the head perfectly clean, stew it with
oysters, tie it together and spit it, baste it well with butter and
flour rubbed smooth. Stew together some of the oyster liquor, gravy,
butter and salt, with a few sprigs of marjoram and savoury, adding a
little claret, and pour the sauce over the dish.


CALF'S HEAD SOUP. After the head has been thoroughly cleaned, put it
into a stewpan with a proper quantity of water, an onion, some sweet
herbs, mace and cloves, and a little pearl barley. Boil it quite
tender, put in some stewed celery, and season it with pepper. Pour the
soup into a dish, place the head in the middle, and send it hot to
table.


CALF'S HEAD STEWED. Wash and soak it for an hour, bone it, take out the
brains, the tongue and the eyes. Make a forcemeat with two pounds of
beef suet, as much lean veal, two anchovies boned and washed, the peel
of a lemon, some grated nutmeg, and a little thyme. Chop them up
together with some grated bread, and mix in the yolks of four eggs. Make
part of this forcemeat into fifteen or twenty balls; boil five eggs
hard, some oysters washed clean, and half a pint of fresh mushrooms, and
mix with the rest of the forcemeat. Stuff that part of the head where
the bones were taken out, tie it up carefully with packthread, put it
into two quarts of gravy or good broth, with a blade of mace, cover it
close, and stew it very slowly for two hours. While the head is doing,
beat up the brains with some lemon-thyme and parsley chopped very fine,
some grated nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg mixed with it. Fry half the
brains in dripping, in little cakes, and fry the balls. When the head is
done, keep it warm with the brain-cakes and balls; strain off the liquor
in which the head was stewed, add to it some stewed truffles and morels,
and a few pickled mushrooms. Put in the other half of the brains
chopped, boil them up together, and let them simmer a few minutes. Lay
the head into a hot dish, pour the liquor over it, and place the balls
and the brain-cakes round it. For a small family, half the head will be
sufficient. A lamb's head may be done in the same way.


CALF'S HEART. Chop fine some suet, parsley, sweet marjoram and a boiled
egg. Add some grated bread, lemon peel, pepper, salt and mustard. Mix
them together in a paste, and stuff the heart with it, after it has
been well washed and cleaned. If done carefully, it is better baked than
roasted. Serve it up quite hot, with gravy and melted butter.


CALF'S KIDNEY. Chop veal kidney, and some of the fat; likewise a little
leek or onion, pepper, and salt. Roll the kidney up with an egg into
balls, and fry it.--A calf's heart should be stuffed and roasted as a
beef's heart; or sliced and made into a pudding, the same as for a steak
or kidney pudding.


CALF'S LIVER. There are several ways of making this into a good dish.
One is to broil it, after it has been seasoned with pepper and salt.
Then rub a bit of cold butter over, and serve it up hot and hot.--If the
liver is to be roasted, first wash and wipe it, then cut a long hole in
it, and stuff it with crumbs of bread, chopped anchovy, herbs, fat
bacon, onion, salt, pepper, a bit of butter, and an egg. Sew up the
liver, lard or wrap it in a veal caul, and put it to the fire. Serve it
with good brown gravy, and currant jelly.--If the liver and lights are
to be dressed together, half boil an equal quantity of each; then cut
them in a middling-sized mince, add a spoonful or two of the water that
boiled it, a bit of butter, flour, salt and pepper. Simmer them together
ten minutes, and serve the dish up hot.


CALF'S SWEETBREADS. These should be half boiled, and then stewed in
white gravy. Add cream, flour, butter, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper.
Or do them in brown sauce seasoned. Or parboil, and then cover them with
crumbs, herbs, and seasoning, and brown them in a Dutch oven. Serve with
butter, and mushroom ketchup, or gravy.


CALVES. The general method of rearing calves consumes so much of the
milk of the dairy, that it is highly necessary to adopt other means, or
the calves must be sold to the butcher while they are young. A
composition called linseed milk, made of linseed oil-cake powdered, and
gradually mixed with skim-milk sweetened with treacle, has been tried
with considerable effect. It must be made nearly as warm as new milk
when taken from the cow. Hay tea mixed with linseed and boiled to a
jelly, has likewise been tried with success. A species of water gruel,
made in the following manner, is strongly recommended. Put a handful or
two of oatmeal into some boiling water, and after it has thickened a
little, leave it to cool till it is lukewarm; mix with it two or three
pints of skim-milk, and give it to the calf to drink. At first it may be
necessary to make the calf drink by presenting the fingers to it; but it
will soon learn to drink of itself, and will grow much faster than by
any other method. According to the old custom, a calf intended to be
reared is allowed to suck for six or eight weeks; and if the cow give
only a moderate quantity of milk, the value of it will amount to the
price of the calf in half that time. By the method now recommended, only
a little oatmeal or ground barley is consumed, and a small quantity of
skim-milk. The calf is also more healthy and strong, and less subject to
disease. Small whisps of hay should be placed round them on cleft
sticks, to induce the calves to eat; and when they are weaned, they
should be turned into short sweet grass; for if hay and water only are
used, they are liable to swellings and the rot. The fatting of calves
being an object of great importance, a greater variety of food is now
provided for this purpose than formerly, and great improvements have
been made in this part of rural economy. Grains, potatoes, malt dust,
pollard, and turnips now constitute their common aliment. But in order
to make them fine and fat, they must be kept as clean as possible, with
fresh litter every day. Bleeding them twice before they are slaughtered,
improves the beauty and whiteness of the flesh, but it may be doubted
whether the meat is equally good and nutricious. If calves be taken with
the scouring, which often happens in a few days after being cast, make a
medicine of powdered chalk and wheat meal, wrought into a ball with some
gin; and it will afford relief. The shoote is another distemper to which
they are liable, and is attended with a violent cholic and the loathing
of food. The general remedy in this case is milk, well mulled with eggs;
or eggs and flour mixed with oil, melted butter, linseed or anniseed. To
prevent the sickness which commonly attends calves about Michaelmas
time, take newly-churned butter, without salt, and form it into a cup
the size of an egg; into this cup put three or four cloves of bruised
garlic, and fill it up with tar. Having put the cup down the calf's
throat, pour into its nostrils half a spoonful of the spirit of
turpentine, rub a little tar upon its nose, and keep it within doors for
an hour. Calves ought to be housed a night before this medicine is
given.


CALICO FURNITURE. When curtains or bed furniture of this description are
to be taken down for the summer, shake off the loose dust, and lightly
brush them with a small long-haired furniture brush. Wipe them
afterwards very closely with clean flannels, and rub them with dry
bread. If properly done, the curtains will look nearly as well as at
first, and if the colour be not very light, they will not require
washing for years. Fold them up in large parcels, and put them by
carefully. While the furniture remains up, it should be preserved as
much as possible from the sun and air, which injure delicate colours;
and the dust may be blown off with bellows. Curtains may thus be kept
clean, even to use with the linings after they have been washed or newly
dipped.


CAMP VINEGAR. Slice a large head of garlic, and put it into a
wide-mouthed bottle, with half an ounce of cayenne, two tea-spoonfuls of
soy, two of walnut ketchup, four anchovies chopped, a pint of vinegar,
and enough cochineal to give it the colour of lavender drops. Let it
stand six weeks; then strain it off quite clear, and keep it in small
bottles sealed up.


CAMPHOR JULEP. Dissolve a quarter of an ounce of camphor in half a pint
of brandy. It may thus be kept fit for use; and a tea-spoonful taken in
a wine glass of cold water will be found an agreeable dose.--Another
way. To a quarter of an ounce of camphor, add a quart of boiling water,
and a quart of cold. Let it stand six hours, and strain it off for use.


CAMPHOR OINTMENT. Put half an ounce of camphor into an ounce of the oil
of almonds, mixed with an ounce of spermaceti. Scrape fine into it half
an ounce of white wax, and melt it over some hot water.


CAMPHORATED OIL. Beat an ounce of camphor in a mortar, with two ounces
of Florence oil, till the camphor is entirely dissolved. This liniment
is highly useful in rheumatism, spasms, and other cases of extreme pain.


CANARIES. Those who wish to breed this species of birds, should provide
them a large cage, with two boxes to build in. Early in April put a cock
and hen together; and whilst they are pairing, feed them with soft meat,
or a little grated bread, scalded rapeseed and an egg mixed together. At
the same time a small net of fine hay, wool, cotton, and hair should be
suspended in one corner of the cage, so that the birds may pull it out
as they want it to build with. Tame canaries will sometimes breed three
or four times in a year, and produce their young about a fortnight after
they begin to sit. When hatched, they should be left to the care of the
old ones, to nurse them up till they can fly and feed themselves; during
which time they should be supplied with fresh victuals every day,
accompanied now and then with cabbage, lettuce, and chick-weed with
seeds upon it. When the young canaries can feed themselves, they should
be taken from the old ones, and put into another cage. Boil a little
rapeseed, bruise and mix it with as much grated bread, mace seed, and
the yolk of an egg boiled hard; and supply them with a small quantity
every day, that it may not become stale or sour. Besides this, give them
a little scalded rapeseed, and a little rape and canary seed by itself.
This diet may be continued till they have done moulting, or renewed at
any time when they appear unhealthy, and afterwards they may be fed in
the usual manner.


CANCER. It is asserted by a French practitioner, that this cruel
disorder may be cured in three days, by the following simple
application, without any surgical operation whatever. Knead a piece of
dough about the size of a pullet's egg, with the same quantity of hog's
lard, the older the better; and when they are thoroughly blended, so as
to form a kind of salve, spread it on a piece of white leather, and
apply it to the part affected. This, if it do no good, is perfectly
harmless.--A plaster for an eating cancer may be made as follows. File
up some old brass, and mix a spoonful of it with mutton suet. Lay the
plaster on the cancer, and let it remain till the cure is effected.
Several persons have derived great benefit from this application, and it
has seldom been known to fail.


CANDIED ANGELICA. Cut angelica into pieces three inches long, boil it
tender, peel and boil it again till it is green; dry it in a cloth, and
add its weight in sugar. Sift some fine sugar over, and let them remain
in a pan two days; then boil the stalks clear and green, and let them
drain in a cullender. Beat another pound of sugar and strew over them,
lay them on plates, and dry them well in an oven.


CANDIED FRUIT. Take the preserve out of the syrup, lay it into a new
sieve, and dip it suddenly into hot water, to take off the syrup that
hangs about it. Put it on a napkin before the fire to drain, and then do
another layer in the sieve. Sift the fruit all over with double refined
sugar previously prepared, till it is quite white. Set it on the shallow
end of sieves in a lightly-warm oven, and turn it two or three times: it
must not be cold till dry. Watch it carefully, and it will be beautiful.


CANDIED PEEL. Take out the pulps of lemons or oranges, soak the rinds
six days in salt and water, and afterwards boil them tender in spring
water. Drain them on a sieve, make a thin syrup of loaf sugar and water,
and boil the peels in it till the syrup begins to candy about them. Then
take out the peels, grate fine sugar over them, drain them on a sieve,
and dry them before the fire.


CANDLES. Those made in cold weather are best; and if put in a cool
place, they will improve by keeping; but when they begin to sweat and
turn rancid, the tallow loses its strength, and the candles are spoiled.
A stock for winter use should be provided in autumn, and for summer,
early in the spring. The best candle-wicks are made of fine cotton; the
coarser yarn consumes faster, and burns less steady. Mould candles burn
the clearest, but dips afford the best light, their wicks being
proportionally larger.


CAPER SAUCE. Add a table-spoonful of capers to twice the quantity of
vinegar, mince one third of the capers very fine, and divide the others
in half. Put them into a quarter of a pint of melted butter, or good
thickened gravy, and stir them the same way as the melted butter, to
prevent their oiling. The juice of half a Seville orange or lemon may be
added. An excellent substitute for capers may be made of pickled green
peas, nastursions, or gherkins, chopped into a similar size, and boiled
with melted butter. When capers are kept for use, they should be covered
with fresh scalded vinegar, tied down close to exclude the air, and to
make them soft.


CAPILLAIRE. Take fourteen pounds of good moist sugar, three of coarse
sugar, and six eggs beaten in well with the shells, boil them together
in three quarts of water, and skim it carefully. Then add a quarter of a
pint of orange-flower water, strain it off, and put it into bottles.
When cold, mix a spoonful or two of this syrup in a little warm or cold
water.


CARACHEE. Mix with a pint of vinegar, two table-spoonfuls of Indian soy,
two of walnut pickle, two cloves of garlic, one tea-spoonful of cayenne,
one of lemon pickle, and two of sauce royal.


CARMEL COVER. Dissolve eight ounces of double refined sugar in three or
four spoonfuls of water, and as many drops of lemon juice. Put it into a
copper skillet; when it begins to thicken, dip the handle of a spoon in
it, and put that into a pint bason of water. Squeeze the sugar from the
spoon into it, and so on till all the sugar is extracted. Take a bit out
of the water, and if it snaps and is brittle when cold, it is done
enough. But let it be only three parts cold, then pour the water from
the sugar, and having a copper form oiled well, run the sugar on it, in
the manner of a maze, and when cold it may be put on the dish it is
intended to cover. If on trial the sugar is not brittle, pour off the
water, return it into the skillet, and boil it again. It should look
thick like treacle, but of a light gold colour. This makes an elegant
cover for sweetmeats.


CARP. This excellent fish will live some time out of water, and may
therefore get wasted: it is best to kill them as soon as caught, to
prevent this. Carp should either be boiled or stewed. Scale and draw it,
and save the blood. Set on water in a stewpan, with a little Chili
vinegar, salt, and horse-radish. When it boils, put in the carp, and
boil it gently for twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the
fish. Stew the blood with half a pint of port wine, some good gravy, a
sliced onion, a little whole pepper, a blade of mace, and a nutmeg
grated. Thicken the sauce with butter rolled in flour, season it with
pepper and salt, essence of anchovy, and mushroom ketchup. Serve up the
fish with the sauce poured over it, adding a little lemon juice. Carp
are also very nice plain boiled, with common fish sauce.


CARPETS. In order to keep them clean, they should not frequently be
swept with a whisk brush, as it wears them fast; not more than once a
week, and at other times with sprinkled tea-leaves, and a hair brush.
Fine carpets should be done gently on the knees, with a soft clothes'
brush. When a carpet requires more cleaning, take it up and beat it
well, then lay it down and brush it on both sides with a hand-brush.
Turn it the right side upwards, and scour it clean with ox-gall and soap
and water, and dry it with linen cloths. Lay it on the grass, or hang it
up to dry thoroughly.


CARRAWAY CAKE. Dry two pounds of good flour, add ten spoonfuls of yeast,
and twelve of cream. Wash the salt out of a pound of butter, and rub it
into the flour; beat up eight eggs with half the whites, and mix it
with the composition already prepared. Work it into a light paste, set
it before the fire to rise, incorporate a pound of carraway comfits, and
an hour will bake it.


CARRIER SAUCE. Chop six shalots fine, and boil them up with a gill of
gravy, a spoonful of vinegar, some pepper and salt. This is used for
mutton, and served in a boat.


CARROLE OF RICE. Wash and pick some rice quite clean, boil it five
minutes in water, strain and put it into a stewpan, with a bit of
butter, a good slice of ham, and an onion. Stew it over a very gentle
fire till tender; have ready a mould lined with very thin slices of
bacon, mix the yolks of two or three eggs with the rice, and then line
the bacon with it about half an inch thick. Put into it a ragout of
chicken, rabbit, veal, or of any thing else. Fill up the mould, and
cover it close with rice. Bake it in a quick oven an hour, turn it over,
and send it to table in a good gravy, or curry sauce.


CARROTS. This root requires a good deal of boiling. When young, wipe off
the skin after they are boiled; when old, scrape them first, and boil
them with salt meat. Carrots and parsnips should be kept in layers of
dry sand for winter use, and not be wholly cleared from the earth. They
should be placed separately, with their necks upward, and be drawn out
regularly as they stand, without disturbing the middle or the sides.


CARROT PUDDING. Boil a large carrot tender; then bruise it in a marble
mortar, and mix with it a spoonful of biscuit powder, or three or four
little sweet biscuits without seeds, four yolks and two whites of eggs,
a pint of cream either raw or scalded, a little ratifia, a large
spoonful of orange or rose-water, a quarter of a nutmeg, and two ounces
of sugar. Bake it in a shallow dish lined with paste; turn it out, and
dust a little fine sugar over it.


CARROT SOUP. Put some beef bones into a saucepan, with four quarts of
the liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, two large
onions, a turnip, pepper and salt, and boil them together for three
hours. Have ready six large carrots scraped and sliced; strain the soup
on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair sieve or
coarse cloth, with a wooden spoon; but pulp only the red part of the
carrot, and not the yellow. The soup should be made the day before, and
afterwards boiled with the pulp, to the thickness of peas-soup, with the
addition of a little cayenne.

[Illustration: Carving]

[Illustration: Carving.]


CARVING. In nothing does ceremony more frequently triumph over comfort,
than in the administration of 'the honours of the table.' Every one is
sufficiently aware that a dinner, to be eaten in perfection, should be
taken the very moment it is sent hot to table; yet few persons seem to
understand, that he is the best carver who fills the plates of the
greatest numbers of guests in the least portion of time, provided it be
done with ease and elegance. In a mere family circle, where all cannot
and ought not to be choosers, it is far better to fill the plates and
send them round, rather than ask each individual what particular part
they would prefer; and if in a larger company a similar plan were
introduced, it would be attended with many advantages. A dexterous
carver, would help half a dozen people in less time than is often wasted
in making civil faces to a single guest. He will also cut fair, and
observe an equitable distribution of the dainties he is serving out. It
would save much time, if poultry, especially large turkeys and geese,
were sent to table ready cut up. When a lady presides, the carving knife
should be light, of a middling size, and of a fine edge. Strength is
less required than address, in the manner of using, it; and to
facilitate this, the butcher should be ordered to divide the joints of
the bones, especially of the neck, breast, and loin of mutton, lamb, and
veal; which may then be easily cut into thin slices attached to the
adjoining bones. If the whole of the meat belonging to each bone should
be too thick, a small slice may be taken off between every two bones.
The more fleshy joints, as fillet of veal, leg or saddle of mutton and
beef, are to be helped in thin slices, neatly cut and smooth; observing
to let the knife pass down to the bone in the mutton and beef joints.
The dish should not be too far off the carver, as it gives an awkward
appearance, and makes the task more difficult. In helping fish, take
care not to break the flakes; which in cod and very fresh salmon are
large, and contribute much to the beauty of its appearance. A fish
knife, not being sharp, divides it best on this account. Help a part of
the roe, milt or liver, to each person. The heads of carp, part of those
of cod and salmon, sounds of cod, and fins of turbot, are likewise
esteemed niceties, and are to be attended to accordingly. In cutting up
any wild fowl, duck, goose, or turkey, for a large party, if you cut the
slices down from pinion to pinion, without making wings, there will be
more prime pieces. But that the reader may derive the full advantage of
these remarks, we shall descend to particulars, and illustrate the
subject with a variety of interesting Plates, which will show at the
same time the manner in which game and poultry should be trussed and
dished.----COD'S HEAD. Fish in general requires very little carving, the
fleshy parts being those principally esteemed. A cod's head and
shoulders, when in season, and properly boiled, is a very genteel and
handsome dish. When cut, it should be done with a fish trowel, and the
parts about the backbone on the shoulders are the firmest and the best.
Take off a piece quite down to the bone, in the direction _a_, _b_, _c_,
_d_, putting in the spoon at _a_, _c_, and with each slice of fish give
a piece of the sound, which lies underneath the backbone and lines it,
the meat of which is thin, and a little darker coloured than the body of
the fish itself. This may be got by passing a knife or spoon underneath,
in the direction of _d_, _f_. About the head are many delicate parts,
and a great deal of the jelly kind. The jelly part lies about the jaw,
bones, and the firm parts within the head. Some are fond of the palate,
and others the tongue, which likewise may be got by putting a spoon into
the mouth.----EDGE BONE OF BEEF. Cut off a slice an inch thick all the
length from _a_ to _b_, in the figure opposite, and then help. The soft
fat which resembles marrow, lies at the back of the bone, below _c_; the
firm fat must be cut in horizontal slices at the edge of the meat _d_.
It is proper to ask which is preferred, as tastes differ. The skewer
that keeps the meat properly together when boiling is here shewn at _a_.
This should be drawn out before it is served up; or, if it is necessary
to leave the skewer in, put a silver one.----SIRLOIN OF BEEF may be
begun either at the end, or by cutting into the middle. It is usual to
enquire whether the outside or the inside is preferred. For the outside,
the slice should be cut down to the bones; and the same with every
following helping. Slice the inside likewise, and give with each piece
some of the soft fat. The inside done as follows eats excellently. Have
ready some shalot vinegar boiling hot: mince the meat large, and a good
deal of the fat; sprinkle it with salt, and pour the shalot vinegar and
the gravy on it. Help with a spoon, as quickly as possible, on hot
plates.----ROUND OR BUTTOCK OF BEEF is cut in the same way as fillet of
veal, in the next article. It should be kept even all over. When helping
the fat, observe not to hack it, but cut it smooth. A deep slice should
be cut off the beef before you begin to help, as directed above for the
edge-bone.----FILLET OF VEAL. In an ox, this part is round of beef. Ask
whether the brown outside be liked, otherwise help the next slice. The
bone is taken out, and the meat tied close, before dressing, which makes
the fillet very solid. It should be cut thin, and very smooth. A
stuffing is put into the flap, which completely covers it; you must cut
deep into this, and help a thin slice, as likewise of fat. From
carelessness in not covering the latter with paper, it is sometimes
dried up, to the great disappointment of the carver.----BREAST OF VEAL.
One part, called the brisket, is thick and gristly; put the knife about
four inches from the edge of this, and cut through it, which will
separate the ribs from the brisket.----CALF'S HEAD has a great deal of
meat upon it, if properly managed. Cut slices from _a_ to _b_, letting
the knife go close to the bone. In the fleshy part, at the neck end _c_,
there lies the throat sweetbread, which you should help a slice of from
_c_ to _d_ with the other part. Many like the eye, which must be cut out
with the point of a knife, and divided in two. If the jaw-bone be taken
off, there will be found some fine lean. Under the head is the palate,
which is reckoned a nicety; the lady of the house should be acquainted
with all things that are thought so, that she may distribute them among
her guests.----SHOULDER OF MUTTON. This is a very good joint, and by
many preferred to the leg; it being very full of gravy, if properly
roasted, and produces many nice bits. The figure represents it as laid
in the dish with its back uppermost. When it is first cut, it should be
in the hollow part of it, in the direction of _a_, _b_, and the knife
should be passed deep to the bone. The prime part of the fat lies on the
outer edge, and is to be cut out in thin slices in the direction _e_. If
many are at table, and the hollow part cut in the line _a_, _b_, is
eaten, some very good and delicate slices may be cut out on each side
the ridge of the blade-bone, in the direction _c_, _d_. The line between
these two dotted lines, is that in the direction of which the edge or
ridge of the blade-bone lies, and cannot be cut across.----LEG OF
MUTTON. A leg of wether mutton, which is the best flavoured, may be
known by a round lump of fat at the edge of the broadest part, as at
_a_. The best part is in the midway, at _b_, between the knuckle and
further end. Begin to help there, by cutting thin deep slices to _c_. If
the outside is not fat enough, help some from the side of the broad end
in slices from _e_ to _f_. This part is most juicy; but many prefer the
knuckle, which in fine mutton will be very tender though dry. There are
very fine slices on the back of the leg: turn it up, and cut the broad
end, not in the direction you did the other side, but longways. To cut
out the cramp bone, take hold of the shank with your left hand, and cut
down to the thigh bone at _d_; then pass the knife under the cramp bone
in the direction, _d_, _g_.----FORE QUARTER OF LAMB. Separate the
shoulder from the scoven, which is the breast and ribs, by passing the
knife under in the direction of _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_; keeping it towards
you horizontally, to prevent cutting the meat too much off the bones. If
grass lamb, the shoulder being large, put it into another dish. Squeeze
the juice of half a Seville orange or lemon on the other part, and
sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Then separate the gristly part from
the ribs in the line _e_, _c_; and help either from that or from the
ribs, as may be chosen.----HAUNCH OF VENISON. Cut down to the bone in
the line _a_, _b_, _c_, to let out the gravy. Then turn the broad end of
the haunch toward you, put in the knife at _b_, and cut as deep as you
can to the end of the haunch _d_; then help in thin slices, observing to
give some fat to each person. There is more fat, which is a favourite
part, on the left side of _c_ and _d_ than on the other: and those who
help must take care to proportion it, as likewise the gravy, according
to the number of the company.--HAUNCH OF MUTTON is the leg and part of
the loin, cut so as to resemble a haunch of venison, and is to be helped
at table in the same manner.----SADDLE OF MUTTON. Cut long thin slices
from the tail to the end, beginning close to the back bone. If a large
joint, the slice may be divided. Cut some fat from the sides.----HAM may
be cut three ways. The common method is, to begin in the middle, by long
slices from _a_ to _b_, from the centre through the thick fat. This
brings to the prime at first, which is likewise accomplished by cutting
a small round hole on the top of the ham, as at _c_, and with a sharp
knife enlarging that by cutting successive thin circles: this preserves
the gravy, and keeps the meat moist. The last and most saving way is, to
begin at the hock end, which many are most fond of, and proceed onwards.
Ham that is used for pies, &c. should be cut from the under side, first
taking off a thick slice.----SUCKING PIG. The cook usually divides the
body before it is sent to table, and garnishes the dish with the jaws
and ears. The first thing is, to separate a shoulder from the carcase on
one side, and then the leg, according to the direction given by the
dotted line _a_, _b_, _c_. The ribs are then to be divided into about
two helpings, and an ear or jaw presented with them, and plenty of
sauce. The joints may either be divided into two each, or pieces may be
cut from them. The ribs are reckoned the finest part, but some people
prefer the neck end, between the shoulders.----GOOSE. Cut off the apron
in the circular line _a_, _b_, _c_, and pour into the body a glass of
port wine, and a large tea-spoonful of mustard, first mixed at the
sideboard. Turn the neck end of the goose towards you, and cut the whole
breast in long slices from one wing to another; but only remove them as
you help each person, unless the company is so large as to require the
legs likewise. This way gives more prime bits than by making wings. Take
off the leg, by putting the fork into the small end of the bone,
pressing it to the body; and having passed the knife at _d_, turn the
leg back, and if a young bird, it will easily separate. To take off the
wing, put your fork into the small end of the pinion, and press it close
to the body; then put in the knife at _d_, and divide the joint, taking
it down in the direction _d_, _e_. Nothing but practice will enable
people to hit the joint dexterously. When the leg and wing of one side
are done, go on to the other; but it is not often necessary to cut up
the whole goose, unless the company be very large. There are two side
bones by the wing, which may be cut off; as likewise the back and lower
side bones: but the best pieces are the breast and the thighs, after
being divided from the drum-sticks.----HARE. The best way of cutting it
up is, to put the point of the knife under the shoulder at _a_, and so
cut all the way down to the rump, on one side of the back-bone, in the
line _a_, _b_. Do the same on the other side, so that the whole hare
will be divided into three parts. Cut the back into four, which with
the legs is the part most esteemed. The shoulder must be cut off in a
circular line, as _c_, _d_, _a_. Lay the pieces neatly on the dish as
you cut them; and then help the company, giving some pudding and gravy
to every person. This way can only be practised when the hare is young.
If old, do not divide it down, which will require a strong arm: but put
the knife between the leg and back, and give it a little turn inwards at
the joint; which you must endeavour to hit, and not to break by force.
When both legs are taken off, there is a fine collop on each side the
back; then divide the back into as many pieces as you please, and take
of the shoulders, which are by many preferred, and are called the
sportman's pieces. When every one is helped, cut off the head; put your
knife between the upper and lower jaw, and divide them, which will
enable you to lay the upper one flat on your plate; then put the point
of the knife into the centre, and cut the head into two. The ears and
brains may be helped then to those who like them.----Carve RABBITS as
directed the latter way for hare; cutting the back into two pieces,
which with the legs are the prime.----A FOWL. The legs of a boiled fowl
are bent inwards, and tucked into the belly; but before it is served,
the skewers are to be removed. Lay the fowl on your plate; and place the
joints, as cut off, on the dish. Take the wing off in the direction of
_a_ to _b_, in the annexed engraving, only dividing the joint with your
knife; and then with your fork lift up the pinion, and draw the wing
towards the legs, and the muscles will separate in a more complete form
than if cut. Slip the knife between the leg and body, and cut to the
bone; then with the fork turn the leg back, and the joint will give way
if the bird is not old. When the four quarters are thus removed, take
off the merrythought from _a_, and the neck bones; these last by
putting in the knife at _c_, and pressing it under the long broad part
of the bone in the line _c_, _b_. Then lift it up, and break it off from
the part that sticks to the breast. The next thing is, to divide the
breast from the carcase, by cutting through the tender ribs close to the
breast, quite down to the tail. Then lay the back upwards, put your
knife into the bone half-way from the neck to the rump, and on raising
the lower end it will separate readily. Turn the rump from you, and very
neatly take off the two sidebones, and the whole will be done. As each
part is taken off, it should be turned neatly on the dish, and care
should be taken that what is left goes properly from table. The breast
and wings are looked upon as the best parts, but the legs are most juicy
in young fowls. After all, more advantage will be gained by observing
those who carve well, and a little practice, than by any written
directions whatever.----A PHEASANT. The bird in the annexed engraving is
as trussed for the spit, with its head under one of its wings. When the
skewers are taken out, and the bird served, the following is the way to
carve it. Fix a fork in the centre of the breast; slice it down in the
line _a_, _b_; take off the leg on one side in the dotted line _b_, _d_;
then cut off the wing on the same side in the line _c_, _d_. Separate
the leg and wing on the other side, and then cut off the slices of
breast you divided before. Be careful how you take off the wings; for if
you should cut too near the neck, as at _g_, you will hit on the
neck-bone, from which the wing must be separated. Cut off the
merrythought in the line _f_, _g_, by passing the knife under it towards
the neck. Cut the other parts as in a fowl. The breast, wings, and
merrythought, are the most esteemed; but the leg has a higher
flavour.----PARTRIDGE. The partridge is here represented as just taken
from the spit; but before it is served up, the skewers must be
withdrawn. It is cut up in the same manner as a fowl. The wings must be
taken off in the line _a_, _b_, and the merrythought in the line _c_,
_d_. The prime parts of a partridge are the wings, breast, and
merrythought; but the bird being small, the two latter are not often
divided. The wing is considered as the best, and the tip of it reckoned
the most delicate morsel of the whole.----PIGEONS. Cut them in half,
either from top to bottom or across. The lower part is generally thought
the best; but the fairest way is to cut from the neck to _a_, rather
than from _c_ to _b_, by _a_, which is the most fashionable. The figure
represents the back of the pigeon; and the direction of the knife is in
the line _c_, _b_, by _a_, if done the last way.


CASKS. New casks are apt to give beer a bad taste, if not well scalded
and seasoned before they are used. Boil therefore two pecks of bran or
malt dust in a copper of water, pour it hot into the cask, stop it
close, and let it stand two days. Then wash it clean, and dry it fit for
use. Old casks are apt to grow musty, if allowed to stand by neglected;
they should therefore be closely stopped as soon as emptied. When
tainted, put in some lime, fill up with water, and let them stand a day
or two. If this be not sufficient, the head must be taken out, the
inside well scoured, and the head replaced.


CATERPILLARS. These noxious insects, sustained by leaves and fruit, have
been known in all ages and nations for their depredations on the
vegetable world. In August and September they destroy cabbages and
turnips in great abundance, and commit their ravages in fields and
gardens whenever the easterly winds prevail. Various means have been
devised for their destruction, and any of the following which may
happen to be the most convenient, may be employed with very good effect.
Mix and heat three quarts of water and one quart of vinegar, put in a
full pound of soot, and stir it with a whisk till the whole is
incorporated. Sprinkle the plants with this preparation, every morning
and evening, by dipping in a brush and shedding it over them; and in a
few days all the cankers will disappear. Or sow with hemp all the
borders where cabbages are planted, so as to enclose them, and not one
of these vermin will approach. When gooseberry or currant bushes are
attacked, a very simple expedient will suffice. Put pieces of woollen
rags in every bush, the caterpillars will take refuge in them during the
night, and in the morning quantities of them may thus be taken and
destroyed. If this do not succeed, dissolve an ounce of alum in a quart
of tobacco liquor; and as soon as the leaves of the plants or bushes
appear in the least corroded, sprinkle on the mixture with a brush. If
any eggs be deposited, they never come forward after this application;
and if changed into worms they will sicken and die, and fall off.
Nothing is more effectual than to dust the leaves of plants with sulphur
put into a piece of muslin, or thrown upon them with a dredging box:
this not only destroys the insects, but materially promotes the health
of the plants. When caterpillars attack fruit trees, they may be
destroyed by a strong decoction of equal quantities of rue, wormwood,
and tobacco, sprinkled on the leaves and branches while the fruit is
ripening. Or take a chafing-dish of burning charcoal, place it under the
branches of the bush or tree, and throw on it a little brimstone. The
vapour of the sulphur, and the suffocating fume arising from the
charcoal, will not only destroy all the insects, but prevent the plants
from being infested with them any more that season. Black cankers,
which commit great devastation among turnips, are best destroyed by
turning a quantity of ducks into the field infested by them. Every
fourth year these cankers become flies, when they deposit their eggs on
the ground, and thus produce maggots. The flies on their first
appearance settle on the trees, especially the oak, elm, and maple: in
this state they should be shaken down on packsheets, and destroyed. If
this were done before they begin to deposit their eggs on the ground,
the ravages of the canker would in a great measure be prevented.


CAUDLE. Make a fine smooth gruel of half grits, strain it after being
well boiled, and stir it at times till quite cold. When to be used, add
sugar, wine, lemon peel and nutmeg. A spoonful of brandy may be added,
and a little lemon juice if approved. Another way is to boil up half a
pint of fine gruel, with a bit of butter the size of a large nutmeg, a
spoonful of brandy, the same of white wine, one of capillaire, a bit of
lemon peel and nutmeg.--Another. Beat up the yolk of an egg with sugar,
mix it with a large spoonful of cold water, a glass of wine, and nutmeg.
Mix it by degrees with a pint of fine gruel, not thick, but while it is
boiling hot. This caudle is very agreeable and nourishing. Some add a
glass of beer and sugar, or a tea-spoonful of brandy.--A caudle for the
sick and lying-in is made as follows. Set three quarts of water on the
fire, mix smooth as much oatmeal as will thicken the whole, with a pint
of cold water; and when the water boils pour in the thickening, and add
twenty peppercorns in fine powder. Boil it up to a tolerable thickness;
then add sugar, half a pint of good table beer, and a glass of gin, all
heated up together.


CAULIFLOWERS. Choose those that are close and white, cut off the green
leaves, and see that there be no caterpillars about the stalk. Soak them
an hour in cold water, then boil them in milk and water, and take care
to skim the saucepan, that not the least foulness may fall on the
flower. The vegetable should be served very white, and not boiled too
much.--Cauliflower dressed in white sauce should be half boiled, and cut
into handsome pieces. Then lay them in a stewpan with a little broth, a
bit of mace, a little salt, and a dust of white pepper. Simmer them
together half an hour; then add a little cream, butter, and flour.
Simmer a few minutes longer, and serve them up.--To dress a cauliflower
with parmesan, boil the vegetable, drain it on a sieve, and cut the
stalk so that the flower will stand upright about two inches above the
dish. Put it into a stewpan with a little white sauce, and in a few
minutes it will be done enough. Then dish it with the sauce round, put
parmesan grated over it, and brown it with a salamander.


CAULIFLOWERS RAGOUT. Pick and wash the cauliflowers very clean, stew
them in brown gravy till they are tender, and season with pepper and
salt. Put them in a dish, pour gravy on them, boil some sprigs of
cauliflower white, and lay round.


CAYENNE. Those who are fond of this spice had better make it themselves
of English capsicums or chillies, for there is no other way of being
sure that it is genuine. Pepper of a much finer flavour may be obtained
in this way, without half the heat of the foreign article, which is
frequently adulterated and coloured with red lead. Capsicums and
chillies are ripe and in good condition, during the months of September
and October. The flavour of the chillies is superior to that of the
capsicums, and will be good in proportion as they are dried as soon as
possible, taken care that they be not burnt. Take away the stalks, put
the pods into a cullender, and set them twelve hours before the fire to
dry. Then put them into a mortar, with one fourth their weight of salt;
pound and rub them till they are as fine as possible, and put the powder
into a well-stopped bottle. A hundred large chillies will produce about
two ounces of cayenne. When foreign cayenne is pounded, it is mixed with
a considerable portion of salt, to prevent its injuring the eyes: but
English chillies may be pounded in a deep mortar without any danger, and
afterwards passed through a fine sieve.


CELERY SAUCE. Cut small half a dozen heads of clean white celery, with
two sliced onions. Put them into a stewpan, with a small piece of
butter, and sweat them over a slow fire till quite tender. Add two
spoonfuls of flour, half a pint of broth, salt and pepper, and a little
cream or milk. Boil it a quarter of an hour, and pass it through a fine
hair sieve with the back of a spoon. When celery is not in season, a
quarter of a dram of celery seed, or a little of the essence, will
impregnate half a pint of sauce with all the flavour of the vegetable.
This sauce is intended for boiled turkey, veal, or fowls.


CELERY SOUP. Split half a dozen heads of celery into slips about two
inches long, wash them well, drain them on a hair sieve, and put them
into a soup pot, with three quarts of clear gravy. Stew it very gently
by the side of the fire, about an hour, till the celery is tender. If
any scum arise, take it off, and season with a little salt. When celery
cannot be procured, half a dram of the seed, pounded fine, will give a
flavour to the soup, if put in a quarter of an hour before it is done. A
little of the essence of the celery will answer the same purpose.


CELLARS. Beer and ale that have been well brewed, are often injured or
spoiled in the keeping, for want of paying proper attention to the
state of the cellar. It is necessary however to exclude as much as
possible all external air from these depositaries, as the state of the
surrounding atmosphere has a most material influence upon the liquor,
even after it has been made a considerable time. If the cellar is liable
to damps in the winter, it will tend to chill the liquor, and make it
turn flat; or if exposed to the heat of summer, it will be sure to turn
sour. The great object therefore is to have a cellar that is both cool
and dry. Dorchester beer, generally in high esteem, owes much of its
fineness to this circumstance. The soil in that county being very
chalky, of a close texture and free from damps, the cellars are always
cool and dry, and the liquors are found to keep in the best possible
manner. The Nottingham ale derives much of its celebrity also from the
peculiar construction of the cellars, which are generally excavated out
of a rock of sand-stone to a considerable depth, of a circular or
conical form, with benches formed all round in the same way, and on
these the barrels are placed in regular succession.


CERATE. Half a pound of white wax, half a pound of calumine stone finely
powdered, and a pint and a half of olive oil, will make an excellent
cerate. Let the calumine be rubbed smooth with some of the oil, and
added to the rest of the oil and wax, which should be previously melted
together. Stir them together till they are quite cold.


CHARDOONS. To dress chardoons, cut them into pieces of six inches long,
and tie them in a bunch. Boil them tender, then flour and fry them with
a piece of butter, and when brown serve them up. Or tie them in bundles,
and serve them on toast as boiled asparagus, with butter poured over.
Another way is to boil them, and then heat them up in fricassee sauce.
Or boil in salt and water, dry them, dip them into butter, fry, and
serve them up with melted butter. Or having boiled, stew, and toss them
up with white or brown gravy. Add a little cayenne, ketchup, and salt,
and thicken with a bit of butter and flour.


CHARLOTTE. Rub a baking-dish thick with butter, and line the bottom and
sides with very thin slices of white bread. Put in layers of apples
thinly sliced, strewing sugar between, and bits of butter, till the dish
is full. In the mean time, soak in warm milk as many thin slices of
bread as will cover the whole; over which lay a plate, and a weight to
keep the bread close on the apples. To a middling sized dish use half a
pound of butter in the whole, and bake slowly for three hours.


CHEAP SOUP. Much nutricious food might be provided for the poor and
necessitous, at a very trifling expence, by only adopting a plan of
frugality, and gathering up the fragments, that nothing be lost. Save
the liquor in which every piece of meat, ham, or tongue has been boiled,
however salt; for it is easy to use only a part of it, and to add a
little fresh water. Then, by the addition of more vegetables, the bones
of meat used in the family, the pieces of meat that come from table on
the plates, and rice, Scotch barley, or oatmeal, there will be some
gallons of useful soup saved. The bits of meat should only be warmed in
the soup, and remain whole; the bones and sinewy parts should be boiled
till they yield their nourishment. If the fragments are ready to put
into the boiler as soon as the meat is served, it will save lighting the
fire, and a second cooking. Take turnips, carrots, leeks, potatoes,
leaves of lettuce, or any sort of vegetable that is at hand; cut them
small, and throw in with the thick part of peas, after they have been
pulped for soup, and grits, or coarse oatmeal, which have been used for
gruel. Should the soup be poor of meat, the long boiling of the bones,
and different vegetables, will afford better nourishment than the
laborious poor can generally obtain; especially as they are rarely
tolerable cooks, and have not fuel to do justice to what they buy. In
almost every family there is some superfluity; and if it be prepared
with cleanliness and care, the benefit will be very great to the
receiver, and the satisfaction no less to the giver. The cook or servant
should never be allowed to wash away as useless, the peas or grits of
which soup or gruel have been made, broken potatoes, the green heads of
celery, the necks and feet of fowls, and particularly the shanks of
mutton; all of which are capable of adding flavour and richness to the
soup. The bones, heads, and fins of fish, containing a portion of
isinglass, may also be very usefully applied, by stewing them in the
water in which the fish is boiled, and adding it to the soup, with the
gravy that is left in the dish. If strained, it considerably improves
the meat soup, particularly for the sick; and when such are to be
supplied, the milder parts of the spare bones and meat should be used,
with very little of the liquor of the salt meats. If a soup be wanted
for the weakly and infirm, put two cow heels and a breast of mutton into
a large pan, with four ounces of rice, one onion, twenty corns of
Jamaica pepper, and twenty black, a turnip, and carrot, and four gallons
of water. Cover it with white paper, and bake it six hours.


CHEESE. This well-known article of domestic consumption, is prepared
from curdled milk, cleared from the whey. It differs very much in
quality and flavour, according to the pasture in which the cows feed,
and the manner in which the article itself is made. The same land rarely
produces very fine butter, and remarkably fine cheese; yet with proper
management, it may give one pretty good, where the other excels in
quality. Cheese made on the same land, from new milk, skimmed or mixed
milk, will differ greatly, not only in richness, but also in taste.
Valuable cheese may be made from a tolerable pasture, by taking the
whole of two meals of milk, and proportioning the thickness of the vat
to the quantity, rather than having a wide and flat one, as the former
will produce the mellowest cheese. The addition of a pound of fresh-made
butter of a good quality, will cause the cheese made on poor land to be
of a very different quality from that usually produced by it. A few
cheeses thus made, when the weather is not extremely hot, and when the
cows are in full feed, are well adapted to the use of the parlour.
Cheese for common family use may very well be produced by two meals of
skim, and one of new milk; or on good land, by the skim milk only. The
principal ingredient in making cheese is the rennet, maw, or inner part
of a calf's stomach, which is cleaned, salted, and hung up in paper bags
to dry. The night before it is used, it is washed and soaked in a little
water. When the milk is ready, being put into a large tub, warm a part
of it to the degree of new milk; but if made too hot, the cheese will be
tough. Pour in as much rennet as will curdle the milk, and then cover it
over. Let it stand till completely turned; then strike the curd down
several times with the skimming dish, and let it separate, still keeping
it covered. There are two modes of breaking the curd, and there will be
a difference in the taste of the cheese, according as either is
observed. One is to gather it with the hands very gently towards the
side of the tub, letting the whey pass through the fingers till it is
cleared; and lading it off as it collects. The other is, to get the
whey from it by early breaking the curd. The last method deprives it of
many of its oily particles, and is therefore less proper. In pursuing
the process, put the vat on a ladder over the tub, and fill it with curd
by means of the skimmer. Press the curd close with the hand, add more as
it sinks, and finally leave it two inches above the edge. Before the vat
is filled, the cheesecloth must be laid at the bottom; and when full,
drawn smooth over on all sides. In salting the cheese, two modes may be
adopted; either by mixing it in the curd while in the tub, after the
whey is out, or by putting it in the vat, and crumbling the curd all to
pieces with it, after the first squeezing with the hand has dried it.
These different methods prevail in the different parts of the country.
Put a board under and over the vat, and place it in the press: in two
hours turn it out, and put in a fresh cheesecloth. Press it again for
eight or nine hours, salt it all over, and turn it again in the vat. Let
it stand in the press fourteen or sixteen hours, observing to put the
cheeses last made undermost. Before putting them the last time into the
vat, pare the edges if they do not look smooth. The vat should have
holes at the sides, and at the bottom, to let all the whey pass through.
Put on clean boards, and change and scald them. When cheese is made,
care must be taken to preserve it sound and good. For this purpose wash
it occasionally in warm whey, wipe it once a month, and keep it on a
rack. If wanted to ripen soon, a damp cellar will bring it forward. When
a whole cheese is cut, the inside of the larger quantity should be
spread with butter, and the outside wiped, to preserve it. To keep those
in daily use moist, let a clean cloth be wrung out from cold water, and
wrapt round them when carried from the table. Dry cheese may be used to
advantage to grate for serving with macaroni or eating without; and any
thing tending to prevent waste, is of some consequence in a system of
domestic economy. To preserve cheeses from decay, lay them in an airy
situation, and cover them with dried leaves of the yellow star of
Bethlehem. The tender branches of the common birch, will prevent the
ravages of mites. If cheese get hard, and lose its flavour, pour some
sweet wine over four ounces of pearlash, till the liquor ceases to
ferment. Filter the solution, dip into it some clean linen cloths, cover
the cheese with them, and put in a cool dry place. Turn the cheese every
day, repeat the application for some weeks, and the cheese will recover
its former flavour and goodness.


CHEESECAKES. Strain the whey from the curd of two quarts of milk; when
rather dry, crumble it through a coarse sieve. With six ounces of fresh
butter, mix one ounce of blanched almonds pounded, a little
orange-flower water, half a glass of raisin wine, a grated biscuit, four
ounces of currants, some nutmeg and cinnamon in fine powder. Beat them
up together with three eggs, and half a pint of cream, till quite light:
then fill the pattipans three parts full.--To make a plainer sort of
cheesecakes, turn three quarts of milk to curd; break it and drain off
the whey. When quite dry, break it in a pan, with two ounces of butter,
till perfectly smooth. Add a pint and a half of thin cream or good milk,
a little sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and three ounces of
currants.--Another way is to mix the curd of three quarts of milk, a
pound of currants, twelve ounces of Lisbon sugar, a quarter of an ounce
of cinnamon, the same of nutmeg, the peel of one lemon chopped as fine
as possible, the yolks of eight and the whites of six eggs, a pint of
scalded cream and a glass of brandy. Put a light thin puff paste in the
pattipans, and three parts fill them.


CHEESE PUFFS. Strain some cheese curd from the whey, and beat half a
pint of it fine in a mortar, with a spoonful and a half of flour, three
eggs, but only one white. Add a spoonful of orange-flower water, a
quarter of a nutmeg, and sugar to make it pretty sweet. Lay a little of
this paste, in small round cakes, on a tin plate. If the oven be hot, a
quarter of an hour will bake them. Serve the puffs with pudding sauce.


CHERRY BRANDY. Stone ten pounds of black cherries, bruise the stones in
a mortar, and put them to a gallon of the best brandy. Let it stand a
month close covered, pour it clear from the sediment, and bottle it.
Morella cherries managed in this way will make a fine rich cordial.


CHERRY JAM. To twelve pounds of ripe fruit, Kentish or duke cherries,
weigh one pound of sugar. Break the stones of part, and blanch them;
then put them to the fruit and sugar, and boil all gently till the jam
comes clear from the pan. Pour it into china plates to come up dry to
the table, and keep it in boxes with white paper between.


CHERRY PIE. This should have a mixture of other fruit; currants or
raspberries, or both. Currant pie is also best with raspberries.


CHERRY WINE. Mash some ripe cherries, and press them through a hair
sieve. Allow three pounds of lump sugar to two quarts of juice, stir
them together till the sugar is dissolved, and fill a small barrel with
the liquor. Add a little brandy, close down the bung when it has done
hissing, let it stand six months and bottle it off.


CHERRIES IN BRANDY. Weigh some fine morellas, cut off half the stalk,
prick them with a new needle, and drop them into a jar or wide-mouth
bottle. Pound three quarters of the weight of sugar or white candy, and
strew over; fill the bottle up with brandy, and tie a bladder over.


CHERVIL SAUCE. The flavour of this fine herb, so long a favourite with
the French cook, is a strong concentration of the combined taste of
parsley and fennel, but more aromatic and agreeable than either, and
makes an excellent sauce for boiled poultry or fish. Wash the chervil,
and pick it very clean; put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of
boiling water, boil the chervil about ten minutes, drain it on a sieve,
and mince it very fine. Put it into a sauce boat, mix with it by degrees
some good melted butter, and send it up in the boat.


CHESHIRE CHEESE. In preparing this article, the evening's milk is not
touched till the next morning, when the cream is taken off and warmed in
a pan, heated with boiling water; one third part of the milk is heated
in a similar manner. The cows being milked early in the morning, the new
milk, and that of the preceding night thus prepared, are poured into a
large tub along with the cream. A piece of rennet kept in lukewarm water
since the preceding evening, is put into the tub in order to curdle the
milk, and the curd is coloured by an infusion of marigolds or carrots
being rubbed into it. It is then stirred together, covered up warm, and
allowed to stand about half an hour till it is coagulated; when it is
first turned over with a bowl to separate the whey from the curds, and
broken soon after into small pieces. When it has stood some time, the
whey is taken out, and a weight laid at the bottom of the tub to press
out the remainder. As soon as it becomes more solid, it is cut into
slices, and turned over several times to extract all the whey, and again
pressed with weights. Being taken out of the tub, it is broken very
small, salted, and put into a cheese vat. It is then strongly pressed
and weighted, and wooden skewers are placed round the cheese, which are
frequently drawn out. It is then shifted out of the vat with a cloth
placed at the bottom; and being turned it is put into the vat again. The
upper part is next broken by the hand down to the middle, salted,
pressed, weighted, and skewered as before, till all the whey is
extracted. The cheese is then reversed into another vat, likewise warmed
with a cloth under it, and a tin hoop put round the upper part of the
cheese. These operations take up the greater part of the forenoon; the
pressing of the cheese requires about eight hours more, as it must be
twice turned in the vat, round which thin wire skewers are passed, and
shifted occasionally. The next morning it ought to be turned and pressed
again; and on the following day the outside is salted, and a cloth
binder tied round it. The outsides are sometimes rubbed with butter, in
order to give them a coat; and being turned and cleaned every day, they
are left to dry two or three weeks.


CHICKENS. Fowls are chiefly considered as an article of luxury, and are
generally sold at a high price; yet the rearing of them is seldom
productive of much pecuniary advantage. They are liable to innumerable
accidents in their early stages, which require incessant watchfulness
and care; and if the grain on which they feed is to be purchased, the
labour and expence are scarcely requited by the price they bear in the
market. The Irish peasantry are in the habit of rearing a great number
of fowls, by substituting the offal of potatoes instead of grain; but
the flesh is neither so firm nor so good as that of chickens raised in
England. It is much to be desired therefore, that encouragement could be
given to the cottagers of this country for rearing a larger quantity of
poultry, by means less expensive than the present, in order that the
market might be supplied on better terms with an article of food so fine
and delicate, and in such general respect. Various artificial means have
been used for brooding chickens, in order to increase their number, and
to bring them forward at an earlier season, but none of them have been
found to answer, though in Egypt immense quantities are raised every
year by the heat of ovens, bringing the eggs to a state of maturity. A
well-fed hen is supposed to lay about two hundred eggs in a year; but as
she does not sit more than once or twice in that time, it is but a small
quantity of chickens that can be hatched in the usual way, and it would
be highly desirable if some other expedient could be devised.--The most
expeditious way of fattening chickens is to mix a quantity of rice flour
sufficient for present use, with milk and a little coarse sugar, and
stir it over the fire till it comes to a thick paste. Feed the chickens
with it while it is warm by putting as much into their coops as they can
eat; and if a little beer be given them to drink, it will fatten them
very soon. A mixture of oatmeal and treacle made into crumbs is also
good food for chickens; and they are so fond of it, that they will grow
and fatten much faster than in the common way. Poultry in general should
be fed in coops, and kept very clean. Their common food is barley meal
mixed with water: this should not be put in troughs, but laid upon a
board, which should be washed clean every time fresh food is put upon
it. The common complaint of fowls, called the pip, is chiefly occasioned
by foul and heated water being given them. No water should be allowed,
more than is mixed up with their food; but they should often be provided
with some clean gravel in their coop.--The method of fattening poultry
for the London market, is liable to great objection. They are put into a
dark place, and crammed with a paste made of barley meal, mutton suet,
treacle or coarse sugar, mixed with milk, which makes them ripe in about
a fortnight; but if kept longer, the fever that is induced by this
continual state of repletion, renders them red and unsaleable, and
frequently kills them. Air and exercise are as indispensable to the
health of poultry as to other animals; and without it, the fat will be
all accumulated in the cellular membrane, instead of being dispersed
throughout the system. A barn-door fowl is preferable to any other, only
that it cannot be fatted in so short a time.


CHICKEN BROTH. Having boiled a chicken for panada, take off the skin and
the rump, and put it into the water it was boiled in. Add one blade of
mace, a slice of onion, and ten corns of white pepper. Simmer it till
the broth be of a pleasant flavour, adding a little water if necessary.
Beat a quarter of an ounce of sweet almonds with a tea-spoonful of water
till it is quite fine, boil it in the broth, and strain it. When cold,
remove the fat.


CHICKEN CURRIE. Cut up the chicken raw, slice onions, and fry both in
butter with great care, of a fine light brown; or if chickens that have
been dressed are used, fry only the onions. Having cut the joints into
two or three pieces each, lay them in a stewpan, with veal or mutton
gravy, and a clove or two of garlic. Simmer till the chicken is quite
tender. Half an hour before serving it up, rub smooth a spoonful or two
of currie powder, a spoonful of flour, and an ounce of butter; and add
this to the stew, with four large spoonfuls of cream, and a little salt.
Squeeze in a small lemon, when the dish is going to table.--A more easy
way to make currie is to cut up a chicken or young rabbit; if chicken,
take off the skin. Roll each piece in a mixture of a large spoonful of
flour, and half an ounce of currie powder. Slice two or three onions,
and fry them in butter, of a light brown; then add the meat, and fry all
together till the meat begin to brown. Put all into a stewpan, cover it
with boiling water, and simmer very gently two or three hours. If too
thick, add more water half an hour before serving. If the meat has been
dressed before, a little broth will be better than water, but the currie
is richer when made of fresh meat. Slices of underdone veal, turkey, or
rabbit, will make excellent currie. A dish of rice boiled dry should be
served with it.


CHICKEN PANADA. Boil a chicken in a quart of water, till about three
parts ready. Take off the skin, cut off the white meat when cold, and
pound it to a paste in a marble mortar, with a little of the liquor it
was boiled in. Season it with a little salt, a grate of nutmeg, and the
least bit of lemon peel. Boil it gently for a few minutes till it be
tolerably thick, but so it may be drank. The flesh of a chicken thus
reduced to a small compass, will be found very nourishing.


CHICKEN PIE. Cut up two young fowls, season them with white pepper,
salt, a little mace, nutmeg, and cayenne, all finely powdered. Put
alternately in layers the chicken, slices of ham, or fresh gammon of
bacon, forcemeat balls, and eggs boiled hard. If baked in a dish, add a
little water, but none if in a raised crust. Prepare some veal gravy
from the knuckle or scrag, with some shank-bones of mutton, seasoned
with herbs, onions, mace, and white pepper, to be poured into the pie
when it returns from the oven. If it is to be eaten hot, truffles,
morels, and mushrooms may be added; but not if it is to be eaten cold.
If baked in a raised crust, the gravy must be nicely strained, and then
put in cold as jelly. To make the jelly clear, give it a boil with the
whites of two eggs, after taking away the meat, and then run it through
a fine lawn sieve.--Rabbits, if young and fleshy, will make as good a
pie. Their legs should be cut short, and their breast-bones must not go
in, but will help to make the gravy.


CHICKEN SAUCE. An anchovy or two boned and chopped, some parsley and
onion chopped, and mixed together, with pepper, oil, vinegar, mustard,
walnut or mushroom ketchup, will make a good sauce for cold chicken,
veal, or partridge.


CHILI VINEGAR. Slice fifty English chilies, fresh and of a good colour,
and infuse them in a pint of the best vinegar. In a fortnight, this will
give a much finer flavour than can be obtained from foreign cayenne, and
impart an agreeable relish to fish sauce.


CHIMNEY PIECES. To blacken the fronts of stone chimney-pieces, mix oil
varnish with lamp black that has been sifted, and a little spirit of
turpentine to thin it to the consistence of paint. Wash the stone very
clean with soap and water, and sponge it with clear water. When
perfectly dry, brush it over twice with this colour, leaving it to dry
between the times, and it will look extremely well.


CHINA. Broken china may be repaired with cement, made of equal parts of
glue, the white of an egg, and white-lead mixed together. The juice of
garlic, bruised in a stone mortar, is also a fine cement for broken
glass or china; and if carefully applied, will leave no mark behind it.
Isinglass glue, mixed with a little finely sifted chalk, will answer the
same purpose, if the articles be not required to endure heat or
moisture.


CHINA CHILO. Mince a pint-basonful of undressed neck or leg of mutton,
with some of the fat. Put into a stewpan closely covered, two onions, a
lettuce, a pint of green peas, a tea-spoonful of salt, the same quantity
of pepper, four spoonfuls of water, and two or three ounces of
clarified butter. Simmer them together two hours, add a little cayenne
if approved, and serve in the middle of a dish of boiled dry rice.


CHINE OF BACON. One that has been salted and dried requires to be soaked
several hours in cold water, and scraped clean. Then take a handful of
beech, half as much parsley, a few sprigs of thyme, and a little sage,
finely chopped together. Make some holes in the chine with the point of
a knife, fill them with the herbs, skewer the meat up in a cloth, and
boil it slowly about three hours. A dried pig's face is cooked in the
same manner, adding a little salt, pepper, and bread crumbs to the
stuffing.


CHOCOLATE. Those who use much of this article, will find the following
mode of preparing it both useful and economical. Cut a cake of chocolate
into very small pieces, and put a pint of water into the pot; when it
boils, put in the chocolate. Mill it off the fire till quite melted,
then on a gentle fire till it boil; pour it into a bason, and it will
keep in a cool place eight or ten days or more. When wanted, put a
spoonful or two into some milk; boil it with sugar, and mill it well. If
not made too thick, this will form a very good breakfast or supper.


CHOCOLATE CREAM. Scrape into one quart of thick cream, an ounce of the
best chocolate, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Boil and mill it:
when quite smooth, take it off the fire, and leave it to be cold. Then
add the whites of nine eggs; whisk it, and take up the froth on sieves,
as other creams are done. Serve up the froth in glasses, to rise above
some of the cream.


CHOLIC. Young children are often afflicted with griping pains in the
bowels; and if attended with costiveness, it will be necessary to give
them very small doses of manna and rhubarb every half hour, till they
produce the desired effect. When the stools are green, a few drams of
magnesia, with one or two of rhubarb, according to the age of the
patient, may be given with advantage; but the greatest benefit will be
derived from clysters made of milk, oil and sugar, or a solution of
white soap and water. A poultice of bread, milk and oil, may likewise be
applied to the lower part of the belly, and frequently renewed with a
little warm milk to give it a proper consistence. The cholic in adults
arises from a variety of causes, not easily distinguished except by
professional persons; and therefore it is absolutely necessary to
abstain from all violent remedies, or it may be attended with fatal
consequences. Nothing can be applied with safety but emollient clysters
and fomentations, and to drink copiously of camomile tea, or any other
diluting liquor, till the spasms be relieved, and the nature of the
disease more clearly understood. Persons who are subject to the bilious
cholic in particular, should abstain from acrid, watery and oily food,
especially butter, fat meat, and hot liquors: and pursue a calm and
temperate course of life.


CHOPPED HANDS. Wash in common water, and then in rose water, a quarter
of a pound of hog's lard not salted; mix with it the yolks of two new
laid eggs, and a large spoonful of honey. Add as much fine oatmeal, or
almond paste, as will work it into a paste; and by frequently rubbing it
on the hands, it will keep them smooth, and prevent their being chopped.


CHOPPED LIPS. Put into a new tin saucepan, a quarter of an ounce of
benjamin, storax, and spermaceti, two pennyworth of alkanet root, a
large juicy apple chopped, a bunch of black grapes bruised, a quarter of
a pound of unsalted butter, and two ounces of bees wax. Simmer them
together till all be dissolved, and strain it through a linen. When
cold melt it again, and pour it into small pots or boxes, or make it
into cakes on the bottoms of tea-cups.


CHUMP OF VEAL. To dress it _à-la-daube_, cut off the chump end of the
loin, take out the edge bone, stuff the hollow with good forcemeat, tie
it up tight, and lay it in a stewpan with the bone that was taken out, a
little faggot of herbs, an anchovy, two blades of mace, a few white
peppercorns, and a pint of good veal broth. Cover the veal with slices
of fat bacon, and lay a sheet of white paper over it. Cover the pan
close, simmer it two hours, then take out the bacon, and glaze the veal.
Serve it on mushrooms, with sorrel sauce, or any other that may be
preferred.


CHURNING. In order to prepare for this important operation, the milk
when drawn from the cow, and carefully strained through a cloth or hair
sieve, should be put into flat wooden trays about three inches deep, and
perfectly clean and cool. The trays are then to be placed on shelves,
till the cream be completely separated; when it is to be nicely taken
off with a skimming dish, without lifting or stirring the milk. The
cream is then deposited in a separate vessel, till a proper quantity is
collected for churning. In hot weather, the milk should stand only
twenty-four hours, and be skimmed early in the morning before the dairy
becomes warm, or in the evening after sun-set. In winter the milk may
remain unskimmed for six and thirty or even eight and forty hours. The
cream should be preserved in a deep pan during the summer, and placed in
the coolest part of the dairy, or in a cellar where free air is
admitted. The cream which rises first to the surface is richer in
quality, and larger in quantity, than what rises afterwards. Thick milk
produces a smaller proportion of cream than that which is thinner,
though the former is of a richer quality: if therefore the thick milk be
diluted with water, it will afford more cream, but its quality will be
inferior. Milk carried about in pails, and partly cooled before it be
strained and poured into the trays, never throws up such good and
plentiful cream, as if it had been put into proper vessels immediately
after it came from the cow. Those who have not an opportunity of
churning every other day, should shift the cream daily into clean pans,
in order to keep it cool; but the churning should take place regularly
twice a week in hot weather, and in the morning before sun-rise, taking
care to fix the churn in a free circulation of air. In the winter time,
the churn must not be set so near the fire as to heat the wood, as by
this means the butter will acquire a strong rancid flavour. Cleanliness
being of the utmost importance, the common plunge-churn is preferable to
any other; but if a barrel-churn be requisite in a large dairy, it must
be kept thoroughly clean with salt and water. If a plunge-churn be used,
it may be set in a tub of cold water during the time of churning, which
will harden the butter in a considerable degree. The motion of the churn
should be regular, and performed by one person, or the butter will in
winter go back; and if the agitation be violent and irregular, the
butter will ferment in summer, and acquire a disagreeable flavour. The
operation of churning may be much facilitated by adding a table-spoonful
or two of distilled vinegar to a gallon of cream, but not till after the
latter has undergone considerable agitation. In many parts of England,
butter is artificially coloured in winter, though it adds nothing to its
goodness. The juice of carrots is expressed through a sieve, and mixed
with the cream when it enters the churn, to give it the appearance of
May butter. Very little salt is used in the best Epping butter; but a
certain proportion of acid, either natural or artificial, must be used
in the cream, in order to secure a successful churning. Some keep a
small quantity of the old cream for that purpose; some use a little
rennet, and others a few tea-spoonfuls of lemon juice. It has been
ascertained however, by a variety of experiments, that it is more
profitable to churn the cream, than to churn the whole milk, as is
practised in some parts of the country. Cream butter is also the richest
of the two, though it will not keep sweet so long.


CIDER. Particular caution is requisite in bottling this useful beverage,
in order to its being well preserved. To secure the bottles from
bursting, the liquor must be thoroughly fine before it be racked off. If
one bottle break, it will be necessary to open the remainder, and cork
them up again. Weak cider is more apt to burst the bottles, than that of
a better quality. Good corks, soaked in hot water, will be more safe and
pliant; and by laying the bottles so that the liquor may always keep the
corks wet and swelled, will tend much to its preservation. For this
purpose the ground is preferable to a frame, and a layer of sawdust
better than the bare floor; but the most proper situation would be a
stream of running water. In order to ripen bottled liquors, they are
sometimes exposed to moderate warmth, or the rays of the sun, which in a
few days will bring them to maturity.


CIDER CUP. To make a cooling drink, mix together a quart of cider, a
glass of white wine, one of brandy, one of capillaire, the juice of a
lemon, a bit of the peel pared thin, a sprig of borage or balm, a piece
of toasted bread, and nutmeg grated on the top.


CINNAMON CAKES. Whisk together in a pan six eggs, and two
table-spoonfuls of rose water. Add a pound of fine sugar sifted, a
desert-spoonful of pounded cinnamon, and flour sufficient to make it
into a paste. Roll it out, cut it into cakes, and bake them on writing
paper.


CITRON PUDDING. Boil some Windsor beans quite soft, take off the skins,
and beat a quarter of a pound of them into a paste. Then add as much
butter, four eggs well beaten, with some sugar and brandy. Put a
puff-paste in the dish, lay some slices of citron on it, pour in the
pudding, garnish with bits of citron round the edge of the dish, and
bake it in a moderate oven.


CLARIFIED BROTH. Put broth or gravy into a clean stewpan, break the
white and shell of an egg, beat them together and add them to the broth.
Stir it with a whisk; and when it has boiled a few minutes, strain it
through a tammis or a napkin.


CLARIFIED BUTTER. To make clarified butter for potted things, put some
butter into a sauceboat, and set it over the fire in a stewpan that has
a little water in it. When the butter is dissolved, the milky parts will
sink to the bottom, and care must be taken not to pour them over things
to be potted.


CLARIFIED DRIPPING. Mutton fat taken from the meat before it is roasted,
or any kind of dripping, may be sliced and boiled a few minutes; and
when it is cold, it will come off in a cake. This will make good crust
for any sort of meat pie, and may be made finer by boiling it three or
four times.


CLARIFIED SUGAR. Break in large lumps as much loaf sugar as is required,
and dissolve it in a bowl, allowing a pound of sugar to half a pint of
water. Set it over the fire, and add the white of an egg well whipt. Let
it boil up; and when ready to run over, pour in a little cold water to
give it a check. But when it rises the second time, take it off the
fire, and set it by in a pan a quarter of an hour. The foulness will
sink to the bottom, and leave a black scum on the top, which must be
taken off gently with a skimmer. Then pour the syrup very quickly from
the sediment, and set it by for sweetmeats.


CLARIFIED SYRUP. Break two pounds of double-refined sugar, and put it
into a stewpan that is well tinned, with a pint of cold spring water.
When the sugar is dissolved, set it over a moderate fire. Beat up half
the white of an egg, put it to the sugar before it gets warm, and stir
it well together. As soon as it boils take off the scum, and keep it
boiling till it is perfectly clear. Run it through a clean napkin, put
it into a close stopped bottle, and it will keep for months, as an
elegant article on the sideboard for sweetening.


CLARY WINE. Boil fifteen gallons of water, with forty-five pounds of
sugar, and skim it clean. When cool put a little to a quarter of a pint
of yeast, and so by degrees add a little more. In the course of an hour
put the smaller to the larger quantity, pour the liquor on clary
flowers, picked in the dry: the quantity for the above is twelve quarts.
If there be not a sufficient quantity ready to put in at once, more may
be added by degrees, keeping an account of each quart. When the liquor
ceases to hiss, and the flowers are all in, stop it up for four months.
Rack it off, empty the barrel of the dregs, and add a gallon of the best
brandy. Return the liquor to the cask, close it up for six or eight
weeks, and then bottle it off.


CLEANLINESS. Nothing is more conducive to health than cleanliness, and
the want of it is a fault which admits of no excuse. It is so agreeable
to our nature, that we cannot help approving it in others, even if we do
not practise it ourselves. It is an ornament to the highest as well as
to the lowest station, and cannot be dispensed with in either: it ought
to be cultivated everywhere, especially in populous towns and cities.
Frequent washing not only improves the appearance, but promotes
perspiration, by removing every impediment on the skin, while at the
same time it braces the body, and enlivens the spirits. Washing the feet
and legs in lukewarm water, after being exposed to cold and wet, would
prevent the ill effects which proceed from these causes, and greatly
contribute to health. Diseases of the skin, a very numerous class, are
chiefly owing to the want of cleanliness, as well as the various kinds
of vermin which infest the human body; and all these might be prevented
by a due regard to our own persons. One common cause of putrid and
malignant fevers is the want of cleanliness. They usually begin among
the inhabitants of close and dirty houses, who breathe unwholesome air,
take little exercise, and wear dirty clothes. There the infection is
generally hatched, and spreads its desolation far and wide. If dirty
people cannot be removed as a common nuisance, they ought at least to be
avoided as infectious, and all who regard their own health should keep
at a distance from their habitations. Infectious diseases are often
communicated by tainted air: every thing therefore which gives a noxious
exhalation, or tends to spread infection, should be carefully avoided.
In great towns no filth of any kind should be suffered to remain in the
streets, and great pains should be taken to keep every dwelling clean
both within and without. No dunghills or filth of any kind should be
allowed to remain near them. When an infection breaks out, cleanliness
is the most likely means to prevent its spreading to other places, or
its returning again afterwards. It will lodge a long time in dirty
clothes, and be liable to break out again; and therefore the bedding
and clothing of the sick ought to be carefully washed, and fumigated
with brimstone. Infectious diseases are not only prevented, but even
cured by cleanliness; while the slightest disorders, where it is
neglected, are often changed into the most malignant. Yet it has so
happened, that the same mistaken care which prevents the least admission
of fresh air to the sick, has introduced the idea also of keeping them
dirty; than which nothing can be more injurious to the afflicted, or
more repugnant to common sense. In a room too, where cleanliness is
neglected, a person in perfect health has a greater chance to become
sick, than a sick person has to get well. It is also of great
consequence, that cleanliness should be strictly regarded by those
especially who are employed in preparing food; such as butchers, bakers,
brewers, dairy maids, and cooks; as negligence in any of these may prove
injurious to the public health. Good housekeepers will keep a careful
eye on these things, and every person of reflection will see the
necessity of cultivating general cleanliness as of great importance to
the wellbeing of society.


CLEAR BROTH. To make a broth that will keep long, put the mouse round of
beef into a deep pan, with a knuckle bone of veal, and a few shanks of
mutton. Cover it close with a dish or coarse crust, and bake with as
much water as will cover it, till the beef is done enough for eating.
When cold, cover it close, and keep it in a cool place. When to be used,
give it any flavour most approved.


CLEAR GRAVY. Slice some beef thin, broil a part of it over a very clear
quick fire, just enough to give a colour to the gravy, but not to dress
it. Put that and the raw beef into a very nicely tinned stewpan, with
two onions, a clove or two, whole black pepper, berries of allspice,
and a bunch of sweet herbs. Cover it with hot water, give it one boil,
and skim it well two or three times. Then cover it, and simmer till it
be quite strong.


CLOTHING. Those who regard their health should be careful to adapt their
clothing to the state of the climate, and the season of the year.
Whatever be the influence of custom, there is no reason why our clothing
should be such as would suit an inhabitant of the torrid or the frigid
zones, but of the state of the air around us, and of the country in
which we live. Apparel may be warm enough for one season of the year,
which is by no means sufficient for another; we ought therefore neither
to put off our winter garments too soon, nor wear our summer ones too
long. Every change of this sort requires to be made cautiously, and by
degrees. In general, all clothes should be light and easy, and in no
instance ought health and comfort to be sacrificed to pride and vanity.
In the early part of life it is not necessary to wear many clothes: but
in the decline of life, when many diseases proceed from a defect of
perspiration, plenty of warm clothing is required. Attention should also
be paid to the constitution, in this as well as in other cases. Some
persons can endure either cold or heat better than others, and may
therefore be less mindful of their clothing: the great object is to wear
just so many garments as is sufficient to keep the body warm, and no
more. Shoes in particular should be easy to the foot, and all tight
bandages on every part of the body carefully avoided.


CLOUTED CREAM. String four blades of mace on a thread, put them to a
gill of new milk, and six spoonfuls of rose water. Simmer a few minutes,
then by degrees strain the liquor to the yolks of two eggs well beaten.
Stir the whole into a quart of rich cream, and set it over the fire;
keep it stirring till hot, but not boiling; pour it into a deep dish,
and let it stand twenty-four hours. Serve it in a cream dish, to eat
with fruits. Some prefer it without any flavour but that of cream; in
which case use a quart of new milk and the cream, or do it as the
Devonshire scalded cream. When done enough, a round mark will appear on
the surface of the cream, the size of the bottom of the pan, which is
called the ring; and when that is seen, remove the pan from the fire.


CLYSTER. A common clyster is made of plain gruel strained, and a
table-spoonful of oil or salt. A pint is sufficient for a grown person.


COCK CHAFFERS. This species of the beetle, sometimes called the May bug,
is a formidable enemy to the husbandman, and has been found to swarm in
such numbers, as to devour every kind of vegetable production. The
insect is first generated in the earth, from the eggs deposited by the
fly in its perfect state. In about three months, the insects contained
in these eggs break the shell, and crawl forth in the shape of a grub or
maggot, which feeds upon the roots of vegetables, and continues in this
state of secret annoyance for more than three years, gradually growing
to the size of an acorn. It is the thick white maggot with a red head,
so frequently found in turning up the soil. At the end of the fourth
year, they emerge from the earth, and may be seen in great numbers in
the mild evenings of May. The willow seems to be their favourite food;
on this they hang in clusters, and seldom quit it till they have
completely devoured its foliage. The most effectual way to destroy them,
is to beat them off with poles, and then to collect and burn them. The
smoke of burning heath, fern, or other weeds, will prevent their
incursions in gardens, or expel them if they have entered.


COCK ROACHES. These insects, consisting of various species, penetrate
into chests and drawers, and do considerable injury to linen, books, and
other articles. They seldom appear till night, when they infest beds,
and bite very severely, leaving an unpleasant smell. The best remedy is
to fill an earthen dish with small beer, sweetened with coarse sugar,
and set in the place infested. Lay a board against the pan, to form a
kind of ladder, and the insects will ascend and fall into the liquor.


COCKLE KETCHUP. Open the cockles, scald them in their own liquor, and
add a little water, if there be not enough; but it is better to have a
sufficient quantity of cockles, than to dilute it with water. Strain the
liquor through a cloth, and season it with savoury spices. If for brown
sauce, add port, anchovies, and garlic: a bit of burnt sugar will
heighten the colouring. If for white sauce, omit these, and put in a
glass of sherry, some lemon juice and peel, mace, nutmeg, and white
pepper.


COD FISH. In season from the beginning of December till the end of
April. To be quite good, the fish should be thick at the neck, the flesh
white and firm, the gills very red, and the eyes bright and fresh. When
flabby, they are not good. The cod is generally boiled whole; but a
large head and shoulders contain all that is relishing, the thinner
parts being overdone and tasteless before the thick are ready. But the
whole fish may often be purchased more reasonably; and the lower half,
if sprinkled and hung up, will be in high perfection one or two days. Or
it may be made salter, and served with egg sauce, potatoes, and
parsnips. Small cod is usually very cheap. If boiled fresh, it is
watery; but eats well if salted and hung up for a day, to give it
firmness. Then it should be stuffed and boiled, or it is equally good
broiled.


COD'S HEAD. The head and shoulders of the cod will eat much finer by
having a little salt rubbed down the bone, and along the thick part,
even if eaten the same day. Tie it up, put it on the fire in cold water
sufficient to cover it, and throw a handful of salt into it. Great care
must be taken to serve it up without the smallest speck of black, or
scum. Garnish with plenty of double parsley, lemon, horse radish, and
the milt, roe and liver, and fried smelts, if approved. If with smelts,
no water must be suffered to hang about the fish, or the beauty and
flavour of the smelts will be lost. Serve with plenty of oyster or
shrimp sauce, anchovy and butter.


COD PIE. Take a piece of the middle of a small cod, and salt it well one
night. Wash it the next day, season with pepper and salt, mixed with a
very little nutmeg. Lay the meat in a dish, with the addition of a
little good broth of any kind, and some bits of butter on it. Cover the
dish with a crust, and bake it. When done, make a sauce of a spoonful of
broth, a quarter of a pint of cream, a little flour and butter, and a
dust of grated lemon and nutmeg. Give it one boil, and pour it into the
pie. Oysters may be added, but parsley will do instead. Mackarel may be
done in the same way, but must not be salted till they are used.


COD SOUNDS BOILED. Soak them in warm water half an hour, then scrape and
clean them. If to be dressed white, boil them in milk and water. When
tender, serve them up in a napkin, with egg sauce. The salt must not be
much soaked out, unless for fricassee.


COD SOUNDS BROILED. Scald them in hot water, rub well with salt, pull
off the dirty skin, and simmer them till tender. Then take them out,
flour, and broil them. While this is doing, season a little brown gravy
with pepper, salt, a tea-spoonful of soy, and a little mustard. Give it
a boil with a little flour and butter, and pour it over the sounds.


COD SOUNDS RAGOUT. Having scalded, cleaned, and rubbed them well with
salt, stew them in white gravy seasoned. Before they are served, add a
little cream, butter and flour, gently boiling up. A bit of lemon peel,
nutmeg, and the least pounded mace, will give it a good flavour.


COD SOUNDS LIKE CHICKENS. Carefully wash three large sounds, boil them
in milk and water, but not too tender. When cold, put a forcemeat of
chopped oysters, crumbs of bread, a bit of butter, nutmeg, pepper, salt,
and the yolks of two eggs. Spread it thin over the sounds, roll up each
in the form of a chicken, and skewer it. Then lard them as chickens,
dust a little flour over, and roast them slowly in a tin oven. When done
enough, pour over them a fine oyster sauce, and place them on the table
as a side or corner dish.


CODLINS. This fruit may be kept for several months, if gathered of a
middling size at midsummer, and treated in the following manner. Put
them into an earthen pan, pour boiling water over them, and cover the
pan with cabbage leaves. Keep them by the fire till ready to peel, but
do not peel them; then pour off the water, and leave them cold. Place
the codlins in a stone jar with a smallish mouth, and pour on the water
that scalded them. Cover the pot with bladder wetted and tied very
close, and then over it coarse paper tied again. The fruit is best kept
in small jars, such as will be used at once when opened.


CODLIN CREAM. Pare and core twenty good codlins; beat them in a mortar
with a pint of cream, and strain it into a dish. Put to it sugar, bread
crumbs, and a glass of wine; and stir it well.


CODLIN TART. Scald the fruit, and take off the skin. Put a little of the
liquor on the bottom of a dish, lay in the apples whole, and strew them
over with Lisbon or fine sugar. When cold, put a paste round the edges,
and over the fruit. Moisten the crust with the white of an egg, and
strew some fine sugar over it; or cut the lid in quarters, without
touching the paste on the edge of the dish. Remove the lid when cold,
pour in a good custard, and sift it over with sugar. Another way is to
line the bottom of a shallow dish with paste, lay in the scalded fruit,
sweeten it, and lay little twists of paste over in bars.


COFFEE. Put two ounces of fresh-ground coffee, of the best quality, into
a coffee pot, and pour eight coffee cups of boiling water on it. Let it
boil six minutes, and return it; then put in two or three chips of
isinglass, and pour on it one large spoonful of boiling water. Boil it
five minutes more, and set the pot by the fire for ten minutes to keep
it hot: the coffee will then be of a beautiful clearness. Fine cream
should always be served with coffee, and either pounded sugar-candy, or
fine Lisbon sugar. If for foreigners, or those who like it very strong,
make only eight dishes from three ounces. If not fresh roasted, lay it
before the fire until perfectly hot and dry; or put the smallest bit of
fresh butter into a preserving pan, and when hot, throw the coffee into
it, and toss it about until it be freshened, but let it be quite cold
before it is ground.--But as coffee possesses a raw and astringent
quality, which often disagrees with weak stomachs, and by being drank
too warm is as frequently rendered unwholesome, the following is
recommended as an improved method of preparing it. To an ounce of
coffee, add a tea-spoonful of the best flour of mustard, to correct its
acidity, and improve its fragrance; and in order to render it truly fine
and wholesome, it should be made the evening before it is wanted. Let an
ounce of fresh-ground coffee be put into a clean coffee pot well tinned,
pour upon it a full pint of boiling water, set it on the fire, and after
it has well boiled, let it stand by to settle. Next morning pour off the
clear liquor, add to it a pint of new milk, warm it over the fire, and
sweeten it to taste. Coffee made in this way, will be found particularly
suitable to persons of a weak and delicate habit.--A substitute for
foreign coffee may be prepared from the acorns of the oak, by shelling
and dividing the kernels, drying and roasting them gradually in a close
vessel, and keeping them constantly stirring. Grind it like other
coffee, and either use it alone, or mix with it a small quantity of
foreign coffee. The seeds of the flower de luce, or common waterflag,
being roasted in the same manner as coffee, very much resembles it in
colour and flavour. Coffee made of these seeds is extremely wholesome,
in the proportion of an ounce to a pint of boiling water.


COFFEE CAKES. Melt some fresh butter in a pint of thin cream, and work
up with it four pounds of dried flour. Add a pound of sugar, a pint of
yeast, and half an ounce of carraways. Stir them all together, set it
before the fire to rise, roll the paste out thin, cut it into small
cakes, and bake them on buttered paper.


COFFEE CREAM. Boil a calf's foot in water till reduced to a pint of
jelly, clear of sediment and fat. Make a tea-cupful of strong fresh
coffee, clear it perfectly bright with isinglass, and pour it to the
jelly. Add a pint of very good cream, sweeten it with fine Lisbon
sugar, boil it up once, and pour it into the dish. This article is much
admired, but the jelly must not be stiff, and the coffee must be fresh.


COFFEE MILK. Boil a dessert-spoonful of ground coffee, in nearly a pint
of milk, a quarter of an hour. Then put in a shaving or two of isinglass
to clear it; let it boil a few minutes, and set it on the side of the
fire to grow fine. This makes a very fine breakfast; it should be
sweetened with real Lisbon sugar of a good quality.


COLD CAUDLE. Boil a quart of spring water; when cold, add the yolk of an
egg, the juice of a small lemon, six spoonfuls of sweet wine, sugar to
taste, and syrup of lemons one ounce.


COLD FISH. Soles, cod, whitings, or smelts may be cut into bits, and put
into scallop shells, with cold oyster, lobster, or shrimp sauce. Having
added some bread crumbs, they may be put into a Dutch oven, and browned
like scalloped oysters.


COLD MEAT. If it be a little underdone, the best way to warm it up is to
sprinkle over a little salt, and put it into a Dutch oven at some
distance before a gentle fire, that it may warm gradually. Watch it
carefully, and keep turning it till it is quite hot and brown, and serve
it up with gravy. This is preferable to hashing, as it will retain more
of its original flavour. Roast beef or mutton, of course, are best for
this purpose.


COLD SALLAD. Boil an egg quite hard, put the yolk into a sallad dish,
mash it with a spoonful of water, then add a little of the best sallad
oil or melted butter, a tea-spoonful of ready-made mustard, and some
vinegar. Cut the sallad small and mix it together, adding celery,
radishes, or other sallad herbs with it. Onions may be served in a
saucer, rather than mixed in the bowl. An anchovy may be washed, cut
small, and mixed with it; also a bit of beet root, and the white of an
egg. Celery may be prepared in the same way.


COLDS. For a bad cold take a large tea-cupful of linseed, two pennyworth
of stick liquorice, and a quarter of a pound of sun raisins. Put them
into two quarts of water, and let it simmer over a slow fire till
reduced one half. Then add a quarter of a pound of sugar-candy pounded,
a table-spoonful of rum, and the same of lemon juice or vinegar. The rum
and lemon juice are better added when the mixture is taken, or they are
apt to grow flat. Take half a pint just warm at bed time.


COLLARED BEEF. Choose the thin end of the flank of fine mellow beef, but
not too fat: lay it into a dish with salt and saltpetre, turn and rub it
every day for a week, and keep it cool. Then take out every bone and
gristle, remove the skin of the inside part, and cover it thick with the
following seasoning cut small; a large handful of parsley, the same of
sage, some thyme, marjoram and pennyroyal, pepper, salt, and allspice.
Roll the meat up as tight as possible, and bind it round with a cloth
and tape; then boil it gently for seven or eight hours. Put the beef
under a good weight while hot, without undoing it: the shape will then
be oval. Part of a breast of veal rolled in with the beef, looks and
eats very well.


COLLARED EEL. Bone a large eel, but do not skin it. Mix up pepper, salt,
mace, allspice, and a clove or two, in the finest powder, and rub over
the whole inside: roll it tight, and bind it with a coarse tape. Boil it
in salt and water till done enough, then add vinegar, and when cold keep
the collar in pickle. Serve it either whole or in slices. Chopped
parsley, sage, a little thyme, knotted marjoram, and savoury, mixed with
the spices, greatly improve the taste.


COLLARED MACKAREL. Do them the same as eels, omitting the herbs.


COLLARED MUTTON. Take out the bones and gristle of a breast of mutton,
lay the meat flat, and rub it over with egg. Mix some grated bread,
pounded cloves and mace, pepper, salt, and lemon peel, and strew over
it. Two or three anchovies, washed and boned, may be added. Roll the
meat up hard, bind it with tape and boil it; or if skewered, it may
either be roasted or baked.


COLLARED PORK. Bone a breast of pork, and season it with thyme, parsley
and sage. Roll it hard, tie it up in a cloth, and boil it. Press it
well, take it out of the cloth when cold, and keep it in the liquor it
was boiled in.


COLLARED PORK'S HEAD. Clean it well, take out the brains, rub it with a
handful of salt, and two ounces of saltpetre. Let it lie a fortnight in
brine, then wash it, and boil it till the bones will easily come out.
Lay it in a dish, take off the skin carefully, take out the bones, and
peel the tongue. Mix a handful of sage, a little thyme, and four shalots
chopped fine. Put the meat to it, and chop it into pieces about an inch
square. Put a thin cloth into an earthen pot, lay in the meat, cover the
cloth over, and press it down. Set the pot in the liquor again, boil it
nearly an hour longer, then take it out, place a weight on the cover
within side, and let it remain all night. Take it out, strip off the
cloth, and eat the collar with mustard and vinegar.


COLLARED SALMON. Split such part of the fish as may be sufficient to
make a handsome roll, wash and wipe it; and having mixed salt, white
pepper, pounded mace, and Jamaica pepper, in quantity to season it very
high, rub it inside and out well. Then roll it tight and bandage it, put
as much water and one third vinegar as will cover it, adding bay
leaves, salt, and both sorts of pepper. Cover it close, and simmer till
it is done enough. Drain and boil the liquor, put it on when cold, and
serve with fennel. It is an elegant dish, and extremely good.


COLLARED VEAL. Bone the breast and beat it, rub it with egg, and strew
over it a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt, minced
parsley, sweet marjoram, lemon peel, crumbs of bread, and an anchovy.
Roll it up tight in a cloth, and boil it two hours and a half in salt
and water. Hang it up, or press it: make a pickle for it of the liquor
it was boiled in, and half the quantity of vinegar.


COLLEGE PUDDINGS. Grate the crumb of a two-penny loaf, shred eight
ounces of suet, and mix with eight ounces of currants, one of citron
mixed fine, one of orange, a handful of sugar, half a nutmeg, three eggs
beaten, yolk and white separately. Mix and make into the size and shape
of a goose-egg. Put half a pound of butter into a fryingpan; and when
melted and quite hot, stew them gently in it over a stove; turn them two
or three times, till they are of a fine light brown. Mix a glass of
brandy with the batter, and serve with pudding sauce.


COLOURING FOR JELLIES. For a beautiful Red, take fifteen grains of
cochineal in the finest powder, and a dram and a half of cream of
tartar. Boil them in half a pint of water very slowly for half an hour,
adding a bit of alum the size of a pea; or use beet root sliced, and
some liquor poured over. For White, use cream; or almonds finely
powdered, with a spoonful of water. For Yellow, yolks of eggs, or a
little saffron steeped in the liquor and squeezed. For Green, spinach or
beet leaves bruised and pressed, and the juice boiled to take off the
rawness. Any of these will do to stain jellies, ices, or cakes.


COLOURING FOR SOUPS. Put four ounces of lump sugar, a gill of water, and
half an ounce of fine butter into a small tosser, and set it over a
gentle fire. Stir it with a wooden spoon, till of a light brown. Then
add half a pint of water; let it boil and skim it well. When cold,
bottle and cork it close. Add to either soup or gravy as much of this as
will give it a proper colour.


COMMON CAKE. Mix three quarters of a pound of flour with half a pound of
butter, four ounces of sugar, four eggs, half an ounce of carraways, and
a glass of raisin wine. Beat it well, and bake it in a quick oven.--A
better sort of common cake may be made of half a pound of butter, rubbed
into two pounds of dried flour; then add three spoonfuls of yeast that
is not bitter, and work it to a paste. Let it rise an hour and a half;
then mix in the yolks and whites of four eggs beaten separately, a pound
of Lisbon sugar, about a pint of milk to make it of a proper thickness,
a glass of sweet wine, the rind of a lemon, and a tea-spoonful of
powdered ginger. A pound of currants, or some carraways may be added,
and let the whole be well beaten together.


COMMON PLANTS. The virtues of a great number of ordinary plants and
weeds being but little understood, they are generally deemed useless;
but they have properties nevertheless which might be rendered useful, if
carefully and judiciously applied. The young shoots and leaves of
chick-weed, for example, may be boiled and eaten like spinach, are
equally wholesome, and can scarcely be distinguished from it. The juice
expressed from the stem and leaves of goose-grass, taken to the amount
of four ounces, night and morning for several weeks, is very efficacious
in scorbutic complaints, and other cutaneous eruptions. The smell of
garlic is an infallible remedy against the vapours, faintings, and
other hysteric affections. The common poppy is an antidote to the stings
of venomous insects, and a remedy for inflammation of the eyes: it also
cures the pleurisy, and spitting of blood. Sage taken in any form tends
to cleanse and enrich the blood: it makes a good cordial, and is highly
useful in cases of nervous debility. It is often given in fevers with a
view to promote perspiration, and with the addition of a little lemon
juice it makes a grateful and cooling beverage.


COOL TANKARD. Put into a quart of mild ale a glass of white wine, one of
brandy, one of capillaire, the juice of a lemon, and a little piece of
the rind. Add a sprig of borage or balm, a bit of toasted bread, and
nutmeg grated on the top.


COPPER. Many serious accidents have been occasioned by the use of copper
in kitchen requisites. The eating of fruit especially that has been
prepared in a copper stewpan, where some of the oxide was insensibly
imbibed, has been known to produce death; or if coffee grounds are
suffered to remain long in a copper coffee-pot, and afterwards mixed
with fresh coffee, for the sake of economy, the effects will be highly
injurious, if not fatal. The best antidote in such cases, when they
unhappily occur, is to take immediately a large spoonful of powdered
charcoal, mixed with honey, butter, or treacle; and within two hours
afterwards, an emetic or a cathartic to expel the poison.


COPPERS. In domestic economy, the necessity of keeping copper vessels
always clean, is generally acknowledged; but it may not perhaps be so
generally known, that fat and oily substances, and vegetable acids, do
not attack copper while hot; and therefore, that if no liquor were
suffered to remain and grow cold in copper vessels, they might be used
for every culinary purpose with perfect safety. The object is to clean
and dry the vessels well before they turn cold.


COPYING LETTERS. Dissolve a little sugar in the ink, and write with it
as usual. When a copy is required, moisten a piece of unsized paper
lightly with a sponge, and apply it to the writing; then smooth the wet
paper over with a warm iron, such as is used in a laundry, and the copy
is immediately produced without the use of a machine.


COPYING PRINTS. Moisten a piece of paper with a solution of soap and
alum, lay it on the print or picture, and pass it under a rolling press.
Another method is to have a small frame in the form of a basin stand,
enclosing a square of glass on the pot, on which the print is laid with
the paper upon it; and then placing a candle under the glass, the print
may be traced with a pencil, or pen and ink. Impressions may also be
transferred by mixing a little vermillion with linseed oil so as to make
it fluid; then with a pen dipped in it, trace every line of the print
accurately. Turn the print with its face downwards on a sheet of white
paper, wet the back of the print, lay another sheet upon it, and press
it till the red lines are completely transferred.


CORKS. Economy in corks is very unwise: in order to save a mere trifle
in the purchase, there is a danger of losing some valuable article which
it is intended to preserve. None but velvet taper corks should be used
for liquors that are to be kept for any length of time; and when a
bottle of ketchup or of anchovy is opened, the cork should be thrown
away, and a new one put in that will fit it very tight. If a cork is
forced down even with the mouth of the bottle, it is too small, and
should be drawn, that a larger one may be put in.


CORK CEMENT. Liquors and preserves, intended to be kept a long time, are
often spoiled by the clumsy and ineffectual manner in which they are
fastened down. Bottles therefore should be secured with the following
cement, spread upon the cork after it is cut level with the top of the
bottle. Melt in an earthen or iron pot half a pound of black rosin, half
a pound of sealing wax, and a quarter of a pound of bees wax. When it
froths up, and before all is melted and likely to boil over, stir it
with a tallow candle, which will settle the froth till all is melted and
fit for use.


CORNS. Apply to warts and corns, a piece of soft brown paper moistened
with saliva, and a few dressings will remove them. A convenient plaster
may also be made of an ounce of pitch, half an ounce of galbanum
dissolved in vinegar, one scruple of ammoniac, and a dram and a half of
diachylon mixed together.


COSTIVENESS. From whatever cause it may arise, frequent exercise in the
open air, and abstinence from heating liquors, will be found very
beneficial. To those who are afflicted with this complaint, it is
particularly recommended that they should visit the customary retreat
every morning at a stated hour, that nature may in this respect, by
perseverance, acquire a habit of regularity. In obstinate cases, three
drams of carbon may be taken two or three times a day, mixed with three
ounces of lenitive electuary, and two drams of carbonate of soda, as
circumstances may require. Half an ounce of Epsom salts, dissolved in a
tumbler or two of cold water, and drank at intervals, will have a very
salutary effect.


COTTENHAM CHEESE. Though this is so much noted for its superior flavour
and delicacy, it does not appear to be owing to any particular
management of the dairy, but rather to the fragrance of the herbage on
which the cows feed in that part of the country.


COUGHS. The extract of malt will be found an excellent remedy for coughs
or colds. Pour as much hot water over half a bushel of pale ground malt
as will just cover it; the water must not be boiling. In forty-eight
hours drain off the liquor entirely, but without squeezing the grains.
Put the former into a large sweetmeat pan, or saucepan, that there may
be room to boil as quick as possible, without boiling over. When it
begins to thicken, stir it constantly, till it becomes as thick as
treacle. Take a dessert-spoonful of it three times a day.--Another
remedy for a bad cough may be prepared as follows. Mix together a pint
of simple mint water, two table-spoonfuls of sallad oil, two
tea-spoonfuls of hartshorns, sweetened with sugar, and take two large
spoonfuls of the mixture two or three times a day.


COURT PLAISTER. Dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in an ounce of
water, and boil it till the water is nearly all consumed; then add
gradually a dram of Friar's balsam, and stir them well together. Dip a
brush in the hot mixture, and spread it on a piece of clean silk.


COWS. In the management of cows intended for the dairy, a warm stable or
cowhouse is of great importance. Cows kept at pasture will require from
one to two acres of land each to keep them during the summer months; but
if housed, the produce of one fourth part will be sufficient. Their
dung, which would otherwise be wasted on the ground by the action of the
sun and weather, is hereby easily preserved, and given to the soil where
it is most wanted, and in the best condition. The treading on the grass
and pasture, which diminishes its value, is prevented; the expence of
division-fences is avoided, and the time and trouble of driving them
about is all saved. They are also kept more cool, are less tormented by
flies than if pastured, acquire good coats and full flesh, though they
consume a much smaller quantity of food. They are in all respects more
profitably kept in the house, than out of doors; but they must be
regularly and gradually trained to it, or they will not thrive. Cows
should always be kept clean, laid dry, and have plenty of good water to
drink. They should never be suffered to drink at stagnant pools, or
where there are frogs, spawn, or filth of any kind; or from common
sewers or ponds that receive the drainings of stables, or such kind of
places; all which are exceedingly improper. One of the most effectual
means of rendering their milk sweet and wholesome, as well as increasing
its quantity, is to let them drink freely of water in which the most
fragrant kind of clover or lucern has been steeped: and if they are
curried in the same manner as horses, they will not only receive
pleasure from it, but give their milk more freely. In Holland, where the
greatest attention is paid to all kinds of domestic animals, the
haunches of dairy cows are washed morning and evening with warm water
previous to milking, and after calving are clothed with sacking. The
floors of their cowhouses are paved with brick, with a descent in the
middle, where a gutter carries off the drain, and the place is kept
perfectly clean with a broom and pails of water. The filthy state in
which cows are confined in the vicinity of London, and other large
cities, and the manner in which they are literally crammed, not with
wholesome food, but with such things as are calculated to produce an
abundance of milk, cannot be too severely reprobated as injurious to the
public health. It is also notorious, that vessels of hot and cold water
are always kept in these cowhouses for the accommodation of mercenary
retailers, who purchase a quantity of milk at a low price, and then mix
it with such a proportion of water as they think necessary to reduce it
to a proper standard; when it is hawked about at an exorbitant price.
The milk is not pure in its original state, and being afterwards
adulterated, it is scarcely fit for any purpose in a family. The first
object in the article of food, is wholesomeness; and grass growing
spontaneously on good meadow-land is in general deemed most proper for
cows intended to supply the dairy. The quantity of milk produced by
those which feed on sainfoin is however nearly double to that of any
other provender: it is also richer in quality, and will yield a larger
quantity of cream: of course the butter will be better coloured and
flavoured than any other. Turnips and carrots form an excellent article,
and cannot be too strongly recommended, especially as a winter food; but
they should be cleaned and cut; and parsnips, with the tops taken off
will produce abundance of milk, of a superior quality; and cows will eat
them freely though they are improper for horses. Of all vegetable
productions, perhaps the cabbage is the most exuberant for this purpose,
and ought by all means to be encouraged. The drum-headed cabbage, and
the hardy variety of a deep green colour with purple veins, and of the
same size with the drum-head, are particularly useful in the feeding of
cows, and afford an increase of milk far superior to that produced by
turnips. They are also excellent for the fattening of cattle, which they
will do six weeks sooner than any other vegetables, though the cabbage
plant is generally supposed to impart a disagreeable flavour to butter
and cheese made from the milk of cows fed upon it, yet this may easily
be prevented by putting a gallon of boiling water to six gallons of
milk, when it is standing in the trays; or by dissolving an ounce of
saltpetre in a quart of spring water, and mixing about a quarter of a
pint of it with ten or twelve gallons of milk as it comes from the cow.
By breaking off the loose leaves, and giving only the sound part to the
cows, this disagreeable quality may also be avoided, as other cattle
will eat the leaves without injury. When a cow has been milked for
several years, and begins to grow old, the most advantageous way is to
make her dry. To effect this, bruise six ounces of white rosin, and
dissolve it in a quart of water. The cow having been housed, should then
be bled and milked; and after the mixture has been administered, she
should be turned into good grass. She is no longer to be milked, but
fattened on rich vegetables. Cows intended for breeding, should be
carefully selected from those which give plenty of milk. During three
months previously to calving, if in the spring, they should be turned
into sweet grass; or if it happen in the winter, they ought to be well
fed with the best hay. The day and night after they have calved, they
should be kept in the house, and lukewarm water only allowed for their
drink. They may be turned out the next day, if the weather be warm, but
regularly taken in for three or four successive nights; or if the
weather be damp and cold, it is better to girt them round with sacking,
or keep them wholly within. Cows thus housed should be kept in every
night, till the morning cold is dissipated, and a draught of warm water
given them previously to their going to the field. If the udder of a
milking cow becomes hard and painful, it should be fomented with warm
water and rubbed with a gentle hand. Or if the teats are sore, they
should be soaked in warm water twice a day; and either be dressed with
soft ointment, or done with spirits and water. If the former, great
cleanliness is necessary: the milk at these times is best given to the
pigs. Or if a cow be injured by a blow or wound, the part affected
should be suppled several times a day with fresh butter; or a salve
prepared of one ounce of Castile soap dissolved in a pint and a half of
fresh milk over a slow fire, stirring it constantly, to form a complete
mixture. But if the wound should turn to an obstinate ulcer, take
Castile soap, gum ammoniac, gum galbanum, and extract of hemlock, each
one ounce; form them into eight boluses, and administer one of them
every morning and evening. To prevent cows from sucking their own milk,
as some of them are apt to do, rub the teats frequently with strong
rancid cheese, which will prove an effectual remedy.


COW HEELS. These are very nutricious, and may be variously dressed. The
common way is to boil, and serve them in a napkin, with melted butter,
mustard, and a large spoonful of vinegar. Or broil them very tender, and
serve them as a brown fricassee. The liquor will do to make jelly sweet
or relishing and likewise to give richness to soups or gravies. Another
way is to cut them into four parts, to dip them into an egg, and then
dredge and fry them. They may be garnished with fried onions, and served
with sauce as above. Or they may be baked as for mock turtle.


COWSLIP MEAD. Put thirty pounds of honey into fifteen gallons of water,
and boil till one gallon is wasted; skim it, and take it off the fire.
Have a dozen and a half of lemons ready quartered, pour a gallon of the
liquor boiling hot upon them, and the remainder into a tub, with seven
pecks of cowslip pips. Let them remain there all night; then put the
liquor and the lemons to eight spoonfuls of new yeast, and a handful of
sweet-briar. Stir all well together, and let it work for three or four
days; then strain and tun it into a cask. Let it stand six months, and
bottle it for keeping.


COWSLIP WINE. To every gallon of water, weigh three pounds of lump
sugar; boil them together half an hour, and take off the scum as it
rises. When sufficiently cool, put to it a crust of toasted bread dipped
in thick yeast, and let the liquor ferment in the tub thirty six hours.
Then put into the cask intended for keeping it, the peel of two and the
rind of one lemon, for every gallon of liquor; also the peel and the
rind of one Seville orange, and one gallon of cowslip pips. Pour the
liquor upon them, stir it carefully every day for a week, and for every
five gallons put in a bottle of brandy. Let the cask be close stopped,
and stand only six weeks before it be bottled off.


CRABS. The heaviest are best, and those of a middling size the sweetest.
If light they are watery: when in perfection the joints of the legs are
stiff, and the body has a very agreeable smell. The eyes look dead and
loose when stale. The female crab is generally preferred: the colour is
much brighter, the claws are shorter, and the apron in front is much
broader. To dress a hot crab, pick out the meat, and clear the shell
from the head. Put the meat into the shell again, with a little nutmeg,
salt, pepper, a bit of butter, crumbs of bread, and three spoonfuls of
vinegar. Then set the crab before the fire, or brown the meat with a
salamander. It should be served on a dry toast.--To dress a cold crab,
empty the shell, mix the flesh with a small quantity of oil, vinegar,
salt, white pepper and cayenne. Return the mixture, and serve it up in
the shell.


CRACKNELS. Mix with a quart of flour, half a nutmeg grated, the yolks of
four eggs beaten, and four spoonfuls of rose water. Make the whole into
a stiff paste, with cold water. Then roll in a pound of butter, and
make the paste into the shape of cracknels. Boil them in a kettle of
water till they swim, and then put them into cold water. When hardened,
lay them out to dry, and bake them on tin plates.


CRACKNUTS. Mix eight ounces of fine flour, with eight ounces of sugar,
and melt four ounces of butter in two spoonfuls of raisin wine. With
four eggs beaten and strained, make the whole into a paste, and add
carraway seed. Roll the paste out as thin as paper, cut it into shapes
with the top of a glass, wash them with the white of an egg, and dust
them over with fine sugar.


CRAMP. Persons subject to this complaint, being generally attacked in
the night, should have a board fixed at the bottom of the bed, against
which the foot should be strongly pressed when the pain commences. This
will seldom fail to afford relief. When it is more obstinate, a brick
should be heated, wrapped in a flannel bag at the bottom of the bed, and
the foot placed against it. The brick will continue warm, and prevent a
return of the complaint. No remedy however is more safe or more certain
than that of rubbing the affected part, to restore a free circulation.
If the cramp attack the stomach or bowels, it is attended with
considerable danger: medicine may relieve but cannot cure. All hot and
stimulating liquors must be carefully avoided, and a tea-cupful of
lukewarm gruel or camomile tea should be frequently given, with ten or
fifteen drops of deliquidated salt of tartar in each.


CRANBERRIES. If for puddings and pies, they require a good deal of
sugar. If stewed in a jar, it is the same: but in this way they eat well
with bread, and are very wholesome. If pressed and strained, after being
stewed, they yield a fine juice, which makes an excellent drink in a
fever.


CRANBERRY GRUEL. Mash a tea-cupful of cranberries in a cup of water, and
boil a large spoonful of oatmeal in two quarts of water. Then put in the
jam, with a little sugar and lemon peel; boil it half an hour, and
strain it off. Add a glass of brandy or sweet wine.


CRANBERRY JELLY. Make a very strong isinglass jelly. When cold, mix it
with a double quantity of cranberry juice, pressed and strained. Sweeten
it with fine loaf sugar, boil it up, and strain it into a shape.--To
make cranberry and rice jelly, boil and press the fruit, strain the
juice, and by degrees mix it into as much ground rice as will, when
boiled, thicken to a jelly. Boil it gently, keep it stirring, and
sweeten it. Put it in a bason or form, and serve it up with milk or
cream.


CRAY FISH. Make a savoury fish-jelly, and put some into the bottom of a
deep small dish. When cold, lay the cray-fish with their back downwards,
and pour more jelly over them. Turn them out when cold, and it will make
a beautiful dish. Prawns may be done in the same way.


CREAM. Rich cream for tea or coffee is prepared in the following manner.
Put some new milk into an earthen pan, heat it over the fire, and set it
by till the next day. In order to preserve it a day or two longer, it
must be scalded, sweetened with lump sugar, and set in a cool place. If
half a pint of fresh cream be boiled in an earthen pot with half a pound
of sugar, and corked up close in phials when cold, it will keep for
several weeks, and be fit for the tea-table.


CREAM FOR PIES. Boil a pint of new milk ten minutes, with a bit of lemon
peel, a laurel leaf, four cloves, and a little sugar. Mix the yolks of
six eggs and half a tea-spoonful of flour, strain the milk to them, and
set it over a slow fire. Stir it to a consistence, but do not let it
curdle: when cold it may be spread over any kind of fruit pies.


CREAM FOR WHEY BUTTER. Set the whey one day and night, and skim it till
a sufficient quantity is obtained. Then boil it, and pour it into a pan
or two of cold water. As the cream rises, skim it till no more comes,
and then churn it. Where new-milk cheese is made daily, whey butter for
common and present use may be made to advantage.


CREAM CHEESE. To make this article, put into a pan five quarts of
strippings, that is, the last of the milk, with two spoonfuls of rennet.
When the curd is come, strike it down two or three times with the
skimming dish just to break it. Let it stand two hours, then spread a
cheese cloth on a sieve, lay the curd on it, and let the whey drain.
Break the curd a little with the hand, and put it into a vat with a
two-pound weight upon it. Let it stand twelve hours, take it out, and
bind a fillet round. Turn it every day till dry, from one board to
another; cover them with nettles or clean dock-leaves, and lay them
between two pewter plates to ripen. If the weather be warm, the cheese
will be ready in three weeks.--Another way. Prepare a kettle of boiling
water, put five quarts of new milk into a pan, five pints of cold water,
and five of hot. When of a proper heat, put in as much rennet as will
bring it in twenty minutes, likewise a bit of sugar. When the curd is
come, strike the skimmer three or four times down, and leave it on the
curd. In an hour or two lade it into the vat without touching it; put a
two-pound weight on it when the whey has run from it, and the vat is
full.--To make another sort of cream cheese, put as much salt to three
pints of raw cream as will season it. Stir it well, lay a cheese cloth
several times folded at the bottom of a sieve, and pour the curd upon
it. When it hardens, cover it with nettles on a pewter plate.--What is
called Rush Cream Cheese is made as follows. To a quart of fresh cream
put a pint of new milk, warm enough to give the cream a proper degree of
warmth; then add a little sugar and rennet. Set it near the fire till
the curd comes; fill a vat made in the form of a brick, of wheat straw
or rushes sewed together. Have ready a square of straw or rushes sewed
flat, to rest the vat on, and another to cover it; the vat being open at
top and bottom. Next day take it out, change it often in order to ripen,
and lay a half pound weight upon it.--Another way. Take a pint of very
thick sour cream from the top of the pan for gathering butter, lay a
napkin on two plates, and pour half into each. Let them stand twelve
hours, then put them on a fresh wet napkin in one plate, and cover with
the same. Repeat this every twelve hours, till the cheese begins to look
dry. Then ripen it with nut leaves, and it will be ready in ten days.
Fresh nettles, or two pewter plates, will ripen cream cheese very well.


CREAM PUDDING. Slice the crumb of a penny loaf into a quart of cream,
scald it over the fire, and break it with a spoon. Add to it six eggs,
with three of the whites only, half a pound of fine raisins, a quarter
of a pound of sugar, a little rose water and nutmeg. Beat it all up
together, stir in a little marrow if approved, and bake it in a dish
with paste.


CREAMS. To make an excellent cream, boil half a pint of cream and half a
pint of milk with two bay leaves, a bit of lemon peel, a few almonds
beaten to paste, with a drop of water, a little sugar, orange flower
water, and a tea-spoonful of flour rubbed down with a little cold milk.
When the cream is cold, add a little lemon juice, and serve it up in
cups or lemonade glasses.--For a superior article, whip up three
quarters of a pint of very rich cream to a strong froth, with some
finely-scraped lemon peel, a squeeze of the juice, half a glass of sweet
wine, and sugar to make it pleasant, but not too sweet. Lay it on a
sieve or in a form, next day put it on a dish, and ornament it with very
light puff paste biscuits, made in tin shapes the length of a finger,
and about two thick. Fine sugar may be sifted over, or it may be glazed
with a little isinglass. Macaroons may be used to line the edges of the
dish.


CRESS VINEGAR. Dry and pound half an ounce of the seed of garden
cresses, pour upon it a quart of the best vinegar, and let it steep ten
days, shaking it up every day. Being strongly flavoured with the
cresses, it is suitable for salads and cold meat. Celery vinegar is made
in the same manner.


CRICKETS. The fume of charcoal will drive them away: or a little white
arsenic mixed with a roasted apple, and put into the holes and cracks
where the crickets are, will effectually destroy them. Scotch snuff
dusted upon the holes where they come out, will also have the same
effect.


CRIMP COD. Boil a handful of salt in a gallon of pump water, and skim it
clean. Cut a fresh cod into slices an inch thick, and boil it briskly in
the brine a few minutes; take the slices out very carefully, and lay
them on a fish plate to drain. Dry and flour them, and lay them at a
distance upon a clear fire to broil. Serve with lobster or shrimp sauce.


CRIMP SALMON. When the salmon is scaled and cleaned, take off the head
and tail, and cut the body through into large slices. Throw them into a
pan of pump water, sprinkle on a handful of bay salt, stir it about, and
then take out the fish. Set on a deep stewpan, boil the head and tail
whole, put in some salt, but no vinegar. When they have boiled ten
minutes, skim the water clean, and put in the slices. When boiled
enough, lay the head and tail in the dish, and the slices round; or
either part may be dressed separately.


CRISP PARSLEY. Pick and wash some young parsley, shake it in a dry cloth
to drain the water from it, spread it on a sheet of white paper, in a
Dutch oven before the fire, and turn it frequently until it is quite
crisp. This is a much better way of preparing it than by frying, which
is seldom well done; and it will serve as a neat garnish for fish or
lamb chops.


CROSS BUNS. Warm before the fire two pounds and a half of fine flour;
add half a pound of sifted loaf sugar, some coriander seeds, cinnamon
and mace finely pounded. Melt half a pound of butter in half a pint of
milk; after it has cooled, stir in three table-spoonfuls of thick yeast,
and a little salt. Work the whole into a paste, make it into buns, and
cut a cross on the top. Put them on a tin to rise before the fire, brush
them over with warm milk, and bake in a moderate oven.


CROWS. These birds are extremely useful to the farmer, in devouring
multitudes of locusts, caterpillars, and other insects, which are highly
injurious to the crops; but at certain seasons they have become so
numerous, and committed such depredations on the corn fields, that an
act of parliament has been passed for their destruction. The most
successful method is to prepare a kind of table between the branches of
a large tree, with some carrion and other meat, till the crows are
accustomed to resort to the place for food. Afterwards the meat may be
poisoned; and the birds still feeding on it, will be destroyed. The drug
called _nux vomica_ is best adapted to the purpose.


CRUMPETS. Warm before the fire two pounds of fine flour, with a little
salt, and mix it with warm milk and water till it becomes stiff. Work up
three eggs with three spoonfuls of thick yeast, and a cupful of warm
milk and water; put it to the batter, and beat them well together in a
large bowl, with as much milk and water as will make the batter thick.
Set it before the fire to rise, and cover it close. Set on the
fryingpan, rub it over with a bit of butter tied up in muslin, and pour
in as much batter at a time as is sufficient for one crumpet. Let it
bake slowly till it comes to a pale yellow; and when cold, the crumpets
may be toasted and buttered.


CUCUMBERS. The best way of cultivating this delicious vegetable is as
follows. When the plants have been raised on a moderate hot bed, without
forcing them too much, they should be set in the open ground against a
south wall in the latter end of May, and trained upon the wall like a
fruit tree. When they have run up about five feet, they will send forth
blossoms, and the fruit will soon appear. Cucumbers of the slender
prickly sort are to be preferred, and they should not be watered too
much while growing, as it will injure the fruit. The flesh of cucumbers
raised in this way, will be thicker and firmer, and the flavour more
delicious, than those planted in the usual manner, where the runners are
suffered to trail upon the ground. Melons may also be treated in the
same manner, and the quality of both will be greatly improved.--When
cucumbers are to be prepared for the table, pare and score them in
several rows, that they may appear as if slightly chopped. Add some
young onions, pepper and salt, a glass of white wine, the juice of a
lemon, and some vinegar. Or cut them in thin slices, with pepper, salt,
vinegar, and sliced onions. Or send them to table whole, with a sliced
onion in a saucer.


CUCUMBER KETCHUP. Pare some large old cucumbers, cut them in slices, and
mash them; add some salt, and let them stand till the next day. Drain
off the liquor, boil it with lemon peel, mace, cloves, horse-radish,
shalots, white pepper, and ginger. Strain it; and when cold put it into
bottles, with the mace, cloves and peppercorns, but not the rest. A
little of this ketchup will give an agreeable taste to almost any kind
of gravy sauce.


CUCUMBER VINEGAR. Pare and slice fifteen large cucumbers, and put them
into a stone jar, with three pints of vinegar, four large onions sliced,
two or three shalots, a little garlic, two large spoonfuls of salt,
three tea-spoonfuls of pepper, and half a tea-spoonful of cayenne. Keep
the vinegar in small bottles, to add to sallad, or to eat with meat.


CULLIS. To make cullis for ragouts, cut in pieces two pounds of lean
veal, and two ounces of ham. Add two cloves, a little nutmeg and mace,
some parsley roots, two carrots sliced, some shalots, and two bay
leaves. Put them into an earthen jar on a hot hearth, or in a kettle of
boiling water. Cover them close, let them simmer for half an hour,
observing that they do not burn; then put in beef broth, stew it, and
strain it off.


CUMBERLAND PUDDING. To make what is called the Duke of Cumberland's
pudding, mix six ounces of grated bread, the same quantity of currants
well cleaned and picked, the same of beef suet finely shred, the same of
chopped apples, and also of lump sugar. Add six eggs, half a grated
nutmeg, a dust of salt, and the rind of a lemon minced as fine as
possible; also a large spoonful each of citron, orange, and lemon cut
thin. Mix them thoroughly together, put the whole into a basin, cover it
close with a floured cloth, and boil it three hours. Serve it with
pudding sauce, add the juice of half a lemon, boiled together.


CURD PUDDING. Rub the curd of two gallons of milk well drained through a
sieve. Mix it with six eggs, a little cream, two spoonfuls of
orange-flower water, half a nutmeg, flour and crumbs of bread each three
spoonfuls, currants and raisins half a pound of each. Boil the pudding
an hour in a thick well-floured cloth.


CURD PUFFS. Turn two quarts of milk to curd, press the whey from it, rub
it through a sieve, and mix four ounces of butter, the crumb of a penny
loaf, two spoonfuls of cream, half a nutmeg, a little sugar, and two
spoonfuls of white wine. Butter some small cups or pattipans, and fill
them three parts. Orange-flower water is an improvement. Bake the puffs
with care, and serve with sweet sauce in a boat.


CURD STAR. Set on the fire a quart of new milk, with two or three blades
of mace; and when ready to boil, put to it the yolks and whites of nine
eggs well beaten, and as much salt as will lie upon a six-pence. Let it
boil till the whey is clear; then drain it in a thin cloth, or hair
sieve. Season it with sugar, and a little cinnamon, rose water,
orange-flower water, or white wine. Put it into a star form, and let it
stand some hours before it be turned into a dish: then pour round it
some thick cream or custard.


CURDS AND CREAM. Put three or four pints of milk into a pan a little
warm, and then add rennet or gallina. When the curd is come, lade it
with a saucer into an earthen shape perforated, of any form you please.
Fill it up as the whey drains off, without breaking or pressing the
curd. If turned only two hours before wanted, it is very light; but
those who like it harder may have it so, by making it earlier, and
squeezing it. Cream, milk, or a whip of cream, sugar, wine, and lemon,
may be put into the dish, or into a glass bowl, to serve with the
curd.--Another way is to warm four quarts of new milk, and add a pint or
more of buttermilk strained, according to its sourness. Keep the pan
covered till the curd be sufficiently firm to cut, three or four times
across with a saucer, as the whey leaves it. Put it into a shape, and
fill up until it be solid enough to take the form. Serve with plain
cream, or mixed with sugar, wine and lemon.


CURDS AND WHEY. According to the Italian method, a more delicate and
tender curd is made without the use of common rennet. Take a number of
the rough coats that line the gizzards of turkeys and fowls, clean them
from the pebbles they contain, rub them well with salt, and hang them up
to dry. When to be used, break off some bits of the skin, and pour on
some boiling water. In eight or nine hours the liquor may be used as
other rennet.


CURING BUTTER. It is well known, that butter as it is generally cured,
does not keep for any length of time, without spoiling or becoming
rancid. The butter with which London is supplied, may be seen at every
cheesemonger's in the greatest variety of colour and quality; and it is
too often the case, that even the worst butter is compounded with better
sorts, in order to procure a sale. These practices ought to be
discountenanced, and no butter permitted to be sold but such as is of
the best quality when fresh, and well cured when salted, as there is
hardly any article more capable of exciting disgust than bad butter. To
remedy this evil, the following process is recommended, in preparing
butter for the firkin. Reduce separately to fine powder in a dry mortar,
two pounds of the whitest common salt, one pound of saltpetre, and one
pound of lump sugar. Sift these ingredients one upon another, on two
sheets of paper joined together, and then mix them well with the hands,
or with a spatula. Preserve the whole in a covered jar, placed in a dry
situation. When required to be used, one ounce of this composition is to
be proportioned to every pound of butter, and the whole is to be well
worked into the mass. The butter may then be put into pots or casks in
the usual way. The above method is practised in many parts of Scotland,
and is found to preserve the butter much better than by using common
salt alone. Any housekeeper can make the experiment, by proportioning
the ingredients to the quantity of butter; and the difference between
the two will readily be perceived. Butter cured with this mixture
appears of a rich marrowy consistency and fine colour, and never
acquires a brittle hardness, nor tastes salt, as the other is apt to do.
It should be allowed to stand three weeks or a month before it is used,
and will keep for two or three years, without sustaining the slightest
injury. Butter made in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or in glazed
earthenware pans, which glaze is principally composed of lead, is too
apt to be contaminated by particles of that deleterious metal. It is
better therefore to use tinned vessels for mixing the preservative with
the butter, and to pack it either in wooden casks, or in jars of the
Vauxhall ware, which being vitrified throughout, require no inside
glazing.


CURING HAMS. When hams are to be cured, they should hang a day or two;
then sprinkle them with a little salt, and drain them another day. Pound
an ounce and a half of saltpetre, the same quantity of bay salt, half an
ounce of sal-prunelle, and a pound of the coarsest sugar. Mix these
well, and rub them into each ham every day for four days, and turn it.
If a small one, turn it every day for three weeks: if a large one, a
week longer, but it should not be rubbed after four days. Before it is
dried, drain and cover it with bran, and smoke it ten days.--Or choose
the leg of a hog that is fat and well fed, and hang it up a day or two.
If large, put to it a pound of bay salt, four ounces of saltpetre, a
pound of the coarsest sugar, and a handful of common salt, all in fine
powder, and rub the mixture well into the ham. Lay the rind downwards,
and cover the fleshy part with the salts. Baste it frequently with the
pickle, and turn it every day for a month. Drain and throw bran over it,
then hang it in a chimney where wood is burnt, and turn it now and then
for ten days.--Another way is, to hang up the ham, and sprinkle it with
salt, and then to rub it daily with the following mixture. Half a pound
of common salt, the same of bay salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and two
ounces of black pepper, incorporated with a pound and a half of treacle.
Turn it twice a day in the pickle for three weeks; then lay it into a
pail of water for one night, wipe it quite dry, and smoke it two or
three weeks.--To give hams a high flavour, let them hang three days,
when the weather will permit. Mix an ounce of saltpetre with a quarter
of a pound of bay salt, the same quantity of common salt, and also of
coarse sugar, and a quart of strong beer. Boil them together, pour the
liquor immediately upon the ham, and turn it twice a day in the pickle
for three weeks. An ounce of black pepper, and the same quantity of
allspice, in fine powder, added to the above will give a still higher
flavour. Wipe and cover it with bran, smoke it three or four weeks; and
if there be a strong fire, it should be sewed up in a coarse
wrapper.--To give a ham a still higher flavour, sprinkle it with salt,
after it has hung two or three days, and let it drain. Make a pickle of
a quart of strong beer, half a pound of treacle, an ounce of coriander
seed, two ounces of juniper berries, an ounce of pepper, the same
quantity of allspice, an ounce of saltpetre, half an ounce of
sal-prunelle, a handful of common salt, and a head of shalot, all
pounded or cut fine. Boil these together for a few minutes, and pour
them over the ham. This quantity is sufficient for a ham of ten pounds.
Rub and turn it every day for a fortnight; then sew it up in a thin
linen bag, and smoke it three weeks. Drain it from the pickle, and rub
it in bran, before drying. In all cases it is best to lay on a
sufficient quantity of salt at first, than to add more afterwards, for
this will make the ham salt and hard. When it has lain in pickle a few
days, it would be advantageous to boil and skim the brine, and pour it
on again when cold. Bacon, pig's face, and other articles may be treated
in the same manner.


CURRANT CREAM. Strip and bruise some ripe currants, strain them through
a fine sieve, and sweeten the juice with refined sugar. Beat up equal
quantities of juice and cream, and as the froth rises put it into
glasses.


CURRANT FRITTERS. Thicken half a pint of ale with flour, and add some
currants. Beat it up quick, make the lard boil in the frying-pan, and
put in a large spoonful of the batter at a time, which is sufficient for
one fritter.


CURRANT GRUEL. Make a pint of water gruel, strain and boil it with a
table-spoonful of clean currants till they are quite plump. Add a little
nutmeg and sugar, and a glass of sweet wine. This gruel is proper for
children, or persons of a costive habit.


CURRANT JAM. Whether it be made of black, red, or white currants, let
the fruit be very ripe. Pick it clean from the stalks, and bruise it. To
every pound put three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar, stir it well,
and boil it half an hour.


CURRANT JELLY. Strip the fruit, whether red or black, and put them into
a stone jar, to boil on a hot hearth, or over the fire in a saucepan of
water. Strain off the liquor, and to every pint add a pound of loaf
sugar in large lumps. Put the whole into a china or stone jar, till
nearly dissolved; then put it into a preserving pan, and skim it while
simmering on the fire. When it will turn to jelly on a plate, keep it in
small jars or glasses.


CURRANT PIE. Put a paste round the dish, fill it with fruit and good
moist sugar, add a little water, and cover it with paste. Place a
tea-cup in the dish, bottom upwards, to prevent the juice from boiling
over. Baked currants are better mixed with raspberries or damsons.


CURRANT SAUCE. To make the old sauce for venison, boil an ounce of dried
currants in half a pint of water a few minutes. Then add a small
tea-cupful of bread crumbs, six cloves, a glass of port wine, and a bit
of butter. Stir it till the whole is smooth.


CURRANT SHRUB. Strip some white currants, and prepare them in a jar as
for jelly. Strain the juice, of which put two quarts to one gallon of
rum, and two pounds of lump sugar. Strain the whole through a jelly bag.


CURRANT WINE. To every three pints of fruit, carefully picked and
bruised, add one quart of water. In twenty-four hours strain the liquor,
and put to every quart a pound of good Lisbon sugar. If for white
currants use lump sugar. It is best to put the whole into a large pan;
and when in three or four days the scum rises, take that off before the
liquor be put into the barrel. Those who make from their own gardens,
may not have fruit sufficient to fill the barrel at once; but the wine
will not be hurt by being made in the pan at different times, in the
above proportions, and added as the fruit ripens; but it must be
gathered in dry weather, and an account taken of what is put in each
time.--Another way. Put five quarts of currants, and a pint of
raspberries, to every two gallons of water. Let them soak all night,
then squeeze and break them well. Next day rub them well on a fine wire
sieve, till all the juice is obtained, and wash the skins again with
some of the liquor. To every gallon put four pounds of good Lisbon
sugar, tun it immediately, lay the bung lightly on, and leave it to
ferment itself. In two or three days put a bottle of brandy to every
four gallons, bung it close, but leave the vent peg out a few days. Keep
it three years in the cask, and it will be a fine agreeable wine; four
years would make it still better.--Black Currant Wine is made as
follows. To every three quarts of juice add the same quantity of water,
and to every three quarts of the liquor put three pounds of good moist
sugar. Tun it into a cask, reserving a little for filling up. Set the
cask in a warm dry room, and the liquor will ferment of itself. When the
fermentation is over, take off the scum, and fill up with the reserved
liquor, allowing three bottles of brandy to forty quarts of wine. Bung
it close for nine months, then bottle it; drain the thick part through a
jelly bag, till that also be clear and fit for bottling. The wine should
then be kept ten or twelve months.


CURRIES. Cut fowls or rabbits into joints; veal, lamb or sweetbreads
into small pieces. Put four ounces of butter into a stewpan; when
melted, put in the meat, and two sliced onions. Stew them to a nice
brown, add half a pint of broth, and let it simmer twenty minutes. Mix
smooth in a basin one table-spoonful of currie powder, one of flour, and
a tea-spoonful of salt, with a little cold water. Put the paste into the
stewpan, shake it well about till it boils, and let it simmer twenty
minutes longer. Just before it is dished up, squeeze in the juice of
half a lemon, and add a good table-spoonful of melted butter.


CURRIE BALLS. Take some bread crumbs, the yolk of an egg boiled hard,
and a bit of fresh butter about half the size; beat them together in a
mortar, season with a little currie powder, roll the paste into small
balls, and boil them two or three minutes. These will serve for mock
turtle, veal, poultry, and made dishes.


CURRIE OF COD. This should be made of sliced cod, that has either been
crimped, or sprinkled with salt for a day, to make it firm. Fry it of a
fine brown with onions, and stew it with a good white gravy, a little
currie powder, a bit of butter and flour, three or four spoonfuls of
rich cream, salt, and cayenne, if the powder be not hot enough.


CURRIE OF LOBSTERS. Take them from the shells, lay them into a pan with
a small piece of mace, three or four spoonfuls of veal gravy, and four
of cream. Rub smooth one or two tea-spoonfuls of currie powder, a
tea-spoonful of flour, and an ounce of butter. Simmer them together an
hour, squeeze in half a lemon, and add a little salt. Currie of prawns
is made in the same way.


CURRIE POWDER. Dry and reduce the following articles to a fine powder.
Three ounces of coriander seed, three ounces of turmeric, one ounce of
black pepper, and one of ginger; half an ounce of lesser cardamoms, and
a quarter of an ounce each of cinnamon, cummin seed, and cayenne.
Thoroughly pound and mix them together, and keep it in a well-stopped
bottle.


CURRIE SAUCE. Stir a small quantity of currie powder in some gravy,
melted butter, or onion sauce. This must be done by degrees, according
to the taste, taking care not to put in too much of the currie powder.


CURRIE SOUP. Cut four pounds of a breast of veal into small pieces, put
the trimmings into a stewpan with two quarts of water, twelve
peppercorns, and the same of allspice. When it boils, skim it clean; and
after boiling an hour and a half, strain it off. While it is boiling,
fry the bits of veal in butter, with four onions. When they are done,
add the broth to them, and put it on the fire. Let it simmer half an
hour, then mix two spoonfuls of currie powder, and the same of flour,
with a little cold water and a tea-spoonful of salt, and add these to
the soup. Simmer it gently till the veal is quite tender, and it is
ready. Or bone a couple of fowls or rabbits, and stew them in the same
manner. Instead of black pepper and allspice, a bruised shalot may be
added, with some mace and ginger.


CUSTARDS. To make a cheap and excellent custard, boil three pints of new
milk with a bit of lemon peel, a bit of cinnamon, two or three bay
leaves, and sweeten it. Meanwhile rub down smooth a large spoonful of
rice flour in a cup of cold milk, and mix with it the yolks of two eggs
well beaten. Take a basin of the boiling milk and mix with the cold,
then pour it to the boiling, stirring it one way till it begin to
thicken, and is just going to boil up; then pour it into a pan, stir it
some time, add a large spoonful of peach water, two spoonfuls of brandy,
or a little ratafia. Marbles boiled in custard, or any thing likely to
burn, will prevent it from catching if shaked about in the saucepan.--To
make a richer custard, boil a pint of milk with lemon peel and cinnamon.
Mix a pint of cream, and the yolks of five eggs well beaten. When the
milk tastes of the seasoning, sweeten it enough for the whole; pour into
the cream, stirring it well; then give the custard a simmer, till it
come to a proper thickness. Stir it wholly one way, season it as above,
but do not let it boil. If the custard is to be very rich, add a quart
of cream to the eggs instead of milk.


CUSTARD PASTE. Six ounces of butter, three spoonfuls of cream, the yolks
of two eggs, and half a pound of flour, are to be mixed well together.
Let it stand a quarter of an hour, work it well, and roll it out thin.


CUSTARD PUDDING. Mix by degrees a pint of good milk with a large
spoonful of flour, the yolks of five eggs, some orange-flower water, and
a little pounded cinnamon. Butter a bason that will just hold it, pour
in the batter, and tie a floured cloth over. Put it in when the water
boils, turn it about a few minutes to prevent the egg settling on one
side, and half an hour will boil it. Put currant jelly over the pudding,
and serve it with sweet sauce.


CUTLETS MAINTENON. Cut slices of veal three quarters of an inch thick,
beat them with a rolling-pin, and wet them on both sides with egg. Dip
them into a seasoning of bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, knotted marjoram,
pepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg. Then put them into white
papers folded over, and broil them. Have ready some melted butter in a
boat, with a little mushroom ketchup.--Another way is to fry the
cutlets, after they have been prepared as above. Dredge a little flour
into the pan, and add a piece of butter; brown it, pour in a little
boiling water, and boil it quick. Season with pepper, salt, and ketchup,
and pour over them.--Or, prepare as before, and dress the cutlets in a
Dutch oven. Pour over them melted butter and mushrooms. Neck steaks
especially are good broiled, after being seasoned with pepper and salt;
and in this way they do not require any herbs.


CUTTING GLASS. If glass be held in one hand under water, and a pair of
scissors in the other, it may be cut like brown paper; or if a red hot
tobacco pipe be brought in contact with the edge of the glass, and
afterwards traced on any part of it, the crack will follow the edge of
the pipe.


CUTTING OF TEETH. Great care is required in feeding young children
during the time of teething. They often cry as if disgusted with food,
when it is chiefly owing to the pain occasioned by the edge of a silver
or metal spoon pressing on their tender gums. The spoon ought to be of
ivory, bone, or wood, with the edges round and smooth, and care should
be taken to keep it sweet and clean. At this period a moderate
looseness, and a copious flow of saliva, are favourable symptoms. With a
view to promote the latter, the child should be suffered to gnaw such
substances as tend to mollify the gums, and by their pressure to
facilitate the appearance of the teeth. A piece of liquorice or
marshmallow root will be serviceable, or the gums may be softened and
relaxed by rubbing them with honey or sweet oil.




D.


DAIRY. In a publication intended for general usefulness, the management
of the dairy, the source of so many comforts, demands some attention, in
addition to the information conveyed under various other articles,
connected with this interesting part of female economy. A dairy house
then ought to be so situated that the windows or lattices may front the
north, and it should at all times be kept perfectly cool and clean.
Lattices are preferable to glazed lights, as they admit a free
circulation of air; and if too much wind draws in, oiled paper may be
pasted over the lattice, or a frame constructed so as to slide backwards
and forwards at pleasure. Dairies cannot be kept too cool in the summer:
they ought therefore to be erected, if possible, near a spring of
running water. If a pump can be fixed in the place, or a stream of water
conveyed through it, it will tend to preserve a continual freshness and
purity of the air. The floor should be neatly paved with red brick, or
smooth stone, and laid with a proper descent, so that no water may
stagnate: it should be well washed every day, and all the utensils kept
with the strictest regard to cleanliness. Neither the cheese, rennet, or
cheesepress, must be suffered to contract any taint; nor should the
churns be scalded in the dairy, as the steam arising from the hot water
tends greatly to injure the milk. The utensils of the dairy should all
be made of wood: lead, copper, and brass are poisonous, and cast iron
gives a disagreeable taste to the productions of the dairy. Milk leads
in particular should be utterly abolished, and well-glazed earthen pans
used in their stead. Sour milk has a corroding tendency, and the well
known effects of the poison of lead are, bodily debility, palsy, and
death. The best of all milk vessels are flat wooden trays about three
inches deep, and wide enough to contain a full gallon of milk. These may
be kept perfectly clean with good care, and washing and scalding them
well with salt and water. As soon as the operation of churning is
performed, the butter should be washed immediately in several waters,
till thoroughly cleansed from the milk, which should be forced out with
a flat wooden ladle, or skimming dish, provided with a short handle.
This should be quickly performed, with as little working of the butter
as possible; for if it be too much beaten and turned, it will become
tough and gluey, which greatly debases its quality. To beat it up with
the hand is an indelicate practice, as the butter cannot fail to imbibe
the animal effluvia: a warm hand especially will soften it, and make it
appear greasy. If the heat of the weather should render it too soft to
receive the impression of the mould, it may be put into small vessels,
and allowed to swim in a trough of cold water, provided the butter do
not come in contact with the water, which would diminish some of its
best qualities. A little common salt must be worked up in the butter at
the time of making it, and care must be taken not to handle it too much.
Meat hung in a dairy will taint the air, and spoil the milk.--See
BUTTER, CHEESE, CHURNING, &c.


DAMP BEDS. Of all other means of taking cold, damp beds are the most
dangerous, and persons who keep them in their houses are guilty of a
species of murder, though it unfortunately happens that no housewife is
willing to acknowledge that _her_ beds were ever damp. There is however
no other effectual way of preventing the dreadful effects so often
experienced in this way, than by keeping the beds in constant use, or
causing them frequently to be slept in till they are wanted by a
stranger. In inns, where the beds are used almost every night, nothing
more is necessary than to keep the rooms well aired, and the linen quite
dry. If a bed be suspected of dampness, introduce a glass goblet between
the sheets with its bottom upwards, immediately after the warming pan
is taken out. After a few minutes, if any moisture adheres to the inside
of the glass, it is a certain sign that the bed is damp: but if only a
slight steam appears, all is safe. If a goblet be not at hand, a looking
glass will answer the purpose. The safest way in all such cases is to
take off the sheets, and sleep between the blankets.


DAMP HOUSES. Nothing is more common than for persons to hazard their
lives by inhabiting a dwelling almost as soon as the plasterer or the
painter has performed his work, and yet this ought to be guarded against
with the utmost care. The custom of sitting in a room lately washed, and
before it is thoroughly dried, is also highly injurious to health. Colds
occasioned by these means often bring on asthmas and incurable
consumptions.


DAMP WALLS. When a house has undergone repairs, the walls are apt to
become damp, as well as when it has been new built. To prevent the ill
effects, powder some glass fine, mix it with slacked lime, dry the
mixture well in an iron pot, and pass it through a flour sieve. Then
boil some tar with a little grease for a quarter of an hour, and make a
cement of the whole together. Care must be taken to prevent any moisture
from mixing with the cement, which must be used as soon as made. Lay it
on the damp part of the wall like common plaster about a foot square at
a time, or it will quickly become too hard for use: if the wall be very
wet, a second coating will be required. Common hair mortar may then be
laid on, with the addition of a little Paris plaster, which will prevent
the walls in future from becoming damp.


DAMSON CHEESE. Pick the damsons clean, bake them slowly, till they may
be rubbed through a cullender, leaving nothing but the skins and stones.
Boil the pulp and juice three hours over a slow fire, with some moist
sugar, and keep it stirring to prevent burning. Blanch the kernels, and
mix them with the jam a few minutes before it be taken off the fire. Put
it into cups, tie it down with writing paper dipped in brandy, and the
cheese will keep several years, if kept in a dry place.


DAMSON PUDDING. Line a bason with tolerably thin paste, fill with the
fruit, and cover the paste over it. Tie a cloth tight over, and boil
till the fruit is done enough.


DAMSON WINE. Take a considerable quantity of damsons and common plums
inclining to ripeness; slit them in halves, so that the stones may be
taken out, then mash them gently, and add a little water and honey. Add
to every gallon of the pulp a gallon of spring water, with a few bay
leaves and cloves: boil the mixture, and add as much sugar as will
sweeten it, skim off the froth, and let it cool. Now press the fruit,
squeezing out the liquid part; strain all through a fine cloth, and put
the water and juice together in a cask. Having allowed the whole to
stand and ferment for three or four days, fine it with white sugar,
flour, and whites of eggs. Draw it off into bottles, then cork it well:
in twelve days it will be ripe, and will taste like weak port, having a
flavour of canary.


DAMSONS PRESERVED. To keep damsons for winter pies, put them in small
stone jars, or wide-mouthed bottles; set them up to their necks in a
boiler of cold water, and scald them. Next day, when perfectly cold,
fill up the bottles with spring water, and close them down.--Another way
is to boil one third as much sugar as fruit over a slow fire, till the
juice adheres to the fruit, and forms a jam. Keep it in small jars in a
dry place. If too sweet, mix with it some of the fruit done without
sugar.--Or choose some pots of equal size top and bottom, sufficient to
hold eight or nine pounds each. Put in the fruit about a quarter up,
strew in a quarter of the sugar, then another quantity of fruit, and so
on till all of both are in. The proportion of sugar is to be three
pounds to nine pounds of fruit. Set the jars in the oven, and bake the
fruit quite through. When cold, put a piece of clean-scraped stick into
the middle of the jar, and let the upper part stand above the top. Cover
the fruit with writing paper, and pour melted mutton-suet over, full
half an inch thick. Keep the jars in a cool dry place, and use the suet
as a cover, which may be drawn up by the stick, if a forked branch be
left to prevent its slipping out.


DAVENPORT FOWLS. Hang up young fowls for a night. Take the liver,
hearts, and tenderest parts of the gizzards, and shred them small, with
half a handful of young clary, an anchovy to each fowl, an onion, and
the yolks of four eggs boiled hard, seasoning the whole with pepper,
salt, and mace. Stuff the fowls with this mixture, and sew up the vents
and necks quite close, that the water may not get in. Boil them in salt
and water till almost done; then drain them, and put them into a stewpan
with butter enough to brown them. Serve them with fine melted butter,
and a spoonful of ketchup of either sort, in the dish.


DEBILITY. A general relaxation of the nervous system is the source of
numerous disorders, and requires a treatment as various as the causes on
which it depends. In general, gentle heat possesses both stimulating and
strengthening properties, and this is best communicated by a warm bath,
which instead of relaxing will invigorate the whole frame. Diet must
also be attended to; and weakly persons should be careful to eat light
and nourishing food, and plenty of nutricious vegetables. New laid eggs,
soup, strong meat-broth, and shell-fish are also very nourishing.
Clothing should be accommodated to the climate and changes of weather,
so as to preserve as much as possible a middle temperature between cold
and heat. Invalids of this description require longer and less disturbed
rest than persons in perfect health and vigour; labour and exercise
adapted to their habits and strength, a clean but not too soft bed, an
airy and capacious apartment, and particularly a calm and composed mind,
which last possesses a most powerful influence in preserving health and
life, for without tranquility, all other means will be ineffectual.


DERBYSHIRE BREAD. Rub four ounces of butter into four pounds of flour,
add four eggs well beaten, a pint of milk, and a large spoonful of
yeast. Mix them into a paste, make it into rolls, and let them stand
half an hour to rise before the fire. Put them into the oven, dip them
in milk the next day, and then let them stand by the fire in a Dutch
oven about twenty minutes. The rolls will then be very good, and keep a
fortnight.


DEVONSHIRE JUNKET. Put warm milk into a bowl, and turn it with rennet.
Then without breaking the curd, put on the top some scalded cream, sugar
and cinnamon.


DIET BREAD. Beat nine eggs, and add their weight in sifted sugar, and
half as much flour. Mix them well together, grate in the rind of a
lemon, and bake it in a hoop.


DIET DRINK. Infuse in five gallons of small beer, twelve ounces of red
dock-roots, the pith taken out; three ounces of chicary roots, two
handfuls of sage, balm, brooklime, and dandelion; two ounces of senna,
two of rhubarb, four ounces of red saunders, and a few parsley and
carraway seeds. Or boil a pound of the fine raspings of guaiacum, with
six gallons of sweetwort, till reduced to five; and when it is set to
work, put in the above ingredients. If a little salt of wormwood be
taken with it, this diet drink will act as a diuretic, as well as a
purgative.


DINNERS. The FIRST COURSE for large dinner parties, generally consists
of various soups, fish dressed many ways, turtle, mock turtle, boiled
meats and stewed: tongue, ham, bacon, chawls of bacon, boiled turkey and
fowls: rump, sirloin, and ribs of beef roasted: leg, saddle, and other
roast mutton: roast fillet, loin, neck, breast, and shoulder of veal:
leg of lamb, loin, fore-quarter, chine, lamb's head and mince: mutton
stuffed and roasted, steaks variously prepared, ragouts and fricassees:
meat pies raised, and in dishes: patties of meat, fish, and fowl: stewed
pigeons, venison, leg of pork, chine, loin, spare-rib, rabbits, hare,
puddings, boiled and baked: vegetables, boiled and stewed: calf's head
different ways, pig's feet and ears different ways.--Dishes for the
SECOND COURSE, birds, and game of all sorts: shell-fish, cold and
potted: collared and potted fish, pickled ditto, potted birds, ribs of
lamb roasted, brawn, vegetables, stewed or in sauce: French beans, peas,
asparagus, cauliflower, fricassee, pickled oysters, spinach, and
artichoke bottoms: stewed celery, sea kale, fruit tarts, preserved-fruit
tarts, pippins stewed, cheesecakes, various sorts: a collection of sweet
dishes, creams, jellies, mince pies, and all the finer sorts of
puddings: omlet, macaroni, oysters in scallops, stewed or pickled.--For
removes of soup and fish, one or two joints of meat or fowl are served;
and for one small course, the article suited to the second must make a
part. Where vegetables, fowls, or any other meat are twice dressed, they
add to the appearance of the table the first time; and three sweet
articles may form the second appearance, without greater expence. In
some houses, one dish at a time is sent up with the vegetables, or
sauces proper to it, and this in succession hot and hot. In others, a
course of soups and fish: then meats and boiled fowls, turkey, &c. Made
dishes and game follow; and lastly, sweet dishes; but these are not the
common modes. It ought also to be remarked, that cooks in general do not
think of sending up such articles as are in the house, unless ordered;
though by so doing, the addition of something collared or pickled, some
fritters, fried patties, or quick-made dumplings, would be useful when
there happen to be accidental visitors: and at all times it is proper to
improve the appearance of the table rather than let things spoil below,
by which an unnecessary expence is incurred.--Any of the following
articles may be served as a relish, with the cheese, after dinner. Baked
or pickled fish done high, Dutch pickled herrings: sardinias, which eat
like anchovy, but are larger: anchovies, potted char, ditto lampreys:
potted birds made high, caviare and sippets of toast: salad, radishes,
French pie, cold butter, potted cheese, anchovy toast.


DISTRESS FOR RENT. In these days of general complaint and general
distress, when so many families and individuals are suffering from the
extortions of tax-gatherers, and the severity of landlords, it is proper
that householders and occupiers of land should be furnished with a
little information on the subject of their legal rights and liabilities,
in order to guard against injustice, or the fatal consequences of
illegal proceedings. It must therefore be observed, that rent is
recoverable by action of debt at common law; but the general remedy is
distress, by taking the goods and chattels out of the possession of the
tenant, to procure satisfaction for rent. A distress for rent therefore
must be made for nonpayment, or rent in arrears, and cannot be made on
the day in which the rent becomes due. Neither can distress be made
after the rent has been tendered; or if it be tendered while the
distress is making, the landlord must deliver up the distress. Any goods
or effects that are damaged by the proceedings of the landlord, must be
made good by him.--When distress is levied, it should be for the whole
of the rent in arrears; not a part at one time and the remainder at
another, if there was at first a sufficiency; but if the landlord should
mistake the value of the things, he may make a second distress to supply
the deficiency. He must be careful to demand neither more nor less than
is due; he must also shew the certainty of the rent, and when it was
due; otherwise the demand will not be good, nor can he obtain a
remedy.--A landlord may distrain whatever he finds on the premises,
whether it be the property of his tenant or not, except such things as
are for the maintenance and benefit of trade; such as working tools and
implements, sacks of corn, or meal in a mill. Neither fixtures in a
house nor provisions can be distrained, nor any other article which
cannot be restored in as good a state as when it was taken; but wearing
apparel may be distrained when they are not in use. Money out of a bag
cannot be distrained, because it cannot be known again; but money sealed
up in a bag may. A horse in a cart cannot be distrained, without also
taking the cart; and if a man be in the cart, these cannot be taken. A
horse bringing goods to market, goods brought to market to be sold,
goods for exportation on a wharf or in a warehouse, goods in the hands
of a factor, goods delivered to a carrier to be conveyed for hire, wool
in a neighbour's barn, are all considered as goods in the hands of a
third person, and cannot therefore be distrained by a landlord for rent.
But goods left at an inn or other place of conveyance, a chaise or
horse standing in a stable, though the property of a third person, may
be distrained for rent. A distress must not be made after dark, nor on
the Sabbath day.--Where a landlord means to distrain for rent, it is not
necessary to demand his rent first, unless the tenant is on the premises
on the day of payment, and ready to pay it. But if goods are distrained,
and no cause given for so doing, the owner may rescue them, if not
impounded. Distraining part of the goods for rent in arrear, in the name
of the whole goods, will be deemed a lawful seizure. But if distress and
sale be made for rent when it can be proved that no rent is due or in
arrear, the person so injured may recover double the value of such goods
distrained, with full costs of suit. If goods be impounded, though they
have been distrained without a cause, a tenant cannot touch them,
because they are then in the hands of the law; but if not impounded or
taken away, he is at liberty to rescue them.--If distress be made for
rent, and the goods are not replevied within five days after the
distress is made, and notice left on the premises stating the cause of
such distress, the person distraining may have the goods appraised by
two persons, sworn by the constable of the place for that purpose, and
may after such appraisement sell them to the best advantage. The rent
may then be taken, including all expences, and the overplus left in the
hands of the constable for the owner's use. If a landlord commit an
unlawful act or any other irregularity, in making distress for rent
which is justly due, the distress itself will not on that account be
deemed unlawful; but full damages may be demanded by the injured party,
with full costs of suit; either in an action of trespass, or on the
case. But if full recompense be tendered to the tenant for such trespass
before the action is commenced, he is bound to accept it, or the action
will be discharged.--If a tenant clandestinely remove his goods, to
prevent the landlord from distraining them for rent, he may seize the
goods within thirty days, wherever they shall be found; and if not
actually sold previous to the seizure, he may dispose of them in order
to recover his rent. Any tenant or assistant removing goods to prevent a
distress, is liable to double the value of the goods, which the landlord
may recover by action at law. If under the value of fifty pounds,
complaint may be made in writing to two neighbouring magistrates, who
will enforce the payment by distress, or commit the offenders to the
house of correction for six months. If any person after the distress is
made, shall presume to remove the goods distrained, or take them away
from the person distraining, the party aggrieved may sue for the injury,
and recover treble costs and damages against the offender.--A landlord
may not break a lock, nor open a gate; but if the outer door of the
house be open he may enter, and break open the inner doors. But where
goods are fraudulently removed, and locked up to prevent their being
seized, the landlord may break open every place where they are and seize
them. If in a dwelling house, an oath must first be made before a
magistrate, that is was suspected the goods were lodged there. The most
eligible way is to remove the goods immediately, and to give the tenant
notice where they are removed to; but it is usual to leave them under
the protection of a person on the premises for five whole days, after
which it is lawful to sell them. In making the distress, it is necessary
to give the bailiff a written order for that purpose, which the landlord
may do himself without any stamp, only specifying the person's name,
place of abode, and rent in arrears for which the goods and chattels are
to be seized. After this an inventory is to be made of the articles, a
copy of which is to be given to the tenant, accompanied with a notice
that unless the arrears of rent and charges of distress be paid, or the
goods replevied at the expiration of five days from the day of distress,
the said goods will be appraised and sold according to law. If the
landlord chooses to indulge the tenant with a longer time to raise the
money, a memorandum must be taken of the tenant, stating that possession
is lengthened at his request, or the landlord will be liable to an
action for exceeding the time of his original notice.--See TENANTS.


DOUBLE RENT. If a tenant has received a written notice, and he refuse to
quit, after such notice has been regularly served, and will not give
possession at the time required, he is liable to pay at the rate of
double the annual value of the land or tenement so detained, for so long
time as the same are detained in his possession, and the payment may be
recovered by action of debt. Or if the tenant shall give notice of his
intention to quit the premises, and do not deliver up possession
according to such notice, he is liable to the payment of double rent, as
in the other case.--The following is the form of a notice to a tenant to
quit, or to pay double rent. 'Mr. A. B. I hereby give you notice to
deliver up possession and quit, on or before next Michaelmas day, the
house and premises which you now hold of me, situate in the parish of
------inthe county of ------: and in default of your compliance
therewith, I do and will insist on your paying me for the same, the
yearly rent of ------ being double the annual rent, for such time as you
shall detain the key, and keep possession, over the said notice. Witness
my hand this day of ------ 182-.   C. D. Landlord of the said premises.

Witness E. F.'--If, after notice of double rent be expired, a single
rent is accepted, such acceptance will prevent the penalty, until notice
is again given, and the time expired.


DOWN. This valuable part of goose coating, which contributes so much to
the comfort and even the luxury of life, comes to maturity when it
begins to fall off of itself; and if removed too soon, it is liable to
be attacked by worms. Lean geese furnish more than those that are fat,
and the down is more valuable. Neither the feathers nor the down of
geese which have been dead some time are fit for use: they generally
smell bad, and become matted. None but what is plucked from living
geese, or which have just been killed, ought to be exhibited for sale;
and in this case the down should be plucked soon, or before the geese
are entirely cold.


DRAUGHT FOR A COUGH. Beat a fresh-laid egg, and mix it with a quarter of
a pint of new milk warmed, but do not heat it after the egg is put in.
Add a large spoonful of capillaire, the same of rose water, and a little
nutmeg scraped. Take it the first and last thing, and it will be found a
fine soft draught for those who are weakly, or have a cold.--Another
remedy. Take a handful of horehound, a handful of rue, a handful of
hyssop, and the same quantity of ground ivy and of tormentil, with a
small quantity of long plantain, pennyroyal, and five finger. Boil them
in four quarts of water till reduced to two quarts. Strain it off, then
add two pounds of loaf sugar; simmer it a little, add a quart of brandy
and bottle it for use. A wine glassful of this to be taken occasionally.


DRIED BACON. When two flitches are to be cured, divide the hog, cut off
the hams, and take out the chine. It is common to remove the spare-ribs,
but the bacon will be preserved better from being rusty, if they are
left in. Salt the bacon six days, then drain it from that first pickle:
mix a proper quantity of salt with half a pound of bay-salt, three
ounces of saltpetre, and a pound of coarse sugar, to each hog. Rub the
salts well in, and turn it every day for a month. Drain and smoke it for
a few days, or dry it with bran or flour, and hang it in the kitchen, or
on a rack suspended from the ceiling.--Good bacon may be known, if you
are going to purchase it, by the rind being thin, the fat firm, and of a
red tinge, the lean tender, of a good colour, and adhering to the bone.
If there are yellow streaks in it, it is going, if not already rusty.


DRIED CHERRIES. Stone six pounds of Kentish cherries, and put them into
a preserving pan with two pounds of loaf sugar pounded and strewed among
them. Simmer them till they begin to shrivel, then strain them from the
juice, lay them on a hot hearth or in an oven, when either is cool
enough to dry without baking them. The same syrup will do another six
pounds of fruit.--To dry cherries without sugar, stone, and set them
over the fire in a preserving pan. Simmer them in their own liquor, and
shake them in the pan. Put them by in common china dishes: next day give
them another scald, and when cold put them on sieves to dry, in an oven
moderately warm. Twice heating, an hour each time, will be sufficient.
Place them in a box, with a paper between each layer.--A superior way of
preserving cherries is to allow one pound of double-refined sugar to
every five pounds of fruit, after they are stoned; then to put both into
a preserving pan with very little water, till they are scalding hot.
Take the fruit out immediately and dry them; return them into the pan
again, strewing the sugar between each layer of cherries. Let it stand
to melt, then set the pan on the fire, and make it scalding hot as
before; take it off, and repeat this thrice with the sugar. Drain them
from the syrup, and lay them singly to dry on dishes, in the sun or on
a stove. When dry, put them into a sieve, dip it into a pan of cold
water, and draw it instantly out again, and pour them on a fine soft
cloth; dry them, and set them once more in the sun, or on a stove. Keep
them in a box, with layers of white paper, in a dry place. This is the
best way to give plumpness to the fruit, as well as colour and flavour.


DRIED HADDOCK. Choose them of two or three pounds weight; take out the
gills, eyes, and entrails, and remove the blood from the backbone. Wipe
them dry, and put some salt into the bodies and sockets. Lay them on a
board for a night, then hang them up in a dry place, and after three or
four days they will be fit to eat. Skin and rub them with egg, and strew
crumbs over them. Lay them before the fire, baste with butter till they
are quite brown, and serve with egg sauce.--Whitings, if large, are
excellent in this way; and where there is no regular supply of fish, it
will be found a great convenience.


DRIED SALMON. Cut the fish down, take out the inside and roe. After
scaling it, rub it with common salt, and let it hang twenty-four hours
to drain. Pound three or four ounces of saltpetre, according to the size
of the fish, two ounces of bay salt, and two ounces of coarse sugar. Mix
them well, rub it into the salmon, and lay it on a large dish for two
days; then rub it with common salt, wipe it well after draining, and in
twenty-four hours more it will be fit to dry. Hang it either in a wood
chimney, or in a dry place, keeping it open with two small
sticks.--Dried salmon is broiled in paper, and only just warmed through.
Egg sauce and mashed potatoes may be eaten with it; or it may be boiled,
especially the part next the head. An excellent dish of dried salmon may
also be made in the following manner. Prepare some eggs boiled hard and
chopped large, pull off some flakes of the fish, and put them both into
half a pint of thin cream, with two or three ounces of butter rubbed in
a tea-spoonful of flour. Skim and stir it till boiling hot, make a wall
of mashed potatoes round the inner edge of a dish, and pour the above
into it.


DRINK FOR THE SICK. Pour a table-spoonful of capillaire, and the same of
good vinegar, into a tumbler of fresh cold water. Tamarinds, currants,
fresh or in jelly, scalded currants or cranberries, make excellent
drinks; with a little sugar or not, as most agreeable. Or put a
tea-cupful of cranberries into a cup of water, and mash them. In the
meantime boil two quarts of water with one large spoonful of oatmeal,
and a bit of lemon peel; then add the cranberries, and as much fine
Lisbon sugar as shall leave a smart flavour of the fruit. Add a quarter
of a pint of sherry, or less, as may be proper: boil all together for
half an hour, and strain off the drink.


DRIPPING, if carefully preserved, will baste every thing as well as
butter, except fowls and game; and for kitchen pies nothing else should
be used. The fat of a neck or loin of mutton makes a far lighter pudding
than suet.


DRIPPING CRUST. Rub a pound of clarified dripping into three pounds of
fine flour, and make it into a paste with cold water. Or make a hot
crust with the same quantity, by melting the dripping in water, and
mixing it hot with the flour.


DROP CAKES. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of fine flour; mix
it with half a pound of sugar, and the same of currants. Mix it into a
paste, with two eggs, a large spoonful of rose water, brandy, and sweet
wine; and put it on plates ready floured.


DROPSY. Gentle exercise and rubbing the parts affected, are highly
proper in this complaint, and the tepid bath has often procured
considerable relief. The patient ought to live in a warm dry place, not
expose himself to cold or damp air, and wear flannel next the skin.
Vegetable acids, such as vinegar, the juice of lemons and oranges,
diluted with water, should be drank in preference to wine or spirits,
either of which are generally hurtful. The diet should be light and
nourishing, easy of digestion, and taken in moderation. Horseradish,
onions and garlic, may be used instead of foreign spices; but tea,
coffee, and punch, are alike improper.


DROWNING. If a person unfortunately fall into the water, and is supposed
to be drowned, he should be carefully undressed as soon as he is taken
out; then laid on a bed or mattrass in a warm apartment, with the head
and upper part a little raised, and the nostrils cleaned with a feather
dipped in oil. Let the body be gently rubbed with common salt, or with
flannels dipped in spirits; the pit of the stomach fomented with hot
brandy, the temples stimulated with spirits of hartshorn, and bladders
of lukewarm water applied to different parts of the body, or a
warming-pan wrapped in flannel gently moved along the back. A warm bath,
gradually increased to seventy-five degrees, would be highly proper; or
the body may be carried to a brewhouse, and covered up with warm grains
for an hour or two. An attempt should be made to inflate the lungs,
either by the help of a pair of bellows, or a person's blowing with his
mouth through the nostril, which in the first instance is much better.
If the patient be very young, or the animation do not appear altogether
suspended, he may be placed in bed between two persons to promote
natural warmth, or covered with blankets or warm flannels. Stimulating
clysters of warm water and salt, or six ounces of brandy, should be
speedily administered. The means should be persevered in for several
hours, as there are instances of persons recovering after all hope was
given up, and they had been abandoned by their attendants. As soon as
the first symptoms of life are discernible, care must be taken to
cherish the vital action by the most gentle and soothing means.
Fomentations of aromatic plants may then be applied to the pit of the
stomach, bladders of warm water placed to the left side, the soles of
the feet rubbed with salt, and a little white wine dropped on the
tongue. The patient should then be left in a quiet state till able to
drink a little warm wine, or tea mixed with a few drops of vinegar. The
absurd practice of rolling persons on casks, lifting the feet over the
shoulders, and suffering the head to remain downwards, in order to
discharge the water, has occasioned the loss of many lives, as it is now
fully and clearly established, that the respiration being impeded is in
this case the sole cause of the suspension of life; and which being
restored, the vital functions soon recover their tone. No attempt must
be made to introduce liquor of any kind into the mouth, till there are
strong signs of recovery.


DUCKS. In rearing this species of poultry, they should be accustomed to
feed and rest in one place, to prevent their straggling too far to lay.
Places near the water to lay in are advantageous, and these might
consist of small wooden houses, with a partition in the middle, and a
door at each end. They generally begin to lay in the month of February.
Their eggs should be daily taken away except one, till they seem
inclined to set, and then they should be left with a sufficient quantity
of eggs under them. They require no attention while setting, except to
give them food at the time they come out to seek it; and water should be
placed at a convenient distance, that their eggs may not be spoiled by
their long absence in seeking it. Twelve or thirteen eggs will be
sufficient. In an early season it is best to place them under a hen,
that the ducks may have less time for setting, for in cold weather they
cannot so well be kept from the water, and would scarcely have strength
to bear it. They should be placed under cover, especially in a wet
season; for though water is the natural element of ducks, yet they are
apt to be killed by the cramp before they are covered with feathers to
defend them. Ducks will eat any thing; and when to be fatted, they
should have plenty of food, however coarse it may be, and in three weeks
they will be ready.


DUCK PIE. Bone a full-grown young duck and a fowl. Wash and season them
with pepper and salt, and a small proportion of mace and allspice in the
finest powder. Put the fowl within the duck, and in the former a calf's
tongue, boiled very tender and peeled. Press the whole close, and draw
the legs inwards, that the body of the fowl may be quite smooth. The
space between the sides of the crust may be filled with fine forcemeat,
the same as for savoury pies. Bake it in a slow oven, either in a raised
crust or pie dish, with a thick ornamented crust. Large Staffordshire
pies are made as above, but with a goose outwards, then a turkey, a duck
next, then a fowl; and either tongue, small birds, or forcemeat in the
middle.


DUCK SAUCE. Put a rich gravy into the dish, and slice the breast. Cut a
lemon, put on it some pepper and salt, squeeze it on the breast, and
pour a spoonful of gravy over the meat, before it is sent round.--See
ROAST DUCK.


DUN BIRDS. Roast and baste them with butter, and sprinkle a little salt
before they are taken up. Pour a good gravy over them, and serve with
shalot sauce in a boat.


DUNELM OF VEAL. Stew a few small mushrooms in their own liquor and a bit
of butter, a quarter of an hour. Mince them fine, and put them with
their liquor to some cold minced veal. Add a little pepper and salt,
some cream, and a bit of butter rubbed in less than half a tea-spoonful
of flour. Simmer the mince three or four minutes, and serve it on thin
sippets of bread. Cold fowl may be treated in the same manner.


DUTCH BEEF. Take a lean piece of beef, rub it well with treacle or brown
sugar, and let it be turned often. In three days wipe it, and salt it
with common salt and saltpetre beaten fine: rub these well in, and turn
it every day for a fortnight. Roll it tight in a coarse cloth, and press
it under a large weight: hang it to dry in a wood smoke, but turn it
upside down every day. Boil it in pump water, and press it: it will then
grate or cut into shivers, like Dutch beef.


DUTCH FLUMMERY. Boil two ounces of isinglass in a pint and half of water
very gently half an hour; add a pint of white wine, the juice of three
lemons, and the thin rind of one. Rub a few lumps of sugar on another
lemon to obtain the essence, and add with them a sufficient quantity of
sugar to sweeten. Beat up the yolks of seven eggs, mix it with the
above, and give them together one scald. Keep the flummery stirring all
the time, pour it into a bason, stir it till half cold, let it settle,
and then put it into a melon shape.


DUTCH PUDDING. Melt a pound of butter in half a pint of milk; mix it
into two pounds of flour, eight eggs, and four spoonfuls of yeast. Add a
pound of currants, and a quarter of a pound of sugar beaten and sifted,
and bake it an hour in a quick oven. This is a very good pudding hot,
and equally so as a cake when cold. If for the latter, carraways must be
used instead of currants.


DUTCH RICE PUDDING. Soak four ounces of rice in warm water half an hour;
drain away the water, put the rice into a stewpan, with half a pint of
milk, and half a stick of cinnamon, and simmer it till tender. When
cold, add four eggs well beaten, two ounces of butter melted in a
tea-cupful of cream; and add three ounces of sugar, a quarter of a
nutmeg, and a good piece of lemon peel. Put a light puffpaste into a
mould or dish, or grated tops and bottoms, and bake in a quick oven.


DUTCH WAFFLES. These form a delicious article in the shape of puff
cakes, which are instantly prepared and exhibited for sale in stalls or
tents, in the fairs of Holland, where they are eaten hot as they come
from the plate or baking pan, with fine sugar strewed over them. Mix
together three pounds of fine flour, a dozen eggs, a pound of melted
butter, half a pint of ale, some milk, and a little yeast. Beat it well,
till it forms a thick paste, and let it stand three or four hours before
the fire to rise. Lay it in small pieces on a hot iron or fryingpan,
with a pair of buttered tongs, till it is lightly browned. Eat the
waffles with fine sugar sifted over, or a little sack and melted butter.


DYEING. Nankeen dye is made of equal parts of arnetto and common potash,
dissolved in boiling water. To dye cotton, silk, woollen, or linen of a
beautiful yellow, the plant called weld, or dyer's weed, is used for
that purpose. Blue cloths dipped in a decoction of it will become green.
The yellow colour of the Dutch pink is obtained from the juice of the
stones and branches of the weld. Black dye is obtained from a strong
decoction of logwood, copperas, and gum arabic. Oak saw-dust, or the
excrescences on the roots of young oaks, may be used as a substitute for
galls, both in making ink and black dye.




E.


EARTHENWARE. An ounce of dry lean cheese grated fine, and an equal
quantity of quicklime mixed well together in three ounces of skim milk,
will form a good cement for any articles of broken earthenware, when the
rendering of the joint visible is reckoned of no consequence. A cement
of the same nature may be made of quicklime tempered with the curd of
milk, but the curd should either be made of whey or buttermilk. This
cement, like the former, requires to be applied immediately after it is
made, and it will effectually join any kind of earthenware or china.


EARWIGS. These insects are often destructive in gardens, especially
where carnations, nuts, or filberts, pears and apples are reared. Their
depredations on the flowers may be prevented by putting the bowl of a
tobacco-pipe on the sticks which support them, into which they will
creep in the day time, and may be destroyed. Green leaves of elder laid
near fruit trees, or flower roots, will prevent their approach. Large
quantities may be taken by placing short cuts of reed, bean or wheat
straw, among the branches of fruit trees, and laying some on the ground
near the root. Having committed their depredations in the night, they
take refuge in these in the day time; the reed or straw may be taken
away and burnt, and more put in its stead.--If unfortunately one of
these disagreeable insects have crept into the ear, from their running
so frequently about our garments, let the afflicted person lay his head
upon a table, while some friend carefully drop into the ear a little
sweet oil, or oil of almonds. A drop or two will be sufficient to
destroy the insect, and remove the pain. An earwig may be extracted by
applying a piece of apple to the ear, which will entice the insect to
come out.


EDGEBONE OF BEEF. Skewer it up tight, and tie a broad fillet round it,
to keep the skewers in their places. Put it in with plenty of cold
water, and carefully catch the scum as it rises. When all the scum is
removed, place the boiler on one side of the fire, to keep simmering
slowly till it is done. A piece weighing ten pounds will take two hours,
and larger in proportion. The slower it boils the better it will look,
and the tenderer it will be: if allowed to boil quick at first, no art
can make it tender afterwards. Dress plenty of carrots, as cold carrots
are a general favourite with cold beef.


EEL BROTH. Clean half a pound of small eels, and set them on the fire
with three pints of water, some parsley, a slice of onion, and a few
peppercorns. Let them simmer till the eels are broken, and the broth
good. Add salt, and strain it off. The above should make three half
pints of broth, nourishing and good for weakly persons.


EEL PIE. Cut the eels in lengths of two or three inches, season with
pepper and salt, and place them in a dish with some bits of butter, and
a little water. Cover the dish with a paste, and bake it.


EEL SOUP. Put three pounds of small eels to two quarts of water, a crust
of bread, three blades of mace, some whole pepper, an onion, and a bunch
of sweet herbs. Cover them close, stew till the fish is quite broken,
and then strain it off. Toast some bread, cut it into dice, and pour the
soup on it boiling hot. Part of a carrot may be put in at first. This
soup will be as rich as if made of meat. A quarter of a pint of rich
cream, with a tea-spoonful of flour rubbed smooth in it, is a great
improvement.


EGGS. In new-laid eggs there is a small division of the skin at the end
of the shell, which is filled with air, and is perceptible to the eye.
On looking through them against the sun or a candle, they will be
tolerably clear; but if they shake in the shell, they are not fresh.
Another way to distinguish fresh eggs, is to put the large end to the
tongue; if it feels warm, it is new and good. Eggs may be bought
cheapest in the spring, when the hens first begin to lay, before they
set: in Lent and at Easter they become dear. They may be preserved fresh
for some time by dipping them in boiling water, and instantly taking
them out, or by oiling the shell, either of which will prevent the air
from passing through. They may also be kept on shelves with small holes
to receive one in each, and be turned every other day; or close packed
in a keg, and covered with strong lime water. A still better way of
preserving eggs in a fresh state is to dip them in a solution of
gum-arabic in water, and then imbed them in powdered charcoal. The
gum-arabic answers the purpose of a varnish for the eggs, much better
than any resinous gum, as it can easily be removed by washing them in
water, and is a much cheaper preparation than any other. If eggs are
greased the oily matter becomes rancid, and infallibly hastens the
putrefaction of the eggs. But being varnished with gum water, and
imbedded in charcoal, they will keep for many years, and may be removed
from one climate to another.


EGGS AND BACON. Lay some slices of fine streaked bacon in a clean dish,
and toast them before the fire in a cheese-toaster, turning them when
the upper side is browned; or if it be wished to have them mellow and
soft, rather than curled and crisp, parboil the slices before they are
toasted and do them lightly. Clear dripping or lard is to be preferred
to butter for frying the eggs, and be sure that the fryingpan is quite
clean before it is put in. When the fat is hot, break two or three eggs
into it. Do not turn them; but while they are frying, keep pouring some
of the fat over them with a spoon. When the yolk just begins to look
white, which it will in about two minutes, they are enough, and the
white must not be suffered to lose its transparency. Take up the eggs
with a tin slice, drain the fat from them, trim them neatly, and send
them up with the bacon round them.


EGGS AND ONIONS. Boil some eggs hard, take out the yolks whole, and cut
the whites in slices. Fry some onions and mushrooms, put in the whites,
and keep them turning. Pour off the fat, flour the onions, and add a
little gravy. Boil them up, then put in the yolks, with a little pepper
and salt. Simmer the whole about a minute, and serve it up.


EGGS FOR SALLAD. Boil a couple of eggs for twelve minutes, and put them
into a bason of cold water, to render the yolks firm and hard. Rub them
through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and mix them with a spoonful of
water, or fine double cream, and add two table-spoonfuls of oil or
melted butter. When these are well mixed, add by degrees a tea-spoonful
of salt, or powdered lump sugar, and the same of made mustard. Add very
gradually three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, rub it with the other
ingredients till thoroughly incorporated, and cut up the white of the
egg to garnish the top of the sallad. Let the sauce remain at the bottom
of the bowl, and do not stir up the sallad till it is to be eaten. This
sauce is equally good with cold meat, cold fish, or for cucumbers,
celery, and radishes.


EGGS FOR THE SICK. Eggs very little boiled or poached, when taken in
small quantities, convey much nourishment. The yolk only, when dressed,
should be eaten by invalids. An egg divided, and the yolk and white
beaten separately, then mixed with a glass of wine, will afford two very
wholesome draughts, and prove lighter than when taken together. An egg
broken into a cup of tea, or beaten and mixed with a bason of milk,
makes a breakfast more supporting than tea only.


EGGS FOR TURTLE. Beat in a mortar three yolks of eggs that have been
boiled hard. Make it into a paste with the yolk of a raw one, roll it
into small balls, and throw them into boiling water for two minutes to
harden.


EGG BALLS. Boil the eggs hard, and put them in cold water. Take out the
yolks, and pound them fine in a mortar, wetting them with raw yolks,
about one to three. Season them with salt and white pepper, dry them
with flour, and roll them into small balls, as they swell very much in
boiling. When dressed, boil them in gravy for a minute.


EGG PIE. Boil twelve eggs hard, and chop them with one pound of marrow,
or beef suet. Season with a little cinnamon and nutmeg finely beaten,
adding one pound of currants clean washed and picked, two or three
spoonfuls of cream, a little sweet wine, and rose water. Mix all
together, and fill the pie: when it is baked, stir in half a pound of
fresh butter, and the juice of a lemon.


EGG MINCE PIES. Boil six eggs hard, shred them small, and double the
quantity of shred suet. Then add a pound of currants washed and picked,
or more if the eggs were large; the peel of one lemon shred very fine,
and the juice; six spoonfuls of sweet wine, mace, nutmeg, sugar, a very
little salt; orange, lemon, and citron, candied. Cover the pies with a
light paste.


EGG SAUCE. Boil the eggs hard, chop them fine, and put them into melted
butter. If thrown into cold water after being boiled, the yolks will
become firmer, will be easier to cut, and the surface be prevented from
turning black. Egg sauce will be found an agreeable accompaniment to
roast fowl, or salt fish.


EGG WINE. Beat up an egg, and mix it with a spoonful of cold water. Set
on the fire a glass of white wine, half a glass of water, with sugar and
nutmeg. When it boils, pour a little of it to the egg by degrees, till
the whole is mixed, and stir it well. Then return the whole into the
saucepan, put it on a gentle fire, stir it one way for about a minute.
If it boil, or the egg be stale, it will curdle. The wine may be made
without warming the egg; it is then lighter on the stomach, though not
so pleasant to the taste. Serve it with toast.


ELDER. The foetid smell of the common elder is such, especially of the
dwarf elder, that if the leaves and branches be strewed among cabbage
and cauliflower plants, or turnips, it will secure them from the ravages
of flies and caterpillars; and if hung on the branches of trees, it will
protect them from the effects of blight. Or if put into the
subterraneous paths of the moles, it will drive them from the garden. An
infusion of the leaves in water, and sprinkled over rose-buds and other
flowers, will preserve them from the depredations of the caterpillar.


ELDER ROB. Clear some ripe elder-berries from the stalks, bake them in
covered jars for two hours, and squeeze the juice through a strainer. To
four quarts of juice put one pound of sugar, and stir it over the fire
till reduced to one quart. When cold, tie it down with a bladder, and
keep it in a dry place. It is very good for sore throats and fevers.


ELDER SYRUP. Pick off the elder berries when fully ripe, bake them in a
stone jar, strain them through a coarse sieve, and put the juice into a
clean kettle. To every quart of juice add a pound of fine soft sugar,
boil and skim it well: when it is clear, pour it into a jar, cool it,
and cover it down. Half a pint of this syrup added to a gallon of new
made wine, will give it a very rich flavour, or it may be used for other
purposes.


ELDER WINE. Pick the berries from the stalk, and to every quart allow
two quarts of water. Boil them half an hour, run the liquor and break
the fruit through a hair sieve, and to every quart of juice put three
quarters of a pound of moist sugar. Boil the whole a quarter of an hour,
with some peppercorns, ginger, and a few cloves. Pour it into a tub, and
when of a proper warmth, into the barrel, with toast and yeast to work,
which there is more difficulty to make it do than most other liquors.
When it ceases to hiss, put a quart of brandy to eight gallons, and stop
it up. Bottle it in the spring, or at Christmas.--To make white elder
wine, very much like Frontiniac, boil eighteen pounds of white powder
sugar with six gallons of water, and two whites of eggs well beaten.
Skim it clean, and but in a quarter of a peck of elder flowers from the
tree that bears white berries, but do not keep them on the fire. Stir it
when nearly cold, and put in six spoonfuls of lemon juice, four or five
spoonfuls of yeast, and beat it well into the liquor. Stir it every day,
put into the cask six pounds of the best raisins stoned, and tun the
wine. Stop it close, and bottle it in six months. When well kept, this
wine will pass for Frontiniac.


ELDER FLOWER WINE. To six gallons of spring water put six pounds of sun
raisins cut small, and a dozen pounds of fine sugar: boil the whole
together for about an hour and a half. When the liquor is cold, put in
half a peck of ripe elder flowers, with about a gill of lemon juice, and
half the quantity of ale yeast. Cover it up, and after standing three
days, strain it off. Pour it into a cask that is quite clean, and that
will hold it with ease. When this is done, add a quart of Rhenish wine
to every gallon of liquor, and let the bung be lightly put in for twelve
or fourteen days. Then stop it down fast, and put it in a cool dry place
for four or five months, till it is quite settled and fine: then bottle
it off.


ENGLISH BAMBOO. About the middle of May, cut some large young shoots of
elder; strip off the outward peel, and soak them all night in some
strong salt and water. Dry them separately in a cloth, and have in
readiness the following pickle. To a quart of vinegar put an ounce of
white pepper, an ounce of sliced ginger, a little mace and pimento, all
boiled together. Put the elder shoots into a stone jar, pour on the
liquor boiling hot, stop it up close, and set it by the fire two hours,
turning the jar often to keep it hot. If not green when cold, strain off
the liquor, pour it on boiling again, and keep it hot as before.--Or if
it be intended to make Indian pickle, the addition of these shoots will
be found to be a great improvement. In this case it will only be
necessary to pour boiling vinegar and mustard seed on them, and to keep
them till the jar of pickles shall be ready to receive them. The cluster
of elder flowers before it opens, makes a delicious pickle to eat with
boiled mutton. It is prepared by only pouring vinegar over the flowers.


ENGLISH BRANDY. English or British brandy may be made in smaller
quantities, according to the following proportions. To sixty gallons of
clear rectified spirits, put one pound of sweet spirit of nitre, one
pound of cassia buds ground, one pound of bitter almond meal, (the
cassia and almond meal to be mixed together before they are put to the
spirits) two ounces of sliced orris root, and about thirty or forty
prune stones pounded. Shake the whole well together, two or three times
a day, for three days or more. Let them settle, then pour in one gallon
of the best wine vinegar; and add to every four gallons, one gallon of
foreign brandy.


ENGLISH CHAMPAIGNE. Take gooseberries before they are ripe, crush them
with a mallet in a wooden bowl; and to every gallon of fruit, put a
gallon of water. Let it stand two days, stirring it well. Squeeze the
mixture with the hands through a hop sieve, then measure the liquor, and
to every gallon put three pounds and a half of loaf sugar. Mix it well
in the tub, and let it stand one day. Put a bottle of the best brandy
into the cask, which leave open five or six weeks, taking off the scum
as it rises. Then stop it up, and let it stand one year in the barrel
before it is bottled.


ENGLISH SHERRY. Boil thirty pounds of lump sugar in ten gallons of
water, and clear it of the scum. When cold, put a quart of new alewort
to every gallon of liquor, and let it work in the tub a day or two. Then
put it into a cask with a pound of sugar candy, six pounds of fine
raisins, a pint of brandy, and two ounces of isinglass. When the
fermentation is over, stop it close: let it stand eight months, rack it
off, and add a little more brandy. Return it to the cask again, and let
it stand four months before it is bottled.


ENGLISH WINES. During the high price of foreign wine, home-made wines
will be found particularly useful; and though sugar is dear, they may be
prepared at a quarter of the expence. If carefully made, and kept three
or four years, a proportionable strength being given, they would answer
the purpose of foreign wines for health, and cause a very considerable
reduction in the expenditure. Sugar and water are the principal basis
of home-made wine; and when these require to be boiled, it is proper to
beat up the whites of eggs to a froth, and mix them with the water when
cold, in the proportion of one egg to a gallon. When the sugar and water
are boiled, the liquor should be cooled quickly; and if not for wines
that require fermenting, it may be put into the cask when cold. If the
wine is to be fermented, the yeast should be put into it when it is
milk-warm; but must not be left more than two nights to ferment, before
it is put into the cask. Particular care should be taken to have the
cask sweet and dry, and washed inside with a little brandy, before the
wine is tunned, but it should not be bunged up close till it has done
fermenting. After standing three or four months, it will be necessary to
taste the wine, to know whether it be fit to draw off. If not sweet
enough, some sugar should be added, or draw it off into another cask,
and put in some sugar-candy: but if too sweet, let it stand a little
longer. When the wine is racked, the dregs may be drained through a
flannel bag; and the wine, if not clear enough for the table, may be
used for sauce.


ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE. Take a dram of the oil of pimento, and mix it by
degrees with two ounces of strong spirit of wine. A few drops will give
the flavour of allspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine.


ESSENCE OF ANCHOVY. Put into a marble mortar ten or twelve fine mellow
anchovies, that have been well pickled, and pound them to a pulp. Put
this into a clean well-tinned saucepan, then put a table-spoonful of
cold water into the mortar, shake it round, and pour it to the pounded
anchovies. Set them by the side of a slow fire, frequently stirring them
together till they are melted, which they will be in the course of five
minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a dram of good cayenne, and let it
remain by the fire a few minutes longer. Rub it through a hair sieve
with the back of a wooden spoon, and keep it stopped very closely: if
the air gets to it, it is spoiled directly. Essence of anchovy is made
sometimes with sherry, or madeira, instead of water, or with the
addition of mushroom ketchup.


ESSENCE OF CAYENNE. Put half an ounce of cayenne pepper into half a pint
of wine or brandy, let it steep a fortnight, and then pour off the clear
liquor. This article is very convenient for the extempore seasoning and
finishing of soups and sauces, its flavour being instantly and equally
diffused.


ESSENCE OF CELERY. Steep in a quarter of a pint of brandy, or proof
spirit, half an ounce of celery seed bruised, and let it stand a
fortnight. A few drops will immediately flavour a pint of broth, and are
an excellent addition to pease, and other soups.


ESSENCE OF CLOVES. Mix together two ounces of the strongest spirit of
wine, and a dram of the oil of cloves. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace are
prepared in the same manner.


ESSENCE OF FLOWERS. Select a quantity of the petals of any flowers which
have an agreeable fragrance, lay them in an earthen vessel, and sprinkle
a little fine salt upon them. Then dip some cotton into the best
Florence oil, and lay it thin upon the flowers; continue a layer of
petals, and a layer of cotton, till the vessel is full. It is then to be
closed down with a bladder, and exposed to the heat of the sun. In about
a fortnight a fragrant oil may be squeezed away from the whole mass,
which will yield a rich perfume.


ESSENCE OF GINGER. Grate three ounces of ginger, and an ounce of thin
lemon peel, into a quart of brandy, or proof spirit, and let it stand
for ten days, shaking it up each day. If ginger is taken to produce an
immediate effect, to warm the stomach, or dispel flatulence, this will
be found the best preparation.


ESSENCE OF LAVENDER. Take the blossoms from the stalks in warm weather,
and spread them in the shade for twenty-four hours on a linen cloth;
then bruise and put them into warm water, and leave them closely covered
in a still for four or five hours near the fire. After this the blossoms
may be distilled in the usual way.


ESSENCE OF LEMON PEEL. Wash and brush clean the lemons, and let them get
perfectly dry. Take a lump of fine sugar, and rub them till all the
yellow rind is taken up by the sugar; scrape off the surface of the
sugar into a preserving pot, and press it hard down. Cover it very
close, and it will keep for some time. By this process is obtained the
whole of the fine essential oil, which contains the flavour.


ESSENCE OF MUSHROOMS. This delicate relish is made by sprinkling a
little salt over some mushrooms, and mashing them three hours after.
Next day strain off the liquor, put it into a stewpan, and boil it till
reduced one half. It will not keep long, but is preferable to any of the
ketchups. An artificial bed of mushrooms would supply this article all
the year round.


ESSENCE OF OYSTERS. Take fine fresh Milton oysters, wash them in their
own liquor, skim it, and pound them in a marble mortar. To a pint of
oysters add a pint of sherry, boil them up, and add an ounce of salt,
two drams of pounded mace, and one of cayenne. Let it just boil up
again, skim it, and rub it through a sieve. When cold, bottle and cork
it well, and seal it down. This composition very agreeably heightens the
flavour of white sauces, and white made-dishes. If a glass of brandy be
added to the essence, it will keep a considerable time longer than
oysters are out of season.


ESSENCE OF SHALOT. Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of
shalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for three days. Then pour
off the clear liquor on three ounces more of shalots, and let the wine
remain on them ten days longer. An ounce of scraped horseradish may be
added to the above, and a little thin lemon peel. This will impart a
fine flavour to soups, sauces, hashes, and various other dishes.


ESSENCE OF SOAP. For washing or shaving, the essence of soap is very
superior to what is commonly used for these purposes, and a very small
quantity will make an excellent lather. Mix two ounces of salt of tartar
with half a pound of soap finely sliced, put them into a quart of
spirits of wine, in a bottle that will contain twice the quantity. Tie
it down with a bladder, prick a pin through it for the air to escape,
set it to digest in a gentle heat, and shake up the contents. When the
soap is dissolved, filter the liquor through some paper to free it from
impurities, and scent it with burgamot or essence of lemon.


ESSENCE OF TURTLE. Mix together one wine-glassful of the essence of
anchovy, one and a half of shalot wine, four wine-glassfuls of Basil
wine, two ditto of mushroom ketchup, one dram of lemon acid, three
quarters of an ounce of lemon peel very thinly pared, and a quarter of
an ounce of curry powder, and let them steep together for a week. The
essence thus obtained will be found convenient to flavour soup, sauce,
potted meats, savoury patties, and various other articles.


EVACUATIONS. Few things are more conducive to health than keeping the
body regular, and paying attention to the common evacuations. A proper
medium between costiveness and laxness is highly desirable, and can only
be obtained by regularity in diet, sleep, and exercise. Irregularity in
eating and drinking disturbs every part of the animal economy, and never
fails to produce diseases. Too much or too little food will have this
effect: the former generally occasions looseness, and the latter
costiveness; and both have a tendency to injure health. Persons who have
frequent recourse to medicine for preventing costiveness, seldom fail to
ruin their constitution. They ought rather to remove the evil by diet
than by drugs, by avoiding every thing of a hot or binding nature, by
going thinly clothed, walking in the open air, and acquiring the habit
of a regular discharge by a stated visit to the place of retreat.
Habitual looseness is often owing to an obstructed perspiration: persons
thus afflicted should keep their feet warm, and wear flannel next the
skin. Their diet also should be of an astringent quality, and such as
tends to strengthen the bowels. For this purpose, fine bread, cheese,
eggs, rice milk, red wine, or brandy and water would be
proper.--Insensible perspiration is one of the principal discharges from
the human body, and is of such importance to health, that few diseases
attack us while it goes on properly; but when obstructed, the whole
frame is soon disordered, and danger meets us in every form. The common
cause of obstructed perspiration, or taking cold, is the sudden changes
of the weather; and the best means of fortifying the body is to be
abroad every day, and breathe freely in the open air. Much danger arises
from wet feet and wet clothes, and persons who are much abroad are
exposed to these things. The best way is to change wet clothes as soon
as possible, or to keep in motion till they be dry, but by no means to
sit or lie down. Early habits may indeed inure people to wet clothes and
wet feet without any danger, but persons of a delicate constitution
cannot be too careful. Perspiration is often obstructed by other means,
but it is in all cases attended with considerable danger. Sudden
transitions from heat to cold, drinking freely of cold water after being
heated with violent exercise, sitting near an open window when the room
is hot, plunging into cold water in a state of perspiration, or going
into the cold air immediately after sitting in a warm room, are among
the various means by which the health of thousands is constantly ruined;
and more die of colds than are killed by plagues, or slain in battle.


EVE'S PUDDING. Grate three quarters of a pound of bread; mix it with the
same quantity of shred suet, the same of apples, and also of currants.
Mix with these the whole of four eggs, and the rind of half a lemon
shred fine. Put it into a shape, and boil it three hours. Serve with
pudding sauce, the juice of half a lemon, and a little nutmeg.


EXERCISE. Whether man were originally intended for labour or not, it is
evident from the human structure, that exercise is not less necessary
than food, for the preservation of health. It is generally seen among
the labouring part of the community, that industry places them above
want, and activity serves them instead of physic. It seems to be the
established law of the animal creation, that without exercise no
creature should enjoy health, or be able to find subsistence. Every
creature, except man, takes as much of it as is necessary: he alone
deviates from this original law, and suffers accordingly. Weak nerves,
and glandular obstructions, which are now so common, are the constant
companions of inactivity. We seldom hear the active or laborious
complain of nervous diseases: indeed many have been cured of them by
being reduced to the necessity of labouring for their own support. This
shews the source from which such disorders flow, and the means by which
they may be prevented. It is evident that health cannot be enjoyed where
the perspiration is not duly carried on; but that can never be the case
where exercise is neglected. Hence it is that the inactive are
continually complaining of pains of the stomach, flatulencies, and
various other disorders which cannot be removed by medicine, but might
be effectually cured by a course of vigorous exercise. But to render
this in the highest degree beneficial, it should always be taken in the
open air, especially in the morning, while the stomach is empty, and the
body refreshed with sleep. The morning air braces and strengthens the
nerves, and in some measure answers the purpose of a cold bath. Every
thing that induces people to sit still, except it be some necessary
employment, ought to be avoided; and if exercise cannot be had in the
open air, it should be attended to as far as possible within doors.
Violent exertions however are no more to be recommended than inactivity;
for whatever fatigues the body, prevents the benefit of exercise, and
tends to weaken rather than strengthen it. Fast walking, immediately
before or after meals, is highly pernicious, and necessarily accelerates
the circulation of the blood, which is attended with imminent danger to
the head or brain. On the other hand, indolence not only occasions
diseases, and renders men useless to society, but it is the parent of
vice. The mind, if not engaged in some useful pursuit, is constantly in
search of ideal pleasures, or impressed with the apprehension of some
imaginary evil; and from these sources proceed most of the miseries of
mankind. An active life is the best guardian of virtue, and the greatest
preservative of health.




F.


FACSIMILES. To produce a facsimile of any writing, the pen should be
made of glass enamel, the point being small and finely polished, so that
the part above the point may be large enough to hold as much or more ink
than a common writing pen. A mixture of equal parts of Frankfort black,
and fresh butter, is now to be smeared over sheets of paper, and is to
be rubbed off after a certain time. The paper thus smeared is to be
pressed for some hours, taking care to have sheets of blotting paper
between each of the sheets of black paper. When fit for use, writing
paper is put between sheets of blackened paper, and the upper sheet is
to be written on, with common ink, by the glass or enamel pen. By this
method, not only the copy is obtained on which the pen writes, but also
two or more, made by means of the blackened paper.


FAMILY PIES. To make a plain trust for pies to be eaten hot, or for
fruit puddings, cut some thin slices of beef suet, lay them in some
flour, mix it with cold water, and roll it till it is quite soft. Or
make a paste of half a pound of butter or lard, and a pound and a half
of flour. Mix it with water, work it up, roll it out twice, and cover
the dish with it.


FAMILY WINE. An excellent compound wine, suited to family use, may be
made of equal parts of red, white, and black currants, ripe cherries and
raspberries, well bruised, and mixed with soft water, in the proportion
of four pounds of fruit to one gallon of water. When strained and
pressed, three pounds of moist sugar are to be added to each gallon of
liquid. After standing open for three days, during which it is to be
stirred frequently, it is to be put into a barrel, and left for a
fortnight to work, when a ninth part of brandy is to be added, and the
whole bunged down. In a few months it will be a most excellent wine.


FATTING FOWLS. Chickens or fowls may be fatted in four or five days, by
setting some rice over the fire with skimmed milk, as much as will serve
for one day. Let it boil till the rice is quite swelled, and add a
tea-spoonful of sugar. Feed them three times a day, in common pans,
giving them only as much as will quite fill them at once. Before they
are fed again, set the pans in water, that no sourness may be conveyed
to the fowls, as that would prevent their fattening. Let them drink
clean water, or the milk of the rice; but when rice is given them, after
being perfectly soaked, let as much of the moisture as possible be drawn
from it. By this method the flesh will have a clean whiteness, which no
other food gives; and when it is considered how far a pound of rice will
go, and how much time is saved by this mode, it will be found nearly as
cheap as any other food, especially if it is to be purchased. The
chicken pen should be cleaned every day, and no food given for sixteen
hours before poultry is to be killed.


FAWN. A fawn, like a sucking pig, should be dressed almost as soon as it
is killed. When very young, it is trussed, stuffed, and spitted the same
as a hare. But they are better eating when of the size of a house lamb,
and then roasted in quarters: the hind quarter is most esteemed. The
meat must be put down to a very quick fire, and either basted all the
time it is roasting, or be covered with sheets of fat bacon. When done,
baste it with butter, and dredge it with a little salt and flour, till a
nice froth is set upon it. Serve it up with venison sauce. If a fawn be
half roasted as soon as received, and afterwards made into a hash, it
will be very fine.


FEAR. Sudden fear, or an unexpected fright, often produces epileptic
fits, and other dangerous disorders. Many young people have lost their
lives or their senses by the foolish attempts of producing violent
alarm, and the mind has been thrown into such disorders as never again
to act with regularity. A settled dread and anxiety not only dispose the
body to diseases, but often render those diseases fatal, which a
cheerful mind would overcome; and the constant dread of some future
evil, has been known to bring on the very evil itself. A mild and
sympathizing behaviour towards the afflicted will do them more good than
medicine, and he is the best physician and the best friend who
administers the consolation of hope.


FEATHERS. Where poultry is usually sold ready picked, the feathers which
occasionally come in small quantities are neglected; but care should be
taken to put them into a clean tub, and as they dry to change them into
paper bags, in small quantities. They should hang in a dry kitchen to
season; fresh ones must not be added to those in part dried, or they
will occasion a musty smell, but they should go through the same
process. In a few months they will be fit to add to beds, or to make
pillows, without the usual mode of drying them in a cool oven, which may
be pursued if they are wanted before five or six months.


FEATHERS CLEANED. In order to clear feathers from animal oil, dissolve a
pound of quick lime in a gallon of clear water; and pour off the clear
lime-water for use, at the time it is wanted. Put the feathers to be
cleaned in a tub, and add to them a sufficient quantity of the clear
lime-water, so as to cover them about three inches. The feathers, when
thoroughly moistened, will sink down, and should remain in the
lime-water for three or four days; after which, the foul liquor should
be separated from them by laying them on a sieve. They are afterwards to
be washed in clean water, and dried on nets, the meshes being about the
same fineness as those of cabbage nets. They must be shaken from time to
time on the nets; as they dry, they will fall through the meshes, and
are to be collected for use. The admission of air will be serviceable in
the drying, and the whole process may be completed in about three weeks.
The feathers, after being thus prepared, want nothing farther than
beating, to be used either for beds, bolsters, pillows, or cushions.


FEET. To prevent corns from growing on the feet, wear easy shoes, and
bathe the feet often in lukewarm water, with a little salt and potash
dissolved in it. The corn itself may be completely destroyed by rubbing
it daily with a little caustic solution of potash, till a soft and
flexible skin is formed. For chilblains, soak the feet in warm bran and
water and rub them well with flour of mustard. This should be done
before the chilblains begin to break.


FENNEL SAUCE. Boil fennel and parsley, tied together in a bunch; chop it
small, and stir it up with melted butter. This sauce is generally eaten
with mackarel.


FEVER DRINK. To make a refreshing drink in a fever, put into a stone jug
a little tea sage, two sprigs of balm, and a small quantity of wood
sorrel, having first washed and dried them. Peel thin a small lemon, and
clear from the white; slice it, and put in a bit of the peel. Then pour
in three pints of boiling water, sweeten, and cover it close.--Another
drink. Wash extremely well an ounce of pearl barley; shift it twice,
then put to it three pints of water, an ounce of sweet almonds beaten
fine, and a bit of lemon peel. Boil the liquor smooth, put in a little
syrup of lemons, and capillaire.--Another way is to boil three pints of
water with an ounce and a half of tamarinds, three ounces of currants,
and two ounces of stoned raisins, till nearly a third is consumed.
Strain it on a bit of lemon peel, which should be removed in the course
of an hour, or it will infuse a bitter taste.


FILLET OF VEAL. Stuff it well under the udder, at the bone, and quite
through to the shank. Put it into the oven, with a pint of water under
it, till it comes to a fine brown. Then put it in a stewpan with three
pints of gravy, and stew it quite tender. Add a tea-spoonful of lemon
pickle, a large spoonful of browning, one of ketchup, and a little
cayenne; thicken it with a bit of butter rolled in flour. Put the veal
in a dish, strain the gravy over it, and lay round it forcemeat balls.
Garnish with pickle and lemon.


FINE CAKE. To make an excellent cake, rub two pounds of fine dry flour
with one of butter, washed in plain and then in rose water. Mix with it
three spoonfuls of yeast, in a little warm milk and water. Set it to
rise an hour and a half before the fire, and then beat into it two
pounds of currants, carefully washed and picked, and one pound of sifted
sugar. Add four ounces of almonds, six ounces of stoned raisins chopped
fine, half a nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and a few cloves, the peel of a
lemon shred very fine, a glass of wine, one of brandy, twelve yolks and
whites of eggs beat separately, with orange, citron, and lemon. Beat
them up well together, butter the pan, and bake in a quick oven.--To
make a still finer cake, wash two pounds and a half of fresh butter in
water first, and then in rose water, and beat the butter to a cream.
Beat up twenty eggs, yolks and whites, separately, half an hour each.
Have ready two pounds and a half of the finest flour well dried and kept
hot, likewise a pound and a half of loaf sugar pounded and sifted, an
ounce of spice in very fine powder, three pounds of currants nicely
cleaned and dry, half a pound of almonds blanched, and three quarters of
a pound of sweetmeats cut small. Let all be kept by the fire, and mix
the dry ingredients. Pour the eggs strained to the butter, mix half a
glass of sweet wine with a full glass of brandy, and pour it to the
butter and eggs, mixing them well together. Add the dry ingredients by
degrees, and beat them together thoroughly for a great length of time.
Having prepared and stoned half a pound of jar raisins, chopped as fine
as possible, mix them carefully, so that there shall be no lumps, and
add a tea-cupful of orange flower water. Beat the ingredients together a
full hour at least. Have a hoop well buttered, or a tin or copper
cake-pan; take a white paper, doubled and buttered, and put in the pan
round the edge, if the cake batter fill it more than three parts, for
space should be allowed for rising. Bake it in a quick oven: three hours
will be requisite.


FINE CRUST. For orange cheesecakes, or sweetmeats, when intended to be
particularly nice, the following fine crust may be prepared. Dry a pound
of the finest flour and mix with it three ounces of refined sugar. Work
up half a pound of butter with the hand till it comes to a froth, put
the flour into it by degrees, adding the yolks of three and the whites
of two eggs, well beaten and strained. If too thin, add a little flour
and sugar to make it fit to roll. Line some pattipans, and fill them: a
little more than fifteen minutes will bake them. Beat up some refined
sugar with the white of an egg, as thick as possible, and ice the
articles all over as soon as they are baked. Then return them to the
oven to harden, and serve them up cold, with fresh butter. Salt butter
will make a very fine flaky crust, but if for mince pies, or any sweet
things, it should first be washed.


FIRE ARMS. The danger of improperly loading fire arms chiefly arises
from not ramming the wadding close to the powder; and then when a
fowling-piece is discharged, it is very likely to burst in pieces. This
circumstance, though well known, is often neglected, and various
accidents are occasioned by it. Hence when a screw barrel pistol is to
be loaded, care should be taken that the cavity for the powder be
entirely filled with it, so as to leave no space between the powder and
the ball. For the same reason, if the bottom of a large tree is to be
shivered with gunpowder, a space must be left between the charge and the
wadding, and the powder will tear it asunder. But considering the
numerous accidents that are constantly occurring, from the incautious
use of fire arms, the utmost care should be taken not to place them
within the reach of children or of servants, and in no instance to lay
them up without previously drawing the charge.


FIRE IRONS. To preserve them from rust, when not in use, they should be
wrapped up in baize, and kept in a dry place. Or to preserve them more
effectually, let them be smeared over with fresh mutton suet, and dusted
with unslaked lime, pounded and tied up in muslin. Irons so prepared
will keep many months. Use no oil for them at any time, except a little
salad oil, there being water in all other, which would soon produce
rust.


FIRMITY. To make Somersetshire firmity, boil a quart of fine wheat, and
add by degrees two quarts of new milk. Pick and wash four ounces of
currants, stir them in the jelly, and boil them together till all is
done. Beat the yolks of three eggs, and a little nutmeg, with two or
three spoonfuls of milk, and add to the boiling. Sweeten the whole, and
serve it in a deep dish, either warm or cold.


FISH. In dressing fish of any kind for the table, great care is
necessary in cleaning it. It is a common error to wash it too much, and
by this means the flavour is diminished. If the fish is to be boiled,
after it is cleaned, a little salt and vinegar should be put into the
water, to give it firmness. Codfish, whiting, and haddock, are far
better if a little salted, and kept a day; and if the weather be not
very hot, they will be good two days. When fish is cheap and plentiful,
and a larger quantity is purchased than is immediately wanted, it would
be proper to pot or pickle such as will bear it, or salt and hang it up,
or fry it a little, that it may serve for stewing the next day. Fresh
water fish having frequently a muddy smell and taste, should be soaked
in strong salt and water, after it has been well cleaned. If of a
sufficient size, it may be scalded in salt and water, and afterwards
dried and dressed. Fish should be put into cold water, and set on the
fire to do very gently, or the outside will break before the inner part
is done. Crimp fish is to be put into boiling water; and when it boils
up, pour in a little cold water to check extreme heat, and simmer it a
few minutes. The fish plate on which it is done, may be drawn up, to see
if it be ready, which may be known by its easily separating from the
bone. It should then be immediately taken out of the water, or it will
become woolly. The fish plate should be set crossways over the kettle,
to keep hot for serving; and a clean cloth over the fish, to prevent its
losing its colour. Small fish nicely fried, covered with egg and crumbs,
make a dish far more elegant than if served plain. Great attention is
required in garnishing fish, by using plenty of horseradish, parsley,
and lemon. When well done, and with very good sauce, fish is more
attended to than almost any other dish. The liver and roe should be
placed on the dish in order that they may be distributed in the course
of serving.--If fish is to be fried or broiled, it must be dried in a
nice soft cloth, after it is well cleaned and washed. If for frying,
smear it over with egg, and sprinkle on it some fine crumbs of bread. If
done a second time with the egg and bread, the fish will look so much
the better. Put on the fire a stout fryingpan, with a large quantity of
lard or dripping boiling hot, plunge the fish into it, and let it fry
tolerably quick, till the colour is of a fine brown yellow. If it be
done enough before it has obtained a proper degree of colour, the pan
must be drawn to the side of the fire. Take it up carefully, and either
place it on a large sieve turned upwards, and to be kept for that
purpose only, or on the under side of a dish to drain. If required to be
very nice, a sheet of writing paper must be placed to receive the fish,
that it may be free from all grease; it must also be of a beautiful
colour, and all the crumbs appear distinct. The same dripping, adding a
little that is fresh, will serve a second time. Butter gives a bad
colour, oil is the best, if the expense be no objection. Garnish with a
fringe of fresh curled parsley. If fried parsley be used, it must be
washed and picked, and thrown into fresh water; when the lard or
dripping boils, throw the parsley into it immediately from the water,
and instantly it will be green and crisp, and must be taken up with a
slice.--If fish is to be broiled, it must be seasoned, floured, and laid
on a very clean gridiron, which when hot, should be rubbed with a bit of
suet, to prevent the fish from sticking. It must be broiled over a very
clear fire, that it may not taste smoky; and not too near, that it may
not be scorched.


FISH GRAVY. Skin two or three eels, or some flounders; gut and wash them
very clean, cut them into small pieces, and put them into a saucepan.
Cover them with water, and add a little crust of toasted bread, two
blades of mace, some whole pepper, sweet herbs, a piece of lemon peel,
an anchovy or two, and a tea-spoonful of horse-radish. Cover the
saucepan close, and let it simmer; then add a little butter and flour,
and boil with the above.


FISH PIE. To make a fine fish pie, boil two pounds of small eels. Cut
the fins quite close, pick off the flesh, and return the bones into the
liquor, with a little mace, pepper, salt, and a slice of onion. Then
boil it till it is quite rich, and strain it. Make forcemeat of the
flesh, with an anchovy, a little parsley, lemon peel, salt, pepper, and
crumbs, and four ounces of butter warmed. Lay it at the bottom of the
dish: then take the flesh of soles, small cod, or dressed turbot, and
rub it with salt and pepper. Lay this on the forcemeat, pour on the
gravy, and bake it. If cod or soles are used, the skin and fins must be
taken off.


FISH SAUCE. Put into a very nice tin saucepan a pint of port wine, a
gill of mountain, half a pint of fine walnut ketchup, twelve anchovies
with the liquor that belongs to them, a gill of walnut pickle, the rind
and juice of a large lemon, four or five shalots, a flavour of cayenne,
three ounces of scraped horse-radish, three blades of mace, and two
tea-spoonfuls of made mustard. Boil it all gently, till the rawness goes
off, and put it into small bottles for use. Cork them very close and
seal the top.--Or chop two dozen of anchovies not washed, and ten
shalots, and scrape three spoonfuls of horseradish. Then add ten blades
of mace, twelve cloves, two sliced lemons, half a pint of anchovy
liquor, a quart of hock or Rhenish wine, and a pint of water. Boil it
down to a quart, and strain it off. When cold, add three large spoonfuls
of walnut ketchup, and put the sauce into small bottles well corked.--To
make fish sauce without butter, simmer very gently a quarter of a pint
of vinegar, and half a pint of soft water, with an onion. Add four
cloves, and two blades of mace, slightly bruised, and half a
tea-spoonful of black pepper. When the onion is quite tender, chop it
small with two anchovies, and set the whole on the fire to boil for a
few minutes, with a spoonful of ketchup. Prepare in the mean time the
yolks of three fresh eggs, well beaten and strained, and mix the liquor
with them by degrees. When all are well mixed, set the saucepan over a
gentle fire, keeping a bason in one hand, to toss the sauce to and fro
in, and shake the saucepan over the fire, that the eggs may not curdle.
Do not let it boil, only make the sauce hot enough to give it the
thickness of melted butter.--Fish sauce à la Craster, is made in the
following manner. Thicken a quarter of a pound of butter with flour, and
brown it. Add a pound of the best anchovies cut small, six blades of
pounded mace, ten cloves, forty corns of black pepper and allspice, a
few small onions, a faggot of sweet herbs, consisting of savoury, thyme,
basil, and knotted marjoram, also a little parsley, and sliced
horse-radish. On these pour half a pint of the best sherry, and a pint
and a half of strong gravy. Simmer all gently for twenty minutes, then
strain it through a sieve, and bottle it for use. The way of using it
is, to boil some of it in the butter while melting.


FLANNELS. In order to make flannels keep their colour and not shrink,
put them into a pail, and pour on boiling water. Let them lie till cold,
before they are washed.


FLAT BEER. Much loss is frequently sustained from beer growing flat,
during the time of drawing. To prevent this, suspend a pint or more of
ground malt in it, tied up in a large bag, and keep the bung well
closed. The beer will not then become vapid, but rather improve the
whole time it is in use.


FLAT CAKES. Mix two pounds of flour, one pound of sugar, and one ounce
of carraways, with four or five eggs, and a few spoonfuls of water. Make
all into a stiff paste, roll it out thin, cut it into any shape, and
bake on tins lightly floured. While baking, boil to a thin syrup a pound
of sugar in a pint of water. When both are hot, dip each cake into the
syrup, and place them on tins to dry in the oven for a short time. When
the oven is a little cooler, return them into it, and let them remain
there four or five hours. Cakes made in this way will keep good for a
long time.


FLAT FISH. Flounders, plaice, soles, and other kinds of flat fish, are
good boiled. Cut off the fins, draw and clean them well, dry them with a
cloth, and boil them in salt and water. When the fins draw out easily,
they are done enough. Serve them with shrimp, cockle, or mustard sauce,
and garnish with red cabbage.


FLATULENCY. Wind in the stomach, accompanied with pain, is frequently
occasioned by eating flatulent vegetables, or fat meat, with large
draughts of beverage immediately afterwards, which turn rancid on the
stomach; and of course, these ought to be avoided. Hot tea, turbid beer,
and feculent liquors will have the same effect. A phlegmatic
constitution, or costiveness, will render the complaint more frequent
and painful. Gentle laxatives and a careful diet are the best remedy;
but hot aromatics and spirituous liquors should be avoided.


FLEAS. Want of cleanliness remarkably contributes to the production of
these offensive insects. The females of this tribe deposit their eggs in
damp and filthy places, within the crevices of boards, and on rubbish,
when they emerge in the form of fleas in about a month. Cleanliness, and
frequent sprinkling of the room with a simple decoction of wormwood,
will soon exterminate the whole breed of these disagreeable vermin; and
the best remedy to expel them from bed clothes is a bag filled with dry
moss, the odour of which is to them extremely offensive. Fumigation with
brimstone, or the fresh leaves of pennyroyal sewed in a bag, and laid in
the bed, will also have the desired effect. Dogs and cats may be
effectually secured from the persecutions of these vermin, by
occasionally anointing their skin with sweet oil, or oil of turpentine;
or by rubbing into their coats some Scotch snuff. But if they be at all
mangy, or their skin broken, the latter would be very painful and
improper.


FLIES. If a room be swarming with these noisome insects, the most ready
way of expelling them is to fumigate the apartment with the dried leaves
of the gourd. If the window be opened, the smoke will instantly drive
them out: or if the room be close, it will suffocate them. But in the
latter case, no person should remain within doors, as the fume is apt to
occasion the headache. Another way is to dissolve two drams of the
extract of quassia in half a pint of boiling water; and, adding a little
sugar or syrup, pour the mixture upon plates. The flies are extremely
partial to this enticing food, and it never fails to destroy them.
Camphor placed near any kind of provision will protect it from the
flies.


FLIP. To make a quart of flip, put the ale on the fire to warm, and
beat up three or four eggs, with four ounces of moist sugar. Add a
tea-spoonful of grated nutmeg or ginger, and a quartern of good old rum
or brandy. When the ale is nearly boiling, put it into one pitcher, and
the rum and eggs into another: turn it from one pitcher to another, till
it is as smooth as cream.


FLOATING ISLAND. Mix three half pints of thin cream with a quarter of a
pint of raisin wine, a little lemon juice, orange flower water, and
sugar. Put it into a dish for the middle of the table, and lay on with a
spoon the following froth ready prepared. Sweeten half a pound of
raspberry or currant jelly, add to it the whites of four eggs beaten,
and beat up the jelly to a froth, until it will take any form you
please. It should be raised high, to represent a castle or a
rock.--Another way. Scald a codlin before it be ripe, or any other sharp
apple, and pulp it through a sieve. Beat the whites of two eggs with
sugar, and a spoonful of orange flower water; mix in the pulp by
degrees, and beat all together till it produces a large quantity of
froth. Serve it on a raspberry cream, or colour the froth with beet
root, raspberry, or currant jelly, and set it on a white cream, which
has already been flavoured with lemon, sugar, and raisin wine. The froth
may also be laid on a custard.


FLOOR CLOTHS. The best are such as are painted on a fine cloth, well
covered with colour, and where the flowers do not rise much above the
ground, as they wear out first. The durability of the cloth will depend
much on these two particulars, but more especially on the time it has
been painted, and the goodness of the colours. If they have not been
allowed sufficient space for becoming thoroughly hardened, a very little
use will injure them: and as they are very expensive articles, care is
necessary in preserving them. It answers to keep them some time before
they are used, either hung up in a dry airy place, or laid down in a
spare room. When taken up for the winter, they should be rolled round a
carpet roller, and care taken not to crack the paint by turning in the
edges too suddenly. Old carpets answer quite well, painted and seasoned
some months before they are laid down. If intended for passages, the
width must be directed when they are sent to the manufactory, as they
are cut before painting.


FLOOR CLOTHS CLEANED. Sweep them first, then wipe them with a flannel;
and when the dust and spots are removed, rub with a wax flannel, and dry
them with a plain one. Use but little wax, and rub only with the latter
to give a little smoothness, or it will make the floor cloth slippery,
and endanger falling. Washing now and then with milk, after the above
sweeping and dry rubbing, will give as good an appearance, and render
the floor cloths less slippery.


FLOUNDERS. These are both sea and river fish: the Thames produces the
best. They are in season from January to March, and from July to
September. Their flesh should be thick and firm, and their eyes bright:
they very soon become flabby and bad. Before they are dressed, they
should be rubbed with salt inside and out, and lie two hours to acquire
firmness. Then dip them in eggs, cover with grated bread, and fry them.


FLOUR. Good wheat flour may be known by the quantity of glutinous matter
it contains, and which will appear when kneaded into dough. For this
purpose take four ounces of fine flour, mix it with water, and work it
together till it forms a thick paste. The paste is then to be well
washed and kneaded with the hands under the water, and the water to be
renewed till it ceases to become white by the operation. If the flour be
sound, the paste which remains will be glutinous and elastic, and
brittle after it has been baked.--Adulterated meal and flour are
generally whiter and heavier than the good, and may be detected in a way
similar to that already mentioned, under the article ADULTERATIONS. Or
pour boiling water on some slices of bread, and drop on it some spirits
of vitriol. Put them in the flour; and if it contain any quantity of
whiting, chalk, or lime, a fermentation will ensue. Vitriol alone,
dropped on adulterated bread or flour, will produce a similar
effect.--American flour requires nearly twice as much water to make it
into bread as is used for English flour, and therefore it is more
profitable. Fourteen pounds of American flour will make twenty-one
pounds and a half of bread, while the best sort of English flour
produces only eighteen pounds and a half.


FLOUR CAUDLE. Into five large spoonfuls of pure water, rub smooth one
dessert-spoonful of fine flour. Set over the fire five spoonfuls of new
milk, and put into it two pieces of sugar. The moment it boils, pour
into it the flour and water, and stir it over a slow fire twenty
minutes. It is a nourishing and gently astringent food, and excellent
for children who have weak bowels.


FLOWER GARDEN. The pleasures of the garden are ever various, ever new;
and in every month of the year some attention is demanded, either in
rearing the tender plant, in preparing the soil for its reception, or
protecting the parent root from the severity of the winter's blast.
Ranunculuses, anemones, tulips, and other bulbous roots, if not taken
up, will be in great danger from the frost, and their shoots in the
spring will either be impaired, or totally destroyed.----JANUARY. Cover
the flower beds with wheat straw, to protect them from the cold; but
where the shoots begin to appear, place behind them a reed edge, sloping
three feet forward. A mat is to be let down from the top in severe
weather, and taken up when it is mild. This will preserve them, without
making them weak or sickly. The beds and boxes of seedling flowers
should also be covered, and the fence removed when the weather is mild.
Clean the auricula plants, pick off dead leaves, and scrape away the
surface of the mould. Replenish them with some that is fine and fresh,
set the pots up to the brim in the mould of a dry bed, and place behind
them a reed edging. Cover carnation plants from wet, and defend them
from mice and sparrows.----FEBRUARY. Make hotbeds for annual flowers, of
the dung reserved for that purpose, and sow them upon a good thickness
of mould, laid regularly over the dung. Transplant perennial flowers,
and hardy shrubs, Canterbury bells, lilacs, and the like. Break up and
new lay the gravel walks. Weed, rake, and clean the borders; and where
the box of the edging is decayed, make it up with a fresh plantation.
Sow auricula and polyanthus seeds in boxes, made of rough boards six
inches deep, with holes at the bottom to run off the water. Fill the
boxes with light mould, scatter the seeds thinly over the surface, sift
some more mould over them about a quarter of an inch thick, and place
them where they may enjoy the morning sun. Plant out carnations into
pots for flowering.----MARCH. Watch the beds of tender flowers, and
throw mats over them, supported by hoops, in hard weather. Continue
transplanting all the perennial fibrous rooted flowers, such as
golden-rods, and sweet-williams. Dig up the earth with a shovel about
those which were planted in autumn, and clean the ground between them.
All the pots of flowering plants must now be dressed. Pick off dead
leaves, remove the earth at the top, and put fresh instead; then give
them a gentle watering, and set them in their places for flowering. Be
careful that the roots are not wounded, and repeat the watering once in
three days. The third week in March is the time to sow sweet peas,
poppies, catchflies, and all the hardy annual plants. The last week is
proper for transplanting evergreens, and a showery day should be chosen
for the purpose. Hotbeds should now be made, to receive the seedlings of
annual flowers raised in the former bed.----APRIL. Tie up to sticks the
stalks of tall flowers, cut the sticks about two feet long, thrust them
eight inches into the ground, and hide them among the leaves. Clean and
rake the ground between them. Take off the slips of auriculas, and plant
them out carefully for an increase. Transplant perennial flowers and
evergreens, as in the former months; take up the roots of colchichams,
and other autumnal bulbous plants. Sow French honeysuckles, wallflowers,
and other hardy plants, upon the natural ground, and the more tender
sorts on hotbeds. Transplant those sown last month, into the second
hotbed. Sow carnations and pinks on the natural ground, and on open
borders.----MAY. When the leaves of sowbreads are decayed, take up the
roots, and lay them by carefully till the time of planting. Take up the
hyacinth roots which have done flowering, and lay them sideways in a bed
of dry rich mould, leaving the stems and leaves to die away: this will
greatly strengthen the roots. Roll the gravel walks carefully and
frequently, and keep the grass clean mowed. Clean all the borders from
weeds, take off the straggling branches from the large flowering
plants, and train them up in a handsome shape. Plant out French and
African marigolds from the hotbeds, with other autumnals, the last week
of this month, choosing a cloudy warm day. Tie up the stalks of
carnations, pot the tender annuals, such as balsams and amaranths, and
set them in a hotbed frame, till summer is more advanced for planting
them in the open ground.----JUNE. Choose the evening of a mild showery
day, and plant out into the open ground, the tender annuals hitherto
kept in pots in the hotbed frame. They must be carefully loosened from
the sides of the pot, and taken out with all the mould about them; a
large hole must be opened for each, to set them upright in it; and when
settled in the ground by gentle watering, they must be tied up to
sticks. Let pinks, carnations, and sweet-williams, be laid this month
for an increase. Let the layers be covered lightly, and gently watered
every other day. Spring flowers being now over, and their leaves faded,
the roots must be taken up, and laid by for planting again at a proper
season. Snow-drops, winter-aconite, and such sorts, are to be thus
managed. The hyacinth roots, laid flat in the ground, must now be taken
up, and the dead leaves clipped off; and when cleared from the mould,
they must be spread upon a mat in an airy room to dry, and laid by for
future planting. Tulip roots also must now be taken up, as the leaves
decay: anemones and ranunculuses are treated in the same manner. Cut in
three or four places, the cups or poles of the carnations that are near
blowing, that they may show regularly. At the same time inoculate some
of the fine kind of roses.----JULY. Clip box edgings, cut and trim
hedges, look over all the borders, clear them from weeds, and stir up
the mould between the plants. Roll the gravel frequently, and mow the
grass plats. Inoculate roses and jasmines that require this kind of
propagation, and any of the other flowering shrubs. Gather the seeds of
flowers intended to be propagated, and lay them upon a shelf in an airy
room in the pods. When they are well hardened, tie them up in paper
bags, but do not take them out of the pods till they are wanted. Lay
pinks and sweet-williams in the earth as formerly, cut down the stalks
of those plants which have done flowering, and which are not kept for
seed. Tie up with sticks such as are coming into flower, as for the
earlier kinds. Sow lupins, larkspurs, and similar sorts, on dry warm
borders, to stand the winter, and flower early next year.----AUGUST. Dig
up a mellow border, and draw lines at five inches distance, lengthways
and across. In the centre of these squares, plant the seedling
polyanthuses, one in each square. In the same manner plant out the
seedling auriculas. Shade them till they have taken root, and water them
once a day. See whether the layers of sweet-williams, carnations, and
such like, have taken root; transplant such as are rooted, and give
frequent gentle waterings to the others in order to promote it. Cut down
the stalks of plants that have done flowering, saving the seed that may
be wanted, as it ripens, and water the tender annuals every evening. Sow
anemones and ranunculuses, tulip, and narcissus seed. Dig up a border
for early tulip roots, and others for hyacinths, anemones, and
ranunculuses. Sow annuals to stand through the winter, and shift
auriculas into fresh pots.----SEPTEMBER. During this month, preparation
should be made for the next season. Tear up the annuals that have done
flowering, and cut down such perennials as are past their beauty. Bring
in other perennials from the nursery beds, and plant them with care at
regular distances. Take up the box edgings where they have outgrown
their proper size, and part and plant them afresh. Plant tulip and other
flower roots, slip polyanthuses, and place them in rich shady borders.
Sow the seeds of flower de luce and crown imperial, as also of auriculas
and polyanthuses, according to the method before recommended. Part off
the roots of flower de luce, piony, and others of a similar kind. In the
last week transplant hardy flowering shrubs, and they will be strong the
next summer.----OCTOBER. Let all the bulbous roots for spring flowering
be put into the ground; narcissus, maragon, tulips, and such
ranunculuses and anemones as were not planted sooner. Transplant
columbines, monkshood, and all kinds of fibrous rooted perennials. Place
under shelter the auriculas and carnations that are in pots. Dig up a
dry border, and if not dry enough, dig in some sand, and set in the pots
up to the brim. Place the reed fence sloping behind them, and fasten a
mat to its top, that may be let down in bad weather. Take off the dead
leaves of the auriculas, before they are thus planted. Bring into the
garden some fresh flowering shrubs, wherever they may be wanted, and at
the end of the month prune some of the hardier kind.----NOVEMBER.
Prepare a good heap of pasture ground, with the turf among it, to rot
into mould for the borders. Transplant honeysuckles and spireas, with
other hardy flowering shrubs. Rake over the beds of seedling flowers,
and strew some peas straw over to keep out the frost. Cut down the stems
of perennials which have done flowering, pull up annuals that are spent,
and rake and clear the ground. Place hoops over the beds of ranunculuses
and anemones, and lay mats or cloths in readiness to draw over them, in
case of hard rains or frost. Clean up the borders in all parts of the
garden, and take care to destroy not only the weeds, but all kinds of
moss. Look over the seeds of those flowers which were gathered in
summer, to see that they are dry and sweet; and prepare a border or two
for the hardier kind, by digging and cleaning.----DECEMBER. During frost
or cold rain, draw the mats and cloths over the ranunculuses; give the
anemones a little air in the middle of every tolerable day; and as soon
as possible, uncover them all day, but draw on the mats at night. Throw
up the earth where flowering shrubs are to be planted in the spring, and
turn it once a fortnight. Dig up the borders that are to receive flower
roots in the spring, and give them the advantage of a fallow, by
throwing up the ground in a ridge. Scatter over it a very little rotten
dung from a melon bed, and afterwards turn it twice during the winter.
Examine the flowering shrubs, and prune them. Cut away all the dead
wood, shorten luxuriant branches, and if any cross each other, take away
one. Leave them so that the air may have a free passage between them.
Sift a quarter of an inch of good fresh mould over the roots of
perennial flowers, whose stalks have been cut down, and then rake over
the borders. This will give the whole an air of culture and good
management, which is always pleasing.


FLOWER POTS. As flowers and plants should enjoy a free circulation of
air to make them grow well, sitting rooms are not very well adapted to
the purpose, unless they could be frequently ventilated by opening the
doors and windows. In every severe frost or damp weather, moderate fires
should be made in the rooms where the plants are placed, and the
shutters closed at night. Placing saucers under the pots, and pouring
water continually into them, is highly improper: it should be poured on
the mould, that it may filter through it, and thereby refresh the fibres
of the plant. Many kinds of annuals, sown in March and the beginning of
April, may be transplanted into pots about the end of May, and should be
frequently watered till they have taken root. If transplanted in the
summer season, the evening is the proper time, and care must be taken
not to break the fibres of the root. When the plants are attacked by any
kind of crawling insects, the evil may be prevented by keeping the
saucers full of water, so as to form a river round the pot, and rubbing
some oil round the side. Oil is fatal to most kinds of insects, and but
few of them can endure it.


FLOWER SEEDS. When the seeds begin to ripen they should be supported
with sticks, to prevent their being scattered by the wind; and in wet
weather they should be removed to a dry place, and rubbed out when
convenient. August is in general the proper time for gathering flower
seeds, but many kinds will ripen much sooner. To ascertain whether the
seed be fully ripe, put a little of it into water: if it be come to
maturity, it will sink to the bottom, and if not it will swim upon the
surface. To preserve them for vegetation, it is only necessary to wrap
the seed up in cartridge paper, pasted down and varnished over with gum,
or the white of an egg. Some kinds of seeds are best enclosed in sealing
wax.


FLUMMERY. Steep in cold water, for a day and a night, three large
handfuls of very fine white oatmeal. Pour it off clear, add as much more
water, and let it stand the same time. Strain it through a fine hair
sieve, and boil it till it is as thick as hasty pudding, stirring it
well all the time. When first strained, put to it one large spoonful of
white sugar, and two of orange flower water. Pour it into shallow
dishes, and serve it up with wine, cider, and milk; or it will be very
good with cream and sugar.


FOMENTATIONS. Boil two ounces each of camomile flowers, and the tops of
wormwood, in two quarts of water. Pour off the liquor, put it on the
fire again, dip in a piece of flannel, and apply it to the part as hot
as the patient can bear it. When it grows cold, heat it up again, dip in
another piece of flannel, apply it as the first, and continue changing
them as often as they get cool, taking care not to let the air get to
the part affected when the flannel is changed.--To relieve the
toothache, pain in the face, or any other acute pain, the following
anodyne fomentation may be applied. Take two ounces of white poppy
heads, and half an ounce of elder flowers, and boil them in three pints
of water, till it is reduced one third. Strain off the liquor, and
foment the part affected.


FOOD. In the early ages of the world, mankind were chiefly supported by
berries, roots, and such other vegetables as the earth produced of
itself, according to the original grant of the great Proprietor of all
things. In later ages, especially after the flood, this grant was
enlarged; and man had recourse to animals, as well as to vegetables
artificially raised for their support, while the art of preparing food
has been brought to the highest degree of perfection. Vegetables are
however, with a few exceptions, more difficult of digestion than animal
food; but a due proportion of both, with the addition of acids, is the
most conducive to health, as well as agreeable to the palate. Animal as
well as vegetable food may be rendered unwholesome by being kept too
long; and when offensive to the senses, they become alike injurious to
health. Diseased animals, and such as die of themselves, ought never to
be eaten. Such as are fed grossly, stalled cattle and pigs, without any
exercise, do not afford food so nourishing or wholesome as others. Salt
meat is not so easily digested as fresh provisions, and has a tendency
to produce putrid diseases, especially the scurvy. If vegetables and
milk were more used, there would be less scurvy, and fewer inflammatory
fevers. Our food ought neither to be too moist, nor too dry. Liquid food
relaxes and renders the body feeble: hence those who live much on tea,
and other watery diet, generally become weak, and unable to digest solid
food. They are also liable to hysterics, with a train of other nervous
affections. But if the food be too dry, it disposes the body to
inflammatory disorders, and is equally to be avoided. Families would do
well to prepare their own diet and drink, as much as possible, in order
to render it good and wholesome. Bread in particular is so necessary a
part of daily food, that too much care cannot be taken to see that it be
made of sound grain duly prepared, and kept from all unwholesome
ingredients. Those who make bread for sale, seek rather to please the
eye than to promote health. The best bread is that which is neither too
coarse nor too fine, well fermented, and made of wheat flour, or wheat
and rye mixed together. Good fermented liquors, neither too weak nor too
strong, are to be preferred. If too weak, they require to be drunk soon,
and then they produce wind and flatulencies in the stomach. If kept too
long, they turn sour, and then become unwholesome. On the other hand,
strong liquor, by hurting the digestion, tends to weaken and relax: it
also keeps up a constant fever, which exhausts the spirits, inflames the
blood, and disposes the body to numberless diseases. Beer, cider, and
other family liquors, should be of such strength as to keep till they
are ripe, and then they should be used. Persons of a weak and relaxed
habit should avoid every thing hard of digestion: their diet requires to
be light and nourishing, and they should take sufficient exercise in the
open air. Those who abound with blood, should abstain from rich wines
and highly nourishing food, and live chiefly on vegetables. Corpulent
persons ought frequently to use radish, garlic, or such things as
promote perspiration. Their drink should be tea, coffee, or the like;
they ought also to take much exercise, and but little sleep. Those who
are of a thin habit, should follow the opposite course. Such as are
troubled with sour risings in the stomach, should live chiefly on animal
food; and those who are afflicted with hot risings and heartburn, should
have a diet of acid vegetables. Persons of low spirits, and subject to
nervous disorders, should avoid all flatulent food, whatever is hard of
digestion, or apt to turn sour on the stomach. Their diet should be
light, cool, and of an opening nature; not only suited to the age and
constitution, but also to the manner of life. A sedentary person should
live more sparingly than one who labours hard without doors, and those
who are afflicted with any particular disease ought to avoid such
aliment as has a tendency to increase it. Those afflicted with the
gravel ought to avoid every thing astringent; and the scorbutic of every
description, salted or smoked provisions. In the first period of life,
the food should be light, but nourishing, and frequently taken. For
infants in particular, it ought to be adapted to their age, and the
strength of their digestive powers. No food whatever that has been
prepared for many hours should be given them, especially after being
warmed up; for it creates flatulence, heartburn, and a variety of other
disorders. Sudden changes from liquid to solid food should be avoided,
as well as a multiplicity of different kinds; and all stimulating dishes
and heating liquors, prepared for adults, should be carefully withheld
from children. The common but indecent practice of introducing chewed
victuals into their mouth, is equally disgusting and unwholesome. Solid
food is most proper for the state of manhood, but it ought not to be too
uniform. Nature has provided a great variety for the use of man, and
given him an appetite suited to that variety: the constant use of one
kind of food therefore is not good for the constitution, though any
great or sudden change in diet ought as well to be avoided. The change
should be gradual, as any sudden transition from a low to a rich and
luxurious mode of living, may endanger health, and even life itself. The
diet suited to the last period of life, when nature is on the decline,
approaches nearly to that of the first: it should be light and
nourishing, and more frequently taken than in vigorous age. Old people
are generally afflicted with wind, giddiness, and headachs, which are
frequently occasioned by fasting too long, and even many sudden deaths
arise from the same cause. The stomach therefore should never be allowed
in any case to be too long empty, but especially in the decline of life.
Proper attention to diet is of the utmost importance, not only to the
preservation of health, but in the cure of many diseases, which may be
effected by diet only. Its effects indeed are not always so quick as
those of medicine, but they are generally more lasting, and are obtained
with greater ease and certainty. Temperance and exercise are the two
best physicians in the world; and if they were duly regarded, there
would be little occasion for any other.


FOOD FOR BIRDS. An excellent food for linnets, canaries, and other
singing birds, may be prepared in the following manner. Knead together
one pound of split peas ground to flour, half a pound each of coarse
sugar and fine grated bread, two ounces of unsalted butter, and the
yolks of two eggs. Brown the paste gently in a fryingpan, and when cold
mix with it two ounces of mace seed, and two pounds of bruised hemp
seed, separated from the husk. This paste given to birds in small
quantities will preserve them in health, and prompt them to sing every
month in the year.


FORCEMEAT. This article, whether in the form of stuffing balls, or for
patties, makes a considerable part of good cooking, by the flavour it
imparts to whatsoever dish it may be added. Yet at many tables, where
every thing else is well done, it is common to find very bad stuffing.
Exact rules for the quantity cannot easily be given; but the following
observations may be useful, and habit will soon give knowledge in mixing
it to the taste. The selection of ingredients should of course be made,
according to what they are wanted for, observing that of the most
pungent, the smallest quantity should be used. No one flavour should
greatly preponderate; yet if several dishes be served the same day,
there should be a marked variety in the taste of the forcemeat, as well
as of the gravies. It should be consistent enough to cut with a knife,
but neither dry nor heavy. The following are the articles of which
forcemeat may be made, without giving it any striking flavour. Cold fowl
or veal, scraped ham, fat bacon, beef suet, crumbs of bread, salt, white
pepper, parsley, nutmeg, yolk and white of eggs well beaten to bind the
mixture. To these, any of the following may be added, to vary the taste,
and give it a higher relish. Oysters, anchovy, taragon, savoury,
pennyroyal, knotted marjoram, thyme, basil, yolks of hard eggs, cayenne,
garlic, shalot, chives, Jamaica pepper in fine powder, or two or three
cloves.


FORCEMEAT BALLS. To make fine forcemeat balls for fish soups, or stewed
fish, beat together the flesh and soft parts of a lobster, half an
anchovy, a large piece of boiled celery, the yolk of a hard egg, a
little cayenne, mace, salt, and white pepper. Add two table-spoonfuls of
bread crumbs, one of oyster liquor, two ounces of warmed butter, and two
eggs well beaten. Make the whole into balls, and fry them in butter, of
a fine brown.


FORCEMEAT FOR FOWLS. Shred a little ham or gammon, some cold veal or
fowl, beef suet, parsley, a small quantity of onion, and a very little
lemon peel. Add salt, nutmeg, or pounded mace, bread crumbs, and either
white pepper or cayenne. Pound it all together in a mortar, and bind it
with one or two eggs beaten and strained. The same stuffing will do for
meat, or for patties. For fowls, it is usually put between the skin and
the flesh.


FORCEMEAT FOR GOOSE. Chop very fine about two ounces of onion, and an
ounce of green sage. Add four ounces of bread crumbs, the yolk and white
of an egg, a little pepper and salt; and if approved, a minced apple.
This will do for either goose or duck stuffing.


FORCEMEAT FOR HARE. Chop up the liver, with an anchovy, some fat bacon,
a little suet, some sweet herbs, and an onion. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg,
crumbs of bread, and an egg to bind all together.


FORCEMEAT FOR SAVOURY PIES. The same as for fowls, only substituting fat
or bacon, instead of suet. If the pie be of rabbit or fowls, the livers
mixed with fat and lean pork, instead of bacon, will make an excellent
stuffing. The seasoning is to be the same as for fowls or meat.


FORCEMEAT FOR TURKEY. The same stuffing will do for boiled or roast
turkey as for veal, or to make it more relishing, add a little grated
ham or tongue, an anchovy, or the soft part of a dozen oysters. Pork
sausage meat is sometimes used to stuff turkies or fowls, or fried, and
sent up as garnish.


FORCEMEAT FOR TURTLE. A pound of fine fresh suet, one ounce of cold veal
or chicken, chopped fine; crumbs of bread, a little shalot or onion,
white pepper, salt, nutmeg, mace, pennyroyal, parsley, and lemon thyme,
finely shred. Beat as many fresh eggs, yolks and whites separately, as
will make the above ingredients into a moist paste. Roll it into small
balls, and boil them in fresh lard, putting them in just as it boils up.
When of a light brown take them out, and drain them before the fire. If
the suet be moist or stale, a great many more eggs will be necessary.
Balls made in this way are remarkably light; but being greasy, some
people prefer them with less suet and eggs.


FORCEMEAT FOR VEAL. Scrape two ounces of undressed lean veal, free from
skin and sinews; two ounces of beef or veal suet, and two of bread
crumbs. Chop fine two drams of parsley, one of lemon peel, one of sweet
herbs, one of onion, and add half a dram of mace or allspice reduced to
a fine powder. Pound all together in a mortar, break into it the yolk
and white of an egg, rub it all up well together, and season it with a
little pepper and salt. This may be made more savoury, by the addition
of cold boiled tongue, anchovy, shalot, cayenne, or curry powder.


FOREHAND OF PORK. Cut out the bone, sprinkle the inside with salt,
pepper, and dried sage. Roll the pork tight, and tie it up; warm a
little butter to baste it, and then flour it. Roast it by a hanging
jack, and about two hours will do it.


FOREQUARTER OF LAMB. Roast it either whole, or in separate parts. If
left to be cold, chopped parsley should be sprinkled over it. The neck
and breast together are called a scoven.


FOWLS. In purchasing fowls for dressing, it is necessary to see that
they are fresh and good. If a cock bird is young, his spurs will be
short; but be careful to observe that they have not been cut or pared,
which is a trick too often practised. If fresh, the vent will be close
and dark. Pullets are best just before they begin to lay, and yet are
full of egg. If hens are old, their combs and legs will be rough: if
young, they will be smooth. A good capon has a thick belly and a large
rump: there is a particular fat at his breast, and the comb is very
pale. Black-legged fowls being moist, are best for roasting.


FRECKLES. The cosmetics generally recommended for improving the skin and
bloom of the face are highly pernicious, and ought by no means to be
employed. Temperance in diet and exercise, with frequent washing and
bathing, are the best means of preserving a healthful countenance. But
those who desire to soften and improve the skin, may use an infusion of
horseradish in milk, or the expressed juice of houseleek mixed with
cream, which will be useful and inoffensive. Freckles on the face, or
small discolourations on other parts of the skin, are constitutional in
some cases; and in others, they are occasioned by the action of the sun
upon the part, and frequent exposures to the morning air. For dispersing
them, take four ounces of lemon juice, one dram of powdered borax, and
two drams of sugar: mix them together, and let them stand a few days in
a glass bottle till the liquid is fit for use, and then rub it on the
face. But for chaps and flaws in the skin, occasioned by cold, rub on a
little plain unscented pomatum at bed-time, and let it remain till
morning. Or, which is much better, anoint the face with honey water,
made to the consistence of cream, which will form a kind of varnish on
the skin, and protect it from the effects of cold.


FRENCH BEANS. String, and cut them into four parts; if smaller, they
look so much the better. Lay them in salt and water; and when the water
boils, put them in with some salt. As soon as they are done, serve them
immediately, to preserve their colour. Or when half done, drain off the
water, and add two spoonfuls of broth strained. In finishing them, put
in a little cream, with flour and butter.


FRENCH BREAD. With a quarter of a peck of fine flour, mix the yolks of
three and the whites of two eggs, beaten and strained; a little salt,
half a pint of good yeast that is not bitter, and as much lukewarm milk
as will work it into a thin light dough. Stir it about, but do not knead
it. Divide the dough into three parts, put them into wooden dishes, set
them to rise, then turn them out into the oven, which must be quick, and
rasp the bread when done.


FRENCH DUMPLINGS. Grate a penny loaf, add half a pound of currants,
three quarters of a pound of beef suet finely shred, and half a grated
nutmeg. Beat up the yolks of three eggs with three spoonfuls of cream,
as much white wine, and a little sugar. Mix all together, work it up
into a paste, make it into dumplings of a convenient size, and tie them
up in cloths. Put them into boiling water, and let them boil three
quarters of an hour.


FRENCH PIE. Lay a puff paste round the edge of the dish, and put in
either slices of veal, rabbits or chickens jointed; with forcemeat
balls, sweetbreads cut in pieces, artichoke bottoms, and a few truffles.


FRENCH PORRIDGE. Stir together some oatmeal and water, and pour off the
latter. Put fresh in, stir it well, and let it stand till the next day.
Strain it through a fine sieve, and boil the water, which must be small
in quantity, adding some milk while it is doing. With the addition of
toast, this is much in request abroad, for the breakfast of weakly
persons.


FRENCH PUDDING. Grate six ounces of brown bread, and shred half a pound
of suet. Add four eggs well beaten, half a pound of currants picked and
washed, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a little nutmeg. Mix all
together, tie the pudding up close in a cloth, and boil it two hours.
Serve it up with a sauce of melted butter, a little sugar and sweet
wine.


FRENCH ROLLS. Rub one ounce of butter into a pound of flour; mix one egg
beaten, a little yeast that is not bitter, and as much milk as will make
the dough tolerably stiff. Beat it well, but do not knead it: let it
rise, and bake it on tins.


FRENCH SALAD. Mince up three anchovies, a shalot, and some parsley. Put
them into a bowl with two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, and a
little salt and mustard. When well mixed, add by degrees some cold roast
or boiled meat in very thin slices: put in a few at a time, not
exceeding two or three inches long. Shake them in the seasoning, and
then put more: cover the bowl close, and let the salad be prepared three
hours before it is to be eaten. Garnish with parsley, and a few slices
of the fat.


FRICANDEAU OF BEEF. Take a nice piece of lean beef; lard it with bacon
seasoned with pepper, salt, cloves, mace, and allspice. Put it into a
stewpan with a pint of broth, a glass of white wine, a bundle of
parsley, all sorts of sweet herbs, a clove of garlic, a shalot or two,
four cloves, pepper and salt. When the meat is become tender, cover it
close. Skim the sauce well, strain it, set it on the fire, and let it
boil till reduced to a glaze. Glaze the larded side with this, and serve
the meat on sorrel sauce.


FRICANDEAU OF VEAL. Cut a large piece from the fat side of the leg,
about nine inches long and half as thick and broad. Beat it with the
rolling pin, take off the skin, and trim the rough edges. Lard the top
and sides, cover it with fat bacon, and then with white paper. Lay it
into a stewpan with any pieces of undressed veal or mutton, four onions,
a sliced carrot, a faggot of sweet herbs, four blades of mace, four bay
leaves, a pint of good veal or mutton broth, and four or five ounces of
lean ham or gammon. Cover the pan close, and let it stew slowly for
three hours; then take up the meat, remove all the fat from the gravy,
and boil it quick to a glaze. Keep the fricandeau quite hot, and then
glaze it. Serve it with the remainder of the glaze in the dish, and
sorrel sauce in a tureen.--The following is a cheaper way of making a
good fricandeau of veal. With a sharp knife cut the lean part of a large
neck from the best end, scooping it from the bones a hand's length, and
prepare it in the manner above directed. Three or four bones only will
be necessary, and they will make the gravy; but if the prime part of the
leg is cut off, it spoils the whole.--Another way is to take two large
round sweetbreads, and prepare them like veal. Make a rich gravy with
truffles, morels, mushrooms, and artichoke bottoms, and serve it round.


FRICASSEE OF CHICKENS. Boil rather more than half, in a small quantity
of water, and let them cool. Cut them up, simmer in a little gravy made
of the liquor they were boiled in, adding a bit of veal or mutton,
onion, mace, lemon peel, white pepper, and a bunch of sweet herbs. When
quite tender, keep them hot, while the following sauce is prepared.
Strain off the liquor, return it into the saucepan with a little salt, a
scrape of nutmeg, and a little flour and butter. Give it one boil, and
when ready to serve, beat up the yolk of an egg, add half a pint of
cream, and stir them over the fire, but do not let it boil. It will be
quite as good however without the egg. Without the addition of any other
meat, the gravy may be made of the trimmings of the fowls, such as the
necks, feet, small wing bones, gizzards, and livers.


FRICASSEE OF RABBITS. Skin them, cut them in pieces, soak in warm water,
and clean them. Then stew them in a little fresh water, with a bit of
lemon peel, a little white wine, an anchovy, an onion, two cloves, and a
sprig of sweet herbs. When tender take them out, strain off the liquor,
put a very little of it into a quarter of a pint of thick cream, with a
piece of butter, and a little flour. Keep it constantly stirring till
the butter is melted; then put in the rabbit, with a little grated lemon
peel, mace, and lemon juice. Shake all together over the fire, and make
it quite hot. If more agreeable, pickled mushrooms may be used instead
of lemon.--To make a brown fricassee, prepare the rabbits as above, and
fry them in butter to a nice brown. Put some gravy or beef broth into
the pan, shake in some flour, and keep it stirring over the fire. Add
some ketchup, a very little shalot chopped, salt, cayenne, and lemon
juice, or pickled mushrooms. Boil it up, put in the rabbit, and shake it
round till it is quite hot.


FRYING. This is often a very convenient and expeditious mode of cooking;
but though one of the most common, it is as commonly performed in a
very imperfect manner, and meets with less attention than the comfort of
a good meal requires. A fryingpan should be about four inches deep, with
a perfectly flat and thick bottom, and perpendicular sides. When used it
should be half filled with fat, for good frying is in fact, boiling in
fat. To make sure that the pan is quite clean, rub a little fat over it,
then make it warm, and wipe it out with a clean cloth. Great care must
be taken in frying, never to use any oil, butter, lard, or drippings,
but what is quite clean, fresh, and free from salt. Any thing dirty
spoils the appearance, any thing bad tasted or stale spoils the flavour,
and salt prevents its browning. Fine olive oil is the most delicate for
frying, but it is very expensive, and bad oil spoils every thing that is
dressed with it. For general purposes, and especially for fish, clean
fresh lard is not near so expensive as oil or clarified butter, and does
almost as well, except for collops and cutlets. Butter often burns
before any one is aware, and what is fried with it will get a dark and
dirty appearance. Dripping, if nicely clean and fresh, is almost as good
as any thing: if not clean, it may easily be clarified. Whatever fat be
used, let it remain in the pan a few minutes after frying, and then pour
it through a sieve into a clean bason. If not burnt, it will be found
much better than it was at first; but the fat in which fish has been
fried, will not serve any other purpose. To fry fish, parsley, potatoes,
or any thing that is watery, the fire must be very clear, and the fat
quite hot, which will be the case when it has done hissing. Fish will
neither be firm nor crisp, nor of a good colour, unless the fat be of a
proper heat. To determine this, throw a little bit of bread into the
pan: if it fries crisp, the fat is ready: if it burns the bread, it is
too hot. Whatever is fried before the fat is hot enough, will be pale
and sodden, and offend the palate and the stomach, as well as the eye.
The fat also must be thoroughly drained from the fry, especially from
such things as are dressed in bread crumbs, or the flavour will be
impaired. The dryness of fish depends much upon its having been fried in
fat of a due degree of heat, they are then crisp and dry in a few
minutes after being taken out of the pan: when they are not, lay them on
a soft cloth before the fire, and turn them till they are dry.


FRIED CARP. Scale, draw, and wash them clean; dry them in flour, and fry
them in hog's lard to a light brown. Fry some toast, cut three-corner
ways, with the roes; lay the fish on a coarse cloth to drain, and serve
them up with butter, anchovy sauce, and the juice of a lemon. Garnish
with the bread, roe, and lemon.


FRIED EELS. There is a greater difference in the goodness of eels than
of any other fish. The true silver-eel, so called from the bright colour
of the belly, is caught in the Thames. The Dutch eels sold at
Billingsgate are very bad; those taken in great floods are generally
good, but in ponds they have usually a strong rank flavour. Except the
middle of summer, they are always in season. If small, they should be
curled round and fried, being first dipped into eggs and crumbs of
bread.


FRIED EGGS. Boil six eggs for three minutes, put them in cold water, and
take off the shells, without breaking the whites. Wrap the eggs up in a
puff paste, smear them over with egg, and grate some bread over them.
Put into a stewpan a sufficient quantity of lard or butter to swim the
eggs; and when the lard is hot, put in the eggs, and fry them of a good
colour. Lay them on a cloth to drain.


FRIED HERBS. Clean and drain a good quantity of spinach leaves, two
large handfuls of parsley, and a handful of green onions. Chop the
parsley and onions, and sprinkle them among the spinach. Stew them
together with a little salt, and a bit of butter the size of a walnut.
Shake the pan when it begins to grow warm, and let it lie closely
covered over a slow stove till done enough. It is served with slices of
broiled calves' liver, small rashers of bacon, and fried eggs. The
latter on the herbs, and the other in a separate dish. This is the mode
of dressing herbs in Staffordshire.


FRIED MACKAREL. Stuff the fish with grated bread, minced parsley and
lemon peel, pepper and salt, nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg, all mixed
together. Serve with anchovy and fennel sauce. Or split the fish open,
cut off their heads, season and hang them up four or five hours, and
then broil them. Make the sauce of fennel and parsley chopped fine, and
mixed with melted butter.


FRIED OYSTERS. To prepare a garnish for boiled fish, make a batter of
flour, milk, and eggs. Season it a very little, dip the oysters into the
batter, and fry them of a fine yellow brown. A little nutmeg should be
put into the seasoning, and a few crumbs of bread into the flour.


FRIED PARSLEY. Pick some young parsley very clean, and put it into a
fryingpan with a bit of butter. Stir it with a knife till it becomes
crisp, and use it for garnishing. Or rub the picked parsley in a cloth
to clean it, and set it before the fire in a Dutch oven till it is
crisp. This is better than fried parsley, and may be rubbed on steaks,
calf's liver, or any other dish of the kind.


FRIED PATTIES. Mince a bit of cold veal, and six oysters; mix them with
a few crumbs of bread, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and a very small bit of
lemon peel. Add the liquor of the oysters, warm all together in a
tosser, but it must not boil, and then let it grow cold. Prepare a good
puff-paste, roll it thin, and cut it into round or square pieces. Put
some of the mixture between two of them, twist the edges to keep in the
gravy, and fry them of a fine brown. If baked, it becomes a fashionable
dish. All patties should be washed over with egg before they are baked.


FRIED POTATOES. Slice them thin, and fry them in butter till they are
brown; then lay them in a dish, and pour melted butter over them.
Potatoes may likewise be fried in butter, and served up with powder
sugar strewed over them. Any kind of fruit may be fried in the same
manner, and all batter should be fried in hog's lard.


FRIED RABBIT. Cut it into joints, and fry it in butter of a nice brown.
Send it to table with fried or dried parsley, and gravy or liver sauce.


FRIED SMELTS. Wipe them clean, take away the gills, rub them over with a
feather dipped in egg, and strew on some grated bread. Fry them in hog's
lard over a clear fire, and put them in when the fat is boiling hot.
When they are of a fine brown, take them out and drain off the fat.
Garnish with fried parsley and lemon.


FRIED SOLES. Divide two or three soles from the backbone, and take off
the head, fins, and tail. Sprinkle the inside with salt, roll them up
tight from the tail and upwards, and fasten with small skewers. Small
fish do not answer, but if large or of a tolerable size, put half a fish
in each roll. Dip them into yolks of eggs, and cover them with crumbs.
Egg them over again, and then put more crumbs. Fry them of a beautiful
colour in lard, or in clarified butter. Or dip the soles in egg, and
cover them with fine crumbs of bread. Set on a fryingpan of the proper
size, and put into it a good quantity of fresh lard or dripping. Let it
boil, and immediately put the fish into it, and do them of a fine brown.
Soles that have been fried, eat good cold with oil, vinegar, salt and
mustard.


FRIED TENCH. Scale and clean the fish well, dry and lay them before the
fire, dust them with flour, and fry them in dripping or hog's lard.
Serve with crisped parsley, and plain butter. Perch, trout, and grayling
may be done the same.


FRIED TURBOT. Cut a small turbot across in ribs, dry and flour it, put
it into a fryingpan, and cover it with boiling lard. Fry it brown, and
drain it. Clean the pan, put in a little wine, an anchovy, salt, nutmeg,
and a little ginger. Put in the fish, and stew it till the liquor is
half wasted. Then take it out, put in some butter rolled in flour, with
a minced lemon, and simmer them to a proper thickness. Rub a hot dish
with a piece of shalot, lay the turbot in the dish, and pour the sauce
over it.


FRIED VENISON. Cut the meat into slices, fry it of a bright brown, and
keep it hot before the fire. Make gravy of the bones, add a little
butter rolled in flour, stir it in the pan till it is thick and brown,
and put in some port and lemon juice. Warm the venison in it, put in the
dish, and pour the sauce over it. Send up currant jelly in a glass.


FRITTERS. Make them of pancake batter, dropped in small quantities into
the pan: or put apple into batter, pared and sliced, and fry some of it
with each slice. Currants, or very thinly-sliced lemon, make an
agreeable change. Fritters for company should be served on a folded
napkin in the dish. Any sort of sweetmeat, or ripe fruit, may be made
into fritters.


FRONTINIAC. Boil twelve pounds of loaf sugar, and six pounds of raisins
cut small, in six gallons of water. When the liquor is almost cold, put
in half a peck of elder flowers; and the next day six spoonfuls of the
syrup of lemons, and four of yeast. Let it stand two days, put it into a
barrel that will just hold it, and bottle it after it has stood about
two months.


FROST AND BLIGHTS. When a fruit tree is in full blossom, the best way to
preserve it from frost and blights is to twine a rope upon its branches,
and bring the end of it into a pail of water. If a light frost happen in
the night, the tree will not be affected by it; but an ice will be
formed on the surface of the water, in which the end of the rope is
immersed. This experiment may easily be tried on wall fruit, and has
been found to answer. If trees be infected with an easterly blight, the
best way is to fumigate them with brimstone strewed on burning charcoal:
this will effectually destroy the insects, and preserve the fruit.
Afterwards it will be proper to dash them with water, or wash the
branches with a woollen cloth, and clear them of all glutinous matter
and excrescences of every kind, which would harbour the insects; but the
washing should be performed in the early part of a warm day, that the
moisture may be exhaled before the cold of the evening approaches.


FROSTED POTATOES. If soaked three hours in cold water, before they are
to be prepared as food, changing the water every hour, these valuable
roots will recover their salubrious quality and flavour. While in cold
water, they must stand where a sufficiency of artificial heat may
prevent freezing. If much frozen, allow a quarter of an ounce of
saltpetre to every peck of potatoes, and dissolve it in the water. But
if so much penetrated by the frost as to render them unfit for culinary
purposes, they may be made into starch, and will yield a large quantity
of flour for that purpose.


FROTH FOR CREAMS. Sweeten half a pound of the pulp of damsons, or any
other scalded fruit. Put to it the whites of four eggs beaten, and beat
up the pulp with them till it will stand up, and take any form. It
should be rough, to imitate a rock, or the billows of the ocean. This
froth looks and eats well, and may be laid on cream, custard, or trifle,
with a spoon.


FRUIT. The method of preserving any kind of fruit all the year, is to
put them carefully into a wide-mouthed glass vessel, closed down with
oiled paper. The glasses are to be placed in a box filled with a mixture
of four pounds of dry sand, two pounds of bole-armeniac, and one pound
of saltpetre, so that the fruit may be completely covered. The fruit
should be gathered by the hand before it be thoroughly ripe, and the box
kept in a dry place.


FRUIT BISCUITS. To the pulp of any scalded fruit, put an equal weight of
sugar sifted, and beat it two hours. Then make it into little
white-paper forms, dry them in a cool oven, and turn them the next day.
They may be put into boxes in the course of two or three days.


FRUIT FOR CHILDREN. To prepare fruit for children, far more wholesome
than in puddings or pies, put some sliced apples, plums or gooseberries,
into a stone jar, and sprinkle among them a sufficient quantity of fine
moist sugar. Set the jar on a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of boiling
water, and let it remain till the fruit is well done. Slices of bread,
or boiled rice, may either be stewed with the fruit, or added when
eaten.


FRUIT PASTE. Put any kind of fruit into a preserving pan, stir it till
it will mash quite soft, and strain it. To one pint of juice, add a
pound and a half of fine sugar; dissolve the sugar in water, and boil it
till the water is dried up. Then mix it with the juice, boil it once,
pour it into plates, and dry it in a stove. When wanted for use, cut it
in strips, and make paste knots for garnishing.


FRUIT PUDDINGS. Make up a thick batter of milk and eggs, with a little
flour and salt; put in any kind of fruit, and either bake or boil it.
Apples should be pared and quartered, gooseberries and currants should
be picked and cleaned, before they are put into the batter. Or make a
thick paste, roll it out, and line a bason with it, after it has been
rubbed with a little butter. Then fill it with fruit, put on a lid, tie
it up close in a cloth, and boil it for two hours. The pudding will be
lighter, if only made in a bason, then turned out into a pudding cloth,
and boiled in plenty of water.


FRUIT STAINS. If stains of fruit or wine have been long in the linen,
rub the part on each side with yellow soap. Then lay on a thick mixture
of starch in cold water, rub it well in, and expose the linen to the sun
and air till the stain comes out. If not removed in three or four days,
rub off the mixture, and renew the process. When dry, it may be
sprinkled with a little water.--Many other stains may be taken out by
only dipping the linen into sour buttermilk, and drying it in a hot sun.
Then wash it in cold water and dry it, two or three times a day.


FRUIT FOR TARTS. To preserve fruit for family desserts, whether
cherries, plums, or apples, gather them when ripe, and put them in small
jars that will hold about a pound. Strew over each jar six ounces of
fine pounded sugar, and cover each with two bladders, separately tied
down. Set the jars in a large stewpan of water up to the neck, and let
it boil three hours gently. Keep these and all other sorts of fruit free
from damp.


FRUIT TREES. When they have the appearance of being old or worn out, and
are covered with moss and insects, they may be revived and made fruitful
by dressing them well with a brush, dipped in a solution of strong fresh
lime. The outer rind, with all its incumbrance, will then fall off; a
new and clean one will be formed, and the trees put on a healthy
appearance.


FRUITS IN JELLY. Put half a pint of calf's foot jelly into a bowl; when
stiff, lay in three peaches, and a bunch of grapes with the stalk
upwards. Cover over with vine leaves, and fill up the bowl with jelly.
Let it stand till the next day, and then set it to the brim in hot
water. When it gives way from the bowl, turn the jelly out carefully,
and send it to table. Any kind of fruit may be treated in the same way.


FUEL. Coals constitute a principal article of domestic convenience,
especially during the severity of winter. At that season they often
become very scarce, and are sold at an extravagant price. To remedy this
evil in some measure, take two-thirds of soft clay, free from stones,
and work it into three or four bushels of small coals previously sifted:
form this composition into balls or cakes, about three or four inches
thick, and let them be thoroughly dried. When the fire burns clear,
place four or five of these cakes in the front of the grate, where they
will soon become red, and yield a clear and strong heat till they are
totally consumed. The expense of a ton of this composition is but
trifling, when compared with that of a chaldron of coals, as it may be
prepared at one-fourth of the cost, and will be of greater service than
a chaldron and a half of the latter. Coal dust worked up with horse
dung, cow dung, saw dust, tanner's waste, or any other combustible
matter that is not too expensive, will also be found a saving in the
article of fuel. Nearly a third of the coals consumed in large towns and
cities might be saved, if the coal ashes were preserved, instead of
being thrown into the dust bins, and afterwards mixed with an equal
quantity of small coal, moistened with water. This mixture thrown behind
the fire, with a few round coals in front, would save the trouble of
sifting the ashes, and make a cheerful and pleasant fire.----THE BEST
MODE OF LIGHTING A FIRE.--Fill the grate with fresh coals quite up to
the upper bar but one; then lay on the wood in the usual manner, rather
collected in a mass than scattered. Over the wood place the cinders of
the preceding day, piled up as high as the grate will admit, and placed
loosely in rather large fragments, in order that the draft may be free:
a bit or two of fresh coal may be added to the cinders when once they
are lighted, but no small coal must be thrown on at first. When all is
prepared, light the wood, when the cinders in a short time being
thoroughly ignited, the gas rising from the coals below, which will now
be affected by the heat, will take fire as it passes through them,
leaving a very small portion of smoke to go up the chimney. One of the
advantages of this mode of lighting a fire is, that small coal is better
suited to the purpose than large, except a few pieces in front to keep
the small from falling out of the grate. A fire lighted in this way will
burn all day, without any thing being done to it. When apparently quite
out, on being stirred, you have in a few minutes a glowing fire. When
the upper part begins to cake, it must be stirred, but the lower must
not be touched.


FUMIGATION. To prevent infection from fever, take a handful each of rue,
sage, mint, rosemary, and lavender, all fresh gathered. Cut them small,
put them into a stone jar, pour on a pint of the best white-wine
vinegar, cover the jar close, and let it stand eight days in the sun, or
near the fire. Then strain it off, and dissolve in it an ounce of
camphor. This liquid sprinkled about the chamber, or fumigated, will
much revive the patient, and prevent the attendants from receiving the
infection. Or mix a spoonful of salt in a cup, with a little powdered
magnesia: pour on the mixture at different times a spoonful of strong
vitriolic acid, and the vapour arising from it will destroy the putrid
effluvia.


FURNITURE LININGS. These articles require to be first washed, and
afterwards dyed of a different colour, in order to change and improve
their appearance.--For a Buff or salmon colour, according to the depth
of the hue, rub down on a pewter plate two pennyworth of Spanish
arnatto, and then boil it in a pail of water a quarter of an hour. Put
into it two ounces of potash, stir it round, and instantly put in the
lining. Stir it all the time it is boiling, which must be five or six
minutes; then put it into cold spring water, and hang the articles up
singly without wringing. When almost dry, fold the lining, and mangle
it.--For Pink, the calico must be washed extremely clean, and thoroughly
dried. Then boil it in two gallons of soft water, and four ounces of
alum; take it out, and dry it in the air. Meanwhile boil in the alum
water two handfuls of wheat bran till quite slippery, and then strain
it. Take two scruples of cochineal, and two ounces of argall finely
pounded and sifted, and mix it with the liquor a little at a time. Put
the calico into the liquor, keep it stirring and boiling, till the
liquor is nearly wasted. Then take out the calico, wash it first in
chamber lye, and afterwards in cold water. Rinse it in water-starch
strained, dry it quick without hanging it in folds, and let it be well
mangled. It would be better still to have it callendered.--Blue. The
calico must be washed clean and dried. Then mix some of Scott's liquid
blue in as much water as will be sufficient to cover the things to be
dyed, and add some starch to give it a light stiffness. Dry a small
piece of the lining to see whether the colour is deep enough; and if
approved, put it in and wash it in the dye. Dry the articles singly, and
mangle or callender them.


FURS. To preserve them from the moth, comb them occasionally while in
use. When not wanted, mix among them bitter apples from the druggists,
in small muslin bags, sewing them in several folds of linen, carefully
turned in at the edges. Keep the furs in a cool place, free from damp.




G.


GAD FLY. Cows and oxen are often so distressed by the darts of the gad
fly, that they rush into the water for refuge till night approaches. The
only remedy is to wash the backs of the cattle in the spring with strong
tobacco-water, which would greatly prevent the generating of these
vermin. When sheep are struck with the fly, the way is to clip off the
wool, to rub the parts affected with powdered lime or wood ashes, and
afterwards to anoint them with currier's oil, which will heal the
wounds, and secure the animals from future attack. Or dissolve half an
ounce of corrosive sublimate in two quarts of soft water, and add a
quarter of a pint of spirits of turpentine. Cut off the wool as far as
it is infected, pour a few drops of the mixture in a circle round the
maggots produced by the flies, and afterwards rub a little of it among
them, and the maggots will immediately be destroyed.


GAME. Game ought not to be thrown away even after it has been kept a
long time, for when it seems to be spoiled it may often be made fit for
eating, by carefully cleaning and washing it with vinegar and water. If
there is danger of birds not keeping, the best way is to crop and draw
them. Pick them clean, wash them in two or three waters, and rub them
with salt. Plunge them into a kettle of boiling water one by one, and
draw them up and down by the legs, that the water may pass through them.
Let them remain in the water five or six minutes, and then hang them up
in a cool place. When drained, season the insides well with pepper and
salt, and wash them before they are roasted. The most delicate birds,
even grouse, may thus be preserved. Those that live by suction cannot be
done this way, as they are never drawn; and perhaps the heat might make
them worse, as the water could not pass through them; but they will bear
a high flavour. Lumps of charcoal put about birds and meat will preserve
them from taint, and restore what is spoiling.


GAME SAUCE. Wash and pare a head of celery, cut it into thin slices,
boil it gently till it becomes tender; then add a little beaten mace,
pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Thicken it with flour and butter, boil it up,
pour some of it in the dish, and some in a boat. Lemon pickle or lemon
juice may be added to it.


GAMMON. Take off the rind of the ham and gammon, and soak it in water;
cover the fat part with writing paper, roast, and baste it with canary.
When done, sprinkle it over with crumbs of bread and parsley. Serve it
with brown gravy, after it is well browned, and garnish it with raspings
of bread.


GARDEN HEDGES. A well trained hawthorn fence is the strongest, but as it
is apt to get thin and full of gaps at the bottom, the barberry is to be
preferred, especially on high banks with a light soil. It may be raised
from the berries as easily as hawthorn, and will grow faster, if the
suckers be planted early. The barberry puts up numerous suckers from the
roots; it will therefore always grow close at the bottom, and make an
impenetrable fence. In trimming any kind of close hedge, care should be
taken to slope the sides, and make it pointed at the top: otherwise, the
bottom being shaded by the upper part, will make it grow thin and full
of gaps. The sides of a young hedge may be trimmed, to make it bush the
better; but it should not be topped till it has arrived at a full yard
in height, though a few of the points may be taken off. The bottom of
hawthorn hedges may be conveniently thickened, by putting in some plants
of common sweet briar, or barberry.


GARDEN RHUBARB. To cultivate the common garden rhubarb, it should not
only have a depth of good soil, but it should be watered in dry weather,
and well covered with straw or dung in the winter season. It will then
become solid when taken out of the ground; and if cut into large slices,
and hung up in a warm kitchen, it will soon be fit for use. The plants
may be taken up when the leaves are decayed, either in spring or in
autumn, while the weather is dry; and when the roots are cleared from
dirt, without washing, they should be dried in the sun for a few days
before they are hung up. The better way would be to wrap them up
separately in whited brown paper, and dry them on the hob of a common
stove. Lemon and orange peel will dry remarkably well in the same
manner.


GARGLES. Common gargles may be made of figs boiled in milk and water,
with a little sal-ammoniac; or sage-tea, with honey and vinegar mixed
together. A sore throat may be gargled with it two or three times a day.


GEESE. The rearing of this species of poultry incurs but little expense,
as they chiefly support themselves on commons or in lanes, where they
can get at water. The largest are esteemed the best, as also are the
white and the grey: the pied and dark coloured are not so good. Thirty
days are generally the time that the goose sets, but in warm weather she
will sometimes hatch sooner. Give them plenty of food, such as scalded
bran and light oats. As soon as the goslings are hatched, keep them
housed for eight or ten days, and feed them with barley meal, bran, and
curds. Green geese should begin to fatten at six or seven weeks old, and
be fed as above. Stubble geese require no fattening, if they have the
run of good fields and pasture.--If geese are bought at market, for the
purpose of cooking, be careful to see that they are fresh and young. If
fresh, the feet will be pliable: if stale, dry and stiff. The bill and
feet of a young one will be yellow, and there will be but few hairs upon
them: if old, they will be red. Green geese, not more than three or four
months old, should be scalded: a stubble goose should be picked dry.


GEORGE PUDDING. Boil very tender a handful of whole rice in a small
quantity of milk, with a large piece of lemon peel. Let it drain; then
mix with it a dozen apples, boiled to a pulp as dry as possible. Add a
glass of white wine, the yolks of five eggs, two ounces of orange and
citron cut thin, and sweeten it with sugar. Line a mould or bason with a
very good paste, beat the five whites of the eggs to a very strong
froth, and mix it with the other ingredients. Fill the mould, and bake
it of a fine brown colour. Serve it bottom upwards with the following
sauce: two glasses of wine, a spoonful of sugar, the yolks of two eggs,
and a piece of sugar the size of a walnut. Simmer without boiling, and
pour to and from the saucepan till the sauce is of a proper thickness,
and then put it in the dish.


GERMAN PUDDINGS. Melt three ounces of butter in a pint of cream, and let
it stand till nearly cold. Then mix two ounces of fine flour, and two
ounces of sugar, four yolks and two whites of eggs, and a little rose or
orange flower water. Bake in little buttered cups half an hour. They
should be served the moment they are done, and only when going to be
eaten, or they will not be light. Turn the puffs out of the cups, and
serve with white wine and sugar.


GERMAN PUFFS. Mix together two ounces of blanched almonds well beaten, a
spoonful of rose water, one white and two yolks of eggs, a spoonful of
flour, half a pint of cream, two ounces of butter, and sugar to taste.
Butter some cups, half fill them, and put them in the oven. Serve with
white wine sauce, butter, and sugar. This is esteemed a good middle dish
for dinner or supper.


GIBLETS. Let the giblets be picked clean and washed, the feet skinned,
the bill cut off, the head split in two, the pinion bones broken, the
liver and gizzard cut in four, and the neck in two pieces. Put them into
a pint of water, with pepper and salt, an onion, and sweet herbs. Cover
the saucepan close, and stew them on a slow fire till they are quite
tender. Take out the onion and herbs, and put them into a dish with the
liquor.


GIBLET PIE. Clean and skin the giblets very carefully, stew them with a
small quantity of water, onion, black pepper, and a bunch of sweet
herbs, till nearly done. Let them grow cold: and if not enough to fill
the dish, lay at the bottom two or three slices of veal, beef, or
mutton. Add the liquor of the stew; and when the pie is baked, pour into
it a large teacupful of cream. Sliced apples added to the pie are a
great improvement. Duck giblets will do; but goose giblets are much to
be preferred.


GIBLET SOUP. Scald and clean three or four sets of goose or duck
giblets, and stew them slowly with a pound or two of gravy beef, scrag
of mutton, or the bone of a knuckle of veal, an ox tail, or some shanks
of mutton. Add a large bunch of sweet herbs, a tea-spoonful of white
pepper, a large spoonful of salt, and three onions. Put in five pints of
water, cut each of the gizzards into four pieces, and simmer till they
become quite tender. Skin the stew carefully, add a quarter of a pint of
cream, two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom powder, and an ounce of butter
mixed with a dessert-spoonful of flour. Let it boil a few minutes, then
put it into a tureen, add a little salt, and serve up the soup with the
giblets. Instead of cream, it may be seasoned with a large spoonful of
ketchup, some cayenne, and two glasses of sherry.


GILDED FRAMES. These valuable articles cannot be preserved from fly
stains, without covering them with strips of paper, and suffering them
to remain till the flies are gone. Previous to this, the light dust
should be blown from the gilding, and a feather or a clean brush lightly
passed over it. Linen takes off the gilding, and deadens its brightness;
it should therefore never be used for wiping it. Some means should be
used to destroy the flies, as they injure furniture of every kind, and
the paper likewise. Bottles hung about with sugar and vinegar, or beer,
will attract them; or fly water, put into little shells placed about the
room, but out of the reach of children.


GILLIFLOWER WINE. To three gallons of water put six pounds of the best
raw sugar; boil the sugar and water together for the space of half an
hour, and keep skimming it as the scum rises. Let it stand to cool, beat
up three ounces of syrup of betony with a large spoonful of ale yeast,
and put it into the liquor. Prepare a peck of gilliflowers, cut from the
stalks, and put them in to infuse and work together for three days, the
whole being covered with a cloth. Strain it, and put it into a cask; let
it settle for three or four weeks, and then bottle it.


GINGER BEER. To every gallon of spring water add one ounce of sliced
white ginger, one pound of lump sugar, and two ounces of lemon juice.
Boil the mixture nearly an hour, and take off the scum; then run it
through a hair sieve into a tub, and when cool, add yeast in the
proportion of half a pint to nine gallons. Keep it in a temperate
situation two days, during which it may be stirred six or eight times.
Then put it into a cask, which must be kept full, and the yeast taken
off at the bunghole with a spoon. In a fortnight, add half a pint of
fining to nine gallons of the liquor, which will clear it by ascent, if
it has been properly fermented. The cask must still be kept full, and
the rising particles taken off at the bunghole. When fine, which may be
expected in twenty-four hours, bottle and cork it well; and in summer it
will be ripe and fit to drink in a fortnight.


GINGER DROPS. Beat two ounces of fresh candied orange in a mortar, with
a little sugar, till reduced to a paste. Then mix an ounce of the powder
of white ginger, with a pound of loaf sugar. Wet the sugar with a little
water, and boil all together to a candy, and drop it on white paper the
size of mint drops. These make an excellent stomachic.


GINGER WINE. To seven gallons of water put nineteen pounds of moist
sugar, and boil it for half an hour, taking off the scum as it rises.
Then take a small quantity of the liquor, and add to it nine ounces of
the best ginger bruised. Put it all together, and when nearly cold, chop
nine pounds of raisins very small, and put them into a nine gallon cask,
with one ounce of isinglass. Slice four lemons into the cask, taking out
all the seeds, and pour the liquor over them, with half a pint of fresh
yeast. Leave it unstopped for three weeks, and in about three months it
will be fit for bottling. There will be one gallon of the sugar and
water more than the cask will hold at first: this must be kept to fill
up as the liquor works off, as it is necessary that the cask should be
kept full, til it has done working. The raisins should be two thirds
Malaga, and one third Muscadel. Spring and autumn are the best seasons
for making this wine.--Another. Boil nine quarts of water with six
pounds of lump sugar, the rinds of two or three lemons very thinly
pared, and two ounces of bruised white ginger. Let it boil half an hour,
and skim it well. Put three quarters of a pound of raisins into the
cask; and when the liquor is lukewarm, turn it, adding the juice of two
lemons strained, with a spoonful and a half of yeast. Stir it daily,
then put in half a pint of brandy, and half an ounce of isinglass
shavings. Stop it up, and bottle it in six or seven weeks. The lemon
peel is not to be put into the barrel.


GINGERBREAD. Mix with two pounds of flour, half a pound of treacle, and
half a pound of butter, adding an ounce of ginger finely powdered and
sifted, and three quarters of an ounce of caraway seeds. Having worked
it very much, set it to rise before the fire. Then roll out the paste,
cut it into any shape, and bake it on tins. If to be made into
sweetmeats, add some candied orange-peel, shred into small
pieces.--Another sort. To three quarters of a pound of treacle, put one
egg beaten and strained. Mix together four ounces of brown sugar, half
an ounce of sifted ginger, and a quarter of an ounce each of cloves,
mace, allspice, and nutmeg, beaten as fine as possible; also a quarter
of an ounce of coriander and caraway seeds. Melt a pound of butter, and
mix with the above, adding as much flour as will knead it into a pretty
stiff paste. Roll it out, cut it into cakes, bake them on tin plates in
a quick oven, and a little time will do them. Gingerbread buttons or
drops may be made of a part of the paste.--A plain sort of gingerbread
may be prepared as follows. Mix three pounds of flour with half a pound
of butter, four ounces of brown sugar, and half an ounce of pounded
ginger. Make it into a paste, with a pound and a quarter of warm
treacle. Or make the gingerbread without butter, by mixing two pounds of
treacle with the following ingredients. Four ounces each of orange,
lemon, citron, and candied ginger, all thinly sliced; one ounce each of
coriander seeds, caraways, and pounded ginger, adding as much flour as
will make it into a soft paste. Lay it in cakes on tin plates, and bake
it in a quick oven. Keep it dry in a covered earthen vessel, and the
gingerbread will be good for some months. If cakes or biscuits be kept
in paper, or a drawer, the taste will be disagreeable. A tureen, or a
pan and cover, will preserve them long and moist; or if intended to be
crisp, laying them before the fire, or keeping them in a dry canister,
will make them so.


GINGERBREAD NUTS. Carefully melt half a pound of butter, and stir it up
in two pounds of treacle. Add an ounce of pounded ginger, two ounces of
preserved lemon and orange peel, two ounces of preserved angelica cut
small, one of coriander seed pounded, and the same of caraway whole. Mix
them together, with two eggs, and as much flour as will bring it to a
fine paste. Make it into nuts, put them on a tin plate, and bake them in
a quick oven.


GLASS. Broken glass may be mended with the same cement as china, or if
it be only cracked, it will be sufficient to moisten the part with the
white of an egg, strewing it over with a little powdered lime, and
instantly applying a piece of fine linen. Another cement for glass is
prepared from two parts of litharge, one of quick lime, and one of flint
glass, each separately and finely powdered, and the whole worked up into
a paste with drying oil. This compound is very durable, and acquires a
greater degree of hardness when immersed in water.


GLASSES. These frail and expensive articles may be rendered less
brittle, and better able to bear sudden changes of temperature, by first
plunging them into cold water, then gradually heating the water till it
boils, and suffering it to cool in the open air. Glasses of every
description, used for the table, will afterwards bear boiling water
suddenly poured into them, without breaking. When they have been
tarnished by age or accident, their lustre may be restored by strewing
on them some fuller's earth, carefully powdered and cleared of sand and
dirt, and then rubbing them gently with a linen cloth, or a little
putty.


GLOVES. Leather gloves may be repaired, cleaned, and dyed of a fine
yellow, by steeping a little saffron in boiling water for about twelve
hours; and having lightly sewed up the tops of the gloves, to prevent
the dye from staining the insides, wet them over with a sponge or soft
brush dipped in the liquid. A teacupful will be sufficient for a single
pair.


GLOUCESTER CHEESE. This article is made of milk immediately from the
cow; and if it be too hot in the summer, a little skim milk or water is
added to it, before the rennet is put in. As soon as the curd is come it
is broken small, and cleared of the whey. The curd is set in the press
for about a quarter of an hour, in order to extract the remainder of the
liquid. It is then put into the cheese tub again, broken small, and
scalded with water mixed with a little whey. When the curd is settled,
the liquor is poured off; the curd is put into a vat, and worked up with
a little salt when about half full. The vat is then filled up, and the
whole is turned two or three times in it, the edges being pared, and the
middle rounded up at each turning. At length, the curd being put into a
cloth, it is placed in the press, then laid on the shelves, and turned
every day till it becomes sufficiently firm to bear washing.


GLOUCESTER JELLY. Take rice, sago, pearl barley, hartshorn shavings, and
eringo root, each one ounce. Simmer with three pints of water till
reduced to one, and then strain it. When cold it will be a jelly; of
which give, dissolved in wine, milk, or broth, in change with other
nourishment.


GNATS. The stings of these troublesome insects are generally attended
with a painful swelling. One of the most effectual remedies consists of
an equal mixture of turpentine and sweet oil, which should immediately
be applied to the wounded part, and it will afford relief in a little
time. Olive oil alone, unsalted butter, or fresh lard, if rubbed on
without delay, will also be found to answer the same purpose. They may
be destroyed by fumigation, the same as for flies.


GOLD. To clean gold, and restore its lustre, dissolve a little sal
ammoniac in common wine. Boil the gold in it, and it will soon recover
its brilliance. To clean gold or silver lace, sew it up in a linen
cloth, and boil it with two ounces of soap in a pint of water:
afterwards wash the lace in clear water. When the lace happens to be
tarnished, the best liquor for restoring its lustre is spirits of wine,
which should be warmed before it is applied. This application will also
preserve the colour of silk or embroidery.


GOLD RINGS. If a ring sticks tight on the finger, and cannot easily be
removed, touch it with mercury, and it will become so brittle that a
slight blow will break it.


GOOSE FEATHERS. These being deemed particularly valuable, the birds in
some counties are plucked four or five times in a year. The first
operation is performed in the spring for feathers and quills, and is
repeated for feathers only, between that period and Michaelmas. Though
the plucking of geese appears to be a barbarous custom, yet experience
has proved, that if carefully done, the birds thrive better, and are
more healthy, when stripped of their feathers, than if they were left
to drop them by moulting. Geese intended for breeding in farm yards, and
which are called old geese, may be plucked three times a year, at an
interval of seven weeks, but not oftener. Every one should be thirteen
or fourteen weeks old before they are subject to this operation, or they
are liable to perish in cold summers; and if intended for the table,
they would become poor and lose their quality, were they stripped of
their feathers at an earlier period.


GOOSE PIE. Quarter a goose, season it well, put it in a baking dish, and
lay pieces of butter over it. Put on a raised crust, and bake it in a
moderate oven. To make a richer pie, forcemeat may be added, and slices
of tongue. Duck pie is made in the same manner.


GOOSE SAUCE. Put into melted butter a spoonful of sorrel juice, a little
sugar, and some scalded gooseberries. Pour it into boats, and send it
hot to table.


GOOSEBERRY FOOL. Put the fruit into a stone jar, with some good Lisbon
sugar. Set the jar on a stove, or in a saucepan of water over the fire:
if the former, a large spoonful of water should be added to the fruit.
When it is done enough to pulp, press it through a cullender. Have ready
a sufficient quantity of new milk, and a tea-cupful of raw cream, boiled
together, or an egg instead of the latter. When cold, sweeten it pretty
well with fine Lisbon sugar, and mix the pulp with it by degrees.


GOOSEBERRY HOPS. Gather the largest green gooseberries of the walnut
kind, and slit the tops into four quarters, leaving the stalk end whole.
Pick out the seeds, and with a strong needle and thread fasten five or
six together, by running the thread through the bottoms, till they are
of the size of a hop. Lay vine leaves at the bottom of a tin
preserving-pan, cover them with the hops, then a layer of leaves, and so
on: lay a good many on the top, and fill the pan with water. Stop it
down so close that no steam can escape, set it by a slow fire till
scalding hot, and then take it off to cool. Repeat the operation till
the gooseberries, on being opened, are found to be of a good green. Then
drain them on sieves, and make a thin syrup of a pound of sugar to a
pint of water, well boiled and skimmed. When the syrup is half cold, put
in the fruit; give it a boil up, and repeat it thrice. Gooseberry hops
look well and eat best dried, and in this case they may be set to dry in
a week. But if to be kept moist, make a syrup in the above proportions,
adding a slice of ginger in the boiling. When skimmed and clear, give
the gooseberries one boil, and pour the syrup cold over them. If found
too sour, a little sugar may be added, before the hops that are for
drying receive their last boil. The extra syrup will serve for pies, or
go towards other sweetmeats.


GOOSEBERRY JAM. Gather some ripe gooseberries, of the clear white or
green sort, pick them clean and weigh them. Allow three quarters of a
pound of lump sugar to a pound of fruit, and half a pint of water. Boil
and skim the sugar and water, then put in the fruit, and boil it gently
till it is quite clear. Break the gooseberries into jam, and put into
small pots.--Another. Gather some ripe gooseberries in dry weather, of
the red hairy sort, and pick off the heads and tails. Put twelve pounds
of them into a preserving pan, with a pint of currant juice, drawn as
for jelly. Boil them pretty quick, and beat them with a spoon; when they
begin to break, add six pounds of white Lisbon sugar, and simmer them
slowly to a jam. They require long boiling, or they will not keep; but
they make an excellent jam for tarts and puffs. When the jam is put
into jars, examine it after two or three days; and if the syrup and
fruit separate, the whole must be boiled again. In making white
gooseberry jam, clarified sugar should be used; and in all cases great
care must be taken to prevent the fruit from burning to the bottom of
the pan.


GOOSEBERRY PUDDING. Stew some gooseberries in a jar over a hot hearth,
or in a saucepan of water, till reduced to a pulp. Take a pint of the
juice pressed through a coarse sieve, and mix it with three eggs beaten
and strained. Add an ounce and a half of butter, sweeten it well, put a
crust round the dish, and bake it. A few crumbs of roll should be mixed
with the above to give it a little consistence, or four ounces of Naples
biscuits.


GOOSEBERRY TRIFLE. Scald as much fruit as when pulped through a sieve,
will cover the bottom of a dish intended to be used. Mix with it the
rind of half a lemon grated fine, sweetened with sugar. Put any quantity
of common custard over it, and a whip on the top, as for other trifles.


GOOSEBERRY VINEGAR. Boil some spring water; and when cold, put to every
three quarts, a quart of bruised gooseberries in a large tub. Let them
remain two or three days, stirring often; then strain through a hair
bag, and to each gallon of liquor add a pound of the coarsest sugar. Put
it into a barrel, with yeast spread upon a toast, and cover the bung
hole with a piece of slate. The greater the quantity of sugar and fruit,
the stronger the vinegar.


GOOSEBERRY WINE. When the weather is dry, gather gooseberries about the
time they are half ripe. Pick them clean as much as a peck into a
convenient vessel, and bruise them with a piece of wood, taking as much
care as possible to keep the seeds whole. Now having put the pulp into
a canvas bag, press out all the juice; and to every gallon of the
gooseberries, add about three pounds of fine loaf sugar. Mix the whole
together by stirring it with a stick, and as soon as the sugar is quite
dissolved, pour it into a cask which will exactly hold it. If the
quantity be about eight or nine gallons, let it stand a fortnight: if
twenty gallons, forty days, and so on in proportion. Set it in a cool
place; and after standing the proper time, draw it off from the lees.
Put it into another clean vessel of equal size, or into the same, after
pouring out the lees and making it clean. Let a cask of ten or twelve
gallons stand for about three months, and twenty gallons for five
months, after which it will be fit for bottling off.


GOOSEBERRIES PRESERVED. Gather some dry gooseberries of the hairy sort,
before the seeds become large, and take care not to cut them in taking
off the stalks and buds. If gathered in the damp, or the gooseberry
skins are the least broken in the preparation, the fruit will mould.
Fill some jars or wide-mouthed bottles, put the corks loosely in, and
set the bottles up to the neck in a kettle of water. When the fruit
looks scalded, take them out; and when perfectly cold, cork them down
close, and rosin the top. Dig a trench sufficiently deep to receive all
the bottles, and cover them with the earth a foot and a half. When a
frost comes on, a little fresh litter from the stable will prevent the
ground from hardening, so that the fruit may more easily be dug
up.--Green gooseberries may also be preserved for winter use, without
bedding them in the earth. Scald them as above, and when cold, fill the
bottles up with cold water. Cork and rosin them down, and keep them in a
dry place.--Another way. Having prepared the gooseberries as above,
prepare a kettle of boiling water, and put into it as much roche alum
as will harden the water, or give it a little roughness when dissolved:
but if there be too much it will spoil the fruit. Cover the bottom of a
large sieve with gooseberries, without laying one upon another; and hold
the sieve in the water till the fruit begins to look scalded on the
outside. Turn them gently out of the sieve on a cloth on the dresser,
cover them with another cloth, putting some more to be scalded, till the
whole are finished. Observe not to put one quantity upon another, or
they will become too soft. The next day pick out any bad or broken ones,
bottle the rest, and fill up the bottles with the alum water in which
they were scalded. If the water be left in the kettle, or in a glazed
pan, it will spoil; it must therefore be quickly put into the bottles.
Gooseberries prepared in this way, and stopped down close, will make as
fine tarts as when fresh from the trees.--Another way. In dry weather
pick some full grown but unripe gooseberries, top and tail them, and put
them into wide-mouthed bottles. Stop them lightly with new velvet corks,
put them into the oven after the bread is drawn, and let them stand till
they are shrunk one fourth. Take them out of the oven, fasten the corks
in tight, cut off the tops, and rosin them down close. Set them in a dry
place; and if well secured from the air, they will keep the year round.
Currants and damsons may be preserved in the same way.


GOOSEGRASS OINTMENT. Melt some hog's lard, add as much clivers or
goosegrass as the lard will moisten, and boil them together over a slow
fire. Keep the mixture stirring till it becomes a little brown, and then
strain it through a cloth. When cold, take the ointment from the water,
and put it up in gallipots.


GOUT. Gouty patients are required to abstain from all fermented and
spirituous liquors, and to use wine very moderately; carefully to avoid
all fat, rancid, and salted provisions, and high seasoned dishes of
every description. The constant use of barley bread is recommended, with
large doses of powdered ginger boiled in milk for breakfast. Absorbent
powders of two scruples of magnesia, and three or four grains each of
rhubarb and purified kali, should be taken during the intervals of gouty
fits, and repeated every other morning for several weeks. The feet
should be kept warm, sinapisms frequently applied to them, and the part
affected should be covered with flannel.


GOUT CORDIAL. Take four pounds of sun raisins sliced and stoned, two
ounces of senna, one ounce of fennel seed, one of coriander, half an
ounce of cochineal, half an ounce of saffron, half an ounce of stick
liquorice, and half a pound of rhubarb: infuse them all in two gallons
of brandy, and let it stand for ten days. Stir it occasionally, then
strain it off, and bottle it. Take a small wine-glass full, when the
gout is in the head or stomach; and if the pain be not removed, take two
large spoonfuls more.--Or take six drams of opium, half an ounce of soap
of tartar, half an ounce of castile soap, one dram of grated nutmeg,
three drams of camphor, two scruples of saffron, and nine ounces of
sweet spirit of sal-ammoniac. Put them all into a wine flask in a
sand-heat for ten days, shaking it occasionally till the last day or
two: then pour it off clear, and keep it stopped up close for use. Take
thirty or forty drops in a glass of peppermint two hours after eating;
it may also be taken two or three times in the day or night if required.


GRANARIES. These depositaries are very liable to be infested with
weasels, and various kinds of insects. To prevent their depredations,
the floors of granaries should be laid with poplars of Lombardy.


GRAPES. To preserve this valuable fruit, prepare a cask or barrel, by
carefully closing up its crevices to prevent access of the external air.
Place a layer of bran, which has been well dried in an oven; upon this
place a layer of bunches of grapes, well cleaned, and gathered in the
afternoon of a dry day, before they are perfectly ripe. Proceed then
with alternate layers of bran and grapes till the barrel is full, taking
care that the bunches of grapes do not touch each other, and to let the
last layer be of bran; then close the barrel so that the air may not be
able to penetrate. Grapes thus packed will keep for a twelvemonth. To
restore their freshness, cut the end of each bunch, and put that of
white grapes into white wine, and that of black grapes into red wine, as
flowers are put into water to keep them fresh. It is customary in France
to pack grapes for the London market in saw dust, but it must be
carefully dried with a gentle heat, or the turpentine and other odours
of the wood will not fail to injure the fruit. Oak saw dust will answer
the purpose best.


GRAPE WINE. To every gallon of ripe grapes put a gallon of soft water,
bruise the grapes, let them stand a week without stirring, and draw the
liquor off fine. To every gallon of liquor allow three pounds of lump
sugar, put the whole into a vessel, but do not stop it till it has done
hissing; then stop it close, and in six months it will be fit for
bottling.--A better wine, though smaller in quantity, will be made by
leaving out the water, and diminishing the quantity of sugar. Water is
necessary only where the juice is so scanty, or so thick, as in cowslip,
balm, or black currant wine, that it could not be used without it.


GRAVEL. The gout or rheumatism has a tendency to produce this disorder;
it is also promoted by the use of sour liquor, indigestible food,
especially cheese, and by a sedentary life. Perspiration should be
assisted by gentle means, particularly by rubbing with a warm flannel;
the diet regulated by the strictest temperance, and moderate exercise is
not to be neglected. For medicine, take the juice of a horseradish, made
into a thin syrup by mixing it with sugar; a spoonful or two to be taken
every three or four hours.


GRAVEL WALKS. To preserve garden walks from moss and weeds, water them
frequently with brine, or salt and water, both in the spring and in
autumn. Worms may be destroyed by an infusion of walnut-tree leaves, or
by pouring into the holes a ley made of wood ashes and lime. If fruit
trees are sprinkled with it, the ravages of insects will be greatly
prevented.


GRAVIES. A few general observations are necessary on the subject of
soups and gravies. When there is any fear of gravy meat being spoiled
before it be wanted, it should be well seasoned, and lightly fried, in
order to its keeping a day or two longer; but the gravy is best when the
juices are fresh. When soups or gravies are to be put by, let them be
changed every day into fresh scalded pans. Whatever liquor has
vegetables boiled in it, is apt to turn sour much sooner than the juices
of meat, and gravy should never be kept in any kind of metal. When fat
remains on any soup, a tea-cupful of flour and water mixed quite smooth,
and boiled in, will take it off. If richness or greater consistence be
required, a good lump of butter mixed with flour, and boiled in the soup
or gravy, will impart either of these qualities. Long boiling is
necessary to obtain the full flavour; and gravies and soups are best
made the day before they are wanted. They are also much better when the
meat is laid in the bottom of the pan, and stewed with herbs, roots, and
butter, than when water is put to the meat at first; and the gravy that
is drawn from the meat, should almost be dried up before the water is
added. The sediment of gravies that have stood to be cold, should not be
used in cooking. When onions are strong, boil a turnip with them, if for
sauce; and this will make them mild and pleasant. If soups or gravies
are too weak, do not cover them in boiling, that the watery particles
may evaporate. A clear jelly of cow heels is very useful to keep in the
house, being a great improvement to soups and gravies. Truffles and
morels thicken soups and sauces, and give them a fine flavour. The way
is to wash half an ounce of each carefully, then simmer them a few
minutes in water, and add them with the liquor to boil in the sauce till
quite tender. As to the materials of which gravy is to be made, beef
skirts will make as good as any other meat. Beef kidney, or milt, cut
into small pieces, will answer the purpose very well; and so will the
shank end of mutton that has been dressed, if much be wanted. The shank
bones of mutton, if well soaked and cleaned, are a great improvement to
the richness of the gravy. Taragon gives the flavour of French cookery,
and in high gravies it is a great improvement; but it should be added
only a short time before serving. To draw gravy that will keep for a
week, cut some lean beef thin, put it into a fryingpan without any
butter, cover it up, and set it on the fire, taking care that it does
not burn. Keep it on the fire till all the gravy that comes out of the
meat is absorbed, then add as much water as will cover the meat, and
keep it stewing. Put in some herbs, onions, spice, and a piece of lean
ham. Let it simmer till it is quite rich, and keep it in a cool place;
but do not remove the fat till the gravy is to be used.


GRAVY FOR FOWL. When there is no meat to make gravy of, wash the feet of
the fowl nicely, and cut them and the neck small. Simmer them with a
little bread browned, a slice of onion, a sprig of parsley and thyme,
some salt and pepper, and the liver and gizzard, in a quarter of a pint
of water, till half wasted. Take out the liver, bruise it, and strain
the liquor to it. Then thicken it with flour and butter, and a
tea-spoonful of mushroom ketchup will make the gravy very good.


GRAVY FOR WILD FOWL. Set on a saucepan with half a pint of veal gravy,
adding half a dozen leaves of basil, a small onion, and a roll of orange
or lemon peel. Let it boil up for a few minutes, and strain it off. Put
to the clear gravy the juice of a Seville orange, half a teaspoonful of
salt, the same of pepper, and a glass of red wine. Shalot and cayenne
may be added. This is an excellent sauce for all kinds of wild
water-fowl, and should be sent up hot in a boat, as some persons like
wild fowl very little done, and without any sauce. The common way of
gashing the breast, and squeezing in a lemon, cools and hardens the
flesh, and compels every one to eat it that way, whether they approve of
it or not.


GRAVY FOR MUTTON. To make mutton taste like venison, provide for it the
following gravy. Pick a very stale woodcock or snipe, and cut it to
pieces, after having removed the bag from the entrails. Simmer it in
some meat gravy, without seasoning; then strain it, and serve it with
the mutton.


GRAVY SOUP. Wash and soak a leg of beef; break the bone, and set it on
the fire with a gallon of water, a large bunch of sweet herbs, two large
onions sliced and fried to a fine brown, but not burnt; add two blades
of mace, three cloves, twenty berries of allspice, and forty black
peppers. Stew the soup till it is rich, and then take out the meat,
which may be eaten at the kitchen table, with a little of the gravy.
Next day take off the fat, which will serve for basting, or for common
pie crust. Slice some carrots, turnips, and celery, and simmer them till
tender. If not approved, they can be taken out before the soup is sent
to table, but the flavour will be a considerable addition. Boil
vermicelli a quarter of an hour, and add to it a large spoonful of soy,
and one of mushroom ketchup. A French roll should be made hot, then
soaked in the soup, and served in the tureen.


GRAVY WITHOUT MEAT. Put into a bason a glass of small beer, a glass of
water, some pepper and salt, grated lemon peel, a bruised clove or two,
and a spoonful of walnut pickle, or mushroom ketchup. Slice an onion,
flour and fry it in a piece of butter till it is brown. Then turn all
the above into a small tosser, with the onion, and simmer it covered for
twenty minutes. Strain it off for use, and when cold take off the fat.


GRAYLINE. Having scaled and washed the fish, then dry them. Dust them
over with flour, and lay them separately on a board before the fire. Fry
them of a fine colour with fresh dripping; serve them with crimp
parsley, and plain butter. Perch and tench may be done the same way.


GREASE EXTRACTED. The ashes of burnt bones finely powdered, or calcined
hartshorn, heated over the fire in a clean vessel, and laid on each side
of the grease spot, if on books or paper, with a weight laid upon it to
assist the effect, will completely remove it; or the powder may be
wrapped in thin muslin, and applied in the same manner. When prints get
foul and dirty, they may readily be cleaned in the same manner as linen
is bleached, by being exposed to the sun and air, and frequently wetted
with clean water. If this do not fully succeed, the print may be soaked
in hot water; and if pasted on canvas, it should first be taken off by
dipping it in boiling water, which will loosen it from the canvas. The
dirt occasioned by flies, may be gently taken off with a wet sponge,
after the print has been well soaked. Spots of white-wash may be removed
by spirit of sea salt diluted with water.--If grease spots appear in
leather, a different process must be pursued. A paste made of mealy
potatoes, dry mustard, and spirits of turpentine, mixed together, and
applied to the spot, will extract the grease from leather, if rubbed off
after it has been allowed sufficient time to dry. A little vinegar may
be added, to render the application more effectual.


GREEN FRUIT. Green peaches, plums, or other fruit, should be put into a
preserving pan of spring water, covered with vine leaves, and set over a
clear fire. When they begin to simmer take them off, and take the fruit
out carefully with a slice. Peel and preserve them as other fruit.


GREEN GAGES. In order to preserve them for pies and tarts, choose the
largest when they begin to soften. Split them without paring; and having
weighed an equal quantity of sugar, strew a part of it over the fruit.
Blanch the kernels with a small sharp knife. Next day pour the syrup
from the fruit, and boil it gently six or eight minutes with the other
sugar; skim it, and add the plums and kernels. Simmer it till clear,
taking off any scum that rises; put the fruit singly into small pots,
and pour the syrup and kernels to it. If the fruit is to be candied, the
syrup must not be added: for the sake of variety, it may be proper to
do some each way.


GREEN GOOSE PIE. Bone two young green geese, of a good size; but first
take away every plug, and singe them nicely. Wash them clean, and season
them well with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice. Put one inside the
other, and press them quite close, drawing the legs inward. Put a good
deal of butter over them, and bake them either with or without a crust:
if the latter, a cover to the dish must fit close to keep in the steam.


GREEN PEAS. Peas should not be shelled till they are wanted, nor boiled
in much water. Put them in when the water boils, with a little salt, and
a lump of sugar. When they begin to dent in the middle, they are done
enough. Strain them through a cullender, put a piece of butter in the
dish, and stir them till it is melted. Garnish with boiled mint.


GREEN PEAS PRESERVED. If it be wished to keep them for winter use, shell
the peas, and put them into a kettle of water when it boils. Warm them
well, without boiling, and pour them into a cullender. When the water
drains off, turn them out on a dresser covered with a cloth, and put
over another cloth to dry them perfectly. Deposit them in wide-mouth
bottles, leaving only room to pour clarified mutton suet upon them an
inch thick, and also for the cork. Rosin it down, and keep it in the
cellar or in the earth, the same as other green fruit. When the peas are
to be used, boil them tender, with a piece of butter, a spoonful of
sugar, and a little mint.--Another way. Shell the peas, scald and dry
them as above. Put them on tins or earthen dishes in a cool oven once or
twice to harden, and keep them in paper bags hung up in the kitchen.
When they are to be used, let them be an hour in water; then set them
on with cold water, a piece of butter, and a sprig of dried mint, and
boil them.


GREEN PEAS SOUP. In shelling the peas, divide the old from the young.
Stew the old ones to a pulp, with an ounce of butter, a pint of water, a
leaf or two of lettuce, two onions, pepper and salt. Put to the liquor
that stewed them some more water, the hearts and tender stalks of the
lettuces, the young peas, a handful of spinach cut small, salt and
pepper to relish, and boil them till quite soft. If the soup be too
thin, or not rich enough, add an ounce or two of butter, mixed with a
spoonful of rice or flour, and boil it half an hour longer. Before
serving, boil in the soup some green mint shred fine. When the peas
first come in, or are very young, the stock may be made of the shells
washed and boiled, till they are capable of being pulped. More
thickening will then be wanted.


GREEN PEAS STEWED. Put into a stewpan a quart of peas, a lettuce and an
onion both sliced, and no more water than hangs about the lettuce from
washing. Add a piece of butter, a little pepper and salt, and stew them
very gently for two hours. When to be served, beat up an egg, and stir
it into them, or a bit of flour and butter. Chop a little mint, and stew
in them. Gravy may be added, or a tea-spoonful of white powdered sugar;
but the flavour of the peas themselves is much better.


GREEN SAUCE. Mix a quarter of a pint of sorrel juice, a glass of white
wine, and some scalded gooseberries. Add sugar, and a bit of butter, and
boil them up, to serve with green geese or ducklings.


GRIDIRON. The bars of a gridiron should be made concave, and terminate
in a trough to catch the gravy, and keep the fat from dropping into the
fire and making a smoke, which will spoil the broiling. Upright
gridirons are the best, as they can be used at any fire, without fear of
smoke, and the gravy is preserved in the trough under them. The business
of the gridiron may be done by a Dutch oven, when occasion requires.


GRIEF. In considering what is conducive to health or otherwise, it is
impossible to overlook this destructive passion, which like envy is 'the
rottenness of the bones.' Anger and fear are more violent, but this is
more fixed: it sinks deep into the mind, and often proves fatal. It may
generally be conquered at the beginning of any calamity; but when it has
gained strength, all attempts to remove it are ineffectual. Life may be
dragged out for a few years, but it is impossible that any one should
enjoy health, whose mind is bowed down with grief and trouble. In this
case some betake themselves to drinking, but here the remedy only
aggravates the disease. The best relief, besides what the consolations
of religion may afford, is to associate with the kind and cheerful, to
shift the scene as much as possible, to keep up a succession of new
ideas, apply to the study of some art or science, and to read and write
on such subjects as deeply engage the attention. These will sooner expel
grief than the most sprightly amusements, which only aggravate instead
of relieving the anguish of a wounded heart.


GRILL SAUCE. To half a pint of gravy add an ounce of fresh butter, and a
table-spoonful of flour, previously well rubbed together; the same of
mushroom or walnut ketchup, two tea-spoonfuls of lemon juice, one of
made mustard, one of caper, half a one of black pepper, a little lemon
peel grated fine, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovies, a very small
piece of minced shalot, and a little chili vinegar, or a few grains of
cayenne. Simmer them all together for a few minutes, pour a little of
it over the grill, and send up the rest in a sauce tureen.


GRILLED MUTTON. Cut a breast of mutton into diamonds, rub it over with
egg, and strew on some crumbs of bread and chopped parsley. Broil it in
a Dutch oven, baste it with butter, and pour caper sauce or gravy into
the dish.


GROUND RICE MILK. Boil one spoonful of ground rice, rubbed down smooth,
with three half pints of milk, a little cinnamon, lemon peel, and
nutmeg. Sweeten it when nearly done.


GROUND RICE PUDDING. Boil a large spoonful of ground rice in a pint of
new milk, with lemon peel and cinnamon. When cold, add sugar, nutmeg,
and two eggs well beaten. Bake it with a crust round the dish. A pudding
of Russian seed is made in the same manner.


GROUSE. Twist the head under the wing, and roast them like fowls, but
they must not be overdone. Serve with a rich gravy in the dish, and
bread sauce. The sauce recommended for wild fowl, may be used instead of
gravy.


GRUBS. Various kinds of grubs or maggots, hatched from beetles, are
destructive of vegetation, and require to be exterminated. In a garden
they may be taken and destroyed by cutting a turf, and laying it near
the plant which is attacked, with the grass side downwards. But the most
effectual way is to visit these depredators at midnight, when they may
be easily found and destroyed.


GUDGEONS. These delicate fish are taken in running streams, where the
water is clear. They come in about midsummer, and are to be had for five
or six months. They require to be dressed much the same as smelts, being
considered as a species of fresh-water smelts.


GUINEA FOWL. Pea and guinea fowl eat much like pheasants, and require to
be dressed in the same way.


GUINEA HENS. These birds lay a great number of eggs; and if their nest
can be discovered, it is best to put them under common hens, which are
better nurses. They require great warmth, quiet, and careful feeding
with rice swelled in milk, or bread soaked in it. Put two peppercorns
down their throat when first hatched.


GUNPOWDER. Reduce to powder separately, five drams of nitrate of potass,
one dram of sulphur, and one of new-burnt charcoal. Mix them together in
a mortar with a little water, so as to make the compound into a dough,
which roll out into round pieces of the thickness of a pin, upon a slab.
This must be done by moving a board backwards and forwards until the
dough is of a proper size. When three or four of these strings or pieces
are ready, put them together, and with a knife cut the whole off in
small grains. Place these grains on a sheet of paper in a warm place,
and they will soon dry. During granulation, the dough must be prevented
from sticking, by using a little of the dry compound powder. This mode
of granulation, though tedious, is the only one to be used for so small
a quantity, for the sake of experiment. In a large way, gunpowder is
granulated by passing the composition through sieves.




H.


HADDOCKS. These fish may be had the greater part of the year, but are
most in season during the first three months. In choosing, see that the
flesh is firm, the eyes bright, and the gills fresh and red. Clean them
well, dry them in a cloth, and rub them with vinegar to prevent the skin
from breaking. Dredge them with flour, rub the gridiron with suet, and
let it be hot when the fish is laid on. Turn them while broiling, and
serve them up with melted butter, or shrimp sauce.


HAIR. Frequent cutting of the hair is highly beneficial to the whole
body; and if the head be daily washed with cold water, rubbed dry, and
exposed to the air, it will be found an excellent preventive of
periodical headachs. Pomatums and general perfumery are very injurious;
but a mixture of olive oil and spirits of rosemary, with a few drops of
oil of nutmeg, may be used with safety. If a lead comb be sometimes
passed through the hair, it will assume a darker colour, but for health
it cannot be recommended.


HAIR POWDER. To know whether this article be adulterated with lime, as
is too frequently the case, put a little of the powder of sal-ammoniac
into it, and stir it up with warm water. If the hair powder has been
adulterated with lime, a strong smell of alkali will arise from the
mixture.


HAIR WATER. To thicken the hair, and prevent its falling off, an
excellent water may be prepared in the following manner. Put four pounds
of pure honey into a still, with twelve handfuls of the tendrils of
vines, and the same quantity of rosemary tops. Distil as cool and as
slowly as possible, and the liquor may be allowed to drop till it begins
to taste sour.


HAMS. When a ham is to be dressed, put it into water all night, if it
has hung long; and let it lie either in a hole dug in the earth, or on
damp stones sprinkled with water, two or three days, to mellow it. Wash
it well, and put it into a boiler with plenty of water; let it simmer
four, five, or six hours, according to the size. When done enough, if
before the time of serving, cover it with a clean cloth doubled, and
keep the dish hot over some boiling water. Take off the skin, and rasp
some bread over the ham. Preserve the skin as whole as possible, to
cover the ham when cold, in order to prevent its drying. Garnish the
dish with carrot when sent to table. If a dried ham is to be purchased,
judge of its goodness by sticking a sharp knife under the bone. If it
comes out with a pleasant smell, the ham is good: but if the knife be
daubed, and has a bad scent, do not buy it. Hams short in the hock are
best, and long-legged pigs are not fit to be pickled.


HAM SAUCE. When a ham is almost done with, pick all the meat clean from
the bone, leaving out any rusty part. Beat the meat and the bone to a
mash, put it into a saucepan with three spoonfuls of gravy, set it over
a slow fire, and stir it all the time, or it will stick to the bottom.
When it has been on some time, put to it a small bundle of sweet herbs,
some pepper, and half a pint of beef gravy. Cover it up, and let it stew
over a gentle fire. When it has a good flavour of the herbs, strain off
the gravy. A little of this sauce will be found an improvement to all
gravies.


HANDS. When the hands or feet are severely affected with the cold, they
should not immediately be exposed to the fire, but restored to their
usual tone and feeling, by immersing them in cold water, and afterwards
applying warmth in the most careful and gradual manner. Persons subject
to chopped hands in the winter time, should be careful to rub them quite
dry after every washing; and to prevent their being injured by the
weather, rub them with a mixture of fresh lard, honey, and the yolks of
eggs; or a little goose fat will answer the purpose.


HARD DUMPLINGS. Make a paste of flour and water, with a little salt, and
roll it into balls. Dust them with flour, and boil them nearly an hour.
They are best boiled with a good piece of meat, and for variety, a few
currants may be added.


HARES. If hung up in a dry cool place, they will keep a great time; and
when imagined to be past eating, they are often in the highest
perfection. They are never good if eaten when fresh killed. A hare will
keep longer and eat better, if not opened for four or five days, or
according to the state of the weather. If paunched when it comes from
the field, it should be wiped quite dry, the heart and liver taken out,
and the liver scalded to keep for stuffing. Repeat this wiping every
day, rub a mixture of pepper and ginger on the inside, and put a large
piece of charcoal into it. If the spice be applied early, it will
prevent that musty taste which long keeping in the damp occasions, and
which also affects the stuffing. If an old hare is to be roasted, it
should be kept as long as possible, and well soaked. This may be judged
of, in the following manner. If the claws are blunt and rugged, the ears
dry and tough, and the haunch thick, it is old. But if the claws are
smooth and sharp, the ears easily tear, and the cleft in the lip is not
much spread, it is young. If fresh and newly killed, the body will be
stiff, and the flesh pale. To know a real leveret, it is necessary to
look for a knob or small bone near the foot on its fore leg: if there be
none, it is a hare.


HARE PIE. Cut up the hare, and season it; bake it with eggs and
forcemeat, in a dish or raised crust. When cold take off the lid, and
cover the meat with Savoury Jelly: see the article.


HARE SAUCE. This usually consists of currant jelly warmed up; or it may
be made of half a pint of port, and a quarter of a pound of sugar,
simmered together over a clear fire for about five minutes. It may also
be made of half a pint of vinegar, and a quarter of a pound of sugar,
reduced to a syrup.


HARE SOUP. Take an old hare unfit for other purposes, cut it into
pieces, and put it into a jar; add a pound and a half of lean beef, two
or three shank bones of mutton well cleaned, a slice of lean bacon or
ham, an onion, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Pour on two quarts of boiling
water, cover the jar close with bladder and paper, and set it in a
kettle of water. Simmer till the hare is stewed to pieces, strain off
the liquor, boil it up once, with a chopped anchovy, and add a spoonful
of soy, a little cayenne, and salt. A few fine forcemeat balls, fried of
a good brown, should be served in the tureen.


HARRICO OF MUTTON. Remove some of the fat, and cut the middle or best
end of the neck into rather thin steaks. Flour and fry them in their own
fat, of a fine light brown, but not enough for eating. Then put them
into a dish while you fry the carrots, turnips, and onions; the carrots
and turnips in dice, the onions sliced. They must only be warmed, and
not browned. Then lay the steaks at the bottom of a stewpan, the
vegetables over them, and pour on as much boiling water as will just
cover them. Give them one boil, skim them well, and then set the pan on
the side of the fire to simmer gently till all is tender. In three or
four hours skim them; add pepper and salt, and a spoonful of ketchup.


HARRICO OF VEAL. Take the best end of a small neck, cut the bones short,
but leave it whole. Then put it into a stewpan, just covered with brown
gravy; and when it is nearly done, have ready a pint of boiled peas, six
cucumbers pared and sliced, and two cabbage-lettuces cut into quarters,
all stewed in a little good broth. Add them to the veal, and let them
simmer ten minutes. When the veal is in the dish, pour the sauce and
vegetables over it, and lay the lettuce with forcemeat balls round it.


HARTSHORN JELLY. Simmer eight ounces of hartshorn shavings with two
quarts of water, till reduced to one. Strain and boil it with the rinds
of four China oranges, and two lemons pared thin. When cool, add the
juice of both, half a pound of sugar, and the whites of six eggs beaten
to a froth. Let the jelly have three or four boils without stirring, and
strain it through a jelly bag.


HASHED BEEF. Put into a stewpan, a pint and a half of broth or water, a
large table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, with the gravy saved from the
beef. Add a quarter of an ounce of onion sliced very fine, and boil it
about ten minutes. Put a large table-spoonful of flour into a basin,
just wet it with a little water, mix it well together, then stir it into
the broth, and boil it five or ten minutes. Rub it through a sieve,
return it to the stewpan, put in the hash, and let it stand by the side
of the fire till the meat is warm. A tea-spoonful of parsley chopped
very fine, and put in five minutes before it is served up, will be an
agreeable addition; or to give a higher relish, a glass of port wine,
and a spoonful of currant jelly. Hashes and meats dressed a second time,
should only simmer gently, till just warmed through.


HASHED DUCK. Cut a cold duck into joints, and warm it in gravy, without
boiling, and add a glass of port wine.


HASHED HARE. Season the legs and wings first, and then broil them, which
will greatly improve the flavour. Rub them with cold butter and serve
them quite hot. The other parts, warmed with gravy, and a little
stuffing, may be served separately.


HASHED MUTTON. Cut thin slices of dressed mutton, fat and lean, and
flour them. Have ready a little onion boiled in two or three spoonfuls
of water; add to it a little gravy, season the meat, and make it hot,
but not to boil. Serve up the hash in a covered dish. Instead of onion,
a clove, a spoonful of currant jelly, and half a glass of port wine,
will give an agreeable venison flavour, if the meat be fine. For a
change, the hash may be warmed up with pickled cucumber or walnut cut
small.


HASHED VENISON. Warm it with its own gravy, or some of it without
seasoning; but it should only be warmed through, and not boiled. If no
fat be left, cut some slices of mutton fat, set it on the fire with a
little port wine and sugar, and simmer it dry. Then put it to the hash,
and it will eat as well as the fat of venison.


HASTY DISH OF EGGS. Beat up six eggs, pour them into a saucepan, hold it
over the fire till they begin to thicken, and keep stirring from the
bottom all the time. Then add a piece of butter the size of a walnut,
stir it about till the eggs and water are thoroughly mixed, and the eggs
quite dry. Put it on a plate, and serve it hot.


HASTY FRITTERS. Melt some butter in a saucepan, put in half a pint of
good ale, and stir a little flour into it by degrees. Add a few
currants, or chopped apples; beat them up quick, and drop a large
spoonful at a time into the pan, till the bottom is nearly covered.
Keep them separate, turn them with a slice; and when of a fine brown,
serve them up hot, with grated sugar over them.


HASTY PUDDING. Boil some milk over a clear fire, and take it off. Keep
putting in flour with one hand, and stirring it with the other, till it
becomes quite thick. Boil it a few minutes, pour it into a dish, and
garnish with pieces of butter. To make a better pudding, beat up an egg
and flour into a stiff paste, and mince it fine. Put the mince into a
quart of boiling milk, with a little butter and salt, cinnamon and
sugar, and stir them carefully together. When sufficiently thickened,
pour it into a dish, and stick bits of butter on the top. Or shred some
suet, add grated bread, a few currants, the yolks of four eggs and the
whites of two, with some grated lemon peel and ginger. Mix the whole
together, and make it into balls the size and shape of an egg, with a
little flour. Throw them into a skillet of boiling water, and boil them
twenty minutes; but when sufficiently done, they will rise to the top.
Serve with cold butter, or pudding sauce.


HATS. Gentlemen's hats are often damaged by a shower of rain, which
takes off the gloss, and leaves them spotted. To prevent this, shake out
the wet as much as possible, wipe the hat carefully with a clean
handkerchief, observing to lay the beaver smooth. Then fix the hat in
its original shape, and hang it to dry at a distance from the fire. Next
morning, brush it several times with a soft brush in the proper
direction, and the hat will have sustained but little injury. A flat
iron moderately heated, and passed two or three times gently over the
hat, will raise the gloss, and give the hat its former good appearance.


HAUNCH OF MUTTON. Keep it as long as it can be preserved sweet, and
wash it with warm milk and water, or vinegar if necessary. When to be
dressed especially, observe to wash it well, lest the outside should
contract a bad flavour from keeping. Lay a paste of coarse flour on
strong paper, and fold the haunch in it; set it a great distance from
the fire, and allow proportionate time for the paste. Do not remove it
till nearly forty minutes before serving, and then baste it continually.
Bring the haunch nearer the fire before the paste is taken off, and
froth it up the same as venison. A gravy must be made of a pound and a
half of a loin of old mutton, simmered in a pint of water to half the
quantity, and no seasoning but salt. Brown it with a little burnt sugar,
and send it up in the dish. Care should be taken to retain a good deal
of gravy in the meat, for though long at the fire, the distance and
covering will prevent its roasting out. Serve with currant-jelly sauce.


HAUNCH OF VENISON. If it be the haunch of a buck, it will take full
three hours and a half roasting; if a doe, about half an hour less.
Venison should be rather under than overdone. Sprinkle some salt on a
sheet of white paper, spread it over with butter, and cover the fat with
it. Then lay a coarse paste on strong white paper, and cover the haunch;
tie it with fine packthread, and set it at a distance from a good fire.
Baste it often: ten minutes before serving take off the paste, draw the
meat nearer the fire, and baste it with butter and a good deal of flour,
to make it froth up well. Gravy for it should be put into a boat, and
not into the dish, unless there is none in the venison. To make the
gravy, cut off the fat from two or three pounds of a loin of old mutton,
and set it in steaks on a gridiron for a few minutes just to brown one
side. Put them into a saucepan with a quart of water, keep it closely
covered for an hour, and simmer it gently. Then uncover it, stew it till
the gravy is reduced to a pint, and season it with salt only.
Currant-jelly sauce must be served in a boat. Beat up the jelly with a
spoonful or two of port wine, and melt it over the fire. Where jelly
runs short, a little more wine must be added, and a few lumps of sugar.
Serve with French beans. If the old bread sauce be still preferred,
grate some white bread, and boil it with port wine and water, and a
large stick of cinnamon. When quite smooth, take out the cinnamon, and
add some sugar.


HAY STACKS. In making stacks of new hay, care should be taken to prevent
its heating and taking fire, by forming a tunnel completely through the
centre. This may be done by stuffing a sack full of straw, and tying up
the mouth with a cord; then make the rick round the sack, drawing it up
as the rick advances, and taking it out when finished.


HEAD ACHE. This disorder generally arises from some internal cause, and
is the symptom of a disease which requires first to be attended to; but
where it is a local affection only, it may be relieved by bathing the
part affected with spirits of hartshorn, or applying a poultice of elder
flowers. In some cases the most obstinate pain is removed by the use of
vervain, both internally in the form of a decoction, and also by
suspending the herb round the neck. Persons afflicted with headache
should beware of costiveness: their drink should be diluting, and their
feet and legs kept warm. It is very obvious, that as many disorders
arise from taking cold in the head, children should be inured to a light
and loose covering in their infancy, by which means violent headaches
might be prevented in mature age: and the maxim of keeping the feet
warm and the head cool, should be strictly attended to.


HEAD AND PLUCK. Whether of lamb or mutton, wash the head clean, take the
black part from the eyes, and the gall from the liver. Lay the head in
warm water; boil the lights, heart, and part of the liver; chop them
small, and add a little flour. Put it into a saucepan with some gravy,
or a little of the liquor it was boiled in, a spoonful of ketchup, a
small quantity of lemon juice, cream, pepper, and salt. Boil the head
very white and tender, lay it in the middle of the dish, and the mince
meat round it. Fry the other part of the liver with some small bits of
bacon, lay them on the mince meat, boil the brains the same as for a
calf's head, beat up an egg and mix with them, fry them in small cakes,
and lay them on the rim of the dish. Garnish with lemon and parsley.


HEART BURN. Persons subject to this disorder, ought to drink no stale
liquors, and to abstain from flatulent food. Take an infusion of bark,
or any other stomachic bitter; or a tea-spoonful of the powder of gum
arabic dissolved in a little water, or chew a few sweet almonds
blanched. An infusion of anise seeds, or ginger, have sometimes produced
the desired effect.


HEDGE HOG. Make a cake of any description, and bake it in a mould the
shape of a hedge hog. Turn it out of the mould, and let it stand a day
or two. Prick it with a fork, and let it remain all night in a dish full
of sweet wine. Slit some blanched almonds, and stick about it, and pour
boiled custard in the dish round it.


HERB PIE. Pick two handfuls of parsley from the stems, half the quantity
of spinach, two lettuces, some mustard and cresses, a few leaves of
borage, and white beet leaves. Wash and boil them a little, drain and
press out the water, cut them small; mix a batter of flour, two eggs
well beaten, a pint of cream, and half a pint of milk, and pour it on
the herbs. Cover with a good crust, and bake it.


HERB TEA. If betony be gathered and dried before it begins to flower, it
will be found to have the taste of tea, and all its good qualities,
without any of its bad ones: it is also considered as a remedy for the
headache. Hawthorn leaves dried, and one third of balm and sage, mixed
together, will make a wholesome and strengthening drink. An infusion of
ground ivy, mixed with a few flowers of lavender, and flavoured with a
drop of lemon juice, will make an agreeable substitute for common tea.
Various other vegetables might also be employed for this purpose; such
as sage, balm, peppermint, and similar spicy plants; the flowers of the
sweet woodroof, those of the burnet, or pimpernel rose; the leaves of
peach and almond trees, the young and tender leaves of bilberry, and
common raspberry; and the blossoms of the blackthorn, or sloe tree. Most
of these when carefully gathered and dried in the shade, especially if
they be managed like Indian tea-leaves, bear a great resemblance to the
foreign teas, and are at the same time of superior flavour and
salubrity.


HERBS FOR WINTER. Take any sort of sweet herbs, with three times the
quantity of parsley, and dry them in the air, without exposing them to
the sun. When quite dry, rub them through a hair sieve, put them in
canisters or bottles, and keep them in a dry place: they will be useful
for seasoning in the winter. Mint, sage, thyme, and such kind of herbs,
may be tied in small bunches, and dried in the air: then put each sort
separately into a bag, and hang it up in the kitchen. Parsley should be
picked from the stalks as soon as gathered, and dried in the shade to
preserve the colour. Cowslips and marigolds should be gathered dry,
picked clean, dried in a cloth, and kept in paper bags.


HESSIAN SOUP. Clean the root of a neat's tongue very nicely, and half an
ox's head, with salt and water, and soak them afterwards in water only.
Then stew them in five or six quarts of water, till tolerably tender.
Let the soup stand to be cold, take off the fat, which will do for
basting, or to make good paste for hot meat pies. Put to the soup a pint
of split peas, or a quart of whole ones, twelve carrots, six turnips,
six potatoes, six large onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, and two heads of
celery. Simmer them without the meat, till the vegetables are done
enough to pulp with the peas through a sieve; and the soup will then be
about the thickness of cream. Season it with pepper, salt, mace,
allspice, a clove or two, and a little cayenne, all in fine powder. If
the peas are bad, and the soup not thick enough, boil in it a slice of
roll, and pass it through the cullender; or add a little rice flour,
mixing it by degrees.--To make a ragout with the above, cut the nicest
part of the head, the kernels, and part of the fat from the root of the
tongue, into small thick pieces. Rub these with some of the above
seasoning, putting them into a quart of the liquor reserved for that
purpose before the vegetables were added; flour them well, and simmer
till they are nicely tender. Then add a little mushroom and walnut
ketchup, a little soy, a glass of port wine, and a tea-spoonful of made
mustard, and boil all up together. Serve with small eggs and forcemeat
balls. This furnishes an excellent soup and a ragout at a small expense.


HICCOUGH. A few small draughts of water in quick succession, or a
tea-spoonful of vinegar, will often afford immediate relief. Peppermint
water mixed with a few drops of vitriolic acid may be taken; and
sometimes sneezing, or the stench of an extinguished tallow candle, has
been found sufficient.


HIND QUARTER OF LAMB. Boil the leg in a floured cloth an hour and a
quarter; cut the loin into chops, fry them, lay them round the leg, with
a bit of parsley on each, and serve it up with spinach or brocoli.


HIND QUARTER OF PIG. To dress this joint lamb fashion, take off the
skin, roast it, and serve it up with mint sauce. A leg of lamb stuffed
like a leg of pork, and roasted, with drawn gravy, is very good. A loin
of mutton also, stuffed like a hare, and basted with milk. Put gravy in
the dish, served with currant jelly, or any other sauce.


HIVING OF BEES. When it is intended to introduce a swarm of bees into a
new hive, it must be thoroughly cleaned, and the inside rubbed with
virgin wax. A piece of nice honeycomb, made of very white wax, and about
nine inches long, should be hung on the cross bars near the top of the
hive, to form a kind of nest for the bees, and excite them to continue
their work. The new hive being thus prepared, is then to be placed under
an old one, before the bees begin to swarm, in such a manner as to be
quite close, and to leave the bees no passage except into the new hive.
As these insects generally work downwards, they will soon get into their
new habitation; and when it is occupied by one half of the swarm, some
holes must be made in the top of the old hive, and kept covered till the
proper time of making use of them. Preparation being thus made, take the
opportunity of a fine morning, about eight or nine o'clock, at which
time most of the bees are out, gathering their harvest. The comb is to
be cut through by means of a piece of iron wire, and the old hive
separated from the new one. An assistant must immediately place the
cover, which should be previously fitted, upon the top of the new one.
The old hive is then to be taken to the distance of twenty or thirty
yards, and placed firm upon a bench or table, but so as to leave a free
space both above and below. The holes at the top being opened, one of
the new boxes is to be placed on the top of the old hive, having the
cover loosely fastened on it; and is to be done in such a manner, by
closing the intervals between them with linen cloths, that the bees on
going out by the holes on the top of the old hive can only go into the
new one. But in order to drive the bees into the new hive, some live
coals must be placed under the old one, upon which some linen may be
thrown, to produce a volume of smoke; and the bees feeling the
annoyance, will ascend to the top of the old hive, and at length will go
through the holes into the new one. When they have nearly all entered,
it is to be removed gently from the old hive, and placed under the box
already mentioned, the top or cover having been taken off. If it should
appear the next morning that the two boxes, of which the new hive is now
composed, do not afford sufficient room for the bees, a third or fourth
box may be added, under the others, as their work goes on, changing them
from time to time so long as the season permits the bees to gather wax
and honey. When a new swarm is to be hived, the boxes prepared as above
and proportioned to the size of the swarm, are to be brought near the
place where the bees have settled. The upper box with the cover upon it,
must be taken from the others. The cross bars at the top should be
smeared with honey and water, the doors must be closed, the box turned
upside down, and held under the swarm, which is then to be shaken into
it as into a common hive. When the whole swarm is in the box, it is to
be carried to the other boxes, previously placed in their destined
situation, and carefully put upon them. The interstices are to be closed
with cement, and all the little doors closed, except the lowest, through
which the bees are to pass. The hive should be shaded from the sun for a
few days, that the bees may not be tempted to leave their new
habitation. It is more advantageous however to form artificial swarms,
than to collect those which abandon their native hives; and the hive
here recommended is more particularly adapted to that purpose. By this
mode of treatment, we not only avoid the inconveniences which attend the
procuring of swarms in the common way, but obtain the advantage of
having the hives always well stocked, which is of greater consequence
than merely to increase their number; for it has been observed, that if
a hive of four thousand bees give six pounds of honey, one of eight
thousand will give twenty-four pounds. On this principle it is proper to
unite two or more hives, when they happen to be thickly stocked. This
may be done by scattering a few handfuls of balm in those hives which
are to be united, which by giving them the same smell, they will be
unable to distinguish one another. After this preparation, the hives are
to be joined by placing them one upon the other, in the evening when
they are at rest, and taking away those boxes which are nearly empty.
All the little doors must be closed, except the lowest.----If bees are
kept in single straw hives in the usual way, the manner of hiving them
is somewhat different. They are first allowed to swarm, and having
settled, they are then taken to the hive. If they fix on the lower
branch of a tree, it may be cut off and laid on a cloth, and the hive
placed over it, so as to leave room for the bees to ascend into it. If
the queen can be found, and put into the hive, the rest will soon
follow. But if it be difficult to reach them, let them remain where they
have settled till the evening, when there will be less danger of
escaping. After this the hive is to be placed in the apiary, cemented
round the bottom, and covered from the wet at top. The usual method of
uniting swarms, is by spreading a cloth at night upon the ground close
to the hive, in which the hive with the new swarm is to be placed. By
giving a smart stroke on the top of the hive, all the bees will drop
into a cluster upon the cloth. Then take another hive from the beehouse,
and place it over the bees, when they will ascend into it, and mix with
those already there. Another way is to invert the hive in which the
united swarms are to live, and strike the bees of the other hive into it
as before. One of the queens is generally slain on this occasion,
together with a considerable number of the working bees. To prevent this
destruction, one of the queens should be sought for and taken, when the
bees are beaten out of the hive upon the cloth, before the union is
effected. Bees never swarm till the hive is too much crowded by the
young brood, which happens in May or June, according to the warmth of
the season. A good swarm should weigh five or six pounds; those that are
under four pounds weight, should be strengthened by a small additional
swarm. The size of the hive ought to be proportionate to the number of
the bees, and should be rather too small than too large, as they require
to be kept dry and warm in winter. In performing these several
operations, it will be necessary to defend the hands and face from the
sting of the bees. The best way of doing this is to cover the whole head
and neck with a coarse cloth or canvas, which may be brought down and
fastened round the waist. Through this cloth the motion of the bees may
be observed, without fearing their stings; and the hands may be
protected by a thick pair of gloves.


HODGE PODGE. Boil some slices of coarse beef in three quarts of water,
and one of small beer. Skim it well, put in onions, carrots, turnips,
celery, pepper and salt. When the meat is tender, take it out, strain
off the soup, put a little butter and flour into the saucepan, and stir
it well, to prevent burning. Take off the fat, put the soup into a
stewpan, and stew the beef in it till it is quite tender. Serve up the
soup with turnips and carrots, spinage or celery. A leg of beef cut in
pieces, and stewed five or six hours, will make good soup; and any kind
of roots or spices may be added or omitted at pleasure. Or stew some
peas, lettuce, and onions, in a very little water, with a bone of beef
or ham. While these are doing, season some mutton or lamb steaks, and
fry them of a nice brown. Three quarters of an hour before serving, put
the steaks into a stewpan, and the vegetables over them. Stew them, and
serve all together in a tureen. Another way of making a good hodge
podge, is to stew a knuckle of veal and a scrag of mutton, with some
vegetables, adding a bit of butter rolled in flour.


HOG'S CHEEKS. If to be dried as usual, cut out the snout, remove the
brains, and split the head, taking off the upper bone to make the chawl
a good shape. Rub it well with salt, and next day take away the brine.
On the following day cover the head with half an ounce of saltpetre, two
ounces of bay salt, a little common salt, and four ounces of coarse
sugar. Let the head be often turned, and after ten days smoke it for a
week like bacon.


HOG'S EARS FORCED. Parboil two pair of ears, or take some that have
been soused. Make a forcemeat of an anchovy, some sage and parsley, a
quarter of a pound of chopped suet, bread crumbs, and only a little
salt. Mix all these with the yolks of two eggs, raise the skin of the
upper side of the ears, and stuff them with the mixture. Fry the ears in
fresh butter, of a fine colour; then pour away the fat, and drain them.
Prepare half a pint of rich gravy, with a glass of fine sherry, three
tea-spoonfuls of made mustard, a little butter and flour, a small onion
whole, and a little pepper or cayenne. Put this with the ears into a
stewpan, and cover it close; stew it gently for half an hour, shaking
the pan often. When done enough, take out the onion, place the ears
carefully in a dish, and pour the sauce over them. If a larger dish is
wanted, the meat from two feet may be added to the above.


HOG'S HEAD. To make some excellent meat of a hog's head, split it, take
out the brains, cut off the ears, and sprinkle it with salt for a day.
Then drain it, salt it again with common salt and saltpetre for three
days, and afterwards lay the whole in a small quantity of water for two
days. Wash it, and boil it till all the bones will come out. Skin the
tongue, and take the skin carefully off the head, to put under and over.
Chop the head as quick as possible, season it with pepper and salt, and
a little mace or allspice berries. Put the skin into a small pan, with
the chopped head between, and press it down. When cold it will turn out,
and make a kind of brawn. If too fat, a few bits of lean pork may be
prepared in the same way, and added to it. Add salt and vinegar, and
boil these with some of the liquor for a pickle to keep it.


HOG'S LARD. This should be carefully melted in a jar placed in a kettle
of water, and boiled with a sprig of rosemary. After it has been
prepared, run it into bladders that have been extremely well cleaned.
The smaller they are, the better the lard will keep: if the air reaches
it, it becomes rank. Lard being a most useful article for frying fish,
it should be prepared with care. Mixed with butter, it makes fine crust.


HOLLOW BISCUITS. Mix a pound and a quarter of butter with three pounds
and a half of flour, adding a pint of warm water. Cut out the paste with
a wine glass, or a small tin, and set them in a brisk oven, after the
white bread is drawn.


HONES. For joining them together, or cementing them to their frames,
melt a little common glue without water, with half its weight of rosin,
and a small quantity of red ochre.


HONEY. The honey produced by young bees, and which flows spontaneously,
is purer than that expressed from the comb; and hence it is called
virgin honey. The best sort is of a thick consistence, and of a whitish
colour, inclining to yellow: it possesses an agreeable smell, and a
pleasant taste. When the combs are removed from the hive, they are taken
by the hand into a sieve, and left to drain into a vessel sufficiently
wide for the purpose. After it has stood a proper time to settle, the
pure honey is poured into earthen jars, tied down close to exclude the
air.


HONEY VINEGAR. When honey is extracted from the combs, by means of
pressure, take the whole mass, break and separate it, and into each tub
or vessel put one part of combs, and two of water. Set them in the sun,
or in a warm place, and cover them with cloths. Fermentation takes place
in a few days, and continues from eight to twelve days, according to the
temperature of the situation in which the operation is carried on.
During the fermentation, stir the matter from time to time, and press it
down with the hand, that it may be perfectly soaked. When the
fermentation is over, put the matter to drain on sieves or strainers. At
the bottom of the vessels will be found a yellow liquor, which must be
thrown away, because it would soon contract a disagreeable smell, which
it would communicate to the vinegar. Then wash the tubs, put into them
the water separated from the other matter, and it will immediately begin
to turn sour. The tubs must then be covered again with cloths, and kept
moderately warm. A pellicle or skin is formed on the surface, beneath
which the vinegar acquires strength. In a month's time it begins to be
sharp, but must be suffered to stand a little longer, and then put into
a cask, of which the bunghole is to be left open. It may then be used
like any other vinegar. All kinds of vinegar may be strengthened by
suffering it to be repeatedly frozen, and then separating the upper cake
of ice or water from it.


HOOPING COUGH. This disorder generally attacks children, to whom it
often proves fatal for want of proper management. Those who breathe an
impure air, live upon poor sustenance, drink much warm tea, and do not
take sufficient exercise, are most subject to this convulsive cough. In
the beginning of the disorder, the child should be removed to a change
of air, and the juice of onions or horseradish applied to the soles of
the feet. The diet light and nourishing, and taken in small quantities;
the drink must be lukewarm, consisting chiefly of toast and water, mixed
with a little white wine. If the cough be attended with feverish
symptoms, a gentle emetic must be taken, of camomile flowers, and
afterwards the following liniment applied to the pit of the stomach.
Dissolve one scruple of tartar emetic in two ounces of spring water, and
add half an ounce of the tincture of cantharides: rub a tea-spoonful of
it every hour on the lower region of the stomach with a warm piece of
flannel, and let the wetted part be kept warm with flannel. This will be
found to be the best remedy for the hooping cough.


HOPS. The quality of this article is generally determined by the price;
yet hops may be strong, and not good. They should be bright, of a
pleasant flavour, and have no foreign leaves or bits of branches among
them. The hop is the husk or seed pod of the hop vine, as the cone is
that of the fir tree; and the seeds themselves are deposited, like those
of the fir, round a little soft stalk, enveloped by the several folds of
this pod or cone. If in the gathering, leaves or tendrils of the vine
are mixed with the hops, they may help to increase the weight, but will
give a bad taste to the beer; and if they abound, they will spoil it.
Great attention therefore must be paid to see that they are free from
any foreign mixture. There are also numerous sorts of hops, varying in
size, in form, and quality. Those that are best for brewing are
generally known by the absence of a brown colour, which indicates
perished hops; a colour between green and yellow, a great quantity of
the yellow farina, seeds not too large or hard, a clamminess when rubbed
between the fingers, and a lively pleasant smell, are the general
indications of good hops. At almost any age they retain the power of
preserving beer, but not of imparting a pleasant flavour; and therefore
new hops are to be preferred. Supposing them to be of a good quality, a
pound of hops may be allowed to a bushel of malt, when the beer is
strong, or brewed in warm weather; but under other circumstances, half
the quantity will be sufficient.


HOP-TOP SOUP. Take a quantity of hop-tops when they are in the greatest
perfection, tie them in small bunches, soak them in water, and put them
to some thin peas-soup. Boil them up, add three spoonfuls of onion
juice, with salt and pepper. When done enough, serve them up in a
tureen, with sippets of toasted bread at the bottom.


HORSERADISH POWDER. In November or December, slice some horseradish the
thickness of a shilling, and lay it to dry very gradually in a Dutch
oven, for a strong heat would very soon evaporate its flavour. When
quite dry, pound it fine, and bottle it.


HORSERADISH VINEGAR. Pour a quart of the best vinegar on three ounces of
scraped horseradish, an ounce of minced shalot, and a dram of cayenne.
Let it stand a week, and it will give an excellent relish to cold beef,
or other articles. A little black pepper and mustard, celery or cress
seed, may be added to the above.


HOUSE DRAINS. The smell of house drains is oftentimes exceedingly
offensive, but may be completely prevented by pouring down them a
mixture of lime water, and the ley of wood ashes, or suds that have been
used in washing. An article known by the name of a sink trap may be had
at the ironmongers, which is a cheap and simple apparatus, for carrying
off the waste water and other offensive matter from sinks and drains.
But as the diffusion of any collection of filth tends to produce disease
and mortality, it should not be suffered to settle and stagnate near our
dwellings, and every possible care should be taken to render them sweet
and wholesome.


HOUSE TAX. As the present system of taxation involves so important a
part of the annual expenditure, and is in many instances attended with
so much vexation and trouble, it concerns every housekeeper to be
acquainted with the extent of his own liability, and of course to
regulate his conveniences accordingly. It appears then, that every
inhabited dwellinghouse, containing not more than six windows or lights,
is subject to the yearly sum of six shillings and six-pence, if under
the value of five pounds a year. But every dwellinghouse worth five
pounds and under twenty pounds rent by the year, pays the yearly sum of
one shilling and six-pence in the pound; every house worth twenty pounds
and under forty pounds a year, two shillings and three-pence in the
pound; and for every house worth forty pounds and upwards, the yearly
sum of two shillings and ten-pence in the pound. These rents however are
to be taken from the rates in which they are charged, and not from the
rents which are actually paid.


HOUSEHOLD BREAD. Four ounces of salt are dissolved in three quarts of
water, and mixed with a pint of yeast. This mixture is poured into a
cavity made in a peck of second flour, placed in a large pan or trough.
When properly kneaded and fermented, it is divided into pieces of a
certain weight, and baked. Sometimes, in farm houses, a portion of rice
flour, boiled potatoes, or rye meal, is mixed with the flour, previous
to kneading the dough. The rye and rice serve to bind the bread, but the
potatoes render it light and spongy.--Or, for a larger quantity, put a
bushel of flour into a trough, two thirds wheat and one of rye. Mix a
quart of yeast with nine quarts of warm water, and work it into the
flour till it becomes tough. Leave it to rise about an hour; and as soon
as it rises, add a pound of salt, and as much warm water as before.
Work it well, and cover it with flannel. Make the loaves a quarter of an
hour before the oven is ready; and if they weigh five pounds each, they
will require to be baked two hours and a half.


HUNG BEEF. Make a strong brine with bay salt, common salt, and
saltpetre, and put in ribs of beef for nine days. Then dry it, or smoke
it in a chimney. Or rub the meat with salt and saltpetre, and repeat it
for a fortnight, and dry it in wood smoke.


HUNGARY WATER. To one pint of highly rectified spirits of wine, put an
ounce of the oil of rosemary, and two drams of the essence of ambergris.
Shake the bottle well several times, and let the cork remain out
twenty-four hours. Shake it daily for a whole month, and then put the
water into small bottles for use.


HUNTER'S BEEF. To a round of beef that weighs twenty-five pounds, allow
three ounces of saltpetre, three ounces of the coarsest sugar, an ounce
of cloves, half an ounce of allspice, a nutmeg, and three handfuls of
common salt, all in the finest powder. The beef should hang two or three
days; then rub the above mixture well into it, and turn and rub it every
day for two or three weeks. The bone must be taken out first. When to be
dressed, dip it into cold water, to take off the loose spice; bind it up
tight with tape, and put it into a pan with a tea-cupful of water at the
bottom. Cover the top of the meat with shred suet, and the pan with a
brown crust and paper, and bake it five or six hours. When cold, take
off the paste and tape. The gravy is very fine, and a little of it is a
great improvement to any kind of hash or soup. Both the gravy and the
meat will keep some time. The meat should be cut with a very sharp
knife, and quite smooth, to prevent waste.


HUNTER'S PUDDING. Mix together a pound of suet, a pound of flour, a
pound of currants, and a pound of raisins stoned and cut. Add the rind
of half a lemon finely shred, six peppercorns in fine powder, four eggs,
a glass of brandy, a little salt, and as much milk as will make it of a
proper consistence. Boil it in a floured cloth, or a melon mould, eight
or nine hours. A spoonful of peach water may sometimes be added to
change the flavour. This pudding will keep six months after it is
boiled, if tied up in the same cloth when cold, and hung up, folded in
writing paper to preserve it from the dust. When to be eaten, it must be
boiled a full hour, and served with sweet sauce.


HYSTERICS. The sudden effusion of water on the face and hands, while the
fit is on, and especially immersing the feet in cold water, will afford
relief. Fetid smells are also proper; such as the burning of feathers,
leather, or the smoke of sulphur, and the application of strong volatile
alkali, or other pungent matters to the nostrils. To effect a radical
cure, the cold bath, mineral waters, and other tonics are necessary. In
Germany however, they cure hysteric affections by eating carraway seeds
finely powdered, with a little ginger and salt, spread on bread and
butter every morning.




I.


ICE FOR ICEING. To prepare artificial ice for articles of confectionary,
procure a few pounds of real ice, reduce it nearly to powder, and throw
a large handful or more of salt amongst it. This should be done in as
cool a place as possible. The ice and salt being put into a pail, pour
some cream into an ice pot, and cover it down. Then immerse it in the
ice, and draw that round the pot, so as to enclose every part of it. In
a few minutes stir it well with a spoon or spatula, removing to the
centre those parts which have iced round the edges. If the ice cream or
water be in a a form, shut the bottom close, and move the whole in the
ice, as a spoon cannot be used for that purpose without danger of waste.
There should be holes in the pail, to let off the ice as it thaws. When
any fluid tends towards cold, moving it quickly will encrease that
tendency; and likewise, when any fluid is tending to heat, stirring it
will facilitate its boiling.


ICE CREAMS. Mix the juice of the fruits with as much sugar as will be
wanted, before the cream is added, and let the cream be of a middling
richness.


ICE WATERS. Rub some fine sugar on lemon or orange, to give the colour
and flavour; then squeeze the juice of either on its respective peel.
Add water and sugar to make a fine sherbet, and strain it before it be
put into the ice-pot. If orange, the greater proportion should be of the
china juice, and only a little of seville, and a small bit of the peel
grated by the sugar. The juice of currants or raspberries, or any other
sort of fruit, being squeezed out, sweetened, and mixed with water, may
be prepared for iceing in the same way.


ICEING FOR CAKES. Beat and sift half a pound of fine sugar, put it into
a mortar with four spoonfuls of rose water, and the whites of two eggs
beaten and strained. Whisk it well, and when the cake is almost cold,
dip a feather in the iceing, and cover the cake well. Set it in the oven
to harden, but suffer it not to remain to be discoloured, and then keep
it in a dry place.--For a very large cake, beat up the whites of twenty
fresh eggs, and reduce to powder a pound of double refined sugar, sifted
through a lawn sieve. Mix these well in a deep earthen pan, add orange
flower water, barely sufficient to give it a flavour, and a piece of
fresh lemon peel. Whisk it for three hours till the mixture is thick and
white, then with a thin broad piece of board spread it all over the top
and sides, and set it in a cool oven, and an hour will harden it.


ICEING FOR TARTS. Beat well together the yolk of an egg and some melted
butter, smear the tarts with a feather, and sift sugar over them as they
are put into the oven. Or beat up the white of an egg, wash the paste
with it, and sift over some white sugar.


ILIAC PASSION. This dangerous malady, in which the motion of the bowels
is totally impeded or inverted, arises from spasms, violent exertions of
the body, eating of unripe fruit, drinking of sour liquors, worms,
obstinate costiveness, and various other causes, which produce the most
excruciating pain in the region of the abdomen. Large blisters applied
to the most painful part, emollient clysters, fomentations, and the warm
bath, are amongst the most likely means; but in many instances, this
disorder is not to be controuled by medicine. No remedy however can be
applied with greater safety or advantage, than frequent doses of castor
oil: and if this fail, quicksilver in a natural state is the only
medicine on which any reliance can be placed.


IMPERIAL. Put into a stone jar two ounces of cream of tartar, and the
juice and paring of two lemons. Pour on them seven quarts of boiling
water, stir it well, and cover it close. When cold, sweeten it with loaf
sugar; strain, bottle, and cork it tight. This makes a very pleasant and
wholesome liquor; but if drunk too freely, it becomes injurious. In
bottling it off, add half a pint of rum to the whole quantity.


IMPERIAL CREAM. Boil a quart of cream with the thin rind of a lemon, and
stir it till nearly cold. Have ready in a dish or bowl, in which it is
to be served, the juice of three lemons strained, mixed with as much
sugar as will sweeten the cream. Pour this into the dish from a large
tea-pot, holding it high, and moving it about to mix with the juice. It
should be made at least six hours before it is used; and if the day
before, it would be still better.


IMPERIAL WATER. Put into an earthen pan, four ounces of sugar, and the
rind of three lemons. Boil an ounce of cream of tartar in three quarts
of water, and pour it on the sugar and lemon. Let it stand all night,
clear it through a bag, and bottle it.


INCENSE. Compound in a marble mortar, a large quantity of lignum
rhodium, and anise, with a little powder of dried orange peel, and gum
benzoin. Add some gum dragon dissolved in rose water, and a little
civet. Beat the whole together, form the mixture into small cakes, and
place them on paper to dry. One of these cakes being burnt, will diffuse
an agreeable odour throughout the largest apartment.


INDELIBLE INK. Gum arabic dissolved in water, and well mixed with fine
ivory black, will make writing indelible. If the writing be afterwards
varnished over with the white of an egg clarified, it will preserve it
to any length of time.


INDIAN PICKLE. Lay a pound of white ginger in water one night; then
scrape, slice, and lay it in salt in a pan, till the other ingredients
are prepared. Peel and slice a pound of garlic, lay it in salt three
days, and afterwards dry it in the sun. Salt and dry some long pepper in
the same way: then prepare various sorts of vegetables in the following
manner. Quarter some small white cabbages, salt them three days, then
squeeze and lay them in the sun to dry. Cut some cauliflowers into
branches, take off the green part of radishes, cut celery into lengths
of about three inches, put in young French beans whole, and the shoots
of elder, which will look like bamboo. Choose apples and cucumbers of a
sort the least seedy, quarter them, or cut them in slices. All must be
salted, drained, and dried in the sun, except the latter, over which
some boiling vinegar must be poured. In twelve hours drain them, but use
no salt. Put the spice into a large stone jar, adding the garlic, a
quarter of a pound of mustard seed, an ounce of turmeric, and vinegar
sufficient for the quantity of pickle. When the vegetables are dried and
ready, the following directions must be observed. Put some of them into
a half-gallon stone jar, and pour over them a quart of boiling vinegar.
Next day take out those vegetables; and when drained, put them into a
large stock jar. Boil the vinegar, pour it over some more of the
vegetables, let them lie all night, and complete the operation as
before. Thus proceed till each set is cleansed from the dust they may
have contracted. Then to every gallon of vinegar, put two ounces of
flour of mustard, gradually mixing in a little of it boiling hot, and
stop the jar tight. The whole of the vinegar should be previously
scalded, and set to cool before it is put to the spice. This pickle will
not be ready for a year, but a small quantity may be got ready for
eating in a fortnight, by only giving the cauliflower one scald in
water, after salting and drying as above, but without the preparative
vinegar: then pour the vinegar, which has the spice and garlic, boiling
hot over it. If at any time it be found that the vegetables have not
swelled properly, boiling the pickle, and pouring it hot over them, will
make them plump.--Another way. Cut the heads of some good cauliflowers
into pieces, and add some slices of the inside of the stalk. Put to them
a white cabbage cut in pieces, with inside slices of carrot, turnips,
and onions. Boil a strong brine of salt and water, simmer the vegetables
in it one minute, drain them, and dry them on tins over an oven till
they are shriveled up; then put them into a jar, and prepare the
following pickle. To two quarts of good vinegar, put an ounce of the
flour of mustard, one of ginger, one of long pepper, four of cloves, a
few shalots, and a little horseradish. Boil the vinegar, put the
vegetables into a jar, and pour it hot over them. When cold, tie them
down, and add more vinegar afterwards, if necessary. In the course of a
week or two, the pickle will be fit for use.


INDIGESTION. Persons of weak delicate habits, particularly the sedentary
and studious, are frequently subject to indigestion. The liberal use of
cold water alone, in drinking, washing, and bathing, is often sufficient
to effect a cure. Drinking of sea water, gentle purgatives, with bark
and bitters, light and nourishing food, early rising, and gentle
exercise in the open air, are also of great importance.


INFECTION. During the prevalence of any infectious disease, every thing
requires to be kept perfectly clean, and the sick room to be freely
ventilated. The door or window should generally be open, the bed
curtains only drawn to shade the light, clothes frequently changed and
washed in cold water, all discharges from the patient instantly removed,
and the floor near the bed rubbed every day with a wet cloth. Take also
a hot brick, lay it in an earthen pan, and pour pickle vinegar upon it.
This will refresh the patient, as well as purify the surrounding
atmosphere. Those who are obliged to attend the patients, should not
approach them fasting, nor inhale their breath; and while in their
apartment, should avoid eating and drinking, and swallowing their own
saliva. It will also be of considerable service to smell vinegar and
camphor, to fumigate the room with tobacco, and to chew myrrh and
cinnamon, which promote a plentiful discharge from the mouth. As soon as
a person has returned from visiting an infected patient, he ought
immediately to wash his mouth and hands with vinegar, to change his
clothes, and expose them to the fresh air; and to drink an infusion of
sage, or other aromatic herbs. After the disorder has subsided, the
walls of the room should be washed with hot lime, which will render it
perfectly sweet.


INFLAMMATIONS. In external inflammations, attended with heat and
swelling of the part affected, cooling applications and a little opening
medicine are the best adapted; and in some cases, cataplasms of warm
emollient herbs may be used with advantage.


INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. In this case leeches should be applied to the
temples; and after the bleeding has ceased, a small blister may be
tried, with a little opening medicine. Much benefit has been derived
from shaving the head, cutting the hair, and bathing the feet in warm
water. If the inflammation has arisen from particles of iron or steel
falling into the eyes, the offending matter is best extracted by the
application of the loadstone. If eyes are blood-shotten, the necessary
rules are, an exclusion from light, cold fomentations, and abstinence
from animal food and stimulating liquors. For a bruise in the eye,
occasioned by any accident, the best remedy is a rotten apple, and some
conserve of roses. Fold them in a piece of thin cambric, apply it to the
part affected, and it will take out the bruise.


INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. This is a complaint that requires great
care. If the belly be swelled, and painful to the touch, apply flannels
to it, dipped in hot water and wrung out, or use a warm bath. A blister
should be employed as soon as possible, and mild emollient injections of
gruel or barley water, till stools be obtained. The patient should be
placed between blankets, and supplied with light gruel; and when the
violence of the disorder is somewhat abated, the pain may be removed by
opiate clysters. A common bread and milk poultice, applied as warm as
possible to the part affected, has also been attended with great
success: but as this disorder is very dangerous, it would be proper to
call in medical assistance without delay.


INK. To make an excellent writing ink, take a pound of the best Aleppo
galls, half a pound of copperas, a quarter of a pound of gum arabic, and
a quarter of a pound of white sugar candy. Bruise the galls and beat the
other ingredients fine, and infuse them together in three quarts of
rain water. Let the mixture stand by the fire three or four days, and
then boil it gently over a slow fire; or if infused in cold water, and
afterwards well strained, it will nearly answer the same purpose. Care
must be taken to obtain good materials, and to mix them in due
proportion. To preserve the ink from mouldiness, it should be put into a
large glass bottle with a ground stopper, and frequently shaked; but if
a crust be formed, it should be carefully taken out, and not mixed with
the ink. A little more gum and sugar candy may be added, to render the
ink more black and glossy; but too much will make it sticky, and unfit
for use.--Another method is to bruise a pound of good galls, black and
heavy, and put them into a stone jar. Then pour on a gallon of rain
water, nearly of a boiling heat, and let it stand by the fire about a
fortnight. Afterwards add four ounces of green copperas or sulphate of
iron, four ounces of logwood shavings, one ounce of alum, one of sugar
candy, and four of gum arabic. Let the whole remain about two days
longer in a moderate heat, stir the ingredients together once or twice a
day, and keep the jar slightly covered. The ink is then to be strained
through a flannel, put into a bottle with a little brandy at the top,
well corked, and set by for use in a temperate place. A few cloves
bruised with gum arabic, and put into the bottle, will prevent the ink
from getting mouldy; and if some of superior quality be required, white
wine or vinegar must be used instead of water.


INK POWDER. For the convenience of travellers by sea or by land, ink
powders have been invented, which consist of nothing else than the
substances employed in the composition of common ink, pounded and
pulverized, so that it be instantaneously converted into ink by mixing
it up with a little water. Walkden's ink powder is by far the best.


INK STAINS. The stains of ink, on cloth, paper, or wood, may be removed
by almost all acids; but those acids are to be preferred, which are
least likely to injure the texture of the stained substance. The
muriatic acid, diluted with five or six times its weight of water, may
be applied to the spot; and after a minute or two, may be washed off,
repeating the application as often as it is found necessary. But the
vegetable acids are attended with less risk, and are equally effectual.
A solution of lemon or tartareous acid, in water, may be applied to the
most delicate fabrics, without any danger of injuring them: and the same
solution will discharge writing, but not printing ink. Hence they may be
employed in cleaning books which have been defaced by writing on the
margin, without impairing the text. Lemon juice and the juice of sorrel
will also remove ink stains, but not so easily as the concrete acid of
lemons, or citric acid. On some occasions it will be found sufficient,
only to dip the spotted part in the fine melted tallow of a mould
candle, and afterwards wash it in the usual way.


INSECTS. The most effectual remedy against the whole tribe of insects,
which prey upon plants and vegetables, is the frequent use of sulphur,
which should be dusted upon the leaves through a muslin rag or dredging
box, or fumed on a chaffing dish of burning charcoal. This application
will also improve the healthiness of plants, as well as destroy their
numerous enemies. Another way is to boil together an equal quantity of
rue, wormwood, and tobacco, in common water, so as to make the liquor
strong, and then to sprinkle it on the leaves every morning and evening.
By pouring boiling water on some tobacco and the tender shoots of
elder, a strong decoction may also be made for this purpose, and shed
upon fruit trees with a brush: the quantity, about an ounce of tobacco
and two handfuls of elder to a gallon of water. Elder water sprinkled on
honeysuckles and roses, will prevent insects from lodging on them. If a
quantity of wool happen to be infected with insects, it may be cleansed
in the following manner. Dissolve a pound of alum, and as much cream of
tartar, in a quart of boiling water, and add two full gallons of cold
water to it. The wool is then to be soaked in it for several days, and
afterwards to be washed and dried.


INSIDE OF A SIRLOIN. Cut out all the meat and a little fat, of the
inside of a cold sirloin of beef, and divide it into pieces of a
finger's size and length. Dredge the meat with flour, and fry it in
butter, of a nice brown. Drain the butter from the meat, and toss it up
in a rich gravy, seasoned with pepper, salt, anchovy, and shalot. It
must not be suffered to boil; and before serving, add two spoonfuls of
vinegar. Garnish with crimped parsley.


INVISIBLE INK. Boil half an ounce of gold litharge well pounded, with a
little vinegar in a brass vessel for half an hour. Filter the liquid
through paper, and preserve it in a bottle closely corked. This ink is
to be used with a clean pen, and the writing when dry will become
invisible. But if at any time it be washed over with the following
mixture, it will instantly become black and legible. Put some quicklime
and red orpiment in water, place some warm ashes under it for a whole
day, filter the liquor, and cork it down. Whenever applied in the
slightest degree, it will render the writing visible.


IRISH BEEF. To twenty pounds of beef, put one ounce of allspice, a
quarter of an ounce of mace, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and half an ounce
each of pepper and saltpetre. Mix all together, and add some common
salt. Put the meat into a salting pan, turn it every day, and rub it
with the seasoning. After a month take out the bone, and boil the meat
in the liquor it was pickled in, with a proper quantity of water. It may
be stuffed with herbs, and eaten cold.


IRISH PANCAKES. Beat eight yolks and four whites of eggs, strain them
into a pint of cream, sweeten with sugar, and add a grated nutmeg. Stir
three ounces of butter over the fire, and as it melts pour it to the
cream, which should be warm when the eggs are put to it. Mix it smooth
with nearly half a pint of flour, and fry the pancakes very thin; the
first with a bit of butter, but not the others. Serve up several at a
time, one upon another.


IRISH STEW. Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck or
loin; four pounds of potatoes, peeled and divided; and half a pound of
onions, peeled and sliced. Put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a
stewpan, then a couple of chops, and some of the onions, and so on till
the pan is quite full. Add a small spoonful of white pepper, about one
and a half of salt, and three quarters of a pint of broth or gravy.
Cover all close down, so as to prevent the escape of steam, and let them
stew two hours on a very slow fire. It must not be suffered to burn, nor
be done too fast: a small slice of ham will be an agreeable addition.


IRON MOULDS. Wet the injured part, rub on a little of the essential salt
of lemons, and lay it on a hot waterplate. If the linen becomes dry, wet
it and renew the process, observing that the plate is kept boiling hot.
Much of the powder sold under the name of salt of lemons is a spurious
preparation, and therefore it is necessary to dip the linen in a good
deal of water, and to wash it as soon as the stain is removed, in order
to prevent the part from being worn into holes by the acid.


IRON POTS. To cure cracks or fissures in iron pots or pans, mix some
finely sifted lime with whites of eggs well beaten, till reduced to a
paste. Add some iron file dust, and apply the composition to the injured
part, and it will soon become hard and fit for use.


IRON AND STEEL. Various kinds of polished articles, in iron and steel,
are in danger of being rusted and spoiled, by an exposure to air and
moisture. A mixture of nearly equal quantities of fat, oil varnish, and
the rectified spirits of turpentine, applied with a sponge, will give a
varnish to those articles, which prevents their contracting any spots of
rust, and preserves their brilliancy, even though exposed to air and
water. Common articles of steel or iron may be preserved from injury by
a composition of one pound of fresh lard, an ounce of camphor, two drams
of black lead powder, and two drams of dragon's blood in fine powder,
melted over a slow fire, and rubbed on with a brush or sponge, after it
has been left to cool.


ISINGLASS JELLY. Boil an ounce of isinglass in a quart of water, with a
few cloves, lemon peel, or wine, till it is reduced to half the
quantity. Then strain it, and add a little sugar and lemon juice.


ISSUE OINTMENT. For dressing blisters, in order to keep them open, make
an ointment of half an ounce of Spanish flies finely powdered, mixed
with six ounces of yellow basilicon ointment.


ITALIAN BEEF STEAKS. Cut a fine large steak from a rump that has been
well kept, or from any tender part. Beat it, and season with pepper,
salt, and onion. Lay it in an iron stewpan that has a cover to fit it
quite close, and set it by the side of the fire without water. It must
have a strong heat, but care must be taken that it does not burn: in two
or three hours it will be quite tender, and then serve with its own
gravy.


ITCH. Rub the parts affected with the ointment of sulphur, and keep the
body gently open by taking every day a small dose of sulphur and
treacle. When the cure is effected, let the clothes be carefully
fumigated with sulphur, or the contagion will again be communicated. The
dry itch requires a vegetable diet, and the liberal use of
anti-scorbutics: the parts affected may be rubbed with a strong
decoction of tobacco.


IVORY. Bones and ivory may be turned to almost any use, by being
softened in the following manner. Boil some sage in strong vinegar,
strain the liquor through a piece of cloth, and put in the articles. In
proportion to the time they are steeped in the liquor, ivory or bones
will be capable of receiving any new impression.




J.


JAPAN BLACKING. Take three ounces of ivory black, two ounces of coarse
sugar, one ounce of sulphuric acid, one ounce of muriatic acid, a lemon,
a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and a pint of vinegar. First mix the
ivory black and sweet oil together, then the lemon and sugar, with a
little vinegar to qualify the blacking; then add both the acids, and mix
them all well together. The sugar, oil, and vinegar prevent the acids
from injuring the leather, and add to the lustre of the blacking.--A
cheap method is to take two ounces of ivory black, an ounce and a half
of brown sugar, and half a table-spoonful of sweet oil. Mix them well,
and then gradually add half a pint of small beer.--Or take a quarter of
a pound of ivory black, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a
table-spoonful of flour, a piece of tallow about the size of a walnut,
and a small piece of gum arabic. Make a paste of the flour, and whilst
hot, put in the tallow, then the sugar, and afterwards mix the whole
well together in a quart of water.


JARGANEL PEARS. These may be preserved in a fine state, in the following
manner. Pare them very thin, simmer in a thin syrup, and let them lie a
day or two. Make the syrup richer, and simmer them again. Repeat this
till they are clear; then drain, and dry them in the sun or a cool oven
a very little time. They may also be kept in syrup, and dried as wanted,
which makes them more moist and rich.


JAUNDICE. The diet of persons affected with the jaundice ought to be
light and cooling, consisting chiefly of ripe fruits, and mild
vegetables. Many have been effectually cured, by living for several days
on raw eggs. Buttermilk whey sweetened with honey, or an infusion of
marshmallow roots, ought to constitute the whole of the patient's drink.
Honey, anti-scorbutics, bitters, and blisters applied to the region of
the liver, have all been found serviceable in the cure of the jaundice.


JELLY FOR COLD FISH. Clean a maid, and put it into three quarts of
water, with a calf's foot, or cow heel. Add a stick of horseradish, an
onion, three blades of mace, some white pepper, a piece of lemon peel,
and a good slice of lean gammon. Stew it to a jelly, and strain it off.
When cold, remove every particle of fat, take it up from the sediment,
and boil it with a glass of sherry, the whites of four or five eggs, and
a piece of lemon. Boil without stirring; after a few minutes set it by
to stand half an hour, and strain it through a bag or sieve, with a
cloth in it. Cover the fish with it when cold.


JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. These must be taken up the moment they are boiled
enough, or they will be too soft. They may be served plain, or with
fricassee sauce.


JUGGED HARE. After cleaning and skinning an old hare, cut it up, and
season it with pepper, salt, allspice, pounded mace, and a little
nutmeg. Put it into a jar with an onion, a clove or two, a bunch of
sweet herbs, a piece of coarse beef, and the carcase bones over all. Tie
the jar down with a bladder and strong paper, and put it into a saucepan
of water up to the neck, but no higher. Keep the water boiling five
hours. When it is to be served, boil up the gravy with flour and butter;
and if the meat get cold, warm it up in the gravy, but do not boil it.


JUGGED VEAL. Cut some slices of veal, and put them into an earthen jug,
with a blade of mace, a little pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Add a sprig of
sweet herbs, and a bit of lemon peel. Cover the jug close, that the
steam may not escape; set it in a pot of boiling water, and about three
hours will do it. Half an hour before it is done, put in a piece of
butter rolled in flour, and a little lemon juice, or lemon pickle. Turn
it out of the jug into a dish, take out the herbs and lemon peel, and
send it to table garnished with lemon.


JUMBLES. Powder and sift half a pound of fine lump sugar, and mix it
with half a pound of dried flour. Beat up two eggs in a table-spoonful
of orange or rose water, shred the peel of half a lemon very fine, mix
the whole together, and make it into a paste. Cut the paste into fancy
shapes, bake them slightly on tins, and take them out of the oven as
soon as the edges begin to brown.




K.


KETCHUP. The liquor obtained from mushrooms, approaches the nearest to
meat gravy, in flavour and quality, of any other vegetable juice, and is
the best substitute for it, in any of those savoury dishes intended to
please the palate. But in order to have it wholesome and good, it must
be made at home, the mushrooms employed in preparing ketchup for sale
being generally in a state of putrefaction; and in a few days after the
mushrooms are gathered, they become the habitation of myriads of
insects. In order to procure and preserve the flavour of the vegetable
for any considerable time, the mushrooms should be sought from the
beginning of September, and care taken to select only the right sort,
and such as are fresh gathered. Full grown flaps are the best for
ketchup. Place a layer of these at the bottom of a deep earthen pan, and
sprinkle them with salt; then another layer of mushrooms, and some more
salt on them, and so on alternately. Let them remain two or three hours,
by which time the salt will have penetrated the mushrooms, and rendered
them easy to break. Then pound them in a mortar, or mash them with the
hand, and let them remain two days longer, stirring them up, and mashing
them well each day. Then pour them into a stone jar, and to each quart
add an ounce of whole black pepper. Stop the jar very close, set it in a
stewpan of boiling water, and keep it boiling at least for two hours.
Take out the jar, pour the juice clear from the settlings through a hair
sieve into a clean stewpan, and let it boil very gently for half an
hour. If intended to be exquisitely fine, it may be boiled till reduced
to half the quantity. It will keep much better in this concentrated
state, and only half the quantity be required. Skim it well in boiling,
and pour it into a clean dry jar; cover it close, let it stand in a cool
place till the next day, and then pour it off as gently as possible, so
as not to disturb the settlings. If a table-spoonful of brandy be added
to each pint of ketchup, after standing a while, a fresh sediment will
be deposited, from which the liquor is quietly to be poured off, and
bottled into half pints, as it is best preserved in small quantities,
which are soon used. It must be closely corked and sealed down, or
dipped in bottle cement, that the air may be entirely excluded. If kept
in a cool dry place, it may be preserved for a long time; but if it be
badly corked, and kept in a damp place, it will soon spoil. Examine it
from time to time, by placing a strong light behind the neck of the
bottle; and if any pellicle appears about it, it must be boiled up again
with a few peppercorns. No more spice is required than what is necessary
to feed the ketchup, and keep it from fermenting. Brandy is the best
preservative to all preparations of this kind.


KEEPING PROVISIONS. When articles of food are procured, the next thing
to be considered is, how they may be best preserved, in order to their
being dressed. More waste is oftentimes occasioned by the want of
judgment or of necessary care in this particular, than by any other
means; and what was procured with expense and difficulty is rendered
unwholesome, or given to the dogs. Very few houses have a proper place
to keep provisions in; the best substitute is a hanging-safe, suspended
in an airy situation. A well-ventilated larder, dry and shady, would be
better for meat and poultry, which require to be kept a proper time to
be ripe and tender. The most consummate skill in culinary matters, will
not compensate the want of attention to this particular. Though animal
food should be hung up in the open air, till its fibres have lost some
degree of their toughness; yet if kept till it loses its natural
sweetness, it is as detrimental to health as it is disagreeable to the
taste and smell. As soon therefore as you can detect the slightest trace
of putrescence, it has reached its highest degree of tenderness, and
should be dressed immediately. Much of course will depend on the state
of the atmosphere: if it be warm and humid, care must be taken to dry
the meat with a cloth, night and morning, to keep it from damp and
mustiness. During the sultry months of summer, it is difficult to
procure meat that is not either tough or tainted. It should therefore be
well examined when it comes in; and if flies have touched it, the part
must be cut off, and then well washed. Meat that is to be salted should
lie an hour in cold water, rubbing well any part likely to have been
fly-blown. When taken out of the water, wipe it quite dry, then rub it
thoroughly with salt, and throw a handful over it besides. Turn it every
day, and rub in the pickle, which will make it ready for the table in
three or four days. If to be very much corned, wrap it in a well-floured
cloth, after rubbing it with salt. This last method will corn fresh
beef fit for the table the day it comes in, but it must be put into the
pot when the water boils. If the weather permit, meat eats much better
for hanging two or three days before it is salted. In very cold weather,
meat and vegetables touched by the frost should be brought into the
kitchen early in the morning, and soaked in cold water. Putting them
into hot water, or near the fire, till thawed, makes it impossible for
any heat to dress them properly afterwards. In loins of meat, the long
pipe that runs by the bone should be taken out, as it is apt to taint;
as also the kernels of beef. Rumps and edgebones of beef when bruised,
should not be purchased. To preserve venison, wash it well with milk and
water, then dry it with clean cloths till not the least damp remains,
and dust it all over with pounded ginger, which will protect it against
the fly. By thus managing and watching, it will hang a fortnight. When
to be used, wash it with a little lukewarm water, and dry it. Pepper is
likewise good to keep it.


KIDNEY PUDDING. Split and soak the kidney, and season it. Make a paste
of suet, flour, and milk; roll it, and line a bason with some of it. Put
in the kidney, cover the paste over, and pinch it round the edge. Tie up
the bason in a cloth, and boil it a considerable time. A steak pudding
is made in the same way.


KITCHEN ECONOMY. Many articles thrown away, or suffered to be wasted in
the kitchen, might by proper management be turned to a good account. The
shank bones of mutton, so little esteemed in general, would be found to
give richness to soups or gravies, if well soaked and brushed, before
they are added to the boiling. They are also particularly nourishing for
sick persons. Roast beef-bones, or shank bones of ham, make fine
peas-soup; and should be boiled with the peas the day before the soup
is to be eaten, that the fat may be taken off. The liquor in which meat
has been boiled makes an excellent soup for the poor, by adding to it
vegetables, oatmeal, or peas. When whites of eggs are used for jelly, or
other purposes, a pudding or a custard should be made to employ the
yolks. If not immediately wanted, they should be beat up with a little
water, and put in a cool place, or they will soon harden, and become
useless. It is a great mistake to imagine that the whites of eggs make
cakes and puddings heavy: on the contrary, if beaten long and
separately, they contribute greatly to give lightness. They are also an
advantage to paste, and make a pretty dish beaten with fruit, to set in
cream. All things likely to be wanted should be in readiness; sugars of
different sorts, currants washed, picked, and perfectly dry; spices
pounded, and kept in very small bottles closely corked, but not more
than are likely to be used in the course of a month. Much waste may be
prevented by keeping every article in the place best suited to it.
Vegetables will keep best on a stone floor, if the air be excluded. Meat
in a cold dry place. Salt, sugar, and sweetmeats require to be kept dry;
candles cold, but not damp. Dried meats and hams the same. Rice, and all
sorts of seeds for puddings and saloops, should be close covered to
preserve from insects; but that will not prevent it, if long kept.


KITCHEN GARDEN. Here a little attention will be requisite every month in
the year, as no garden can be long neglected, without producing weeds
which exhaust the soil, as well as give a very slovenly
appearance.--JANUARY. Throw up a heap of new dung to heat, that it may
be ready to make hotbeds for early cucumbers, and raising of annuals for
the flower garden. Dig up the ground that is to be sown with the spring
crops, that it may lie and mellow. Nurse the cauliflower plants kept
under glasses, carefully shut out the frost, but in the middle of milder
days let in a little air. Pick up the dead leaves, and gather up the
mould about the stalks. Make a slight hotbed in the open ground for
young sallads, and place hoops over it, that it may be covered in very
cold weather. Sow a few beans and peas, and seek and destroy snails and
other vermin.--FEBRUARY. Dig and level beds for sowing radishes, onions,
carrots, parsnips, and Dutch lettuce. Leeks and spinage should also be
sown in this month, likewise beets, celery, sorrel, and marigolds, with
any other of the hardy kinds. The best way with beans and peas, is to
sow a new crop every fortnight, that if one succeeds and another fails,
as will often be the case, there still may be a constant supply of these
useful articles for the table. Plant kidney beans upon a hotbed for an
early crop; the dwarf, the white and Battersea beans, are the best
sorts. They must have air in the middle of mild days when they are up,
and once in two days they should be gently watered. Transplant cabbages,
plant out Silesia and Cos lettuce from the beds where they grew in
winter, and plant potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes.--MARCH. Sow more
carrots, and also some large peas, rouncevals and gray. In better ground
sow cabbages, savoys, and parsnips for a second crop; and towards the
end of the month, put in a larger quantity of peas and beans. Sow
parsley, and plant mint. Sow Cos and imperial lettuce, and transplant
the finer kinds. In the beginning of the month, sow Dutch parsley for
the roots. The last week take advantage of the time, or the dry days, to
make beds for asparagus. Clear up the artichoke roots, slip off the
weakest, and plant them out for a new crop, leaving four on each good
root to bear, and on such as are weaker two. Dig up a warm border, and
sow some French beans; let them have a dry soil, and give them no water
till they appear above ground.--APRIL. On a dry warm border, plant a
large crop of French beans. Plant cuttings of sage, and other aromatics.
Sow marrowfat peas, and plant some beans for a late crop. Sow thyme,
sweet marjoram, and savoury. Sow young sallads once in ten days, and
some Cos and Silesia lettuces. The seeds of all kinds being now in the
ground, look to the growing crops, clear away the weeds every where
among them, dig up the earth between the rows of beans, peas, and all
other kinds that are distantly planted. This gives them a strong growth,
and brings them much sooner to perfection than can be done in any other
way. Draw up the mould to the stalks of the cabbage and cauliflower
plants, and in cold nights cover the glasses over the early cucumbers
and melons.--MAY. Once in two days water the peas, beans, and other
large growing plants. Destroy the weeds in all parts of the ground, dig
up the earth between the rows, and about the stems of all large kinds.
Sow small sallads once in two days, as in the former month: at the same
time choose a warm border, and sow some purslain. Sow also some endive,
plant peas and beans for a large crop, and French beans to succeed the
others. The principal object with these kinds of vegetables, is to have
them fresh and young throughout the season. Choose a moist day, and an
hour before sunset plant out some savoys, cabbages, and red cabbages.
Draw the earth carefully up to their stems, and give them a few gentle
waterings.--JUNE. Transplant the cauliflowers sown in May, give them a
rich bed, and frequent waterings. Plant out thyme, and other savoury
herbs sown before, and in the same manner shade and water them. Take
advantage of cloudy weather to sow turnips; and if there be no showers,
water the ground once in two days. Sow brocoli upon a rich warm border,
and plant out celery, for blanching. This must be planted in trenches a
foot and a half deep, and the plants must be set half a foot asunder in
the rows. Endive should also be planted out for blanching, but the
plants should be set fifteen inches asunder, and at the same time some
endive seed should be sown for a second crop. Pick up snails, and in the
damp evenings kill the naked slugs.--JULY. Sow a crop of French beans to
come in late, when they will be very acceptable. Clear all the ground
from weeds, dig between the rows of beans and peas, hoe the ground about
the artichokes, and every thing of the cabbage kind. Water the crops in
dry weather, and the cucumbers more freely. Watch the melons as they
ripen, but give them very little water. Clear away the stalks of beans
and peas that have done bearing. Spinach seed will now be ready for
gathering, as also that of the Welch onion, and some others: take them
carefully off, and dry them in the shade. Take up large onions, and
spread them upon mats to dry for the winter.--AUGUST. Spinach and onions
should be sowed on rich borders, prepared for that purpose. These two
crops will live through the winter, unless very severe, and be valuable
in the spring. The second week in this month sow cabbage seed of the
early kind, and in the third week sow cauliflower seed. This will
provide plants to be nursed up under bell glasses in the winter. Some of
these may also be planted in the open ground in a well defended
situation. The last week of this month sow another crop, to supply the
place of these in case of accidents; for if the season be very severe,
they may be lost; and if very mild, they will run to seed in the spring.
These last crops must be defended by a hotbed frame, and they will stand
out and supply deficiencies. Sow cabbage lettuces, and the brown Dutch
kinds, in a warm and well sheltered border. Take up garlic, and spread
it on a mat to harden. In the same manner take up onions and rocambole,
and shalots at the latter end of the month.--SEPTEMBER. Sow various
kinds of lettuces, Silesia, Cos, and Dutch, and when they come up,
shelter them carefully. The common practice is to keep them under
hand-glasses, but they will thrive better under a reed fence, placed
sloping over them. Make up fresh warm beds with the dung that has lain a
month in the heap. Plant the spawn in these beds, upon pasture mould,
and raise the top of the bed to a ridge, to throw off the wet. Look to
the turnip beds and thin them, leaving the plants six inches apart from
each other. Weed the spinach, onions, and other new-sown plants. Earth
up the celery, and sow young sallads upon warm and well-sheltered
borders. Clean asparagus beds, cut down the stalks, pare off the earth
from the surface of the alleys, throw it upon the beds half an inch
thick, and sprinkle over it a little dung from an old melon bed. Dig up
the ground where summer crops have ripened, and lay it in ridges for the
winter. The ridges should be disposed east and west, and turned once in
two months, to give them the advantage of a fallow. Sow some beans and
peas on warm and well-sheltered borders, to stand out the
winter.--OCTOBER. Set out cauliflower plants, where they can be
sheltered; and if glasses are used, put two under each, for fear of one
failing. Sow another crop of peas, and plant more beans; choose a dry
spot for them, where they can be sheltered from the winter's cold.
Transplant the lettuces sown last month, where they can be defended by a
reed fence, or under a wall. Transplant cabbage plants and coleworts,
where they are to remain. Take great care of the cauliflower plants sown
early in summer; and as they now begin to show their heads, break in the
leaves upon them to keep off the sun and rain; it will both harden and
whiten them.--NOVEMBER. Weed the crops of spinach, and others that were
sown late, or the wild growth will smother and starve the crop. Dig up a
border under a warm wall, and sow some carrots for spring; sow radishes
in a similar situation, and let the ground be dug deep for both. Turn
the mould that was trenched and laid up for fallowing; this will destroy
the weeds, and enrich the soil by exposing it to the air. Prepare some
hotbeds for salading, cover them five inches with mould, and sow them
with lettuces, mustard, rape, cresses, and radish. Plant another crop of
beans, and sow more peas for a succession. Trench the ground between the
artichokes, and throw a thick ridge of earth over the roots: this will
preserve them from the frost, and prevent their shooting at an improper
time. Make a hotbed for asparagus. Take up carrots and parsnips, and put
them in sand to be ready for use. Give air occasionally to the plants
under hand-glasses and on hotbeds, or they will suffer as much for want
of it, as they would have done by an exposure to the cold.--DECEMBER.
Plant cabbages and savoys for seed: this requires to be done carefully.
Dig up a dry border, and break the mould well; then take up some of the
stoutest cabbage and savoy plants, hang them up by the stalks four or
five days, and afterwards plant them half way up the stalks into the
ground. Draw up a good quantity of mould about the stalk that is above
ground, make it into a kind of hill round each, and leave them to
nature. Sow another crop of peas, and plant some more beans, to take
their chance for succeeding the other. Make another hotbed for
asparagus, to yield a supply when the former is exhausted. Continue to
earth up celery, and cover some endive with a good quantity of peas
straw, as it is growing, that it may be taken up when wanted, and be
preserved from the winter's frost.


KITCHEN PEPPER. Mix in the finest powder, one ounce of ginger, half an
ounce each of cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, and Jamaica pepper; ten
cloves, and six ounces of salt. Keep it in a bottle, and it will be
found an agreeable addition to any brown sauces or soups. Spice in
powder, kept in small bottles close stopped, goes much farther than when
used whole. It must be dried before it is pounded, and should be done in
quantities that may be used in three or four months. Nutmeg need not be
done, but the others should be kept in separate bottles, with a label on
each.


KITCHEN UTENSILS. Continual attention must be paid to the condition of
the boilers, saucepans, stewpans, and other kitchen requisites, which
ought to be examined every time they are used. Their covers also must be
kept perfectly clean, and well tinned. Stewpans in particular should be
cleaned, not only on the inside, but about a couple of inches on the
outside, or the broths and soups will look green and dirty, and taste
bitter and poisonous. Not only health but even life depends on the
perfectly clean and wholesome state of culinary utensils. If the tinning
of a pan happens to be scorched or blistered, it is best to send it
directly to be repaired, to prevent any possible danger arising from the
solution of the metal. Stewpans and soup pots should be made with thick
round bottoms, similar to those of copper saucepans; they will then
wear twice as long, and may be cleaned with half the trouble. The covers
should be made to fit as close as possible, that the broth or soup may
not waste by evaporation. They are good for nothing, unless they fit
tight enough to keep the steam in, and the smoke out. Stewpans and
saucepans should always be bright on the upper rim, where the fire does
not burn them; but it is not necessary to scour them all over, which
would wear out the vessels. Soup pots and kettles should be washed
immediately after being used, and carefully dried by the fire, before
they are put by. They must also be kept in a dry place, or damp and rust
will soon destroy them. Copper utensils should never be used in the
kitchen; or if they be, the utmost care should be taken not to let the
tin be rubbed off, and to have them fresh done when the least defect
appears. Neither soup nor gravy should at any time be suffered to remain
in them longer than is absolutely necessary for the purposes of cookery,
as the fat and acid employed in the operation, are capable of dissolving
the metal, and so of poisoning what is intended to be eaten. Stone and
earthen vessels should be provided for soups and gravies intended to be
set by, as likewise plenty of common dishes, that the table-set may not
be used for such purposes. Vegetables soon turn sour, and corrode metals
and glazed red ware, by which a strong poison is produced. Vinegar, by
its acidity, does the same, the glazing being of lead or arsenic. Care
should be taken of sieves, jelly bags, and tapes for collared articles,
to have them well scalded and kept dry, or they will impart an
unpleasant flavour when next used. Stewpans especially, should never be
used without first washing them out with boiling water, and rubbing
them well with a dry cloth and a little bran, to clean them from grease
and sand, or any bad smell they may have contracted since they were last
used. In short, cleanliness is the cardinal virtue of the kitchen; and
next to this, economy.


KNIFE BOARD. Common knife boards with brick dust, soon wear out the
knives that are sharpened upon them. To avoid this, cover the board with
thick buff leather, and spread over it a thin paste of crocus martis,
with a little emery finely powdered, and mixed up with lard or sweet
oil. This will give a superior edge and polish to the knives, and make
them wear much longer than in the usual way of cleaning them.


KNUCKLE OF VEAL. As few persons are fond of boiled veal, it may be well
to cut the knuckle small, and take off some cutlets or collops before it
is dressed; but as the knuckle will keep longer than the fillet, it is
best not to cut off the slices till wanted. Break the bones to make it
take less room, wash the joint well, and put it into a saucepan with
three onions, a blade or two of mace, and a few peppercorns. Cover it
with water, and simmer it till quite done. In the mean time some
macaroni should be boiled with it if approved, or rice, or a little rice
flour, to give it a small degree of thickness; but avoid putting in too
much. Before it is served, add half a pint of milk and cream, and let it
go to table either with or without the meat.--A knuckle of veal may also
be fried with sliced onion and butter, to a good brown. Prepare some
peas, lettuce, onion, and a cucumber or two, stewed in a small quantity
of water for an hour. Add these to the veal, and stew it till the meat
is tender enough to eat, but not overdone. Put in pepper, salt, and a
little shred mint, and serve all together.




L.


LAMB. In purchasing this meat, observe particularly the neck of a
fore-quarter. If the vein is bluish, it is fresh: if it has a green or
yellow cast, it is stale. In the hind-quarter, if there is a faint smell
under the kidney, and the knuckle is limp, the meat is stale. If the
eyes are sunk, the head is not fresh. Grass lamb comes into season in
April or May, and continues till August. House lamb may be had in large
towns almost all the year, but it is in highest perfection in December
and January.


LAMB CHOPS. Cut up a neck or loin, rub the chops with egg, and sprinkle
them over with grated bread, mixed with a little parsley, thyme,
marjoram, and lemon peel, chopped fine. Fry them in butter till they are
of a light brown, put them in a warm dish, garnished with crisped
parsley. Or make a gravy in the pan with a little water, and butter
rolled in flour, and pour it over them.


LAMB CUTLETS. Cut some steaks from the loin, and fry them. Stew some
spinach, put it into a dish, and lay the cutlets round it.


LAMB'S FRY. Serve it fried of a beautiful colour, and with a good deal
of dried or fried parsley over it.


LAMB'S HEAD. A house-lamb's head is the best; but any other may be made
white by soaking it in cold water. Boil the head separately till it is
very tender. Have ready the liver and lights three parts boiled and cut
small: stew them in a little of the water in which they were boiled,
season and thicken with flour and butter, and serve the mince round the
head.


LAMB PIE. Make it of the loin, neck, or breast; the breast of house-lamb
especially, is very delicate and fine. It should be lightly seasoned
with pepper and salt, the bone taken out, but not the gristle. A small
quantity of jelly gravy is to be put in hot, but the pie should not be
cut till cold. Put in two spoonfuls of water before baking. Grass lamb
makes an excellent pie, and should only be seasoned with pepper and
salt. Put in two spoonfuls of water before baking, and as much gravy
when it comes from the oven. It may generally be remarked, that meat
pies being fat, it is best to let out the gravy on one side, and put it
in again by a funnel, at the centre, when a little may be added.


LAMB STEAKS. Quarter some cucumbers, and lay them into a deep dish;
sprinkle them with salt, and pour vinegar over them. Fry the steaks of a
fine brown, and put them into a stewpan; drain the cucumbers, and put
them over the steaks. Add some sliced onions, pepper and salt; pour hot
water or weak broth on them, and stew and skim them well.


LAMB STEAKS BROWN. Season some house-lamb steaks with pepper, salt,
nutmeg, grated lemon peel, and chopped parsley: but dip them first into
egg, and fry them quick. Thicken some good gravy with a little flour and
butter, and add to it a spoonful of port wine, and some oysters. Boil up
the liquor, put in the steaks warm, and serve them up hot. Palates,
balls, or eggs, may be added, if approved.


LAMB STEAKS WHITE. Steaks of house-lamb should be stewed in milk and
water till very tender, with a bit of lemon peel, a little salt, mace,
and pepper. Have ready some veal gravy, and put the steaks into it; mix
some mushroom powder, a cup of cream, and a dust of flour; shake the
steaks in this liquor, stir it, and make it quite hot. Just before
taking up the steaks, put in a few white mushrooms. When poultry is very
dear, this dish will be found a good substitute.


LAMB'S SWEETBREADS. Blanch them, and put them a little while into cold
water. Stew them with a ladleful of broth, some pepper and salt, a few
small onions, and a blade of mace. Stir in a bit of butter and flour,
and stew them half an hour. Prepare two or three eggs well beaten in
cream, with a little minced parsley, and a dust of grated nutmeg. Add a
few tops of boiled asparagus, stir it well over the fire, but let it not
boil after the cream is in, and take great care that it does not curdle.
Young French beans or peas may be added, but should first be boiled of a
beautiful colour.


LAMBSTONES FRICASSEED. Skin and wash, dry and flour them; then fry them
of a beautiful brown in hog's lard. Lay them on a sieve before the fire,
till the following sauce is prepared. Thicken nearly half a pint of veal
gravy with flour and butter, and then add to it a slice of lemon, a
large spoonful of mushroom ketchup, a tea-spoonful of lemon pickle, a
taste of nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg well beaten in two large
spoonfuls of thick cream. Put this over the fire, stir it well till it
is hot, and looks white; but do not let it boil, or it will curdle. Then
put in the fry, shake it about near the fire for a minute or two, and
serve it in a very hot dish and cover.--A fricassee of lambstones and
sweetbreads may be prepared another way. Have ready some lambstones
blanched, parboiled, and sliced. Flour two or three sweetbreads: if very
thick, cut them in two. Fry all together, with a few large oysters, of a
fine yellow brown. Pour off the butter, add a pint of good gravy, some
asparagus tops about an inch long, a little nutmeg, pepper, and salt,
two shalots shred fine, and a glass of white wine. Simmer them ten
minutes, put a little of the gravy to the yolks of three eggs well
beaten, and mix the whole together by degrees. Turn the gravy back into
the pan, stir it till of a fine thickness without boiling, and garnish
with lemon.


LAMENESS. Much lameness, as well as deformity, might certainly be
prevented, if stricter attention were paid to the early treatment of
children. Weakness of the hips, accompanied with a lameness of both
sides of the body, is frequently occasioned by inducing them to walk
without any assistance, before they have strength sufficient to support
themselves. Such debility may in some measure be counteracted, by tying
a girdle round the waist, and bracing up the hips; but it requires to be
attended to at an early period, or the infirmity will continue for life.
It will also be advisable to bathe such weak limbs in cold water, or
astringent decoctions, for several months. If the lameness arise from
contraction, rather than from weakness, the best means will be frequent
rubbing of the part affected. If this be not sufficient, beat up the
yolk of a new laid egg, mix it well with three ounces of water, and rub
it gently on the part. Perseverance in the use of this simple remedy,
has been successful in a great number of instances.


LAMPREY. To stew lamprey as at Worcester, clean the fish carefully, and
remove the cartilage which runs down the back. Season with a small
quantity of cloves, mace, nutmeg, pepper, and allspice. Put it into a
small stewpot, with beef gravy, port, and sherry. Cover it close, stew
it till tender, take out the lamprey, and keep it hot. Boil up the
liquor with two or three anchovies chopped, and some butter rolled in
flour. Strain the gravy through a sieve, add some lemon juice, and
ready-made mustard. Serve with sippets of bread and horseradish. When
there is spawn, it must be fried and laid round. Eels done the same way,
are a good deal like the lamprey.


LARKS. To dress larks and other small birds, draw and spit them on a
bird spit. Tie this on another spit, and roast them. Baste gently with
butter, and strew bread crumbs upon them till half done. Brown them in
dressing, and serve with bread crumbs round.


LAVENDER WATER. To a pint of highly rectified spirits of wine, add an
ounce of the essential oil of lavender, and two drams of the essence of
ambergris. Put the whole into a quart bottle, shake it frequently, and
decant it into small bottles for use.


LAVER. This is a plant that grows on the rocks near the sea in the west
of England, and is sent in pots prepared for eating. Place some of it on
a dish over the lamp, with a bit of butter, and the squeeze of a Seville
orange. Stir it till it is hot. It is eaten with roast meat, and tends
to sweeten the blood. It is seldom liked at first, but habit renders it
highly agreeable.


LEAF IMPRESSIONS. To take impressions of leaves and plants, oil a sheet
of fine paper, dry it in the sun, and rub off the superfluous moisture
with another piece of paper. After the oil is pretty well dried in,
black the sheet by passing it over a lighted lamp or candle. Lay the
leaf or plant on the black surface, with a small piece of paper over it,
and rub it carefully till the leaf is thoroughly coloured. Then take it
up undisturbed, lay it on the book or paper which is to receive the
impression, cover it with a piece of blotting paper, and rub it on the
back a short time with the finger as before. Impressions of the minutest
veins and fibres of a plant may be taken in this way, superior to any
engraving, and which may afterwards be coloured according to nature. A
printer's ball laid upon a leaf, which is afterwards pressed on wet
paper, will also produce a fine impression; or if the leaf be touched
with printing ink, and pressed with a rolling pin, nearly the same
effect will be produced.


LEATHER. To discharge grease from articles made of leather, apply the
white of an egg; let it dry in the sun, and then rub it off. A paste
made of dry mustard, potatoe meal, and two spoonfuls of the spirits of
turpentine, applied to the spot and rubbed off dry, will also be found
to answer the purpose. If not, cleanse it with a little vinegar. Tanned
leather is best cleaned with nitrous acid and salts of lemon diluted
with water, and afterwards mixed with skimmed milk. The surface of the
leather should first be cleaned with a brush and soft water, adding a
little free sand, and then repeatedly scoured with a brush dipped in the
nitrous mixture. It is afterwards to be cleaned with a sponge and water,
and left to dry.


LEAVENED BREAD. Take two pounds of dough from the last baking, and keep
it in flour. Put the dough or leaven into a peck of flour the night
before it is baked, and work them well together in warm water. Cover it
up warm in a wooden vessel, and the next morning it will be sufficiently
fermented to mix with two or three bushels of flour: then work it up
with warm water, and a pound of salt to each bushel. Cover it with
flannel till it rises, knead it well, work it into broad flat loaves or
bricks, and bake them as other bread.


LEEK MILK. Wash a large handful of leeks, cut them small, and boil them
in a gallon of milk till it become as thick as cream. Then strain it,
and drink a small bason full twice a day. This is good for the jaundice.


LEEK SOUP. Chop a quantity of leeks into some mutton broth or liquor,
with a seasoning of salt and pepper. Simmer them an hour in a saucepan;
mix some oatmeal with a little cold water quite smooth, and pour it into
the soup. Simmer it gently over a slow fire, and take care that it does
not burn to the bottom. This is a Scotch dish.


LEG OF LAMB. To make it look as white as possible, it should be boiled
in a cloth. At the same time the loin should be fried in steaks, and
served with it, garnished with dried or fried parsley. Spinach to eat
with it. The leg may be roasted, or dressed separately.


LEG OF MUTTON. If roasted, serve it up with onion or currant-jelly
sauce. If boiled, with caper sauce and vegetables.


LEG OF PORK. Salt it, and let it lie six or seven days in the pickle,
turn and rub it with the brine every day. Put it into boiling water, if
not too salt; use a good quantity of water, and let it boil all the time
it is on the fire. Send it to table with peas pudding, melted butter,
turnips, carrots, or greens. If it is wanted to be dressed sooner, it
may be hastened by putting a little fresh salt on it every day. It will
then be ready in half the time, but it will not be quite so tender.--To
dress a leg of pork like goose, first parboil it, then take off the
skin, and roast it. Baste it with butter, and make a savoury powder of
finely minced or dried and powdered sage, ground black pepper, and bread
crumbs rubbed together through a cullender; to which may be added an
onion, very finely minced. Sprinkle the joint with this mixture when it
is almost roasted, put half a pint of made gravy into the dish, and
goose stuffing under the knuckle skin, or garnish with balls of it,
either fried or boiled.


LEG OF VEAL. Let the fillet be cut large or small, as best suits the
size of the company. Take out the bone, fill the space with a fine
stuffing, skewer it quite round, and send it to table with the large
side uppermost. When half roasted, or before, put a paper over the fat,
and take care to allow sufficient time: as the meat is very solid, place
it at a good distance from the fire, that it may be gradually heated
through. Serve it up with melted butter poured over it. Some of it would
be good for potting.


LEMON BRANDY. Pare two dozen of lemons, and steep the peels in a gallon
of brandy. Squeeze the lemons on two pounds of fine sugar, and add six
quarts of water. The next day put the ingredients together, pour on
three pints of boiling milk, let it stand two days, and strain it off.


LEMON CAKE. Beat up the whites of ten eggs, with three spoonfuls of
orange flower water; put in a pound of sifted sugar, and the rind of a
lemon grated. When it is well mixed, add the juice of half a lemon, and
the yolks of ten eggs beaten smooth. Stir in three quarters of a pound
of flour, put the cake into a buttered pan, and bake it an hour
carefully.


LEMON CHEESECAKES. Mix four ounces of fine sifted sugar and four ounces
of butter, and melt it gently. Then add the yolks of two and the white
of one egg, the rind of three lemons shred fine, and the juice of one
and a half; also one savoy biscuit, some blanched almonds pounded, and
three spoonfuls of brandy. Mix them well together, and put in the
following paste. Eight ounces of flour, six ounces of butter, two thirds
of which must first be mixed with the flour; then wet it with six
spoonfuls of water, and roll in the remainder.--Another way. Boil two
large lemons, or three small ones, and after squeezing, pound them well
together in a mortar, with four ounces of loaf sugar, the yolks of six
eggs, and eight ounces of fresh butter. Fill the pattipans half full.
Orange cheesecakes are done in the same way, only the peel must be
boiled in two or three waters to take out the bitterness: or make them
of orange marmalade well beaten in a mortar.


LEMON CREAM. Put to a pint of thick cream, the yolks of two eggs well
beaten, four ounces of fine sugar, and the thin rind of a lemon. Boil it
up, and stir it till nearly cold. Put the juice of a lemon into a bowl,
and pour the cream upon it, stirring it till quite cold. White lemon
cream is made in the same way, only put the whites of the eggs instead
of the yolks, whisking it extremely well to a froth.


LEMON CUSTARDS. Beat the yolks of eight eggs till they are as white as
milk; then put to them a pint of boiling water, the rinds of two lemons
grated, and the juice sweetened to taste. Stir it on the fire till it
thickens; then add a large glass of rich wine, and half a glass of
brandy. Give the whole one scald, and put it in cups to be eaten cold.


LEMON DROPS. Grate three large lemons, with a large piece of
double-refined sugar. Then scrape the sugar into a plate, add half a
tea-spoonful of flour, mix well, and beat it into a light paste with the
white of an egg. Drop it upon white paper, and put the drops into a
moderate oven on a tin plate.


LEMON HONEYCOMB. Sweeten the juice of a lemon to your taste, and put it
in the dish that you intend to serve it in. Mix the white of an egg well
beaten, with a pint of rich cream, and a little sugar. Whisk it; and as
the froth rises, put it on the lemon juice. Prepare it the day before it
is to be used.


LEMON JUICE. In order to keep this article ready for use, the best way
is to buy the fruit when it is cheap, and lay it two or three days in a
cool place. If too unripe to squeeze immediately, cut the peel off some
of them, and roll them under the hand, to make them part with the juice
more freely. Others may be left unpared for grating, when the pulp is
taken out, and they are dried. Squeeze the juice into a china bason, and
strain it through some muslin which will not permit any of the pulp to
pass. Having prepared some small phials, perfectly dry, fill them with
the juice so near the top as only to admit half a tea-spoonful of sweet
oil into each. Cork the bottles tight, and set them upright in a cool
place. When the lemon juice is wanted, open only such a sized bottle as
will be used in two or three days. Wind some clean cotton round a
skewer, and dipping it in, the oil will be attracted; and when all of it
is removed, the juice will be as fine as when first bottled. Hang the
peels up to dry, and keep them from the dust.


LEMON MINCE PIES. Squeeze a large lemon, boil the outside till tender
enough to beat to a mash. Add to it three large apples chopped, four
ounces of suet, half a pound of washed currants, and four ounces of
sugar. Put in the juice of a lemon, and candied fruit, as for other
pies. Make a short crust, and fill the pattipans as usual.


LEMON PICKLE. Wipe six lemons, and cut each into eight pieces. Put on
them a pound of salt, six large cloves of garlic, two ounces of
horseradish sliced thin; likewise of cloves, mace, nutmeg, and cayenne,
a quarter of an ounce of each, and two ounces of flour of mustard. To
these add two quarts of vinegar, and boil it a quarter of an hour in a
well-tinned saucepan; or, which is better, do it in a jar, placed in a
kettle of boiling water, or set the jar on a hot hearth till done. Then
set the jar by closely covered, stirring it daily for six weeks, and
afterwards put the pickle into small bottles.


LEMON PUDDING. Beat the yolks of four eggs; add four ounces of white
sugar, the rind of a lemon being rubbed with some lumps of it to take
the essence. Then peel and beat it into a paste, with the juice of a
large lemon, and mix all together with four or five ounces of warmed
butter. Put a crust into a shallow dish, nick the edges, and put the
above into it. When sent to table, turn the pudding out of the dish.


LEMON PUFFS. Beat and sift a pound and a quarter of double-refined
sugar; grate the rind of two large lemons, and mix it well with the
sugar. Then beat the whites of three new-laid eggs a great while; add
them to the sugar and peel, and beat it together for an hour. Make it up
into any shape, put it on paper laid on tin plates, and bake in a
moderate oven. Oiling the paper will make it come off with ease, but it
should not be removed till quite cold.


LEMON SAUCE. Cut thin slices of lemon into very small dice, and put them
into melted butter. Give it one boil, and pour it over boiled fowls.


LEMON AND LIVER SAUCE. Pare off as thin as possible the rind of a lemon,
or of a Seville orange, so as not to cut off any of the white with it.
Then peel off all the white, and cut the lemon into slices, about as
thick as two half crowns. Pick out the peps, and divide the slices into
small squares. Prepare the liver as for Liver and Parsley Sauce, and add
to it the slices of lemon, and a little of the peel finely minced. Warm
up the sauce in melted butter, but do not let it boil.


LEMON SYRUP. Put a pint of fresh lemon juice to a pound and three
quarters of lump sugar. Dissolve it by a gentle heat, skim it till the
surface is quite clear, and add an ounce of lemon peel cut very thin.
Let them simmer very gently for a few minutes, and run the syrup through
a flannel. When cold, bottle and cork it closely, and keep it in a cool
place.


LEMON WATER. A delightful drink may be made of two slices of lemon,
thinly pared into a teapot, with a little sugar, or a large spoonful of
capillaire. Pour in a pint of boiling water, and stop it close two
hours.


LEMON WHEY. Pour into boiling milk as much lemon juice as will make a
small quantity quite clear; dilute it with hot water to an agreeable
smart acid, and add a bit or two of sugar. This is less heating than if
made of wine; and if intended only to excite perspiration, will answer
the purpose as well. Vinegar whey is made in the same manner, by using
vinegar only, instead of lemon juice.


LEMON WHITE SAUCE. Cut the peel of a small lemon very thin, and put it
into a pint of sweet rich cream, with a sprig of lemon thyme, and ten
white peppercorns. Simmer gently till it tastes well of the lemon, then
strain and thicken it with a quarter of a pound of butter, and a
dessert-spoonful of flour rubbed in it. Boil it up, stir it well, and
pour the juice of the lemon strained into it. Dish up the chickens, and
mix with the cream a little white gravy quite hot, but do not boil them
together: add a little salt to flavour.


LEMONS FOR PUDDINGS. To keep oranges or lemons for puddings, squeeze out
the pulp, and put the outsides into water for a fortnight. Then boil
them in the same water till they are quite tender, strain the liquor
from them, and when they are tolerably dry, put them into any jar of
candy that happens to be left from old sweetmeats. Or boil a small
quantity of syrup of lump sugar and water, and put over them. In a week
or ten days boil them gently in it till they look clear, and cover them
with it in the jar. If the fruit be cut in halves, they will occupy less
space.


LEMONADE. To prepare lemonade a day before it is wanted for use, pare
two dozen lemons as thin as possible. Put eight of the rinds into three
quarts of hot water, not boiling, and cover it over for three or four
hours. Rub some fine loaf sugar on the lemons to attract the essence,
and put it into a china bowl, into which the juice of the lemons is to
be squeezed. Add a pound and a half of fine sugar, then put the water to
the above, and three quarts of boiling milk. Pour the mixture through a
jelly bag, till it is perfectly clear.--Another way. Pare a quantity of
lemons, and pour some hot water on the peels. While infusing, boil some
sugar and water to a good syrup, with the white of an egg whipt up. When
it boils, pour a little cold water into it. Set it on again, and when it
boils take off the pan, and let it stand by to settle. If there be any
scum, take it off, and pour it clear from the sediment, to the water in
which the peels were infused, and the lemon juice. Stir and taste it,
and add as much more water as shall be necessary to make a very rich
lemonade. Wet a jelly bag, and squeeze it dry; then strain the liquor,
and it will be very fine.--To make a lemonade which has the appearance
of jelly, pare two Seville oranges and six lemons very thin, and steep
them four hours in a quart of hot water. Boil a pound and a quarter of
loaf sugar in three pints of water, and skim it clean. Add the two
liquors to the juice of six China oranges, and twelve lemons; stir the
whole well, and run it through a jelly bag till it is quite clear. Then
add a little orange water, if approved, and more sugar if necessary. Let
it be well corked, and it will keep.--Lemonade may be prepared in a
minute, by pounding a quarter of an ounce of citric or crystalised lemon
acid, with a few drops of quintessence of lemon peel, and mixing it by
degrees with a pint of clarified syrup or capillaire.


LENT POTATOES. Beat three or four ounces of almonds, and three or four
bitter ones when blanched, putting a little orange flower water to
prevent oiling. Add eight ounces of butter, four eggs well beaten and
strained, half a glass of raisin wine, and sugar to taste. Beat all
together till quite smooth, and grate in three Savoy biscuits. Make
balls of the above with a little flour, the size of a chesnut; throw
them into a stewpan of boiling lard, and boil them of a beautiful yellow
brown. Drain them on a sieve, and serve with sweet sauce in a boat.


LETHARGY. This species of apoplexy discovers itself by an invincible
drowsiness, or inclination to sleep; and is frequently attended with a
degree of fever, and coldness of the extremities. Blisters and emetics
have often procured relief. The affusion of cold water upon the head,
and the burning of feathers or other fetid substances, held near the
nostrils, are also attended with advantage.


LICE. Want of cleanliness, immoderate warmth, violent perspiration, and
a corrupted state of the fluids, tend to promote the generation of this
kind of vermin. The most simple remedy is the seed of parsley, reduced
to a fine powder and rubbed to the roots of the hair, or to rub the
parts affected with garlic and mustard. To clean the heads of children,
take half an ounce of honey, half an ounce of sulphur, an ounce of
vinegar, and two ounces of sweet oil. Mix the whole into a liniment, and
rub a little of it on the head repeatedly. Lice which infest clothes,
may be destroyed by fumigating the articles of dress with the vapour of
sulphur. Garden lice may be treated in the same way as for destroying
insects.


LIGHT CAKE. Mix a pound of flour, half a pound of currants, and a little
nutmeg, sugar, and salt. Melt a quarter of a pound of butter in a
quarter of a pint of milk, and strain into it two spoonfuls of yeast and
two eggs. Stir it well together, set it before the fire to rise, and
bake it in a quick oven.


LIGHT PASTE. For tarts and cheesecakes, beat up the white of an egg to a
strong froth, and mix it with as much water as will make three quarters
of a pound of fine flour into a very stiff paste. Roll it out thin, lay
two or three ounces of butter upon it in little bits, dredge it with a
little flour, and roll it up tight. Roll it out again, and add the same
proportion of butter, and so proceed till the whole is worked up.


LIGHT PUFFS. Mix two spoonfuls of flour, a little grated lemon peel,
some nutmeg, half a spoonful of brandy, a little loaf-sugar, and one
egg. Fry it enough, but not brown; beat it in a mortar with five eggs,
whites and yolks. Put a quantity of lard in a fryingpan; and when quite
hot, drop a dessert-spoonful of batter at a time, and turn them as they
brown. Send the puffs to table quickly, with sweet sauce.


LIME WATER. Pour two gallons of water upon a pound of fresh-burnt lime;
and when the ebullition ceases, stir it up well, and let it stand till
the lime is settled. Filter the liquor through paper, and keep it for
use closely stopped. It is chiefly used for the gravel, in which case a
pint or more may be drunk daily. For the itch, or other diseases of the
skin, it is to be applied externally.


LINEN. Linen in every form is liable to all the accidents of mildew,
iron moulds, ink spots, and various other stains, which prove highly
injurious, if not speedily removed. In case of mildew, rub the part well
with soap, then scrape and rub on some fine chalk, and lay the linen out
to bleach. Wet it a little now and then, and repeat the operation if
necessary. Ink spots and iron moulds may be removed, by rubbing them
with the salt of sorrel, or weak muriatic acid, and laying the part over
a teapot or kettle of boiling water, so that it may be affected by the
steam. Or some crystals of tartar powdered, and half the quantity of
alum, applied in the same manner, will be found to extract the spots.
The spirits of salts diluted with water, will remove iron moulds from
linen; and sal ammoniac with lime, will take out the stains of wine.
Fruit stains may generally be removed by wetting the part with water,
and exposing it to the fumes of brimstone. When ink has been suddenly
spilled on linen, wet the place immediately with the juice of sorrel or
lemon, or with vinegar, and rub it with hard white soap. Or add to the
juice a little salts, steam the linen over boiling water, and wash it
afterwards in ley. If ink be spilled on a green tablecloth or carpet,
the readiest way is to take it up immediately with a spoon, and by
pouring on fresh water, while the spoon is constantly applied, the
stains will soon be removed. Scorched linen may be restored by means of
the following application. Boil two ounces of fuller's earth, an ounce
of hen's dung, half an ounce of soap, and the juice of two onions, in
half a pint of vinegar, till reduced to a good consistency. Spread the
composition over the damaged part, let it dry on, and then wash it well
once or twice. If the threads be not actually consumed by the scorch,
the linen will soon be restored to its former whiteness.


LIP SALVE. Put into a small jar two ounces of white wax, half an ounce
of spermaceti, and a quarter of a pint of oil of sweet almonds. Tie it
down close, and put the jar into a small saucepan, with as much water as
will nearly reach the top of the jar, but not so as to boil over it, and
let it simmer till the wax is melted. Then put in a pennyworth of
alkanet root tied up in a rag, with the jar closed, and boil it till it
becomes red. Take out the alkanet root, and put in two pennyworth of
essence of lemon, and a few drops of bergamot. Pour some into small
boxes for present use, and the remainder into a gallipot tied down with
a bladder.--Another. An ounce of white wax and ox marrow, with three
ounces of white pomatum, melted together over a slow fire, will make an
agreeable lip salve, which may be coloured with a dram of alkanet, and
stirred till it becomes a fine red.


LITTLE BREAD PUDDINGS. Steep the crumb of a penny loaf grated, in about
a pint of warm milk. When sufficiently soaked, beat up six eggs, whites
and yolks, and mix with the bread. Add two ounces of warmed butter, some
sugar, orange flower water, a spoonful of brandy, a little nutmeg, and a
tea-cupful of cream. Beat all well together, bake in buttered teacups,
and serve with pudding sauce. A quarter of a pound of currants may be
added, but the puddings are good without. Orange or lemon will be an
agreeable addition.


LIVER AND HERBS. Clean and drain a good quantity of spinach, two large
handfuls of parsley, and a handful of green onions. Chop the parsley and
onions, and sprinkle them among the spinach. Stew them together with a
little salt and butter, shake the pan when it begins to grow warm, and
cover it close till done enough over a slow fire. Lay on slices of
liver, fried of a nice brown and slices of bacon just warmed at the
fire. On the outside part of the herbs lay some eggs nicely fried, and
trimmed round. Or the eggs may be served on the herbs, and the liver
garnished with the bacon separately.


LIVER SAUCE. Chop some liver of rabbits or fowls, and do it the same as
for lemon sauce, with a very little pepper and salt, and some parsley.


LIVER AND PARSLEY SAUCE. Wash the fresh liver of a fowl or rabbit, and
boil it five minutes in a quarter of a pint of water. Chop it fine, or
pound or bruise it in a little of the liquor it was boiled in, and rub
it through a sieve. Wash about one third the bulk of parsley leaves, put
them into boiling water, with a tea-spoonful of salt, and let them boil.
Then lay the parsley on a hair sieve, mince it very fine, and mix it
with the liver. Warm up the sauce in a quarter of a pint of melted
butter, but do not let it boil.


LOBSTERS. If they have not been long taken, the claws will have a strong
motion, when the finger is pressed upon the eyes. The heaviest are the
best, and it is preferable to boil them at home. If purchased ready
boiled, try whether their tails are stiff, and pull up with a spring;
otherwise that part will be flabby. The male lobster is known by the
narrow back part of his tail, and the two uppermost fins within it are
stiff and hard: those of the hen are soft, and the tail broader. The
male, though generally smaller, has the highest flavour, the flesh is
firmer, and the colour when boiled is a deeper red.


LOBSTER PATTIES. To be made as oyster patties, gently stewed and
seasoned, and put into paste baked in pattipans, with the addition of a
little cream, and a very small piece of butter.


LOBSTER PIE. Boil two or three small lobsters, take out the tails, and
cut them in two. Take out the gut, cut each into four pieces, and lay
them in a small dish. Put in the meat of the claws, and that picked out
of the body; pick off the furry parts of the latter, and take out the
lady; beat the spawn in a mortar, and likewise all the shells. Stew them
with some water, two or three spoonfuls of vinegar, pepper, salt, and
some pounded mace. A large piece of butter rolled in flour must be
added, when the goodness of the shells is obtained. Give it a boil or
two, and pour it into a dish strained; strew some crumbs, and put a
paste over all. Bake it slowly, and only till the paste is done.


LOBSTER SALAD. Make a salad, cut some of the red part of the lobster,
and add to it. This will form a pleasing contrast to the white and green
of the vegetables. Be careful not to put in too much oil, as shell-fish
absorbs the sharpness of the vinegar. Serve it up in a dish, not in a
bowl.


LOBSTER SAUCE. Pound the spawn with two anchovies, pour on two spoonfuls
of gravy, and strain all into some melted butter. Then put in the meat
of the lobster, give it all one boil, and add the squeeze of a lemon. Or
leave out the anchovies and gravy, and do it as above, either with or
without salt and ketchup, as may be most approved. Many persons prefer
the flavour of the lobster and salt only.


LOBSTER SOUP. Take the meat from the claws, bodies, and tails, of six
small lobsters. Remove the brown fur, and the bag in the head; beat the
fins in a mortar, the chine, and the small claws. Boil it very gently in
two quarts of water, with the crumb of a French roll, some white pepper,
salt, two anchovies, a large onion, sweet herbs, and a bit of lemon
peel, till all the goodness is extracted, and then strain it off. Beat
the spawn in a mortar with a bit of butter, a quarter of a nutmeg, and a
tea-spoonful of flour, and then mix it with a quart of cream. Cut the
tails into pieces, and give them a boil up with the cream and soup.
Serve with forcemeat balls made of the remainder of the lobster, mace,
pepper, salt, a few crumbs, and an egg or two. Let the balls be made up
with a little flour, and heated in the soup.


LODGINGS. The tenure on which the generality of houses are held, does
not warrant a tenant to let, or a lodger to take apartments by the year.
To do this, the tenant ought himself to be the proprietor of the
premises, or to hold possession by lease for an unexpired term of
several years, which would invest him with the right of a landlord to
give or receive half a year's notice, or proceed as in other cases of
landlord and tenant. Unfurnished lodgings are generally let by the week,
month, or quarter; and if ever they be let by the year, it is a
deviation from a general custom, and attended with inconvenience. If a
lodger should contend that he agreed for a whole year, he must produce
some evidence of the fact; such as a written agreement, or the annual
payment of rent; otherwise he must submit to the general usage of being
denominated a quarterly lodger. In the case of weekly tenants, the rent
must be paid weekly; for if once allowed to go to a quarter, and the
landlord accept it as a quarter's rent, he breaks the agreement; the
inmate then becomes a quarterly lodger, and must receive a quarter's
notice to quit. More care however is still required in letting lodgings
that are ready furnished, as the law does not regard them in the same
light as other tenements. Such apartments are generally let by the week,
on payment of a certain sum, part of which is for the room, and part for
the use of the furniture which is attended with some difficulty.
Properly considered, the payment is not rent, nor are the same remedies
lawful as in unfurnished lodgings. The best way to let furnished
lodgings is to have a written agreement, with a catalogue of all the
goods, and to let the apartments and the furniture for separate sums: in
which case, if the rent be not paid, distress may be made for it, though
not for the furniture. Persons renting furnished apartments frequently
absent themselves, without apprising the housekeeper, and as often leave
the rent in arrear. In such a case, the housekeeper should send for a
constable, after the expiration of the first week, and in his presence
enter the apartment, take out the lodger's property and secure it, until
a request be made for it. If after fourteen days' public notice in the
gazette, the lodger do not come and pay the arrears, the housekeeper may
sell the property for the sum due. When a housekeeper is troubled with a
disagreeable character, the best way to recover possession of the
apartment is to deliver a written notice by a person that can be
witness, stating that if the lodger did not quit that day week, the
landlord would insist on his paying an advance of so much per week; and
if he did not quit after such notice, he would make the same advance
after every following week. In the city of London, payment may be
procured by summoning to the Court of Requests at Guildhall, for any sum
not exceeding five pounds. In other parts of the kingdom there are
similar Courts of Conscience, where payment may be enforced to the
amount of forty shillings.


LOIN OF MUTTON. If roasted, it is better to cut it lengthways as a
saddle; or if for steaks, pies, or broth. If there be more fat on the
loin than is agreeable, take off a part of it before it is dressed; it
will make an excellent suet pudding, or crust for a meat pie, if cut
very fine.


LONDON BREAD. According to the method practised by the London bakers, a
sack of flour is sifted into the kneading trough, to make it lie loose.
Six pounds of salt, and two pounds of alum, are separately dissolved in
hot water; and the whole being cooled to about ninety degrees, is mixed
with two quarts of yeast. When this mixture has been well stirred, it is
strained through a cloth or sieve, and is then poured into a cavity made
in the flour. The whole is now mixed up into a dough, and a small
quantity of flour being sprinkled over it, it is covered up with cloths,
and the lid of the trough is shut down, the better to retain the heat.
The fermentation now goes on, and the mass becomes enlarged in bulk. In
the course of two or three hours, another pailful of warm water is well
mixed with the sponge, and it is again covered up for about four hours.
At the end of this time, it is to be kneaded for more than an hour, with
three pailfuls of warm water. It is now returned to the trough in
pieces, sprinkled with dry flour, and at the end of four hours more, it
is again kneaded for half an hour, and divided into quartern and
half-quartern loaves. The weight of a quartern loaf, before baking,
should be four pounds fifteen ounces; after baking, four pounds six
ounces, avoirdupois. When the dough has received its proper shape for
loaves, it is put into the oven, at a heat that will scorch flour
without burning, where it is baked two hours and a half, or three hours.


LONDON PORTER. A late writer has given considerable information
respecting the brewing of porter. His intention being to exhibit the
advantages derived from domestic brewing, he has annexed the price of
each article of the composition, though it will be seen that the expense
on some of the principal articles has been considerably reduced since
that estimate was given.

                                          £  _s._ _d._

          One quarter of malt              2   2   0
          8lb. of hops                     0  12   0
          6lb. of treacle                  0   2   0
          8lb. of liquorice root bruised   0   8   0
          8lb. of essentia bina            0   4   8
          8lb. of colouring                0   4   8
          Capsicum half an ounce           0   0   2
          Spanish liquorice two ounces     0   0   2
          India berries one ounce          0   0   2
          Salt of tartar two drams         0   0   1
          Heading a quarter of an ounce    0   0   1
          Ginger three ounces              0   0   3
          Lime four ounces                 0   0   1
          Linseed one ounce                0   0   1
          Cinnamon bark two drams          0   0   2
                                           ---------
                                           3  14   7
          Coals                            0   3   0
                                           ---------
          Total expense                  £ 3  17   7

This will produce ninety gallons of good porter, and fifty gallons of
table beer; the cost of the porter at the large breweries being £7
10_s._ and that of the beer £1 7_s._ leaves a profit of £5 to the
brewer.--The 'essentia bina' is composed of eight pounds of moist sugar,
boiled in an iron vessel, for no copper one could withstand the heat
sufficiently, till it becomes of a thick syrupy consistence, perfectly
black, and extremely bitter. The 'colouring' is composed of eight pounds
of moist sugar, boiled till it attains a middle state, between bitter
and sweet. It gives that fine mellow colour usually so much admired in
good porter. These ingredients are added to the first wort, and boiled
with it. The 'heading' is a mixture of half alum, and half copperas,
ground to a fine powder. It is so called, from its giving to porter
that beautiful head or froth, which constitutes one of the peculiar
properties of porter, and which publicans are so anxious to raise to
gratify their customers. The linseed, ginger, limewater, cinnamon, and
several other small articles, are added or withheld according to the
taste or practice of the brewer, which accounts for the different
flavours so observable in London porter. Of the articles here
enumerated, it is sufficient to observe, that however much they may
surprise, however pernicious or disagreeable they may appear, they have
always been deemed necessary in the brewing of porter. They must
invariably be used by those who wish to continue the taste, the flavour
and appearance, to which they have been accustomed.--Omitting however
those ingredients which are deemed pernicious, it will be seen by the
following estimate how much more advantageous it is to provide even a
small quantity of home-brewed porter, where this kind of liquor is
preferred.

Ingredients necessary for brewing five gallons of porter.

                                                   _s._  _d._
          One peck of malt                          2     6
          Quarter of a pound of liquorice bruised   0     3
          Spanish liquorice                         0     6
          Essentia                                  0     2
          Colour                                    0     2
          Treacle                                   0     2
          Hops                                      0     6
          Capsicum and ginger                       0     1
          Coals                                     0    10
                                                    -------
          Total expense                             4     8
                                                    -------
          This will produce five gallons
          of good porter, which if
          bought of the brewer would
          cost                                      8     4

          But being brewed at home, for             4     8
                                                    -------
          Leaves a clear gain of                    3     8

This saving is quite enough to pay for time and trouble, besides the
advantage of having a wholesome liquor, free from all poisonous
ingredients. Porter thus brewed will be fit for use in a week, and may
be drunk with pleasure. To do ample justice to the subject however, it
may be proper briefly to notice the specific properties of the various
ingredients which enter into the composition of London porter. It is
evident that some porter is more heady than others, and this arises from
the greater or less quantity of stupefying ingredients intermixed with
it. Malt itself, to produce intoxication, must be used in such large
quantities as would very much diminish the brewer's profit. Of the
wholesomeness of malt there can be no doubt; pale malt especially is
highly nutritive, containing more balsamic qualities than the brown
malt, which being subject to a greater degree of fire in the kiln, is
sometimes so crusted and burnt, that the mealy part loses some of its
best qualities. Amber malt is that which is dried in a middling degree,
between pale and brown, and is now much in use, being the most pleasant,
and free from either extreme. Hops are an aromatic grateful bitter, very
wholesome, and undoubtedly efficacious in giving both flavour and
strength to the beer. Yeast is necessary to give the liquor that portion
of elastic air, of which the boiling deprives it. Without fermentation,
or working, no worts, however rich, can inebriate. Liquorice root is
pleasant, wholesome, and aperient; and opposes the astringent qualities
of some of the other ingredients; it ought therefore to be used, as
should Spanish liquorice, which possesses the same properties. Capsicum
disperses wind, and when properly used, cannot be unwholesome: it leaves
a glow of warmth on the stomach, which is perceptible in drinking some
beers. Ginger has the same effect as capsicum, and it also cleanses and
flavours the beer. But capsicum being cheaper is more used, and by its
tasteless though extremely hot quality, cannot be so readily discovered
in beer as ginger. Treacle partakes of many of the properties of
liquorice; and by promoting the natural secretions, it renders porter
and beer in general very wholesome. Treacle also is a cheaper article
than sugar, and answers the purpose of colour, where the beer is
intended for immediate consumption; but in summer, when a body is
required to withstand the temperature of the air, and the draught is not
quick, sugar alone can give body to porter. Treacle therefore is a
discretionary article. Coriander seed, used principally in ale, is warm
and stomachic; but when used in great quantity, it is pernicious.
Coculus Indicus, the India berry, is poisonous and stupefying, when
taken in any considerable quantity. When ground into fine powder it is
undiscoverable in the liquor, and is but too much used to the prejudice
of the public health. What is called heading, should be made of the salt
of steel; but a mixture of alum and copperas being much cheaper, is more
frequently used. Alum is a great drier, and causes that thirst which
some beer occasions; so that the more you drink of it, the more you
want. Alum likewise gives a taste of age to the beer, and is penetrating
to the palate. Copperas is well known to be poisonous, and may be seen
in the blackness which some beer discovers. Salt is highly useful in all
beers; it gives a pleasing relish, and also fines the liquor.--These
remarks are sufficient to show the propriety of manufacturing at home a
good wholesome article for family use, instead of resorting to a public
house for every pint of beer which nature demands, and which when
procured is both expensive and pernicious. And lest any objection
should be made, as to the difficulty and inconvenience of brewing, a few
additional observations will here be given, in order to facilitate this
very important part of domestic economy. Be careful then to procure malt
and hops of the very best quality, and let the brewing vessels be
closely inspected; the least taint may spoil a whole brewing of beer.
The mash tub should be particularly attended to, and a whisp of clean
hay or straw is to be spread over the bottom of the vessel in the
inside, to prevent the flour of the malt running off with the liquor.
The malt being emptied into the mash tub, and the water brought to boil,
dash the boiling water in the copper with cold water sufficient to stop
the boiling, and leave it just hot enough to scald the finger, always
remembering to draw off the second mash somewhat hotter than the first.
The water being thus brought to a proper temperature by the addition of
cold water, lade it out of the copper over the malt till it becomes
thoroughly wet, stirring it well to prevent the malt from clotting. When
the water is poured on too hot, it sets the malt, and closes the body of
the grain, instead of opening it so as to dissolve in the liquor. Cover
up the mash tub close to compress the steam, and prevent the liquid from
evaporating. Let the wort stand an hour and a half or two hours after
mashing, and then let the liquor run off into a vessel prepared to
receive it. If at first it runs thick and discoloured, draw off a
pailful or two, and pour it back again into the mash tub till it runs
clear. In summer it will be necessary to put a few hops into the vessel
which receives the liquor out of the mash tub, to prevent its turning
sour, which the heat of the weather will sometimes endanger. Let the
second mash run out as before, and let the liquor stand an hour and a
half, but never let the malt be dry: keep lading fresh liquor over it
till the quantity of wort to be obtained is extracted, always allowing
for waste in the boiling. The next consideration is boiling the wort
when obtained. The first copperful must be boiled an hour; and whilst
boiling, add the ingredients specified above, in the second estimate.
The hops are now to be boiled in the wort, but are to be carefully
strained from the first wort, in order to be boiled again in the second.
Eight pounds is the common proportion to a quarter of malt; but in
summer the quantity must be varied from eight to twelve pounds,
according to the heat of the atmosphere. After the wort has boiled an
hour, lade it out of the copper and cool it. In summer it should be
quite cold before it is set to work; in winter it should be kept till a
slight degree of warmth is perceptible by the finger. When properly
cooled set it to work, by adding yeast in proportion to the quantity. If
considerable, and if wanted to work quick, add from one to two gallons.
Porter requires to be brought forward quicker than other malt liquor:
let it work till it comes to a good deep head, then cleanse it by adding
the ginger. The liquor is now fit for tunning: fill the barrels full,
and let the yeast work out, adding fresh liquor to fill them up till
they have done working. Now bung the barrels, but keep a watchful eye
upon them for some time, lest the beer should suddenly ferment again and
burst them, which is no uncommon accident where due care is not taken.
The heat of summer, or a sudden change of weather, will occasion the
same misfortune, if the barrels are not watched, and eased when they
require it, by drawing the peg. The only part which remains to complete
the brewing, is fining the beer. To understand this, it is necessary to
remark, that London porter is composed of three different sorts of malt;
pale, brown, and amber. The reason for using these three sorts, is to
attain a peculiar flavour and colour. Amber is the most wholesome, and
for home brewing it is recommended to use none else. In consequence of
the subtleness of the essentia, which keeps continually swimming in the
beer, porter requires a considerable body of finings; but should any one
choose to brew without the essentia, with amber malt, and with colour
only, the porter will soon refine of itself. The finings however are
composed of isinglass dissolved in stale beer, till the whole becomes of
a thin gluey consistence like size. One pint is the usual proportion to
a barrel, but sometimes two, and even three are found necessary.
Particular care must be taken that the beer in which the isinglass is
dissolved, be perfectly clear, and thoroughly stale.--By attending to
these directions, any person may brew as good, if not better porter,
than they can be supplied with from the public houses. Many notions have
been artfully raised, that porter requires to be brewed in large
quantities, and to be long stored, to render it sound and strong; but
experience will prove the falsehood of these prejudices, which have
their origin with the ignorant, and are cherished by the interested. One
brewing under another will afford ample time for porter to refine for
use, and every person can best judge of the extent of his own
consumption. Porter is not the better for being brewed in large
quantities, except that the same trouble which brews a peck, will brew a
bushel. This mode of practice will be found simple and easy in its
operation, and extremely moderate in point of trouble and expense.


LONDON SYLLABUB. Put a pint and a half of port or white wine into a
bowl, nutmeg grated, and a good deal of sugar. Then milk into it near
two quarts of milk, frothed up. If the wine be rather sharp, it will
require more for this quantity of milk. In Devonshire, clouted cream is
put on the top, with pounded cinnamon and sugar.


LOOKING GLASSES. In order to clean them from the spots of flies and
other stains, rub them over with a fine damp cloth. Then polish with a
soft woollen cloth, and powder blue.


LOVE. As health is materially affected by the passions, it is of some
consequence to observe their separate influence, in order to obviate
some of their ill effects. Love is unquestionably the most powerful, and
is less under the controul of the understanding than any of the rest. It
has a kind of omnipotence ascribed to it, which belongs not to any
other. 'Love is strong as death; many waters cannot quench it, neither
can the floods drown it.' Other passions are necessary for the
preservation of the individual, but this is necessary for the
continuation of the species: it was proper therefore that it should be
deeply rooted in the human breast. There is no trifling with this
passion: when love has risen to a certain height, it admits of no other
cure but the possession of its object, which in this case ought always
if possible to be obtained. The ruinous consequences arising from
disappointment, which happen almost every day, are dreadful to relate;
and no punishment can be too great for those whose wilful conduct
becomes the occasion of such catastrophes. Parents are deeply laden with
guilt, who by this means plunge their children into irretrievable ruin;
and lovers are deserving of no forgiveness, whose treacherous conduct
annihilates the hopes and even the existence of their friends.




M.


MACARONI. The usual way of preparing macaroni is to boil it in milk, or
weak veal broth, flavoured with salt. When tender, put it into a dish
without the liquor. Add to it some bits of butter and grated cheese;
over the top grate more, and add a little more butter. Set the dish into
a Dutch oven a quarter of an hour, but do not let the top become
hard.--Another way. Wash it well, and simmer in half milk and half
broth, of veal or mutton, till it is tender. To a spoonful of this
liquor, put the yolk of an egg beaten in a spoonful of cream; just make
it hot to thicken, but not to boil. Spread it on the macaroni, and then
grate fine old cheese all over, with bits of butter. Brown the whole
with a salamander.--Another. Wash the macaroni, then simmer it in a
little broth, with a little salt and pounded mace. When quite tender,
take it out of the liquor, lay it in a dish, grate a good deal of cheese
over, and cover it with fine grated bread. Warm some butter without
oiling, and pour it from a boat through a small earthen cullender all
over the crumbs; then put the dish into a Dutch oven to roast the
cheese, and brown the bread of a fine colour. The bread should be in
separate crumbs, and look light.


MACARONI PUDDING. Simmer in a pint of milk, an ounce or two of the pipe
sort of macaroni, and a bit of lemon and cinnamon. When quite tender,
put it into a dish with milk, two or three eggs, but only one white. Add
some sugar, nutmeg, a spoonful of peach water, and the same of raisin
wine. Bake with a paste round the edges. A layer of orange marmalade, or
raspberry jam, in a macaroni pudding, is a great improvement. In this
case omit the almond water, or ratifia, which would otherwise be wanted
to give it a flavour.


MACARONI SOUP. Boil a pound of the best macaroni in a quart of good
stock, till it is quite tender. Then take out half, and put it into
another stewpot. Add some more stock to the remainder, and boil it till
all the macaroni will pulp through a fine sieve. Then add together the
two liquors, a pint or more of boiling cream, the macaroni that was
first taken out, and half a pound of grated parmesan cheese. Make it
hot, but do not let it boil. Serve it with the crust of a French roll,
cut into the size of a shilling.


MACAROONS. Blanch four ounces of almonds, and pound them with four
spoonfuls of orange water. Whisk the whites of four eggs to a froth, mix
it with the almonds, and a pound of sifted sugar, till reduced to a
paste. Lay a sheet of wafer paper on a tin, and put on the paste in
little cakes, the shape of macaroons.


MACKAREL. Their season is generally May, June, and July; but may
sometimes be had at an earlier period. When green gooseberries are
ready, their appearance may at all times be expected. They are so tender
a fish that they carry and keep worse than any other: choose those that
are firm and bright, and sweet scented. After gutting and cleaning, boil
them gently, and serve with butter and fennel, or gooseberry sauce. To
broil them, split and sprinkle with herbs, pepper and salt; or stuff
with the same, adding crumbs and chopped fennel.


MAGNUM BONUM PLUMS. Though very indifferent when eaten raw, this fruit
makes an excellent sweetmeat, or is fine in the form of tarts. Prick
them with a needle to prevent bursting, simmer them very gently in a
thin syrup, put them in a china bowl, and when cold pour the syrup
over. Let them lie three days, then make a syrup of three pounds of
sugar to five pounds of fruit, with no more water than hangs to large
lumps of the sugar dipped quickly, and instantly brought out. Boil the
plums in this fresh syrup, after draining the first from them. Do them
very gently till they are clear, and the syrup adheres to them. Put them
one by one into small pots, and pour the liquor over. Reserve a little
syrup in the pan for those intended to be dried, warm up the fruit in
it, drain them out, and put them on plates to dry in a cool oven. These
plums are apt to ferment, if not boiled in two syrups; the former will
sweeten pies, but will have too much acid to keep. A part may be
reserved, with the addition of a little sugar, to do those that are dry,
for they will not require to be so sweet as if kept wet, and will eat
very nicely if boiled like the rest. One parcel may be done after
another, and save much sugar, but care must be taken not to break the
fruit.


MAHOGANY. To give a fine colour to mahogany, let the furniture be washed
perfectly clean with vinegar, having first taken out any ink stains
there may be, with spirits of salt, taking the greatest care to touch
the stained part very slightly, and then the spirits must be instantly
washed off. Use the following liquid. Put into a pint of cold-drawn
linseed oil, four pennyworth of alkanet root, and two pennyworth of rose
pink. Let it remain all night in an earthen vessel, then stirring it
well, rub some of it all over the mahogany with a linen rag; and when it
has lain some time, rub it bright with linen cloths. Dining tables
should be covered with mat, oil cloth, or baize, to prevent staining;
and should be instantly rubbed when the dishes are removed, while the
board is still warm.


MAIDS. This kind of fish, as well as skate, requires to be hung up a day
before it is dressed, to prevent its eating tough. Maids may either be
broiled or fried; or if a tolerable size, the middle part may be boiled,
and the fins fried. They should be dipped in egg, and covered with
crumbs.


MALT. This article varies very much in value, according to the quality
of the barley, and the mode of manufacture. When good it is full of
flour, and in biting a grain asunder it will easily separate; the shell
will appear thin, and well filled up with flour. If it bite hard and
steely, the malt is bad. The difference of pale and brown malt arises
merely from the different degrees of heat employed in the drying: the
main object is the quantity of flour. If the barley was light and thin,
whether from unripeness, blight, or any other cause, it will not malt so
well; but instead of sending out its roots in due time, a part of it
will still be barley. This will appear by putting a handful of unground
malt in cold water, and stirring it about till every grain is wetted;
the good will swim, and the unmalted barley sink to the bottom. But if
the barley be well malted, there is still a variety in the quality: for
a bushel of malt from fine, plump, heavy barley, will be better than the
same quantity from thin and light barley. Weight therefore here is the
criterion of quality; and a bushel of malt weighing forty-five pounds is
cheaper than any other at almost any price, supposing it to be free from
unmalted barley, for the barley itself is heavier than the malt. The
practice of mixing barley with the malt on a principle of economy, is
not to be approved; for though it may add a little to the strength of
the wort, it makes the beer flat and insipid, and of course unwholesome.


MARBLE. Chimney pieces, or marble slabs, may be cleaned with muriatic
acid, either diluted or in a pure state. If too strong, it will deprive
the marble of its polish, but may be restored by using a piece of felt
and a little putty powdered, rubbing it on with clean water. Another
method is, making a paste of a bullock's gall, a gill of soap lees, half
a gill of turpentine, and a little pipe clay. The paste is then applied
to the marble, and suffered to remain a day or two. It is afterwards
rubbed off, and applied a second or third time, to render the marble
perfectly clean, and give it the finest polish.


MARBLE CEMENT. If by any accident, marble or alabaster happen to be
broken, it may be strongly cemented together in the following manner.
Melt two pounds of bees' wax, and one pound of rosin. Take about the
same quantity of marble or other stones that require to be joined, and
reduce it to a powder; stir it well together with the melted mixture,
and knead the mass in water, till the powder is thoroughly incorporated
with the wax and rosin. The parts to be joined must be heated and made
quite dry, and the cement applied quite hot. Melted sulphur, laid on
fragments of stone previously heated, will make a firm and durable
cement. Little deficiencies in stones or corners that have been stripped
or broken off, may be supplied with some of the stone powdered and mixed
with melted sulphur: but care must be taken to have both parts properly
heated.


MARBLE PAPER. For marbling books or paper, dissolve four ounces of gum
arabac in two quarts of water, and pour it into a broad vessel. Mix
several colours with water in separate shells: with small brushes
peculiar to each colour, sprinkle and intermix them on the surface of
the gum water, and curl them with a stick so as to form a variety of
streaks. The edges of a book pressed close may then be slightly dipped
in the colours on the surface of the water, and they will take the
impression of the mixture. The edges may then be glazed with the white
of an egg, and the colours will remain. A sheet of paper may be marbled
in the same way.


MARBLE STAINS. To take stains out of marble, make a tolerably thick
mixture of unslaked lime finely powdered, with some strong soap-ley.
Spread it instantly over the marble with a painter's brush, and in two
month's time wash it off perfectly clean. Prepare a fine thick lather of
soft soap, boiled in soft water; dip a brush in it, and scour the marble
well with powder. Clear off the soap, and finish with a smooth hard
brush till the stains are all removed. After a very good rubbing, the
marble will acquire a beautiful polish. If the marble has been injured
by iron stains, take an equal quantity of fresh spirits of vitriol and
lemon juice. Mix them in a bottle, shake it well, and wet the spots. Rub
with a soft linen cloth, and in a few minutes they will disappear.


MARBLE VEAL. The meat is prepared in the same way as potted beef or
veal. Then beat up a boiled tongue, or slices of ham, with butter, white
pepper, and pounded mace. Put a layer of veal in the pot, then stick in
pieces of tongue or ham, fill up the spaces with veal, and pour
clarified butter over it.


MARKING INK. Mix two drams of the tincture of galls with one dram of
lunar caustic, and for marking of linen, use it with a pen as common
ink. The cloth must first be wetted in a strong solution of salt of
tartar, and afterwards dried, before any attempt be made to write upon
it. A beautiful red ink may also be prepared for this purpose by mixing
half an ounce of vermillion, and a dram of the salt of steel, with as
much linseed oil as will make it of a proper consistency, either to use
with a pen or a hair pencil. Other colours may be made in the same way,
by substituting the proper ingredients instead of vermillion.


MANGOES. Cut off the tops of some large green cucumbers, take out the
seeds, and wipe them dry. Fill them with mustard-seed, horseradish,
sliced onion, ginger, and whole pepper. Sow on the tops, put the mangoes
into a jar, cover them with boiling vinegar, and do them the same as any
other pickle. Melons are done in the same way.


MARIGOLD WINE. Boil three pounds and a half of lump sugar in a gallon of
water, put in a gallon of marigold flowers, gathered dry and picked from
the stalks, and then make it as for cowslip wine. If the flowers be
gathered only a few at a time, measure them when they are picked, and
turn and dry them in the shade. When a sufficient quantity is prepared,
put them into a barrel, and pour the sugar and water upon them. Put a
little brandy into the bottles, when the wine is drawn off.


MARMALADE. For a cough or cold, take six ounces of Malaga raisins, and
beat them to a fine paste, with the same quantity of sugarcandy. Add an
ounce of the conserve of roses, twenty-five drops of oil of vitriol, and
twenty drops of oil of sulphur. Mix them well together, and take a small
tea-spoonful night and morning.


MARROW BONES. Cover the top of them with a floured cloth, boil and serve
them with dry toast.


MARSHMALLOW OINTMENT. Take half a pound of marshmallow roots, three
ounces of linseed, and three ounces of fenugreek seed; bruise and boil
them gently half an hour in a quart of water, and then add two quarts of
sweet oil. Boil them together till the water is all evaporated, and
strain off the oil. Add a pound of bees' wax, half a pound of yellow
rosin, and two ounces of common turpentine. Melt them together over a
slow fire, and keep stirring till the ointment is cold.


MASHED PARSNIPS. Boil the roots tender, after they have been wiped
clean. Scrape them, and mash them in a stewpan with a little cream, a
good piece of butter, pepper and salt.


MASHED POTATOES. Boil the potatoes, peel them, and reduce them to paste.
Add a quarter of a pint of milk to two pounds weight, a little salt, and
two ounces of butter, and stir it all well together over the fire. They
may either be served up in this state, or in scallops, or put on the
dish in a form, and the top browned with a salamander.


MATTRASSES. Cushions, mattrasses, and bed clothes stuffed with wool, are
particularly liable to be impregnated with what is offensive and
injurious, from persons who have experienced putrid and inflammatory
fevers, and cannot therefore be too carefully cleaned, carded, and
washed. It would also be proper frequently to fumigate them with vinegar
or muriatic gas. If these articles be infested with insects, dissolve a
pound and a half of alum, and as much cream of tartar, in three pints of
boiling water. Mix this solution in three gallons of cold water, immerse
the wool in it for several days, and then let it be washed and dried.
This operation will prevent the insects from attacking it in future.


MEAD. Dissolve thirty pounds of honey in thirteen gallons of water; boil
and skim it well. Then add of rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and
sweetbriar, about a handful altogether. Boil the whole for an hour, and
put it into a tub, with two or three handfuls of ground malt. Stir it
till it is about blood warm, then strain it through a cloth, and return
it into the tub. Cut a toast, spread it over with good ale yeast, and
put it into the tub. When the liquor has sufficiently fermented, put it
into a cask. Take an ounce and a half each of cloves, mace, and nutmegs,
and an ounce of sliced ginger. Bruise the spices; tie them up in a
cloth, and hang it in the vessel, which must be stopped up close for
use.--Another way. Put four or five pounds of honey into a gallon of
boiling water, and let it continue to boil an hour and a half. Skim it
quite clean, put in the rinds of three or four lemons, and two ounces of
hops sewed up in a bag. When cold, put the liquor into a cask, stop it
up close, and let it stand eight or nine months.


MEASLES. In general, all that is needful in the treatment of this
complaint is to keep the body open by means of tamarinds, manna, or
other gentle laxatives; and to supply the patient frequently with barley
water, or linseed tea sweetened with honey. Bathe the feet in warm
water; and if there be a disposition to vomit, it ought to be promoted
by drinking a little camomile tea. If the disorder appear to strike
inward, the danger may be averted by applying blisters to the arms and
legs, and briskly rubbing the whole body with warm flannels.


MEAT. In all sorts of provisions, the best of the kind goes the
farthest; it cuts out with most advantage, and affords most nourishment.
Round of beef, fillet of veal, and leg of mutton, are joints that bear a
higher price; but as they have more solid meat, they deserve the
preference. Those joints however which are inferior, may be dressed as
palatably; and being cheaper, they should be bought in turn; for when
weighed with the prime pieces, it makes the price of these come lower.
In loins of meat, the long pipe that runs by the bone should be taken
out, as it is apt to taint; as also the kernels of beef. Rumps and
edgebones of beef are often bruised by the blows which the drovers give
the beasts, and the part that has been struck always taints; these
joints therefore when bruised should not be purchased. And as great loss
is often sustained by the spoiling of meat, after it is purchased, the
best way to prevent this is to examine it well, wipe it every day, and
put some pieces of charcoal over it. If meat is brought from a distance
in warm weather, the butcher should be desired to cover it close, and
bring it early in the morning, to prevent its being fly-blown.--All meat
should be washed before it is dressed. If for boiling, the colour will
be better for the soaking; but if for roasting, it should afterwards be
dried. Particular care must be taken that the pot be well skimmed the
moment it boils, otherwise the foulness will be dispersed over the meat.
The more soups or broth are skimmed, the better and cleaner they will
be. Boiled meat should first be well floured, and then put in while the
water is cold. Meat boiled quick is sure to be hard; but care must be
taken, that in boiling slow it does not stop, or the meat will be
underdone. If the steam be kept in, the water will not be much reduced;
but if this be desirable, the cover must be removed. As to the length of
time required for roasting and boiling, the size of the joint must
direct, as also the strength of the fire, and the nearness of the meat
to it. In boiling, attention must be paid to the progress it makes,
which should be regular and slow. For every pound of meat, a quarter of
an hour or twenty minutes is generally allowed, according as persons
choose to have it well or underdone. In preparing a joint for roasting,
care must be taken not to run the spit through the best parts of the
meat, and that no black stains appear upon it at the time of serving.


MEAT SAUCE. Put to a clean anchovy, a glass of port wine, a little
strong broth, a sliced shalot, some nutmeg, and the juice of a Seville
orange. Stew them together, and mix it with the gravy that runs from the
meat.


MEAT SCREEN. This is a great saver of coals, and should be sufficiently
large to guard what is roasting from currents of air. It should be
placed on wheels, have a flat top, and not be less than about three feet
and a half wide, with shelves in it, about one foot deep. It will then
answer all the purposes of a large Dutch oven, a plate warmer, and a hot
hearth. Some are made with a door behind, which is convenient; but the
great heat to which they are exposed soon shrinks the materials, and the
currents of air through the cracks cannot be prevented. Those without a
door are therefore best.


MEDLEY PIE. Cut into small pieces some fat pork, or other meat
underdone, and season it with salt and pepper. Cover the sides of the
dish with common crust, put in a layer of sliced apples with a little
sugar, then a layer of meat, and a layer of sliced onions, till the dish
is full. Put a thick crust over it, and bake it in a slow oven. Currants
or scalded gooseberries may be used instead of apples, and the onions
omitted.


MELON FLUMMERY. Put plenty of bitter almonds into some stiff flummery,
and make it of a pale green with spinach juice. When it becomes as thick
as cream, wet the melon mould, and put the flummery into it. Put a pint
of calf's foot jelly into a bason, and let it stand till the next day:
then turn out the melon, and lay it in the midst of the bason of jelly.
Fill up the bason with jelly beginning to set, and let it stand all
night. Turn it out the next day, the same as for fruit in jelly: make a
garland of flowers, and place it on the jelly.


MELON MANGOES. There is a particular sort for preserving, which must be
carefully distinguished. Cut a square small piece out of one side, and
through that take out the seeds, and mix with them mustard-seed and
shred garlic. Stuff the melon as full as the space will allow, replace
the square piece, and bind it up with fine packthread, boil a good
quantity of vinegar, to allow for wasting, with peppercorns, salt, and
ginger. Pour the liquor boiling hot over the mangoes four successive
days; and on the last day put flour of mustard, and scraped horseradish
into the vinegar just as it boils up. Observe that there is plenty of
vinegar before it is stopped down, for pickles are soon spoiled if not
well covered. Also the greater number of times that boiling vinegar is
poured over them, the sooner they will be ready for eating. Mangoes
should be pickled soon after they are gathered. Large cucumbers, called
green turley, prepared as mangoes, are very excellent, and come sooner
to table.


MELTED BUTTER. Though a very essential article for the table, it is
seldom well prepared. Mix on a trencher, in the proportion of a
tea-spoonful of flour to four ounces of the best butter. Put it into a
saucepan, and two or three table-spoonfuls of hot water; boil it quick
for a minute, and shake it all the time. Milk used instead of water,
requires rather less butter, and looks whiter.


MICE. The poisonous substances generally prepared for the destruction of
mice are attended with danger, and the use of them should by all means
be avoided. Besides the common traps, baited with cheese, the following
remedy will be found both safe and efficacious. Take a few handfuls of
wheat flour, or malt meal, and knead it into a dough. Let it grow sour
in a warm place, mix with it some fine iron filings, form the mass into
small balls, and put them into the holes frequented by the mice. On
eating this preparation, they are inevitably killed. Cats, owls, or
hedgehogs, would be highly serviceable in places infested with mice. An
effectual mousetrap may be made in the following manner. Take a plain
four square trencher, and put into the two contrary corners of it a
large pin, or piece of knitting needle. Then take two sticks about a
yard long, and lay them on the dresser, with a notch cut at each end of
the sticks, placing the two pins on the notches, so that one corner of
the trencher may lie about an inch on the dresser or shelf that the mice
come to. The opposite corner must be baited with some butter and oatmeal
plastered on the trencher; and when the mice run towards the butter, it
will tip them into a glazed earthen vessel full of water, which should
be placed underneath for that purpose. To prevent the trencher from
tipping over so as to lose its balance, it may be fastened to the shelf
or dresser with a thread and a little sealing wax, to restore it to its
proper position. To prevent their devastations in barns, care should be
taken to lay beneath the floor a stratum of sharp flints, fragments of
glass mixed with sand, or broken cinders. If the floors were raised on
piers of brick, about fifteen inches above the ground, so that dogs or
cats might have a free passage beneath the building, it would prevent
the vermin from harbouring there, and tend greatly to preserve the
grain. Field mice are also very destructive in the fields and gardens,
burrowing under the ground, and digging up the earth when newly sown.
Their habitations may be discovered by the small mounds of earth that
are raised near the entrance, or by the passages leading to their nests;
and by following these, the vermin may easily be destroyed. To prevent
early peas being eaten by the mice, soak the seed a day or two in train
oil before it is sown, which will promote its vegetation, and render the
peas so obnoxious to the mice, that they will not eat them. The tops of
furze, chopped and thrown into the drills, when the peas are sown, will
be an effectual preventive. Sea sand strewed thick on the surface of the
ground, round the plants liable to be attacked by the mice, will have
the same effect.


MILDEW. To remove stains in linen occasioned by mildew, mix some soft
soap and powdered starch, half as much salt, and the juice of a lemon.
Lay it on the part on both sides with a painter's brush, and let it lie
on the grass day and night till the stain disappears.


MILK BUTTER. This article is principally made in Cheshire, where the
whole of the milk is churned without being skimmed. In the summer time,
immediately after milking, the meal is put to cool in earthen jars till
it become sufficiently coagulated, and has acquired a slight degree of
acidity, enough to undergo the operation of churning. During the summer,
this is usually performed in the course of one or two days. In order to
forward the coagulation in the winter, the milk is placed near the fire;
but in summer, if it has not been sufficiently cooled before it is added
to the former meal, or if it has been kept too close, and be not churned
shortly after it has acquired the necessary degree of consistence, a
fermentation will ensue; in which case the butter becomes rancid, and
the milk does not yield that quantity which it would, if churned in
proper time. This also is the case in winter, when the jars have been
placed too near the fire, and the milk runs entirely to whey. Milk
butter is in other respects made like the common butter.


MILK AND CREAM. In hot weather, when it is difficult to preserve milk
from becoming sour, and spoiling the cream, it may be kept perfectly
sweet by scalding the new milk very gently, without boiling, and setting
it by in the earthen dish or pan that it is done in. This method is
pursued in Devonshire, for making of butter, and for eating; and it
would answer equally well in small quantities for the use of the tea
table. Cream already skimmed may be kept twenty-four hours if scalded,
without sugar; and by adding as much pounded lump sugar as shall make it
pretty sweet, it will be good two days, by keeping it in a cool place.


MILK PORRIDGE. Make a fine gruel of half grits well boiled, strain it
off, add warm or cold milk, and serve with toasted bread.


MILK PUNCH. Pare six oranges and six lemons as thin as possible, and
grate them afterwards with sugar to extract the flavour. Steep the peels
in a bottle of rum or brandy, stopped close twenty-four hours. Squeeze
the fruit on two pounds of sugar, add to it four quarts of water, and
one of new milk boiling hot. Stir the rum into the above, and run it
through a jelly bag till perfectly clear. Bottle and cork it close
immediately.


MILK OF ROSES. Mix an ounce of oil of almonds with a pint of rose water,
and then add ten drops of the oil of tartar.


MILK SOUP. Boil a pint of milk with a little salt, cinnamon, and sugar.
Lay thin slices of bread in a dish, pour over them a little of the milk,
and keep them hot over a stove without burning. When the soup is ready,
beat up the yolks of five or six eggs, and add them to the milk. Stir it
over the fire till it thickens, take it off before it curdles, and pour
it upon the bread in the dish.


MILKING. Cows should be milked three times a day in the summer, if duly
fed, and twice in the winter. Great care should be taken to drain the
milk completely from the udder; for if any be suffered to remain, the
cow will give less every meal, till at length she becomes dry before her
proper time, and the next season she will scarcely give a sufficient
quantity of milk to pay the expences of her keeping. The first milk
drawn from a cow is also thinner, and of an inferior quality to that
which is afterwards obtained: and this richness increases progressively,
to the very last drop that can be drawn from the udder. If a cow's teats
be scratched or wounded, her milk will be foul, and should not be mixed
with that of other cows, but given to the pigs. In warm weather, the
milk should remain in the pail till nearly cold, before it is strained;
but in frosty weather this should be done immediately, and a small
quantity of boiling water mixed with it. This will produce plenty of
cream, especially in trays of a large surface. As cows are sometimes
troublesome to milk, and in danger of contracting bad habits, they
always require to be treated with great gentleness, especially when
young, or while their teats are tender. In this case the udder ought to
be fomented with warm water before milking, and the cow soothed with
mild treatment; otherwise she will be apt to become stubborn and unruly,
and retain her milk ever after. A cow will never let down her milk
freely to the person she dreads or dislikes.


MILLET PUDDING. Wash three spoonfuls of the seed, put it into a dish
with a crust round the edge, pour over it as much new milk as will
nearly fill the dish, two ounces of butter warmed with it, sugar, shred
lemon peel, and a dust of ginger and nutmeg. As you put it in the oven,
stir in two beaten eggs, and a spoonful of shred suet.


MINCE PIES. Of scraped beef, free from skin and strings, weigh two
pounds, of suet picked and chopped four pounds, and of currants nicely
cleaned and perfectly dry, six pounds. Then add three pounds of chopped
apples, the peel and juice of two lemons, a pint of sweet wine, a
nutmeg, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, the same of mace, and pimento,
in the finest powder. Mix the whole well together, press it into a deep
pan, and keep it covered in a dry cool place. A little citron, orange,
and lemon peel, should be put into each pie when made. The above
quantity of mince meat may of course be reduced, in equal proportions,
for small families.--Mince pies without meat, are made in the following
manner. Pare, core, and mince six pounds of apples; shred three pounds
of fresh suet, and stone three pounds of raisins minced. Add to these, a
quarter of an ounce each of mace and cinnamon, and eight cloves, all
finely powdered. Then three pounds of the finest powder sugar, three
quarters of an ounce of salt, the rinds of four and the juice of two
lemons, half a pint of port, and half a pint of brandy. Mix well
together, and put the ingredients into a deep pan. Prepare four pounds
of currants, well washed and dried, and add them when the pies are made,
with some candied fruit.


MINCED BEEF. Shred fine the underdone part, with some of the fat. Put it
into a small stewpan with some onion, or a very small quantity of
shalot, a little water, pepper and salt. Boil it till the onion is quite
soft; then put some of the gravy of the meat to it, and the mince, but
do not let it boil. Prepare a small hot dish with sippets of bread, mix
a large spoonful of vinegar with the mince, and pour it into the dish.
If shalot vinegar is used, the raw onion and shalot may be dispensed
with.


MINCED COLLOPS. Chop and mince some beef very small, and season it with
pepper and salt. Put it, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on
the top some clarified butter. When to be used, put the clarified butter
into a fryingpan, and fry some sliced onions. Add a little water to it,
put in the minced meat, and it will be done in a few minutes. This is a
favourite Scotch dish, and few families are without it. It keeps well,
and is always ready for an extra dish.


MINCED VEAL. Cut some cold veal as fine as possible, but do not chop it.
Put to it a very little lemon-peel shred, two grates of nutmeg, some
salt, and four or five spoonfuls either of weak broth, milk, or water.
Simmer these gently with the meat, adding a bit of butter rubbed in
flour, but take care not to let it boil. Put sippets of thin toasted
bread, cut into a three-cornered shape, round the dish.


MINT SAUCE. Pick and wash the mint clean, and chop it fine. Put it into
a small bason, and mix it with sugar and vinegar.


MINT VINEGAR. As fresh mint is not at all times to be had, a welcome
substitute will be found in the preparation of mint vinegar. Dry and
pound half an ounce of mint seed, pour upon it a quart of the best
vinegar, let it steep ten days, and shake it up every day. This will be
useful in the early season of house lamb.


MITES. Though they principally affect cheese, there are several species
of this insect which breed in flour and other eatables, and do
considerable injury. The most effectual method of expelling them is to
place a few nutmegs in the sack or bin containing the flour, the odour
of which is insupportable to mites; and they will quickly be removed,
without the meal acquiring any unpleasant flavour. Thick branches of the
lilac, or the elder tree, peeled and put into the flour, will have the
same effect. Quantities of the largest sized ants, scattered about
cheese-rooms and granaries, would presently devour all the mites,
without doing any injury.


MIXED WINE. Take an equal quantity of white, red, and black currants,
cherries, and raspberries; mash them, and press the juice through a
strainer. Boil three pounds of moist sugar in three quarts of water, and
skim it clean. When cold, mix a quart of juice with it, and put it into
a barrel that will just hold it. Put in the bung, and after it has stood
a week, close it up, and let it stand three or four months. When the
wine is put into the barrel, add a little brandy to it.


MOCK BRAWN. Boil two pair of neat's feet quite tender, and pick all the
flesh off the bone. Boil the belly piece of a porker nearly enough, and
bone it. Roll the meat of the feet up in the pork, tie it up in a cloth
with tape round it, and boil it till it becomes very tender. Hang it up
in the cloth till it is quite cold, put it into some souse, and keep it
for use.


MOCK TURTLE. Divide a calf's head with the skin on, and clean it well.
Half boil it, take all the meat off in square pieces, break the bones of
the head, and boil them in some veal and beef broth, to add to the
richness. Fry some shalot in butter, and dredge in flower enough to
thicken the gravy; stir this into the browning, and give it one or two
boils. Skim it carefully, and then put in the head; add a pint of
Madeira, and simmer till the meat is quite tender. About ten minutes
before serving, put in some basil, tarragon, chives, parsley, cayenne
pepper, and salt; also two spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, and one of
soy. Squeeze the juice of a lemon into the tureen, and pour the soup
upon it. Serve with forcemeat balls, and small eggs.--A cheaper way.
Prepare half a calf's head as above, but without the skin. When the meat
is cut off, break the bones, and put them into a saucepan with some
gravy made of beef and veal bones, and seasoned with fried onions,
herbs, mace, and pepper. Have ready prepared two or three ox-palates
boiled so tender as to blanch, and cut into small pieces; to which a cow
heel, likewise cut into pieces, is a great improvement. Brown some
butter, flour, and onion, and pour the gravy to it; then add the meats
as above, and stew them together. Add half a pint of sherry, an anchovy,
two spoonfuls of walnut ketchup, the same of mushroom ketchup, and some
chopped herbs as before. The same sauce as before.--Another way. Put
into a pan a knuckle of veal, two fine cow heels, two onions, a few
cloves, peppercorns, berries of allspice, mace, and sweet herbs. Cover
them with water, tie a thick paper over the pan, and set it in an oven
for three hours. When cold, take off the fat very nicely, cut the meat
and feet into bits an inch and a half square, remove the bones and
coarse parts, and then put the rest on to warm, with a large spoonful of
walnut and one of mushroom ketchup, half a pint of sherry or Madeira, a
little mushroom powder, and the jelly of the meat. If it want any more
seasoning, add some when hot, and serve with hard eggs, forcemeat balls,
a squeeze of lemon, and a spoonful of soy. This is a very easy way of
making an excellent dish of mock turtle.--Another. Stew a pound and a
half of scrag of mutton, with three pints of water till reduced to a
quart. Set on the broth, with a calf's foot and a cow heel; cover the
stewpan tight, and let it simmer till the meat can be separated from the
bones in proper pieces. Set it on again with the broth, adding a
quarter of a pint of sherry or Madeira, a large onion, half a
tea-spoonful of cayenne, a bit of lemon peel, two anchovies, some sweet
herbs, eighteen oysters chopped fine, a tea-spoonful of salt, a little
nutmeg, and the liquor of the oysters. Cover it close, and simmer it
three quarters, of an hour. Serve with forcemeat balls, and hard eggs in
the tureen.--An excellent and very cheap mock turtle may be made of two
or three cow heels, baked with two pounds and a half of gravy beef,
herbs, and other ingredients as above.


MOLES. As these little animals live entirely on worms and insects, of
which they consume incalculable numbers, they may be considered as
harmless, and even useful, rather than otherwise; and it has been
observed in fields and gardens where the moles had been caught, that
they afterwards abounded with vermin and insects. But when the moles
become too numerous, they are hurtful to vegetation, and require to be
destroyed. Besides the common method of setting traps in their
subterraneous passages, many might be dug out of the earth by carefully
watching their situation and motions before the rising of the sun, and
striking in a spade behind them to cut off their retreat. The smell of
garlic is so offensive to them, that if a few heads of that plant were
thrust into their runs, it would expel them from the place.


MOONSHINE PUDDING. Put into a baking dish a layer of very thin bread and
butter, strewed over with currants and sweetmeats, and so on till the
dish is full. Mix together a pint and a half of cream, the yolks of six
eggs, half a grated nutmeg, and some sugar. Pour the mixture on the top
of the pudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour.


MOOR FOWL. To dress moor fowl with red cabbage, truss the game as for
boiling. Set them on the fire with a little soup, and let them stew for
half an hour. Cut a red cabbage into quarters, add it to the moor fowl,
season with salt and white pepper, and a little piece of butter rolled
in flour. A glass of port may be added, if approved. Lift out the
cabbage, and place it neatly in the dish, with the moor fowl on it. Pour
the sauce over them, and garnish with small slices of fried bacon.


MORELLA CHERRIES. When the fruit is quite ripe, take off the stalks,
prick them with a pin, and allow a pound and a half of lump sugar to
every pound of cherries. Reduce part of the sugar to powder, and strew
it over them. Next day dissolve the remainder in half a pint of currant
juice, set it over a slow fire, put in the cherries with the sugar, and
give them a gentle boil. Take out the cherries carefully, boil the syrup
till it is thick, pour it upon the cherries, and tie them down.--Any
other kind of fruit may be treated in the same way, only using such kind
of juice to boil in the syrup as is most suitable to the fruit to be
preserved. It is proper to put apple jelly over jam or preserved fruit,
or to sift sugar over the tops of the jars; and when cold, cover them
with brandy paper. If the air be admitted, they will not keep.


MORELLA WINE. Cleanse from the stalks sixty pounds of morella cherries,
and bruise them as to break the stones. Press out the juice, mix it with
six gallons of sherry wine, and four gallons of warm water. Powder
separately an ounce of nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace, and hang them
separately in small bags, in the cask containing the liquor. Bung it
down; and in a few weeks it will become a deliciously flavoured wine.


MORELS. In their green state they have a very rich, high flavour, and
are delicious additions to some dishes, or sent up as a stew by
themselves, when they are fresh and fine. When dried they are of very
little use, and serve only to soak up good gravy, from which they take
more flavour than they give.


MOSS. To destroy moss on trees, remove it with a hard brush early in the
spring of the year, and wash the trees afterwards with urine or soap
suds, and plaster them with cow dung. When a sort of white down appears
on apple trees, clear off the red stain underneath it, and anoint the
infected parts with a mixture of train oil and Scotch snuff, which will
effectually cure the disease.


MOTHS. One of the most speedy remedies for their complete extirpation,
is the smell of turpentine, whether it be by sprinkling it on woollen
stuffs, or placing sheets of paper moistened with it between pieces of
cloth. It is remarkable that moths are never known to infest wool
unwashed, or in its natural state, but always abandon the place where
such raw material is kept. Those persons therefore to whom the smell of
turpentine is offensive, may avail themselves of this circumstance, and
place layers of undressed wool between pieces of cloth, or put small
quantities in the corners of shelves and drawers containing drapery of
that description. This, or shavings of the cedar, small slips of Russia
leather, or bits of camphor, laid in boxes or drawers where furs or
woollen clothes are kept, will effectually preserve them from the
ravages of the moth and other insects.


MUFFINS. Stir together a pint of yeast with a pint and half of warm milk
and water, and a little salt. Strain it into a quarter of a peck of fine
flour, knead it well, and set it an hour to rise. Pull it into small
pieces, roll it into balls with the hand, and keep them covered up
warm. Then spread them into muffins, lay them on tins, and bake them;
and as the bottoms begin to change colour, turn them on the other side.
A better sort may be made by adding two eggs, and two ounces of butter
melted in half a pint of milk. Muffins should not be cut, but pulled
open.


MULBERRY SYRUP. Put the mulberries into a kettle of water, and simmer
them over the fire till the juice runs from them. Squeeze out the juice,
and add twice the weight of sugar. Set it over a slow fire, skim it
clean, and simmer it till the sugar is quite dissolved.


MULBERRY WINE. Gather mulberries on a dry day, when they are just
changed from redness to a shining black. Spread them thinly on a fine
cloth, or on a floor or table, for twenty-four hours, and then press
them. Boil a gallon of water with each gallon of juice, putting to every
gallon of water an ounce of cinnamon bark, and six ounces of sugarcandy
finely powdered. Skim and strain the water when it is taken off and
settled, and put it to the mulberry juice. Now add to every gallon of
the mixture, a pint of white or Rhenish wine. Let the whole stand in a
cask to ferment, for five or six days. When settled draw it off into
bottles, and keep it cool.


MULLED ALE. Boil a pint of good sound ale with a little grated nutmeg
and sugar, beat up three eggs, and mix them with a little cold ale. Then
pour the hot ale to it, and return it several times to prevent its
curdling. Warm and stir it till it is thickened, add a piece of butter
or a glass of brandy, and serve it up with dry toast.


MULLED WINE. Boil some spice in a little water till the flavour is
gained, then add an equal quantity of port, with sugar and nutmeg. Boil
all together, and serve with toast.--Another way. Boil a blade of
cinnamon and some grated nutmeg a few minutes, in a large tea-cupful of
water. Pour to it a pint of port wine, add a little sugar, beat it up,
and it will be ready. Good home-made wine may be substituted instead of
port.


MUMBLED HARE. Boil the hare, but not too much; take off the flesh, and
shred it very fine. Add a little salt, nutmeg, lemon peel, and the juice
of a lemon. Put it into a stewpan with a dozen eggs, and a pound of
butter, and keep it stirring.


MUSCLE PLUM CHEESE. Weigh six pounds of the fruit, bake it in a stone
jar, remove the stones, and put in the kernels after they are broken and
picked. Pour half the juice on two pounds and a half of Lisbon sugar;
when melted and simmered a few minutes, skim it, and add the fruit. Keep
it doing very gently till the juice is much reduced, but take care to
stir it constantly, to prevent its burning. Pour it into small moulds,
pattipans, or saucers. The remaining juice may serve to colour creams,
or be added to a pie.


MUSHROOMS. Before these are prepared for eating, great care must be
taken to ascertain that they are genuine, as death in many instances has
been occasioned by using a poisonous kind of fungus, resembling
mushrooms. The eatable mushrooms first appear very small, of a round
form, and on a little stalk. They grow very fast, and both the stalk and
the upper part are white. As the size increases, the under part
gradually opens, and shows a kind of fringed fur, of a very fine salmon
colour; which continues more or less till the mushroom has gained some
size, and then it turns to a dark brown. These marks should be attended
to, and likewise whether the skin can be easily parted from the edges
and middle. Those that have a white or yellow fur should be carefully
avoided, though many of them have a similar smell, but not so strong and
fragrant, as the genuine mushroom. Great numbers of these may be
produced, by strewing on an old hotbed the broken pieces of mushrooms;
or if the water in which they have been washed be poured on the bed, it
will nearly answer the same purpose.


MUSHROOMS DRIED. Wipe them clean, take out the brown part of the large
ones, and peel off the skin. Lay them on paper to dry in a cool oven,
and keep them in paper bags in a dry place. When used, simmer them in
the gravy, and they will swell to nearly their former size. Or before
they are made into powder, it is a good way to simmer them in their own
liquor till it dry up into them, shaking the pan all the time, and
afterwards drying them on tin plates. Spice may be added or not. Tie the
mushrooms down close in a bottle, and keep it in a dry place.


MUSHROOM KETCHUP. Take the largest broad mushrooms, break them into an
earthen pan, strew salt over, and stir them occasionally for three days.
Then let them stand twelve days, till there is a thick scum over. Strain
and boil the liquor with Jamaica and black peppers, mace, ginger, a
clove or two, and some mustard seed. When cold, bottle it, and tie a
bladder over the cork. In three months boil it again with fresh spice,
and it will then keep a twelvemonth.--Another way. Fill a stewpan with
large flap mushrooms, that are not worm-eaten, and the skins and fringe
of such as have been pickled. Throw a handful of salt among them, and
set them by a slow fire. They will produce a great deal of liquor, which
must be strained; then add four ounces of shalots, two cloves of garlic,
a good deal of whole pepper, ginger, mace, cloves, and a few bay
leaves. Boil and skim it well, and when cold, cork it up close. In two
months boil it up again with a little fresh spice, and a stick of
horseradish. It will then keep a year, which mushroom ketchup rarely
does, if not boiled a second time.


MUSHROOM POWDER. Wash half a peck of large mushrooms while quite fresh,
and free them from grit and dirt with flannel. Scrape out the black part
clean, and do not use any that are worm-eaten. Put them into a stewpan
over the fire without any water, with two large onions, some cloves, a
quarter of an ounce of mace, and two spoonfuls of white pepper, all in
powder. Simmer and shake them till all the liquor be dried up, but be
careful they do not burn. Lay them on tins or sieves in a slow oven till
they are dry enough to beat to powder; then put the powder into small
bottles, corked, and tied closely, and kept in a dry place. A
tea-spoonful of this powder will give a very fine flavour to any soup or
gravy, or any sauce; and it is to be added just before serving, and one
boil given to it after it is put in.


MUSHROOM SAUCE. Melt some butter with flour, in a little milk or cream.
Put in some mushrooms, a little salt and nutmeg, and boil it up together
in a saucepan. Or put the mushrooms into melted butter, with veal gravy,
salt, and nutmeg.


MUSLIN PATTERNS. In order to copy muslin patterns, the drawing is to be
placed on a sheet of white paper, and the outline pricked through with a
pin. The white sheet may then be laid on a second clear one, and a
muslin bag of powdered charcoal sifted or rubbed over it. The pierced
paper being removed, a perfect copy may be traced on the other; and in
this way, patterns may be multiplied very expeditiously.


MUSTARD. Mix by degrees, the best Durham flour of mustard with boiling
water, rubbing it perfectly smooth, till it comes to a proper thickness.
Add a little salt, keep it in a small jar close covered, and put only as
much into the glass as will be used soon. The glass should be wiped
daily round the edges. If for immediate use, mix the mustard with new
milk by degrees, till it is quite smooth, and a little raw cream. It is
much softer this way, does not taste bitter, and will keep well. A
tea-spoonful of sugar, to half a pint of mustard, is a great
improvement, and tends much to soften it. Patent mustard is nearly as
cheap as any other, and is generally preferred.


MUSTY FLOUR. When flour has acquired a musty smell and taste, from
dampness and other causes, it may be recovered by the simple use of
magnesia, allowing thirty grains of the carbonate to one pound of flour.
It is to be leavened and baked in the usual way of making bread. The
loaves will be found to rise well in the oven, to be more light and
spongy, and also whiter than bread in the common way. It will likewise
have an excellent taste, and will keep well. The use of magnesia in
bread making is well worthy of attention, for if it improves musty
flour, and renders it palatable, it would much more improve bread in
general, and be the interest of families to adopt it. The use of
magnesia in bread, independent of its improving qualities, is as much
superior to that of alum as one substance can be to another.


MUTTON. In cutting up mutton, in order to its being dressed, attention
should be paid to the different joints. The pipe that runs along the
bone of the inside of a chine must be removed, and if the meat is to be
kept some time, the part close round the tail should be rubbed with
salt, after first cutting out the kernel. A leg is apt to be first
tainted in the fat on the thick part, where the kernel is lodged, and
this therefore should be removed, or the meat cannot be expected to keep
well. The chine and rib bones should be wiped every day, and the bloody
part of the neck be cut off to preserve it. The brisket changes first in
the breast; and if it is to be kept, it is best to rub it with a little
salt, should the weather be hot. Every kernel should be taken out of all
sorts of meat as soon as it is brought in, and then wiped dry. For
roasting, it should hang as long as it will keep, the hind quarter
especially, but not so long as to taint; for whatever may be authorised
by the prevailing fashion, putrid juices certainly ought not to be taken
into the stomach. Great care should be taken to preserve by paper the
fat of what is roasted. Mutton for boiling will not look of a good
colour, if it has hung long.--In purchasing this meat, choose it by the
fineness of the grain, the goodness of its colour, and see that the fat
be firm and white. It is not the better for being young: if it be wether
mutton, of a good breed and well fed, it is best for age. The flesh of
ewe mutton is paler, and the texture finer. Ram mutton is very strong
flavoured, the flesh is of a deep red, and the fat is spongy: wether
mutton is the best.


MUTTON BROTH. Soak a neck of mutton in water for an hour, cut off the
scrag, and put it into a stewpot, with two quarts of water. As soon as
it boils, skim it well, and simmer it an hour and a half. Cut the best
end of the mutton into pieces, two bones in each, and take off some of
the fat. Prepare four or five carrots, as many turnips, and three
onions, all sliced, but not cut small. Put them soon enough to get quite
tender, and add four large spoonfuls of Scotch barley, first wetted
with cold water. Twenty minutes before serving, put in some chopped
parsley, add a little salt, and send up all together. This is a Scotch
dish, and esteemed very excellent in the winter.


MUTTON CHOPS. Cut them from the loin or neck, broil them on a clear
fire, and turn them often, or the fat dropping into the fire will smoke
them. When done, put them into a warm dish, rub them with butter, slice
a shalot in a spoonful of boiling water, with a little salt and ketchup,
and pour it over the chops. The ketchup may be omitted, and plain butter
used instead.


MUTTON CHOPS IN DISGUISE. Prepare a seasoning of chopped parsley and
thyme, grated bread, pepper and salt. Smear the chops over with egg,
strew the seasoning on them, and roll each in buttered paper. Close the
ends, put them in a Dutch oven or fryingpan, and let them broil slowly.
When done, send them to table in the paper, with gravy in a boat.


MUTTON COLLOPS. From a loin of mutton that has been well kept, cut some
thin collops nearest to the leg. Take out the sinews, season the collops
with salt, pepper, and mace; and strew over them shred parsley, thyme,
and two or three shalots. Fry them in butter till half done; add half a
pint of gravy, a little lemon juice, and a piece of butter rubbed in
flour. Simmer them together very gently for five minutes, and let the
collops be served up immediately, or they will become hard.


MUTTON CUTLETS. To do them in the Portuguese way, half fry the chops
with sliced shalot or onion, chopped parsley, and two bay leaves. Season
with pepper and salt; then lay a forcemeat on a piece of white paper,
put the chop on it, and twist the paper up, leaving a hole for the end
of the bones to go through. Broil the cutlets on a gentle fire, serve
them with a little gravy, or with sauce Robart.


MUTTON HAM. Choose a fine-grained leg of wether mutton, of twelve or
fourteen pounds weight; cut it ham shape, and let it hang two days. Then
put into a stewpan half a pound of bay salt, the same of common salt,
two ounces of saltpetre, and half a pound of coarse sugar, all in
powder. Mix, and make it quite hot; then rub it well into the ham. Let
it be turned in the liquor every day; at the end of four days add two
ounces more of common salt; in twelve days take it out, dry it, and hang
it up a week in wood smoke. It is to be used in slices, with stewed
cabbage, mashed potatoes, or eggs.


MUTTON HASHED. Cut thin slices of dressed mutton, fat and lean, and
flour them. Boil the bones with a little onion, season the meat, and
warm it up with the gravy, but it should not boil. Instead of onion, a
clove, a spoonful of currant jelly, and a glass of port wine, will make
it taste like venison.


MUTTON KEBOBBED. Take all the fat out of a loin of mutton, and that on
the outside also if too fat, and remove the skin. Joint it at every
bone, mix a small nutmeg grated with a little salt and pepper, crumbs of
bread, and herbs. Dip the steaks into the yolks of three eggs, and
sprinkle the above mixture all over them. Then place the steaks together
as they were before they were cut asunder, tie and fasten them on a
small spit. Roast them before a quick fire; set a dish under, and baste
them with a good piece of butter, and the liquor that comes from the
meat, but throw some more of the above seasoning over. When done enough,
lay the meat in a dish. Prepare an additional half pint of good gravy,
put into it two spoonfuls of ketchup, and rub down a tea-spoonful of
flour with it. Give it a boil, skim off all the fat, and pour it over
the mutton. Be careful to keep the meat hot, till the gravy is quite
ready.


MUTTON PIE. Cut steaks from a loin or neck of mutton that has hung some
time; beat them, and remove some of the fat. Season with salt, pepper,
and a little onion. Put a little water at the bottom of the dish, and a
little paste on the edge; then cover it with a tolerably thick paste. Or
raise small pies, breaking each bone in two to shorten it; cover it
over, and pinch the edges together. When the pies come from the oven,
pour into each a spoonful of good mutton gravy.


MUTTON PUDDING. Season some chops with salt and pepper, and a taste of
onion. Place a layer of meat at the bottom of the dish, pour over them a
batter of potatoes boiled and pressed through a cullender, and mixed
with an egg and milk. Put in the rest of the chops, and the batter, and
bake it. Batter made of flour eats very well, but requires more egg, and
is not so good as potatoe. Another way is to cut slices off a leg that
has been underdone, and put them into a bason lined with a fine suet
crust. Season with pepper and salt, and finely shred onion or shalot.


MUTTON RUMPS AND KIDNEYS. Stew six rumps in some good mutton gravy half
an hour; then take them up, and let them stand to cool. Clear the gravy
from the fat, and put into it four ounces of boiled rice, an onion stuck
with cloves, and a blade of mace. Boil them till the rice is thick. Wash
the rumps with yolks of eggs well beaten, and strew over them crumbs of
bread, a little pepper and salt, chopped parsley and thyme, and grated
lemon peel, fried in butter, of a fine brown. While the rumps are
stewing, lard the kidneys, and set them to roast in a Dutch oven. When
the rumps are ready, the grease must be drained from them before they
are put in the dish; the pan being cleared likewise from the fat, warm
up the rice in it. Lay the latter on the dish, place the rumps round
upon the rice, the narrow ends towards the middle, and the kidneys
between. Garnish with hard eggs cut in halves, the white being left on,
or with different coloured pickles.


MUTTON SAUCE. Two spoonfuls of the liquor in which the mutton is boiled,
the same quantity of vinegar, two or three shalots finely shred, with a
little salt, put into a saucepan with a bit of butter rolled in flour,
stirred together and boiled once, will make good sauce for boiled
mutton.


MUTTON SAUSAGES. Take a pound of the rawest part of a leg of mutton that
has been either roasted or boiled; chop it quite small, and season it
with pepper, salt, mace, and nutmeg. Add to it six ounces of beef suet,
some sweet herbs, two anchovies, and a pint of oysters, all chopped very
small; a quarter of a pound of grated bread, some of the anchovy liquor,
and two eggs well beaten. When well mixed together, put it into a small
pot; and use it by rolling it into balls or sausages, and fry them. If
approved, a little shalot may be added, or garlick, which is a great
improvement.


MUTTON STEAKS. These should be cut from a loin or neck that has been
well kept; if a neck, the bones should not be long. Broil them on a
clear fire, season them when half done, and let them be often turned.
Take them up into a very hot dish, rub a bit of butter on each, and
serve them up hot and hot the moment they are done.--To do them
Maintenon, half fry them first, then stew them while hot, with herbs,
crumbs, and seasoning. Rub a bit of butter on some writing paper, to
prevent its catching the fire, wrap the steaks in it, and finish them on
the gridiron.




N.


NANKEEN DYE. The article generally sold under this title, and which
produces a fine buff colour so much in use, is made of equal parts of
arnetto and common potash, dissolved and boiled in water. The yellow
colour called Dutch Pink, is made from a decoction of weld or dyer's
weed; and if blue cloths be dipped in this liquid, they will take the
colour of a fine green.


NASTURTIONS, if intended for capers, should be kept a few days after
they are gathered. Then pour boiling vinegar over them, and cover them
close when cold. They will not be fit to eat for some months; but are
then finely flavoured, and by many are preferred to capers.


NEAT'S TONGUE. If intended to be stewed, it should be simmered for two
hours, and peeled. Then return it to the same liquor, with pepper, salt,
mace, and cloves, tied up in a piece of cloth. Add a few chopped capers,
carrots and turnips sliced, half a pint of beef gravy, a little white
wine, and sweet herbs. Stew it gently till it is tender, take out the
herbs and spices, and thicken the gravy with butter rolled in flour.


NECK OF MUTTON. This joint is particularly useful, because so many
dishes may be made of it; but it is not esteemed advantageous for a
family. The bones should be cut short, which the butchers will not do
unless particularly desired. The best end of the neck may be boiled, and
served with turnips; or roasted, or dressed in steaks, in pies, or
harrico. The scrags may be stewed in broth; or with a small quantity of
water, some small onions, a few peppercorns, and a little rice, and
served together. When a boiled neck is to look particularly nice, saw
down the chine bone, strip the ribs halfway down, and chop off the ends
of the bones about four inches. The skin should not be taken off till
boiled, and then the fat will look the whiter. When there is more fat
than is agreeable, it makes a very good suet pudding, or crust for a
meat pie if cut very fine.


NECK OF PORK. A loin or neck of pork should be roasted. Cut the skin
across with a sharp penknife, at distances of half an inch. Serve with
vegetables and apple sauce.


NECK OF VEAL. Cut off the scrag to boil, and cover it with onion sauce.
It should be boiled in milk and water. Parsley and butter may be served
with it, instead of onion sauce. Or it may be stewed with whole rice,
small onions, and peppercorns, with a very little water. It may also be
boiled and eaten with bacon and greens. The best end of the neck may
either be roasted, broiled as steaks, or made into a pie.


NECK OF VENISON. Rub it with salt, and let it lie four or five days.
Flour it, and boil it in a cloth, allowing to every pound a quarter of
an hour. Cauliflower, turnips, and cabbages, are eaten with it, and
melted butter. Garnish the dish with some of the vegetables.


NELSON PUDDINGS. Put into a Dutch oven six small cakes, called Nelson
balls or rice cakes, made in small teacups. When quite hot, pour over
them boiling melted butter, white wine, and sugar.


NEW CASKS. If not properly prepared before they are used, new casks are
apt to give beer and other liquor a bad taste. They must therefore be
well scalded and seasoned several days successively before they are
used, and frequently filled with fresh water. The best way however is to
boil two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, and pour it
hot into the cask; then stop it up close, let it stand two days, wash it
out clean, and let the cask be well dried.


NEWCASTLE PUDDING. Butter a half melon mould or quart basin, stick it
all round with dried cherries or fine raisins, and fill it up with
custard and layers of thin bread and butter. Boil or steam it an hour
and a half.


NEWMARKET PUDDING. Put on to boil a pint of good milk, with half a lemon
peel, a little cinnamon, and a bay leaf. Boil it gently for five or ten
minutes, sweeten with loaf sugar, break the yolks of five and the whites
of three eggs into a basin, beat them well, and add the milk. Beat it
all up well together, and strain it through a tammis, or fine hair
sieve. Prepare some bread and butter cut thin, place a layer of it in a
pie dish, and then a layer of currants, and so on till the dish is
nearly full. Pour the custard over it, and bake it half an hour.


NORFOLK DUMPLINS. Make a thick batter with half a pint of milk and
flour, two eggs, and a little salt. Take a spoonful of the batter, and
drop it gently into boiling water; and if the water boil fast, they will
be ready in a few minutes. Take them out with a wooden spoon, and put
them into a dish with a piece of butter. These are often called drop
dumplins, or spoon dumplins.


NORFOLK PUNCH. To make a relishing liquor that will keep many years, and
improve by age, put the peels of thirty lemons and thirty oranges into
twenty quarts of French brandy. The fruit must be pared so thin and
carefully, that not the least of the white is left. Let it infuse
twelve hours. Prepare thirty quarts of cold water that has been boiled,
put to it fifteen pounds of double-refined sugar, and when well
incorporated, pour it upon the brandy and peels, adding the juice of the
oranges and of twenty-four lemons. Mix them well, strain the liquor
through a fine hair sieve, into a very clean cask, that has held
spirits, and add two quarts of new milk. Stir the liquor, then bung it
down close, and let it stand six weeks in a warm cellar. Bottle off the
liquor, but take care that the bottles be perfectly clean and dry, the
corks of the best quality, and well put in. Of course a smaller quantity
of this punch may be made, by observing only the above proportions.--Another
way. Pare six lemons and three Seville oranges very thin, squeeze the
juice into a large teapot, put to it three quarts of brandy, one of
white wine, one of milk, and a pound and a quarter of lump sugar. Let it
be well mixed, and then covered for twenty-four hours. Strain it through
a jelly bag till quite clear, and then bottle it off.


NORTHUMBERLAND PUDDING. Make a hasty pudding with a pint of milk and
flour, put it into a bason, and let it stand till the next day. Then
mash it with a spoon, add a quarter of a pound of clarified butter, as
many currants picked and washed, two ounces of candied peel cut small,
and a little sugar and brandy. Bake it in teacups, turn them out on a
dish, and pour wine sauce over them.


NOSE BLEEDING. Violent bleeding at the nose may sometimes be prevented
by applying lint dipped in vinegar, or a strong solution of white
vitriol, with fomentations of the temples and forehead made of nitre
dissolved in water. But as bleeding at the nose is often beneficial, it
should not be suddenly stopped.


NOTICE TO QUIT. The usual mode of letting houses is by the year, at a
certain annual rent to be paid quarterly: therefore unless a written
agreement can be produced, to show that the premises were engaged for a
shorter period, the law considers the tenant as entered for one whole
year, provided the rent exceeds forty shillings per annum, and this
consideration must govern the notice to quit. Every tenant who holds
from year to year, which is presumed to be the case in every instance
where proof is not given to the contrary, is entitled to half a year's
notice, which must be given in such a manner that the tenant must quit
the premises at the same quarter day on which he took possession: so
that if his rent commenced at Michaelmas, the notice must be served at
or before Lady-day, that he may quit at Michaelmas. If a tenant come in
after any of the regular quarter days, and pay a certain sum for the
remainder of the quarter, he does not commence annual tenant until the
remainder of the quarter is expired; but if he pay rent for the whole
quarter, he is to be considered as yearly tenant from the commencement
of his rent, and his notice to quit must be regulated accordingly.
Should it happen that the landlord cannot ascertain the precise time
when the tenancy commenced, he may enquire of the tenant, who must be
served with notice to quit at the time he mentions, and must obey the
warning agreeably to his own words, whether it be the true time or not.
If he refuse to give the desired information, the landlord, instead of
'on or before midsummer next,' must give in his notice, 'at the end and
expiration of the current year of your tenancy, which shall expire next
after the end of one half year from the date hereof.' If notice be
given up to a wrong time, or a quarter instead of half a year, such
warning will be sufficient, if the party make no objection at the time
he receives it. When premises are held by lease, the expiration of the
term is sufficient notice to quit, without giving any other warning for
that purpose. The following is the form of a landlord's notice to his
tenant:--'I do hereby give you notice to quit the house and premises you
hold of me, situate in the parish of ------  in the county of ------ on
or before midsummer next. Dated the ------ day of ------ in the year
------ R. C.'--The following is a tenant's notice to his landlord:--'Sir,
I hereby give you warning of my intention to quit your house in the
parish of ------ on or before Michaelmas next. Dated the ------ day of
------ in the year ------ C. R.'--These forms will also serve for
housekeepers and lodgers, if 'apartment' be added instead of house or
premises. Care however must be taken to give the address correctly: 'R.
C. landlord of the said premises, to C. R. the tenant thereof.' Or, 'To
Mr. R. C. the landlord of the said premises.'


NOTTINGHAM PUDDING. Peel six large apples, take out the core with the
point of a small knife or an apple scoop, but the fruit must be left
whole. Fill up the centre with sugar, place the fruit in a pie dish, and
pour over a nice light batter, prepared as for batter pudding, and bake
it an hour in a moderate oven.


NUTMEG GRATERS. Those made with a trough, and sold by the ironmongers,
are by far the best, especially for grating fine and fast.


NUTS. Hazel nuts may be preserved in great perfection for several
months, by burying them in earthen pots well closed, a foot or two in
the ground, especially in a dry or sandy place.




O.


OAT CAKES. These may be made the same as muffins, only using fine
Yorkshire oatmeal instead of flour. Another sort is made of fine
oatmeal, warm water, yeast and salt, beat to a thick batter, and set to
rise in a warm place. Pour some of the batter on a baking stone, to any
size you please, about as thick as a pancake. Pull them open to butter
them, and set them before the fire. If muffins or oat cakes get stale,
dip them in cold water, and crisp them in a Dutch oven.


OATMEAL. This article has undergone a very considerable improvement,
since the introduction of what are termed Embden Groats, manufactured in
England it is true, out of Dutch oats, but of a quality superior to any
thing before known in this country under the name of oatmeal, and which
may now be had of almost all retailers at a moderate price.


OATMEAL FLUMMERY. Put three large handfuls of fine oatmeal into two
quarts of spring water, and let it steep a day and a night. Pour off the
clear water, put in the same quantity of fresh water, and strain the
oatmeal through a fine sieve. Boil it till it is as thick as hasty
pudding, keep it stirring all the time, that it may be smooth and fine.
When first strained, a spoonful of sugar should be added, two spoonfuls
of orange flower-water, two or three spoonfuls of cream, a blade of
mace, and a bit of lemon peel. When boiled enough, pour the flummery
into a shallow dish, and serve it up.


OATMEAL PUDDING. Pour a quart of boiling milk over a pint of the best
oatmeal, and let it soak all night. Next day beat two eggs, and mix a
little salt. Butter a bason that will just hold it, cover it tight with
a floured cloth, and boil it an hour and a half. Eat it with cold butter
and salt. When cold, slice and toast it, and eat it as oat-cake,
buttered.


OLD WRITINGS. When old deeds or writings are so much defaced that they
can scarcely be deciphered, bruise and boil a few nut galls in white
wine; or if it be a cold infusion, expose it to the sun for two or three
days. Then dip a sponge into the infusion, pass it over the writing that
is sunk, and it will instantly be revived, if the infusion be strong
enough of the galls. Vitriolic or nitrous acid a little diluted with
water, will also render the writing legible; but care must be taken that
the solution be not too strong, or it will destroy the paper or the
parchment which contains the writing.


OINTMENTS. An excellent ointment for burns, scalds, chilblains, and
dressing blisters, may be made in the following manner. Take eight
ounces of hog's lard quite fresh, one ounce of bees' wax, and one of
honey. Put them into a kettle over the fire, and stir it together till
it is all melted. Pour it into a jar for keeping, add a large spoonful
of rose water, and keep stirring it till it is cold.--Bad scalds and
burns should first have a poultice of grated potatoes applied to them
for several hours, and then a plaster of the ointment, which must be
renewed morning and evening.--For blisters, a plaster of this should be
spread rather longer than the blister, and put on over the blister
plaster when it has been on twenty-four hours, or sooner if it feel
uneasy. By this means the blister plaster will slip off when it has done
drawing, without any pain or trouble.--For chilblains, it has never been
known to fail of a cure, if the feet have been kept clean, dry, and
warm.--An emollient ointment, for anointing any external inflammations,
may be made as follows. Take two pounds of palm oil, a pint and a half
of olive oil, half a pound of yellow wax, and a quarter of a pound of
Venice turpentine. Melt the wax in the oil over the fire, mix in the
turpentine, and strain off the ointment.


OINTMENT FOR BURNS. Scrape two ounces of bees' wax into half a pint of
sallad oil, and let it simmer gently over the fire till the whole is
incorporated. Take it off the fire, beat up the yolks of three eggs with
a spoonful of oil, and stir up all together till it is quite cold.


OINTMENT FOR THE EYES. This is made of four ounces of fresh lard, two
drams of white wax, and one ounce of prepared tutty. Melt the wax with
the lard over a gentle fire, and sprinkle in the tutty, continually
stirring them till the ointment is cold.


OINTMENT OF LEAD. This should consist of half a pint of olive oil, two
ounces of white wax, and three drams of the sugar of lead finely
powdered. Rub the sugar of lead with some of the oil, add to it the
other ingredients, which should be previously melted together, and stir
them till the ointment is quite cold. This cooling ointment may be used
in all cases where the intention is to dry and skin over the wound, as
in burns and scalds.


OINTMENT OF MARSHMALLOWS. Take half a pound of marshmallow roots, three
ounces of linseed, and three ounces of fennugreek seed. Bruise and boil
them gently half an hour in a quart of water, and then add two quarts
of sweet oil. Boil them together till the water is all evaporated: then
strain off the oil, and add to it a pound of bees' wax, half a pound of
yellow rosin, and two ounces of common turpentine. Melt them together
over a slow fire, and keep stirring till the ointment is cold.


OINTMENT OF SULPHUR. This is the safest and best application for the
itch, and will have no disagreeable smell, if made in the following
manner. Take four ounces of fresh lard, an ounce and a half of flour of
sulphur, two drams of crude sal-ammoniac, and ten or a dozen drops of
lemon essence. When made into an ointment, rub it on the parts affected.


OLIVES. This foreign article, sent over in a state of preservation,
requires only to be kept from the air. Olives are of three kinds,
Italian, Spanish, and French, of different sizes and flavour. Each
should be firm, though some are most fleshy.


OMLET. Make a batter of eggs and milk, and a very little flour. Add
chopped parsley, green onions, or chives, or a very small quantity of
shalot, a little pepper and salt, and a scrape or two of nutmeg. Boil
some butter in a small frying-pan, and pour the above batter into it.
When one side is of a fine yellow brown, turn it and do the other:
double it when served. Some lean ham scraped, or grated tongue, put in
at first, is a very pleasant addition. Four eggs will make a pretty
omlet, but some will use eight or ten, and only a small proportion of
flour, but a good deal of parsley. If the taste be approved, a little
tarragon will give a fine flavour. Ramakins and omlet, though usually
served in the course, would be much better if they were sent up after,
that they might be eaten as hot as possible.


ONION GRAVY. Peel and slice some onions into a small stewpan, with an
ounce of butter, adding cucumber or celery if approved. Set it on a slow
fire, and turn the onion about till it is lightly browned; then stir in
half an ounce of flour, a little broth, a little pepper and salt, and
boil it up for a few minutes. Add a table-spoonful of port wine, the
same of mushroom ketchup, and rub it through a fine sieve. It may be
sharpened with a little lemon juice or vinegar. The flavour of this
sauce may be varied by adding tarragon, or burnt vinegar.


ONION SAUCE. Peel the onions and boil them tender. Squeeze the water
from them, chop and add them to butter that has been melted rich and
smooth, with a little good milk instead of water. Boil it up once, and
serve it for boiled rabbits, partridges, scrag or knuckle of veal or
roast mutton. A turnip boiled with the onions makes them milder.


ONION SOUP. Put some carrots, turnips, and a shank bone, into the liquor
in which a leg or neck of mutton has been boiled, and simmer them
together two hours. Strain it on six onions, sliced and fried of a light
brown; simmer the soup three hours, and skim it carefully. Put a small
roll into it, or fried bread, and serve it up hot.


ONIONS. In order to obtain a good crop of onions, it is proper to sow at
different seasons. On light soils sow in August, January, or early in
February: on heavy wet soils in March, or early in April. Onions however
should not be sown so soon as January, unless the ground be in a dry
state, which is not often the case at that time of the year: otherwise,
advantage should be taken of it. As this valuable root is known
frequently to fail by the common method of culture, the best way is to
sow the seed successively, that advantage may be taken of the seasons as
they happen.


ORANGE BISCUITS. Boil whole Seville oranges in two or three waters,
till most of the bitterness is gone. Cut them, and take out the pulp and
juice; then beat the outside very fine in a mortar, and put to it an
equal weight of double-refined sugar beaten and sifted. When extremely
well mixed to a paste, spread it thin on china dishes, and set them in
the sun, or before the fire. When half dry, cut it into what form you
please, and turn the other side up to dry. Keep the biscuits in a box,
with layers of paper. They are intended for desserts, and are also
useful as a stomachic, to carry in the pocket on journeys, and for gouty
stomachs.


ORANGE BRANDY. Steep the peels of twenty Seville oranges in three quarts
of brandy, and let it stand a fortnight in a stone bottle. Boil two
quarts of water with a pound and a half of loaf sugar nearly an hour,
clarify,it with the white of an egg, strain it, and boil it till reduced
nearly one half. When cold, strain the brandy into the syrup.


ORANGE BUTTER. Boil six hard eggs, beat them in a mortar with two ounces
of fine sugar, three ounces of butter, and two ounces of blanched
almonds beaten to a paste. Moisten with orange-flower water; and when
all is mixed, rub it through a cullender on a dish, and serve with sweet
biscuits between.


ORANGE CHEESECAKES. Blanch half a pound of almonds, beat them very fine,
with orange-flower water, half a pound of fine sugar beaten and sifted,
a pound of butter that has been melted carefully without oiling, and
which must be nearly cold before it is used. Then beat the yolks of ten
and the whites of four eggs. Pound in a mortar two candied oranges, and
a fresh one with the bitterness boiled out, till they are as tender as
marmalade, without any lumps. Beat the whole together, and put it into
pattipans.


ORANGE CHIPS. Cut oranges in halves, squeeze the juice through a sieve,
and soak the peels in water. Next day boil them in the same till tender;
then drain and slice the peels, add them to the juice, weigh as much
sugar, and put all together into a broad earthen dish. Place the dish at
a moderate distance from the fire, often stirring till the chips candy,
and then set them in a cool room to dry, which commonly requires about
three weeks.


ORANGE CREAM. Boil the rind of a Seville orange very tender, and beat it
fine in a mortar. Add to it a spoonful of the best brandy, the juice of
a Seville orange, four ounces of loaf sugar, and the yolks of four eggs.
Beat them all together for ten minutes; then by gentle degrees, pour in
a pint of boiling cream, and beat it up till cold. Set some custard cups
into a deep dish of boiling water, pour the cream into the cups, and let
it stand again till cold. Put at the top some small strips of orange
paring cut thin, or some preserved chips.


ORANGE-FLOWER CAKES. Soak four ounces of the leaves of the flowers in
cold water for an hour; drain, and put them between napkins, and roll
with a rolling-pin till they are bruised. Have ready boiled a pound of
sugar to add to it in a thick syrup, give them a simmer until the syrup
adheres to the sides of the pan, drop it in little cakes on a plate, and
dry them in a cool room.


ORANGE FOOL. Mix the juice of three Seville oranges, three eggs well
beaten, a pint of cream, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, and sweeten it to
taste. Set the whole over a slow fire, and stir it till it becomes as
thick as good melted butter, but it must not be boiled. Then pour it
into a dish for eating cold.


ORANGE JAM. Lay half a dozen oranges in water four or five days,
changing the water once or twice every day. Take out the oranges, and
wipe them dry. Tie them up in separate cloths, and boil them four hours
in a large kettle, changing the water once or twice. Peel off the rinds
and pound them well in a marble mortar, with two pounds of fine sugar to
one pound of orange. Then beat all together, and cover the jam down in a
pot.


ORANGE JELLY. Grate the rind of two Seville and two China oranges, and
two lemons. Squeeze the juice of three of each, and strain it; add a
quarter of a pound of lump sugar dissolved in a quarter of a pint of
water, and boil it till it nearly candies. Prepare a quart of jelly,
made of two ounces of isinglass; add to it the syrup, and boil it once
up. Strain off the jelly, and let it stand to settle before it is put
into the mould.


ORANGE JUICE. When the fresh juice cannot be procured, a very useful
article for fevers may be made in the following manner. Squeeze from the
finest fruit, a pint of juice strained through fine muslin. Simmer it
gently with three quarters of a pound of double-refined sugar twenty
minutes, and when cold put it into small bottles.


ORANGE MARMALADE. Rasp the oranges, cut out the pulp, then boil the
rinds very tender, and beat them fine in a marble mortar. Boil three
pounds of loaf sugar in a pint of water, skim it, and add a pound of the
rind; boil it fast till the syrup is very thick, but stir it carefully.
Then add a pint of the pulp and juice, the seeds having been removed,
and a pint of apple liquor; boil it all gently about half an hour, until
it is well jellied, and put it into small pots. Lemon marmalade may be
made in the same way, and both of them are very good and elegant
sweetmeats.


ORANGE PEEL. Scrape out all the pulp, soak the peels in water, and stir
them every day. In a week's time put them in fresh water, and repeat it
till all the bitterness is extracted. Boil the peels in fresh water over
a slow fire till they are quite tender, and reduce the liquor to a
quantity sufficient to boil it to a thick syrup. Put the peels into the
syrup, simmer them gently, take them out of the syrup, and let them
cool. Lay them to dry in the sun, and the peel will be nicely candied.


ORANGE PUDDING. Grate the rind of a Seville orange, put to it six ounces
of fresh butter, and six or eight ounces of lump sugar pounded. Beat
them all in a marble mortar, and add at the same time the whole of eight
eggs well beaten and strained. Scrape a raw apple, and mix it with the
rest. Put a paste round the bottom and sides of the dish, and over the
orange mixture lay cross bars of paste. Half an hour will bake
it.--Another. Mix two full spoonfuls of orange paste with six eggs, four
ounces of fine sugar, and four ounces of warm butter. Put the whole into
a shallow dish, with a paste lining, and bake it twenty
minutes.--Another. Rather more than two table-spoonfuls of the orange
paste, mixed with six eggs, four ounces of sugar, and four ounces of
butter melted, will make a good pudding, with a paste at the bottom of
the dish. Twenty minutes will bake it.--Or, boil the rind of a Seville
orange very soft, and beat it up with the juice. Then add half a pound
of butter, a quarter of a pound of sugar, two grated biscuits, and the
yolks of six eggs. Mix all together, lay a puff paste round the edge of
the dish, and bake it half an hour.


ORANGE TART. Squeeze, pulp, and boil two Seville oranges quite tender.
Weigh them, add double the quantity of sugar, and beat them together to
a paste. Add the juice and pulp of the fruit, and a little bit of fresh
butter the size of a walnut, and beat all together. Choose a very
shallow dish, line it with a light puff-crust, lay the orange paste in
it, and ice it over. Or line a tart pan with a thin puff-paste, and put
into it orange marmalade made with apple jelly. Lay bars of paste, or a
croquant cover over, and bake it in a moderate oven.--Another. Squeeze
some Seville oranges into a dish, grate off the outside rind, throw the
peel into water, and change it often for two days. Boil a saucepan of
water, put in the oranges, and change the water three or four times to
take out the bitterness: when they are quite tender, dry and beat them
fine in a mortar. Take their weight in double refined sugar, boil it to
a syrup, and skim it clean: then put in the pulp, and boil it till it is
quite clear. Put it cold into the tarts, and the juice which was
squeezed out, and bake them in a quick oven. Lemon tarts are made in the
same way.


ORANGE WINE. To six gallons of water put fifteen pounds of soft sugar:
before it boils, add the whites of six eggs well beaten, and take off
the scum as it rises. When cold, add the juice of fifty oranges, and two
thirds of the peels cut very thin; and immerse a toast covered with
yeast. In a month after it has been in the cask, add a pint of brandy,
and two quarts of Rhenish wine. It will be fit to bottle in three or
four months, but it should remain in bottles for twelve months before it
is drunk.


ORANGES. If intended to be kept for future use, the best way is to dry
and bake some clean sand; and when it is cold, put it into a vessel.
Place on it a layer of oranges or lemons with the stalk end downwards,
so that they do not touch each other, and cover them with the sand two
inches deep. This will keep them in a good state of preservation for
several months. Another way is to freeze the fruit, and keep them in an
ice-house. When used they are to be thawed in cold water, and will be
good at any time of the year. If oranges or lemons are designed to be
used for juice, they should first be pared to preserve the peel dry.
Some should be halved, and when squeezed, the pulp cut out, and the
outsides dried for grating. If for boiling in any liquid, the first way
is the best.


ORANGES CARVED. With a penknife cut on the rinds any shape you please,
then cut off a piece near and round the stalk, and take all the pulp out
carefully with an apple scoop. Put the rinds into salt and water two
days, and change the water daily. Boil them an hour or more in fresh
salt and water, and drain them quite dry. Let them stand a night in
plain water, and then another night in a thin syrup, in which boil them
the next day a few minutes. This must be repeated four days
successively. Then let them stand six or seven weeks, observing often
whether they keep well; otherwise the syrup must be boiled again. Then
make a rich syrup for the oranges.


ORANGES IN JELLY. Cut a hole in the stalk part, the size of a shilling,
and with a blunt knife scrape out the pulp quite clear without cutting
the rind. Tie each part separately in muslin, and lay them in spring
water two days, changing the water twice a day. In the last water boil
them over a slow fire till they are quite tender. Observe that there is
enough at first to allow for wasting, as they must be kept covered till
the last. To every pound of fruit, allow two pounds of double-refined
sugar, and one pint of water. Boil the two latter, with the juice of the
orange, till reduced to a syrup. Clarify it, skim it well, and let it
stand to be cold. Then boil the fruit in the syrup half an hour; and if
not clear, repeat it daily till they are done.--Lemons are preserved in
a similar way. Pare and core some green pippins, and boil them in water
till it is strongly flavoured with them. The fruit should not be broken,
only gently pressed with the back of a spoon, and the water strained
through a jelly bag till it is quite clear. To every pint of liquor put
a pound of double-refined sugar, the peel and juice of a lemon, and boil
the whole to a strong syrup. Drain off the syrup from the fruit, and
turning each lemon with the hole upwards in the jar, pour the apple
jelly over it. The bits cut out must undergo the same process with the
fruit, and the whole covered down with brandy paper.


ORANGES PRESERVED. To fill preserved oranges for a corner dish, take a
pound of Naples biscuits, some blanched almonds, the yolks of four eggs
beaten, four ounces of butter warmed, and sugar to taste. Grate the
biscuits, mix them with the above, and some orange-flower water. Fill
the preserved oranges, and bake them in a very slow oven. If to be
frosted, sift some fine sugar over them, as soon as they are filled;
otherwise they should be wiped. Or they may be filled with custard, and
then the fruit need not be baked, but the custard should be put in cold.


ORANGEADE. Squeeze out the juice of an orange, pour boiling water on a
little of the peel, and cover it close. Boil water and sugar to a thin
syrup, and skim it. When all are cold, mix the juice, the infusion, and
the syrup, with as much more water as will make a rich sherbet. Strain
the whole through a jelly bag; or squeeze the juice and strain it, and
water and capillaire.


ORCHARD. Fruit trees, whether in orchards, or espaliers, or against
walls, require attention, in planting, pruning, or other management,
almost every month in the year, to render them productive, and to
preserve the fruit in a good state.--JANUARY. Cut out dead wood and
irregular branches, clean the stumps and boughs from the moss with a
hollow iron. Repair espaliers by fastening the stakes and poles with
nails and wire, and tying the shoots down with twigs of osier. Put down
some stakes by all the new-planted trees. Cut grafts to be ready, and
lay them in the earth under a warm wall.--FEBRUARY. Most kinds of trees
may be pruned this month, though it is generally better to do it in
autumn; but whatever was omitted at that season, should be done now. The
hardiest kinds are to be pruned first; and such as are more tender, at
the latter end of the month, when there will be less danger of their
suffering in the wounded part from the frost. Transplant fruit trees to
places where they are wanted. Open a large hole, set the earth carefully
about the roots, and nail them at once to the wall, or fasten them to
strong stakes. Sow the kernels of apples and pears, and the stones of
plums for stocks. Endeavour to keep off the birds that eat the buds of
fruit trees at this season of the year.--MARCH. The grafts which were
cut off early and laid in the ground, are now to be brought into use;
the earliest kinds first, and the apples last of all. When this is done,
take off the heads of the stocks that were inoculated the preceding
year. A hand's breadth of the head should be left, for tying the bud
securely to it, and that the sap may rise more freely for its
nourishment. The fruit trees that were planted in October should also be
headed, and cut down to about four eyes, that the sap may flow more
freely.--APRIL. Examine the fruit trees against the walls and espaliers,
take off all the shoots that project in front, and train such as rise
kindly. Thin apricots upon the trees, for there are usually more than
can ripen; and the sooner this is done, the better will the rest
succeed. Water new-planted trees, plant the vine cuttings, and inspect
the grown ones. Nip off improper shoots; and when two rise from the same
eye, take off the weakest of them. Weed strawberry beds, cut off the
strings, stir the earth between them, and water them once in two or
three days. Dig up the borders near the fruit trees, and never plant any
large kind of flowers or vegetables upon them. Any thing planted or sown
near the trees, has a tendency to impoverish the fruit.--MAY. If any
fresh shoots have sprouted upon the fruit trees, in espaliers, or
against walls, take them off. Train the proper ones to the walls or
poles, at due distances, and in a regular manner. Look over vines, and
stop every shoot that has fruit upon it, to three eyes beyond the fruit.
Then train the branches regularly to the wall, and let such as are
designed for the next year's fruiting grow some time longer, as their
leaves will afford a suitable shade to the fruit. Water the trees newly
planted, keep the borders about the old ones clear, and pick off the
snails and other vermin.--JUNE. Renew the operation of removing from
wall trees and espaliers, all the shoots that project in front. Train
proper branches to their situations, where they are wanted. Once more
thin the wall fruit: leave the nectarines four inches apart, and the
peaches five, but none nearer: the fruit will be finer, and the next
year the tree will be stronger, if this precaution be adopted. Inoculate
the apricots, and choose for this purpose a cloudy evening. Water trees
lately planted, and pick up snails and vermin.--JULY. Inoculate peaches
and nectarines, and take off all projecting shoots in espaliers and wall
fruit-trees. Hang phials of honey and water upon fruit-trees, to protect
them from the depredations of insects, and look carefully for snails,
which also will destroy the fruit. Keep the borders clear from weeds,
and stir the earth about the roots of the trees; this will hasten the
ripening of the fruit. Examine the fruit trees that were grafted and
budded the last season, to see that there are no shoots from the stocks.
Whenever they rise, take them off, or they will deprive the intended
growth of its nourishment. Attend to the trees lately planted, and water
them often; and whatever good shoots they make, fasten them to the wall
or espalier. Repeat the care of the vines, take off improper or
irregular shoots, and nail up the loose branches. Let no weeds rise in
the ground about them, for they will exhaust the nourishment, and
impoverish the fruit.--AUGUST. Watch the fruit on the wall trees, and
keep off the devourers, of which there will be numberless kinds swarming
about them during this month. Send away the birds, pick up snails, and
hang bottles of sweet water for flies and wasps. Fasten loose branches,
and gather the fruit carefully as it ripens. Examine the vines all
round, and remove those trailing branches which are produced so
luxuriantly at this season of the year. Suffer not the fruit to be
shaded by loose and unprofitable branches, and keep the ground clear of
weeds, which otherwise will impoverish the fruit.--SEPTEMBER. The fruit
must now be gathered carefully every day, and the best time for this
purpose is an hour after sun-rise: such as is gathered in the middle of
the day is always flabby and inferior. The fruit should afterwards be
laid in a cool place till wanted. Grapes as they begin to ripen will be
in continual danger from the birds, if not properly watched and guarded.
Transplant gooseberries and currants, and plant strawberries and
raspberries: they will then be rooted before winter, and flourish the
succeeding season.--OCTOBER. It is a useful practice to prime the peach
and nectarine trees, and also the vines, as it invigorates the buds in
the spring of the year. Cut grapes for preserving, with a joint of the
vine to each bunch. For winter keeping, gather fruits as they ripen.
Transplant all garden trees for flowering, prune currant bushes, and
preserve the stones of the fruit for sowing.--NOVEMBER. Stake up all
trees planted for standards, or the winds will rock them at the bottom,
and the frost will be let in and destroy them. Throw a good quantity of
peas straw about them, and lay on it some brick bats or pebbles to keep
it fast: this will mellow the ground, and keep the frost from the roots.
Continue to prune wall fruit-trees, and prune also at this time the
apple and pear kinds. Pull off the late fruit of figs, or it will decay
the branches.--DECEMBER. Prepare for planting trees where they will be
wanted in the spring, by digging the ground deep and turning it well, in
the place intended for planting. Scatter over the borders some fresh
mould and rotted dung, and in a mild day dig it in with a three-pronged
fork. Look over the orchard trees, and cut away superfluous wood and
dead branches. Let the boughs and shoots stand clear of each other, that
the air may pass between, and the fruit will be better flavoured. This
management is required for old trees: those that are newly planted are
to be preserved by covering the ground about their roots.


ORGEAT. Boil a quart of new milk with a stick of cinnamon, sweeten it to
taste, and let it cool. Then pour it gradually over three ounces of
almonds, and twenty bitter almonds that have been blanched and beaten to
a paste, with a little water to prevent oiling. Boil all together, and
stir it till cold, then add half a glass of brandy.--Another way. Blanch
and pound three quarters of a pound of almonds, and thirty bitter ones,
with a spoonful of water. Stir in by degrees two pints of water, and
three pints of milk, and strain the whole through a cloth. Dissolve half
a pound of fine sugar in a pint of water, boil and skim it well; mix it
with the other, adding two spoonfuls of orange-flower water, and a
teacupful of the best brandy.


ORGEAT FOR THE SICK. Beat two ounces of almonds with a tea-spoonful of
orange-flower water, and a bitter almond or two; then pour a quart of
milk and water to the paste. Sweeten with sugar, or capillaire. This is
a fine drink for those who feel a weakness in the chest. In the gout
also it is highly useful, and with the addition of half an ounce of gum
arabic, it has been found to allay the painfulness of the attendant
heat. Half a glass of brandy may be added, if thought too cooling in the
latter complaint, and the glass of orgeat may be put into a basin of
warm water.


ORTOLANS. Pick and singe, but do not draw them. Tie them on a bird spit,
and roast them. Some persons like slices of bacon tied between them, but
the taste of it spoils the flavour of the ortolan. Cover them with
crumbs of bread.


OX CHEEK. Soak half a head three hours, and clean it in plenty of water.
Take off all the meat, and put it into a stewpan with an onion, a sprig
of sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and allspice. Lay the bones on the top,
pour on two or three quarts of water, and close it down. Let it stand
eight or ten hours in a slow oven, or simmer it on a hot hearth. When
tender skim off the fat, and put in celery, or any other vegetable.
Slices of fried onion may be put into it a little before it is taken
from the fire.


OX CHEEK SOUP. Break the bones of the cheek, wash it clean, put it into
a stewpan, with a piece of butter at the bottom. Add half a pound of
lean ham sliced, one parsnip, two carrots, three onions, four heads of
celery, cut small, and three blades of mace. Set it over a slow fire for
a quarter of an hour, then add a gallon of water, and simmer it gently
till reduced to half the quantity. If intended as soup only, strain it
off, and put in a head of sliced celery, with a little browning, to give
it a fine colour. Warm two ounces of vermicelli and put into it; boil it
ten minutes, and pour it into a tureen, with the crust of a French roll.
If to be used as stew, take up the cheek as whole as possible; put in a
boiled carrot cut in small pieces, a slice of toasted bread, and some
cayenne pepper. Strain the soup through a hair sieve upon the meat, and
serve it up.


OX FEET. These are very nutricious, in whatever way they are dressed. If
to be eaten warm, boil them, and serve them up in a napkin. Melted
butter for sauce, with mustard, and a large spoonful of vinegar. Or
broil them very tender, and serve them as a brown fricassee. The liquor
will do to make jelly sweet or relishing, and likewise to give richness
to soups or gravies. They may also be fried, after being cut into four
parts, dipped in egg, and properly floured. Fried onions may be served
round the dish, with sauce as above. Or they may be baked for mock
turtle. If to be eaten cold, they only require mustard, pepper, and
vinegar.--Another way. Extract the bones from the feet, and boil the
meat quite tender; then put it into a fryingpan with a little butter.
After a few minutes, add some chopped mint and parsley, the yolks of two
eggs beat up fine, half a pint of gravy, the juice of a lemon, and a
little salt and nutmeg. Put the meat into a dish, and pour the sauce
over it.


OX FEET JELLY. Take a heel that has been only scalded, not boiled, slit
it in two, and remove the fat from between the claws. Simmer it gently
for eight hours in a quart of water, till reduced to a pint and half,
and skim it clean while it is doing. This strong jelly is useful in
making calves' feet jelly, or may be added to mock turtle, and other
soups.


OX PALATES. Boil them tender, blanch and scrape them. Rub them with
pepper, salt, and bread, and fry them brown on both sides. Pour off the
fat, put beef or mutton gravy into the stewpan for sauce, with an
anchovy, a little lemon juice, grated nutmeg and salt. Thicken it with
butter rolled in flour: when these have simmered a quarter of an hour,
dish them up, and garnish with slices of lemon.


OXFORD DUMPLINS. Mix together two ounces of grated bread, four ounces of
currants, the same of shred suet, a bit of lump sugar, a little powdered
pimento, and plenty of grated lemon peel. Add two eggs and a little
milk; then divide the whole into five dumplins, and fry them of a fine
yellow brown. Made with half the quantity of flour, instead of bread,
they are very excellent. Serve them up with sweet sauce.


OXFORD SAUSAGES. Chop a pound and a half of pork, and the same of veal,
cleared of skin and sinews. Add three quarters of a pound of beef suet,
mince and mix them together. Steep the crumb of a penny loaf in water,
and mix it with the meat; add also a little dried sage, pepper and salt.


OYSTER LOAVES. Open a quart of fresh oysters, wash and stew them in
their own liquor, with two anchovies, a bunch of sweet herbs, a blade of
mace, and a bit of lemon peel. Drain off the liquor, boil up a quarter
of a pound of butter till it turns brown; add half a spoonful of flour,
and boil it up again. Put in some of the oyster liquor, with a little
gravy, white wine, mace, nutmeg, a few cloves, and a small piece of
shalot. Stew all together till it becomes as thick as cream; then put in
the oysters, and stew them a few minutes. Fry some bread crumbs in
butter or sweet dripping till they are crisp and brown, drain them well,
put in the oysters, and dish them up.--Another. Open the oysters, and
save the liquor; wash them in it, and strain it through a sieve. Put a
little of the liquor into a tosser, with a bit of butter and flour,
white pepper, a scrape of nutmeg, and a little cream. Stew the oysters
in the liquor, cut them into dice, and then put them into rolls sold for
the purpose.


OYSTER PATTIES. Put a fine puff-crust into small pattipans, and cover
with paste, with a bit of bread in each. While they are baking, take off
the beard of the oysters, cut the oysters small, put them in a small
tosser, with a dust of grated nutmeg, white pepper and salt, a taste of
lemon peel, shred as fine as possible, a spoonful of cream, and a little
of the oyster liquor. Simmer them together a few minutes, and fill the
pattipans as soon as they are baked, first taking out the bread. A bread
crust should be put into all patties, to keep them hollow while baking.


OYSTER PIE. Open the oysters, take off the beards, parboil the oysters,
and strain off the liquor. Parboil some sweetbreads, cut them in slices,
place them in layers with the oysters, and season very lightly with
salt, pepper and mace. Then add half a teacup of liquor, and the same of
gravy. Bake in a slow oven; and before the pie is sent to table, put in
a teacup of cream, a little more oyster liquor, and a cup of white
gravy, all warmed together, but not boiled.


OYSTER SAUCE. Save the liquor in opening the oysters, boil it with the
beards, a bit of mace and lemon peel. In the mean time, throw the
oysters into cold water, and drain it off. Strain the liquor, put it
into a saucepan with the oysters, and as much butter, mixed with a
little milk, as will make sauce enough; but first rub a little flour
with it. Set them over the fire, and keep stirring all the time. When
the butter has boiled once or twice, take them off, and keep the
saucepan near the fire, but not on it; for if done too much, the oysters
will be hard. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, and serve it up. If for
company, a little cream is a great improvement. Observe, the oysters
will thin the sauce, and therefore allow butter accordingly.


OYSTER SOUP. Beat the yolks of ten hard eggs, and the hard part of two
quarts of oysters, in a mortar, and put them to two quarts of fish
stock. Simmer all together for half an hour, and strain it off. Having
cleared the oysters of the beards, and washed them well, put them into
the soup, and let it simmer five minutes. Beat up the yolks of six raw
eggs, and add them to the soup. Stir it all well together one way, by
the side of the fire, till it is thick and smooth, but do not let it
boil. Serve up all together.


OYSTER MOUTH SOUP. Make a rich mutton broth, with two large onions,
three blades of mace, and a little black pepper. When strained, pour it
on a hundred and fifty oysters, without the beards, and a bit of butter
rolled in flour. Simmer it gently a quarter of an hour, and serve up the
soup.


OYSTERS. Of the several kinds of oysters, the Pyfleet, Colchester, and
Milford, are much the best. The native Milton are fine, being white and
fleshy; but others may be made to possess both these qualities in some
degree, by proper feeding. Colchester oysters come to market early in
August, the Milton in October, and are in the highest perfection about
Christmas, but continue in season till the middle of May. When alive and
good, the shell closes on the knife; but if an oyster opens its mouth,
it will soon be good for nothing. Oysters should be eaten the minute
they are opened, with their own liquor in the under shell, or the
delicious flavour will be lost. The rock oyster is the largest, but if
eaten raw it tastes coarse and brackish, but may be improved by feeding.
In order to do this, cover the oysters with clean water, and allow a
pint of salt to about two gallons; this will cleanse them from the mud
and sand contracted in the bed. After they have lain twelve hours,
change it for fresh salt and water; and in twelve hours more they will
be fit to eat, and will continue in a good state for two or three days.
At the time of high water in the place from whence they were taken, they
will open their shells, in expectation of receiving their usual food.
The real Colchester or Pyfleet barrelled oysters, that are packed at the
beds, are better without being put into water; they are carefully and
tightly packed, and must not be disturbed till wanted for the table. In
temperate weather these will keep good for a week or ten days. To
preserve barrelled oysters however, the best way is to remove the upper
hoop, so that the head may fall down upon the oysters, and then to place
a weight upon it. This will compress the oysters, keep in the liquor,
and preserve them for several days.




P.


PAIN IN THE EAR. This complaint is sometimes so prevalent as to resemble
an epidemic, particularly amongst children. The most effectual remedy
yet discovered has been a clove of garlic, steeped for a few minutes in
warm sallad oil, and put into the ear, rolled up in muslin or fine
linen. When the garlic has accomplished its object, and is removed from
the ear, it should be replaced with cotton, to prevent the patient
taking cold.


PAINT. Painted doors and windows may be made to look well for a
considerable time, if properly cleaned. A cloth should never be used,
for it leaves some lint behind; but take off the dust with a painter's
brush, or a pair of bellows. When the painting is soiled or stained, dip
a sponge or a bit of flannel in soda water, wash it off quickly, and dry
it immediately, or the strength of the soda will eat off the colour.
When wainscot requires scouring, it should be done from the top
downwards, and the soda be prevented from running on the uncleaned part
as much as possible, or marks will appear after the whole is finished.
One person should dry the board with old linen, as fast as the other has
scoured off the dirt, and washed away the soda.


PAINT FOR IRON. For preserving palisadoes and other kinds of iron work
exposed to the weather, heat some common litharge in a shovel over the
fire. Then scatter over it a small quantity of sulphur, and grind it in
oil. This lead will reduce it to a good lead colour, which will dry very
quickly, get remarkably hard, and resist the weather better than any
other common paint.


PAINTINGS. Oil paintings frequently become smoked or dirty, and in order
to their being properly cleaned, require to be treated with the
greatest care. Dissolve a little common salt in some stale urine, dip a
woollen cloth in the liquid, and rub the paintings over with it till
they are quite clean. Then wash them with a sponge and clean water, dry
them gradually, and rub them over with a clean cloth.


PALING PRESERVED. The following cheap and valuable composition will
preserve all sorts of wood work exposed to the vicissitudes of the
weather. Take some well-burnt lime, and expose it to the air till it
falls to powder, without putting any water to it, and mix with it two
thirds of wood ashes, and one third of fine sand. Sift the whole through
a fine sieve, and work it up with linseed oil to the consistence of
common paint, taking care to grind it fine, and mix it well together.
The composition may be improved by the addition of an equal quantity of
coal tar with the linseed oil; and two coats of it laid on any kind of
weather boards, will be found superior to any kind of paint used for
that purpose.


PALPITATION OF THE HEART. Persons of a full habit may find relief in
bleeding; but where it is accompanied with nervous affections, as is
generally the case, bleeding must by all means be avoided. Frequent
bathing the feet in warm water, a stimulating plaster applied to the
left side, and gentle exercise, are the most proper.


PALSY. The luxurious, the sedentary, and those who have suffered great
anxiety and distress of mind, are the most subject to this disorder,
which generally attacks the left side, and is attended with numbness and
drowsiness. The parts affected ought to be frequently rubbed with a
flesh brush, or with the hand. Blisters, warm plasters, volatile
liniments, and electricity should likewise be employed. The following
electuary is also recommended. Mix an ounce of flour of mustard, and an
ounce of the conserve of roses, in some syrup of ginger; and take a
tea-spoonful of it three or four times a day.


PANADA. To make panada in five minutes, set a little water on the fire
with a glass of white wine, some sugar, and a scrape of nutmeg and lemon
peel, grating meanwhile some crumbs of bread. The moment the mixture
boils up, keeping it still on the fire, put in the crumbs, and let it
boil as fast as it can. When of a proper thickness just to drink, take
it off.--Another way. Make the panada as above, but instead of a glass
of wine, put in a tea-spoonful of rum, a little butter and sugar. This
makes a very pleasant article for the sick.--Another. Put into the water
a bit of lemon peel, and mix in the crumbs: when nearly boiled enough,
add some lemon or orange syrup. Observe to boil all the ingredients; for
if any be added after, the panada will break, and not turn to jelly.


PANCAKES. Make a light batter of eggs, flour, and milk. Fry it in a
small pan, in hot dripping or lard. Salt, nutmeg, or ginger, may be
added. Sugar and lemon should be served, to eat with them. When eggs are
very scarce, the batter may be made of flour and small beer, with the
addition of a little ginger; or clean snow, with flour, and a very
little milk, will serve instead of egg. Fine pancakes, fried without
butter or lard, are made as follows. Beat six fresh eggs extremely well,
strain and mix them with a pint of cream, four ounces of sugar, a glass
of wine, half a nutmeg grated, and as much flour as will make it almost
as thick as ordinary pancake batter, but not quite. Heat the fryingpan
tolerably hot, wipe it with a clean cloth, and pour in the batter so as
to make the pancakes thin.--New England pancakes are made of a pint of
cream, mixed with five spoonfuls of fine flour, seven yolks and four
whites of eggs, and a very little salt. They are then fried very thin in
fresh butter, and sent to table six or eight at once, with sugar and
cinnamon strewed between them.--Another way to make cream pancakes. Stir
a pint of cream gradually into three spoonfuls of flour, and beat them
very smooth. Add to this six eggs, half a pound of melted butter, and a
little sugar. These pancakes will fry from their own richness, without
either butter or lard. Run the batter over the pan as thin as possible,
and when the pancakes are just coloured they are done enough.


PAP BREAD. To prepare a light nourishing food for young children, pour
scalding water on some thin slices of good white bread, and let it stand
uncovered till it cools. Then drain off the water, bruise the bread
fine, and mix it with as much new milk as will make a pap of a moderate
thickness. It will be warm enough for use, without setting it on the
fire. It is common to add sugar, but the pap is better without it, as is
almost all food intended for children; and the taste will not require
it, till habit makes it familiar.


PAPER. All sorts of paper improve by keeping, if laid in a dry place,
and preserved from mould and damp. It is bought much cheaper by the
ream, than by the quire. The expense of this article is chiefly
occasioned by the enormous duty laid upon it, and the necessity of
importing foreign rags to supply the consumption. If more care were
taken in families generally, to preserve the rags and cuttings of linen
from being wasted, there would be less need of foreign imports, and
paper might be manufactured a little cheaper.


PAPER HANGINGS. To clean these properly, first blow off the dust with
the bellows, and then wipe the paper downwards in the slightest manner
with the crumb of a stale white loaf. Do not cross the paper, nor go
upwards, but begin at the top, and the dirt of the paper and the crumbs
will fall together. Observe not to wipe more than half a yard at a
stroke, and after doing all the upper part, go round again, beginning a
little above where you left off. If it be not done very lightly, the
dirt will adhere to the paper; but if properly attended to, the paper
will look fresh and new.


PAPER PASTE. To make a strong paste for paper, take two large spoonfuls
of fine flour, and as much pounded rosin as will lie upon a shilling.
Mix them up with as much strong beer as will make the paste of a due
consistence, and boil it half an hour. It is best used cold.


PARSLEY. To preserve parsley through the winter, gather some fine fresh
sprigs in May, June, or July. Pick and wash them clean, set on a stewpan
half full of water, put a little salt in it, boil and scum it clean.
Then add the parsley, let it boil for two minutes, and take it out and
lay it on a sieve before the fire, that it may be dried as quick as
possible. Put it by in a tin box, and keep it in a dry place. When
wanted, lay it in a basin, and cover it with warm water for a few
minutes before you use it.


PARSLEY AND BUTTER. Wash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully
leaf by leaf. Put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling
water, boil the parsley in it about ten minutes, drain it on a sieve,
mince it quite fine, and then, bruise it to a pulp. Put it into a sauce
boat, and mix with it by degrees about half a pint of good melted
butter, only do not put so much flour to it, as the parsley will be sure
to add to its thickness. Parsley and butter should not be poured over
boiled dishes, but be sent up in a boat. The delicacy of this elegant
and innocent relish, depends upon the parsley being minced very fine.
With the addition of a slice of lemon cut into dice, a little allspice
and vinegar, it is made into Dutch sauce.


PARSLEY PIE. Lay a fowl, or a few bones of the scrag of veal, seasoned,
into a dish. Scald a cullenderful of picked parsley in milk; season it,
and add it to the fowl or meat, with a tea-cupful of any sort of good
broth or gravy. When baked, pour into it a quarter of a pint of cream
scalded, with a little bit of butter and flour. Shake it round, and mix
it with the gravy in the dish. Lettuces, white mustard leaves, or
spinach, well scalded, may be added to the parsley.


PARSLEY SAUCE. When no parsley leaves are to be had, tie up a little
parsley seed in a piece of clean muslin, and boil it in water ten
minutes. Use this water to melt the butter, and throw into it a little
boiled spinach minced, to look like parsley.


PARSNIPS. Carrots and parsnips, when laid up for the winter, should have
the tops cut off close, be cleared of the rough earth, and kept in a dry
place. Lay a bed of dry sand on the floor, two or three inches thick,
put the roots upon it close together, with the top of one to the bottom
of the next, and so on. Cover the first layer with sand two inches
thick, and then place another layer of roots, and go on thus till the
whole store are laid up. Cover the heap with dry straw, laid on
tolerably thick. Beet roots, salsify, Hamburgh parsley roots,
horseradish, and turnips, should all be laid up in the same manner, as a
supply against frosty weather, when they cannot be got out of the
ground.


PARSNIPS BOILED. These require to be done very tender, and may be served
whole with melted butter, or beaten smooth in a bowl, warmed up with a
little cream, butter, flour, and salt. Parsnips are highly nutricious,
and make an agreeable sauce to salt fish.


PARSNIPS FRICASSEED. Boil them in milk till they are soft. Then cut them
lengthways into bits, two or three inches long, and simmer them in a
white sauce, made of two spoonfuls of broth. Add a bit of mace, half a
cupful of cream, a little flour and butter, pepper and salt.


PARSNIP WINE. To twelve pounds of sliced parsnips, add four gallons of
water, and boil them till they become soft. Squeeze the liquor well out
of them, run it through a sieve, and add to every gallon three pounds of
lump sugar. Boil the whole three quarters of an hour, and when it is
nearly cold, add a little yeast. Let it stand in a tub for ten days,
stirring it from the bottom every day, and then put it into a cask for
twelve months. As it works over, fill it up every day.


PARTRIDGE BOILED. This species of game is in season in the autumn. If
the birds be young, the bill is of a dark colour, and the legs inclined
to yellow. When fresh and good, the vent will be firm; but when stale,
this part will look greenish. Boiled partridges require to be trussed
the same as chickens: from twenty to twenty-five minutes will do them
sufficiently. Serve them up with either white or brown mushroom sauce,
or with rice stewed in gravy, made pretty thick, and seasoned with
pepper and salt. Pour the sauce over them, or serve them up with celery
sauce. A boiled pheasant is dressed in the same manner, allowing three
quarters of an hour for the cooking.


PARTRIDGE PIE. Pick and singe four partridges, cut off the legs at the
knee, season with pepper, salt, chopped parsley, thyme, and mushrooms.
Lay a veal steak and a slice of ham at the bottom of the dish, put in
the partridge, and half a pint of good broth. Lay puff paste on the edge
of the dish, and cover with the same; brush it over with egg, and bake
it an hour.


PARTRIDGE SOUP. Skin two old partridges, and cut them into pieces, with
three or four slices of ham, a stick of celery, and three large onions
sliced. Fry them all in butter till brown, but take care not to burn
them. Then put them into a stewpan, with five pints of boiling water, a
few peppercorns, a shank or two of mutton, and a little salt. Stew it
gently two hours, strain it through a sieve, and put it again into a
stewpan, with some stewed celery and fried bread. When it is near
boiling, skim it, pour it into a tureen, and send it up hot.


PASTE PUDDINGS. Make a paste of butter and flour, roll it out thin, and
spread any kind of jam, or currants over it, with some suet chopped
fine. Roll it up together, close the paste at both ends, and boil it in
a cloth.


PASTRY. An adept in pastry never leaves any part of it adhering to the
board or dish, used in making it. It is best when rolled on marble, or a
very large slate. In very hot weather, the butter should be put into
cold water to make it as firm as possible; and if made early in the
morning, and preserved from the air until it is to be baked, the pastry
will be found much better. An expert hand will use much less butter and
produce lighter crust than others. Good salt butter well washed, will
make a fine flaky crust. When preserved fruits are used in pastry, they
should not be baked long; and those that have been done with their full
proportion of sugar, require no baking at all. The crust should be baked
in a tin shape, and the fruit be added afterwards; or it may be put into
a small dish or tart pans, and the covers be baked on a tin cut out into
any form.


PATTIES. Slice some chicken, turkey, or veal, with dressed ham, or
sirloin of beef. Add some parsley, thyme, and lemon peel, chopped very
fine. Pound all together in a mortar, and season with salt and white
pepper. Line the pattipans with puff paste, fill them with meat, lay on
the paste, close the edges, cut the paste round, brush it over with egg,
and bake the patties twenty minutes.


PAVEMENTS. For cleaning stone stairs, and hall pavements, boil together
half a pint each of size and stone-blue water, with two table-spoonfuls
of whiting, and two cakes of pipe-clay, in about two quarts of
water.--Wash the stones over with a flannel slightly wetted in this
mixture; and when dry, rub them with a flannel and brush.


PAYMENT OF RENT. Rent due for tenements let from year to year, is
commonly paid on the four quarter days; and when the payments are
regularly made at the quarter, the tenant cannot be deprived of
possession at any other time than at the end of a complete year from the
commencement of his tenancy. If therefore he took possession at
Midsummer, he must quit at Midsummer, and notice thereof must be sent at
or before the preceding Christmas. A similar notice is also required
from the tenant to the landlord, when it is intended to leave the
premises.--Every quarter's rent is deemed a separate debt, for which the
landlord can bring a separate action, or distress for nonpayment. The
landlord himself is the proper person to demand rent: if he employs
another person, he must be duly authorised by power of attorney, clearly
specifying the person from whom, and the premises for which the rent is
due: or the demand will be insufficient, if the tenant should be
inclined to evade payment. The following is the form of a receipt for
rent:--'Received of R. C. February 13, 1823, the sum of ten pounds
twelve shillings for a quarter's rent, due at Christmas last.'

          '£10 12 0                                 J. W. M.'


PEA FOWL. These require to be fed the same as turkeys. They are
generally so shy, that they are seldom to be found for some days after
hatching; and it is very wrong to pursue them, as many ignorant people
do, under the idea of bringing them home. It only causes the hen to
carry the young ones through dangerous places, and by hurrying she is
apt to tread upon them. The cock bird kills all the young chickens he
can get at, by one blow on the centre of the head with his bill, and he
does the same by his own brood, before the feathers of the crown come
out. Nature therefore directs the hen to hide and keep them out of his
way, till the feathers rise.


PEA POWDER. Pound together in a marble mortar half an ounce each of
dried mint and sage, a dram of celery seed, and a quarter of a dram of
cayenne, and rub them through a fine sieve. This gives a very savoury
relish to pea soup, and to water gruel. A dram of allspice, or black
pepper, may be pounded with the above, as an addition, or instead of the
cayenne.


PEACH WINE. Take peaches, apricots, and nectarines, when they are full
of juice, pare them, and take out the stones. Then slice them thin, pour
over them from one to two gallons of water, and a quart of white wine.
Simmer the whole gently for a considerable time, till the sliced fruit
becomes soft. Pour off the liquid part into another vessel, containing
more peaches that have been sliced but not heated; let them stand for
twelve hours, then pour out the liquid part, and press what remains
through a fine hair bag. Let the whole be now put into a cask to
ferment, and add a pound and a half of loaf sugar to each gallon. Boil
an ounce of beaten cloves in a quart of white wine, and put it into the
cask; the morella wine will have a delicious flavour. Wine may be made
of apricots by only bruising, and pouring the hot water upon them: this
wine does not require so much sweetening. To give it a curious flavour,
boil an ounce of mace, and half an ounce of nutmegs, in a quart of white
wine; and when the wine is fermenting, pour the liquid in hot. In about
twenty days or a month, these wines will be fit for bottling.


PEARL BARLEY PUDDING. Cleanse a pound of pearl barley, and put to it
three quarts of milk, half a pound of sugar, and a grated nutmeg. Bake
it in a deep pan, take it out of the oven, and beat up six eggs with it.
Then butter a dish, pour in the pudding, and bake it again an hour.


PEARLS. To make artificial pearls, take the blay or bleak fish, which is
very common in the rivers near London, and scrape off the fine silvery
scales from the belly. Wash and rub them in water; let the water settle,
and a sediment will be found of an oily consistence. A little of this is
to be dropped into a hollow glass bead of a bluish tint, and shaken
about, so as to cover all the internal surface. After this the bead is
filled up with melted white wax, to give it weight and solidity.


PEARS. Large ones, when intended to be kept, should be tied and hung up
by the stalk.


PEAS. Young green peas, well dressed, are one of the greatest delicacies
of the vegetable kingdom. They must be quite young; it is equally
indispensable that they be fresh gathered, and cooked as soon as they
are shelled, for they soon lose both their colour and sweetness. Of
course they should never be purchased ready shelled. To have them in
perfection, they must be gathered the same day that they are dressed,
and be put on to boil within half an hour after they are shelled. As
large and small peas cannot be boiled together, the small ones should be
separated from the rest, by being passed through a riddle or coarse
sieve. For a peck of young peas, which will not be more than sufficient
for two or three persons, after they are shelled, set on a saucepan with
a gallon of water. When it boils, put in the peas with a table-spoonful
of salt. Skim it well, keep them quickly boiling from twenty to thirty
minutes, according to their age and size. To judge whether they are done
enough, take some out with a spoon and taste them, but be careful not to
boil them beyond the point of perfection. When slightly indented, and
done enough, drain them on a hair sieve. Put them into a pie dish, and
lay some small bits of butter on the peas; put another dish over them,
and turn them over and over, in order to diffuse the butter equally
among them. Or send them to table plain from the saucepan, with melted
butter in a sauce tureen. Garnish the dish with a few sprigs of mint,
boiled by themselves.


PEAS AND BACON. Cut a piece of nice streaked bacon, lay it in water to
take out some of the salt, and boil it with some dried peas, in a little
water. Add two carrots or parsnips, two onions, and a bunch of sweet
herbs. When the peas are done enough, pulp them through a cullender or
sieve, and serve them over the bacon.


PEAS CULTIVATED. Instead of sowing peas in straight rows, they should be
formed into circles of three or four feet diameter, with a space of two
feet between each circle. By this means they will blossom nearer the
ground, than when enclosed in long rows, and will ripen much sooner. Or
if set in straight rows, a bed of ten or twelve feet wide should be
left between, for onions and carrots, or any crops which do not grow
tall. The peas will not be drawn up so much, but will grow stronger, and
be more productive. Scarlet beans should be treated in the same manner.


PEAS AND PORK. Two pounds of the belly part of pickled pork will make
very good broth for peas soup, if the pork be not too salt. If it has
been in salt several days, it must be laid in water the night before it
is used. Put on three quarts of soft water, or liquor in which meat has
been boiled, with a quart of peas, and let it boil gently for two hours.
Then put in the pork, and let it simmer for an hour or more, till it is
quite tender. When done, wash the pork clean in hot water, send it up in
a dish, or cut into small pieces and put with the soup into the tureen.


PEAS PORRIDGE. Boil the peas, and pulp them through a cullender. Heat
them up in a saucepan with some butter, chopped parsley and chives, and
season with pepper and salt.


PEAS PUDDING. Soak the peas an hour or two before they are boiled; and
when nearly done, beat them up with salt and pepper, an egg, and a bit
of butter. Tie it up in a cloth, and boil it half an hour.


PEAS SOUP. Save the liquor of boiled pork or beef: if too salt, dilute
it with water, or use fresh water only, adding the bones of roast beef,
a ham or gammon bone, or an anchovy or two. Simmer these with some good
whole or split peas; the smaller the quantity of water at first the
better. Continue to simmer till the peas will pulp through a cullender;
then set on the pulp to stew, with more of the liquor that boiled the
peas, two carrots, a turnip, a leek, and a stick of chopped celery, till
all is quite tender. The last requires less time, an hour will do it.
When ready, put into a tureen some fried bread cut into dice, dried mint
rubbed fine, pepper and salt if needed, and pour in the soup. When there
is plenty of vegetables, no meat is necessary; but if meat be preferred,
a pig's foot or ham bone may be boiled with the peas, which is called
the stock. More butter than is above mentioned will be necessary, if the
soup is required to be very rich.


PENCIL DRAWINGS. To prevent chalk or pencil drawings from rubbing out,
it is only necessary to lay them on the surface of some skim milk, free
from cream and grease; and then taking off the drawing expeditiously,
and hanging it up by one corner to dry. A thin wash of isinglass will
also answer the same purpose.


PEPPER POT. To three quarts of water, put any approved vegetables; in
summer, peas, lettuce, spinach, and two or three onions; in winter,
carrot, turnip, onions, and celery. Cut them very small, and stew them
with two pounds of neck of mutton, and a pound of pickled pork. Half an
hour before serving, clear a lobster or crab from the shell, and put it
into the stew, adding a little salt and cayenne. Some people choose very
small suet dumplings, boiled in the above, or fowl may be used instead
of mutton. A pepper pot may indeed be made of various things, and is
understood to consist of a proper mixture of fish, flesh, fowl,
vegetables, and pulse. A small quantity of rice should be boiled with
the whole.


PEPPERMINT DROPS. Pound and sift four ounces of double-refined sugar,
and beat it with the whites of two eggs till perfectly smooth. Then add
sixty drops of oil of peppermint; beat it well, drop it on white paper,
and dry it at a distance from the fire.


PERCH. When of a good size, as in Holland, they are a remarkably fine
fresh-water fish, though not so delicate as carp or tench. Clean them
carefully, and if to be boiled, put them into a fish-kettle, with as
much cold spring water as will cover them, and add a handful of salt.
Set them on a quick fire till they boil, and then place them on one side
to boil gently for about ten minutes, according to their size. If to be
fried, wipe them on a dry cloth, after they have been well cleaned and
washed, and flour them lightly all over. Fry them about ten minutes in
hot lard or dripping, lay them on a hair sieve to drain, and send them
up on a hot dish. Garnish with sprigs of green parsley, and serve them
with anchovy sauce.


PERFUMERY. Oil of lavender and other essences are frequently adulterated
with a mixture of the oil of turpentine, which may be discovered by
dipping a piece of paper or rag into the oil to be tried, and holding it
to the fire. The fine scented oil will quickly evaporate, and leave the
smell of the turpentine distinguishable, if the essence has been
adulterated with this ingredient.


PERMANENT INK. This useful article for marking linen is composed of
nitrate of silver, or lunar caustic, and the tincture or infusion of
galls; in the proportion of one dram of the former in a dry state, to
two drams of the latter. The linen, cotton, or other fabric, must be
first wetted with the following liquid; namely, an ounce of the salt of
tartar, dissolved in an ounce and a half of water; and must be perfectly
dry before any attempt is made to write upon it.


PETTITOES. Boil them very gently in a small quantity of water, along
with the liver and the heart. Then cut the meat fine, split the feet,
and simmer them till they are quite tender. Thicken with a bit of
butter, a little flour, a spoonful of cream, and a little pepper and
salt. Give it a boil up, pour the liquor over a sippets of bread, and
place the feet on the mince.


PEWTER AND TIN. Dish covers and pewter requisites should be wiped dry
immediately after being used, and kept free from steam or damp, which
would prevent much of the trouble in cleaning them. Where the polish is
gone off, let the articles be first rubbed on the outside with a little
sweet oil laid on a piece of soft linen cloth. Then clear it off with
pure whitening on linen cloths, which will restore the polish.


PHEASANTS. The cock bird is reckoned the best, except when the hen is
with egg. If young, its spurs are short and blunt; but if old, they are
long and sharp. A large pheasant will require three quarters of an hour
to boil; if small, half an hour. If for roasting, it should be done the
same as a turkey. Serve it up with a fine gravy, including a very small
piece of garlic, and bread sauce or fried bread crumbs instead. When
cold the meat may be made into excellent patties, but its flavour should
not be overpowered with lemon. For the manner of trussing a pheasant or
partridge, see Plate.


PHOSPHORIC MATCH BOTTLE. Two thirds of calcined oyster shells, and one
third of sulphur, put into a hot crucible for an hour, and afterwards
exposed to the air for half an hour, become phosphorus. This is put into
a bottle, and when used to procure a light, a very small quantity is
taken out on the point of a common match, and rubbed upon a cork, which
produces an immediate flame. If a small piece of phosphorus be put into
a vial, and a little boiling oil poured upon it, a luminous bottle will
be formed; for on taking out the cork, to admit the atmospheric air, the
empty space in the vial will become luminous; and if the bottle be well
closed, it will preserve its illuminative power for several months.


PICKLE. For hams, tongues, or beef, a pickle may be made that will keep
for years, if boiled and skimmed as often as it is used. Provide a deep
earthen glazed pan that will hold four gallons, having a cover that will
fit close. Put into it two gallons of spring water, two pounds of coarse
sugar, two pounds of bay salt, two pounds and a half of common salt, and
half a pound of salt petre. Keep the beef or hams as long as they will
bear, before they are put into the pickle; sprinkle them with coarse
sugar in a pan, and let them drain. Then rub them well with the pickle,
and pack them in close, putting as much as the pan will hold, so that
the pickle may cover them. The pickle is not to be boiled at first. A
small ham may be fourteen days, a large one three weeks, a tongue twelve
days, and beef in proportion to its size. They will eat well out of the
pickle without drying. When they are to be dried, let each be drained
over the pan; and when it will drop no longer, take a clean sponge and
dry it thoroughly. Six or eight hours will smoke them, and there should
be only a little saw-dust and wet straw used for this purpose; but if
put into a baker's chimney, they should be sown up in a coarse cloth,
and hang a week.


PICKLES. The free or frequent use of pickles is by no means to be
recommended, where any regard is paid to health. In general they are the
mere vehicles for taking a certain portion of vinegar and spice, and in
the crisp state in which they are most admired are often indigestible,
and of course pernicious. The pickle made to preserve cucumbers and
mangoes, is generally so strongly impregnated with garlic, mustard, and
spice, that the original flavour of the vegetable, is quite overpowered,
and the vegetable itself becomes the mere absorbent of these foreign
ingredients. But if pickles must still be regarded for the sake of the
palate, whatever becomes of the stomach, it will be necessary to watch
carefully the proper season for gathering and preparing the various
articles intended to be preserved. Frequently it happens, after the
first week that walnuts come in season, that they become hard and
shelled, especially if the weather be hot and dry; it is therefore
necessary to purchase them as soon as they first appear at market; or in
the course of a few months after being pickled, the nuts may be found
incased in an impenetrable shell. The middle of July is generally the
proper time to look for green walnuts. Nasturtiums are to be had about
the same. Garlic and shalots, from Midsummer to Michaelmas. Onions of
various kinds for pickling, are in season by the middle of July, and for
a month after. Gherkins, cucumbers, melons, and mangoes, are to be had
by the middle of July, and for a month after. Green, red, and yellow
capsicums, the end of July, and following month. Chilies, tomatas,
cauliflowers, and artichokes, towards the end of July, and throughout
August. Jerusalem artichokes for pickling, July and August, and for
three months after. French beans and radish pods, in July. Mushrooms,
for pickling and for ketchup, in September. Red cabbage, and samphire,
in August. White cabbage, in September and October. Horseradish,
November and December.--Pickles, when put down, require to be kept with
great care, closely covered. When wanted for use they should be taken
out of the jar with a wooden spoon, pierced with holes, the use of metal
in this case being highly improper. Pickles should be well kept from the
air, and seldom opened. Small jars should be kept for those more
frequently in use, that what is not eaten may be returned into the jar,
and the top kept closely covered. In preparing vinegar for pickles, it
should not be boiled in metal saucepans, but in a stone jar, on a hot
hearth, as the acid will dissolve or corrode the metal, and infuse into
the pickle an unwholesome ingredient. For the same reason pickles should
never be put into glazed jars, as salt and vinegar will penetrate the
glaze, and render it poisonous.


PICKLED ASPARAGUS. Cut some asparagus, and lay it in an earthen pot.
Make a brine of salt and water, strong enough to bear an egg; pour it
hot on the asparagus, and let it be closely covered. When it is to be
used, lay it for two hours in cold water; boil and serve it up on a
toast, with melted butter over it. If to be used as a pickle, boil it as
it comes out of the brine, and lay it in vinegar.


PICKLED BACON. For two tolerable flitches, dry a stone of salt over the
fire, till it is scalding hot. Beat fine two ounces of saltpetre, and
two pounds of bay salt well dried, and mix them with some of the heated
salt. Rub the bacon first with that, and then with the rest; put it into
a tub, and keep it close from the air.


PICKLED BEET ROOT. Boil the roots till three parts done, or set them
into a cool oven till they are softened. Cut them into slices of an inch
thick, cover them with vinegar, adding some allspice, a few cloves, a
little mace, black pepper, horseradish sliced, some onions, shalots, a
little pounded ginger, and some salt. Boil these ingredients together
twenty minutes, and when cold, add to them a little bruised cochineal.
Put the slices of beet into jars, pour the pickle upon them, and tie the
jars down close.


PICKLED CABBAGE. Slice a hard red cabbage into a cullender, and sprinkle
each layer with salt. Let it drain two days, then put it into a jar,
cover it with boiling vinegar, and add a few slices of red beet-root.
The purple red cabbage makes the finest colour. Those who like the
flavour of spice, will boil some with the vinegar. Cauliflower cut in
branches, and thrown in after being salted, will look of a beautiful
red.


PICKLED CARROTS. Half boil some middle sized yellowish carrots, cut them
into any shape, and let them cool. Take as much vinegar as will cover
them, boil it with a little salt, and a pennyworth of saffron tied in a
piece of muslin. Put the carrots into a jar; when the pickle is cold,
pour it upon them, and cover the jar close. Let it stand all night, then
pour off the pickle, and boil it with Jamaica pepper, mace, cloves, and
a little salt. When cold, pour it upon the carrots, and tie them up for
use.


PICKLED CUCUMBERS. Cut them into thick slices, and sprinkle salt over
them. Next day drain them for five or six hours, then put them into a
stone jar, pour boiling vinegar over them, and keep them in a warm
place. Repeat the boiling vinegar, and stop them up again instantly, and
so on till quite green. Then add peppercorns and ginger, and keep them
in small stone jars. Cucumbers are best pickled with sliced onions.


PICKLED GHERKINS. Select some sound young cucumbers, spread them on
dishes, salt and let them lie a week. Drain and put them in a jar,
pouring boiling vinegar over them. Set them near the fire, covered with
plenty of vine leaves. If they do not come to a tolerably good green,
pour the vinegar into another jar, set it on a hot hearth, and when the
vinegar boils, pour it over them again, and cover them with fresh
leaves. Repeat this operation as often as is necessary, to bring the
pickle to a good colour. Too many persons have made pickles of a very
fine green, by using brass or bellmetal kettles; but as this is highly
poisonous, the practice ought never to be attempted.


PICKLED HAM. After it has been a week in the pickle, boil a pint of
vinegar, with two ounces of bay salt. Pour it hot on the ham, and baste
it every day; it may then remain in the brine two or three weeks.


PICKLED HERRING. Procure them as fresh as possible, split them open,
take off the heads, and trim off all the thin parts. Put them into salt
and water for one hour, drain and wipe the fish, and put them into jars,
with the following preparation, which is enough for six dozen herrings.
Take salt and bay salt one pound each, saltpetre and lump sugar two
ounces each, and powder and mix the whole together. Put a layer of the
mixture at the bottom of the jar, then a layer of fish with the skin
side downwards; so continue alternately till the jar is full. Press it
down, and cover it close: in two or three months they will be fit for
use.


PICKLED LEMONS. They should be small, and with thick rinds. Rub them
with a piece of flannel, and slit them half down in four quarters, but
not through to the pulp. Fill the openings with salt hard pressed in,
set them upright in a pan for four or five days, until the salt melts,
and turn them thrice a day in their own liquor till quite tender. Make
enough pickle to cover them, of rape vinegar, the brine of the lemons,
peppercorns, and ginger. Boil and skim it; when cold put it to the
lemons, with two ounces of mustard seed, and two cloves of garlic to six
lemons. When the lemons are to be used, the pickle will be useful in
fish or other sauces.


PICKLED MACKAREL. Clean and divide the fish, and cut each side into
three; or leave them undivided, and cut each side into five or six
pieces. To six large mackarel, take nearly an ounce of pepper, two
nutmegs, a little mace, four cloves, and a handful of salt, all finely
powdered. Mix them together, make holes in each bit of fish, put the
seasoning into them, and rub some of it over each piece. Fry them brown
in oil, and when cold put them into a stone jar, and cover them with
vinegar. Thus prepared, they will keep for months; and if to be kept
longer, pour oil on the top. Mackarel preserved this way are called
Caveach. A more common way is to boil the mackarel after they are
cleaned, and then to boil up some of the liquor with a few peppercorns,
bay leaves, and a little vinegar; and when the fish is cold, the liquor
is poured over them. Collared mackarel are prepared the same way as
collared eel.


PICKLED MELONS. Take six melons, cut a slice out of them, and scrape out
the seeds and pulp quite clean. Put them into a tin stewpan with as much
water as will cover them; add a small handful of salt, and boil them
over a quick fire. When they boil take them off the fire, put them into
an earthen pan with the water, and let them stand till the next day. The
melons must then be taken out and wiped dry, both within and without.
Put two small cloves of garlic into each, a little bit of ginger, and
bruised mustard seed, enough to fill them. Replace the slice that was
cut out, and tie it on with a thread. Boil some cloves, mace, ginger,
pepper, and mustard seed, all bruised, and some garlic, in as much
vinegar as will cover them. After a little boiling, pour the whole,
boiling-hot, upon the melons. They must be quite covered with the
pickle, and tied down close, when cold, with a bladder and leather. They
will not be fit for use in less than three or four months, and will keep
two or three years.


PICKLED MUSHROOMS. Rub the buttons with a piece of flannel, and salt.
Take out the red inside of the larger ones, and when old and black they
will do for pickling. Throw some salt over, and put them into a stewpan
with mace and pepper. As the liquor comes out, shake them well, and keep
them over a gentle fire till all of it be dried into them again. Then
put as much vinegar into the pan as will cover them, give it one warm,
and turn all into a glass or stone jar. Mushrooms pickled in this way
will preserve their flavour, and keep for two years.


PICKLED NASTURTIUM. Take the buds fresh off the plants when they are
pretty large, but before they grow hard, and put them into some of the
best white wine vinegar, boiled up with such spices as are most
agreeable. Keep them in a bottle closely stopped, and they will be fit
for use in a week or ten days.


PICKLED ONIONS. In the month of September, choose the small white round
onions, take off the brown skin, have ready a very nice tin stewpan of
boiling water, and throw in as many onions as will cover the top. As
soon as they look clear on the outside, take them up with a slice as
quick as possible, and lay them on a clean cloth. Cover them close with
another cloth, and scald some more, and so on. Let them lie to be cold,
then put them in a jar or wide-mouthed glass bottles, and pour over them
the best white-wine vinegar, just hot, but not boiling, and cover them
when cold. They must look quite clear; and if the outer skin be
shriveled, peel it off.


PICKLED OYSTERS. Open four dozen large oysters, wash them in their own
liquor, wipe them dry, and strain off the liquor. Add a dessert-spoonful
of pepper, two blades of mace, a table-spoonful of salt, if the liquor
require it; then add three spoonfuls of white wine, and four of vinegar.
Simmer the oysters a few minutes in the liquor, then put them into
small jars, boil up the pickle, and skim it. When cold, pour the liquor
over the oysters, and cover them close.--Another way. Open the oysters,
put them into a saucepan with their own liquor for ten minutes, and
simmer them very gently. Put them into a jar one by one, that none of
the grit may stick to them; and when cold, cover them with the pickle
thus made. Boil the liquor with a bit of mace, lemon peel, and black
peppers; and to every hundred of these corns, put two spoonfuls of the
best undistilled vinegar. The pickle should be kept in small jars, and
tied close with bladder, for the air will spoil them.


PICKLED PIGEONS. Bone them, turn the inside out, and lard it. Season
with a little salt and allspice in fine powder; then turn them again,
and tie the neck and rump with thread. Put them into boiling water; when
they have boiled a minute or two to make them plump, take them out and
dry them well. Then put them boiling hot into the pickle, which must be
made of equal quantities of white wine and white-wine vinegar, with
white pepper and allspice, sliced ginger and nutmeg, and two or three
bay leaves. When it boils up, put in the pigeons. If they are small, a
quarter of an hour will do them; if large, twenty minutes. Then take
them out, wipe them, and let them cool. When the pickle is cold, take
the fat from it, and put them in again. Keep them in a stone jar, tied
down with a bladder to keep out the air. Instead of larding, put into
some a stuffing made of yolks of eggs boiled hard, and marrow in equal
quantities, with sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and mace.


PICKLED PORK. The hams and shoulders being cut off, take for pickling
the quantities proportioned to the middlings of a pretty large hog. Mix
and pound fine, four ounces of salt petre, a pound of coarse sugar, an
ounce of salprunel, and a little common salt. Sprinkle the pork with
salt, drain it twenty four hours, and then rub it with the above
mixture. Pack the pieces tight in a small deep tub, filling up the
spaces with common salt. Place large pebbles on the pork, to prevent it
from swimming in the pickle which the salt will produce. If kept from
the air it will continue very fine for two years.


PICKLED ROSES. Take two pecks of damask rose buds, pick off the green
part, and strew in the bottom of a jar a handful of large bay salt. Put
in half the roses, and strew a little more bay salt upon them. Strip
from the stalk a handful of knotted marjoram, a handful of lemon thyme,
and as much common thyme. Take six pennyworth of benjamin, as much of
storax, six orris roots, and a little suet; beat and bruise them all
together, and mix them with the stripped herbs. Add twenty cloves, a
grated nutmeg, the peel of two Seville oranges pared thin, and of one
lemon shred fine. Mix them with the herbs and spices, strew all on the
roses, and stir them once in two days till the jar is full. More sweets
need not be added, but only roses, orange flowers, or single pinks.


PICKLED SALMON. After scaling and cleaning, split the salmon, and divide
it into convenient pieces. Lay it in the kettle to fill the bottom, and
as much water as will cover it. To three quarts add a pint of vinegar, a
handful of salt, twelve bay-leaves, six blades of mace, and a quarter of
an ounce of black pepper. When the salmon is boiled enough, drain and
lay it on a clean cloth; then put more salmon into the kettle, and pour
the liquor upon it, and so on till all is done. After this, if the
pickle be not smartly flavoured with the vinegar and salt, add more, and
boil it quick three quarters of an hour. When all is cold, pack the
dish in a deep pot, well covered with the pickle, and kept from the air.
The liquor must be drained from the fish, and occasionally boiled and
skimmed.


PICKLED SAMPHIRE. Clear the branches of the samphire from the dead
leaves, and lay them into a large jar, or small cask. Make a strong
brine of white or bay salt, skim it clean while it is boiling, and when
done let it cool. Take the samphire out of the water, and put it into a
bottle with a broad mouth. Add some strong white-wine vinegar, and keep
it well covered down.


PICKLED STURGEON. The following is an excellent imitation of pickled
sturgeon. Take a fine large turkey, but not old; pick it very nicely,
singe, and make it extremely clean. Bone and wash it, and tie it across
and across with a piece of mat string washed clean. Put into a very nice
tin saucepan a quart of water, a quart of vinegar, a quart of white
wine, not sweet, and a large handful of salt. Boil and skim it well, and
then boil the turkey. When done enough, tighten the strings, and lay
upon it a dish with a weight of two pounds over it. Boil the liquor half
an hour; and when both are cold, put the turkey into it. This will keep
some months, and eats more delicately than sturgeon. Vinegar, oil, and
sugar, are usually eaten with it. If more vinegar or salt should be
wanted, add them when cold. Garnish with fennel.


PICKLED TONGUES. To prepare neats' tongues for boiling, cut off the
roots, but leave a little of the kernel and fat. Sprinkle some salt, and
let it drain from the slime till next day. Then for each tongue mix a
large spoonful of common salt, the same of coarse sugar and about half
as much of salt petre; rub it in well, and do so every day. In a week
add another spoonful of salt. If rubbed every day, a tongue will be
ready in a fortnight; but if only turned in the pickle daily, it will
keep four or five weeks without being too salt. When tongues are to be
dried, write the date on a parchment, and tie it on. Tongues may either
be smoked, or dried plain. When a tongue is to be dressed, boil it five
hours till it is quite tender. If done sooner, it is easily kept hot for
the table. The longer it is kept after drying, the higher it will be;
and if hard, it may require soaking three or four hours.--Another way.
Clean and prepare as above; and for two tongues allow an ounce of salt
petre, and an ounce of salprunella, and rub them in well. In two days
after well rubbing, cover them with common salt, turn them every day for
three weeks, then dry them, rub bran over, and smoke them. Keep them in
a cool dry place, and in ten days they will be fit to eat.


PICKLED WALNUTS. When they will bear a pin to go into them, boil a brine
of salt and water, strong enough to swim an egg, and skim it well. When
the brine is quite cold, pour it on the walnuts, and let them soak for
six days. Change the brine, and let them stand six more; then drain and
put them into a jar, pouring over them a sufficient quantity of the best
vinegar. Add plenty of black pepper, pimento, ginger, mace, cloves,
mustard seed, and horseradish, all boiled together, but put on cold. To
every hundred of walnuts put six spoonfuls of mustard seed, and two or
three heads of garlic or shalot, but the latter is the mildest. The
walnuts will be fit for use in about six months; but if closely covered,
they will be good for several years: the air will soften them. The
pickle will be equal to ketchup, when the walnuts are used.--Another
way. Put the walnuts into a jar, cover them with the best vinegar cold,
and let them stand four months. Then, pour off the pickle, and boil as
much fresh vinegar as will cover the walnuts, adding to every three
quarts of vinegar a quarter of a pound of the best mustard, a stick of
horseradish sliced, half an ounce of black pepper, half an ounce of
allspice, and a good handful of salt. Pour the whole boiling hot upon
the walnuts, and cover them close: they will be fit for use in three or
four months. Two ounces of garlic or shalot may be added, but must not
be boiled in the vinegar. The pickle in which the walnuts stood the
first four months, may be used as ketchup.


PICTURES. The following simple method of preventing flies from sitting
on pictures, or any other furniture, is well experienced, and if
generally adopted, would prevent much trouble and damage. Soak a large
bunch of leeks five or six days in a pail of water, and wash the
pictures with it, or any other piece of furniture. The flies will never
come near any thing that is so washed.


PIE SAUCE. Mix some gravy with an anchovy, a sprig of sweet herbs, an
onion, and a little mushroom liquor. Boil and thicken it with butter
rolled in flour, add a little red wine, and pour the sauce into the pie.
This serves for mutton, lamb, veal, or beef pies, when such an addition
is required.


PIES AND TARTS. Attention should be paid to the heat of the oven for all
kinds of pies and tarts. Light paste should be put into a moderate oven:
if too hot the crust will not rise, but burn: if too slack, the paste
will be heavy, and not of a good colour. Raised paste should have a
quick oven, and well closed. Iced tarts should be done in a slack oven,
or the iceing will become brown before the tarts are baked.


PIGEONS. In order to breed pigeons, it is best to take two young ones at
a time; and if well looked after, and plentifully fed, they will breed
every month. They should be kept very clean, and the bottom of the
dove-cote be strewed with sand once a month or oftener. Tares and white
peas are their proper food, and they should be provided with plenty of
fresh water. Starlings and other birds are apt to come among them, and
suck the eggs. Vermin likewise are their enemies, and frequently destroy
them. If the brood should be too small, put among them a few tame
pigeons of their own colour. Observe not to have too large a proportion
of cock birds, for they are quarrelsome, and will soon thin the
dove-cote. Pigeons are fond of salt, and it keeps them in health. Lay a
large piece of clay near their dwelling, and pour upon it any of the
salt brine that may be useless in the family. Bay salt and cummin seeds
mixed together, is a universal remedy for the diseases of pigeons. The
backs and breasts are sometimes scabby, but may be cured in the
following manner. Take a quarter of a pound of bay salt, and as much
common salt; a pound of fennel seed, a pound of dill seed, as much
cummin seed, and an ounce of assafoetida; mix all with a little wheat
flour, and some fine wrought clay. When all are well beaten together,
put it into two earthen pots, and bake them in the oven. When the pots
are cold, put them on the table in the dove-cote; the pigeons will eat
the mixture and get well.


PIGEONS DRESSED. These birds are particularly useful, as they may be
dressed in so many ways. The good flavour of them depends very much on
their being cropped and drawn as soon as killed. No other bird requires
so much washing. Pigeons left from dinner the day before may be stewed,
or made into a pie. In either case, care must be taken not to overdo
them, which will make them stringy. They need only be heated up in gravy
ready prepared; and forcemeat balls may be fried and added, instead of
putting a stuffing into them. If for a pie, let beef steaks be stewed
in a little water, and put cold under them. Cover each pigeon with a
piece of fat bacon to keep them moist, season as usual, and put in some
eggs.--In purchasing pigeons, be careful to see that they are quite
fresh: if they look flabby about the vent, and that part is discoloured,
they are stale. The feet should be supple: if old the feet are harsh.
The tame ones are larger than the wild, and by some they are thought to
be the best. They should be fat and tender; but many are deceived in
their size, because a full crop is as large as the whole body of a small
pigeon. The wood-pigeon is large, and the flesh dark coloured: if
properly kept, and not over roasted, the flavour is equal to teal.


PIGEONS IN DISGUISE. Draw the pigeons, take out the craw very carefully,
wash them clean, cut off the pinions, and turn their legs under their
wings. Season them with pepper and salt, roll each pigeon in a puff
paste, close them well, tie them in separate cloths, and boil them an
hour and a half. When they are untied be careful they do not break; put
them in a dish, and pour a little good gravy over them.


PIGEONS IN A HOLE. Truss four young pigeons, as for boiling, and season
them with pepper, salt, and mace. Put into the belly of each a small
piece of butter, lay them in a pie dish, and pour batter over them, made
of three eggs, two spoonfuls of flour, and half a pint of milk. Bake
them in a moderate oven, and send them to table in the same dish.


PIGEONS IN JELLY. Save some of the liquor in which a knuckle of veal has
been boiled, or boil a calf's or a neat's foot; put the broth into a pan
with a blade of mace, a bunch of sweet herbs, some white pepper, lemon
peel, a slice of lean bacon, and the pigeons. Bake them, and let them
stand to be cold; but season them before baking. When done, take them
out of the liquor, cover them close to preserve the colour, and clear
the jelly by boiling it with the whites of two eggs. Strain it through a
thick cloth dipped in boiling water, and put into a sieve. The fat must
be all removed, before it be cleared. Put the jelly roughly over and
round the pigeons.--A beautiful dish may be made in the following
manner. Pick two very nice pigeons, and make them look as well as
possible by singeing, washing, and cleaning the heads well. Leave the
heads and the feet on, but the nails must be clipped close to the claws.
Roast them of a very nice brown; and when done, put a small sprig of
myrtle into the bill of each. Prepare a savoury jelly, and with it half
fill a bowl of such a size as shall be proper to turn down on the dish
intended for serving in. When the jelly and the birds are cold, see that
no gravy hangs to the birds, and then lay them upside down in the jelly.
Before the rest of it begins to set, pour it over the birds, so as to be
three inches above the feet. This should be done full twenty four hours
before serving. The dish thus prepared will have a very handsome
appearance in the mid range of a second coarse; or when served with the
jelly roughed large, it makes a side or corner dish, being then of a
smaller size. The head of the pigeons should be kept up, as if alive, by
tying the neck with some thread, and the legs bent as if the birds sat
upon them.


PIGEON PIE. Rub the pigeons with pepper and salt, inside and out. Put in
a bit of butter, and if approved, some parsley chopped with the livers,
and a little of the same seasoning. Lay a beef steak at the bottom of
the dish, and the birds on it; between every two, a hard egg. Put a cup
of water in the dish; and if a thin slice or two of ham be added, it
will greatly improve the flavour. When ham is cut for gravy or pies, the
under part should be taken, rather than the prime. Season the gizzards,
and two joints of the wings, and place them in the centre of the pie.
Over them, in a hole made in the crust, put three of the feet nicely
cleaned, to show what pie it is.


PIG'S CHEEK. To prepare a pig's cheek for boiling, cut off the snout,
and clean the head. Divide it, take out the eyes and the brains,
sprinkle the head with salt, and let it drain twenty-four hours. Salt it
with common salt and saltpetre; and if to be dressed without being
stewed with peas, let it lie eight or ten days, but less if to be
dressed with peas. It must first be washed, and then simmered till all
is tender.


PIG'S FEET AND EARS. Clean them carefully, soak them some hours, and
boil them quite tender. Then take them out, and boil a little salt and
vinegar with some of the liquor, and pour it over them when cold. When
to be dressed, dry them, cut the feet in two, and slice the ears. Fry
them, and serve with butter, mustard, and vinegar. They may be either
done in batter, or only floured.


PIG'S FEET AND EARS FRICASSEED. If to be dressed with cream, put no
vinegar into the pickle. Cut the feet and ears into neat bits, and boil
them in a little milk. Pour the liquor from them, and simmer in a little
veal broth, with a bit of onion, mace, and lemon peel. Before the dish
is served up, add a little cream, flour, butter, and salt.


PIG'S FEET JELLY. Clean the feet and ears very carefully, and soak them
some hours. Then boil them in a very small quantity of water, till every
bone can be taken out. Throw in half a handful of chopped sage, the same
of parsley, and a seasoning of pepper, salt, and mace in fine powder.
Simmer till the herbs are scalded, and then pour the whole into a melon
form.


PIG'S HARSLET. Wash and dry some liver, sweetbreads, and fat and lean
bits of pork, beating the latter with a rolling-pin to make it tender.
Season with pepper, salt, sage, and a little onion shred fine. When
mixed, put all into a cawl, and fasten it up tight with a needle and
thread. Roast it on a hanging jack, or by a string. Serve with a sauce
of port wine and water, and mustard, just boiled up, and put into the
dish. Or serve it in slices with parsley for a fry.


PIG'S HEAD COLLARED. Scour the head and ears nicely, take off the hair
and snout, and remove the eyes and the brain. Lay the head into water
one night, then drain it, salt it extremely well with common salt and
saltpetre, and let it lie five days. Boil it enough to take out the
bones, then lay it on a dresser, turning the thick end of one side of
the head towards the thin end of the other, to make the roll of equal
size. Sprinkle it well with salt and white pepper, and roll it with the
ears. The pig's feet may also be placed round the outside when boned, or
the thin parts of two cow heels, if approved. Put it in a cloth, bind it
with a broad tape, and boil it till quite tender. Place a good weight
upon it, and do not remove the covering till the meat is cold. If the
collar is to be more like brawn, salt it longer, add a larger proportion
of saltpetre, and put in also some pieces of lean pork. Then cover it
with cow heel to make it look like the horn. This may be kept in a
pickle of boiled salt and water, or out of pickle with vinegar: it will
be found a very convenient article to have in the house. If likely to
spoil, slice and fry it, either with or without batter.


PIG SAUCE. Take a tea-spoonful of white gravy, a small piece of anchovy,
with the gravy from the roasting of the pig, and mix the brains with it
when chopped. Add a quarter of a pound of butter, a little flour to
thicken it, a slice of lemon, and a little salt. Shake it over the fire,
and put it hot into the dish. Good sauce may also be made by putting
some of the bread and sage, which has been roasted in the pig, into good
beef gravy, and adding the brains to it.


PILAU. Stew a pound of rice in white gravy till it is tender. Half boil
a well grown fowl, then lay it into a baking dish with some pepper and
salt strewed over it. Lay truffles, morels, mushrooms, hard eggs, or
forcemeat balls, any or all of them round it at pleasure; put a little
gravy into the dish, and spread the rice over the whole like a paste.
Bake it gently, till the fowl is done enough. If it seem dry, cut a hole
carefully at the top, and pour in some white gravy, made pretty warm,
before it is sent to table. Partridges or pheasants are very nice,
dressed the same way.


PILCHARD PIE. Soak two or three salted pilchards for some hours, the day
before they are to be dressed. Clean and skin the white part of some
large leeks, scald them in milk and water, and put them in layers into a
dish, with the pilchards. Cover the whole with a good plain crust. When
the pie is taken out of the oven, lift up the side crust with a knife,
and empty out all the liquor: then pour in half a pint of scalded cream.


PILE OINTMENT. Cut some green shoots of elder early in the spring, clear
away the bark, and put two good handfuls into a quart of thick cream.
Boil it till it comes to an ointment, and as it rises take it off with a
spoon, and be careful to prevent its burning. Strain the ointment
through a fine cloth, and keep it for use.


PILES. If this complaint be occasioned by costiveness, proper attention
must be paid to that circumstance; but if it originate from weakness,
strong purgatives must be avoided. The part affected should be bathed
twice a day with a sponge dipped in cold water, and the bowels regulated
by the mildest laxatives. An electuary, consisting of one ounce of
sulphur, and half an ounce of cream of tartar, mixed with a sufficient
quantity of treacle, may be taken three or four times a day. The patient
would also find relief by sitting over the steam of warm water. A useful
liniment for this disorder may be made of two ounces of emollient
ointment, and half an ounce of laudanum. Mix them with the yolk of an
egg, and work them well together.


PILLS. Opening pills may be made of two drams of Castile soap, and two
drams of succotrine aloes, mixed with a sufficient quantity of common
syrup. Or when aloes will not agree with the patient, take two drams of
the extract of jalap, two drams of vitriolated tartar, and as much syrup
of ginger as will form them of a proper consistence for pills. Four or
five of these pills will generally prove a sufficient purge; and for
keeping the body gently open, one may be taken night and
morning.--Composing pills may consist of ten grains of purified opium,
and half a dram of Castile soap, beaten together, and formed into twenty
parts. When a quieting draught will not sit upon the stomach, one or two
of these pills may be taken to great advantage.--Pills for the jaundice
may be made of one dram each of Castile soap, succotrine aloes, and
rhubarb, mixed up with a sufficient quantity of syrup. Five or six of
these pills taken twice a day, more or less, to keep the body open, with
the assistance of a proper diet, will often effect a cure.


PIPERS. Boil or bake them with a pudding well seasoned. If baked, put a
large cup of rich broth into the dish; and when done, boil up together
for sauce, the broth, some essence of anchovy, and a squeeze of lemon.


PIPPIN PUDDING. Coddle six pippins in vine leaves covered with water,
very gently, that the inside may be done without breaking the skins.
When soft, take off the skin, and with a tea-spoon take the pulp from
the core. Press it through a cullender, add two spoonfuls of
orange-flower water, three eggs beaten, a glass of raisin wine, a pint
of scalding cream, sugar and nutmeg to taste. Lay a thin puff paste at
the bottom and sides of the dish; shred some very thin lemon peel as
fine as possible, and put it into the dish; likewise lemon, orange, and
citron, in small slices, but not so thin as to dissolve in the baking.


PIPPIN TARTS. Pare two seville or china oranges quite thin, boil the
peel tender and shred it fine. Pare and core twenty pippins, put them in
a stewpan, with as little water as possible. When half done, add half a
pound of sugar, the orange peel and juice, and boil all together till it
is pretty thick. When cold, put it in a shallow dish, or pattipans lined
with paste, to turn out, and be eaten cold.


PISTACHIO CREAM. Blanch four ounces of pistachio nuts, beat them fine
with a little rose-water, and add the paste to a pint of cream. Sweeten
it, let it just boil, and then put it into glasses.


PISTACHIO TART. Shell and peel half a pound of pistachio nuts, beat them
very fine in a marble mortar, and work into them a piece of fresh
butter. Add to this a quarter of a pint of cream, or of the juice of
beet leaves, extracted by pounding them in a marble mortar, and then
draining off the juice through a piece of muslin. Grate in two
macarones, add the yolks of two eggs, a little salt, and sugar to the
taste. Bake it lightly with a puff crust under it, and some little
ornaments on the top. Sift some fine sugar over, before it is sent to
table.


PLAICE. The following is an excellent way of dressing a large plaice,
especially if there be a roe. Sprinkle it with salt, and keep it twenty
four hours. Then wash, and wipe it dry, smear it over with egg, and
cover it with crumbs of bread. Boil up some lard or fine dripping, with
two large spoonfuls of vinegar; lay in the fish, and fry it of a fine
colour. Drain off the fat, serve it with fried parsley laid round, and
anchovy sauce. The fish may be dipped in vinegar, instead of putting
vinegar in the pan.


PLAIN BREAD PUDDING. Prepare five ounces of bread crumbs, put them in a
basin, pour three quarters of a pint of boiling milk over them, put a
plate over the top to keep in the steam, and let it stand twenty
minutes. Then beat it up quite smooth, with two ounces of sugar, and a
little nutmeg. Break four eggs on a plate, leaving out one white, beat
them well, and add them to the pudding. Stir it all well together, put
it into a mould that has been well buttered and floured, tie a cloth
tight over it, and boil it an hour.


PLAIN CHEESECAKES. Three quarters of a pound of cheese curd, and a
quarter of a pound of butter, beat together in a mortar. Add a quarter
of a pound of fine bread soaked in milk, three eggs, six ounces of
currants well washed and picked, sugar to the taste, a little candied
orange peel, and a little sack. Bake them in a puff crust in a quick
oven.


PLAIN FRITTERS. Grate a fine penny loaf into a pint of milk, beat it
smooth, add the yolks of five eggs, three ounces of fine sugar, and a
little nutmeg. Fry them in hog's lard, and serve them up with melted
butter and sugar.


PLAIN PEAS SOUP. The receipts too generally given for peas are so much
crowded with ingredients, that they entirely overpower the flavour of
the peas. Nothing more is necessary to plain good soup, than a quart of
split peas, two heads of celery, and an onion. Boil all together in
three quarts of broth or soft water; let them simmer gently on a trivet
over a slow fire for three hours, and keep them stirring, to prevent
burning at the bottom of the kettle. If the water boils away, and the
soup gets too thick, add some boiling water to it. When the peas are
well softened, work them through a coarse sieve, and then through a
tammis. Wash out the stewpan, return the soup into it, and give it a
boil up; take off any scum that rises, and the soup is ready. Prepare
some fried bread and dried mint, and send them up with it on two side
dishes. This is an excellent family soup, produced with very little
trouble or expense, the two quarts not exceeding the charge of one
shilling. Half a dram of bruised celery seed, and a little sugar, added
just before finishing the soup, will give it as much flavour as two
heads of the fresh vegetable.


PLAIN RICE PUDDING. Wash and pick some rice, scatter among it some
pimento finely powdered, but not too much. Tie up the rice in a cloth,
and leave plenty of room for it to swell. Boil it in a good quantity of
water for an hour or two, and serve it with butter and sugar, or milk.
Lemon peel may be added to the pudding, but it is very good without
spice, and may be eaten with butter and salt.


PLANTING. In rendering swampy ground useful, nothing is so well adapted
as planting it with birch or alder, which grows spontaneously on bogs
and swamps, a kind of soil which otherwise would produce nothing but
weeds and rushes. The wood of the alder is particularly useful for all
kinds of machinery, for pipes, drains, and pump trees, as it possesses
the peculiar quality of resisting injury from wet and weather. The bark
is also highly valuable to black dyers, who purchase it at a good price;
and it is much to be lamented that the properties of this useful tree
are not duly appreciated.


PLANTATIONS. Young plantations are liable to great injury, by being
barked in the winter season. To prevent this, take a quantity of grease,
scent it with a little tar, and mix them well together. Brush it round
the stems of young trees, as high at least as hares and rabbits can
reach, and it will effectually prevent their being barked by these
animals. Tar must not be used alone, for when exposed to the sun and
air, it becomes hard and binding, and hinders the growth of the
plantation. Grease will not have this effect, and the scent of the tar
is highly obnoxious to hares and rabbits.


PLASTERS. Common plaster is made of six pints of olive oil, and two
pounds and a half of litharge finely powdered. A smaller quantity may of
course be made of equal proportions. Boil them together over a gentle
fire, in about a gallon of water, and keep the ingredients constantly
stirring. After they have boiled about three hours, a little of the
salve may be taken out, and put into cold water. When of a proper
consistence, the whole may be suffered to cool, and the water pressed
out of it with the hands. This will serve as a basis for other plasters,
and is generally applied in slight wounds and excoriations of the skin.
It keeps the part warm and supple, and defends it from the air, which is
all that is necessary in such cases.--Adhesive plaster, which is
principally used for keeping on other dressings, consists of half a
pound of common plaster, and a quarter of a pound of Burgundy pitch
melted together.--Anodyne plaster is as follows. Melt an ounce of the
adhesive, and when cooling, mix with it a dram of powdered opium, and
the same of camphor, previously rubbing with a little oil. This plaster
generally gives ease in acute pains, especially of the nervous
kind.--Blistering plaster is made in a variety of ways, but seldom of a
proper consistence. When compounded of oils, and other greasy
substances, its effects are lessened, and it is apt to run, while pitch
and rosin render it hard and inconvenient. The following will be found
the best method. Take six ounces of venice turpentine, two ounces of
yellow wax, three ounces of spanish flies finely powdered, and one ounce
of the flour of mustard. Melt the wax, and while it is warm, add the
turpentine to it, taking care not to evaporate it by too much heat.
After the turpentine and wax are sufficiently incorporated, sprinkle in
the powders, and stir the mass till it is cold. When the blistering
plaster is not at hand, mix with any soft ointment a sufficient quantity
of powdered flies, or form them into a plaster with flour and vinegar.


PLATE. The best way to clean plate, is to boil an ounce of prepared
hartshorn powder in a quart of water; and while on the fire, put in as
much plate as the vessel will hold. Let it boil a little, then take it
out, drain it over the saucepan, and dry it before the fire. Put in
more, and serve it the same, till all is done. Then soak some clean rags
in the water, and when dry they will serve to clean the plate. Cloths
thus saturated with hartshorn powder, are also the best things for
cleaning brass locks, and the finger plates of doors. When the plate is
quite dry, it must be rubbed bright with soft leather. In many plate
powders there is a mixture of quicksilver, which is very injurious; and
among other disadvantages, it makes silver so brittle that it will break
with a fall. In common cases, whitening, properly purified from sand,
applied wet, and rubbed till dry, is one of the cheapest and best of all
plate powders.


PLATING OF GLASS. Pour some mercury on a tin foil, smoothly laid on a
flat table, and rub it gently with a hare's foot. It soon unites itself
to the tin, which then becomes very splendid, or is what they call
quickened. A plate of glass is then cautiously, passed upon the tin
leaf, in such a manner as to sweep off the redundant mercury, which is
not incorporated with the tin. Leaden weights are then to be placed on
the glass; and in a little time the quicksilvered tin foil adheres, so
firmly to the glass, that the weights may be removed without any danger
of its falling off. The glass thus coated is a common looking-glass.
About two ounces of mercury are sufficient for covering three square
feet of glass.


PLOVERS. In purchasing plovers, choose those that feel hard at the vent,
which shows they are fat. In other respects, choose them by the same
marks as other fowl. When stale, the feet are harsh and dry. They will
keep a long time. There are three sorts of these birds, the grey, the
green, and the bastard plover, or lapwing. Green plovers are roasted in
the same way as snipes and woodcocks, without drawing, and are served on
toast. The grey ones may be roasted, or stewed with gravy, herbs, and
spice.


PLOVERS' EGGS. Boil them ten minutes, and serve them either hot or cold
on a napkin. These make a nice and fashionable dish.


PLUM CAKE. This is such a favourite article in most families, and is
made in so many different ways, that it will be necessary to give a
variety of receipts, in order that a selection may be made agreeably to
the taste of the reader, or the quality of the article to be
preferred.--For a good common plum cake, mix five ounces of butter in
three pounds of fine dry flour, and five ounces of the best moist sugar.
Add six ounces of currants, washed and dried, and some pimento finely
powdered. Put three spoonfuls of yeast into a pint of new milk warmed,
and mix it with the above into a light dough.--A cake of a better sort.
Mix thoroughly a quarter of a peck of fine flour well dried, with a
pound of dry and sifted loaf sugar, three pounds of currants washed and
very dry, half a pound of raisins stoned and chopped, a quarter of an
ounce of mace and cloves, twenty peppercorns, a grated nutmeg, the peel
of a lemon cut as fine as possible, and half a pound of almonds blanched
and beaten with orange-flower water. Melt two pounds of butter in a pint
and a quarter of cream, but not too hot; add a pint of sweet wine, a
glass of brandy, the whites and yolks of twelve eggs beaten apart, and
half a pint of good yeast. Strain this liquid by degrees into the dry
ingredients, beating them together a full hour; then butter the hoop or
pan, and bake it. When the batter is put into the pan, throw in plenty
of citron, lemon, and orange candy. If the cake is to be iced, take half
a pound of double refined sugar sifted, and put a little with the white
of an egg; beat it well, and by degrees pour in the remainder. It must
be whisked nearly an hour, with the addition of a little orange-flower
water, but not too much. When the cake is done, pour the iceing over it,
and return it to the oven for fifteen minutes. But if the oven be quite
warm, keep it near the mouth, and the door open, lest the colour be
spoiled.--Another. Dried flour, currants washed and picked, four pounds;
sugar pounded and sifted, a pound and a half; six orange, lemon, and
citron peels, cut in slices. These are to be mixed together. Beat ten
eggs, yolks and whites separately. Melt a pound and a half of butter in
a pint of cream; when cold, put to it half a pint of yeast, near half a
pint of sweet wine, and the eggs. Then strain the liquid to the dry
ingredients, beat them well, and add of cloves, mace, cinnamon, and
nutmeg, half an ounce each. Butter the pan, and put it into a quick
oven. Three hours will bake it.--Another. Mix with a pound of well-dried
flour, a pound of loaf sugar, and the eighth of an ounce of mace, well
beaten. Beat up five eggs with half the whites, a gill of rose water,
and a quarter of a pint of yeast, and strain them. Melt half a pound of
butter in a quarter of a pint of cream, and when cool, mix all together.
Beat up the batter with a light hand, and set it to rise half an hour.
Before it is put into the oven, mix in a pound and a half of currants,
well washed and dried, and bake it an hour and a quarter.--For a rich
cake, take three pounds of well-dried flour, three pounds of fresh
butter, a pound and a half of fine sugar dried and sifted, five pounds
of currants carefully cleaned and dried, twenty-four eggs, three grated
nutmegs, a little pounded mace and cloves, half a pound of almonds, a
glass of sack, and a pound of citron or orange peel. Pound the almonds
in rose water, work up the butter to a thin cream, put in the sugar, and
work it well; then the yolks of the eggs, the spices, the almonds, and
orange peel. Beat the whites of the eggs to a froth, and put them into
the batter as it rises. Keep working it with the hand till the oven is
ready, and the scorching subsided; put it into a hoop, but not full, and
two hours will bake it. The almonds should be blanched in cold water.
This will make a large rich plum cake.--A small common cake may be made
of a pound of dough, a quarter of a pound of butter, two eggs, a quarter
of a pound of lump sugar, a quarter of a pound of currants, and a little
nutmeg.--Another. Take a pound and a half of fine white dough, roll into
it a pound of butter, as for pie crust, and set it by the fire. Beat up
the yolks of four eggs, with half a pound of fine powdered sugar; pour
it upon the mass, and work it well by the fire. Add half a pound of
currants, well picked and washed, and send it to the oven. Half the
quantity of sugar, eggs, and butter, will make a very pleasant
cake.--Another. A pound and a half of well-dried flour, a pound of
butter, a pound of sugar, and a pound of currants, picked and washed.
Beat up eight eggs, warm the butter, mix all together, and beat it up
for an hour.--For little plum cakes, intended to keep for some time, dry
a pound of fine flour, and mix it with six ounces of finely pounded
sugar. Beat six ounces of butter to a cream, and add to three eggs well
beaten, half a pound of currants nicely washed and dried, together with
the sugar and flour. Beat all for some time, then dredge some flour on
tin plates, and drop the batter on them the size of a walnut. If
properly mixed, it will be a stiff paste. Bake in a brisk oven. To make
a rich plum cake, take four pounds of flour well dried, mix with it a
pound and a half of fine sugar powdered, a grated nutmeg, and an ounce
of mace pounded fine. When they are well mixed, make a hole in the
middle, and pour in fifteen eggs, but seven whites, well beaten, with a
pint of good yeast, half a quarter of a pint of orange-flower water, and
the same quantity of sack, or any other rich sweet wine. Then melt two
pounds and a half of butter in a pint and a half of cream; and when it
is about the warmth of new milk, pour it into the middle of the batter.
Throw a little of the flour over the liquids, but do not mix the whole
together till it is ready to go into the oven. Let it stand before the
fire an hour to rise, laying a cloth over it; then have ready six pounds
of currants well washed, picked, and dried; a pound of citron and a
pound of orange peel sliced, with a pound of blanched almonds, half cut
in slices lengthways, and half finely pounded. Mix all well together,
butter the tin well, and bake it two hours and a half. This will make a
large cake.--Another, not quite so rich. Three pounds of flour well
dried, half a pound of sugar, and half an ounce of spice, nutmeg, mace,
and cinnamon, well pounded. Add ten eggs, but only half the whites,
beaten with a pint of good yeast. Melt a pound of butter in a pint of
cream, add it to the yeast, and let it stand an hour to rise before the
fire. Then add three pounds of currants well washed, picked and dried.
Butter the tin, and bake it an hour.--A common plum cake is made of
three pounds and a half of flour, half a pound of sugar, a grated
nutmeg, eight eggs, a glass of brandy, half a pint of yeast, a pound of
butter melted in a pint and half of milk, put lukewarm to the other
ingredients. Let it rise an hour before the fire, then mix it well
together, add two pounds of currants carefully cleaned, butter the tin,
and bake it.


PLUM JAM. Cut some ripe plums to pieces, put them into a preserving pan,
bruise them with a spoon, warm them over the fire till they are soft,
and press them through a cullender. Boil the jam an hour, stir it well,
add six ounces of fine powdered sugar to every pound of jam, and take it
off the fire to mix it. Then heat it ten minutes, put it into jars, and
sift some fine sugar over it.


PLUM PUDDING. Take six ounces of suet chopped fine, six ounces of malaga
raisins stoned, eight ounces of currants nicely washed and picked, three
ounces of bread crumbs, three ounces of flour, and three eggs. Add the
sixth part of a grated nutmeg, a small blade of mace, the same quantity
of cinnamon, pounded as fine as possible; half a tea-spoonful of salt,
nearly half a pint of milk, four ounces of sugar, an ounce of candied
lemon, and half an ounce of citron. Beat the eggs and spice well
together, mix the milk with them by degrees, and then the rest of the
ingredients. Dip a fine close linen cloth into boiling water, and put it
in a hair sieve, flour it a little, and tie the pudding up close. Put it
into a saucepan containing six quarts of boiling water; keep a kettle of
boiling water near it, to fill up the pot as it wastes, and keep it
boiling six hours. If the water ceases to boil, the pudding will become
heavy, and be spoiled. Plum puddings are best when mixed an hour or two
before they are boiled, as the various ingredients by that means
incorporate, and the whole becomes richer and fuller of flavour,
especially if the various ingredients be thoroughly well stirred
together. A table-spoonful of treacle will give the pudding a rich brown
colour.--Another. Beat up the yolks and whites of three eggs, strain
them through a sieve, gradually add to them a quarter of a pint of milk,
and stir it well together. Rub in a mortar two ounces of moist sugar,
with as much grated nutmeg as will lie on a six-pence, and stir these
into the eggs and milk. Then put in four ounces of flour, and beat it
into a smooth batter; by degrees stir into it seven ounces of suet,
minced as fine as possible, and three ounces of bread crumbs. Mix all
thoroughly together, at least half an hour before the pudding is put
into the pot. Put it into an earthenware pudding mould, well buttered,
tie a pudding cloth tight over it, put it into boiling water, and boil
it three hours. Half a pound of raisins cut in halves, and added to the
above, will make a most admirable plum pudding. This pudding may also be
baked, or put under roast meat, like a Yorkshire pudding. In the latter
case, half a pint more milk must be added, and the batter should be an
inch and a quarter in thickness. It will take full two hours, and
require careful watching; for if the top get burned, an unpleasant
flavour will pervade the whole pudding. Or butter some saucers, and fill
them with batter; in a dutch oven they will bake in about an
hour.--Another. To three quarters of a pound of flour, add the same
weight of stoned raisins, half a pound of suet or marrow, cut small, a
pint of milk, two eggs, three spoonfuls of moist sugar, and a little
salt. Boil the pudding five hours.--To make a small rich plum pudding,
take three quarters of a pound of suet finely shred, half a pound of
stoned raisins a little chopped, three spoonfuls of flour, three
spoonfuls of moist sugar, a little salt and nutmeg, three yolks of eggs,
and two whites. Boil the pudding four hours in a basin of tin mould,
well buttered. Serve it up with melted butter, white wine and sugar,
poured over it.--For a large rich pudding, take three pounds of suet
chopped small, a pound and a half of raisins stoned and chopped, a pound
and a half of currants, three pounds of flour, sixteen eggs, and a quart
of milk. Boil it in a cloth seven hours. If for baking, put in only a
pint of milk, with two additional eggs, and an hour and a half will bake
it.--A plum pudding without eggs may be made of three quarters of a
pound of flour, three quarters of a pound of suet chopped fine, three
quarters of a pound of stoned raisins, three quarters of a pound of
currants well washed and dried, a tea-spoonful of ground ginger, and
rather more of salt. Stir all well together, and add as little milk as
will just mix it up quite stiff. Boil the pudding four hours in a
buttered basin.--Another. The same proportions of flour and suet, and
half the quantity of fruit, with spice, lemon, a glass of white wine, an
egg and milk, will make an excellent pudding, but it must be well
boiled.


POACHED EGGS. Set a stewpan of water on the fire; when boiling, slip an
egg, previously broken into a cup, into the water. When the white looks
done enough, slide an egg-slice under the egg, and lay it on toast and
butter, or boiled spinach. As soon as done enough, serve them up hot. If
the eggs be not fresh laid, they will not poach well, nor without
breaking. Trim the ragged parts of the whites, and make them look round.


POISON. Whenever a quantity of arsenic has been swallowed, by design or
mistake, its effects may be counteracted by immediately drinking plenty
of milk. The patient should afterwards take a dram of the liver of
sulphur, in a pint of warm water, a little at a time as he can bear it;
or he may substitute some soap water, a quantity of common ink, or any
other acid, if other things cannot be readily procured.--To obviate the
ill effects of opium, taken either in a liquid or solid form, emetics
should be given as speedily as possible. These should consist of an
ounce each of oxymel squills and spearmint water, and half a scruple of
ipecacuanha, accompanied with frequent draughts of water gruel to assist
the operation.--Those poisons which may be called culinary, are
generally the most destructive, because the least suspected; no vessels
therefore made of copper or brass should be used in cooking. In cases
where the poison of virdigris has been recently swallowed, emetics
should first be given, and then the patient should drink abundance of
cold water.--If any one has eaten of the deadly nightshade, he should
take an emetic as soon as possible, and drink a pint of vinegar or lemon
juice in an equal quantity of water, a little at a time; and as sleep
would prove fatal, he should keep walking about to prevent it.--For the
bite of the mad dog, or other venomous animals, nothing is to be
depended on for a cure but immediately cutting out the bitten part with
a lancet, or burning it out with a red-hot iron.--To prevent the
baneful effects of burning charcoal, set an open vessel of boiling water
upon the pan containing the charcoal, and keep it boiling. The steam
arising from the water will counteract the effects of the charcoal.
Painters, glaziers, and other artificers, should be careful to avoid the
poisonous effects of lead, by washing their hands and face clean before
meals, and by never eating in the place where they work, nor suffering
any food or drink to remain exposed to the fumes or dust of the metal.
Every business of this sort should be performed as far as possible with
gloves on the hands, to prevent the metal from working into the pores of
the skin, which is highly injurious, and lead should never be touched
when it is hot.


POIVRADE SAUCE. Pick the skins of twelve shalots, chop them small, mix
with them a table-spoonful of veal gravy, a gill and a half of vinegar,
half an anchovy pressed through a fine sieve, and a little salt and
cayenne. If it is to be eaten with hot game, serve it up boiling: if
with cold, the sauce is to be cold likewise.--Another way. Put a piece
of butter the size of half an egg into a saucepan, with two or three
sliced onions, some of the red outward part, of carrots, and of the part
answering to it of parsnip, a clove of garlic, two shalots, two cloves,
a bay leaf, with basil and thyme. Shake the whole over the fire till it
begins to colour, then add a good pinch of flour, a glass of red wine, a
glass of water, and a spoonful of vinegar. Boil it half an hour, take
off the fat, pass the sauce through a tammis, add some salt and pepper,
and use it with any thing that requires a relishing sauce.


POLISHED STOVES. Steel or polished stoves may be well cleaned in a few
minutes, by using a piece of fine-corned emery stone, and afterwards
polishing with flour of emery or rottenstone. If stoves or fire irons
have acquired any rust, pound some glass to fine powder; and having
nailed some strong woollen cloth upon a board, lay upon it a thick coat
of gum water, and sift the powdered glass upon it, and let it dry. This
may be repeated as often as is necessary to form a sharp surface, and
with this the rust may easily be rubbed off; but care must be taken to
have the glass finely powdered, and the gum well dried, or the polish on
the irons will be injured. Fire arms, or similar articles, may be kept
clean for several months, if rubbed with a mixture consisting of one
ounce of camphor dissolved in two pounds of hog's lard, boiled and
skimmed, and coloured with a little black lead. The mixture should be
left on twenty four hours to dry, and then rubbed off with a linen
cloth.


POMADE DIVINE. Clear a pound and a half of beef marrow from the strings
and bone, put it into an earthen pan of fresh water from the spring, and
change the water night and morning for ten days. Then steep it in rose
water twenty four hours, and drain it in a cloth till quite dry. Take an
ounce of each of the following articles, namely, storax, gum benjamin,
odoriferous cypress powder, or of florence; half an ounce of cinnamon,
two drams of cloves, and two drams of nutmeg, all finely powdered. Mix
them with the marrow above prepared, and put all the ingredients into a
pewter pot that holds three quarts. Make a paste of flour and the white
of an egg, and lay it upon a piece of rag. Over that must be another
piece of linen, to cover the top of the pot very close, that none of the
steam may evaporate. Set the pot into a large copper pot of water,
observing to keep it steady, that it may not reach to the covering of
the pot that holds the marrow. As the water shrinks add more, boiling
hot, for it must boil incessantly for four hours. Strain the ointment
through a linen cloth into small pots, and cover them when cold. Do not
touch it with any thing but silver, and it will keep many years. A fine
pomatum may also be made by putting half a pound of fresh marrow
prepared as above, and two ounces of fresh hog's lard, on the
ingredients; and then observing the same process as above.


POMATUM. To make soft pomatum, beat half a pound of unsalted fresh lard
in common water, then soak and beat in two different rose-waters. Drain
it, and beat it, with two spoonfuls of brandy. Let it drain from this,
then add some essence of lemon, and keep it in small pots. Or soak half
a pound of clear beef marrow, and a pound of unsalted fresh lard, in
water two of three days, changing and beating it every day. Put it into
a sieve; and when dry, into a jar, and the jar, into a saucepan of
water. When melted, pour it into a bason, and beat it with two spoonfuls
of brandy. Drain off the brandy, and add essence of lemon, bergamot, or
any other scent that is preferred.--For hard pomatum, prepare as before
equal quantities of beef marrow and mutton suet, using the brandy to
preserve it, and adding the scent. Then pour it into moulds, or phials,
of the size intended for the rolls. When cold break the bottles, clear
away the glass carefully, and put paper round the balls.


PONDS. Stagnant or running water is often infected with weeds, which
become troublesome and injurious to the occupier, but which might easily
be prevented by suffering geese, or particularly swans, to feed upon the
surface. These water fowls, by nibbling the young shoots as fast as they
arise, will prevent their growth and appearance on the surface of the
water, and all the expense which might otherwise be incurred in clearing
them away.


POOR MAN'S SAUCE. Pick a handful of parsley leaves from the stalks,
mince them very fine, and strew over a little salt. Shred fine half a
dozen young green onions, add these to the parsley, and put them into a
sauce boat, with three table-spoonfuls of oil, and five of vinegar. Add
some ground black pepper and salt, stir them together, and it is ready.
Pickled French beans or gherkins cut fine, may be added, or a little
grated horseradish. This sauce is much esteemed in France, where people
of taste, weary of rich dishes, occasionally order the fare of the
peasant.


PORK. This is a strong fat meat, and unless very nicely fed, it is fit
only for hard working people. Young pigs, like lamb and veal, are fat
and luscious, but afford very little nutriment. Pork fed by butchers, or
at distilleries, is very inferior, and scarcely wholesome; it is fat and
spongy, and utterly unfit for curing. Dairy fed pork is the best. To
judge of pork, pinch the lean; and if young and good, it will easily
part. If the rind is tough, thick, and cannot easily be impressed with
the finger, it is old. A thin rind denotes a good quality in general.
When fresh, the meat will be smooth and cool: if clammy, it is tainted.
What is called in some places measly pork, is very unwholesome; and may
be known by the fat being full of kernels, which in good pork is never
the case. Bacon hogs and porkers are differently cut up. Hogs are kept
to a larger size; the chine or backbone is cut down on each side, the
whole length, and is a prime part either boiled or roasted. The sides of
the hog are made into bacon, and the inside is cut out with very little
meat to the bone. On each side there is a large sparerib, which is
usually divided into two, a sweet bone and a blade bone. The bacon is
the whole outside, and contains a fore leg and a ham; the last of these
is the hind leg, but if left with the bacon it is called a gammon.
Hog's lard is the inner fat of the bacon hog, melted down. Pickled pork
is made of the flesh of the hog, but more frequently of smaller and
younger meat. Porkers are not so large as hogs, and are generally
divided into four quarters. The fore quarter has the spring or fore leg,
the fore loin or neck, the sparerib, and the griskin. The hind quarter
has the leg and the loin. Pig's feet and ears make various good dishes,
and should be cut off before the legs and cheeks are cured. The bacon
hog is sometimes scalded, to take off the hair, and sometimes singed.
The porker is always scalded.


PORK CHOPS. Cut the chops nearly half an inch thick, trim them neatly,
and beat them flat. Put a piece of butter into the fryingpan; as soon as
it is hot, put in the chops, turn them often, and they will be nicely
browned in fifteen minutes. Take one upon a plate and try it; if done,
season it with a little finely minced onion, powdered sage, pepper and
salt. Or prepare some sweet herbs, sage and onion chopped fine, and put
them into a stewpan with a bit of butter. Give them one fry, beat two
eggs on a plate with a little salt, and the minced herbs, and mix it all
well together. Dip the chops in one at a time, then cover them with
bread crumbs, and fry them in hot lard or drippings, till they are of a
light brown. Veal, lamb, or mutton chops, are very good dressed in the
same manner.


PORK GRISKIN. As this joint is usually very hard, the best way is to
cover it with cold water, and let it boil up. Then take it out, rub it
over with butter, and set it before the fire in a Dutch oven; a few
minutes will do it.


PORK JELLY. Take a leg of well-fed pork, just as cut up, beat it, and
break the bone. Set it over a gentle fire, with three gallons of water,
and simmer it down to one. Stew with it half an ounce of mace, and half
an ounce of nutmegs, and strain it through a fine sieve. When cold, take
off the fat, and flavour it with salt. This jelly is reckoned a fine
restorative in consumptive cases, and nervous debility, a
chocolate-cupful to be taken three times a day.


PORK AS LAMB. To dress pork like lamb, kill a young pig four or five
months old, cut up the fore-quarter for roasting as you do lamb, and
truss the shank close. The other parts will make delicate pickled pork,
steaks, or pies.


PORK PIES. Raise some boiled crust into a round or oval form, and have
ready the trimming and small bits of pork when a hog is killed. If these
be not sufficient, take the meat of a sweet bone. Beat it well with a
rolling-pin, season with pepper and salt, and keep the fat and lean
separate. Put it in layers, quite up to the top; lay on the lid, cut the
edge smooth round, and pinch it together. As the meat is very solid, it
must be baked in a slow soaking oven. The pork may be put into a common
dish, with a very plain crust, and be quite as good. Observe to put no
bone or water into pork pie: the outside pieces will be hard, unless
they are cut small, and pressed close. Pork pies in a raised crust, are
intended to be eaten cold.


PORK SAUCE. Take two ounces of the leaves of green sage, an ounce of
lemon peel thinly pared, an ounce of minced shalot, an ounce of salt,
half a dram of cayenne, and half a dram of citric acid. Steep them for a
fortnight in a pint of claret, shake it often, and let it stand a day to
settle. Decant the clear liquor, and cork it up close. When wanted, mix
a table-spoonful in a quarter of a pint of gravy, or melted butter. This
will give a fine relish to roast pork, or roast goose.


PORK SAUSAGES. Chop fat and lean pork together, season it with pepper,
salt, and sage. Fill hogs' guts that have been thoroughly soaked and
cleaned, and tie up the ends carefully. Or the minced meat may be kept
in a very small pan, closely covered, and so rolled and dusted with
flour before it is fried. Serve them up with stewed red cabbage, mashed
potatoes, or poached eggs. The sausages should be pricked with a pin,
before they are boiled or fried, or they will be liable to burst.


PORK STEAKS. Cut them from a loin or neck, and of middling thickness.
Pepper and broil them, and keep them turning. When nearly done, put on
salt, rub a bit of butter over, and serve the moment they are taken off
the fire, a few at a time.


PORKER'S HEAD. Choose a fine young head of pork, clean it well, and put
bread and sage as for pig. Sow it up tight, roast it as a young pig, on
the hanging jack, and serve it with the same kind of sauce.


PORTABLE SOUP. Boil one or two knuckles of veal, one or two shins of
beef, and three pounds of beef, in as much water only as will cover
them. Take the marrow out of the bones, put in any kind of spice, and
three large onions. When the meat is done to rags, strain it off, and
set it in a very cold place. Take off the cake of fat, which will do for
common pie crusts, and put the soup into a double-bottomed tin saucepan.
Set it on a pretty quick fire, but do not let it burn. It must boil fast
and uncovered, and be stirred constantly for eight hours. Put it into a
pan, and let it stand in a cold place a day; then pour it into a round
soup-dish, and set the dish into a stewpan of boiling water on a stove,
and let it boil. Stir it now and then, till the soup is thick and ropy;
then it is enough. Pour it into the little round part at the bottom of
cups and basons turned upside down, to form it into cakes; and when
cold, turn them out on flannel to dry. Keep them in tin canisters; and
when to be used, dissolve them in boiling water. The flavour of herbs
may be added, by first boiling and straining off the liquor, and melting
the soup in it. This preparation is convenient in travelling, or at sea,
where fresh meat is not readily obtained, as by this means a bason of
soup may be made in five minutes.


PORTER. This pleasant beverage may be made with eight bushels of malt to
the hogshead, and eight pounds of hops. While it is boiling in the
copper, add to it three pounds of liquorice root bruised, a pound of
Spanish liquorice, and twelve pounds of coarse sugar or treacle.


PORTUGAL CAKES. Take a pound of well-dried flour, a pound of loaf sugar,
a pound of butter well washed in orange-flower water, and a large blade
of mace. Take half the flour, and fifteen eggs, leaving out two of the
whites, and work them well together with the butter for half an hour,
shaking in the rest of the flour with a dredger. Put the cakes into a
cool oven, strewing over them a little sugar and flour, and let them
bake gently half an hour.


PORTUGUESE SOLES. If the fish be large, cut it in two: if small, they
need only be split open. The bones being taken out, put the fish into a
pan with a bit of butter, and some lemon juice. Fry it lightly, lay it
on a dish, spread a forcemeat over each piece, and roll it round,
fastening the roll with a few small skewers. Lay the rolls into a small
earthen pan, beat up an egg and smear them, and strew some crumbs over.
Put the remainder of the egg into the bottom of the pan, with a little
meat gravy, a spoonful of caper liquor, an anchovy chopped fine, and
some minced parsley. Cover the pan close, and bake in a slow oven till
the fish is done enough. Place the rolls in a dish for serving, and
cover it to keep them hot till the baked gravy is skimmed. If not
enough, a little fresh gravy must be prepared, flavoured as above, and
added to the fish. This is the Portuguese way of dressing soles.


PORTUGUESE STUFFING. Pound lightly some cold beef, veal, or mutton. Add
some fat bacon lightly fried and cut small, some onions, a little garlic
or shalot, some parsley, anchovy, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Pound all
fine with a few crumbs, and bind it with two or three yolks of eggs.
This stuffing is for baked soles, the heads of which are to be left on
one side of the split part, and kept on the outer side of the roll; and
when served, the heads are to be turned towards each other in the dish.
Garnish with fried or dried parsley.


POT HERBS. As some of these are very pungent, they require to be used
with discretion, particularly basil, savoury, thyme, or knotted
marjoram. The other sorts are milder, and may be used more freely.


POT POURRI. Put into a large china jar the following ingredients in
layers, with bay salt strewed between. Two pecks of damask roses, part
in buds and part blown; violets, orange flowers and jasmine, a handful
of each; orris root sliced, benjamin and storax, two ounces of each; a
quarter of an ounce of musk, a quarter of a pound of angelica root
sliced, a quart of the red parts of clove gilliflowers, two handfuls of
lavender flowers, half a handful of rosemary flowers, bay and laurel
leaves, half a handful of each; three Seville oranges, stuck as full of
cloves as possible, dried in a cool oven and pounded, and two handfuls
of balm of gilead dried. Cover all quite close, and when the pot is
uncovered the perfume is very fine.


POTATOE BALLS. Mix some mashed potatoes with the yolk of an egg, roll
the mass into balls, flour them, or put on egg and bread crumbs, and fry
them in clean drippings, or brown them in a Dutch oven.--Potatoe balls
ragout are made by adding to a pound of potatoes, a quarter of a pound
of grated ham, or some chopped parsley, or sweet herbs; adding an onion
or shalot, salt and pepper, a little grated nutmeg or other spice, and
the yolks of two eggs. They are then to be dressed as potatoe balls.


POTATOE BREAD. Weigh half a pound of mealy potatoes after they are
boiled or steamed, and rub them while warm into a pound and a half of
fine flour, dried a little before the fire. When thoroughly mixed, put
in a spoonful of good yeast, a little salt, and warm milk and water
sufficient to work into dough. Let it stand by the fire to rise for an
hour and a half, then make it into a loaf, and bake it in a tolerably
brisk oven. If baked in a tin the crust will be more delicate, but the
bread dries sooner.--Another. To two pounds of well-boiled mealy
potatoes, rubbed between the hands till they are as fine as flour, mix
in thoroughly two large double handfuls of wheat flour, three good
spoonfuls of yeast, a little salt, and warm milk enough to make it the
usual stiffness of dough. Let it stand three or four hours to rise, then
mould it, make it up, and bake it like common bread.


POTATOE CHEESECAKES. Boil six ounces of potatoes, and four ounces of
lemon peel; beat the latter in a marble mortar, with four ounces of
sugar. Then add the potatoes, beaten, and four ounces of butter melted
in a little cream. When well mixed, let it stand to grow cold. Put crust
in pattipans, and rather more than half fill them. This quantity will
make a dozen cheesecakes, which are to be baked half an hour in a quick
oven, with some fine powdered sugar sifted over them.


POTATOE FRITTERS. Boil two large potatoes, scrape them fine; beat up
four yolks and three whites of eggs, and add a large spoonful of cream,
another of sweet wine, a squeeze of lemon, and a little nutmeg. Beat
this batter at least half an hour, till it be extremely light. Put a
good quantity of fine lard into a stewpan, and drop a spoonful of the
batter at a time into it, and fry the fritters. Serve for sauce a glass
of white wine, the juice of a lemon, one dessert spoonful of peach leaf
or almond water, and some white sugar. Warm them together, but do not
put the sauce into the dish.--Another way. Slice some potatoes thin, dip
them in a fine batter, and fry them. Lemon peel, and a spoonful of
orange-flower water, should be added to the batter. Serve up the
fritters with white sugar sifted over them.


POTATOE PASTE. Pound some boiled potatoes very fine, and while warm, add
butter sufficient to make the mash hold together. Or mix it with an egg;
and before it gets cold, flour the board pretty well to prevent it from
sticking, and roll the paste to the thickness wanted. If suffered to get
quite cold before it be put on the dish, it will be apt to crack.


POTATOE PASTY. Boil, peel, and mash some potatoes as fine as possible.
Mix in some salt, pepper, and a good piece of butter. Make a paste, roll
it out thin like a large puff, and put in the potatoe. Fold over one
half, pinching the edges, and bake it in a moderate oven.


POTATOE PIE. Skin some potatoes, cut them into slices, and season them.
Add some mutton, beef, pork, or veal, and put in alternate layers of
meat and potatoes.


POTATOE PUDDING. To make a plain potatoe pudding, take eight ounces of
boiled potatoes, two ounces of butter, the yolks and whites of two eggs,
a quarter of a pint of cream, a spoonful of white wine, the juice and
rind of a lemon, and a little salt. Beat all to a froth, sweeten it to
taste, make a crust to it, or not, and bake it. If the pudding is
required to be richer, add three ounces more of butter, another egg,
with sweetmeats and almonds. If the pudding is to be baked with meat,
boil the potatoes and mash them. Rub the mass through a cullender, and
make it into a thick batter with milk and two eggs. Lay some seasoned
steaks in a dish, then some batter; and over the last layer of meat pour
the remainder of the batter, and bake it of a fine brown.--Another. Mash
some boiled potatoes with a little milk, season it with pepper and salt,
and cut some fat meat into small pieces. Put a layer of meat at the
bottom of the dish, and then a layer of potatoe till the dish is full.
Smooth the potatoes on the top, shake a little suet over it, and bake it
to a fine brown. Mashed potatoes may also be baked as a pudding under
meat, or placed under meat while roasting, or they may be mixed with
batter instead of flour.


POTATOE ROLLS. Boil three pounds of potatoes, bruise and work them with
two ounces of butter, and as much milk as will make them pass through a
cullender. Take nearly three quarters of a pint of yeast, and half a
pint of warm water; mix them with the potatoes, pour the whole upon five
pounds of flour, and add some salt. Knead it well: if not of a proper
consistence, add a little more warm milk and water. Let it stand before
the fire an hour to rise; work it well, and make it into rolls. Bake
them about half an hour, in an oven not quite so hot as for bread. The
rolls will eat well, toasted and buttered.


POTATOE SNOW. The whitest sort of potatoes must be selected, and free
from spots. Set them over the fire in cold water; when they begin to
crack, strain off the water, and put them into a clean stewpan by the
side of the fire till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces. Rub them
through a wire sieve on the dish they are to be sent up in, and do not
disturb them afterwards.


POTATOE SOUP. Cut a pound and a half of gravy beef into thin slices,
chop a pound of potatoes, and an onion or two, and put them into a
kettle with three quarts of water, half a pint of blue peas, and two
ounces of rice. Stew these till the gravy is quite drawn from the meat,
strain it off, take out the beef, and pulp the other ingredients through
a coarse sieve. Add the pulp to the soup, cut in two or three roots of
celery, simmer in a clean saucepan till this is tender, season with
pepper and salt, and serve it up with fried bread cut into it.


POTATOE STARCH. Raw potatoes, in whatever condition, constantly afford
starch, differing only in quality. The round grey or red produce the
most, affording about two ounces of starch to a pound of pulp. The
process is perfectly easy. Peel and wash a pound of full grown potatoes,
grate them on a bread grater into a deep dish, containing a quart of
clear water. Stir it well up, then pour it through a hair sieve, and
leave it ten minutes to settle, till the water is quite clear. Then pour
off the water, and put a quart of fresh water to it; stir it up, let it
settle, and repeat this till the water is quite clear. A fine white
powder will at last be found at the bottom of the vessel. The criterion
of this process being completed, is the purity of the water that comes
from it after stirring it up. Lay the powder on a sheet of paper in a
hair sieve to dry, either in the sun or before the fire, and it is ready
for use. Put into a well stopped bottle, it will keep good for many
months. If this be well made, a table-spoonful of it mixed with twice
the quantity of cold water, and stirred into a soup or sauce, just
before it is taken up, will thicken a pint of it to the consistence of
cream. This preparation much resembles the Indian Arrow Root, and is a
good substitute for it. It gives a fulness on the palate to gravies and
sauces at hardly any expense, and is often used to thicken melted butter
instead of flour. Being perfectly tasteless, it will not alter the
flavour of the most delicate broth or gruel.


POTATOES. The following is allowed to be a superior method of raising
potatoes, and of obtaining a larger and finer growth. Dig the earth
twelve inches deep, if the soil will admit, and afterwards open a hole
about six inches deep, and twelve wide. Fill it with horse dung, or long
litter, about three inches thick, and plant a whole potatoe upon it;
shake a little more dung over it, and mould up the earth. In this way
the whole plot of ground should be planted, placing the potatoes at
least sixteen inches apart. When the young shoots make their appearance,
they should have fresh mould drawn round them with a hoe; and if the
tender shoots are covered, it will prevent the frost from injuring them.
They should again be earthed, when the roots make a second appearance,
but not covered, as in all probability the season will be less severe. A
plentiful supply of mould should be given them, and the person who
performs this business should never tread upon the plant, or the hillock
that is raised round it, as the lighter the earth is the more room the
potatoe will have to expand. In Holland, the potatoes are strangely
cultivated, though there are persons who give the preference to Dutch
potatoes, supposing them to be of a finer grain than others. They are
generally planted in the fields, in rows, nearly as thick as beans or
peas, and are suffered to grow up wild and uncultivated, the object
being to raise potatoes as small as possible, while the large ones, if
such there happen to be, are thrown out and given to the pigs. The mode
of cultivation in Ireland, where potatoes are found in the greatest
perfection, is far different, and probably the best of all. The round
rough red are generally preferred, and are esteemed the most genuine.
These are planted in rows, and only just put in beneath the soil. These
rows are divided into beds about six feet wide, a path or trench is left
between the beds, and as the plants vegetate the earth is dug out of the
trench, and thrown lightly over the potatoes. This practice is continued
all the summer, the plants are thus nourished by the repeated accession
of fresh soil, and the trench as it deepens serves the purpose of
keeping the beds dry, and of carrying off the superfluous water. The
potatoes are always rich and mealy, containing an unusual quantity of
wholesome flour.


POTATOES BOILED. The vegetable kingdom scarcely affords any food more
wholesome, more easily procured, easily prepared, or less expensive than
the potatoe; yet although this most useful vegetable is dressed almost
every day, in almost every family,--for one plate of potatoes that comes
to table as it should, ten are spoiled. There is however a great
diversity in the colour, size, shape, and quality of the potatoe, and
some are of a very inferior description. The yellow are better than the
white, but the rough red are the most mealy and nutritive. Choose those
of a moderate size, free from blemishes, and fresh. It is best to buy
them in the mould, as they come from the bed, and they should not be
wetted till they are cleaned for cooking. Protect them from the air and
frost, by laying in heaps in a dry place, covering them with mats, or
burying them in dry sand. If the frost affects them, the life of the
vegetable is destroyed, and the potatoe speedily rots. When they are to
be dressed, wash them, but do not pare or cut them, unless they are very
large. Fill a saucepan half full of potatoes of an equal size, and add
as much cold water as will cover them about an inch. Most boiled things
are spoiled by having too little water, but potatoes are often spoiled
by too much: they should merely be covered, and a little allowed for
waste in boiling. Set them on a moderate fire till they boil, then take
them off, and place them on the side of the fire to simmer slowly, till
they are soft enough to admit a fork. The usual test of their skin
cracking is not to be depended on, for if they are boiled fast this will
happen when the potatoes are not half done, and the inside is quite
hard. Pour off the water the minute the potatoes are done, or they will
become watery and sad; uncover the saucepan, and set it at such a
distance from the fire as will prevent its burning; the superfluous
moisture will then evaporate, and the potatoes become perfectly dry and
mealy. This method is in every respect equal to steaming, and the
potatoes are dressed in half the time.


POTATOES BROILED. Parboil, then slice and broil them. Or parboil, and
set them whole on the gridiron over a very slow fire. When thoroughly
done, send them up with their skins on. This method is practised in many
Irish families.


POTATOES IN CREAM. Half boil some potatoes, drain and peel them nicely,
and cut into neat pieces. Put them into a stewpan with some cream, fresh
butter, and salt, of each a proportion to the quantity of potatoes; or
instead of cream, put some good gravy, with pepper and salt. Stew them
very gently, and be careful to prevent their breaking.


POTATOES FRIED. If they are whole potatoes, first boil them nearly
enough, and then put them into a stewpan with a bit of butter, or some
nice clean beef drippings. To prevent their burning, shake them about
till they are brown and crisp, and then drain them from the fat. It
would be an elegant improvement, to flour and dip them in the yolk of
an egg previous to frying, and then roll them in fine sifted bread
crumbs: they would then deserve to be called potatoes full dressed.--If
to be fried in slices or shavings, peel some large potatoes, slice them
about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and
round, as in peeling a lemon. Dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry
them in lard or dripping. Take care that the fat and the fryingpan are
both perfectly clean. Put the pan on a quick fire; as soon as the lard
boils, and is still, put in the potatoe slices, and keep moving them
till they are crisp. Take them up and lay them to drain on a sieve, and
then send them to table with a very little salt sprinkled over.--To fry
cold potatoes, put a bit of clean dripping into a fryingpan. When
melted, slice in the potatoes with a little pepper and salt; set them on
the fire, and keep them stirring. When quite hot, they are ready. This
is a good way of re-dressing potatoes, and making them palatable.


POTATOES MASHED. When the potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain and dry
them well, and pick out every speck. Rub them through a cullender into a
clean stewpan: to a pound of potatoes allow half an ounce of butter, and
a spoonful of milk. Mix it up well, but do not make it too moist. After
Lady day, when potatoes are getting old and specked, and also in frosty
weather, this is the best way of dressing them. If potatoes are to be
mashed with onions, boil the onions, and pass them through a sieve. Mix
them with the potatoes, in such a proportion as is most approved.


POTATOES PRESERVED. To keep potatoes from the frost, lay them up in a
dry store room, and cover them with straw, or a linen cloth. If this be
not convenient, dig a trench three or four feet deep, and put them in as
they are taken up. Cover them with the earth taken out of the trench,
raise it up in the middle like the roof of a house, and cover it with
straw so as to carry off the rain. Better still if laid above ground,
and covered with a sufficient quantity of mould to protect them from the
frost, as in this case they are less likely to be injured by the wet.
Potatoes may also be preserved by suffering them to remain in the
ground, and digging them up in the spring of the year, as they are
wanted.


POTATOES ROASTED. Choose them nearly of a size, wash and dry the
potatoes, and put them in a Dutch oven, or cheese toaster. Take care not
to place them too near the fire, or they will burn on the outside before
they are warmed through. Large potatoes will require two hours to roast
them properly, unless they are previously half boiled. When potatoes are
to be roasted under meat, they should first be half boiled, drained from
the water, and placed in the pan under the meat. Baste them with some of
the dripping, and when they are browned on one side, turn and brown them
on the other. Send them up round the meat, or in a small dish.


POTATOES SCALLOPED. Having boiled and mashed the potatoes, butter some
clean scallop shells, or pattipans, and put in the potatoes. Smooth them
on the top, cross a knife over them, strew on a few fine bread crumbs,
sprinkle them a little with melted butter from a paste brush, and then
set them in a Dutch oven. When they are browned on the top, take them
carefully out of the shells, and brown the other side.


POTATOES STEAMED. The potatoes must be well washed, but not pared, and
put into the steamer when the water boils. Moderate sized potatoes will
require three quarters of an hour to do them properly. They should be
taken up as soon as they are done enough, or they will become watery:
peel them afterwards.


POTTED BEEF. Take two pounds of lean beef, rub it with saltpetre, and
let it lie one night. Then lay on common salt, and cover it with water
four days in a small pan. Dry it with a cloth, season it with black
pepper, lay it into as small a pan as will hold it, cover it with coarse
paste, but put in no liquor, and bake it five hours in a very cool oven.
When cold, pick out the strings and fat. Beat the meat very fine, with a
quarter of a pound of fine butter just warm, but not oiled, and as much
of the gravy as will make it into a paste. Put it into very small pots,
and cover them with clarified butter.--Another way. Take beef that has
been dressed, either boiled or roasted; beat it in a mortar with some
pepper and salt, a few cloves, grated nutmeg, and a little fine butter
just warm. This eats as well as the former, but the colour is not so
fine. It is however a good way for using the remains of a large joint.


POTTED BIRDS. Having cleaned them nicely, rub every part well with a
seasoning of white pepper and salt, mace and allspice in fine powder.
Put them in a pan, lay on some butter, cover it with a paste of coarse
flour, and a paper tied closely over. When baked and grown cold, cut
them into pieces proper for helping, pack them close into a large
potting-pan, and leave as little space as possible to receive the
butter. Cover them with butter, and one third less will be wanted than
when the birds are done whole.


POTTED CHEESE. Cut and pound four ounces of Cheshire cheese, one ounce
and a half of fine butter, a tea-spoonful of white powdered sugar, a
little bit of mace, and a glass of white wine. Press it down in a deep
pot.


POTTED DAMSONS. Weigh the damsons, and wipe them dry one by one,
allowing one pound of fine sugar to three pounds of fruit. Spread a
little of the sugar at the bottom of the jar, then a layer of fruit, and
so on till the jar is full. Then add three or four spoonfuls of water,
tie it down close, and put it several times into a cool oven.


POTTED DRIPPING. Boil six pounds of good beef dripping in soft water,
strain it into a pan, and let it stand to cool. Take off the hard fat,
scrape off the gravy, and repeat it several times. When the fat is cold
and hard, put it into a saucepan with six bay leaves, six cloves, half a
pound of salt, and a quarter of a pound of whole pepper. Let the fat be
entirely melted; and when it has cooled a little, strain it through a
sieve into the pot, and tie it down. Turn the pot upside down, that no
rats or mice may get at it, and it will keep a long time, and make good
puff paste, or crust for puddings.


POTTED HARE. An old hare will do well for this purpose, likewise for
soup and pie. After seasoning it, bake it with butter. When cold, take
the meat from the bones, and beat it in a mortar. If not high enough,
add salt, mace, pepper, and a piece of fresh butter melted in a spoonful
or two of gravy that came from the hare. When well mixed, put it into
small pots, and cover it with butter. The legs and back should be baked
at the bottom of the jar, to keep them moist, and the bones be put over
them.


POTTED HERRINGS. Scale, clean, and season them well. Bake them in a pan
with spice, bay leaves, and some butter. When cold, lay them in a
potting pot, and cover them over with butter. They are very fine for a
supper dish.


POTTED LOBSTERS. Half boil them, pick out the meat, cut it into small
pieces, season with mace, white pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Press it close
into a pot, and cover it with butter; bake it half an hour, and then
put in the spawn. When cold take out the lobster, and put it into pots
with a little of the butter. Beat the rest of the butter in a mortar,
with some of the spawn, mix the coloured butter with as much as will be
sufficient to cover the pots, and strain it. Cayenne may be added, if
approved.--Another way. Take out the meat as whole as possible, split
the tail, and remove the gut; and if the inside be not watery, it may be
added. Season with mace, nutmeg, white pepper, salt, and a clove or two,
in the finest powder. Lay a little fine butter at the bottom of the pan,
and the lobster smooth over it, with bay leaves between; cover it with
butter, and bake it gently. When done, pour the whole on the bottom of a
sieve; and with a fork lay the pieces into potting pots, some of each
sort, with the seasoning about it. When cold, pour clarified butter
over, but not hot. It will be good the next day; but if highly seasoned,
and well covered with butter, it will keep some time. Potted lobster may
be used cold, or as a fricassee, with a cream sauce. It then looks very
nicely, and eats well, especially if there is spawn. Mackarel, herrings,
and trout, are good potted in the same way.


POTTED MACKEREL. Clean, season, and bake them in a pan with spice, bay
leaves, and some butter. When cold, lay them in a pot for potting, and
cover them over with butter.


POTTED MOOR GAME. Pick, singe, and wash the birds nicely. Dry and season
them pretty high, inside and out, with pepper, mace, nutmeg, allspice,
and salt. Pack them in as small a pot as will hold them, cover them with
butter, and bake in a very slow oven. When cold, take off the butter,
dry them from the gravy, and put one bird into each pot, which should
just fit. Add as much more butter as will cover them, but take care
that it be not oiled. The best way to melt it is, by warming it in a
bason placed in a bowl of hot water.


POTTED PARTRIDGE. Clean them nicely, and season with mace, allspice,
white pepper, and salt, all in fine powder. Rub every part well, then
lay the breast downwards in a pan, and pack the birds as close as
possible. Put a good deal of butter on them, cover the pan with a paste
of coarse flour and a paper over, tie it close and bake it. When cold,
put the birds into pots, and cover them with butter. The butter that has
covered potted things will serve for basting, or for paste for meat
pies.


POTTED PIGEONS. Let them be quite fresh, clean them carefully, and
season them with salt and pepper. Lay them close in a small deep pan;
for the smaller the surface, and the closer they are packed, the less
butter will be wanted. Cover them with butter, then with very thick
paper tied down, and bake them. When cold, put them dry into pots that
will hold two or three in each, and pour butter over them, using that
which was baked in part. If they are to be kept, the butter should be
laid pretty thick over them. If pigeons were boned, and then put in an
oval form into the pot, they would lie closer, and require less butter.
They may be stuffed with a fine forcemeat made with veal, bacon, and the
other ingredients, and then they will eat very fine. If a high flavour
is preferred, add mace, allspice, and a little cayenne, before baking.


POTTED RABBITS. Cut up two or three young but full-grown rabbits, and
take off the leg bones at the thigh. Pack them as closely as possible in
a small pan, after seasoning them with pepper, salt, mace, allspice, and
cayenne, all in very fine powder. Make the top as smooth as possible.
Keep out the heads and the carcase bones, but take off the meat about
the neck. Put in a good deal of butter, and bake the whole gently. Keep
it two days in the pan, then shift it into small pots, with some
additional butter. When a rabbit is to be blanched, set it on the fire
with a small quantity of cold water, and let it boil. It is then to be
taken out immediately, and put into cold water for a few minutes.


POTTED SALMON. Scale and wipe a large piece of salmon, but do not wash
it. Salt it, and let it lie till the salt is melted and drained from it;
then season it with pounded mace, cloves, and whole pepper. Lay in a few
bay leaves, put it close into a pan, cover it over with butter, and bake
it. When well done, drain it from the gravy, put it into pots to keep,
and when cold cover it with clarified butter. Any kind of firm fish may
be potted in the same manner.


POTTED SHRIMPS. When boiled, take them out of the skins, and season them
with salt, white pepper, and a very little mace and cloves. Press them
into a pot, set it in the oven ten minutes, and when cold lay on butter.


POTTED TROUT. Scale and draw out the entrails of the fish without
opening the belly, give them a wash, and let them drain from the water.
Season the fish well with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and ginger. Lay
them into a broad pan in two layers, cover them with butter, and then
with paper. Lay some sticks across the pan to keep the paper up. Bake
them moderately, then take them out and drain them. Put them into pots
in two layers, and fill up the pots with clarified butter, as cool as it
can be to run properly. Any other fish may be potted in the same way.


POTTED VEAL. Cold fillet makes the finest potted veal, or it may be
done as follows. Season a large slice of the fillet before it is
dressed, with some mace, peppercorns, and two or three cloves. Lay it
close into a potting pan that will but just hold it, fill the pan up
with water, and bake it three hours. Then pound it in a mortar, and
flavour it with salt. In pounding, put to it a little of the baked
gravy, if the meat is to be eaten soon; otherwise only a little butter
just melted. When done, cover it over with butter. To pot veal or
chicken with ham, pound some cold veal or the white of a chicken,
seasoned as above, and place layers of it with layers of ham pounded, or
rather shred. Press down each, and cover the whole with clarified
butter.


POTTED VENISON. If the venison be stale, rub it with vinegar, dry it
with a cloth, and rub it well with red wine. Season it with pepper,
salt, and mace, and put it into a jar. Pour over it half a pint of red
wine, lay in a pound of butter, and bake it tender. When it is done,
clean it from the bones and skin, and beat it in a marble mortar with
the fat and gravy. Press it hard into the pots, and pour clarified
butter over it.


POULTICES. Common poultice is best made of white bread, put into boiling
water till it is of a proper thickness. Then let it boil, and add a bit
of lard, or a little sweet oil. Water answers the purpose better than
milk, as the poultice thus made will retain the moisture longer.--A
poultice to ripen tumours or swellings, should consist of two ounces of
white lily roots, half a pound of figs, and two ounces of meal or bean
flour. These are to be boiled in water till it comes to a proper
consistence; the poultice is then spread on a thick cloth, applied warm,
and shifted as often as it grows dry.--Carrot poultice is made of clean
grated carrots mixed with water, so as to form a soft pulp. This is an
excellent poultice to ease pain arising from a sore; it not only
cleanses it, but takes off the offensive smell which generally attends
such complaints. It also affords great relief in cancers, and should be
changed twice a day.


POULTRY. Previously to their being dressed, every description of game
and poultry requires to be carefully picked, and neatly trussed; every
plug should be removed, and the hair nicely singed with white paper. In
drawing poultry, care must be taken not to break the gall bag, for no
washing will take off the bitter where it has touched. In dressing wild
fowl, a brisk clear fire must be kept up, that they may be done of a
fine yellow brown, but so as to leave the gravy in: the fine flavour is
lost if done too much. Tame fowls require more roasting, and are longer
in heating through than others. All sorts should be continually basted,
that they may be served up with a froth, and appear of a fine colour. A
large fowl will take three quarters of an hour, a middling one half an
hour, and a small one, or a chicken, twenty minutes. The fire must be
very quick and clear, before any fowls are put down. A capon will take
from half an hour to thirty-five minutes, a goose an hour, wild ducks a
quarter of an hour, pheasants twenty minutes, a small stuffed turkey an
hour and a quarter, turkey poults twenty minutes, grouse a quarter of an
hour, quails ten minutes, and partridges about twenty-five minutes. A
hare will take nearly an hour, and the hind part requires most heat.
Pigs and geese require a brisk fire, and quick turning. Hares and
rabbits must be well attended to, and the extremities brought to the
quick part of the fire, to be done equally with the backs.


POULTRY YARD. In the rearing of poultry, care should be taken to choose
a fine large breed, or the ends of good management may be defeated. The
Dartford sort is generally approved, but it is difficult to say which is
to be preferred, if they be but healthy and vigorous. The black sort are
very juicy, but as their legs are so much discoloured, they are not well
adapted for boiling. Those hens are usually preferred for setting, which
have tufts of feathers on their head; those that crow are not considered
so profitable. Some fine young fowls should be reared every year, to
keep up a stock of good breeders, and bad layers and careless nurses
should be excluded. The best age for a setting hen is from two to five
years, and it is necessary to remark which among them are the best
breeders. Hens set twenty days, and convenient places should be provided
for their laying, which will also serve for setting and hatching. A hen
house should be large and high, should be frequently cleaned out, and
well secured from the approach of vermin, or the eggs will be sucked,
and the fowls destroyed. Hens must not be disturbed while sitting, for
if frightened, they are apt to forsake their nests. Wormwood and rue
should be planted about their houses; some of the former should
occasionally be boiled, and sprinkled about the floor, which should not
be paved, but formed of smooth earth. The windows of the house should be
open to the rising sun, and a hole left at the door to let in the
smaller fowls; the larger may be let in and out by opening the door.
There should be a small sliding board to shut down when the fowls are
gone to roost, to prevent the ravages of vermin, and a strong door and
lock should be added, to secure the poultry from thieves and robbers.
Let the hens lay some time before they are allowed to set, the proper
time for which will be from the end of February to the beginning of
May. Broods of chickens are hatched all through the summer, but those
that come out very late require care till they have gained sufficient
strength. Feed the hens well during the time of laying, and give them
oats occasionally. If the eggs of any other sort are put under a hen
with some of her own, observe to add her own as many days after the
others as there is a difference in the length of their setting. A turkey
and duck set thirty days, the hen only twenty. Choose large clear eggs
to put her upon, and such a number as she can properly cover; about ten
or twelve are quite sufficient. If the eggs be very large, they
sometimes contain a double yolk, and in that case neither will be
productive. When some of the chickens are hatched, long before the
others, it may be necessary to keep them in a basket of wool till the
others come forth. The day after they are hatched, give them some crumbs
of white bread or grots soaked in milk, which are very nourishing. As
soon as they have gained a little strength, feed them with curd, cheese
parings cut small, or any soft food, but nothing that is sour, and
provide them with clean water twice a day. Keep the hen under a pen till
the young have strength to follow her about, which will be in two or
three weeks; and be sure to feed the hen well. Poultry in general should
be fed as nearly as possible at the same hour of the day, and in the
same place, as this will be the surest way of collecting them together.
Potatoes boiled in a little water, so as to be dry and mealy, and then
cut, and wetted with skim milk that is not sour, will form an agreeable
food for poultry, and young turkies will thrive much on it. Grain should
however be given occasionally, or the constant use of potatoe food will
make their flesh soft and insipid. The food of fowls goes first into
the crop, which softens it; it then passes into the gizzard, which by
constant friction macerates it; this is facilitated by small stones
which are generally found there, and which help to digest the food. If a
setting hen be troubled with vermin, let her be well washed with a
decoction of white lupins. The pip in fowls is occasioned by drinking
dirty water, or taking filthy food. The general symptom is a white thin
scale on the tongue, which should be pulled off with the finger;
afterwards rub the tongue with a little salt, and the disorder will be
removed.--GEESE require a somewhat different management. They generally
breed once in a year; but if well kept, they will frequently hatch twice
within that period. Three of these birds are usually allotted to a
gander; if there were more, the eggs would be rendered abortive. The
quantity of eggs to be placed under each goose while setting, is about a
dozen or thirteen. While brooding, they should be well fed with corn and
water, which must be placed near them, so that they may eat at pleasure.
The ganders should never be excluded from their company, because they
are then instinctively anxious to watch over and guard their own geese.
The nests of geese should be made of straw, and so confined that the
eggs may not roll out, as the geese turn them every day. When they are
nearly hatched, it is proper to break the shell near the back of the
young gosling, as well for the purpose of admitting the air, as to
enable it to make its escape at the proper time. To fatten young geese,
the best way is to coop them up in a dark narrow place, where they are
to be fed with ground malt mixed with milk; or if milk be scarce, with
barley meal mashed up with water. A less expensive way will be to give
them boiled oats, with either duck's meat or boiled carrots; and as
they are very fond of variety, these may be given them alternately.
They will then become fat in a few weeks, and their flesh will acquire a
fine flavour. In order to fatten stubble geese at Michaelmas time, the
way is to turn them out on the wheat stubble, or those pastures that
grow after wheat has been harvested. They are afterwards to be pent up,
and fed with ground malt mixed with water. Boiled oats or wheat may
occasionally be substituted.--DUCKS are fattened in the same manner,
only they must be allowed a large pan of water to dabble in. Those kept
for breeders, should have the convenience of a large pond; and such as
have their bills a little turned up will generally be found the most
prolific. In the spring of the year, an additional number of ducks may
be reared by putting the eggs under the care of the hen, who will hatch
them as her own brood.--TURKIES, early in the spring, will often wander
to a distance in order to construct their nest, where the hen deposits
from fourteen to seventeen eggs, but seldom produces more than one brood
in a season. Great numbers are reared in the northern counties, and
driven by hundreds to the London market by means of a shred of scarlet
cloth fastened to the end of a pole, which from their antipathy to this
colour serves as a whip. Turkies being extremely delicate fowls, are
soon injured by the cold: hence it is necessary, soon after they are
hatched, to force them to swallow one whole peppercorn each, and then
restore them to the parent bird. They are also liable to a peculiar
disorder, which often proves fatal in a little time. On inspecting the
rump feathers, two or three of their quills will be found to contain
blood; but on drawing them out, the chickens soon recover, and
afterwards require no other care than common poultry. Young turkies
should be fed with crumbs of bread and milk, eggs boiled hard and
chopped, or with common dock leaves cut fine, and mixed with fresh
butter-milk. They also require to be kept in the sunshine or a warm
place, and guarded from the rain, or from running among the nettles.
They are very fond of the common garden peppercress, or cut-leaved
cress, and should be supplied with as much of it as they will eat, or
allowed to pick it off the bed. In Norfolk they are fed with curds and
chopped onions, also with buck wheat, and are literally crammed with
boluses of barley meal till their crops are full, which perhaps may
account for the superior excellence of the turkies in that part of the
kingdom.


POUNCE. This article, used in writing, is made of gum sandaric, powdered
and sifted very fine; or an equal quantity of rosin, burnt alum, and
cuttle fishbone well dried, and mixed together. This last is of a
superior quality.


POUND CAKE. Beat a pound of butter to a cream, and mix with it the
whites and yolks of eight eggs beaten apart. Have ready warm by the
fire, a pound of flour, and the same of sifted sugar. Mix them and a few
cloves, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, in fine powder together; then by
degrees work the dry ingredients into the butter and eggs. It must be
well beaten for a full hour, adding a glass of wine, and some carraway
seeds. Butter a pan, and bake it a full hour in a quick oven. The above
proportions, leaving out four ounces of the butter, and the same of
sugar, make a less luscious cake, but a very pleasant one.


POUNDED CHEESE. Cut a pound of good mellow cheese into thin slices, add
to it two or three ounces of fresh butter, rub them well together in a
mortar till quite smooth. When cheese is dry, and for those whose
digestion is feeble, this is the best way of eating it; and spread on
bread, it makes an excellent supper. The flavour of this dish may be
encreased by pounding it with curry powder, ground spice, black cayenne,
and a little made mustard; or it may be moistened with a glass of
sherry. If pressed down hard in a jar, and covered with clarified
butter, it will keep for several days in cool weather.


PRAWNS AND SHRIMPS. When fresh they have a sweet flavour, are firm and
stiff, and of a bright colour. Shrimps are of the prawn kind, and may be
judged by the same rules.


PRAWN SOUP. Boil six whitings and a large eel, in as much water as will
cover them, after being well cleaned. Skim them clean, and put in whole
pepper, mace, ginger, parsley, or onion, a little thyme, and three
cloves, and boil the whole to a mash. Pick fifty crawfish, or a hundred
prawns; pound the shells, and a small roll. But first boil them with a
little water, vinegar, salt, and herbs. Put this liquor over the shells
in a sieve, and then pour the soup, clear from the sediment. Chop a
lobster, and add this to it, with a quart of good beef gravy. Add also
the tails of the crawfish, or the prawns, with some flour and butter.
The seasoning may be heightened, if approved.


PRESERVES. These can never be done to perfection, without plenty of good
sugar. Fruits may be kept with small quantities of sugar, but then they
must boil so long that there is as much waste in the boiling away, as
some more sugar added at first would have cost, and the quality of the
preserve will neither be so proper for use, nor of so good an
appearance, as with a larger proportion of sugar, and moderate boiling.
Fruits are often put up without any sugar at all, but if they do not
ferment and spoil, which is very common, they must have a good deal of
sugar added to them when used, and thus the risk of spoiling seems
hardly compensated by any saving. The only real economy that can be
exercised in this case is, not to make any preserves at all. The most
perfect state in which fruits in general can be taken for preserving is,
just when they are full ripe. Sooner than this they have not acquired
their best qualities, and if they hang long after it they begin to lose
them. Some persons will delay the doing them, under an idea that the
longer they hang the less sugar they require. But it is a false economy
that would lose the perfection of the fruit to save some of the sugar,
and probably quite unfounded in fact, as all things will naturally keep
the best that are taken at their highest perfection, and hence do with
as little sugar then as at any time.


PRESERVED CUCUMBERS. Choose such as are most free from seed; some should
be small to preserve whole, and others large to cut in pieces. Put them
into a jar, with strong salt and water, and a cabbage leaf to keep them
down, and set them in a warm place till they turn yellow. Then wash and
set them over the fire in fresh water, with a little salt, and a fresh
cabbage leaf over them; cover the pan close, but they must not be
boiled. If not of a fine green, change the water, cover them as before,
and make them hot; when of a good green, take them off the fire, and let
them stand till cold. Cut the large cucumbers in quarters, and take out
the seeds and pulp; put them into cold water for two days, and change
the water twice each day. Place on the fire a pound of refined sugar,
with half a pint of water; skim it clean, put in the rind of a lemon,
and an ounce of ginger with the outside scraped off. When the syrup is
pretty thick take it off, and when cold wipe the cucumbers dry, and put
them in. Boil the syrup every two or three days, continuing to do so
for three weeks, and make it stronger if necessary. Be sure to put the
syrup to the cucumbers quite cold, cover them close, and keep them in a
dry place.


PRESERVED OYSTERS. Open the oysters carefully, so as not to cut them,
except in dividing the gristle which attaches the shells. Put them into
a mortar, and add about two drams of salt to a dozen oysters. Pound and
then rub them through the back of a hair sieve, and put them into the
mortar again, with as much well-dried flour as will make them into a
paste. Roll it out several times, and at last flour and roll it out the
thickness of a half crown, and divide it into pieces about an inch
square. Lay them in a Dutch oven, that they may dry gently without being
burnt; turn them every half hour, and when they begin to dry, crumble
them. They will take about four hours to dry, then pound them fine, sift
and put them into bottles, and seal them down. To make half a pint of
oyster sauce, put one ounce of butter into a stewpan, with three drams
of oyster powder, and six spoonfuls of milk. Set it on a slow fire, stir
it till it boils, and season it with salt. This powder, if made of plump
juicy natives, will abound with the flavour of the fish; and if closely
corked, and kept in a dry place, will remain good for some time. It is
also an agreeable substitute when oysters are out of season, and is a
valuable addition to the list of fish sauces. It is equally good with
boiled fowl, or rump steak; and sprinkled on bread and butter, it makes
a very good sandwich.


PRESERVED WALNUTS. Put the walnuts into cold water, let them boil five
minutes, strain off the water, and change it three times. Dry the nuts
in a cloth, and weigh them; to every pound of nuts allow a pound of
sugar, and stick a clove in each. Put them into a jar with some rose
vinegar; boil up a syrup, with a pint of water and half a pound of
sugar, and pour over them. Let them stand three or four days, and boil
up the syrup again. Repeat this three times, and at last give the
walnuts a good scald, and let them remain in the syrup.


PRESERVATION OF BUTTER. Butter, as it is generally cured, does not keep
well for any length of time, without spoiling or becoming rancid. The
following method of preserving butter, supposing it to have been
previously well made, is recommended as the best at present known.
Reduce separately to fine powder in a dry mortar, two pounds of the
whitest common salt, one pound of saltpetre, and one pound of lump
sugar. Sift these ingredients one above another, on two sheets of paper
joined together, and then mix them well with the hands, or with a
spatula. Preserve the whole in a covered jar, placed in a dry situation.
When required to be used, one ounce of this composition is to be
proportioned to every pound of butter, and the whole is to be well
worked into the mass: the butter is then to be packed in casks in the
usual way. Butter cured with this mixture will be of a rich marrowy
consistence, and will never acquire that brittle hardness so common to
salt butter. It has been known to keep for three years, as sweet as it
was at first; but it must be observed, that butter thus cured requires
to stand at least three weeks or a month before it is used. If it be
opened sooner, the salts are not sufficiently blended with it, and
sometimes the coolness of the nitre will then be perceived, which
totally disappears afterwards. Cleanliness in this article is
indispensable, but it is not generally suspected, that butter made or
kept in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or put into glazed
earthenware pans, is too apt to be contaminated with particles of that
deleterious metal. If the butter is in the least degree rancid, this can
hardly fail to take place; and it cannot be doubted, that during the
decomposition of the salts, the glazing is acted upon. It is better
therefore to use tinned vessels for mixing the preservative with the
butter, and to pack it either in wooden vessels, or in stone jars which
are vitrified throughout, and do not require any inside glazing.


PRESSED BEEF. Salt a piece of the brisket, a thin part of the flank, or
the tops of the ribs, with salt and saltpetre five days. Boil it gently
till extremely tender, put it under a great weight, or in a cheesepress,
and let it remain till perfectly cold. It is excellent for sandwiches,
or a cold dish.


PRIMROSE VINEGAR. Boil four pounds of moist sugar in ten quarts of water
for about a quarter of an hour, and take off the scum. Then pour the
liquor on six pints of primroses, add some fresh yeast before it is
quite cold, and let it work all night in a warm place. When the
fermentation is over, close up the barrel, and still keep it in a warm
place.


PRINCE OF WALES'S PUDDING. Put half a pound of loaf sugar, and half a
pound of fresh butter, into a saucepan; set it over the fire till both
are melted, stirring it well, as it is very liable to burn, but do not
let it boil. Pour this into an earthen pan, grate the rind of a lemon
into it, and leave it to cool. Have ready two sponge biscuits soaked in
a quarter of a pint of cream, bruise them fine and stir them into the
sugar and butter. Beat the yolks of ten, and the whites of five eggs
well with a little salt; squeeze and strain the juice of the lemon into
them, and mix these well in with the other ingredients. Lay a puff paste
into the dish, strew it with pieces of candied lemon peel, put in the
pudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. Sift
fine sugar over it, before it is sent to the table.


PROVISIONS. The first of all requisites for human sustenance is Bread,
which with great propriety is denominated 'the staff of life.' The next
to this is Meat, which though not alike essential, is of great
importance in strengthening and invigorating the human frame. The former
of these constituting the principal food of great numbers, and a part of
the sustenance of all people, it is highly necessary to attend carefully
to the ingredients of which it is composed, and to the manner in which
it is prepared. A person's health must inevitably be injured by bad corn
and flour, and even by what is good, when improperly prepared. The best
flour is often made into bad bread by not suffering it to rise
sufficiently; by not kneading it well, by not baking it enough, and by
keeping it too long. Mixing other substances with the flour also injures
the quality of the bread in a very high degree. These faults have a bad
effect on those who generally eat such bread, but the injury is still
more serious to children and weakly persons. Where the flour is
corrupted, the use of it in every other article of food, will of course
be as unwholesome as in that of bread. The mere exposure to the air will
evaporate and deaden all flour, though the grain may never have passed
through any fermentation or digestion; as in the instance of wheat
flour, the strongest and the best of any other. For this reason, flour
which has been ground five or six weeks, or longer, though it be kept
close in sacks or barrels, will not make so sweet a loaf, nor one so
moist and pleasant, as that which is newly ground. Hence all bread made
in London eats drier and harsher than bread in the country, which is
made within a few days after the grinding of the wheat. All grains
which are ground, ought therefore to be used as soon afterwards as
possible. But this is not the most profitable to the dealers in meal, as
meal newly ground will not part so freely from the bran, nor
consequently yield so much flour, as when it lies a certain time after
the grinding; for this disposes the branny and floury parts to give way
from each other, and thus they separate easier and more completely than
when dressed immediately. The flour also then looks finer, but the bread
made of such meal is not of so good a quality as that made of meal fresh
ground. All sorts of grain kept entire, will remain sound and good for a
long time: but flour will in a comparatively short time, corrupt, and
generate worms. This therefore requires peculiar attention, or much loss
and injury may be sustained. The health of mankind depends in great
measure on the good or bad preparation of food, and on the purity of all
sorts of provisions: and grain being the most essential article of
sustenance, very much depends on the conduct of millers, bakers, and
mealmen. Those who acquit themselves honestly in these vocations are
entitled to a fair profit, and the goodwill of their fellow-men: but
such as betray the confidence reposed in them, by corrupting or
withholding it when needed, are undoubtedly amongst the worst enemies of
mankind. So far as health is concerned, bread made with leaven is
preferable to that made with yeast; the sour quality of leaven is more
agreeable to the ferment of the stomach than yeast; it is also easier of
digestion, and more cleansing. It opens the vessels, and gives a healthy
appetite; and a little use will make it familiar and pleasant to the
eater. This bread however seldom agrees with weak stomachs, especially
such as are liable to acidity and heartburn. One of the best kinds of
bread for sickly people, is made of wheaten flour, the coarse or husky
bran being taken out, but not finely dressed; otherwise it would be dry,
and obstructing to the stomach. The inner skin or branny parts of wheat
contain a moisty quality, which is opening and cleansing, while the fine
floury parts afford more nourishment. Bread therefore of a middling
quality is the wholesomest, and the best. Mixing in much salt is
injurious, from the change it occasions in bread of every description.
Finding no matter liable to putrefaction to work on, it acts upon the
best qualities of the flour, which it alters and corrupts. Hence, when
bread is intended to be kept a considerable time, as biscuits for a long
voyage, no salt is put into it. But bread for common use will admit of a
moderate portion of salt. It may be remarked however, that bread,
notwithstanding it is so excellent with meat, milk, and vegetables, is
not so substantial and nourishing as flour, when prepared in porridges
and other articles. To have good bread, it should not be baked in too
close an oven, but a free passage should be left for the air. The best
way is to make it into thin cakes, and bake them on a stone, which many
in the northern counties use for that purpose, making a wood fire under
it. This sort of bread is sweeter, of a more innocent taste, and far
easier of digestion, than bread baked the common way in ovens. In the
same manner cakes may be made of any kind of grain, such as rye, oats,
or barley, and will be found more wholesome and nourishing, and more
agreeable to nature, than bread made in the usual manner. Oat cakes are
often preferred to those made of wheat flour, as they tend to open the
body, and are rather warmer, to cold and weak stomachs. Barley is not so
nourishing, and requires more preparation to render it digestible, than
the other kinds of grain. Cakes, biscuits, muffins, buns, crumpets, and
small bread, made with eggs, butter, or sugar, seldom agree with
delicate persons. Biscuits made without leaven, yeast, butter, or sugar,
are more difficult of digestion, than bread when it is fermented. Where
bread is fixed to a standard weight and price, bakers are very apt to
mix alum and pearlash with it, for the purpose of hastening its rising,
and of encreasing its weight, by causing it to retain its moisture. If a
piece of bread be soaked in water, and turns the juice of a red cabbage
into a green colour, it is a proof that it contains an alkali or earthy
substance, which is most probably pearlash. It is said that a compound
salt is clandestinely sold in London, under the name of baker's salt,
and is composed of the above ingredients. When there is reason to
suspect that bread is adulterated with alum, it may be detected thus.
Cut about a pound of bread into an earthen vessel, pour upon it a quart
of boiling water, and let it stand till cold. Strain the liquor off
gently through a piece of fine linen, boil it down to about a wine glass
full, and set it by to cool. If there be a mixture of alum, it will form
itself into crystals. The observance of the following rules may be
considered as essential to the making of good bread. The corn must be
sound and clean, and newly ground, and not contaminated with any
extraneous mixtures. To make it easy of digestion it should be leavened,
and moderately seasoned with salt. Let it rise for several hours, and be
well wrought and kneaded with the hands. It must be well baked, but
neither over nor under-done. If baked too little, the bread will be
heavy, clammy, and unwholesome: if too much, its strength and goodness
will be consumed. In general, bread should not be eaten hot; it is then
more viscid, and harder of digestion. Bread is in its best state the
first and second day after it is baked. Economical bread, or bread of an
inferior quality, depraved by other mixtures, has frequently been
recommended to poor people in times of scarcity; but except where
absolute necessity exists, this is a kind of policy that cannot be too
severely condemned. The labouring classes, whose dependence is almost
entirely upon bread, ought to be provided with what is of the purest and
most nutricious quality, and at a reasonable price. They might then live
upon their labour, and in health and activity would feel that labour
itself was sweet. If potatoes, rice, or any other ingredients are to be
mixed with the bread, to lower its nutricious qualities, let it not be
offered to the labourer; but if economy of this kind be required, let it
be exercised by those whose eyes are standing out with fatness, and to
whom a sparer diet might be beneficial.--MEAT in general, as well as all
other kinds of food, is nourishing or otherwise, according to its
quality, and the manner in which it is prepared. There are peculiar
constitutions, or particular diseases and periods of life, when animal
food is highly detrimental; and others again, when it is essentially
necessary; but it is the general use of it, and not these exceptions,
that will be the subject of the following observations. As a part of our
habitual diet, the main points to be attended to are, the kinds of
animal food, and the modes of dressing it, which are most to be
recommended. A choice of meat is desirable, but if the animals subject
to this choice be neither sound nor healthy, it is of little consequence
which kind is preferred, for they, are alike unwholesome. It is proper
therefore to avoid the flesh of all such as are fatted in confinement,
or upon pernicious substances, which can never make wholesome food. Oil
cakes and rank vegetables, with want of air and exercise, will produce
such sort of meat as will shew immediately from its appearance, that it
must be unwholesome. Animals may eat rancid fulsome food, and grow fat
upon it, and yet the meat they produce may be highly offensive. Hunger
and custom will induce the eating of revolting substances, both in the
brute and human species; and growing fat is by no means a certain sign
of health. On the contrary, it is frequently the symptom of a gross
habit, and a tendency to disease. The distinct effects of various kinds
of food upon animals, are very obvious in the instance of milch cows.
Grass, hay, straw, grains, turnips, and oil cakes, produce milk of such
different qualities as must be at once distinguished; and the preference
to that where cows are fed upon grass or hay, and next to them straw,
appears very decided. The inference would be fair, that it must be the
same with respect to flesh, even if it were less obvious than it is. It
is an unwise economy, in the management of cows, that withholds from
them a sufficient quantity of the best and most nourishing food. If duly
appreciated, the quality of milk is even of superior importance to that
of flesh, from its general excellence and utility as an article of food.
If milk was plentiful and good, the want of meat would in many instances
not be felt, and in others, the consumption of it might be lessened with
great advantage. To confine cows with a view to increase their supply of
milk, is as injurious to the quality of it, as the confinement of
animals is in other instances. The over feeding them also with a similar
view, is an injurious practice. Cleanliness too is no less essential to
keeping them in a wholesome state, than to animals intended to be
slaughtered. It is no uncommon effect of confining and cramming
animals, that they become diseased in the liver, besides acquiring a
general tendency to putridity in their juices and muscular substances,
from want of air and exercise, excess of feeding and bad food, and the
dirt in which they live. A brute, no more than a human being, can digest
above a certain quantity of food, to convert it into actual nourishment;
and good chyle can only be produced from wholesome food, cleanliness,
air, and exercise. To be well fleshed rather than fat, is the desirable
state of animals destined for slaughter. There will always be with this
a sufficient proportion of fat; and labouring by artificial means to
produce more, is only encreasing that part of animal substance, which
from its gross indigestible nature is not proper for human diet, unless
in a very limited degree. Venison, which in its domestic state is never
fatted like other animals; game, and every wild animal proper for food;
possess superior qualities to the tame, from the total contrast in their
habits, more than from the food they eat. They have an extensive range
in the open air, take much exercise, and choose their own sustenance,
the good effects of which are very evident in a short delicate texture
of flesh found only in them. Their juices and flavour are more pure, and
their fat is far more delicious than that of home-bred animals. The
superiority of Welch mutton and Scotch beef is owing to a similar cause,
and is still more in point than the former, as a contrast between
animals of the same species under different management. The preferences
just mentioned are not a mere matter of taste, which might readily be
dispensed with, but are founded on more important considerations. A
short delicate texture renders the meat more digestible, in a very high
degree, than the coarse, heavy, stringy kind of substance produced by
the misapplied art of man. A pure animal juice too, is something more
than a luxury; for if what we use as food is not pure, neither can our
blood nor our juices be so. If we would but be content with
unadulterated luxuries, we have them at our command; and provided they
are not indulged to excess, are of decided advantage to our health.
Supposing all animal flesh to be good of its kind, there is still
abundant room for selection and choice. Mutton, beef, venison, game,
wild rabbits, fowls, turkies, and various small birds, are preferable to
lamb, veal, pork, young pigs, ducks, geese, and tame rabbits. Beef and
mutton are much easier of digestion and more nutricious than veal and
lamb, especially if not slaughtered before they come to proper maturity.
Nothing arrives at perfection under a stated period of growth, and till
this is attained it will afford only inferior nutriment. If the flesh of
mutton and lamb, beef and veal, are compared, they will be found of a
different texture, and the two young meats of a more stringy indivisible
nature than the others, which makes them harder of digestion. Neither
are their juices so nourishing when digested; as any one at all in the
habit of observing what is passing within and about them will readily
perceive from their own experience. Lamb and veal leave a craving nausea
in the stomach, not perceived after taking other kinds of animal food.
Veal broth soon turns sour by standing, owing to the sugar of milk
contained in the blood of a calf; and the same change takes place in a
weak stomach. Persons in the habit of drinking strong liquors with their
meals, cannot competently judge of such an effect; as these liquors
harden all kinds of animal food, and therefore little distinction can be
perceived amongst them. Pork and young pigs are liable to the same
objections as lamb and veal, but in a greater degree; they are fat and
luscious, but afford no nutriment. Ducks and geese are of a coarse oily
nature, and only fit for very strong stomachs. Tame rabbits are of a
closer heavier texture than wild ones, and hence of inferior quality.
Pigeons are of a hot nature, and should therefore be used sparingly.
Fowls and turkies are of a mild proper nature for food, but the
fattening them in confinement is equally prejudicial, as to other
animals already mentioned. If left at large, well fed with good barley,
and with clean water to drink, they will be little inferior to game.
Barley is preferable to barley meal, as retaining all the natural
qualities of the grain in greater perfection than when ground; and as
these birds are provided with grinders in the gizzard, the concocting
their own food is more nourishing and wholesome for them. These, like
other animals, should be suffered to attain their full growth, in order
to have them in the best state for nutriment. Some parts of birds, and
other animals, are hard and viscid, as the head, neck, feet, and tail;
the parts about the wings, back, and breast of birds, are in general the
most tender, and of the finest flavour. In four-footed animals, the
upper part of the leg and shoulder, the back, breast, and long bones of
the neck, are generally superior to the rest. The heart and other
viscera are nutricious, but hard of digestion, and improper for weak
stomachs. The larger an animal is of its kind, the flesh of it will be
stronger, and more difficult to digest; the juices also will be more
rank than those of smaller ones of the same species, supposing them to
have arrived at the same maturity. Animals which abound with fat and
oily substances are harder to digest, than those of a drier and more
fleshy nature; and to persons who use but little exercise, or have weak
stomachs, this kind of food is very improper. Its tendency is to weaken
the tone and force of the stomach, the fat and oil being enclosed in
little bladders, which are with difficulty broken and separated. Hence
fat meat is not so digestible as that of well fed animals, which do not
abound with fat. The flesh of very old animals is unwholesome, being
hard, dry, sinewy, innutricious, and difficult to digest. Those which
are the longest in coming to maturity have the coarsest juices, such as
oxen, cows, and boars. These are less tender and digestible than sheep,
venison, hares, rabbits, poultry, game, and other birds. In almost all
cases, the strong and pungent in flavour are harder to digest than those
of a milder nature. The flesh of birds is lighter, drier, and easier of
digestion, than that of four-footed animals. A difference also arises
from the place of pasturage, from food and exercise. Animals living in
high places, refreshed with wholesome winds, and cherished with the warm
beams of the sun, where there are no marshes, lakes, or standing waters,
are preferable to those living in pools, as ducks and geese, and other
kinds of fowl.--FISH is less nourishing than flesh, because it is gross,
phlegmatic, cold, and full of watery superfluities: but under certain
restrictions, it may be safely used as a part of our general diet. It is
unsuitable to cold phlegmatic constitutions, but very well adapted to
such as are hot and choleric. The white kinds of fish, which contain
neither fat nor oil, are preferable to the rest; such as whitings,
turbot, soles, skate, haddock, flounders, smelts, trout, and graylings.
These are easier of digestion than salmon, mackarel, eels, lampreys,
herrings, or sprats, and therefore more wholesome. Shell-fish, such as
oysters, muscles, cockles, crabs, and lobsters, are very far from being
easy of digestion, and are particularly improper for invalids, though
too commonly imagined to be suitable in such cases. In general it may be
observed, that those kinds of fish which are well grown, nourish better
than the young and immature. Sea-fish are wholesomer than fresh-water
fish: they are of a hotter nature, not so moist, and more approaching to
flesh meat. Of all sea and river fish, those are the best which live in
rocky places. Next to these, in gravelly or sandy places, in sweet,
clear, running water, where there is nothing offensive. Those which live
in pools, muddy lakes, marshes, or stagnant water, are bad. Whether sea
or river fish, those are the best which are not too large, whose flesh
is not hard and dry, but crisp and tender; which taste and smell well,
and have many fins and scales. All fresh fish should be eaten hot, and
less in quantity than fresh meat. Fish should not be eaten very often,
and never after great labour and exercise, nor after eating other solid
food. Fish and milk are not proper to be eaten at the same meal, nor
should eggs be used with fish, except with salt fish, and that should be
well soaked in water before it is dressed. It may be eaten with carrots
or parsnips, instead of egg sauce. If salt fish be eaten too often, or
without this precaution, it produces gross humours and bad juices in the
body; occasions thirst, hoarseness, sharpness in the blood, and other
unfavourable symptoms. It is therefore a kind of food which should be
used very sparingly, and given only to persons of a strong constitution.
All kinds of salted and dried fish are innutricious and unwholesome, and
their injurious effects are often visible in the habits of seafaring
people. Even prawns and shrimps, if eaten too freely, are known to
produce surfeits, which end in St. Anthony's fire.--If proper attention
be paid to health, every kind of sustenance intended for the use of man,
must be provided in its SEASON; for to every thing there is both time
and season, which the wisdom and goodness of providence have pointed
out. Every production is the most pure in quality, and of course the
most wholesome, when nature has perfected her work, and prepared it for
human sustenance. To anticipate her seasons, or to prolong them, is a
misapplication of labour, and a perversion of the bounties of providence
into secret poisons, to indulge the wanton cravings of a depraved
appetite. The properties of animal food in general seem not to restrict
the use of it to any particular season, but rather to admit its common
use at all times. The only period in which it is less seasonable than at
any other, appears to be in hot weather, when animal substances of all
kinds are very liable to taint. The profuse supply of vegetables too in
the warmer months, seems to lessen the occasion for animal food.
Attention should be paid however at all times to the proper season for
using the different kinds of animal food, and to the various
circumstances that may contribute to its being more or less wholesome.
The killing of animals by the easiest means, and not previously abusing
them by over-driving, or in any other way, materially affects their
fitness for food, and ought therefore to be carefully attended to. The
high flavour, or taint in meat, which so many English palates prefer, is
in fact the commencement of putrefaction; and of course meat in this
state is very improper for food, particularly for persons with any
tendency to putrid disorders. At a time when bad fevers prevail, food of
this description ought to be generally avoided, as it disposes the blood
and juices to receive infection. With respect to grain, its adaptedness
to keep the whole year round, evidently denotes that it was intended for
constant use. But the recurrence of an annual supply seems to be the
voice of nature, forbidding its being kept in ordinary cases to a longer
period, especially as new corn is generally preferred to the old. All
other vegetables, including fruits, seem designed only for a transient
season. Roots, and a few late fruits, have indeed the property of
keeping for some months, and may thus provide a store for the winter,
when fresh vegetables are less plentiful. Other kinds will not keep
without undergoing a culinary process, by which they are rendered less
wholesome, however palatable they may be considered. Provisions of
almost every description may be preserved from putrefaction by being
partially dressed and then closely stopped down, as has been fully
demonstrated by Messrs. Donkin and Gamble of Bermondsey, who by means of
air-tight canisters are in the habit of preparing all kinds of meat,
which will keep perfectly sweet and fresh for a considerable length of
time in any climate, and are incomparably better than those preserved in
the ordinary way by salting or drying. But however applicable these
preserves may be to the purposes of a long voyage, or a foreign
expedition, where no fresh supplies can be obtained, they are by no
means to be recommended to private families, who enjoy the superior
advantages of going to market for fresh provisions. Time, which devours
all things, cannot fail to impair, though not immediately, the flavour
and other properties of whatever is preserved, in defiance of every
precaution against its influence. The appearance and flavour of such
articles may not be revolting to us, but if compared with the same
things when fresh and well dressed, their inferiority is sufficiently
obvious. Pickled salmon is a familiar instance of this kind. It is very
generally relished, and often preferred to fresh salmon; yet if brought
into comparison, the substance of the one is heavy, that of the other
light and elastic. The flavour of the pickled salmon is sophisticated
and deadened, if not vapid; that of the other is natural, fresh, and
delicate, the pure volatile spirit not being destroyed by improper
cookery, or long keeping. Instances of violent surfeits often occur from
eating pickled salmon, soused mackarel, and other rich preserves, not
from their being in a state of decay, but from the unwholesomeness of
their preparation. People acquire tastes indeed, that reconcile them to
any thing; that even make them fond of corrupted flavours, such as
decayed cheese, tainted meat, and other things of a similar description.
Our taste therefore is very likely to betray us into error; and to guard
against it, it is necessary to be able to distinguish between what is
really wholesome and what is otherwise, for this is rather a matter of
judgment than of taste.--A few brief remarks may very properly be added
on the important article of MILK, which forms, or ought to form, an
essential part of the food of every family, in one shape or another. As
far as regards the general properties of milk, it is in season at all
times; and by judicious management it might always be supplied in
sufficient quantities to become a plentiful source of human sustenance.
It is of the best quality however, five or six months after a cow has
calved. When she becomes with calf again, her milk will of course fall
off, both in quantity and in quality. The impatient greediness of
cow-keepers would have calves and milk at the same time, and on this
account they seldom allow their dairies a fair interval for keeping up
a successive supply of the best milk. To keep cows in the healthiest
condition, and their milk consequently in the purest state, they should
not be confined in houses, nor in yards, but suffered to go at large in
the open fields. They should also be well fed with wholesome provender,
and have access to good water. If kept quite clean, by occasionally
rubbing them down, and washing their bag, and legs and feet, their
health would be promoted, and of course the nutricious quality of the
milk. If the comfort and welfare of society were consulted, the higher
classes would not slight their dairies for studs of horses, kept more
for ostentation than for use. In reference to the same subject, the
breaking up of small farms is deeply to be regretted, not only as
ruinous to a numerous class of deserving persons, but as depriving the
markets and the neighbourhoods of those articles of necessity which
their industry produced. It was an object to a small farmer to make the
most of his dairy and poultry yard, which to an occupier on a larger
scale is regarded as a matter of indifference. The consequence is, there
is neither so plentiful a supply of these things, nor are they so good
in quality as formerly. The wife of a small farmer attended to her own
business, her poultry was brought up at the barn door, and killed when
it was sweet and wholesome, while the produce of her dairy redounded to
her credit, and afforded ample satisfaction to her customers.--The most
judicious choice of food however will avail but little, if the manner of
preparing it is not equally judicious. The principal error in cooking
lies in overdoing what is intended for the table; the qualities of the
meat are then so entirely changed, that it ceases to be nourishing, and
becomes hard of digestion. It is literally put into the stomach only to
be pressed out of it again by some unnatural exertion, which at last
throws the oppressive load into the rest of the system, from whence it
will not pass off without leaving some injury behind it. This,
frequently repeated, ends at last in acute or chronic diseases, no less
certainly than constant friction upon a stone will at length wear it
away, though it may be a long time before any impression upon it is
perceived. Similar effects arise from drinking, but generally with a
more rapid progress, from the extension and collapse of the vessels
being more sudden and violent. Plain cookery, in the exact medium
between under and over doing, is the point to be attained to render our
food salutary. The mixture of a great variety of ingredients should be
avoided, for if good in themselves separately, they are often rendered
indigestible by being compounded one with another. As we must eat every
day, there is opportunity enough for all things in turn, without
attempting any unwholesome composition. Much seasoning with spices,
contributes to make animal food indigestible. They are much safer when
used just before serving up the dish, or by adding them at the time of
eating it. Beef and pork long salted, and hams, bacon, tongues, and hung
beef, are very indigestible, and particularly improper for weak
stomachs, though they will often crave them. Boiled meat is generally
preferable to roast meat, for nourishment and digestion. Boiling
extracts more of the rank strong juices, and renders it lighter and more
diluted. Roasting leaves it fuller of gravy, but it adds to the rigidity
of the fibres. The flesh of young animals is best roasted. Fried and
broiled meats are difficult to be digested, though they are very
nourishing: weak stomachs had better avoid them. Meat pies and puddings
cannot be recommended, but strong stomachs may sustain but little
inconvenience from them. It is a confined mode of cookery, and the meat
therefore is not at all purified of its grossness. When meat pies and
puddings are used, they should be moderately seasoned. Baking meat,
instead of roasting it, is a worse manner of dressing it, from the
closeness of the oven, and the great variety of things often baking at
the same time. Stewing is not a good way of dressing meat, unless it is
done very carefully. If it is stewed till all the juices are drawn from
the meat, the latter becomes quite unfit for food: and if the stewpan be
kept close covered, there are the same objections to it as meat pies and
puddings. Hashing is a very bad mode of cooking. It is doing over again
what has already been done enough, and makes the meat vapid and hard.
What would have been good nourishment in the cold meat, is thus totally
lost, as the juices, which are all drawn into the gravy, are spoiled by
this second cookery, which exposes them too long to the fire.


PRUNE PUDDING. Mix four spoonfuls of flour in a quart of milk; add six
eggs, two tea-spoonfuls of powdered ginger, a little salt, and a pound
of prunes. Tie it in a cloth, and boil it an hour.


PRUNE TART. Scald some prunes, take out the stones and break them. Put
the kernels into a little cranberry juice, with the prunes and sugar;
simmer them together, and when cold, make a tart of the sweetmeat.


PRUNING. In pruning wall fruit, care should be taken to cut off all
fresh shoots that will not readily bind to the wall; for if any be
twisted or bruised in the binding, they will in time decay, and the sap
will issue from the place. Vines should not be cut too close to please
the eye, as by that means they have sometimes been rendered barren of
fruit. Two knots should generally be left on new shoots, which will
produce two bunches of grapes, and which are to be cut off at the next
pruning. New branches are to be left every year, and some of the old
ones must be removed, which will increase the quantity of fruit.


PUDDINGS. The only puddings which can with propriety be recommended, as
really wholesome diet, are those of the simplest kind, such as are
seldom met with except in families in the middle ranks of life. The poor
unfortunately cannot get them, and the rich prefer those of a more
complex kind, of which the best that can be hoped is, that they will not
do much harm. The principal ingredients of common puddings are so mild
and salutary, that unless they are over-cooked, or too many of them
mixed together, such puddings are generally wholesome. To make them of
the best and most nutricious quality, the materials should all be fresh
and good of their kind; such as, flour newly ground, new milk, fresh
laid eggs, and fresh suet. Millet, sago, tapioca, whole rice, will all
keep a considerable time, if put into a dry place. When rice, millet, or
sago, are wanted to be used ground, they had better be ground at home
for the sake of having them fresh, and the certainty of having them
pure. Such a mill as is used for grinding coffee, will grind them
extremely well. The whites of eggs should never be used in puddings for
children, or persons of weak stomachs, or for those who are any way
indisposed, on account of their being indigestible. Omitting them
altogether would indeed be attended with no disadvantage. The yolk of an
egg alone answers the same purpose, as when the white is used with it.
To prove this, let two cups of batter pudding be made, one with the yolk
of an egg only, the other with the yolk and white together, and the
result will be, that the pudding with the yolk only is quite as light,
if not lighter, than the one with the whole egg. In other instances
also, of several kinds of puddings, where the whites of eggs have been
totally omitted, without at all encreasing the number of eggs, the
result has been the same. There is a species of economy practised by
good housewives, of making compositions on purpose to use up the whites
of eggs which have been left out of any preparation made with eggs. But
this is a false economy; for surely it is far better to reject as food
what is known to be injurious, and to find other uses for it, than to
make the human stomach the receptacle for offal. Economy would be much
more judiciously exerted in retrenching superfluities, than exercised in
this manner. Two or three good dishes of their kind, and well cooked,
are infinitely preferable to a whole course of indigestible
compositions. A soup might as well be made of cabbage stalks and pea
shells, as any preparation of food with whites of eggs, when there is no
doubt of their being positively prejudicial. As cabbage stalks then go
to the dunghill, and pea shells to the pigs, so let whites of eggs go to
the book-binder, or find some other destination. There are also various
kinds of fruit that require to be used with great caution. Currants,
raisins, prunes, French plums, figs, and all kinds of preserves, are
prepared either by the heat of the sun, or by cookery to the full extent
that they will bear, and beyond which any application of heat gives them
a tendency to putridity. They are therefore certainly prejudicial to
weak stomachs when used in puddings, and cannot be good for any; though
strong stomachs may not perceive an immediate ill effect from them.
Eaten without any farther preparation, and especially with bread, these
things may be used in moderation. For the reasons just given, spices
are better not put into puddings, they are already in a sufficiently
high state of preparation. The warm climates in which they grow, brings
them to a state of far greater maturity than the general productions of
our northern latitude. When they are used, it is better to add them
ground, at the time of eating what is to be seasoned, or put in the last
thing before serving up the dish. These are also better ground at home,
both to have them fresh, and free from adulteration. Almonds used in
puddings are liable to the same objection. The danger of using laurel
leaves in cooking, cannot be too frequently repeated. Bay leaves, bitter
almonds, and fruit kernels, if not equally dangerous, are pernicious
enough to make it very advisable not to use them. Fresh fruits often
become more unwholesome from being cooked in puddings and tarts, yet
will in many cases agree then with stomachs that cannot take them raw;
but unripe fruits are not good, either dressed or in any other
state.--To prepare puddings in the best manner, they should boil briskly
over a clear fire, with the pot lid partly if not entirely off, as the
access of fresh air makes every thing dress sweeter. As butter is
generally an expensive article, dripping, nicely prepared, may on many
occasions be used as a substitute. It will answer the purpose of rubbing
basins with, quite as well as butter, and never gives any unpleasant
flavour to the pudding. It is also very proper to dredge a basin with
flour, after it is rubbed with butter or dripping. Economy in eggs is
both rational and useful, as puddings with a moderate number of eggs are
more wholesome, than when used extravagantly or with profusion. Pudding
cloths, and every utensil in making puddings, should be quite clean, or
the food cannot be wholesome. The outside of a boiled pudding often
tastes disagreeably, which arises from the cloth not being nicely
washed, and kept in a dry place. It should be dipt in boiling water,
squeezed dry, and floured, when to be used. A bread pudding should be
loosely tied, and a batter pudding tight over. The water should boil
quick when the pudding is put in, and it should be moved about for a
minute, lest the ingredients should not mix. Batter pudding should be
strained through a coarse sieve, when all is mixed: in others, the eggs
should be strained separately. Pans and basins in which puddings are to
be boiled, should always be buttered, or rubbed with clean dripping. A
pan of cold water should be prepared, and the pudding dipped in as soon
as it comes out of the pot, to prevent its adhering to the cloth. Good
puddings may be made without eggs; but they must have as little milk as
is sufficient to mix the batter, and must boil three or four hours. A
few spoonfuls of fresh small beer, or one of yeast, will answer instead
of eggs. Snow is also an excellent substitute for eggs, either in
puddings or pancakes. Two large spoonfuls will supply the place of one
egg, and the article it is used in will be equally good. This is a
useful piece of information, especially as snow often falls when eggs
are scarce and dear. Fresh small beer, or bottled malt liquors, will
likewise serve instead of eggs. The yolks and whites beaten long and
separately, make the article they are put into much lighter.


PUDDING CAKES. Put four yolks and two whites of eggs to a pint of milk;
mix with it half a pint of bread crumbs grated fine, half a nutmeg, six
ounces of currants washed and dried, a quarter of a pound of beef suet
chopped small, a little salt, and flour sufficient to make it of a
moderate thickness. Fry these cakes in lard, of about the usual size of
a fritter.


PUDDING KETCHUP. Steep an ounce of thin-pared lemon peel, and half an
ounce of mace, in half a pint of brandy, or a pint of sherry, for
fourteen days. Then strain it, and add a quarter of a pint of
capillaire. This will keep for years, and being mixed with melted
butter, it is a delicious relish to puddings and sweet dishes.


PUDDING WITH MEAT. Make a batter with flour, milk, and eggs. Pour a
little into the bottom of a pudding-dish; then put seasoned meat of any
kind into it, and a little shred onion. Pour the remainder of the batter
over, and bake it in a slow oven. A loin of mutton baked in batter,
being first cleared of most of the fat, makes a good dish.


PUFFS. They should be made of light puff crust, rolled out and cut into
shapes according to the fancy. Then bake them, and lay some sweetmeat in
the middle. Or roll out the crust, cut it into pieces of any shape, lay
sweetmeats over one half, and turn the other half of the crust over;
press them together round the edge, and bake them.


PUFF CRUST. Take a pound and a half of flour, put it upon a pie board
with a little salt, and mix in gradually just water sufficient to make
it into a paste, taking care that it be neither too thin nor too stiff.
Mould it lightly together, and let it lie for two hours before it is
finished. Roll out the paste, put a pound of butter into the middle of
it, fold the two ends of the paste over it, and roll it out; then fold
it together, and roll it out again. Repeat this six times in the winter,
and five in the summer. It should be rolled rather less than half an
inch in thickness, dusting a little flour lightly over and under it, to
prevent its sticking to the rolling-pin. When finished, roll it out for
use as occasion requires. This makes a very nice and delicate
crust.--Another. To a pound and a half of flour, allow a pound of
butter, and three quarters of an ounce of salt. Put the flour on a
clean pie board, make a hole in the middle, and put in the salt with the
butter cut into small pieces. Pour in the water carefully, as it is of
great importance that the crust should not be made too thin; there
should only be water enough just to make it hold well together, and to
roll it out smooth. Work the butter and water up well together with the
hand, and then by degrees mix in the flour. When the flour is all mixed
in, mould the paste till it is quite smooth and free from lumps, and
then let it lie two hours before it be used. This is a very nice crust
for putting round the dish for baked puddings, tarts, or pies.


PUFF PASTE. Puffs may be made of any sort of fruit, but it should be
prepared first with sugar. To make a rich paste, weigh an equal quantity
of butter with as much fine flour as is necessary. Mix a little of the
former with the latter, and wet it with as little water as will make it
into a stiff paste. Roll it out, and put all the butter over it in
slices; turn in the ends, and roll it thin. Do this twice, and tough it
no more than can be avoided. The butter may be added at two different
times; and to those who are not accustomed to make paste, it may be
better to do so. The oven must be rather quicker than for a short
crust.--A less rich paste may be made of a pound of flour, and a quarter
of a pound of butter, rubbed together. Mix it into a paste with a little
water, and an egg well beaten; of the former as little as will suffice,
or the paste will be tough. Roll it out, and fold it three or four
times. Or rub extremely fine, six ounces of butter in one pound of dried
flour, with a spoonful of white sugar. Work up the whole into a stiff
paste, with as little hot water as possible.


PUITS D' AMOUR. Cut a fine rich puff paste rolled thin, with tin shapes
made on purpose, one size less than another, in a pyramidal form, and
lay them so. Then bake in a moderate form, that the paste may be done
sufficiently, but very pale. Lay different coloured sweetmeats on the
edges.


PULLED CHICKENS. Take off the skin, and pull the flesh off the bones of
a cold fowl, in large pieces. Dredge it with flour, and fry it of a nice
brown in butter. Drain the butter from it, simmer the flesh in a good
well-seasoned gravy, thickened with a little butter and flour, adding
the juice of half a lemon.--Another way. Cut off the legs, and the whole
back, of an underdone chicken. Pull all the white part into little
flakes free from skin, toss it up with a little cream thickened with a
piece of butter rolled in flour, half a blade of powdered mace, some
white pepper, salt, and the squeeze of a lemon. Cut off the neck end of
the chicken, broil the back and sidesmen in one piece, and the two legs
seasoned. Put the hash in the middle of the dish, with the back on it,
and the two legs at the end.


PULLED TURKEY. Divide the meat of the breast by pulling instead of
cutting. Then warm in a spoonful or two of white gravy, and a little
cream, grated nutmeg, salt, and a little flour and butter, but do not
let it boil. The leg should be seasoned, scored, and broiled, and put
into the dish with the above round it. Cold chicken may be treated in
the same manner.


PUNCH. In preparing this favourite liquor, it is impossible to take too
much pains in the process of mixing, that all the different articles may
be thoroughly incorporated together. Take then two large fresh lemons
with rough skins, quite ripe, and some lumps of double-refined sugar.
Rub the sugar over the lemons, till it has absorbed all the yellow part
of the rinds. Put these lumps into a bowl, and as much more as the juice
of the lemons may be supposed to require: no certain weight or quantity
can be mentioned, as the acidity of a lemon cannot be known till tried,
and therefore this must be determined by the taste. Then squeeze the
lemon juice upon the sugar, and with a bruiser press the sugar and the
juice particularly well together, for a great deal of the richness and
fine flavour of the punch depends on this rubbing and mixing being
thoroughly performed. Having well incorporated the juice and the sugar,
mix it up with boiling soft water, and let it stand a little to cool.
When this mixture, which is now called the sherbet, is made of a
pleasant flavour, take equal quantities of rum and brandy and put into
it, mixing the whole well together. The quantity of liquor must be
according to taste: two good lemons are generally enough to make four
quarts of punch, including a quart of liquor, with half a pound of
sugar: but this depends much on taste, and on the strength of the
spirit. As the pulp of the lemon is disagreeable to some persons, the
sherbet may be strained before the liquor is put in. Some strain the
lemon before they put it to the sugar, which is improper; as when the
pulp and sugar are well mixed together, it adds much to the richness of
the punch. When only rum is used, about half a pint of porter will
soften the punch; and even when both rum and brandy are used, the porter
gives a richness, and also a very pleasant flavour. A shorter way is to
keep ready prepared a quarter of an ounce of citric or crystallized
lemon acid, pounded with a few drops of the essence of lemon peel,
gradually mixed with a pint of clarified syrup or capillaire. Brandy or
rum flavoured with this mixture, will produce good punch in a minute.


PUNCH ROYAL. Take thirty Seville oranges and thirty lemons quite sound,
pare them very thin, and put the parings into an earthen pan, with as
much rum or brandy as will cover them. Take ten gallons of water, and
twelve pounds of lump sugar, and boil them. When nearly cold, put in the
whites of thirty eggs well beaten, stir it and boil it a quarter of an
hour, then strain it through a hair sieve into an earthen pan, and let
it stand till the next day. Then put it into a cask, strain the spirit
from the parings, and add as much more as will make it up five gallons.
Put it into the cask with five quarts of Seville orange juice, and three
quarts of lemon juice. Stir it all together with a cleft stick, and
repeat the same once a day for three successive days; then stop it down
close, and in six weeks it will be fit to drink.


PURPLE GLOVES. To dye white gloves of a beautiful purple, boil four
ounces of logwood, and two ounces of roche alum, in three pints of soft
water, till half wasted. Strain off the liquid, and let it stand to be
cold. Mend the gloves neatly, brush them over with the dye, and when dry
repeat it. Twice is sufficient, unless the colour is to be very dark.
When quite dry, rub off the loose dye with a coarse cloth. Beat up the
white of an egg, and with a sponge rub it over the leather. The dye will
stain the hands, but wetting them with vinegar will take it off before
they are washed.




Q.


QUAILS. These are dressed in the same manner as snipes and woodcocks.
They should be roasted without drawing, served on toast, and eaten with
butter only.


QUAKING PUDDING. Scald a quart of cream; when almost cold, put to it
four eggs well beaten, a spoonful and a half of flour, with nutmeg and
sugar. Tie it close in a buttered cloth, boil it an hour, and turn it
out carefully, without cracking it. Serve it with melted butter, a
little wine, and sugar.


QUARTER OF LAMB. A fore-quarter may either be roasted whole, or in
separate parts. If left to be cold, chopped parsley should be sprinkled
over it. The neck and breast together are called a scoven.


QUEEN CAKES. Mix a pound of dried flour, a pound of sifted sugar, and a
pound of currants, picked and cleaned. Wash a pound of butter in rose
water, beat it well, and mix with it eight eggs, yolks and whites beaten
separately. Put in the dry ingredients by degrees, beat the whole an
hour, butter little tins, teacups or saucers, fill them half full of
batter, and bake them. Sift over them a little fine sugar, just before
they are put into the oven.--Another way. Beat eight ounces of butter,
and mix it with two eggs, well beaten and strained. Mix eight ounces of
dried flour, the same of lump sugar, and the grated rind of a lemon. Put
the whole together, and beat it full half an hour with a silver spoon.
Butter small pattipans, half fill them, and bake twenty minutes in a
quick oven.


QUEEN ANNE'S BISCUITS. A pound of flour well dried, half a pound of fine
sugar powdered and sifted, a pound of currants well washed and picked,
and half a pound of butter. Rub the butter into the flour, then mix in
the sugar and currants; add ten spoonfuls of cream, the yolks of three
eggs, three spoonfuls of sack, and a little mace finely pounded. When
the paste is well worked up, set it in a dish before the fire till it be
thoroughly warm. Make it up into cakes, place them on a tin well
buttered, prick them full of holes on the top, and bake them in a quick
oven.


QUEEN ANNE'S KITCHEN. The economy of the royal kitchen a century ago,
though not equal perhaps to the refinement of modern times, was
sufficiently sumptuous; and what it wanted in delicacies, was abundantly
compensated by a profusion of more substantial dishes of truly English
fare. The following are only a few specimens of the stile of cooking
approved by queen Anne, sufficient to show in what manner royalty was
provided for in the days of our forefathers. Under the article of
Roasting, a few particulars will occur. When a turkey, capon, or fowl
was to be dressed, it was laid down to the fire, at a proper distance,
till it became thoroughly hot. It was then basted all over with fresh
butter, and afterwards dredged thinly with flour. The heat of the fire
converted this into a thin crust, to keep in the gravy; and no more
basting was allowed till the roasting was nearly done, when it was once
more basted all over with butter. As the meat began to brown, it was
sprinkled a little with large salt, and the outside finished with a fine
brown. It was sometimes the custom to baste such meats with the yolks of
fresh eggs beaten thin, which was continued during the time of roasting.
The following directions were given for roast Veal. Chop some parsley
and thyme very small. Beat up the yolks of five or six eggs with some
cream, add the chopped herbs, some grated bread, a few cloves, a little
mace and nutmeg, some currants and sugar. Mix these well together, raise
the skin of the breast of veal, put the stuffing under it, and skewer it
down close. Lay the veal before the fire, and baste it with butter. When
sufficiently roasted, squeeze on the juice of a lemon, and serve it up.
For roast Pig, chop up some sage, and sow it up in the belly of the pig.
Roast and baste it with butter, sprinkled with a little salt. When
roasted fine and crisp, serve it upon a sauce made of chopped sage and
currants, well boiled in vinegar and water, the gravy and brains of the
pig, a little grated bread, some barberries and sugar, all well mixed
together, and heated over the fire. Another way. Fill the belly of the
pig with a pudding made of grated bread, a little minced beef suet, the
yolks of two or three raw eggs, three or four spoonfuls of good cream,
and a little salt. Sow it up in the belly of the pig, lay it down to
roast, and baste it with yolks of eggs beat thin. A few minutes before
it is taken up, squeeze on the juice of a lemon, and strew it over with
bread crumbs, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Make a sauce with
vinegar, butter, and the yolks of eggs boiled hard and minced. Boil the
whole together, with the gravy of the pig, and then serve it up in this
sauce. When a Hare is to be dressed, wash it well, and dry it in a
cloth. Sow up a pudding in the belly, truss the hare as if it were
running, and roast it. Make a sauce of claret wine, grated bread, sugar,
ginger, barberries, and butter, boiled all together, and serve it up
with the hare.--Boiled dishes were prepared in the following manner. If
a capon, pullet, or chicken, boil it in good mutton broth. Put in some
mace, a bunch of sweet herbs, a little sage, spinage, marigold leaves
and flowers, white or green endive, borage, bugloss, parsley, and
sorrel. Serve it up on sippets of white bread. If to be dressed with
cauliflower, cut the vegetable into small heads, with about an inch and
a half of stalk to them. Boil them in milk with a little mace, till they
are very tender, and beat up the yolks of two eggs with a quarter of a
pint of sack. Melt some butter very thick, with a little vinegar and
sliced lemon. Pour this and the eggs to and fro till they are well
mixed, then take the cauliflower out of the milk, and put it into the
sauce. Having boiled the chicken tender, serve it upon sippets of white
bread, finely carved, and pour the sauce over it. Pigeons are to be put
into a skillet with some strong broth, or spring water. Boil and skim
them, put in some mace, a bunch of sweet herbs, some white endive,
marigold flowers, and salt. When finely boiled, serve them upon sippets
of white bread, and garnish the dish with mace and white endive. Small
birds, such as woodcocks, snipes, blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares,
rails, quails, wheatears, larks, martins, and sparrows, are to be boiled
in strong broth, or in salt and water. When boiled, take out the trails,
and chop them and the livers small. Add some crumb of grated bread, a
little of the liquor in which the birds were boiled, some mace, and stew
them all together in some gravy. Beat up the yolks of two eggs, with a
little white wine vinegar and grated nutmeg; and when ready to serve,
stir these into the sauce with a small piece of butter. Dish up the
birds upon sippets of white bread, and pour the sauce over them with
some capers, lemon finely minced, and barberries, or pickled grapes,
whole. Carrots and onions boiled together in broth, separately from the
sauce, are sometimes added to it. When no onion is put in, rub the
bottom of the dish with a clove or two of garlic. A Goose, before it is
boiled, is to be salted for a day or two. Steep some oatmeal in warm
milk, or some other liquor, and mix it with some shred beef suet, minced
apples and onions, sweet herbs chopped, and a seasoning of cloves, mace,
and pepper. Fill the belly of the goose with this stuffing, and tie it
close at the neck and vent. Boil and serve it on slices of bread, dipped
in any kind of broth, with cauliflowers, cabbage, turnips, and
barberries. Pour melted butter over it. A Wild Duck, being first drawn
and trussed, must be parboiled, and then half roasted. Having carved it,
put the gravy into a pipkin with plenty of onion and parsley, sliced
ginger, mace, some washed currants, barberries, and a quart of claret.
Boil all together, skim it clean, add some butter and sugar, and serve
up the duck with the sauce poured over it. A Rabbit is to be boiled in
salt and water. Chop some parsley and thyme together, a handful of each,
and boil it in a little of the liquor in which the rabbit is boiling.
Then add to it three or four spoonfuls of verjuice, a piece of butter,
and two or three eggs well beaten. Stir the whole together, thicken it
over the fire, and serve up the rabbit with this sauce poured over
it.--In the royal kitchen, a Florentine Pie was made of a leg of veal or
mutton, cut into thin slices, and seasoned with sweet marjoram, thyme,
savory, parsley, rosemary, an onion and a clove of garlic, all cut
small. To these were added, nutmeg and pepper beaten fine, some grated
manchet, a little salt, and the yolks of three or four raw eggs, to mix
and make them adhere together. The meat is laid in a dish, with a crust
under it, intermixed with some thin slices of streaked bacon. A few bay
leaves and some oyster liquor are added, the dish covered with a crust,
and baked. For a Veal Pie, cut a fillet into pieces, about the size of
walnuts, and season them with cinnamon, ginger, sugar, and salt. Use a
raised crust or dish, at pleasure, lay in the meat with roasted chesnuts
peeled and quartered, dates sliced, and the marrow from two beef bones.
Put on the top crust, bake the pie; and when done, serve it up with the
following sauce poured into it. Beat up the yolk of an egg with some
white wine, cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Heat it over the fire till it
thickens a little, taking care not to let the egg curdle. Sauce for a
loin of veal was made of all kinds of sweet herbs, with the yolks of two
or three hard eggs minced very fine. They were then boiled up with some
currants, a little grated bread, pounded cinnamon, sugar, and two whole
cloves. The sauce was poured into the dish intended for the veal, with
two or three slices of an orange. A Cod's Head was directed to be
dressed in the following manner. Cut the head large, and a good piece of
the shoulder with it, and boil it in salt and water. Have prepared a
quart of cockles, with the shelled meat of two or three crabs. Put these
into a pipkin with nearly half a pint of white wine, a bunch of sweet
herbs, two onions, a little mace, a little grated nutmeg, and some
oyster liquor. Boil these till the liquor is wasted, then add three or
four large spoonfuls of melted butter. Drain the cod's head well over a
chafing-dish of coals, and serve it up with the above sauce, taking out
the bunch of herbs, and adding more butter, if required. Serve up the
liver and roe on the sides of the dish.


QUICK HEDGES. A great variety of different sorts of plants is employed
in forming and constructing these hedges, as those of the hawthorn, the
black-thorn, the crab-tree, the hazel, the willow, the beech, the elder,
the poplar, the alder, and several other kinds, according to particular
circumstances and situations. Whatever sort of plants may be employed
for this purpose, the work should constantly be well performed in the
first instance, and the hedges and plants be afterwards kept in due
order and regularity by suitable pruning, cutting in, and other proper
management. Excellent hawthorn hedges are raised by planting one row
only at six inches asunder, rather than two rows nine inches or a foot
apart. Those planted six inches apart do not require to be cut down to
thicken them at the bottom, and will form a complete protection against
hogs, and in other respects form a beautiful and effectual fence.


QUICKSILVER, when rubbed down and blended with unctuous matters, forms a
sort of ointment, which is useful in the curing of different diseases of
the skin, as well as in destroying lice and other vermin that infest
animals of different kinds, which form the live stock of the farmer. It
has also been found useful in its crude state in destroying insects on
fruit trees. Take a small awl, and pierce sloping, through the rind, and
into part of the wood of the branch, but not to the heart or pith of it;
and pour in a small drop or two of the quicksilver, and stop it up with
a small wooden plug made to fit the orifice, and the insects will drop
off from that very branch the next day; and in a day or two more, from
the other branches of the trees without any other puncture, and the tree
will continue in full vigour and thrive well through the summer.
Honeysuckles and other shrubs may be cleared of insects, by scraping
away the top of the ground with a trowel, and running an awl in the same
sloping manner, into the main stem just above the roots; but with the
same caution as above, not quite to the inner pith, and then applying
the quicksilver. The insects will drop off the day after the
experiment.


QUILLS. To harden and prepare them for use, dip them for a minute in
some boiling water in which alum has been dissolved; or thrust them into
hot ashes till they become soft, and afterwards press and scrape them
with the back of a knife. When they are to be clarified, the barrels
must be scraped and cut at the end, and then put into boiling water for
a quarter of an hour, with a quantity of alum and salt. Afterwards they
are dried in an oven, or in a pan of hot sand.


QUIN'S FISH SAUCE. Half a pint of walnut pickle, the same of mushroom
pickle, six anchovies pounded, six anchovies whole, and half a
tea-spoonful of cayenne. Shake it up well, when it is to be used.


QUINCE. The fruit of the quince is astringent and stomachic; and its
expressed juice, in small quantities, as a spoonful or two, is of
considerable service in nausea, vomitings, eructations, &c. Quince trees
are very apt to have rough bark, and to be bark-bound; in these cases it
will be necessary to shave off the rough bark with a draw-knife, and to
scarify them when bark-bound, brushing them over with the composition.
It is also advised to plant quince trees at a proper distance from apple
and pears, as bees and the wind may mix the farina, and occasion the
apples and pears to degenerate. These trees may be raised from the
kernels of the fruit sown in autumn; but there is no depending on having
the same sort of good fruit from seedlings, nor will they soon become
bearers. But the several varieties may be continued the same by cuttings
and layers; also by suckers from such trees as grow upon their own
roots, and likewise be increased by grafting and budding upon their own
pear-stocks raised from the kernels in the same manner as for apples.
Standard quinces, designed as fruit trees, may be stationed in the
garden or orchard, and some by the sides of any water, pond, watery
ditch, &c. as they delight in moisture.


QUINCE JELLY. When quinces have been boiled for marmalade, take the
first liquor and pass it through a jelly bag. To every pint allow a
pound of fine loaf sugar, and boil it till it is quite clear and comes
to a jelly. The quince seeds should be tied in a piece of muslin, and
boiled in it.


QUINCE MARMALADE. Pare and quarter some quinces, and weigh an equal
quantity of sugar. To four pounds of the latter put a quart of water,
boil and skim it well, by the time the quinces are prepared. Lay the
fruit in a stone jar, with a teacupful of water at the bottom, and pack
them with a little sugar strewed between. Cover the jar close, set it in
a cool oven, or on a stove, and let the quinces soften till they become
red. Then pour the syrup and a quart of quince juice into a preserving
pan, and boil all together till the marmalade be completed, breaking the
lumps of fruit with the ladle; otherwise the fruit is so hard, that it
will require a great deal of time. Stewing quinces in a jar, and then
squeezing them through a cheese cloth, is the best method of obtaining
the juice; and in this case the cloth should first be dipped in boiling
water, and then wrung out.


QUINCE PUDDING. Scald six large quinces very tender, pare off the thin
rind, and scrape them to a pulp. Add powdered sugar enough to make them
very sweet, and a little pounded ginger and cinnamon. Beat up the yolks
of four eggs with some salt, and stir in a pint of cream. Mix these with
the quince, and bake it in a dish, with a puff crust round the edge. In
a moderate oven, three quarters of an hour will be sufficient. Sift
powdered sugar over the pudding before it is sent to table.


QUINCE WINE. Gather the quinces in a dry day, when they are tolerably
ripe; rub off the down with a linen cloth, and lay them in hay or straw
for ten days to perspire. Cut them in quarters, take out the cores, and
bruise them well in a mashing tub with a wooden pestle. Squeeze out the
liquid part by degrees, by pressing them in a hair bag in a cider press.
Strain the liquor through a fine sieve, then warm it gently over a fire,
and skim it, but do not suffer it to boil. Now sprinkle into it some
loaf sugar reduced to powder, and boil a dozen or fourteen quinces
thinly sliced, in a gallon of water mixed with a quart of white wine.
Add two pounds of fine sugar, strain off the liquor, and mingle it with
the natural juice of the quinces. Put this into a cask, but do not fill
it, and mix them well together. Let it stand to settle, put in two or
three whites of eggs, and draw it off. If it be not sweet enough, add
more sugar, and a quart of the best malmsey. To make it still better,
boil a quarter of a pound of stone raisins, and half an ounce of
cinnamon bark, in a quart of the liquor, till a third part is reduced.
Then strain it, and put it into the cask when the wine is fermenting.


QUINCES PRESERVED. Wipe clean a quantity of golden pippins, not pared
but sliced, and put them into two quarts of boiling water. Boil them
very quick, and closely covered, till the water is reduced to a thick
jelly, and then scald the quinces, either whole or cut in halves. To
every pint of pippin jelly add a pound of the finest sugar, boil and
skim it clear. Put those quinces that are to be done whole into the
syrup at once, and let it boil very fast; and those that are to be in
halves by themselves. Skim it carefully, and when the fruit is clear,
put some of the syrup into a glass, to try whether it jellies, before
taking it off the fire. A pound of quinces is to be allowed to a pound
of sugar, and a pound of jelly already boiled with the sugar.


QUINSEY. For a quinsey, or inflammation of the throat, make a volatile
liniment, by shaking together an ounce of Florence oil, and half an
ounce of the spirit of hartshorn; or an equal quantity of each, if the
patient be able to bear it. Moisten a piece of flannel with the
liniment, and apply it to the throat every four or five hours. After
bleeding, it will seldom fail to lessen or carry off the complaint.




R.


RABBITS. Wild ones have the finest flavour, and are by far the best.
Tame rabbits are scarcely eatable, unless kept delicately clean. The doe
brings forth every month, and must be allowed to go with the buck as
soon as she has kindled. The sweetest hay, oats, beans, sow-thistle,
parsley, carrot tops, cabbage leaves, and bran, should be given to the
rabbits, fresh and fresh. If not carefully attended, their own stench
will destroy them, and be very unwholesome to those who live near them.
Constant care is requisite to prevent this inconvenience.--When rabbits
are to be dressed, they may have gravy and stuffing like hare; or they
may be larded, and roasted without stuffing. For the manner of trussing
a rabbit, either for roasting or boiling, see the Plate. If boiled, it
should be smothered with onion sauce, the butter to be melted with milk
instead of water. If fried in joints, it must be dressed with dried or
fried parsley, and liver sauce made for it, the same as for roasting.
Chop up the liver with parsley, and put it into melted butter, with
pepper and salt. If fricasseed, the same as for chickens. Young rabbits
are good in a pie, with forcemeat as for chicken pie.--When rabbits are
to be purchased for cooking, the following things must be observed. If
the claws are blunt and rugged, the ears dry and tough, and the haunch
thick, it is old. But if the claws are smooth and sharp, the ears easily
tear, and the cleft in the lip is not much spread, it is young. If fresh
and newly killed, the body will be stiff, and in hares the flesh is
pale. They keep a good while by proper care, and are best when rather
beginning to turn, if the inside is preserved from being musty. To
distinguish a real leveret from a hare, a knob or small bone will be
discovered near the foot on its fore leg.----_Tame rabbits_ may be bred
with much success and ornamental effect in a small artificial warren, in
a lawn in the garden, made in the following manner. Pare off the turf of
a circle about forty feet diameter, and lay it on the outside; then dig
a ditch within this circle, the outside perpendicular, the inner
sloping, and throw earth sufficient into the middle to form a little
hill, two or three feet higher than the level of the lawn; the rest must
be carried away. Then lay down the turf on the hill, and beat it well to
settle. The ditch at bottom should be about three feet wide, and three
and a half deep, with two or three drains at the bottom, covered with an
iron grate, or a stone with holes, to carry off the hasty rains, in
order to keep the rabbits dry. In the outside bank should be six
alcoves, the sides and top supported, either by boards or brick-work, to
give the rabbits their dry food in; by their different situations some
will always be dry; six boxes or old tea-chests, let into the bank will
do very well. If the ground be very light, the outside circle should
have a wall built round it, or some stakes driven into the ground, and
boards or hurdles nailed to them, within a foot of the bottom, to
prevent the bank from falling in. The entrance must either be by a board
to turn occasionally across the ditch, or by a ladder. The turf being
settled, and the grass beginning to grow, turn in the rabbits, and they
will immediately go to work to make themselves burrows in the sides, and
in the hill. By way of inducing them rather to build in the sides, to
keep the turf the neater, make a score of holes about a foot deep, and
they will finish them to their own mind; and if there be a brick wall
round it, it should be built on pillars, with an arch from each, to
leave a vacancy for a burrow. Lucern, parsley and carrots are very
proper food for them; and they should also be fed upon some of the best
upland pasture hay. Rabbits are subject to several diseases, as the
_rot_, which is caused by giving them too large a quantity of green
food, or the giving it fresh gathered, with the dew or rain hanging in
fresh drops upon it, as it is over-moisture that always causes the
disease; the green food should therefore always be given dry, and a
sufficient quantity of hay, or other dry food, intermixed with it, to
counteract the bad effects of it. And a sort of _madness_ often seizes
them: this may be known by their tumbling about; their heels upwards,
and hopping in an odd manner into the boxes. This distemper is supposed
to be owing to the rankness of their feeding; and the general cure is
the keeping them low and giving them the prickly herb called
tare-thistle to eat as much as possible. They are also subject to a sort
of scabby eruption, which is seldom removed. These should, however, be
directly separated from the rest of the stock.


RABBIT LIKE HARE. Choose a full-grown young rabbit, and hang it up three
or four days. Then skin it, and without washing, lay it in a seasoning
of black pepper and allspice, in very fine powder. Add a glass of port
wine, and the same quantity of vinegar. Baste it occasionally for forty
hours, then stuff and roast it as hare, and with the same sauce. Do not
wash off the liquor that it was soaked in.


RADISHES. These are raised from seed by different sowings from the end
of October till April, or the following month. They should have a light
fine mould, and the more early sowings be made on borders, under warm
walls, or other similar places, and in frames covered by glasses. The
common spindle-rooted, short-topped sorts are mostly made use of in
these early sowings, the seed being sown broadcast over the beds after
they have been prepared by digging over and raking the surface even,
being covered in with a slight raking. Some sow carrots with the early
crops of radishes. It is usual to protect the early sown crops in the
borders, during frosty nights and bad weather, by mats or dry wheat
straw, which should be carefully removed every mild day. By this means
they are brought more forward, as well as form better roots. When mats
are used, and supported by pegs or hoops, they are readily applied and
removed. A second more general sowing should be made in January or
February. When the crops have got their rough leaf; they should be
thinned out, where they are too thick, to the distance of two inches,
as there will be constantly more thinning by the daily drawing of the
young radishes. When the weather is dry in March, or the following
month, the crops should be occasionally well watered, which not only
forwards the growth of the crops, but increases the size of the roots,
and renders them more mild and crisp in eating. And the sowings should
be continued at the distance of a fortnight, till the latter end of
March, when they should be performed every ten days, until the end of
April or beginning of the following month. In sowing these later crops,
it is the practice of some gardeners to sow coss-lettuces and spinach
with them, in order to have the two crops coming forward at the same
time; but the practice is not to be much recommended, where there is
sufficient room. But in sowing the main general crops in the open
quarters, the market-gardeners generally put them in on the same ground
where they plant out their main crops of cauliflowers and cabbages,
mixing spinach with the radish-seed as above, sowing the seeds first,
and raking them in, then planting the cauliflowers or cabbages; the
radishes and spinach come in for use before the other plants begin to
spread much, and as soon as those crops are all cleared off for use, hoe
the ground all over to kill weeds and loosen the soil, drawing earth
about the stems of the cauliflowers and cabbages. The turnip radish
should not be sown till the beginning of March, the plants being allowed
a greater distance than for the common spindle-rooted sort. The seeds of
this sort are apt to degenerate, unless they are set at a distance from
that kind. The white and black Spanish radishes are usually sown about
the middle of July, or a little earlier, and are fit for the table by
the end of August, or the beginning of September, continuing good till
frost spoils them. These should be thinned to a greater distance than
the common sort, as their roots grow as large as turnips, and should not
be left nearer than six inches. To have these roots in winter, they
should be drawn before hard frost comes on, and laid in dry sand, as
practised for carrots, carefully guarding them from wet and frost; as in
this way they may be kept till the spring. In regard to the culture of
the general crops, they require very little, except occasional thinning,
where they are too thick, when the plants are come into the rough leaf,
either by hoeing or drawing them out by hand: though for large
quantities, small hoeing is the most expeditious mode of thinning, as
well as most beneficial to the crop by loosening the ground; in either
method thinning the plants to about two or three inches distance,
clearing out the weakest, and leaving the strongest to form the crop. In
order to save the seed, about the beginning of May some ground should be
prepared by digging and levelling; then drawing some of the straightest
and best coloured radishes, plant them in rows three feet distant, and
two feet asunder in the rows; observing, if the season be dry, to water
them until they have taken root: after which they will only require to
have the weeds hoed down between them, until they are advanced so high
as to overspread the ground. When the seed begins to ripen, it should be
carefully guarded against the birds. When it is ripe, the pods will turn
brown: then it must be cut, and spread in the sun to dry; after which it
must be thrashed, and laid up for use where no mice can come at it. In
order to have the roots early, as in January or the following month, the
method of raising them in hot-beds is sometimes practised. They should
have eighteen inches depth of dung to bring them up, and six or seven
inches depth of light rich mould. The seed should be sown moderately
thick, covering it in half an inch thick, and putting on the lights: the
plants usually come up in a week or less; and when they appear, the
lights should be lifted or taken off occasionally, according to the
weather; and in a fortnight thin the plants to the distance of an inch
and half or two inches, when in six weeks they will be fit to draw.
Where there are no frames to spare, the beds may be covered with mats
over hoops, and the sides secured by boards and straw-bands. And when in
want of dung, if the beds be covered with frames, and the lights put on
at night and in bad weather, the plants may be raised for use a
fortnight sooner than in the open borders.--To raise them in constant
succession, steep the seed in rain water for twenty-four hours, tie it
up in a linen bag, and hang it in the sun all day. The seed beginning to
shoot, is then to be sown in fresh earth well exposed to the sun, and
covered with a tub. In three days the radishes will be produced fit for
salad, and much more delicate than those grown in the common way. In the
winter the seeds should be steeped in warm water, and the bag put in a
place sufficiently hot to make them sprout. Then fill a tub with rich
mould, sow the seeds in it, and cover them over closely with another
tub, taking care to sprinkle them now and then with warm water. The two
tubs closely joined should be set in a warm place, and in about a
fortnight some fine salad will be produced. Radishes may be raised in
this manner all the year round, and by the quickness of their growth
they will be rendered fine and delicate.


RAGOUT OF EGGS. Boil eight eggs hard, then shell and cut them into
quarters. Have ready a pint of good gravy, well seasoned, and thickened
over the fire with two ounces of butter rolled in flour. When quite
smooth and hot, pour it over the eggs, and serve them up. By using cream
instead of gravy, this will make a fricassee.


RAGOUT OF MORELS. Cut them in long slices, then wash and drain them
well. Put them into a stewpan with a piece of butter, some chopped
parsley, a bunch of herbs, and some gravy. Simmer them over a gentle
fire, and when nearly done, add a little pepper, salt, and flour. Set
them over the fire, till the sauce is properly thickened. Stewed with a
little water and a blade of mace, and thickened with cream, and yolks of
eggs, they make a white ragout. Serve them with sippets of bread
toasted.


RAGOUT OF TRUFFLES. Peel the truffles, cut them in slices, wash and
drain them well. Put them into a saucepan with a little gravy, and stew
them gently over a slow fire. When they are nearly done enough, thicken
them with a little butter and flour. Stewed in a little water, and
thickened with cream and yolk of egg, they make a nice white ragout.
Truffles, mushrooms, and morels, are all of them very indigestible, and
therefore not to be recommended to general use.


RAISED CRUST. For meat pies or fowls, boil some water with a little fine
lard, and an equal quantity of fresh dripping or butter, but not much of
either. While hot, mix this with as much fine flour as is necessary,
making the paste as stiff as possible, to be smooth. Good kneading will
be required for this purpose, and beating it with a rolling-pin. When
quite smooth, put a part of it into a cloth, or under a pan, to soak
till nearly cold. Those who are not expert in raising a crust, may roll
the paste of a proper thickness, and cut out the top and bottom of the
pie, then a long piece for the sides. Cement the bottom to the sides
with egg, bringing the former rather farther out, and pinching both
together. Put egg between the edges of the paste, to make it adhere at
the sides. Fill the pie, put on the cover, and pinch it and the side
crust together. The same mode of uniting the paste is to be observed, if
the sides are pressed into a tin form, in which the paste must be baked,
after it is filled and covered; but in the latter case, the tin should
be buttered, and carefully taken off when done enough; and as the form
usually makes the sides of a lighter colour than is proper, the paste
should be put into the oven again for a quarter of an hour. The crust
should be egged over at first with a feather.--Another. Put four ounces
of butter into a saucepan with water; and when it boils, pour it into a
quantity of flour. Knead and beat it quite smooth, cover it with small
bits of butter, and work it in. If for custard, put a paper within to
keep out the sides till half done. Mix up an egg with a little warm
milk, adding sugar, a little peach water, lemon peel, or nutmeg, and
fill up the paste.--Another way. To four pounds of flour, allow a pound
of butter, and an ounce of salt. Heap the flour on a pie board, and make
a hole in the middle of it, and put in the butter and salt. Pour in
water nearly boiling, but with caution, that the crust be not too
flimsey. Work the butter with the hand till it is melted in the water,
then mix in the flour, mould it for a few minutes as quick as possible,
that it may be free from lumps, and the stiffer it is the better. Let it
be three hours before it is used.


RAISIN WINE. To every gallon of spring water, allow eight pounds of
fresh Smyrnas, and put them together in a large tub. Stir it thoroughly
every day for a month, then press the raisins in a horse-hair bag as dry
as possible, and put the liquor into a cask. When it has done hissing,
pour in a bottle of the best brandy, stop it close for twelve months,
and then rack it off free from the dregs. Filter the dregs through a bag
of flannel of three or four folds, add what is clear to the general
quantity, and pour on a quart or two of brandy, according to the size of
the vessel. Stop it up, and at the end of three years it may either be
bottled, or drank from the cask. If raisin wine be made rich of the
fruit, and well kept, the flavour will be much improved.--To make raisin
wine with cider, put two hundred-weight of Malagas into a cask, and pour
upon them a hogshead of good sound cider that is not rough; stir it well
two or three days, stop it up, and let it stand six months. Then rack it
into a cask that it will fill, and add a gallon of the best brandy. If
raisin wine be much used, it would answer well to keep a cask always for
it, and bottle off one year's wine just in time to make the next, which,
allowing the six months of infusion, would make the wine to be eighteen
months old. In cider counties this way is found to be economical; and if
the wine is not thought strong enough, the addition of another stone or
two of raisins would be sufficient, and the wine would still be very
cheap. When the raisins are pressed through a horse-hair bag, they will
either produce a good spirit by distillation, if sent to a chemist, or
they will make excellent vinegar.--Raisin wine without cider. On four
hundred-weight of Malagas pour a hogshead of spring water, stir it well
every day for a fortnight, then squeeze the raisins in a horse-hair bag
in a press, and tun the liquor. When it ceases to hiss, stop it close.
In six months rack it off into another cask, or into a tub; and after
clearing out the sediment, return it into the cask without washing it.
Add a gallon of the best brandy, stop it close, and bottle it off in
six months. The pressed fruit may be reserved for making vinegar.


RAMAKINS. Scrape a quarter of a pound of Cheshire cheese, and the same
of Gloucester cheese, and add them to a quarter of a pound of fresh
butter. Beat all in a mortar, with the yolks of four eggs, and the
inside of a small French roll boiled soft in cream. Mix the paste with
the whites of the eggs previously beaten, put it into small paper pans
made rather long than square, and bake in a Dutch oven to a fine brown.
They should be eaten quite hot. Some like the addition of a glass of
white wine. The batter for ramakins is equally good over macaroni, when
boiled tender; or on stewed brocoli, celery, or cauliflower, a little of
the gravy they have been stewed in being put in the dish with them, but
not enough to make the vegetable swim.


RASPBERRY BRANDY. Pick some fine dry fruit, put them into a stone jar,
and the jar into a kettle of water, or on a hot hearth, till the juice
will run. After straining it, add to every pint of juice, half a pound
of sugar; give it one boil, and skim it. When cold, put equal quantities
of juice and brandy; shake it well, and bottle it. Some persons prefer
it stronger of the brandy.


RASPBERRY CAKES. Pick out some fine ripe raspberries, weigh and boil
them. When mashed, and the liquor is wasted, add sugar equal to the
first weight of the fruit. Take it off the fire, mix it well, until
perfectly dissolved, and then put it on china plates to dry in the sun.
As soon as the top part dries, cut the paste into small cakes with the
cover of a canister; then turn them on fresh plates, and put them into
boxes when dry, with layers of white paper.


RASPBERRY CREAM. Mash the fruit gently, and let them drain; sprinkle
some sugar over, and that will produce more juice. Then put the juice to
some cream, and sweeten it. After this it may be lowered with milk; but
if the milk be put in before the cream, it will curdle it. When fresh
fruit cannot be obtained, it is best made of raspberry jelly, instead of
jam.--Another way. Boil an ounce of isinglass shavings in three pints of
cream and new milk mixed, for fifteen minutes, or till the shavings be
melted. Strain it through a hair sieve into a bason; when cool, add
about half a pint of raspberry juice or syrup, to the milk and cream.
Stir it till it is well incorporated; sweeten, and add a glass of
brandy. Whisk it about till three parts cold, and then put it into a
mould till it is quite cold. In summer, use the fresh juice; in winter,
syrup of raspberries.


RASPBERRY JAM. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar; put the former
into a preserving-pan, boil and break it, stir it constantly, and let it
boil very quickly. When most of the juice is wasted, add the sugar, and
simmer it half an hour. By this mode of management the jam is greatly
superior in colour and flavour, to that which is made by putting the
sugar in at first.--Another way. Put the fruit in a jar, and the jar in
a kettle of water on a hot hearth, and let it remain till the juice will
run from it. Then take away a quarter of a pint from every pound of
fruit, boil and bruise it half an hour. Put in the weight of the fruit
in sugar, add the same quantity of currant juice, and boil it to a
strong jelly. The raspberry juice will serve to put into brandy, or may
be boiled with its weight in sugar, for making the jelly for raspberry
ice or cream.


RASPBERRY TARTS. Roll out some thin puff paste, and lay it in a
pattipan. Put in the raspberries, strew some fine sugar over them,
cover with a thin lid, and bake the tart. Mix a pint of cream with the
yolks of two or three eggs well beaten, and a little sugar. Cut open the
tart, pour in the mixture, and return it to the oven for five or six
minutes.--Another. Line the dish with puff paste, put in sugar and
fruit, lay bars across, and bake them. Currant tarts are done in the
same way.


RASPBERRY VINEGAR. Put a pound of fine fruit into a china bowl, and pour
upon it a quart of the best white wine vinegar. Next day strain the
liquor on a pound of fresh raspberries, and the following day do the
same; but do not squeeze the fruit, only drain the liquor as dry as
possible from it. The last time pass it through a canvas, previously
moistened with vinegar, to prevent waste. Put it into a stone jar, with
a pound of sugar to every pint of juice, broken into large lumps. Stir
it when melted, then put the jar into a saucepan of water, or on a hot
hearth; let it simmer, and skim it clean. When cold, bottle it up. This
is one of the most useful preparations that can be kept in a house, not
only as affording the most refreshing beverage, but being of singular
efficacy in complaints of the chest. A large spoonful or two in this
case is to be taken in a tumbler of water. No glazed or metal vessel of
any kind should be used in this preparation. The fruit, with an equal
quantity of sugar, makes excellent Raspberry Cakes, without boiling.


RASPBERRY WINE. To every quart of well-picked raspberries put a quart of
water; bruise, and let them stand two days. Strain off the liquor; and
to every gallon add three pounds of lump sugar. When dissolved, put the
liquor in a barrel; and when fine, which will be in about two months,
bottle it off. To each bottle put a spoonful of brandy, or a glass of
wine.


RATIFIA. Blanch two ounces of peach and apricot kernels, bruise and put
them into a bottle, and fill it nearly up with brandy. Dissolve half a
pound of white sugar-candy in a cup of cold water, and add it to the
brandy after it has stood a month on the kernels, and they are strained
off. Then filter through paper, and bottle it up for use. The leaves of
peaches and nectarines, when the trees are cut in the spring, being
distilled, are an excellent substitute for ratifia in puddings.


RATIFIA CAKES. Blanch and beat fine in a mortar, four ounces of bitter
almonds, and two ounces of sweet almonds. Prepare a pound and a half of
loaf sugar, pounded and sifted; beat up the whites of four eggs to a
froth, and add the sugar to it a little at a time, till it becomes of
the stiffness of dough. Stir and beat it well together, and put in the
almonds. Drop the paste on paper or tins, and bake it in a slow oven.
Try one of the cakes, and if it rises out of shape, the oven is too hot.
The cakes must not be handled in making, but a spoon or a knife must be
used.


RATIFIA CREAM. Boil three or four laurel, peach, or nectarine leaves, in
a full pint of cream, and strain it. When cold, add the yolks of three
eggs beaten and strained, sugar, and a large spoonful of brandy stirred
quick into it. Scald and stir it all the time, till it thickens. Or mix
half a quarter of a pint of ratifia, the same quantity of mountain wine,
the juice of two or three lemons, a pint of rich cream, and agreeably
sweetened with sugar. Beat it with a whisk, and put it into glasses. The
cream will keep eight or ten days.--Another. Blanch a quarter of an
ounce of bitter almonds, and beat them with a tea-spoonful of water in a
marble mortar. Rub with the paste two ounces of loaf sugar, simmer it
ten minutes with a tea-cupful of cream, and then strain and ice it.


RATIFIA DROPS. Blanch and beat in a mortar four ounces of bitter
almonds, and two ounces of sweet almonds, with a small part of a pound
of fine sugar sifted. Add the remainder of the sugar, and the whites of
two eggs, and make the whole into a paste. Divide the mass into little
balls the size of a nutmeg, put them on wafer paper, and bake them
gently on tin plates.


RATS. The first step taken by rat-catchers, in order to clear a house,
&c. of those vermin, is to allure them all together, to one proper
place, before they attempt to destroy them; for there is such an
instinctive caution in these animals, accompanied with a surprising
sagacity in discovering any cause of danger, that if any of them be
hurt, or pursued, in an unusual manner, the rest take the alarm, and
become so shy and wary, that they elude all the devices and stratagems
of their pursuers for some time after. The place where the rats are to
be assembled, should be some closet, or small room, into which all the
openings, but one or two, may be secured; and this place should be, as
near as may be, in the middle of the house, or buildings. It is the
practice, therefore, to attempt to bring them all together in some such
place before any attempt be made to take them; and even then to avoid
any violence, hurt, or fright to them, before the whole be in the power
of the operator. In respect to the means used to allure them to one
place, they are various; one of those most easily and efficaciously
practised is the trailing some piece of their most favourite food, which
should be of the kind that has the strongest scent, such as toasted
cheese, or broiled red-herring, from the holes or entrances to their
accesses in every part of the house, or contiguous buildings, whence it
is intended to allure them. At the extremities, and in different parts
of the course of this trailed tract, small quantities of meal, or any
other kind of their food, should be laid, to bring the greater number
into the tracks, and to encourage them to pursue it to the centre place,
where they are intended to be taken; at that place, where time admits of
it, a more plentiful repast is laid for them, and the trailing repeated
for two or three nights. But besides this trailing, and way-baiting,
some of the most expert of the rat-catchers have a shorter, and,
perhaps, more effectual method of bringing them together, which is, the
calling them, by making such a kind of whistling noise as resembles
their own call, and by this means, with the assistance of the way-baits,
they call them out of their holes, and lead them to the repast prepared
for them at the place designed for taking them. But this is much more
difficult to be practised than the art of trailing; for the learning the
exact notes, or cries, of any kind of beasts or birds, so as to deceive
them, is a peculiar talent, not easily attained to in other cases. And
in practising either of these methods, great caution must be used by the
operator to suppress, and prevent, the scent of his feet and body from
being perceived; which is done by overpowering that scent by others of a
stronger nature. In order to this the feet are to be covered with cloths
rubbed over with assafoetida, or other strong smelling substances; and
even oil of rhodium is sometimes used for this purpose, but sparingly,
on account of its dearness, though it has a very alluring, as well as
disguising effect. If this caution of avoiding the scent of the
operator's feet, near the track, and in the place where the rats are
proposed to be collected, be not properly observed, it will very much
obstruct the success of the attempt to take them; for they are very shy
of coming where the scent of human feet lies very fresh, and intimates,
to their sagacious instinct, the presence of human creatures, whom they
naturally dread. To the above-mentioned means of alluring by trailing,
way-baiting, and calling, is added another of very material efficacy,
which is the use of the oil of rhodium, which, like the marum syriacum
in the case of cats, has a very extraordinary fascinating power on these
animals. The oil is extremely dear, and therefore very sparingly used.
It is exhaled in a small quantity in the place, and at the entrance of
it, where the rats are intended to be taken, particularly at the time
when they are to be last brought together in order to their destruction;
and it is used also, by smearing it on the surface of some of the
implements used in taking them, by the method before described, and the
effect it has in taking off their caution and dread, by the delight they
appear to have in it, is very extraordinary. It is usual, likewise, for
the operator to disguise his figure as well as scent, which is done by
putting on a sort of gown or cloak, of one colour, that hides the
natural form, and makes him appear like a post, or such inanimate thing;
which habit must likewise be scented as above, to overpower the smell of
his person; and besides this he is to avoid all motion, till he has
secured his point of having all the rats in his power. When the rats are
thus enticed and collected, where time is afforded, and the whole in any
house or outbuildings are intended to be cleared away, they are suffered
to regale on what they most like, which is ready prepared for them; and
then to go away quietly for two or three nights; by which means those
which are not allured the first night are brought afterwards, either by
their fellows, or the effects of the trailing, &c. and will not fail to
come duly again, if they are not disturbed or molested. But many of the
rat-catchers make shorter work, and content themselves with what can be
brought together in one night or two; but this is never effectual,
unless where the building is small and entire, and the rats but few in
number. With respect to the means of taking them when they are brought
together, they are various. Some entice them into a very large bag, the
mouth of which is sufficiently capacious to cover nearly the whole floor
of the place where they are collected; which is done by smearing some
vessel, placed in the middle of the bag, with oil of rhodium, and laying
in the bag baits of proper food. This bag, which before laid flat on the
ground, with the mouth spread open, is to be suddenly closed when the
rats are all in it. Others drive or frighten them, by slight noises or
motions, into a bag of a long form, the mouth of which, after all the
rats are come in, is drawn up to the opening of the place by which they
entered, all other ways of retreat being secured. Others, again,
intoxicate or poison them, by mixing with the repast prepared for them
the cocculus indicus, or the nux vomica. A receipt for this purpose has
appeared, which directs four ounces of cocculus indicus, with twelve
ounces of oatmeal, and two ounces of treacle or honey, to be made up
into a moist paste with strong beer; but if the nux vomica be used, a
much less proportion will serve than is here given of the cocculus. Any
similar composition of these drugs, with that kind of food the rats are
most fond of, and which has a strong flavour, to hide that of the drugs,
will equally well answer the end. If, indeed, the cocculus indicus be
well powdered, and infused in strong beer for some time, at least half
the quantity here directed will serve as well as the quantity before
mentioned. When the rats appear to be thoroughly intoxicated with the
cocculus, or sick with the nux vomica, they may be taken with the hand,
and put into a bag or cage, the door of the place being first drawn to,
lest those which have strength and sense remaining should escape. By
these methods, when well conducted, a very considerable part of the rats
in a farm, or other house, and the contiguous buildings, may be taken
and destroyed. But various other methods have been practised.--The
following compositions are advised for destroying these mischievous
creatures, and which are stated to have been attended with great
success. First, to a quart of oatmeal, add six drops of oil of rhodium,
one grain of musk, and two or three of the nuts of nux vomica finely
powdered; make them into pellets, and put them into the rat-holes. This,
it is said, was at first greedily eaten, and did great execution; but
the wise animals, after a time, ceased to eat it. Secondly; this
consisted of three parts of oatmeal and one of stave's-acre, mixed well
into a paste with honey. Pieces of this paste were laid in their holes,
and again did great execution. Thirdly; this is a method of destroying
them by laying a large box down on its front side, with the lid
supported open by a string over a pulley; and by trailing toasted cheese
and a red-herring from their holes to this box, and placing oatmeal and
other food in it, which they are for a few nights to be permitted to eat
unmolested; and finally to watch them by moon-light, the inside of the
box being painted white; and, when many of them are seen, to let down
the lid; by which contrivance sixty of them are stated to have been
taken at one time.--But though the usual ways of destroying rats are by
traps and poison, it is advised never to use arsenic, or corrosive
sublimate, for that purpose, except under particular circumstances, as
they are deadly poisons: nux vomica will generally answer the end as
well, without the danger. It is a very good plan, to prevent accidents,
to enclose the traps in cases, having holes in the ends of them large
enough to admit rats, but small enough to exclude dogs, cats, &c. As a
bait for rat-traps, the following composition may be made use of with
advantage. Take a pound of good flour, three ounces of treacle, and six
drops of the oil of carraways: put them all in a dish, and rub them well
together till they are properly mixed: then add a pound of crumb of
bread. The traps baited with this mixture should be set as near their
haunts as possible; but, for two or three days, so as not to fall or
strike on the rats going in, but letting them have free liberty to go in
and out at pleasure, as this makes them fearless. Some of the bait
should also be laid at the rat-holes, and a little of it scattered quite
up to the traps, and so on to the bridge of each trap, where a handful
may be placed. It may also be proper to scent the traps with the
following mixture, for the purpose of enticing the rats into them. Take
twenty drops of the oil of rhodium, six or seven grains of musk, and
half an ounce of oil of aniseed; put them in a small phial, and shake it
well before using; then dip a piece of twisted paper or rag in the
mixture, and rub each end of the trap with it, if a box trap, and put
two or three drops on the bridge, leaving the paper or rag in the trap.
Of whatever kind the trap is, it should be scented; but once in a
twelvemonth will be sufficient. Then throw some chaff mixed with a
little wheat about the bottom of the trap, in order to deceive the
rats; for they are very sagacious, and will not enter a suspicious
place. This will be necessary to be done only at the first time of
setting the traps; for, after some rats have been caught and have
watered and dunged in them, rats will enter boldly when they find others
have been there before them: do not, therefore, wash or clean out the
trap, as some people do before they set it again, but let the dung and
urine remain in it. Keep the places where the traps are set as private
as possible; and when they are set for catching, mix no bread with the
bait, as the rats will, in that case, be apt to carry it away. And it is
useful, when the holes are found quiet, and that no rats use them, to
stop them up with the following composition. Take a pint of common tar,
half an ounce of pearl-ashes, an ounce of oil of vitriol, and a good
handful of common salt, mix them all well together in an old pan or pot.
Take some pieces of paper, and lay some of the above mixture very thick
on them; then stop the holes well up with them, and build up the mouth
of the holes with brick or stone, and mortar; if this be properly done,
rats will no more approach these while either smell or taste remains in
the composition. But with a view to destroy rats in places where traps
cannot be set, it is recommended to take a quart of the above bait, then
to rasp into it three nuts of nux vomica, and add a quarter of a pound
of crumb of bread, if there was none before; mix them all well together,
and lay it into the mouth of their holes, and in different places where
they frequent; but first give them of the bait without nux vomica, for
three or four succeeding nights; and when they find it agrees with them,
they will eat that mixed with the nut with greediness. However, as it is
frequently found that rats are very troublesome in sewers and drains,
in such cases arsenic may be used with success in the following manner.
Take some dead rats, and having put some white arsenic, finely powdered,
into an old pepper-box, shake a quantity of it on the foreparts of the
dead rats, and put them down the holes, or avenues, by the sides of the
sewers at which they come in; this puts a stop to the live ones coming
any further; for when they perceive the arsenic, they will retire
immediately; whereas, if they were put down without the arsenic, the
live ones would eat them. It is by means of arsenic, notwithstanding the
above observations, that the most certain method of destroying these
troublesome vermin, (provided they can be made to eat it,) takes place;
which has been found to answer best when it is prepared by being finely
levigated, and mixed up with very strong old cheese and oatmeal. But
after all, it is probable that this highly destructive animal, and great
pest to the farmer, might be most readily exterminated by parishes
uniting for the purpose, and raising certain sums of money to be applied
in this way, under the direction of a proper person who is fully
acquainted with the business.--In many grain and other districts in the
kingdom these animals prevail very much, especially the grey kind,
particularly in all those where there are no regular raised staddles or
stands for the grain stacks to rest upon, which is the case in a great
number. The mischief, injury, and destruction of grain which is produced
in this way, is scarcely to be calculated; and they are besides very
mischievous, troublesome, and inconvenient in several others; so that
they should be every where extirpated as much as possible. And in corn
tracts, stands or staddles should every where be provided in order to
prevent mischief being done by them.


RAZOR STRAPS. Nothing makes a better razor strap than crocus martis with
a little sweet oil, rubbed well on doe skin with a glass bottle; and to
keep it in perfect order, it should not be left too long dry.


RED CABBAGE. Slice a red cabbage crossways, put it in an earthen dish,
and throw on it a handful of salt. Cover it over till the next day,
drain it in a cullender, and put it into a jar. Boil some good vinegar,
with cloves and allspice; pour it hot on the cabbage till the jar is
full, and when cold tie it down close.


RED HERRINGS. Choose those that are large and moist, cut them open, and
pour over them some boiling small beer. Let them soak half an hour, then
drain and dry them; make them just hot through before the fire, and rub
them over with cold butter. Serve with egg sauce, or buttered eggs;
mashed potatoes should also be sent up with them.


RED INK. Infuse a quarter of a pound of Brazil wood, rasped, in two
pints of vinegar, for three days. Then boil the liquid and the wood over
a gentle fire, for an hour, and strain it off quite hot. Put it again
over the fire, and dissolve in it, first, half an ounce of gum arabic,
and afterwards, half an ounce of alum, and the same quantity of white
sugar. When the alum is dissolved, remove it from the fire, and preserve
it for use.


RED MULLET. This sort of fish are in season in August; and to be good,
they should be quite firm. Sea mullets are preferred to the river ones,
and the red to the grey. This fish is sometimes called the sea woodcock.
To dress mullets, clean them, but leave the inside. Fold them in oiled
paper, and bake them gently in a small dish. Make a sauce of the liquor
that comes from the fish, with a piece of butter, a little flour, a
little essence of anchovy, and a glass of sherry. Give it a boil, serve
in a boat, and the fish in the paper cases.


REGIMEN. It may be difficult accurately to ascertain the predominant
qualities of particular constitutions, or of the food that is best
adapted in particular instances; yet it is certain, that health is
dependent on regimen and diet, more than on any other cause. There are
things so decidedly injurious, and so well known to be so, as to require
no admonition; the instincts of nature will teach us to refrain; and
generally speaking, the best rule for our practice is to observe by
experience, what it is that hurts or does us good, and what our stomachs
are best able to digest. We must at the same time keep our judgment
unbiassed, and not suffer it to become a pander to the appetite; or the
stomach and the health will be betrayed to the mere indulgence of
sensuality. The gratification of our taste in the abundant supplies of
nature, converted by art to the purposes of wholesome food, is perfectly
compatible with the necessary maintenance of health; it is only the
indiscriminate or inordinate indulgence of our appetites, regardless of
the consequences, that is the proper object of censure. Many of the
diseases to which we are subject might be traced to this source; yet we
are generally so little aware of it, that we impute them to the state of
the weather, to infection, or any other imaginary cause, rather than the
true one. The weather has very little serious effect upon a person in
health, unless exposed to it in some unusual manner that suddenly checks
perspiration, or some of the ordinary evacuations. Infection, though of
formidable import, is almost divested of its power over those whose
temperance in food and diet keeps the blood and juices pure. The closest
attendance upon an infected person has often been found perfectly
consistent with personal safety under such circumstances. Even diseases,
said to be hereditary, may with great probability be assigned to errors
in domestic life, of which the children partake, and fall into the same
disorders as their parents, and remote progenitors. But even if this be
not exactly so, an originally indifferent constitution may certainly be
much amended by proper management. Amongst a variety of causes producing
ill health, there can be no doubt but bad air, want of cleanliness, want
of exercise, excessive fatigue, and mental uneasiness, must have an
unfavourable influence; yet none of these have so immediate an effect as
the food we eat, which if not wholesome and nutricious, tends directly
to contaminate the system. We derive the renewal of our blood and
juices, which are constantly exhausting, from the substances converted
into food. As our food therefore is proper or improper, too much or too
little, so will our blood and juices be good or bad, overcharged or
deficient, and our state of health accordingly good or diseased. It is
not only necessary however, that our aliment should be plain and
wholesome; it is requisite also that it should contain active
principles; such as salts, oils, and spirits, which have the property of
stimulating the solids, quickening the circulation, and make the fluids
thinner; thus rendering them more suited to undergo the necessary
secretions of the body. The art of preserving health, and of prolonging
life, consists therefore in the use of a moderate quantity of such diet
as shall neither encrease the salts and oils so as to produce disease,
nor to diminish them so as to suffer the solids to become relaxed.
Eating too little is hurtful, as well as eating too much. Neither excess
nor hunger, nor any thing else that passes the bounds of nature, can be
good for man. Temperance and moderation in eating and drinking, are
nature's great preservatives. 'The throat has destroyed more than the
sword.' Some people are apt to think, the more plentifully they eat and
drink, the better they thrive, and the stronger they grow. But this is
not the case: a little, well digested, will render the body more
vigorous than when it is glutted with superfluity, most of which is
turned to excrementitious, not alimentary, fluid, and must soon be
evacuated, or sickness will follow. It is said of the highly celebrated
Dr. Boerhaäve, that having long promised to a friend the secret of
preserving health and long life, his friend became impatient to obtain
the secret, when he perceived that the physician was dying. To his
repeated solicitations, the doctor as frequently replied, 'Do not eat
too much--do not eat too much;' and left this advice as his last legacy
to his valued friend. By loading the stomach, digestion is impeded; for
the natural juice of the stomach, which is the great medium of
digestion, has not then room to exert itself. The stomach therefore
nauseates its contents, and is troubled with eructations; the spirits
are oppressed, obstructions ensue, and disease is the consequence.
Besides, when thus overfilled, the stomach presses on the diaphragm,
prevents the proper play of the lungs, and occasions difficulty and
uneasiness in breathing. Hence arise various bad symptoms and effects,
throughout the whole of the animal economy; prostrating the strength,
impairing the senses, hastening old age, and shortening life. Though
these unhappy consequences may not be immediately perceived, yet they
are the certain attendants of intemperance; and it has been generally
observed in great eaters, that though from custom, a state of youth, and
a strong constitution, they suffer no present inconvenience, but have
digested their food, and sustained the surfeit; yet if they have not
been unexpectedly cut off, they have found the symptoms of old age come
on early in life, attended with pains and innumerable disorders. If
health is to be regarded, we must ever make it a rule not to eat to
satiety or fulness, but desist while the stomach feels quite easy. Thus
we shall be refreshed, light, and cheerful; not dull, heavy, or
indisposed. Should we ever be tempted to eat too much at one time, we
should eat the less at another: abstinence is the best remedy for
repletion. If our dinner has been larger than usual, let our supper be
less, or rather, quite omitted. With regard to the times of eating, they
must to a certain degree be conformed to family convenience, but ought
to be quite independent of the caprice of fashion, instead of being as
they are, governed by it. This, and a want of punctuality to the dinner
hour, are the cause of more real harm to the constitution than
thoughtless people of fashion, and their more thoughtless imitators, are
apt to imagine. When a dinner is dressed, nothing can prevent its being
injured by standing. It may be kept hot, and this imposes on those who
think no farther upon the subject; but the very means made use of for
this purpose, only help to spoil it the more. If things boiled are kept
in the water after they are done enough, they become sodden, vapid, and
heavy. The invention of hot closets for keeping other things hot, dry
away the juices, and make them strong and rancid. From such dinners,
indigestions will ensue, frequent head-aches, nervousness, and many
other uneasy sensations, which finally bring on maladies of a more
serious nature. The great points to be guarded against, respecting the
times of eating, are either eating too soon after a former meal, or
fasting too long. The stomach should always have time to empty itself,
before it is filled again. Some stomachs digest their contents sooner
than others, and if long empty it may destroy the appetite, and greatly
disturb both the head and animal spirits; because from the great
profusion of nerves spread over the stomach, there is an immediate
sympathy between that and the head. Hence the head is sure to be
affected by whatever disorders the stomach, whether from any particular
aliment that disagrees with it, or being over filled, or too long empty.
Hence also, too frequently, arise apoplexy, or paralytic affections,
especially in aged people. Such as feel a gnawing in the stomach, as it
is called, should not wait till the stated time of the next meal, but
take a small quantity of food, light, and easy of digestion, that the
stomach may have something to work on. Children, with craving appetites,
do and may eat often, allowing only a proper interval to empty the
stomach. Young persons in health, who use much exercise, may eat three
times a day. But such as are in years, such as are weak, as do no work,
or lead a sedentary life, eating twice in the day is quite sufficient:
or if in the present habits of society it is found to be difficult to
arrange for two meals only, let them take three very moderate ones. Weak
and aged persons may eat often, but then it should be very little at a
time. The diseases to which we are liable often require substances of
more active principles than what are found in common aliment, and hence
the need of medicine, in order to, produce sudden alterations. But where
such alterations are not immediately necessary, the same effect may be
produced with much greater safety, by a proper attention to diet only.
Abstinence is in short, one of the best remedies to which we can
resort; and if employed in time, will entirely cure many disorders, and
check the violence of such as cannot be entirely carried off by it. In
all cases where there is any inflammation, and in stomach complaints, it
is particularly necessary, and may be safely continued till the symptoms
of disease disappear. Where the digestion is habitually weak, a day of
abstinence once a week will always be beneficial. The quality of our
food is a subject of greater difficulty than the quantity. Moderation is
an invariably safe guide in the latter case; but though always
favourable to prevent ill effects from any error in quality, it will not
always be effectual. To a person in good health, with a strong stomach,
and whose constant beverage is water, or some weak liquor, the niceties
in food and cooking are less material, than to persons with naturally
weak stomachs, or to those in sickness, or for children. But all persons
who would to a certainty preserve their health and faculties, and live
out the natural term of life, should use plain food, as all high
seasonings and compound mixtures, have an injurious effect, sooner or
later, on the strongest constitutions. If a few instances can be shewn
to the contrary, these, like other anomalies in nature, cannot
constitute an exception to a well established fact. A prevailing error
in the diet of this country is a too great use of animal food. The
disease called the sea scurvy, often occurs from this cause, in every
large town in England; and it is probable that the frequency and
fatality of putrid and scarlet fevers may justly be attributed to it
also. The prejudices of this country are very strong in favour of animal
food, but the evidence of facts is equally strong against its absolute
necessity. Instances of this are seen in the natives of Hindostan, who
live upon rice, and who by way of opprobrium call the inhabitants of
this country 'flesh eaters;' in the poor of Ireland, who live upon
potatoes, and in the poor of Scotland, who live upon oatmeal. After all,
the medium is in all probability the best; neither animal nor vegetable
diet exclusively, but a reasonable proportion of both. Persons of
indifferent health should be particularly cautious in their diet, and
those labouring under any particular malady should carefully conform to
the regimen prescribed for them by their medical advisers.--Our beverage
is another very important article, in reference to health. It is
essential to moisten and convey more solid food into the stomach, and
from thence to the respective parts of the system. Also to allay thirst,
to dilute the blood, that it may circulate through the minutest vessels,
and to dissolve and carry off by watery secretions the superfluous salts
taken in with the food. No liquid is so effectual for this purpose as
pure water; with the exception only of a few cases. No other liquid
circulates so well, or mixes so immediately with our fluids. Other
liquids are impregnated with particles which act strongly upon the
solids or fluids, or both; but water being simple, operates only by
diluting, moistening, and cooling, which are the great uses of drink
pointed out to us by nature. Hence it is evident that water in general
is the best and most wholesome drink; but as some constitutions require
something to warm and stimulate the stomach, fermented liquors may be
proper, if taken in moderation. It is necessary however, that beer, ale,
cider, and wine, be taken in a sound state and of proper age, or they
will be highly detrimental. Spirituous liquors, taken too freely, or in
a raw state, are attended with direful effects, and are the destruction
of thousands. From the degree of heat they have undergone in
distillation, they acquire a corrosive and burning quality, which makes
them dangerous to the constitution. They contract the fibres and smaller
vessels, especially where they are tenderest, as in the brain, and thus
destroy the intellectual faculties. They injure the coat of the stomach,
and so expose the nerves and relax the fibres, till the whole stomach
becomes at last soft and flabby. Hence ensues loss of appetite,
indigestion, and diseases that generally terminate in premature death.
Light wines of a moderate strength, and matured by age, are more
wholesome than strong, rich, and heavy wines, and pass off the stomach
with less difficulty. Red port is strong and astringent, but white port
and Spanish wines are stimulating and attenuating. French wines are
lighter, and not so strong as the Portuguese and Spanish wines, which
renders them wholesomer for thin and dry constitutions. Rhenish and
Moselle wines are the most wholesome of any, where acidity is not
hurtful. Home made wines are prejudicial to all constitutions, being
very windy and heady. The notion that liquors of any kind assist
digestion, is quite erroneous, as wine and all other strong liquors are
as hard to digest as strong solid food. Those who drink only water or
small beer at their meals, are able to eat and digest almost double the
quantity of what they could, if they drank strong liquors. When the
stomach is uneasy from too much food, or such as is indigestible, strong
liquors produce a deceitful glow in the stomach, which induces a belief
of their having the beneficial effect of assisting digestion. The
fallacy of this conclusion is sufficiently apparent from the state in
which cherries are found, after they have been steeped in brandy:
instead of becoming more tender, they are rendered as tough as leather.
Similar effects are produced on food in the stomach, as well as out of
it. Strong liquors are plainly improper at meals, as by their heat and
activity they hurry the food undigested into the habit, and so lay the
foundation for various distempers, such as the gout, rheumatism,
apoplexy, and palsy.

RENNET. This article, so necessary in making of cheese, is prepared as
follows. Take out the stomach of a calf as soon as killed, and scour it
inside and out with salt, after it is cleared of the curd always found
in it. Let it drain a few hours, then sow it up with two good handfuls
of salt in it, or stretch it on a stick well salted, and hang it up to
dry.--Another way. Clean the maw as above, and let it drain a day. Then
put into two quarts of fresh spring-water a handful of hawthorn tops, a
handful of sweet briar, a handful of rose leaves, a stick of cinnamon,
forty cloves, four blades of mace, a sprig of knotted marjoram, and two
large spoonfuls of salt. Let them boil gently till the liquor is reduced
to three pints, and strain it off; when only milk warm, pour it on the
maw. Slice a lemon into it, let it stand two days, strain it again, and
bottle it for use. It will keep good at least for twelve months, and has
a very fine flavour. Sweet aromatic herbs may also be added. The liquor
must be pretty salt, but not made into brine: a little of it will turn
the milk. Salt the maw again for a week or two, and dry it stretched on
cross sticks, and it will be nearly as strong as before. The rennet when
dried must be kept in a cool place.

RESENTMENT. This is a dangerous passion, and often fatal to health.
Anger disorders the whole frame, hurries on the circulation of the
blood, occasions fevers and other acute disorders, and sometimes ends in
sudden death. Resentment also preys upon the mind, and occasions the
most obstinate disorders, which gradually waste the constitution. Those
who value health therefore, will guard against indulging this malignant
propensity, and endeavour to preserve a happy degree of tranquillity.

RHEUMATISM. In this complaint the diet should be nourishing, with a
little generous wine; costiveness must be carefully avoided. The painful
part should be kept warm with flannel, should be frequently rubbed,
occasionally electrified, and supplied with the volatile liniment.
Blisters, cataplasms of mustard or horseradish, may be applied with
advantage. If these be not effectual, take a pint of the spirits of
turpentine, and add half an ounce of camphor. Let it stand till the
camphor is dissolved, then rub it on the part affected night and
morning, and it will seldom fail to afford effectual relief. This
mixture is also very proper for sprains and bruises, and should be kept
for family use. But several of our own domestic plants as above may be
used with advantage in the rheumatism. One of the best is the white
_mustard_. A table-spoonful of the seed of this plant may be taken twice
or thrice a day, in a glass of water or small wine. The water trefoil is
likewise of great use in this complaint. It may be infused in wine or
ale, or drunk in the form of tea. The ground-ivy, camomile, and several
other bitters, are also beneficial, and may be used in the same manner.
No benefit, however, is to be expected from these, unless they be taken
for a considerable time. Cold bathing, especially in salt water, often
cures the rheumatism. It is also advisable to take exercise, and wear
flannel next the skin. Issues are likewise very proper, especially in
chronic cases. If the pain affects the shoulders, an issue may be made
in the arm; but if it affects the loins, it should be put into the leg
or thigh. Such as are subject to frequent attacks of the rheumatism
ought to make choice of a dry, warm situation, to avoid the night air,
wet clothes, and wet feet, as much as possible. Their clothing should be
warm, and they should wear flannel next their skin, and make frequent
use of the flesh brush. One of the best articles of dress, not only for
the prevention of rheumatism, but for powerful co-operation in its cure,
is fleecy hosiery. In low marshy situations, the introduction of that
manufacture has prevented more rheumatisms, colds, and agues, than all
the medicines ever used there. Such of the inhabitants of marshy
counties as are in easy circumstances, could not, perhaps, direct their
charity and humanity to a better object than to the supplying their poor
neighbours with so cheap and simple a preservative.


RHUBARB. By proper attention in the growth and preparation of this root,
it may be obtained here nearly in equal goodness to the foreign. The
plants are all increased by seeds, which should be sown in autumn soon
after they are ripe, where the plants are designed to remain, as their
roots being large and fleshy when they are removed, they do not recover
it soon; nor do the roots of such removed plants ever grow so large and
fair as those which remain where they were sown. When the plants appear
in the spring, the ground should be well hoed over, to cut up the weeds;
and where they are too close, some should be cut up, leaving them at the
first hoeing six or eight inches asunder; but at the second they may be
separated to a foot and a half distance, and more. When any weeds
appear, the ground should be scuffled over with a Dutch hoe in dry
weather; but after the plants cover the ground with their broad leaves,
they keep down the weeds without any farther trouble. The ground should
be cleaned in autumn when the leaves decay, and in the spring, before
the plants begin to put up their new leaves, be dug well between them.
In the second year, many of the strongest plants will produce flowers
and seeds, and in the third year most of them. It is advised, that the
seeds be carefully gathered when ripe, and not permitted to scatter,
lest they grow and injure the old plants. The roots continue many years
without decaying, and the old roots of the true rhubarb are much
preferable to the young ones. The roots may be generally taken up after
four years, but if they remain longer it is so much the better. These
plants delight in a rich soil, which is not too dry nor over moist: and
where there is depth in such land for their roots to run down, they
attain a great size, both in the leaves and roots.


RHUBARB PIE. Peel the stalks of the plant, cut them about an inch long,
put them into a dish with moist sugar, a little water and lemon peel.
Put on the crust, and bake it in a moderate oven.


RHUBARB PUDDING. Put four dozen clean sticks of rhubarb into a stewpan,
with the peel of a lemon, a bit of cinnamon, two cloves, and as much
moist sugar as will sweeten it. Set it over the fire, and reduce it to a
marmalade. Pass it through a hair sieve, then add the peel of a lemon,
half a nutmeg grated, a quarter of a pound of good butter, the yolks of
four eggs, and one white, and mix all well together. Line a pie dish
with good puff paste, put in the mixture, and bake it half an hour. This
will make a good spring pudding.


RHUBARB SAUCE. To make a mock gooseberry-sauce for mackarel, reduce
three dozen sticks of rhubarb to a marmalade, and sweeten it with moist
sugar. Pass it through a hair sieve, and serve it up in a boat.--Mock
gooseberry-fool is made of rhubarb marmalade, prepared as for a pudding.
Add a pint of good thick cream, serve it up in glasses, or in a deep
dish. If wanted in a shape, dissolve two ounces of isinglass in a little
water, strain it through a tammis, and when nearly cold put it to the
cream. Pour it into a jelly mould, and when set, turn it out into a
dish, and serve it up plain.


RHUBARB SHERBET. Boil six or eight sticks of clean rhubarb in a quart of
water, ten minutes. Strain the liquor through a tammis into a jug, with
the peel of a lemon cut very thin, and two table-spoonfuls of clarified
sugar. Let it stand five or six hours, and it will be fit to drink.


RHUBARB SOUP. There are various ways of dressing garden rhubarb, which
serves as an excellent substitute for spring fruit. Peel and well wash
four dozen sticks of rhubarb, blanch it in water three or four minutes,
drain it on a sieve, and put it into a stewpan with two sliced onions, a
carrot, an ounce of lean ham, and a good bit of butter. Let it stew
gently over a slow fire till tender, then put in two quarts of rich
soup, to which add two or three ounces of bread crumbs, and boil it
about fifteen minutes. Skim off all the fat, season with salt and
cayenne, pass it through a tammis, and serve it up with fried bread.


RHUBARB TART. Cut the stalks in lengths of four or five inches, and take
off the thin skin. Lay them in a dish, pour on a thin syrup of sugar and
water, cover them with another dish, and let it simmer very slowly for
an hour on a hot hearth; or put the rhubarb into a block-tin saucepan,
and simmer it over the fire. When cold, make it into a tart; the baking
of the crust will be sufficient, if the rhubarb be quite tender.


RIBS OF BEEF. The following is an excellent way of dressing this rich
and valuable joint. Hang up three ribs three or four days, take out the
bones from the whole length, sprinkle it with salt, roll the meat tight,
and roast it. If done with spices, and baked as hunter's beef, it is
excellent, and nothing can look nicer.


RICE BROTH. Put a quarter of a pound of whole rice into a gallon of
water. Let it simmer till it is quite soft, then put in a knuckle of
veal, or the scrag end of a leg of mutton, with two or three pounds of
gravy beef. Stew this very gently for two hours, then put in turnips,
carrots, celery, leeks, or any other vegetables. Continue to stew
slowly, and when the whole is sufficiently done, season it with salt,
and serve it up.


RICE CAKE. Mix ten ounces of ground rice, three ounces of flour, and
eight ounces of pounded sugar. Sift the composition by degrees into
eight yolks and six whites of eggs, and the peel of a lemon shred so
fine that it is quite mashed. Mix the whole well in a tin stewpan with a
whisk, over a very slow fire. Put it immediately into the oven in the
same, and bake it forty minutes.--Another. Beat twelve yolks and six
whites of eggs, with the peels of two lemons grated. Mix one pound of
rice flour, eight ounces of fine flour, and a pound of sugar pounded and
sifted. Beat it well with the eggs by degrees, for an hour, with a
wooden spoon. Butter a pan well, and put it in at the oven mouth. A
gentle oven will bake it in an hour and a half.


RICE CAUDLE. When the water boils, pour into it some grated rice, with a
little cold water. When of a proper consistence, add sugar, lemon peel,
cinnamon, and a spoonful of brandy, and boil all smooth.--Another way.
Soak in water some fine rice for an hour, strain it, and put two
spoonfuls of the rice into a pint and a quarter of milk. Simmer till it
will pulp through a sieve, then put the pulp and milk into the saucepan,
with a bruised clove, and a bit of lump sugar. Simmer all together ten
minutes; if too thick, add a spoonful or two of milk, and serve with
thin toast.


RICE CHEESECAKES. Boil four ounces of ground rice in milk, with a blade
of cinnamon: put it into a pot, and let it stand till the next day. Mash
it fine with half a pound of butter; add to it four eggs, half a pint of
cream, a grated nutmeg, a glass of brandy, and a little sugar. Or the
butter may be stirred and melted in the rice while it is hot, and left
in the pot till the next day.


RICE CUSTARD. Boil three pints of new milk with a little cinnamon, lemon
peel, and sugar. Mix the yolks of two eggs well beaten, with a large
spoonful of rice flour, smothered in a cup of cold milk. Take a basin of
the boiling milk, mix it with the cold that has the rice in it, and add
it to the remainder of the boiling milk, stirring it one way till it
begins to thicken. Pour it into a pan, stir it till it is cool, and add
a spoonful of brandy or orange water. This is a good imitation of cream
custard, and considerably cheaper.


RICE EDGING. After soaking and picking some fine Carolina rice, boil it
in salt and water, until sufficiently tender, but not to mash. Drain,
and put it round the inner edge of the dish, to the height of two
inches. Smooth it with the back of a spoon, wash it over with the yolk
of an egg, and put it into the oven for three or four minutes. This
forms an agreeable edging for currie or fricassee, with the meat served
in the middle.


RICE FLUMMERY. Boil with a pint of new milk, a bit of lemon peel and
cinnamon. Mix with a little cold milk as much rice flour as will make
the whole of a good consistence, add a little sugar, and a spoonful of
peach water, or a bitter almond beaten. Boil it, but do not let it burn;
pour it into a shape or pint basin, taking out the spice. When cold,
turn the flummery into a dish, and serve with cream, milk, or custard
round. Or put a tea-cupful of cream into half a pint of new milk, a
glass of white wine, half a lemon squeezed, and sugar.


RICE MILK. Boil half a pound of rice in a quart of water, with a bit of
cinnamon, till the water is wasted. Add three pints of milk, an egg
beaten up with a spoonful of flour, and stir it till it boils. Then pour
it out, sweeten it, and put in currants and nutmeg.


RICE PANCAKES. Boil half a pound of rice to a jelly in a small quantity
of water; when cold, mix it with a pint of cream, eight eggs, a little
salt and nutmeg. Stir in eight ounces of butter just warmed, and add
flour sufficient to thicken the batter. Fry in as little lard or
dripping as possible.


RICE PASTE. To make a rice paste for sweets, boil a quarter of a pound
of ground rice in the smallest quantity of water. Strain from it all the
moisture possible, beat it in a mortar with half an ounce of butter, and
one egg well beaten. It will make an excellent paste for tarts, and
other sweet dishes.--To make a rich paste for relishing things, clean
some rice, and put it into a saucepan. Add a little milk and water, or
milk only, and an onion, and simmer it over the fire till it swells. Put
some seasoned chops into a dish, and cover it with the rice. The
addition of an egg will make the rice bind the better. Rabbits
fricasseed, and covered with rice paste, are very good.


RICE PUDDING. If for family use, swell the rice with a very little milk
over the fire. Then add more milk, an egg, some sugar, allspice, and
lemon peel; and bake it in a deep dish. Or put into a deep pan half a
pound of rice washed and picked, two ounces of butter, four ounces of
sugar, a little pounded allspice, and two quarts of milk. Less butter
will do, or some suet: bake the pudding in a slow oven. Another. Boil a
quarter of a pound of rice in a quart of milk, with a stick of cinnamon,
till it is thick; stir it often, that it does not burn; pour it into a
pan, stir in a quarter of a pound of butter, and grate half a nutmeg;
add sugar to your taste, and a small tea-cup of rose-water; stir all
together till cold; beat up eight eggs, (leave out half the whites) stir
all well together, lay a thin puff paste at the bottom of the dish, and
nip the edge; then pour in the pudding and bake it.--Another. To make a
plain rice pudding, put half a pound of rice well picked, into three
quarts of milk; add half a pound of sugar, a small nutmeg grated, and
half a pound of butter; butter the dish with part, and break the rest
into the milk and rice; stir all well together, pour it into a dish, and
bake it.--Another. To make a boiled rice pudding, take a quarter of a
pound of rice well picked and washed, tie it in a cloth, leaving room
for it to swell; boil it for an hour; take it up and stir in a quarter
of a pound of butter, some nutmeg and sugar; tie it up again very tight,
and boil it an hour more. When you send it to table, pour butter and
sugar over it.--Another. To make a ground rice pudding. To a pint of
milk put four ounces of ground rice; boil it for some time, keeping it
stirring, lest it should burn; pour it into a pan, and stir in a quarter
of a pound of butter; then beat up six eggs, leaving out half the
whites, a little lemon peel finely shred, a little nutmeg grated, a
quarter of a pound of sugar, a gill of cream, a little rose-water, and
as much salt as you can take up between your thumb and finger; mix all
well together, make a puff paste, lay it round the rim of the dish, and
bake it.--Lay citron or orange cut very thin, on the top, and strew a
few currants on.--Another. To make rice pudding with fruit. Swell half a
pound of rice with a very little milk over the fire, and then mix with
it any kind of fruit; such as currants, scalded gooseberries, pared and
quartered apples, raisins, or black currants. Put an egg into the
pudding to bind it, boil it well, and serve it up with sugar.


RICE SAUCE. Steep a quarter of a pound of rice in a pint of milk, with
an onion, a dozen pepper corns or allspice, and a little mace. When the
rice is quite tender, take out the spice, and rub the rice through a
sieve into a clean stewpan: if too thick, put a little milk or cream to
it. This makes a very delicate white sauce; and at elegant tables, is
frequently used instead of bread sauce.


RICE SOUFFLE. Blanch some Carolina rice, strain and boil it in milk,
with lemon peel and a bit of cinnamon. Let it boil till the rice is dry;
then cool it, and raise a rim three inches high round the dish, having
egged the dish where it is put, to make it stick. Then egg the rice all
over. Fill the dish half way up with a marmalade of apples; have ready
the whites of four eggs beaten to a fine froth, and put them over the
marmalade. Sift fine sugar over, and set it in the oven, which should be
warm enough to give it a beautiful colour.


RICE SOUP. Boil a pound of rice with a little cinnamon, in two quarts of
water. Take out the cinnamon, add a little sugar and nutmeg, and let it
stand to cool. Then beat up the yolks of three eggs in a little white
wine, and mix it with the rice. Set it on a slow fire, stir it well,
and take it up as soon as it has boiled to a proper thickness.


RICH GIBLET SOUP. Take four pounds of gravy beef, two pounds of scrag of
mutton, two pounds of scrag of veal; stew them well down together in a
sufficient quantity of water for a strong broth, let it stand till it is
quite cold, then skim the fat clean off. Take two pair of giblets well
scalded and cleaned, put them into your broth, and let them simmer till
they are stewed tender; then take out your giblets, and run the soup
through a fine sieve to catch the small bones; then take an ounce of
butter and put it into a stew-pan, mixing a proper quantity of flour,
which make of a fine light brown. Take a small handful of chives, the
same of parsley, a very little penny-royal, and a very little sweet
marjoram; chop all these herbs together excessive small, put your soup
over a slow fire, put in your giblets, butter and flour, and small
herbs; then take a pint of Madeira wine, some cayenne pepper, and salt
to your palate. Let them all simmer together, till the herbs are tender,
and the soup is finished. Send it to the table with the giblets in it.
Let the livers be stewed in a saucepan by themselves, and put in when
you dish.


RICH GRAVY. Cut lean beef into small slices, according to the quantity
wanted; slice some onions thin, and flour them both. Fry them of a light
pale brown, but do not suffer them on any account to get black. Put them
into a stewpan, pour boiling water on the browning in the fryingpan,
boil it up, and pour it on the meat. Add a bunch of parsley, thyme, and
savoury, a small piece of marjoram, the same of taragon, some mace,
berries of allspice, whole black pepper, a clove or two, and a bit of
ham, or gammon of bacon. Simmer till the juice of the meat is
extracted, and skim it the moment it boils. If for a hare, or stewed
fish, anchovy should be added.


RICH GRAVY SOUP. Take a pound of lean beef, two pounds of veal, and a
pound of mutton cut in pieces; put them into a pot, with six quarts of
water, a large faggot of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with cloves, some
whole pepper, a little mace, and the upper crust of bread toasted brown.
Put in an ox palate well cleaned and blanched whole; set it over a slow
fire, and let it stew till half is wasted; strain it off, and put it
into a clean saucepan. Take off the ox palate, shred small, some cock's
combs blanched, an ounce of morels cut in pieces, four large heads of
celery well washed, and cut small, with the heart of four or five
savoys, about as big as a turkey's egg, put in whole; cover it close,
and let it stew softly for an hour and a half. If it want any more
seasoning, add it; cut some French bread toasts thin, and crisp them
before the fire. When your soup is ready, lay your bread in the dish,
and put in your soup.


RICH HOME-MADE WINE.--Take new cider from the press, mix it with as much
honey as will support an egg, boil it gently fifteen minutes, but not in
an iron, brass, or copper pot. Skim it well, and tun it when cool, but
the cask must not be quite full. Bottle it in the following March, and
it will be fit to drink in six weeks, but it will be less sweet if kept
longer in the cask. This will make a rich and strong wine, suitable for
culinary purposes, where milk or sweet wine is to be employed. Honey,
besides its other valuable uses, is a fine ingredient to assist and
render palatable, new or harsh cider.


RICH PLUM PUDDING. To make a small, but very rich plum pudding, shred
fine three quarters of a pound of suet, and half a pound of stoned
raisins, chopped a little. Add three spoonfuls of flour, as much moist
sugar, a little salt and nutmeg, the yolks of three, and the whites of
two eggs. Let it boil four hours in a basin or tin mould, well buttered.
When the pudding is served up, pour over it some melted butter, with
white wine and sugar.--For a larger pudding of the same description,
shred three pounds of suet; add a pound and a half of raisins stoned and
chopped, a pound and a half of currants, three pounds of good flour,
sixteen eggs, and a quart of milk. Boil it in a cloth seven hours.


RICH RICE PUDDING. Boil half a pound of rice in water, till it is quite
tender, adding a little salt. Drain it dry, mix it with four eggs, a
quarter of a pint of cream, and two ounces of fresh butter melted in the
cream. Add four ounces of beef suet or marrow, or veal suet taken from
the fillet, finely shred; three quarters of a pound of currants, two
spoonfuls of brandy, a spoonful of peach water or ratifia, nutmeg, and
grated lemon peel. When well mixed, put a paste round the edge, fill the
dish, and bake it in a moderate oven. Slices of candied orange, lemon,
and citron, may be added.


RICKETS. This disease generally attacks children between the age of nine
months and two years; and as it is always attended with evident signs of
weakness and relaxation, the chief aim in the cure must be to brace and
strengthen the solids, and to promote digestion and the due preparation
of the fluids. These important ends will be best answered by wholesome
nourishing diet, suited to the age and strength of the patient, open dry
air, and sufficient exercise. The limbs should be rubbed frequently with
a warm hand, and the child kept as cheerful as possible. Biscuit is
generally reckoned the best bread; and pigeons, pullet, veal, rabbits,
or mutton roasted or minced, are the most proper meat. If the child be
too young for animal food, he may have rice, millet, or pearl barley,
boiled with raisins, to which may be added a little wine and spice. His
drink may be good claret, mixed with an equal quantity of water. Those
who cannot afford claret, may give the child now and then a wine glass
of mild ale, or good porter. The disease may often be cured by the
nurse, but seldom by the physician. In children of a gross habit, gentle
vomits and repeated purges of rhubarb may sometimes be of use, but they
will seldom carry off the disease; that must depend chiefly upon such
things as brace and strengthen the system; for which purpose, besides
the regimen mentioned above, the cold bath, especially in the warm
season, is highly recommended. It must, however, be used with prudence,
as some ricketty children cannot bear it. The best time for using the
cold bath is in the morning, and the child should be well rubbed with a
dry cloth immediately after he comes out of it.


RING WORM. This eruption, which generally appears on the head, in a
circular form, attended with painful itching, is sometimes removed by
rubbing it with black ink, or mushroom ketchup. The following
preparation is also recommended. Wash some roots of sorrel quite clean,
bruise them in a mortar, and steep them in white wine vinegar for two or
three days. Then rub the liquor on the ring worm three or four times a
day, till it begin to disappear.


ROASTING. The first requisite for roasting is to have a clear brisk
fire, proportioned to the joint that is to be roasted; without this
every attempt must prove abortive. Next to see that the spit is properly
cleaned before it enters the meat, and the less it passes through it the
better. Neck and loins require to be carefully jointed before they are
put on the spit, that the carver may separate them easily and neatly.
The joint should be balanced evenly on the spit, that its motion may be
regular, and the fire operate equally on every part; for this purpose
cook-holds and balancing skewers are necessary. All roasting should be
done open to the air, to ventilate the meat from its own fumes, and by
the radiant heat of a glowing fire; otherwise it is in fact baked, and
rendered less wholesome. Hence what are called Rumford roasters, and the
machines invented by economical gratemakers, are utterly to be rejected.
If they save any thing in fuel, which is doubtful, they are highly
injurious to the flavour and best qualities of the meat. For the same
reason, when a joint is dressed, it is better to keep it hot by the
fire, than to put it under a cover, that the exhalations may freely
escape. In making up the fire for roasting, it should be three or four
inches longer at each end than the article on the spit, or the ends of
the meat cannot be done nice and brown. Half an hour at least before the
roasting begins, prepare the fire, by putting on a few coals so as to be
sufficiently lighted by the time the fire is wanted. Put some of them
between the bars, and small coals or cinders wetted at the back of the
fire; and never put down meat to a burnt up fire. In small families, not
provided with a jack or spit, a bottle jack, sold by the ironmongers, is
a valuable instrument for roasting; and where this cannot be had, a
skewer and a string, or rather a quantity of coarse yarn loosely
twisted, is as philosophical as any of them, and will answer the purpose
as well. Do not put meat too near the fire at first. The larger the
joint, the farther it must be kept from the fire: if once it gets
scorched, the outside will become hard, and acquire a disagreeable
taste. If the fire is prevented from penetrating into it, the meat will
appear done, before it is little more than half ready, besides losing
the pale brown colour which is the beauty of roast meat. From ten to
fourteen inches is the usual distance at which it is put from the grate,
when first laid down; and afterwards it should be brought nearer by
degrees. If the joint is thicker at one end than the other, lay the spit
slanting, with the thickest part nearest the fire. When the article is
thin and tender, the fire should be small and brisk; but for a large
joint the fire should be strong, and equally good in every part of the
grate, or the meat cannot be equally roasted, nor possess that uniform
colour which is the test of good cooking. Give the fire a good stirring
before the meat is laid down, keep it clear at the bottom, and take care
that there are no smoky coals in the front, to spoil the look and taste
of the meat. If a jack be used, it should be carefully oiled and kept
clean, and covered from the dust, or it will never go well. The dripping
pan should be placed at such a distance from the fire as just to catch
the drippings; if it be too near, the ashes will fall into it, and spoil
the drippings. If too far from the fire to catch them, the drippings
will not only be lost, but the meat will be blackened, and spoiled by
the fetid smoke, which will arise when the fat falls on the live
cinders. The meat must be well basted, to keep it moist. When it does
not supply dripping enough for this purpose, add some that has been
saved on former occasions, and nicely prepared, which answers as well or
better than butter. Meat should not be sprinkled with salt till nearly
done, as it tends to draw out the gravy. Basting with a little salt and
water, when the meat is first laid down, is often done, but the
practice is not good. Where the fat is very fine and delicate, it is
best to cover it with writing paper to prevent its wasting; but in
general it is as well to expose it to the action of the fire, and let it
fall into the dripping pan. Half an hour before the meat is done,
prepare some gravy if necessary; and just before it is taken up, put it
nearer the fire to brown it. If it is to be frothed, baste and dredge it
carefully with flour. The common fault is that of using too much flour;
the meat should have a fine light varnish of froth, not the appearance
of being covered with a paste; and those who are particular about the
froth, use butter instead of dripping. When the roast is quite done, it
is best to take it up directly, as every moment beyond doing it enough
does it an injury. If it cannot be sent to table immediately, which is
most desirable, it should be kept hot, but so as to suffer the fumes to
escape. With respect to the time required for roasting, the general rule
of a quarter of an hour to a pound of meat, is a pretty fair one, but it
will not do for all kinds of joints. The use of a meat screen must also
be considered, as it tends materially to assist the operation, by
concentrating the heat, and excluding the cold drafts of air. Attention
must be paid to the nature of the joint, whether thick or thin, the
strength of the fire, the nearness of the meat to it, and the frequency
with which it is basted. The more it is basted the less time it will
take, as it keeps the meat soft and mellow on the outside, and the fire
acts upon it with greater force. Much will depend on the time the meat
has been kept, and on the temperature of the weather. The same weight
will be twenty minutes or half an hour longer in cold weather, than it
will be in warm weather; and when the meat is fresh slain, than when it
has been kept till it is tender. If meat get frozen, it should be thawed
by lying some time in cold water; and then be well dried in a clean
cloth, before it is laid down to the fire. A sirloin of BEEF, weighing
from twenty-five to thirty pounds, will generally take four hours; a
part of it, from twelve to fifteen pounds, two hours and three quarters,
or three hours. A piece of ribs of the same weight, much the same time,
and a rump four hours. A sheet of paper should be tied over the thin
part, or it will burn before the thick part is done enough. A leg of
MUTTON, weighing eight or nine pounds, will require two hours and a
quarter; a shoulder of seven pounds, an hour and three quarters; a chine
of ten or eleven pounds, two hours and a half; a loin, rather more than
an hour and a half; a neck, the same; a breast, an hour. A haunch of
mutton should be dressed like venison, only in proportion as it may be
less, it must not roast quite so long. A fillet of VEAL, from twelve to
fourteen pounds weight, requires three hours and twenty minutes. This is
usually stuffed, either in the place of the bone, when that is taken
out, or under the flap. A loin takes two hours and a half, a shoulder
two hours and twenty minutes, a neck nearly two hours, and a breast an
hour and a half. These directions suppose the joints to be of a common
size. If they are very thick, a little more time must be allowed. When
veal is quite small, the time must be reduced accordingly. A quarter of
LAMB, of a moderate size, will require two hours; a leg, an hour and
forty minutes; a shoulder, an hour and twenty minutes; a loin, the same;
a neck, an hour and ten minutes; a breast, three quarters of an hour;
and ribs, an hour and a half. A leg of PORK, weighing seven pounds, will
require nearly two hours; a loin of five pounds, an hour and twenty
minutes. Both these should be scored across in narrow stripes, before
they are laid down to the fire. A sparerib of eight or nine pounds, will
take an hour and three quarters; a griskin of six or seven pounds, an
hour and a quarter; a chine, if parted down the back-bone so as to have
but one side, two hours; if not parted, it will take four hours.--The
BASTINGS proper for roast meat, are fresh butter, clarified suet, salt
and water, yolks of eggs, grated biscuit, and orange juice. For mutton
and lamb, minced sweet herbs, butter and claret; and for roast pig,
melted butter and cream. The DREDGINGS, are flour mixed with grated
bread; sweet herbs dried and powdered, and mixed with grated bread;
lemon peel dried and pounded, or orange peel mixed with flour; sugar
finely powdered, and mixed with pounded cinnamon, and flour, or grated
bread; fennel seeds, corianders, cinnamon, sugar finely powdered, and
mixed with grated bread or flour; sugar, bread, and salt mixed. For
young pigs, grated bread or flour mixed with pounded nutmeg, ginger,
pepper, sugar, and yolks of eggs.


ROAST BEEF. Take care that your spit and dripping-pan be very clean; and
to prepare your fire according to the size of the joint you have to
dress. If it be a sirloin or chump, butter a piece of writing paper, and
fasten it on to the back of your meat, with small skewers, and lay it
down to a good clear fire, at a proper distance. As soon as your meat is
warm, dust on some flour, and baste it with butter; then sprinkle some
salt, and at times baste with what drips from it. About a quarter of an
hour before you take it up, remove the paper, dust on a little flour,
and baste with a piece of butter, that it may go to table with a good
froth, but not look greasy. A piece of ten pounds requires about two
hours and a half, and others in proportion. Salad and vegetables are
eaten with it, also mustard and horseradish.


ROAST CALF'S HEAD. Wash the head very clean, take out the brains, and
dry it well with a cloth. Make a seasoning of pepper, salt, nutmeg, and
cloves; add a slice of bacon finely minced, and some grated bread. Strew
the seasoning over the head, roll it up, skewer and tie it close with
tape. Roast and baste it with butter. Make veal gravy thickened with
butter rolled in flour, and garnish the edge of the dish with fried
brains.


ROAST CALF'S LIVER. Cut a hole in the liver, and stuff it with crumbs of
bread, mixed with chopped onions and herbs, salt, pepper, butter, and an
egg. Sew up the liver, wrap it up in a veal caul, and roast it. Serve it
up with brown gravy, and currant jelly.


ROAST CHEESE. Grate three ounces of fat Cheshire cheese, mix it with the
yolks of two eggs, four ounces of grated bread, and three ounces of
butter. Beat the whole well in a mortar, with a dessert-spoonful of
mustard, and a little salt and pepper. Toast some bread, cut it into
proper pieces, lay the above paste thick upon them, and lay them into a
Dutch oven covered with a dish till they are hot through. Remove the
dish, to let the paste brown a little, and serve it up as hot as
possible, immediately after dinner.


ROAST CHICKENS. Being cleaned and trussed, put them down to a good fire.
Singe them, dust them with flour, and baste them well with butter. Make
gravy of their necks and gizzards, or of beef. Strain the gravy, and
pour it into the dish, adding parsley and butter, or egg sauce.


ROAST COLLARED BEEF. Take out the inside meat from a sirloin of beef,
sprinkle it with vinegar, and let it hang till the next day. Prepare a
stuffing as for a hare, put this at one end of the meat, roll the rest
round it, bind it very close, and roast it gently for an hour and three
quarters, or a little more or less, proportioned to the thickness. Serve
it up with gravy the same as for hare, and with currant jelly.


ROAST COLLARED MUTTON. If a loin of mutton has been collared, take off
the fat from the upper side, and the meat from the under side. Bone the
joint, season it with pepper and salt, and some shalot or sweet herbs,
chopped very small. Let it be rolled up very tight, well tied round, and
roasted gently. About an hour and a half will do it. While this is
roasting, half boil the meat taken from the under side, then mince it
small, put it into half a pint of gravy; and against the time that the
mutton is ready, heat this and pour it into the dish when it is served
up.


ROAST COLLARED PORK. When a neck of pork has been collared, and is
intended for roasting, the bones must be taken out. Strew the inside
with bread crumbs, chopped sage, a very little pounded allspice, some
pepper and salt, all mixed together. Roll it up very close, bind it
tight, and roast it gently. An hour and a half or little more, according
to the thickness, will roast it enough. A loin of pork with the fat and
kidney taken out and boned, and a forehand of pork boned, are very nice
dressed in the same way.


ROAST DUCK. If two are dressed, let one of them be unseasoned, in order
to suit the company. Stuff the other with sage and onion, a
dessert-spoonful of crumbs, a bit of butter, with pepper and salt. Serve
them up with a fine gravy.


ROAST EEL. Take a good large silver eel, draw and skin it, and cut it in
pieces of four inches long. Spit them crossways on a small spit, with
bay leaves, or large sage leaves between each piece. When roasted, serve
up the fish with butter beaten with orange or lemon juice, and some
grated nutmeg. Or serve it with venison sauce, and dredge it with
pounded carraway seeds, cinnamon, or grated bread.


ROAST FOWL. A large barn-door fowl, well hung, should be stuffed in the
crop with sausage meat. The head should be turned under the wing, as a
turkey. Serve with gravy in the dish, and bread sauce. Roast fowl in
general may be garnished with sausages, or scalded parsley. Egg sauce or
bread sauce are equally proper.


ROAST GOOSE. After the fowl is picked, the plugs of the feathers pulled
out, and the hairs carefully singed, let it be well washed and dried.
Put in a seasoning of shred onion and sage, pepper and salt. Fasten it
tight at the neck and rump, and then roast it. Put it first at a
distance from the fire, and by degrees draw it nearer, and baste it
well. A slip of paper should be skewered on the breast-bone; when the
breast is rising, take off the paper, and be careful to serve it before
the breast falls, or it will be spoiled by coming flat to the table.
Send up a good gravy in the dish, with apple and gravy sauce. For a
green goose, gooseberry sauce.


ROAST GRISKIN. Put a piece of pork griskin into a stewpan, with very
little more water than will just cover it. Let it boil gradually, and
when it has fairly boiled up, take it out. Rub it over with a piece of
butter, strew it with a little chopped sage and a few bread crumbs, and
roast it in a Dutch oven. It will require doing but a little while.


ROAST HARE. After it is skinned, let it be extremely well washed, and
then soaked an hour or two in water. If an old hare, lard it, which will
make it tender, as also will letting it lie in vinegar. But if put into
vinegar, it should be very carefully washed in water afterwards. Make a
stuffing of the liver, with an anchovy, some fat bacon, a little suet,
all finely minced; adding pepper, salt, nutmeg, a little onion, some
sweet herbs, crumbs of bread, and an egg to bind it all. Then put the
stuffing, a pretty large one, into the belly of the hare, and sew it up.
Baste it well with milk till half done, and afterwards with butter. If
the blood has settled in the neck, soaking the part in warm water, and
putting it to the fire, will remove it, especially if the skin be nicked
a little with a small knife to let it out. The hare should be kept at a
distance from the fire at first. Serve it up with a fine froth, some
melted butter, currant-jelly sauce, and a rich gravy in the dish. The
ears being reckoned a dainty, should be nicely cleaned and singed. For
the manner of trussing a hare or rabbit, see Plate.


ROAST HEART. Take some suet, parsley, and sweet marjoram, chopped fine.
Add some bread crumbs, grated lemon peel, pepper, salt, mustard, and an
egg. Mix these into a paste, and stuff the heart with it. Whether baked
or roasted, serve it up with gravy and melted butter. Baking is best, if
it be done carefully, as it will be more regularly done than it can be
by roasting. Calf's or bullock's heart are both dressed in the same way.


ROAST LAMB. Lay the joint down to a good clear fire, that will want
little stirring; then baste it with butter, and dust on a little flour;
after that, baste it with what falls from it; and a little before you
take it up baste it again with butter, and sprinkle on a little salt.


ROAST LARKS. Put a dozen larks on a skewer, and tie both ends of the
skewer to the spit. Dredge and baste them, and let them roast ten
minutes. Take the crumb of a penny loaf, grate it, and put it into a
fryingpan, with a little bit of butter. Shake it over a gentle fire till
it becomes brown; lay it between the birds on a dish, and pour melted
butter over it.


ROAST LEG OF PORK. Choose a small leg of fine young pork, cut a slit in
the knuckle with a sharp knife, fill the space with chopped sage and
onion, mixed together with a little pepper and salt. When half roasted,
score the skin in slices, but do not cut deeper than the outer rind. Eat
it with potatoes and apple sauce.


ROAST LOBSTER. When the lobster is half boiled, take it out of the
water; and while hot, rub it with butter, and lay it before the fire.
Continue basting it with butter till it has a fine froth.


ROAST MUTTON AND LAMB. These require to be well roasted, before a quick
clear fire. A small fore quarter of lamb will take an hour and a half.
Baste the joint as soon as it is laid down, and sprinkle on a little
salt. When nearly done, dredge it with flour. In dressing a loin or
saddle of mutton, the skin must be loosened, and then skewered on; but
it should be removed before the meat is done, and the joint basted and
made to froth up. When a fore quarter is sent to table, the shoulder may
be taken off, the ribs a little seasoned with pepper and salt, and a
lemon squeezed over them. Serve up the joint with vegetables and mint
sauce. For a breast of mutton, make a savoury forcemeat, if the bones
are taken out, and wash it over with egg. Spread the forcemeat upon it,
roll it up, bind it with packthread, and serve it up with gravy sauce.
Or roast it with the bones in, without the forcemeat.


ROAST ONIONS. They should be roasted with all the skins on. They eat
well alone, with only salt and cold butter; or with beet root, or roast
potatoes.


ROAST PHEASANTS. Dust them with flour, baste them often with butter, and
keep them at a good distance from the fire. Make the gravy of a scrag of
mutton, a tea-spoonful of lemon pickle, a large spoonful of ketchup, and
the same of browning. Strain it, and put a little of it into the dish.
Serve them up with bread sauce in a basin, and fix one of the principal
feathers of the pheasant in its tail. A good fire will roast them in
half an hour. Guinea and pea fowls eat much like pheasants, and are to
be dressed in the same way.


ROAST PARTRIDGES. Partridges will take full twenty minutes. Before they
are quite done, dredge them with flour, and baste them with fresh
butter; let them go to table with a fine froth, and gravy sauce in the
dish, and bread sauce in a tureen. The bread sauce should be made as
follows. Take a good piece of stale bread, and put it into a pint of
water, with some whole pepper, a blade of mace, and a bit of onion: let
it boil till the bread is soft; then take out the spice and onion; pour
out the water, and beat the bread with a spoon till it is like pap; put
in a good piece of butter, and a little salt; set it over the fire for
two or three minutes.


ROAST PIG. A sucking pig for roasting, should be put into cold water for
a few minutes, as soon as it is killed. Then rub it over with a little
rosin finely powdered, and put it into a pail of scalding water half a
minute. Take it out, lay it on a table, and pull off the hair as quickly
as possible: if any part does not come off, put it in again. When quite
clean from hair, wash it well in warm water, and then in two or three
cold waters, that no flavour of the rosin may remain. Take off all the
feet at the first joint, make a slit down the belly, and take out the
entrails: put the liver, heart, and lights to the feet. Wash the pig
well in cold water, dry it thoroughly, and fold it in a wet cloth to
keep it from the air. When thus scalded and prepared for roasting, put
into the belly a mixture of chopped sage, bread crumbs, salt and pepper,
and sow it up. Lay it down to a brisk fire till thoroughly dry; then
have ready some butter in a dry cloth, and rub the pig with it in every
part. Dredge over it as much flour as will lie on, and do not touch it
again till it is ready for the table. Then scrape off the flour very
carefully with a blunt knife, rub it well with the buttered cloth, and
take off the head while it is at the fire. Take out the brains, and mix
them with the gravy that comes from the pig. The legs should be skewered
back before roasting, or the under part will not be crisp. Take it up
when done, and without drawing the spit, cut it down the back and belly,
lay it into the dish, mince the sage and bread very fine, and mix them
with a large quantity of good melted butter that has very little flour.
Pour the sauce into the dish after the pig has been split down the back,
and garnish with the ears and the two jaws: take off the upper part of
the head down to the snout. In Devonshire it is served up whole, if very
small; the head only being cut off to garnish the dish.--Another way.
Spit your pig, and lay it down to a clear fire, kept good at both ends:
put into the belly a few sage leaves, a little pepper and salt, a little
crust of bread, and a bit of butter, then sew up the belly; flour him
all over very well, and do so till the eyes begin to start. When you
find the skin is tight and crisp, and the eyes are dropped, put two
plates into the dripping pan, to save what gravy comes from him: put a
quarter of a pound of butter into a clean coarse cloth, and rub all over
him, till the flour is clean taken off; then take it up into your dish,
take the sage, &c. out of the belly, and chop it small; cut off the
head, open it, and take out the brains, which chop, and put the sage and
brains into half a pint of good gravy, with a piece of butter rolled in
flour; then cut your pig down the back, and lay him flat in the dish:
cut off the two ears, and lay one upon each shoulder; take off the under
jaw, cut it in two, and lay one on each side; put the head between the
shoulders, pour the gravy out of the plates into your sauce, and then
into the dish. Send it to table garnished with a lemon.


ROAST PIGEONS. Stuff them with parsley, either cut or whole, and put in
a seasoning of pepper and salt. Serve with parsley and butter. Peas or
asparagus should be dressed to eat with them.


ROAST PIKE. Clean the fish well, and sew up in it the following
stuffing. Grated bread crumbs, sweet herbs and parsley chopped, capers
and anchovies, pepper, salt, a little fresh butter, and an egg. Turn it
round with the tail in its mouth, and roast it gently till it is done of
a fine brown. It may be baked, if preferred. Serve it up with a good
gravy sauce.


ROAST PLOVERS. Green plovers should be roasted like woodcocks, without
drawing, and served on a toast. Grey plovers may either be roasted, or
stewed with gravy, herbs, and spice.


ROAST PORK. Pork requires more doing than any other meat; and it is best
to sprinkle it with a little salt the night before you use it, and hang
it up; by that means it will take off the faint, sickly taste. When you
roast a chine of pork, lay it down to a good fire, and at a proper
distance, that it may be well soaked, otherwise it eats greasy and
disagreeable. A spare-rib is to be roasted with a fire that is not too
strong, but clear; when you lay it down, dust on some flour and baste
it with butter: a quarter of an hour before you take it up, shred some
sage small; baste your pork; strew on the sage; dust on a little flour,
and sprinkle a little salt just before you take it up. A loin must be
cut on the skin in small streaks, and then basted; but put no flour on,
which would make the skin blister; and see that it is jointed before you
lay it down to the fire. A leg of pork is often roasted with sage and
onion shred fine, with a little pepper and salt, and stuffed at the
knuckle, with gravy in the dish; but a leg of pork done in this manner,
parboil it first, and take off the skin; lay it down to a good clear
fire; baste it with butter, then shred some sage fine, and mix it with
pepper, salt, nutmeg, and bread crumbs; strew this over it the time it
is roasting; baste it again with butter, just before you take it up,
that it may be of a fine brown, and have a good froth; send up some good
gravy in the dish; a griskin roasted in this manner eats finely.


ROAST PORKER'S HEAD. Clean it well, put bread and sage into it as for a
young pig, sew it up tight, and put it on a hanging jack. Roast it in
the same manner as a pig, and serve it up the same.


ROAST POTATOES. Half boil them first, then take off the thin peel, and
roast them of a beautiful brown.


ROAST PULLET. To roast a small hen turkey or a pullet with batter, the
bird must first be boned, and filled with forcemeat or stuffing. Then
paper it round, and lay it down to roast. When nearly half done, drop
off the paper, and baste the bird with a very smooth light batter. When
the first basting is dry, baste it again, and repeat this till the bird
is nicely crusted over, and sufficiently done. It will require ten
minutes or a quarter of an hour longer roasting than a bird of the same
size in the common way, on account of its being stuffed with forcemeat.
Serve it up with white gravy, or mushroom sauce.


ROAST QUAILS. Quails may be dressed and served up like woodcocks; or
dressed with the insides stuffed with sweet herbs and beef suet chopped
fine, and mixed with a little spice. They must roast rather a shorter
time than woodcocks.


ROAST RUMP OF BEEF. Let it lie in salt for two days, then wash it, and
soak it an hour in a quart of claret, and a pint of elder vinegar. Baste
it well with the liquor while roasting. Make a gravy of two beef palates
cut thin and boiled, and thickened with burnt butter. Add to it
mushrooms and oysters, and serve it up hot.


ROAST SIRLOIN. When a sirloin of beef is about three parts roasted, take
out the meat from the under side, and mince it nicely. Season it with
pepper and salt, and some shalot chopped very small. By the time the
beef is roasted, heat this with gravy just sufficient to moisten it.
Dish up the beef with the upper side downwards, put the mince in the
inside, and strew it with bread crumbs ready prepared. Brown them of a
fine colour on a hot salamander over the fire, and then serve up the
beef with scraped horseradish laid round it.


ROAST SNIPES. Snipes and land rails are dressed exactly in the same
manner as woodcocks, but only require a shorter time in roasting.


ROAST STURGEON. Put the fish on a lark spit, then tie it on a large
spit, and baste it constantly with butter. Serve it with a good gravy,
an anchovy, a squeeze of Seville orange or lemon, and a glass of
sherry.--Another way is, to put into a stewpan a piece of butter rolled
in flour, with four cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, two onions, pepper
and salt, half a pint of water, and a glass of vinegar. Stir it over
the fire till hot, then let it become lukewarm, and steep the fish in it
an hour or two. Butter a paper well, tie it round, and roast it without
letting the spit run through. Serve it with sorrel and anchovy sauce.


ROAST SWEETBREADS. Parboil two large ones, and then roast them in a
Dutch oven. Use gravy sauce, or plain butter, with mushroom ketchup.


ROAST TONGUE. After well cleaning a neat's tongue, salt it for three
days with common salt and saltpetre. This makes an excellent dish, with
the addition of a young udder, having some fat to it, and boiled till
tolerably tender. Then tie the thick part of one to the thin part of the
other, and roast the tongue and udder together. A few cloves should be
stuck in the udder. Serve them with good gravy, and currant-jelly sauce.
Some people like neats' tongues cured with the root, in which case they
look much larger; but otherwise the root must be cut off close to the
gullet, next to the tongue, but without taking away the fat under the
tongue. The root must be soaked in salt and water, and extremely well
cleaned, before it is dressed; and the tongue should be laid in salt a
day and a night before it is pickled.


ROAST TURKEY. The sinews of the leg should be drawn, whichever way it is
dressed. The head should be twisted under the wing; and in drawing it,
take care not to tear the liver, nor let the gall touch it. Put a
stuffing of sausage meat; or if sausages are to be served in the dish, a
bread stuffing. As this makes a large addition to the size of the fowl,
observe that the heat of the fire is constantly to that part, for the
breast is often not done enough. A little strip of paper should be put
on the bone, to prevent its being scorched while the other parts are
roasting. Baste it well, and froth it up. Serve with gravy in the dish,
and plenty of bread sauce in a sauce tureen. Add a few crumbs and a
beaten egg to the stuffing of sausage meat. Another way. Bone your
turkey very nicely, leaving on the pinions, rump, and legs; then take
the flesh of a nice fowl, the same weight of bread grated, and half a
pound of beef suet, nicely picked; beat these in a marble mortar, season
with mace, one clove, pepper, nutmeg, salt beat fine, a little lemon
peel shred very small, and the yolks of two eggs; mix all up together
very well; then fill all the parts that the bones came out of, and raise
the breast to the form it was before the bone was taken out; sew up the
skin of the back, and skewer down the legs close as you do a chicken for
roasting; spit it and let it be nicely roasted: send good gravy in the
dish.


ROAST VEAL. Veal must be well done before a good fire. Cover the fat of
the loin and fillet with paper. Stuff the fillet and shoulder in the
following manner. Take a quarter of a pound of suet, parsley, and sweet
herbs, and chop them fine. Add grated bread, lemon peel, pepper, salt,
nutmeg, and an egg. Mix all well together, and put the stuffing safely
into the veal. Roast the breast with the caul on: when nearly done, take
it off, and baste and dredge the meat. Lay it in the dish, pour a little
melted butter over it, and serve it up with salad, boiled vegetables, or
stewed celery.


ROAST VENISON. After a haunch of venison is spitted, take a piece of
butter and rub all over the fat, dust on a little flour, and sprinkle a
little salt: then take a sheet of writing paper, butter it well, and lay
over the fat part; put two sheets over that, and tie the paper on with
small twine: keep it well basting, and let there be a good soaking fire.
If a large haunch, it will take full three hours to do it. Five minutes
before you send it to table take off the paper, dust it over with a
little flour, and baste it with butter; let it go up with a good froth;
put no gravy in the dish, but send it in one boat; and currant jelly
melted, in another; or if you have no currant jelly, boil half a pint of
red wine with a quarter of a pound of lump sugar, a stick of cinnamon,
and a piece of lemon peel in it, to a syrup. The neck and shoulder are
dressed the same way; and as to the time, it depends entirely on the
weight, and the goodness of your fire: if you allow a quarter of an hour
to each pound, and the fire be tolerably kept up, you cannot well err. A
breast of venison is excellent dressed in the following way: flour it,
and fry it brown on both sides in fresh butter: keep it hot in a dish,
dust flour into the butter it was fried in, till it is thick and brown.
Keep it stirring that it may not burn; pour in half a pint of red wine,
and a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar: stir it and let it boil to a
proper thickness. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, take off the scum
very clean, and pour it over your venison, then send it to table.


ROAST WHEAT-EARS. These birds should be spitted sideways, with a vine
leaf between each. Baste them with butter, and cover them with bread
crumbs while roasting. Ten or twelve minutes will do them. Serve them up
with fried bread crumbs in the dish, and gravy in a tureen.


ROAST WILD DUCK. A wild duck or a widgeon will require twenty or
twenty-five minutes roasting, according to the size. A teal, from
fifteen to twenty minutes; and other birds of this kind, in proportion
to their size, a longer or a shorter time. Serve them up with gravy, and
lemons cut in quarters, to be used at pleasure.


ROAST WOODCOCKS. Whether for woodcocks or snipes, put a toast of fine
bread under the birds while at the fire; and as they are not to be drawn
before they are spitted, let the tail drop on the toast while roasting,
and baste them with butter. When done, lay the birds on the toast in a
dish, and send it warm to the table. A woodcock takes twenty minutes
roasting, and a snipe fifteen.


ROBERT SAUCE. Put an ounce of butter into a pint stewpan, and when
melted, add to it half an ounce of onion minced very fine. Turn it with
a wooden spoon till it takes a light brown colour, and then stir into it
a table-spoonful of flour, a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, the
like quantity of port wine, half a pint of weak broth, and half a
tea-spoonful of pepper and salt mixed together. Give them a boil, then
add a tea-spoonful of mustard, the juice of half a lemon, and one or two
tea-spoonfuls of vinegar, basil, taragon, or burnet vinegar. This sauce
is in high repute, and is adapted for roast pork or roast goose.


ROLLS. Warm an ounce of butter in half a pint of milk, put to it a
spoonful or more of small beer yeast, and a little salt. Mix in two
pounds of flour, let it rise an hour, and knead it well. Make the paste
into seven rolls, and bake them in a quick oven. If a little saffron,
boiled in half a tea-cupful of milk, be added, it will be a great
improvement.


ROLLED BEEF. Soak the inside of a large sirloin in a glass of port wine
and a glass of vinegar mixed, for eight and forty hours: have ready a
very fine stuffing, and bind it up tight. Roast it on a hanging spit,
baste it with a glass of port wine, the same quantity of vinegar, and a
tea-spoonful of pounded allspice. Larding it improves the flavour and
appearance: serve it with a rich gravy in the dish, with currant jelly
and melted butter in tureens. This article will be found very much to
resemble a hare.


ROLLED BREAST OF VEAL. Bone it, take off the thick skin and gristle, and
beat the meat with a rolling-pin. Season it with herbs chopped very
fine, mixed with salt, pepper, and mace. Roll the meat in some thick
slices of fine ham, or in two or three calves' tongues of a fine red,
first boiled an hour or two and peeled. Bind the meat up tight in a
cloth, and tie it round with tape. Simmer it over the fire for some
hours, in a small quantity of water, till it is quite tender. Lay it on
the dresser with a board and weight upon it till quite cold. Then take
off the tape, and pour over it the liquor, which must be boiled up twice
a week, or it will not keep. Pigs' or calves' feet boiled and taken from
the bones, may be put in or round the veal. The different colours placed
in layers look well when cut. Boiled yolks of eggs, beet root, grated
ham, and chopped parsley, may be laid in different parts to encrease the
variety, and improve the general appearance.


ROLLED LOIN OF MUTTON. Hang the joint up till tender, and then bone it.
Lay on a seasoning of pepper, allspice, mace, nutmeg, and a few cloves,
all in fine powder. Next day prepare a stuffing as for hare, beat the
meat with a rolling-pin, cover it with the stuffing, roll it up tight
and tie it. Half bake it in a slow oven, let it grow cold, take off the
fat, and put the gravy into a stewpan. Flour the meat, and put it in
likewise. Stew it till almost ready, and add a glass of port, an
anchovy, some ketchup, and a little lemon pickle. Serve it in the gravy,
and with jelly sauce. A few mushrooms are a great improvement; but if to
eat like hare, these must not be added, nor the lemon pickle.


ROLLED NECK OF PORK. Bone it first, then put over the inside a forcemeat
of chopped sage, a very few crumbs of bread, salt, pepper, and two or
three berries of allspice. Then roll the meat up very tight, place it at
a good distance from the fire, and roast it slowly.


ROLLED STEAKS. Cut a large steak from a round of beef, spread over it a
forcemeat, such as is made for veal, roll it up like collared eel, and
tie it up in a cloth. Boil it an hour and a half, and when done enough,
cut it into slices. Prepare a rich gravy, a little thickened, and pour
over the steaks.


ROMAN CEMENT. To make a mortar for outside plastering, or brick-work, or
to line reservoirs, so as no water can penetrate it, mix together
eighty-four pounds of drifted sand, twelve pounds of unslaked lime, and
four pounds of the poorest cheese grated through an iron grater. When
well mixed, add enough hot water, not boiling, to make it into a proper
consistence for plastering, such a quantity of the above as is wanted.
It requires very good and quick working. One hod of this mortar will go
a great way, as it is to be laid on in a thin smooth coat, without the
least space being left uncovered. The wall or lath work should be first
covered with common hair mortar well dried. Suffolk cheese will be found
to make the best cement.


ROOK PIE. Skin and draw some young rooks, cut out the backbones, and
season with pepper and salt. Lay them in a dish with a little water,
strew some bits of butter over them, cover the dish with a thick crust,
and bake it well.


ROSE WATER. When the roses are full blown, pick off the leaves
carefully, and allow a peck of them to a quart of water. Put them in a
cold still over a slow fire, and distil it very gradually. Bottle the
water, and cork it up in two or three days.


ROT IN SHEEP. When sheep are newly brought in, it will preserve their
health to give them a table-spoonful of the juice of rue leaves, mixed
with a little salt. If they are in danger of the rot, this mixture may
be repeated every week or oftener, as the case requires.


ROUND OF BEEF. Cut out the bone first, then skewer and tie up the beef
to make it quite round. Salt it carefully, and moisten it with the
pickle for eight or ten days. It may be stuffed with parsley, if
approved; in which case the holes to admit the parsley must be made with
a sharp-pointed knife, and the parsley coarsely cut and stuffed in
tight. When dressed it should be carefully skimmed as soon as it boils,
and afterwards kept boiling very gently.


ROUT CAKES. To make rout drop-cakes, mix two pounds of flour with one
pound of butter, one pound of sugar, and one pound of currants, cleaned
and dried. Moisten it into a stiff paste with two eggs, a large spoonful
of orange-flower water, as much rose water, sweet wine, and brandy. Drop
the paste on a tin plate floured, and a short time will bake them.


ROYAL CAKES. Put into a saucepan a quarter of a pint of water, a piece
of butter half the size of an egg, two ounces of fine sugar, a little
grated lemon peel, and a little salt. When it has boiled about half a
minute, stir in by degrees four spoonfuls of flour, keeping it
constantly stirring all the time, till it becomes a smooth paste, pretty
stiff, and begins to adhere to the saucepan. Then take it off the fire,
and add three eggs well beaten, putting them in by degrees, and stirring
the paste all the time to prevent its being lumpy. Add a little
orange-flower water, and a few almonds pounded fine. Make it into little
cakes, and bake them upon a sheet of tin well buttered. Half an hour
will bake them in a moderate oven.


ROYAL PUNCH. Take thirty Seville oranges and thirty lemons, quite
sound, and pare them very thin. Put the parings into an earthen pan,
with as much rum or brandy as will cover them. Cover up the pan, and let
them stand four days. Take ten gallons of water, and twelve pounds of
lump sugar, and boil them. When nearly cold, put in the whites of thirty
eggs well beaten, and stir it and boil it a quarter of an hour. Strain
it through a hair sieve into an earthen pan, and let it stand till next
day. Then put it into a cask, strain the spirit from the parings of the
oranges and lemons, and add as much more to it as will make it up five
gallons. Put it into the cask with five quarts of Seville orange juice
and three quarts of lemon juice. Stir it all together with a cleft
stick, and repeat the same once a day for three successive days: then
stop it down close, and in six weeks it will be fit to drink.


RUFFS AND REEVES. These are to be trussed and skewered the same as
snipes and quails. Place bars of bacon over them, roast them in about
ten minutes, and serve with a good gravy in the dish.


RUMP OF BEEF. Take a rump of beef, or about eight pounds of the brisket,
and stew it till it is quite tender, in as much water as will cover it.
When sufficiently done, take out the bones, and skim off the fat very
clean. To a pint of the liquor, add the third part of a pint of port
wine, a little walnut or mushroom ketchup, and some salt. Tie up some
whole white pepper and mace in a piece of muslin, and stew all together
for a short time. Have ready some carrots and turnips boiled tender and
cut into squares, strew them upon the beef, putting a few into the dish.
Truffles and morels may be added, or artichoke bottoms.


RUMP SOUP. Two or three rumps of beef will make a stronger soup, and of
a far more nourishing quality, than a larger quantity of meat without
them. It may be made like gravy soup, and thickened and flavoured in any
way that is most approved.


RUMP STEAKS. The best steaks are those cut from the middle of a rump of
beef, that has been killed at least four days in moderate weather, and
much longer in cold weather, when they can be cut about six inches long,
four inches wide, and half an inch thick. Do not beat them, unless you
suspect they will not be tender. Take care to have a very clear brisk
fire, throw on it a little salt, make the gridiron hot, and set it
slanting, to prevent the fat from dropping into the fire, and making a
smoke. It requires more practice and care than is generally supposed to
do steaks to a nicety; and for want of these little attentions, this
very common dish, which every body is supposed capable of dressing,
seldom comes to table in perfection. It may be underdone or thoroughly
done, as happens to be preferred. It is usual to put a table-spoonful of
ketchup into a dish before the fire, with a little minced shalot. In
broiling, turn the steak with a pair of meat tongs, and it will be done
in about ten or fifteen minutes. Rub a bit of butter over it, and send
it up quite hot, garnished with pickles, and scraped horseradish.--If
onion gravy is to be added, prepare it in the following manner. Peel and
slice two large onions, put them into a stewpan with two table-spoonfuls
of water, cover the stewpan close, and set it on a slow fire till the
water has boiled away, and the onions have got a little browned. Then
add half a pint of good broth, or water with a large spoonful of
ketchup, and boil the onions till they are quite tender. Strain off the
liquor, and chop them very fine. Thicken the broth with butter rolled in
flour, and season it with mushroom ketchup, pepper and salt. Put the
onion into it, let it boil gently for five minutes, and pour it over the
broiled steak. Good beef gravy, instead of broth, will make the sauce
superlative.--If a cold rump steak is to be warmed up, lay it in a
stewpan, with a large onion cut in quarters, six berries of allspice,
and six of black pepper. Cover the steak with boiling water, let it stew
gently for an hour, thicken the liquor with butter rolled in flour,
shake it well over the fire for five minutes, and it is ready. Lay the
steaks and onion on a dish, and pour the gravy over them through a
sieve.


RUSKS. Beat seven eggs well, and mix them with half a pint of new milk,
in which four ounces of butter have been previously melted. Add a
quarter of a pint of yeast, and three ounces of sugar, and put them by
degrees into as much flour as will make a very light paste, rather like
a batter, and let it rise before the fire half an hour. Then add some
more flour, to make it a little stiffer, but not much. Work it well, and
divide it into small loaves, or cakes, about five or six inches wide,
and flatten them. When baked and cold, slice them the thickness of
rusks, and put them into the oven to brown a little. The cakes when
first baked, eat deliciously buttered for tea; or made with carraways,
they eat well cold.


RUSSIAN SAUCE. To four spoonfuls of grated horseradish, put two
tea-spoonfuls of patent mustard, a little salt, one tea-spoonful of
sugar, and a sufficient quantity of vinegar to cover the ingredients.
This sauce is used for cold meat, but makes a good fish sauce, with the
addition of melted butter.


RUST. To prevent iron and steel from rusting, mix with fat oil varnish,
at least half, or at most four fifths of its quantity of highly
rectified spirits of turpentine. This varnish must be lightly and
evenly applied with a sponge; after which the article is left to dry in
some situation not exposed to dust. Articles thus varnished retain their
metallic lustre, and do not contract any spots of rust. This varnish may
also be applied to copper, of which it preserves the polish and
heightens the colour.




S.


SACK CREAM. Boil a pint of raw cream, the yolk of an egg well beaten,
two or three spoonfuls of white wine, sugar, and lemon peel. Stir it
over a gentle fire till it be as thick as rich cream, and afterwards
till it becomes cold. Then serve it in glasses, with long pieces of dry
toast.


SACK DUMPLINS. Grate the crumb of two penny rolls, add three quarters of
a pound of suet cut small, three quarters of a pound of currants washed
clean, a grated nutmeg, a little sugar, the yolks of eight eggs, and two
wine glasses of sack. Make the paste into dumplins of a moderate size,
tie them in cloths, and boil them two hours. Melted butter for sauce,
with white wine and sugar.


SACK MEAD. To every gallon of water put four pounds of honey, and boil
it three quarters of an hour, taking care to skim it. To every gallon
add an ounce of hops; then boil it half an hour, and let it stand till
the next day. Put it into a cask, and to thirteen gallons of the liquor
add a quart of brandy. Stop it lightly till the fermentation is over,
and then bung it up close. A large cask should be suffered to stand a
year.


SACKS OF CORN. Seeds, and various kinds of grain, are liable to damage
when kept in sacks or bins, from the want of being sufficiently aired.
Make a small wooden tube nearly the length of the sack, closed and
pointed at one end, and perforated with holes about an inch asunder,
nearly two thirds of its length from the point end. Then at the other
end fasten a leather tube, and thrust it into the corn to the bottom of
the sack. Put the pipe of a pair of bellows into the leather tube, and
blow into it, so that the air may be diffused among the corn throughout
the holes of the wooden tube. If corn be thus treated every other day
after it is first put into sacks, it will prevent the damp sweats which
would otherwise injure it, and it will afterwards keep sweet with very
little airing.


SADDLE OF MUTTON. When it has been well kept, raise the skin, and then
skewer it on again. Take it off a quarter of an hour before serving,
sprinkle on some salt, baste and dredge it well with flour. The rump
should be split, and skewered back on each side. The joint may be cut
large or small, according to the company: the latter is the most
elegant. Being broad, it requires a high and strong fire.


SAFFRON CAKE. Take a quarter of a peck of fine flour, a pound and a half
of fresh butter, a quarter of an ounce of mace and cinnamon together,
beat fine, and mix the spice in the flour. Set on a quart of milk to
boil, break the butter in, and stir it till the milk boils; take off all
the butter, and a little of the milk; mix with the flour a pound of
sugar beat fine, a penny-worth of saffron made into a tincture; take a
pint of yeast that is not bitter, and stir it well into the remainder
of the milk; beat up six eggs very well, and put to the yeast and milk,
strain it to the flour, with some rose-water, and the tincture of
saffron; beat up all together with your hands lightly, and put it into a
hoop or pan well buttered. It will take an hour and a half in a quick
oven. You may make the tincture of saffron with the rose-water.


SAGE is raised from seed, or from slips. To have it at hand for winter
it is necessary to dry it; and it ought to be cut for this purpose
before it comes out into bloom, as indeed is the case with all other
herbs.


SAGE CHEESE. To make this kind of cheese, bruise the tops of young red
sage in a mortar, with some leaves of spinach, and squeeze out the
juice. Mix it with the rennet in the milk, more or less, according as
the taste and colour may be preferred. When the curd is come, break it
gently, and put it in with the skimmer, till it is pressed two inches
above one vat. Press it eight or ten hours, salt and turn it every day.


SAGO. To prevent the earthy taste, soak it an hour in cold water; pour
off the water, and wash it well. Then add more, and simmer it gently
till the berries are clear, with lemon peel and spice, if approved. Add
wine and sugar, and boil all up together.--If intended for the sick, or
those whom disease has left very feeble, boil a teacupful of washed,
sago in a quart of water, and a taste of lemon peel. When thickened,
grate in some ginger, and add half a pint of raisin wine, some brown
sugar, and two spoonfuls of Geneva: boil all up together.


SAGO MILK. Cleanse the sago as in the former article, and boil it slowly
in new milk. It swells so much, that a small quantity will be sufficient
for a quart; and when done, it will be diminished to about a pint. It
requires no sugar or flavouring.


SAGO PUDDING. Boil a pint and a half of new milk, with four spoonfuls of
sago nicely washed and picked; then add lemon peel, cinnamon, and
nutmeg. Sweeten the pudding, mix in four eggs, put a paste round the
dish, and bake it slowly.


SAIL CLOTH. The old mode of painting canvas was to wet it, and prime it
with Spanish brown. Then to give it a second coat of a chocolate colour,
made by mixing Spanish brown and black paint; and lastly, to finish it
with black. This was found to harden to such a degree as to crack, and
eventually to break, the canvas, and so to render it unserviceable in a
short time. The new method, which is greatly superior, is to grind
ninety-six pounds of English ochre with boiled oil, and to add sixteen
pounds of black paint, which mixture forms an indifferent black. A pound
of yellow soap, dissolved in six pints of water over the fire, is mixed
while hot, with the paint. This composition is then laid upon the
canvas, without being wetted as formerly, and as stiff as can
conveniently be done with a brush, so as to form a smooth surface. Two
days afterwards, a second coat of ochre and black is laid on, with a
very small portion of soap; and allowing this coat an intermediate day
for drying, the canvas is then finished with black paint as usual. Three
days being then allowed for it to dry and harden, it does not stick
together when taken down, and folded in cloths of sixty or seventy yards
each.


SALAD MIXTURE. Salad herbs should be gathered in the morning, as fresh
as possible, or they must be put into cold spring water for an hour.
Carefully wash and pick them, trim off all the dry or cankered leaves,
put them into a cullender to drain, and swing them dry in a coarse
clean napkin. Then pound together the yolks of two hard eggs, an ounce
of scraped horseradish, half an ounce of salt, a table-spoonful of made
mustard, four drams of minced shalots, one dram of celery seed, one dram
of cress seed, and half a dram of cayenne. Add by degrees a wine glass
of salad oil, three glasses of burnet, and three of tarragon vinegar.
When thoroughly incorporated, set it over a very gentle fire, and stir
it with a wooden spoon till it has simmered to the consistence of cream.
Then pass it through a tammis or fine sieve, and add it to the salad.


SALAD SAUCE. Mix two yolks of eggs boiled hard, as much grated Parmesan
cheese as will fill a dessert-spoon, a little patent mustard, a small
spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a large one of ketchup. Stir them well
together, then put in four spoonfuls of salad oil, and one spoonful of
elder vinegar, and beat them up very smooth.


SALADS. Cold salads are proper to be eaten at all seasons of the year,
but are particularly to be recommended from the beginning of February to
the end of June. They are in greater perfection, and consequently more
powerful, during this period, than at any other, in opening
obstructions, sweetening and purifying the blood. The habit of eating
salad herbs tends considerably to prevent that pernicious and almost
general disease the scurvy, and all windy humours which offend the
stomach. Also from the middle of September till December, and during the
winter, if the weather be mild and open, all green herbs are wholesome,
and highly beneficial. It is true that they have not so much vigour in
the winter season, nor are they so medicinal as in the spring of the
year; yet those which continue fresh and green, will retain a
considerable portion of their natural qualities; and being eaten as
salads, with proper seasoning, they will operate much in the same way as
at other periods of the year. It is a necessary consequence of cold
weather, that the heat of the body is driven more inward than in warm
weather, as the cold of the atmosphere repels it from the surface. Hence
arises an appetite for strong and solid food, and strong drinks, which
for want of temperance and care, lays the foundation for diseases that
commonly make their appearance in the summer following. Eating freely of
salads and other vegetables in the winter, will prevent in a great
treasure these ill effects; and if properly seasoned and prepared, they
will warm the stomach, and be found exhilarating. The effect produced is
in unison with all the operations of the human constitution, while the
use of strong stimulants excites to unnatural action, which is soon
succeeded by a cold and chilling languor. Green herbs in winter are much
more beneficial than is generally imagined; they are particularly
salutary to aged persons, and such as are subject to stoppages, or
shortness of breath. In this case, instead of an onion, a clove of
garlic may be put into the salad, which is a preferable way of eating
it. This will open and warm the stomach, and give a general glow to the
whole system.--The following are the principal herbs used as salads.
Basil, balm, borage, burnet, celery, chervil, colewort, coriander,
corn-salad, cresses, endive, French fennel, lettuce, mint, mustard,
nasturtiums, nettle-tops, parsley, pennyroyal, radishes, rape, sage,
sorrel, spinage, tarragon, and water-cresses. Onions, both young and
full grown, shalots, garlic, and chives, are all used as seasoning to
salads. Red beet-root, boiled and cold, is often sliced into them.
Several of these herbs are very little in use as salads, but there are
none of them that may not be recommended as good for the purpose. The
usual salads are too much limited to what is specifically called small
salading, lettuce, celery, and endive. These are all excellent in their
kind, but to prefer them to the exclusion of every thing else, is a mere
prejudice. With a wish therefore to counteract it, and to provide a
larger assortment of wholesome salads, the following particulars are
given, with directions for preparing several different dishes of this
description. In general it may be proper to observe, that salads of all
kinds should be very fresh; or if not immediately procured in this
state, they may be refreshed by being put into cold spring water. They
should be very carefully washed and picked, and drained quite dry in a
clean cloth. In dressing lettuce, or small herbs, it is best to arrange
them, properly picked and cut, in the salad dish; then to mix the sauce
in something else, and pour it to the salad down the side of the dish,
so as to let it run to the bottom, and not to stir it up till used at
table. This preserves the crispness of the salad, which is one of its
principal delicacies. With celery and endive the sauce should be poured
upon them, and the whole well stirred together to mix it equally.
Lettuce, endive, and celery, may be eaten with salt only; and if well
chewed, as all salads ought to be, they often agree better than when
mixed with seasonings. If mustard in salad sauces occasion sickness, or
otherwise disagrees, cayenne pepper will often prove an excellent
substitute.--The following salads are remarkably wholesome, and have a
cooling and salutary effect upon the bowels. 1. Take spinage, parsley,
sorrel, lettuce, and a few onions. Then add oil, vinegar, and salt, to
give it a high taste and relish, but let the salt rather predominate
above the other ingredients. The wholesomest way of eating salads is
with bread only, in preference to bread and butter, bread and cheese, or
meat and bread; though any of these may be eaten with it, when the salad
is seasoned only with salt and vinegar. It is not advisable to eat
butter, cheese, or meat with salads, or any thing in which there is a
mixture of oil. All fat substances are heavy of digestion, and to mix
such as disagree in their nature, is to encrease this evil to a degree
that the stomach can hardly overcome. 2. Prepare some lettuce, spinage
tops, pennyroyal, sorrel, a few onions, and some parsley. Then season
them with oil, vinegar, and salt. 3. Another salad may be made of
lettuce, sorrel, spinage, tops of mint, and onions, seasoned as before.
4. Take spinage, lettuce, tarragon, and parsley, with some leaves of
balm. Or sorrel, tarragon, spinage, lettuce, onions, and parsley. Or
tops of pennyroyal, mint, lettuce, spinage, sorrel, and parsley. Or
lettuce, spinage, onions, pennyroyal, balm, and sorrel. Or sage,
lettuce, spinage, sorrel, onions, and parsley; seasoned with salt, oil,
and vinegar. 5. Make a salad of pennyroyal, sage, mint, balm, a little
lettuce, and sorrel; seasoned with oil, vinegar, and salt. This is an
excellent warming salad, though the above are all of an exhilarating
tendency. 6. Mix some lettuce, sorrel, endive, celery, spinage, and
onions, seasoned as above. 7. Take the fresh tender leaves of cole wort,
or cabbage plants, with lettuce, sorrel, parsley, tarragon, nettle tops,
mint, and pennyroyal; and season them with salt, oil, and vinegar. If
highly seasoned, this is a very warm and relishing salad. 8. For winter
salad, take some tender plants of colewort, sorrel, lettuce, endive,
celery, parsley, and sliced onions; and season them as before. 9.
Another winter salad may be made of lettuce, spinage, endive, celery,
and half a clove of garlic. Season it well with oil, vinegar, and salt.
This salad is very warming and wholesome. All these aromatic herbs are
particularly proper for phlegmatic and weakly persons, as they have the
property of warming the stomach, and improving the blood. To supply the
want of oil in salads, make some thick melted butter, and use it in the
same proportion as oil. Some sweet thick cream is a still better
substitute, and will do as well as oil, especially as some persons have
an aversion to oil. Cream also looks well in salads. A good salad sauce
may be made of two yolks of eggs boiled hard, mixed with a spoonful of
Parmesan cheese grated, a little patent mustard, a spoonful of tarragon
vinegar, and a larger one of ketchup. When stirred well together, add
four spoonfuls of salad oil, and one of elder vinegar, and beat them up
very smooth. It is very common in France, amongst all classes of people,
to dress cauliflowers and French beans to eat cold, as salads, with a
sauce of oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. In some parts of France, raw
salads, composed entirely of herbs growing wild in the fields, are in
frequent use; and for distinction sake, are called rural salads. The
English, who are not so fond of pungent flavours, are in the habit of
substituting sugar instead of pepper and salt, where oil is not used, in
order to soften the asperity of the vinegar.


SALMAGUNDY. This is a beautiful small dish, if in a nice shape, and the
colours of the ingredients be properly varied. For this purpose chop
separately the white part of cold chicken or veal, yolks of eggs boiled
hard, the whites of eggs, beet root, parsley, half a dozen anchovies,
red pickled cabbage, ham and grated tongue, or any thing well flavoured
and of a good colour. Some people like a small proportion of onion, but
it may be better omitted. A saucer, large teacup, or any other base,
must be put into a small dish; then make rows round it wide at the
bottom, and growing smaller towards the top, choosing such ingredients
for each row as will most vary the colours. At the top, a little sprig
of curled parsley may be stuck in; or without any thing on the dish, the
salmagundy may be laid in rows, or put into the half-whites of eggs,
which may be made to stand upright by cutting off a little bit at the
round end. In the latter case, each half egg receives but one
ingredient. Curled butter and parsley may be put as garnish between.


SALMON. If fresh and good, the flesh will be of a fine red, the gills
particularly; the scales very bright, and the whole fish stiff. When
just killed there is a whiteness between the flakes, which gives great
firmness; by keeping, this melts down, and the fish is more rich. The
Thames salmon bears the highest price; that caught in the Severn is next
in goodness, and by some it is preferred. Those with small heads, and
thick in the neck, are best.


SALMON AU COURT-BOUILLON. Scale and clean a fresh salmon very well,
score the sides deep, to take the seasoning; take of mace and cloves,
and white pepper, a quarter of an ounce each, a small nutmeg, and an
ounce of salt; beat these very fine in a mortar; cut a little lemon peel
fine, and shred some parsley, mix all together, and season the fish
inside and out; then work up near a pound of butter in flour, and fill
up the notches; the rest put into the belly of the fish; lay it in a
clean cloth or napkin, roll it up, and bind it round with packthread,
lay it into a fish-kettle, and put to it as much white wine vinegar, and
water in an equal quantity, as will be sufficient to boil it in. Set it
over a good charcoal fire, and when you think it is enough, draw it off
your stove, so that it may but just simmer. Fold a clean napkin the
length of your dish the fish is to go up in; take up the fish, unbind
it, and lay it on the napkin. Garnish your dish with picked raw parsley,
and horseradish. Send plain butter in a bason, and shalots chopped fine,
and simmered in vinegar in a boat.


SALMON A LA BRAISE. Clean a middling salmon, take the flesh of a tench,
or a large eel, and chop it very fine, with two anchovies, a little
lemon peel shred, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little thyme and parsley;
mix all together with a good piece of butter, put into the belly of the
fish, and sew it up; put it into an oval stew-pan that will just hold
it; brown about half a pound of fresh butter, and put to it a pint of
fish broth, and a pint and a half of white wine; pour this over your
fish; if it does not cover it, add some more wine and broth; put in a
bundle of sweet herbs, and an onion, a little mace, two or three cloves,
and some whole pepper tied up in a piece of muslin: cover it close, and
let it stew gently over a slow fire. Before it is quite done, take out
your onion, herbs, and spice; then put in some mushrooms, truffles, and
morels, cut in pieces; let them stew all together, till the salmon is
enough; take it up carefully, take off all the scum, and pour your sauce
over. Garnish with horseradish, barberries, and lemon. Either of these
is a fine dish for a first course.


SALMON PIE. Make puff paste, and lay over your dish; clean and scale a
middling piece of salmon; cut it into three or four pieces, according to
the size of your dish, and season it pretty high with mace, cloves,
pepper, and salt; put some butter at the bottom, and lay in the salmon;
take the meat of a lobster cut small, and bruise the body with an
anchovy; melt as much butter as you think proper, stir the lobster into
it, with a glass of white wine, and a little nutmeg; pour this over the
salmon, lay on the top crust, and let it be well baked.


SALOOP. Boil together a little water, wine, lemon peel, and sugar. Mix
in a small quantity of saloop powder, previously rubbed smooth with a
little cold water. Stir it all together, and boil it a few minutes.


SALT. The properties of common salt are such as to render it an article
of the greatest importance in the preparation of food, and in the
preservation of health. If salt be withheld for any length of time,
diseases of the stomach become general, and worms are gendered in the
bowels, which are removed with great difficulty. In Ireland, salt is a
well-known common remedy for bots in the horse; and among the poor
people, a dose of common salt is esteemed a sufficient cure for the
worms. It is supposed by some medical men, that salt furnishes soda to
be mixed with the bile: without this necessary addition, the bile would
be deprived of the qualities necessary to assist in the operation of
digestion. One of the greatest grievances of which the poor man can
complain is the want of salt. Many of the insurrections and commotions
among the Hindoos, have been occasioned by the cruel and unjust
monopolies of certain unworthy servants of the East India Company, who
to aggrandize their own fortunes have oftentimes bought up, on
speculation, all the salt in the different ports and markets, and thus
have deprived the ingenious but wretched natives of their only remaining
comfort, salt being the only addition they are usually enabled to make
to their poor pittance of rice. Many of the poor in England, previously
to the late reduction especially, have loudly lamented the high price
of salt, which thousands are in the habit of using as the only seasoning
to their meal of potatoes. Salt is also of the greatest use in
agriculture. From one to two bushels makes fine manure for an acre of
land, varied according to the quality of the soil. This answers better
than almost any other compost. The Chinese have for ages been accustomed
to manure their fields by sprinkling them with sea water. The Persians
sprinkle the timber of their buildings with salt, to prevent them from
rotting. It is used in Abyssinia instead of money, where it passes from
hand to hand, under the shape of a brick, worth about eighteen pence. In
feeding of cattle, it is also found to be highly beneficial. A nobleman
who purchased two hundred Merino sheep in Spain, attributes the health
of his flock principally to the constant use of salt. These sheep having
been accustomed to that article in their native land, it was thought
necessary to supply them with it, especially in this damp climate, and
in the rich pastures of some parts of this country. A ton of salt is
used annually for every thousand sheep: a handful is put in the morning
on a flat stone or slate, ten of which, set a few yards apart, are
sufficient for a hundred sheep. This quantity is given twice a week. Out
of a flock of nearly a thousand, there were not ten old sheep that did
not readily take it, and not a single lamb which did not consume it
greedily. Salt is likewise a preventive of disorders in stock fed with
rank green food, as clover or turnips, and it is deemed a specific for
the rot. Horses and horned cattle are also very fond of salt: the cow
gives more milk, and richer in quality, when salt is mixed with her
food. The wild beasts of the American forests leave their haunts at
certain seasons, and travel in company to various places where salt is
to be found. There they lick the ground on which the salt lies, or which
is strongly impregnated by it. Cattle fed on grass which grows on the
sea shore, are always fatter and in better condition, than those which
graze on in land-pastures. Considering its various uses in agriculture,
as an article of food, and as a preservative from putrefaction, salt may
be pronounced one of the most generally useful and necessary of all the
minerals; and it is truly lamentable, that in almost all ages and
countries, particularly in those where despotism prevails, this should
be one of those necessaries of life, on which the most heavy taxes are
imposed. Bay salt is a kind of brownish impure salt, obtained in France,
Italy, and other countries, by evaporating sea water in pits. The
principal part of bay salt sold in this country is however of home
manufacture, being a coarse grained chrystalized salt, made dirty by
powdered Turkey umber, or some such colouring material, to give it the
appearance of a foreign article. The only utility which this salt
appears to possess, beyond that of the common fine-grained salt usually
found in the shops, is that it dissolves more slowly by moisture, and
therefore is better calculated for salting of fish, and other animal
substances, which cannot be wholly covered with brine. Basket salt is
made from the water of the salt springs in Cheshire and other places. It
differs from the common brine salt in the fineness of the grain, as well
as on account of its whiteness and purity. It is principally used at
table.


SALT BEEF. Great attention is requisite in salting meat; and in the
country, where large quantities are often cured, this is of particular
importance. Beef and pork should be well sprinkled, and a few hours
afterwards hung to drain, before it is rubbed with the salt. This
method, by cleansing the meat from the blood, serves to keep it from
tasting strong. It should be turned every day; and if wanted soon, it
should be rubbed daily. A salting tub or lead may be used, and a cover
to fit close. Those who use a good deal of salt meat will find it answer
well to boil up the pickle, and skim it clean; and when cold, pour it
over meat that has been sprinkled and drained.--To salt beef red, which
is extremely good to eat fresh from the pickle, or to hang to dry,
choose a piece of the flank, or any part that has but little bone.
Sprinkle it, and let it drain a day. Then rub it with common salt, bay
salt, and a small proportion of saltpetre, all in fine powder. A few
grains of cochineal may be added. Rub the pickle into the meat every day
for a week, and afterwards turning it only will be sufficient. It will
be excellent in about eight days; and in sixteen days it may be drained
from the pickle. Smoke it at the mouth of the oven, when heated with
wood, or send it to the baker's; a few days will be sufficient to smoke
it. A little of the coarsest sugar added to the salt, will be an
improvement. Red beef boiled tender, eats well with greens or carrots.
If it is to be grated as Dutch beef, then cut a lean bit, boil it
extremely tender, and put it hot under a press. When cold fold it in a
sheet of paper, and it will keep in a dry place two or three months,
ready for serving on bread and butter.--If a piece of beef is to be
prepared for eating immediately, it should not weigh more than five or
six pounds. Salt it thoroughly before it is to be put into the pot, take
a coarse cloth, flour it well, put the meat into it, and fold it up
close. Put it into a pot of boiling water, and boil it as another piece
of salt meat of the same size, and it will be as salt as if it had been
in pickle four or five days.


SALT COD. Soak and clean the piece intended to be dressed, and lay it
all night in water, with a glass of vinegar. Boil it enough, then break
it into flakes on the dish; pour over it parsnips boiled, beaten in a
mortar, and boiled up with cream. Add to it a large piece of butter,
rubbed in a little flour. Egg sauce may be sent up instead, or the
parsnip root whole. The fish may also be boiled without flaking, and
served with either of the sauces as above.


SALT FISH. Backlio, old ling, and tusk, are reckoned the best salt fish.
Old ling and backlio, must be laid in water for ten or twelve hours,
then taken out, and scaled very clean; wash the fish, and let it lay out
of water till you want to use it; if it is the next day, it will be the
better. When you dress it, put it into cold water, and let it do as
gently as possible; let it be boiled so tender, that you may put a fork
into any part of it without sticking, then it is enough. Lay a clean
napkin over your dish, take up the fish, lay it upon the napkin, and
throw the corners over each other. Send it to table with egg sauce in a
basin, parsnips sliced, and butter and mustard in a boat.


SALT FISH WITH CREAM. Soak and boil some good barrel cod, till about
three parts done. Divide it into flakes, put them into a saucepan with
some cream, a little pepper, and a handful of parsley scalded and
chopped. Stew it gently till tender, thicken the sauce with two or three
yolks of eggs, and serve it up.


SALT FISH PIE. Boil a side of salt fish as you would for eating; cut a
square bit out of the middle, about the bigness of your hand; take the
skin off the other, and take out all the bones; mince this very small
with six eggs boiled hard; season it with pepper, nutmeg, and beaten
mace, then slice the crumb of French rolls thin into a pan, pour over it
a quart of boiling milk, and let it stand to soak; in the mean time,
make a good puff paste, and sheet the dish all over; have in readiness
the quantity of two spoonfuls of parsley shred very fine, beat the bread
well together, then put in the fish and eggs, and chopped parsley; stir
all well together; melt about three quarters of a pound of butter, and
stir it into the ingredients, with a gill of Mountain; pour this into
the dish, lay the square piece of fish in the middle; lay on the lid,
and bake it an hour, or a little more.--You may make ling, or stock-fish
pie in this manner; but you are to observe, that all the skin is to be
taken off, and not to put a piece whole into the pie, according to this
receipt; but mince all the fish with the yolks of hard eggs, leaving out
the whites, and adding a large spoonful of made mustard when you stir
the ingredients together, before you put them into the pie.


SALT PORK. To a hundred weight of pork or beef, take ten pounds of
common salt, and half a pound of saltpetre. Let the meat be well cleaned
from those particles of blood which hang about it when cut into four
pound pieces: this is best done by washing it in salt and water, or
brine that has been used, provided it be sweet. Lay the meat in rows,
and rub the upper side moderately with salt; then place another layer of
meat, and repeat the operation as on the first layer. In this manner
continue the same proportion of salt and saltpetre, till the whole
quantity is heaped up in a tub, or some other vessel, not of lead, in
order to preserve the pickle from issuing from it. In this state it must
remain for three days, then turn it into another tub, sprinkling it
with salt in the act of turning the meat. When all is turned and salted,
let the pickle procured by the first salting, be slowly poured about the
meat. In this state let it remain for a week, and it will be excellent
for home use. If wanted for exportation, pack it in this state into
casks. But as the greatest care is required for its preservation, when
sent abroad, a layer of salt must first be put into the barrel, and then
a layer of meat, till the cask is full, taking care to use the hand only
in packing in the pieces. When the barrel is headed, the pickle must be
filtered through a coarse cloth; and when perfectly fine, fill up the
cask with the pickle to the bung hole. Let it remain in this state till
the next day, in order to ascertain whether the cask be quite tight, and
then bung it up. Beef or pork cured in this manner will not fail to keep
any reasonable length of time. The too great rubbing of meat will not
keep it the better, it frequently retards the operation of the salt by
filling the outward pores of the meat only to the destruction of the
middle of the piece, which frequently perishes.


SALTING OF BUTTER. After the butter is well worked up and cleared from
the milk, it is ready for salting. The tub in which it is to be
preserved being perfectly clean, should be rubbed in the whole inside
with common salt; and a little melted butter should be poured into the
cavity between the bottom and the sides, before the butter is put in.
Although common salt is generally employed on this occasion, yet the
following composition not only preserves the butter more effectually
from taint, but also makes it look better, taste sweeter, richer, and
more marrowy, than if it had been cured with common salt only. Take of
best common salt two parts, saltpetre one part, lump sugar one part,
and beat them up together in a mortar, so that they may be completely
blended. To every pound of butter, add one ounce of this composition:
mix it well in the mass, and close it up for use. Butter prepared in
this manner will keep good for three years, and cannot be distinguished
from that which is recently salted; but it does not taste well till it
has stood a fortnight or three weeks. To preserve butter for winter use,
take some that is fresh and good in the month of August or September,
and put it into an unglazed jar, in layers about two inches thick, till
the jar is full, within three inches of the top. Make a strong brine of
salt and water, boil and skim it; and when it is quite cold, pour a
sufficient quantity over the butter, so that the brine may be an inch
deep. Tie paper over it, and set it in a cool place. When wanted for
use, cut it no deeper than the first layer till that is all used. Then
cut the second in the same manner, and so on to the bottom of the tub or
jar. By this means there will be no more than a part of one layer that
is not covered with the brine. To make it eat like fresh butter, dip
each piece into water when it is cut out of the jar; or work it over
again in fresh buttermilk or milk, and make it into shapes like fresh
butter. It will eat much better with toast, than most of the fresh
butter that is made in winter. It is a false idea, that butter, to be
preserved for winter use, requires a greater quantity of salt:
experience has proved the contrary. Butter salted in the common way, and
put in pots with brine over the top, retains its flavour, and is better
preserved than by an additional quantity of salt. One more observation
on the preservation of butter is necessary. It is universally allowed
that cleanliness is indispensible, but it is not generally suspected,
that butter from being made in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or in
glazed earthenware pans, which glaze is principally composed of lead, is
too apt to be contaminated by particles of that deleterious metal. If
the butter is in the least degree rancid, this can hardly fail to take
place, and it cannot be doubted, that during the decomposition of the
salts, the glazing is acted on. It is better therefore to use tinned
vessels for mixing the preservative with the butter, and to pack it
either in wooden vessels, or in jars of the Vauxhall ware, which being
vitrified throughout, do not require an inside glazing.


SAMPHIRE. This should be boiled in plenty of water, with a good deal of
salt in it. Put it in when the water boils, and let it boil till quite
tender. Serve it up with melted butter.


SANDWICHES. Properly prepared, these form an elegant and convenient
luncheon; but they have got much out of fashion, from the bad manner in
which they are commonly made. They have consisted of any offal or odd
ends, that cannot be sent to table in any other form, merely laid
between slices of bread and butter. Whatever kind of meat is used
however, it must be carefully trimmed from every bit of skin and
gristle, and nothing introduced but what is relishing and acceptable.
Sandwiches may be made of any of the following materials. Cold meat,
poultry, potted meat, potted shrimps or lobsters, potted cheese; grated
ham, beef, or tongue; anchovy, sausages, cold pork; hard eggs, pounded
with a little butter and cheese; forcemeats, and curry powder. Mustard,
pepper, and salt, are to be added, as occasion requires.


SAVOURY BEEF. The tongue side of a round of beef is best adapted for the
purpose; and if it weighs about fifteen pounds, let it hang two or
three days. Then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coarse
sugar, a quarter of an ounce of black pepper, some minced herbs, and
three quarters of a pound of salt. Incorporate these ingredients by
pounding them together in a mortar; and if approved, add a quarter of an
ounce of ginger. Take out the bone, and rub the meat well with the above
mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a fortnight. When it is
to be dressed, put it into a pan with a quart of water. Cover the meat
with about three pounds of mutton suet chopped, and an onion or two
minced small. Put the whole into a pan, cover it with a flour crust, and
bake it in a moderate oven for six hours. Instead of baking it may be
covered with water, and stewed very gently for about five hours; and
when sent to table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley. The
gravy will be excellent for sauce or soup, or making of soy, or
browning; and being impregnated with salt, it will keep several days.
That the suet may not be wasted, when the dish comes from the oven, take
out the beef, and strain the contents of the pan through a sieve.
Clarify the fat when cold, and it will do for frying. The meat should
not be cut till it is cold, and then with a sharp knife to prevent
waste, and keep it smooth and even. This is a most excellent way of
preparing savoury beef for sandwiches, and for other elegant and
economical purposes.


SAVOURY JELLY. If to put over cold pies, make it of a small bare knuckle
of veal, or of a scrag of mutton. If the pie be of fowl or rabbit, the
carcases, necks, and heads, added to any piece of meat, will be
sufficient, observing to give it a consistence by adding cow heel, or
shanks of mutton. Put the meat into a stewpan that shuts very close,
adding a slice of lean ham or bacon, a faggot of different herbs, two
blades of mace, an onion or two, a small bit of lemon peel, a
tea-spoonful of Jamaica pepper bruised, and the same of whole pepper,
with three pints of water. As soon as it boils skim it well, let it
simmer very slowly till it is quite strong, and then strain it. When
cold take off the fat with a spoon first, and then, to remove every
particle of grease, lay on it a clean piece of blotting paper. If not
clear, after being cold, boil it a few minutes with the whites of two
eggs, but do not add the sediment. Pour it through a clean sieve, with a
napkin in it, which has been dipped in boiling water, to prevent waste.


SAVOURY PIES. Few articles of cookery are more generally approved than
relishing pies, if properly made; and there are various things adapted
to this purpose. Some eat best cold, and in that case, no suet should be
put into the forcemeat that is used with them. If the pie is either made
of meat that will take more dressing, to make it quite tender, than the
baking of the crust will allow; or if it is to be served in an earthen
pie-form, the following preparation must be observed. For instance, take
three pounds of a veiny piece of beef, that has fat and lean; wash it,
and season it with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice, in fine powder,
rubbing them in well. Set it by the side of a slow fire, in a stewpot
that will just hold it. Add about two ounces of butter, cover it quite
close, and let it just simmer in its own steam till it begins to shrink.
When it is cold, add more seasoning, forcemeat, and eggs. If in a dish,
put some gravy to it before baking: if in a crust only, the gravy must
not be added till after it is cold, and in a jelly. Forcemeat may be put
both under and over the meat, if preferred to balls.


SAVOURY RICE. Wash and pick some rice quite clean, stew it very gently
in a small quantity of veal or rich mutton broth, with an onion, a blade
of mace, pepper and salt. When swelled, but not boiled to a mash, dry it
on the shallow part of a sieve before the fire, and either serve it dry,
or put it in the middle of a dish, and pour hot gravy round it.


SAVOURY VEAL PIE. Make a good puff-paste, and sheet your dish; cut the
veal into pieces, season it with pepper, mace, and nutmeg, finely beat,
and a little salt; lay it into the crust, with lambstones, sweetbreads,
the yolks of hard eggs, an artichoke bottom boiled, and cut in dice, and
the tops of asparagus; put in about half a pint of water, lay pieces of
butter over the top, put on the lid, and ornament it to your fancy. In a
quick oven about an hour and an half will bake it. Make a caudle for it
thus: take half a pint of strong veal broth, a gill of white wine, and
the yolks of three eggs; set this over the stove, and keep it stirring;
put in some grated nutmeg, and a little salt; when it boils, if there is
any scum, take it off; pour in a gill of cream, keep it stirring till it
simmers, then take the lid of your pie off carefully, and pour the
caudle over it, shake it round, lay on the lid as exact as you can, and
send it to table. You may do lamb this way.


SAVOURY VEGETABLES. Wash a dish with the white of eggs. Make several
divisions with mashed potatoes and yolks of eggs mixed together and put
on the dish, and bake it of a nice colour. In the first division put
stewed spinach, in the second mashed turnips, in the third slices of
carrots, in the fourth some button onions stewed in gravy, or any other
kind of vegetables to make a variety.


SAVOY BISCUITS. Take six eggs, separate the yolks and whites, mix the
yolks with six ounces of sugar finely powdered, and the rind of a
grated lemon. Beat them together for a quarter of an hour, then whisk
the whites up in a broad dish till they are well frothed, and mix them
with the yolks, adding five ounces of flour well dried. Stir the whole
well together; then, with a piece of flat ivory, take out the batter,
and draw it along clean white paper to the proper size of the biscuit.
Sift some sugar over them, and bake them in a very hot oven. They must
however be carefully watched, for they are soon done, and a few seconds
over the proper time will scorch and spoil them.


SAVOY CAKE. Put four eggs into a scale, and then take their weight in
fine sugar, powdered and sifted, with the weight of seven eggs in flour
well dried. Break the eggs, putting the yolks into one basin, and the
whites into another. Mix with the yolks the sugar that has been weighed,
a little grated lemon peel, and a little orange-flower water. Beat them
well together for half an hour, then add the whites whipped to a froth,
and mix in the flour by degrees, continuing to beat them all the time.
Then put the batter into a tin well buttered, and bake it an hour and a
half. This is a very delicate light cake for serving at table, or in a
dessert, and is pretty when baked in a melon mould, or any other kind of
shape. It may be iced at pleasure.


SAUCE FOR BOILED MEAT. The sauces usually sent to table with boiled
meat, not poured over the dish, but put into boats, are the following.
Gravy, parsley and butter, chervil, caper, oyster, liver and parsley,
onion, celery, shalot, and curry. The ingredients for compound sauces
should be so nicely proportioned, that no one may be predominant, but
that there may be an equal union of the combined flavours. All sauces
should be sent to table as hot as possible, for nothing is more
unsightly than the surface of a sauce in a frozen state, or garnished
with grease on the top.


SAUCE FOR BRAWN. Take a peck of bran, seven gallons of water, a pound of
salt, a sprig of bay and rosemary. Boil the whole half an hour, strain
it off, let it stand till it is cold, and then put it in the brawn.


SAUCE FOR CARP. Rub half a pound of butter with a tea-spoonful of flour,
melt it in a little water, and add nearly a quarter of a pint of thick
cream. Put in half an anchovy chopped fine, but not washed; set it over
the fire, and as it boils up, add a large spoonful of real India soy. If
that does not give it a fine colour, add a little more. Turn it into the
sauce tureen, and put in some salt and half a lemon. Stir it well to
keep it from curdling.


SAUCE FOR CHICKENS. An anchovy or two boned and chopped, some parsley
and onion chopped, adding pepper, oil, vinegar, mustard, and walnut or
mushroom ketchup. These mixed together will make a good sauce for cold
chicken, partridge, or veal.


SAUCE FOR CHOPS. To make a relishing sauce for steaks or chops, pound an
ounce of black pepper, and half an ounce of allspice, with an ounce of
salt, and half an ounce of scraped horseradish, and the same of shalot
peeled and quartered. Put these ingredients into a pint of mushroom
ketchup, or walnut pickle; let them steep for a fortnight, and then
strain off the liquor. A tea-spoonful or two mixed with the gravy
usually sent up for chops and steaks, or added to thick melted butter,
will be found an agreeable addition.


SAUCE FOR FISH. Simmer very gently a quarter of a pint of vinegar, and
half a pint of soft water, with an onion, a little horseradish, and the
following spices lightly bruised: four cloves, two blades of mace, and
half a tea-spoonful of black pepper. When the onion becomes tender, chop
it small, with two anchovies, and boil it for a few minutes with a
spoonful of ketchup. Beat the yolks of three eggs, strain them, and mix
the liquor with them by degrees. When well mixed, set the saucepan over
a gentle fire, keeping the basin in one hand, into which toss the sauce
to and fro, and shake the saucepan over the fire that the eggs may not
curdle. The sauce must not be boiled, but made hot enough to give it the
thickness of melted butter.--The following sauces for fish will be found
excellent.--Lobster sauce. Take a lobster, bruise the body and spawn,
that is in the inside, very fine, with the back of a spoon, mince the
meat of the tail and claws small, melt your butter of a good thickness,
put in the bruised part, and shake it well together, then put in the
minced meat with a very little nutmeg grated, and a spoonful of white
wine; let it just boil up, and pour it into boats, or over your
fish.--Shrimp sauce. Put half a pint of shrimps, clean picked, into a
gill of good gravy; let it boil up with a lump of butter rolled in
flour, and a spoonful of red wine.--Oyster sauce. Take a pint of oysters
that are tolerably large; put them into a saucepan with their own
liquor, a blade of mace, a little whole pepper, and a bit of lemon peel;
let them stew over the fire till the oysters are plump; pour all into a
clean pan, and wash them carefully, one by one, out of the liquor;
strain about a gill of the liquor through a fine sieve, add the same
quantity of good gravy, cut half a pound of fresh butter in pieces, roll
up some in flour, and then put all to your oysters; set it over a clear
fire, shake it round often till it boils, and add a spoonful of white
wine: let it just boil, and pour it into your bason or boat.--Anchovy
sauce. Strip an anchovy, bruise it very fine, put it into half a pint
of gravy, a quarter of a pound of butter rolled in flour, a spoonful of
red wine, and a tea-spoonful of ketchup; boil all together till it is
properly thick, and serve it up.--Another. Half a pint of water, two
anchovies split, a clove, a bit of mace, a little lemon peel, a few
peppercorns, and a large spoonful of red wine; boil all together, till
your anchovy is dissolved; then strain it off, and thicken it with
butter rolled in flour. This is the best sauce for skate, maid, or
thornback.


SAUCE FOR FISH PIES. Take equal quantities of white wine, not sweet; of
vinegar, oyster liquor, and mushroom ketchup. Boil them up with an
anchovy, strain the liquor, and pour it through a funnel into the pie
after it is baked. Or chop an anchovy small, and boil it up with three
spoonfuls of gravy, a quarter of a pint of cream, and a little butter
and flour.


SAUCE FOR FOWLS. Cut up the livers, add slices of lemon in dice, scalded
parsley, some hard eggs, and a little salt. Mix them with butter, boil
them up, and pour the sauce over the fowls. This will be found an
excellent sauce for rabbit or fowl, especially to hide the bad colour of
fowls. Or boil some veal gravy, with pepper and salt, the juice of a
Seville orange and a lemon, and a little port wine. Pour it into the
dish, or send it up in a boat.


SAUCE FOR GOOSE. Mix a table-spoonful of made mustard, and half a
tea-spoonful of cayenne, in a glass and a half of port wine. Heat and
pour it hot into the inside of a roast goose when it is taken up, by a
slit made in the apron. What is sauce for a goose will not make bad
sauce for a duck. It must be understood that this is not adapted to
green geese or ducklings.


SAUCE FOR HASHES. Chop the bones and fragments of the joint, put them
into a stewpan, and cover them with boiling water. Add six peppercorns,
the same of allspice, a handful of parsley, half a head of celery cut in
pieces, and a small sprig of savoury, lemon thyme, or sweet marjoram.
Cover it up, and let it simmer gently for half an hour. Slice half an
ounce of onion, put it into a stewpan with an ounce of butter, and fry
it over a quick fire for two or three minutes, till it takes a little
colour. Thicken it with flour, and mix with it by degrees the gravy made
from the bones. Let it boil very gently for a quarter of an hour, till
it acquires the consistence of cream, and strain it through a fine sieve
into a basin. Return it to the stewpan, season it a little, and cut in a
few pickled onions, walnuts, or gherkins. Add a table-spoonful of
ketchup or walnut pickle, or some capers and caper liquor, or a
table-spoonful of ale, a little shalot, or tarragon vinegar. Cover the
bottom of the dish with sippets of bread, to retain the gravy, and
garnish with fried sippets. To hash meat in perfection, it should be
laid in this gravy only just long enough to get properly warmed through.


SAUCE FOR LENT. Melt some butter in a saucepan, shake in a little flour,
and brown it by degrees. Stir in half a pint of water, half a pint of
ale, an onion, a piece of lemon peel, two cloves, a blade of mace, some
whole pepper, a spoonful of ketchup, and an anchovy. Boil it all
together a quarter of an hour, strain it, and it will make good sauce
for various dishes.


SAUCE FOR LOBSTER. Bruise the yolks of two hard boiled eggs with the
back of a wooden spoon, or pound them in a marble mortar, with a
tea-spoonful of water, and the soft inside and the spawn of the lobster.
Rub them quite smooth with a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two
table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of vinegar. Season it with a
very little cayenne, and some salt. Tarragon vinegar, or essence of
anchovy, may be added occasionally.


SAUCE FOR MINCED VEAL.

Take the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with
flour, and put them into a stewpan. Add a pint and a half of weak broth,
a small onion, a little grated or finely minced lemon peel, half a
tea-spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace. Thicken it with a
table-spoonful of flour rubbed into half an ounce of butter, stir it
into the broth, and let it boil gently for about half an hour. Strain it
through a tammis or sieve, and it is ready to put to the veal to warm
up, which is to be done by placing the stewpan by the side of the fire.
Squeeze in half a lemon, cover the bottom of the dish with sippets of
toasted bread cut into triangles, and garnish the dish with slices of
ham or bacon. A little basil wine gives an agreeable vegetable relish to
minced veal.


SAUCE FOR PARTRIDGE.

Rub down in a mortar the yolks of two eggs boiled hard, an anchovy, two
dessert-spoonfuls of oil, three of vinegar, a shalot, cayenne if
approved, and a tea-spoonful of mustard. All should be pounded before
the oil is added, and strained when done. Shalot vinegar is preferable
to the shalot.


SAUCE FOR POULTRY. Wash and pick some chervil very carefully, put a
tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water, boil the chervil
about ten minutes, drain it on a sieve, mince it quite fine, and bruise
it to a pulp. Mix it by degrees with some good melted butter, and send
it up in a sauce boat. This makes a fine sauce for either fish or fowl.
The flavour of chervil is a strong concentration of the combined taste
of parsley and fennel, but is more aromatic and agreeable than either.


SAUCE FOR QUAILS. Shred two or three shalots, and boil them a few
minutes in a gill of water, and half a gill of vinegar. Add to this a
quarter of a pint of good gravy, and a piece of butter rolled in flour.
Shake it over the fire till it thickens, and then serve it in the dish
with roast quails, or any other small birds.


SAUCE ROBART. This is a favourite sauce for rump steaks, and is made in
the following manner. Put a piece of butter, the size of an egg, into a
saucepan; and while browning over the fire, throw in a handful of sliced
onions cut small. Fry them brown, but do not let them burn. Add half a
spoonful of flour, shake the onions in it, and give it another fry. Then
put four spoonfuls of gravy, some pepper and salt, and boil it gently
ten minutes. Skim off the fat, add a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a
spoonful of vinegar, and the juice of half a lemon. Boil it all
together, and pour it round the steaks, which should be of a fine yellow
brown, and garnished with fried parsley and lemon.


SAUCE FOR STEAKS. When the steaks are taken out of the fryingpan, keep
back a spoonful of the fat, or put in an ounce of butter. Add flour to
thicken it, and rub it well over the fire till it is a little browned.
Then add as much boiling water as will reduce it to the consistence of
cream, and a table-spoonful of ketchup or walnut pickle. Let it boil a
few minutes, and pour it through a sieve upon the steaks. To this may be
added a sliced onion, or a minced shalot, with a glass of port wine.
Broiled mushrooms are favourite relishes to beef steaks. Garnish with
finely scraped horseradish, pickled walnuts, or gherkins.


SAUCE FOR VEAL. Mince any kind of sweet herbs with the yolks of two or
three hard eggs. Boil them together with some currants, a little grated
bread, pounded cinnamon, sugar, and two whole cloves. Pour the sauce
into the dish intended for the veal, with two or three slices of orange.


SAUCE FOR WILD FOWL. Simmer a tea-cupful of port wine, the same quantity
of good meat gravy, a little shalot, a little pepper and salt, a grate
of nutmeg, and a bit of mace, for ten minutes. Put in a piece of butter,
and flour; give it all one boil, and pour it through the birds. In
general they are not stuffed as tame fowl, but may be done so if
approved.


SAUSAGES. Chop fat and lean pork together, season it with sage, pepper,
salt, and two or three berries of allspice. Half fill some hog's guts
that have been soaked and made extremely clean; or the meat may be kept
in a very small pan closely covered, and so rolled and dusted with a
very little flour before it is fried. The sausages must be pricked with
a fork before they are dressed, or they will burst in the frying. Serve
them on stewed red cabbage, or mashed potatoes put in a form, and
browned with a salamander.--The following is the way of making excellent
sausages to eat cold. Season some fat and lean pork with salt,
saltpetre, black pepper, and allspice, all in fine powder. Rub the
mixture into the meat, and let it lie in pickle for six days. Then cut
it small, and mix with it some shred shalot or garlic, as fine as
possible. Have ready an ox-gut that has been scoured, salted, and well
soaked, and fill it with the above stuffing. Tie up the ends, and hang
it to smoke as you would hams, but first wrap it in a fold or two of old
muslin. It must be high dried. Some choose to boil it, but others eat it
without boiling. The skin should be tied in different places, so as to
make each link about eight or nine inches long.


SAUSAGES WITH APPLES. Fry some sliced apples with the sausages, till
they are of a light brown. Lay the sausages in the middle of the dish,
and the apples round them. Or fry them without apples, and serve them up
on fried bread, with mashed potatoes. Or put the sausages into boiling
water, simmer them about five minutes, and serve them up with poached
eggs, or roasted potatoes.


SCALDS. When a burn or scald is trifling, and occasions no blister, it
is sufficient to put a compress of several folds of soft linen upon it,
dipped in cold water, and to renew it every quarter of an hour till the
pain is entirely removed. When a burn or scald blisters, a compress of
fine linen spread over with soft pomatum should be applied to it, and
changed twice a day. If the skin is burnt through, and the flesh under
it injured, the same pomatum may be applied; but instead of a compress
of linen, it should be spread upon a piece of soft lint, applied
directly over it, and this cover with a slip of simple adhesive plaster.
For an extensive burn or scald, skilful advice should immediately be
obtained, as it always endangers the life of the sufferer. A linen rag
dipped in laudanum, or spread thick with honey, will be sufficient in
ordinary cases. The pomatum proper, where any serious injury has been
sustained, is made in the following manner. Take an ounce of the
ointment called nutritum, the yolk of a small egg, or the half of a
large one, and mix them well together. The nutritum may easily be made
by rubbing two drains of cerus, or white lead, with half an ounce of
vinegar, and three ounces of common oil, and mixing them well together.
If the ingredients for making nutritum are not at hand, to make the
pomatum, one part of wax should be melted with eight parts of oil, and
the yolk of an egg added to two ounces of this mixture. A still more
simple application, and sooner prepared, is to beat up a whole egg with
two spoonfuls of sweet oil, free from any rankness. When the pain of the
burn and all its other symptoms have nearly subsided, it will be
sufficient to apply the following plaster. Boil together to a proper
consistence, half a pound of oil of roses, a quarter of a pound of red
lead, and two ounces of vinegar. Dissolve in the mixture three quarters
of an ounce of yellow wax, and one dram of camphor, stirring the whole
well together. Take it off the fire, and spread it upon sheets or slips
of paper, of any size that may be most convenient. For an adhesive
plaster, melt four ounces of white wax, and add one or two spoonfuls of
oil. Dip into this mixture, slips of moderately thin linen, and let them
dry; or spread it thin and evenly over them.--The following is a highly
esteemed method of curing scalds or burns. Take half a pound of alum in
powder, dissolve it in a quart of water; bathe the burn or scald with a
linen rag wet in this mixture; then bind the wet rag thereon with a slip
of linen, and moisten the bandage with the alum water frequently,
without removing it, in the course of two or three days. A workman who
fell into a copper of boiling liquor, where he remained three minutes
before taken out, was immediately put into a tub containing a saturated
solution of alum in water, where he was kept two hours; his sores were
then dressed with cloths and bandages, wet in the above mixture, and
kept constantly moistened for twenty-four hours, and in a few days he
was able to return to business.--The application of vinegar to burns and
scalds is to be strongly recommended. It possesses active powers, and is
a great antiseptic and corrector of putrescence and mortification. The
progressive tendency of burns of the unfavourable kind, or ill-treated,
is to putrescence and mortification. Where the outward skin is not
broken, it may be freely used every hour or two; where the skin is
broken, and if it gives pain, it must be gently used. But equal parts of
vinegar and water, in a tepid state, used freely every three or four
hours, are generally the best application, and the best rule to be
directed by.--House-leek, either applied by itself, or mixed with cream,
gives present relief in burns, and other external inflammations.


SCALD HEAD. This disorder is chiefly incident to children, and is seated
in the roots of the hair. It is frequently cured by changing the nurse,
weaning the child, and removing it to a dry and airy situation. If the
itching of the head becomes very troublesome, it may be allayed by
gently rubbing it with equal parts of the oil of sweet almonds, and the
juice expressed from the leaves of the common burdock, simmered together
till they form a soapy liniment, adding a few grains only of pearlash.
If this treatment be not sufficient, cut off the hair, or apply an
adhesive plaster made of bees' wax, pitch, and mutton suet. After it is
removed, the head should be washed with warm soapy water, and the whole
body cleansed in a lukewarm bath.


SCALDED CODLINS. Wrap each in a vine leaf, and pack them close in a nice
saucepan: when full, pour in as much water as will cover them. Set the
saucepan over a gentle fire, and let them simmer slowly till done enough
to take the thin skin off when cold. Place them in a dish, with or
without milk, cream or custard: if the latter, there should be no
ratafia. Dust some fine sugar over the apples.


SCALDED CREAM. Let the milk stand twenty-four hours in winter, and
twelve at least in summer. Place the milk pan on a hot hearth, or in a
wide brass kettle of water, large enough to receive the pan. It must
remain on the fire till quite hot, but on no account boil, or there will
be a skim instead of cream upon the milk. When it is done enough, the
undulations on the surface will begin to look thick, and a ring will
appear round the pan, the size of the bottom. The time required to scald
cream depends on the size of the pan, and the heat of the fire; but the
slower it is done the better. When the cream is scalded, remove the pan
into the dairy, and skim it the next day. In cold weather it may stand
thirty-six hours, and never less than two meals. In the west of England,
butter is usually made of cream thus prepared; and if made properly it
is very firm.


SCALDING FRUIT. The best way of scalding any kind of fruit, is to do it
in a stone jar on a hot iron hearth; or by putting the vessel into a
saucepan of water, called a water-bath. Vinegar also is best boiled in
the same manner.


SCALDING PUDDING. From a pint of new milk take out enough to mix three
large spoonfuls of flour into a smooth batter. Set the remainder of the
milk on the fire, and when it is scalding hot, pour in the batter, and
keep it on the fire till it thickens. Stir it all the time to prevent
its burning, but do not let it boil. When of a proper thickness, pour it
into a basin, and let it stand to cool. Then put in, six eggs, a little
sugar, and some nutmeg. Boil it an hour in a basin well buttered.


SCALLOPED OYSTERS. Having opened the oysters, and washed them from the
grit, put them into scallop shells or saucers, and bake them before the
fire in a Dutch oven. Add to them some crumbs of bread, pepper, salt,
nutmeg, and a bit of butter, before they are set to the fire.--Another
way. To fill four scallop shells, have a pint and a half of oysters, put
them on the fire, in their own liquor, with a blade of mace, a little
salt, and some whole pepper; (put a salamander in the fire to be red
hot,) grate some crumbs of bread sufficient for your shells; butter the
inside of the shells very well, and strew bread crumbs thereon; take
your oysters off the fire, pour them into a pan, take off the beards,
and fill the shells; grate a little nutmeg into every shell, put a
spoonful or two of the liquor upon the oysters, and fill up the shells
quite full with bread crumbs; set them before the fire, and baste them
with butter all over the bread, then set them upon a gridiron over a
clear fire, for about half an hour; hold your salamander over them, till
they are of a fine brown, then send them to table for a side-dish. In
the same manner do shrimps, muscles, or cockles.


SCALLOPED POTATOES. When boiled, mash them with milk, pepper, salt, and
butter. Fill some scallop shells, smooth the tops, set them in a Dutch
oven to brown before the fire; or add the yolk of an egg, and mash them
with cream, butter, salt, and pepper. Score the top with a knife, and
put thin slices over, before they are put into the oven.


SCALLOPED VEAL. Mince it fine, set it over the fire a few minutes, with
pepper and salt, a little nutmeg and cream. Put it into scallop shells,
and fill them up with grated bread; over which put a little butter, and
brown them before the fire.


SCARLET DYE. Wool may be dyed scarlet, the most splendid of all colours,
by first boiling it in a solution of muris-sulphate of tin; then dying
it a pale yellow with quercitron bark, and afterwards crimson with
cochineal.


SCORCHED LINEN. Boil to a good consistency, in half a pint of vinegar,
two ounces of fuller's earth, an ounce of hen's dung, half an ounce of
cake soap, and the juice of two onions. Spread this composition over
the whole of the damaged part; and, if the scorching were not quite
through, and the threads actually consumed, after suffering it to dry
on, and letting it receive a subsequent good washing or two, the place
will appear full as white and perfect as any other part of the linen.


SCOTCH BARLEY BROTH. Cut a leg of beef into pieces, and boil it in three
gallons of water, with a sliced carrot and crust of bread, till reduced
to half the quantity. Strain it off, and put it again into the pot. Boil
it an hour, with half a pound of Scotch barley, a few heads of celery
cut small, a sprig of sweet herbs, an onion, a little minced parsley,
and a few marigolds. Put in a large fowl, and boil it till the broth is
good. Season it with salt, take out the onion and herbs, and serve it up
with the fowl in the middle. Broth may be made with a sheep's head
chopped in pieces, or six pounds of thick flank of beef, boiled in six
quarts of water. Put the barley in with the meat, and boil it gently for
an hour, keeping it clear from scum. The articles before-mentioned may
then be added, with sliced turnips and carrots, and boiled together till
the broth is good. Season it, take it up, pour the broth into a tureen,
with the meat in the middle, and carrots and turnips round the dish.


SCOTCH BURGOO. This is a sort of oatmeal hasty pudding without milk,
much used by the Scotch peasantry; and as an example of economy, is
worthy of being occasionally adopted by all who have large families and
small incomes. It is made in the following easy and expeditious manner.
To a quart of oatmeal, add gradually two quarts of water, so that the
whole may mix smoothly. Stir it continually over the fire, and boil it
for a quarter of an hour. Take it up, and stir in a little salt and
butter, with or without pepper. This quantity will provide five or six
persons with a tolerable meal.


SCOTCH COLLOPS. Cut veal into thin round slices, about three inches
over, and beat them with a rolling-pin. Grate a little nutmeg over, dip
them into the yolk of an egg, and fry them in a little butter of a fine
brown. Pour off the butter, and have ready warmed half a pint of gravy,
with a little butter and flour in it, the yolk of an egg, two large
spoonfuls of cream, and a dust of salt. Do not boil the sauce, but stir
it till it comes to a fine thickness, and pour it over the
collops.--Another way. Take what quantity of veal you want, cut into
collops, and beat it with the back of a knife; season as above, and fry
them in butter of a fine brown; pour off the butter, and put in half a
pint of good gravy, and a small glass of white wine: you may add what
other ingredients you please. Roll a piece of butter as big as a walnut
in flour, toss it up, and when it boils, take off the scum very clean:
let your sauce be thick enough to hang; dish it up, and garnish to your
fancy.--Another way: dressed white. Take three or four pounds of a
fillet of veal, cut in small thin slices; then take a clean stewpan,
butter it on the inside; season your collops with beaten mace, nutmeg,
and salt; dust them over with flour, and lay them into your stewpan,
piece by piece, till all your meat is in: set it over the stove, and
toss it up together, till all your meat be white. Put in half a pint of
strong veal broth; let them boil, and take off all the scum clean; beat
up the yolks of two eggs in a gill of cream, and put it to your collops,
and keep it tossing all the while, till it just boils up; then squeeze
in a little lemon, toss it round, and dish it up. Garnish your dish with
sliced lemon. If you would make a fine dish of it, when you put in your
veal broth, you must add morels, truffles, mushrooms, artichoke bottoms
cut in small dice, force-meat balls boiled, not fried, and a few cock's
combs; then garnish your dish with fried oysters, petit-pasties, lemon,
and barberries. Remember when you make a made dish, and are obliged to
use cream, that it should be the last thing; for it is apt to curdle if
it boils at any time.


SCOTCH EGGS. Boil five pullet's eggs, quite hard; and without removing
the white, cover them completely with a fine relishing forcemeat, in
which, let scraped ham, or chopped anchovy, bear a due proportion. Fry
of a beautiful yellow brown, and serve with good gravy in the dish.


SCOTCH LEEK SOUP. Prepare a sheep's head, either by cleaning the skin
very nicely, or taking it off, as preferred. Split the head in two, take
out the brains, and put it into a kettle with plenty of water. Add a
large quantity of leeks cut small, with pepper and salt. Stew these very
slowly for three hours. Mix as much oatmeal as will make the soup pretty
thick, and make it very smooth with cold water. Pour it into the soup,
continue stirring it till the whole is smooth and well done, and then
serve it up.


SCOTCH PANCAKES. To a pint of cream beat up eight eggs, leaving out two
whites, a quarter of a pound of butter melted, one spoon-full of flour,
a nutmeg grated, three spoonfuls of sack, and a little sugar. When the
butter is cool, mix all together into a batter; have ready a stove with
charcoal, and a small fryingpan no bigger than a plate, tie a piece of
butter in a clean cloth; when the pan is hot rub this round it, and put
in the batter with a spoon, run it round the pan very thin and fry them
only on one side; put a saucer into the middle of the dish, and lay
pancakes over it, till it is like a little pyramid; strew pounded sugar
between every pancake, and garnish the dish with Seville oranges cut in
small quarters.


SCOURING BALLS. Portable balls for removing spots from clothes, may be
thus prepared. Dry some fuller's-earth, so that it crumbles into a
powder; then moisten it with the clear juice of lemons, and add a small
quantity of pure pearl-ash. Knead the whole carefully together, till it
acquires the consistence of a thick elastic paste: form it into
convenient small balls, and dry them in the sun. To be used, first
moisten the spot on the clothes with water, then rub it with the ball,
and let the spot dry in the sun. After having washed it with pure water,
the spot will entirely disappear.


SCROPHULA. The principal difficulty in curing the scrophula, or king's
evil, arises from the circumstance, that it may remain concealed for a
long time, and thus become deeply rooted in the constitution before its
effects are evident. The system requires to be strengthened by the free
use of Peruvian bark, sea water and sea bathing, and moderate exercise
in the open air. Hemlock plasters applied to the swellings, and drinking
of milk whey, have also been found useful. But in the progress of the
disorder, medical advice will be necessary.


SCURVY. When the scurvy proceeds chiefly from the long-continued use of
salt provisions, it will be necessary to take large portions of the
juice of lemons, oranges, or tamarinds; to eat water cresses, scurvy
grass, and fresh vegetables of every description. But where these cannot
be procured, pickled cabbage, cucumber, onions, and other fruits, as
well as horseradish and mustard, may be taken with considerable
advantage. Take also a pound of water-dock roots, and boil them in six
pints of water, adding an ounce or two of chrystals of tartar, till one
third part of the liquor be evaporated; and drink half a pint or more
of it every day. Raw carrots eaten are also very good for the scurvy;
and during a voyage, they should be packed up in casks of sand and kept
for use. If the limbs be swelled, or joints stiff, it will be proper to
foment them with warm vinegar, or bathe them in lukewarm water. A
valuable ointment may be made of a pound of fresh lard, and as much
cliver or goose-grass as the lard will moisten. Boil them together over
a slow fire, stir the mixture till it turns brown, and strain it through
a cloth. Take the ointment from the water, and rub it on the parts
affected.


SCURVY GRASS ALE. Brew it as for other ale, omitting the hops; and when
the liquor boils, put in half a bushel of fine wormwood, a bushel of
scurvy grass, and twelve pounds of sugar. This quantity of ingredients
is sufficient for a hogshead.


SEA-KALE is a highly nutritious and palatable culinary vegetable. It is
an early esculent plant, the young shoots of which are used somewhat in
the manner of asparagus, and may, it is said, be grown by the method of
cultivation which is given hereafter, to a size and of a delicacy of
flavour greatly superior to that which is commonly brought to the table.
In the cultivation of it in the garden, the improved method which has
lately been advised, is that of preparing the ground for it by trenching
it two feet and a half deep, about the close of the year or in the
beginning of it: when not that depth naturally, and of a light quality,
it is to be made so by artificial means, such as the applying of a
suitable proportion of fine white sand, and very rotten vegetable mould:
if the ground be wet in the winter season, it should be completely
drained, that no water may stagnate in it near the bottom of the
cultivated mould, as the strength of the plants depends upon the dryness
and richness of the bottom soil. After which the ground is to be
divided into beds, four feet in width, with alleys of eighteen inches
between them; then, at the distance of every two feet each way, five or
six seeds are to be sown, in a circle of about four inches diameter, to
the depth of two inches. This business should be performed in a strictly
regular and exact manner, as the plants are afterwards to be covered by
means of pots for blanching them, and the health and beauty of the crops
equally depend upon their standing at regular distances. If the seeds
which were sown were sound and perfect, they will come up and shew
themselves in the last spring or beginning summer months; which as soon
as they have made three or four leaves, all but three of the strongest
and best plants should be taken away from each circle; planting out
those which are pulled up, which, when done by a careful hand, may be
performed so as for them to have the whole of their tap-root in a spare
bed for extra forcing, or the repairs of accidents. The turnip fly and
wire worm are to be carefully guarded against, the latter by picking
them by the hand from out of the ground, and the former by the use of
lime laid round the young plants in a circle. When the summer months
prove dry, the beds should be plentifully watered. As soon as the leaves
decay in the autumn they should be cleared away, and the beds be covered
with light fresh earth and sand to the thickness of an inch; the compost
thus used having laid some time in a heap, and been turned several
times, so as to be free from weeds, and the ova of insects as well as
grubs. Upon the sandy loam dressing, about six inches in depth of light
stable litter is to be applied, which completes the work of the first
year. In the spring of the second, when the plants are beginning to
push, the stable litter is to be raked off, a little of the most rotten
being dug into the alleys, and another inch depth of loam and sand
applied. Cutting this year is to be refrained from, notwithstanding some
of the plants may rise strong, and the beds managed exactly as before
during this winter season. In the third season, a little before the
plants begin to stir, the covering laid on for the winter is to be raked
off, and an inch in depth of pure dry sand or fine gravel now laid on.
Then each circle of plants is to be covered with one of the
blanching-pots already alluded to, pressing it firmly into the ground,
so as to exclude all light and air, as the colour and flavour of the
shoots are greatly injured by exposure to either of them. When the beds
are twenty-six feet long, and four wide, they will hold twenty-four
blanching-pots, with three plants under each, making seventy-two plants
in a bed. They are to be examined from time to time, the young stems
being cut, when about three inches above the ground, care being taken
not to injure any of the remaining buds below, some of which will
immediately begin to swell. In this way a succession of gatherings may
be continued for the space of six weeks, after which period the plants
are to be uncovered, and their leaves suffered to grow, that they may
acquire and return nutriment to the root for the next year's buds. When
seeds are not wanted, the flowers should be pinched off by the finger
and thumb, as long as they appear. Where the expence of blanching-pots
is objected to, the beds must be covered with a large portion of loose
gravel and mats; but the saving is trifling, when the time and trouble
of removing and replacing the gravel, for the cutting of the crop and
securing the plant, are considered. By this mode of management, sea-kale
is said to have been cut which measured ten, eleven, and even twelve
inches in circumference, and that each blanching-pot on the average
afforded a dish of it twice in the season. The blanching-pots for this
use are somewhat of the same shape and size as the large bell-glasses
commonly employed in market gardens for raising tender vegetable crops,
but made of the same materials as the common earthenware, having a
handle at the top. They may be about a foot and a half in diameter at
the rim where they apply to the ground. _Forcing sea-kale._--It is
supposed that no vegetable can be so easily and cheaply forced as this,
or require so little trouble; as the dung is in the finest state
possible for spring hot-beds, after the common crop has been cut and
gathered. The principal circumstance necessary in this business, is that
of being very attentive and particular in guarding against too great a
heat. The temperature under the blanching-pots should constantly be kept
as near fifty-five degrees of Fahrenheit's scale as possible, and on no
account higher than sixty at any time. In this intention, in either of
the two concluding months of the year, as the sea-kale may be wanted
more early or late, a suitable quantity of fresh stable dung should be
collected and prepared, to cover both the beds and the alleys from two
to three feet in height; as in the quantity to be laid on, a great deal
must always be left to the judgment of the gardener, as well as to the
state of the season as to mildness or severity. It should invariably be
well pressed down between the blanching-pots, heat-sticks being placed
at proper intervals, by the occasional examination of which the heat
below will be readily shewn. When the dung has remained in this
situation four or five days, the pots should be examined to see the
state of the shoots It not unfrequently happens that worms spring above
the surface, and spoil the delicacy of flavour in the young shoots. In
order to prevent this, it is best to cover it with dry sea-coal ashes,
which have been sifted neither very small nor very large. Salt has also
the power of destroying them in an effectual manner, without injuring
the sea-kale. The crop, it is said, will be ready to cut and gather in
three weeks or a month from the first application of the heat; but as
much danger and mischief are the consequence when this is violent, it is
advised to begin soon enough, and to force slowly, rather than in too
quick a manner. It is likewise necessary to cut the leaves off a
fortnight or three weeks before they decay, in those plants which are
intended to be forced at a very early period. It is also suggested that
the blanching-pots used in forcing should be made in two pieces, the
uppermost of which should fit like a cap upon the lower; as the crop
might then be examined at all times without disturbing the hot dung.
Sea-kale is cooked, and sent to the table in the same manner as
asparagus.


SEA SICKNESS. This disorder may in a great measure be prevented, by
taking a few drops of vitriolic æther on a bit of sugar dissolved in the
mouth, or drinking a few drops of æther in water, with a little sugar.


SEA WATER. To render salt water fit for washing linen at sea, a quantity
of soda should be kept at hand, and used for that purpose, as often as
occasion requires. As much soda should be put into sea water as will
render it turbid, and completely precipitate the lime and magnesia which
it contains. The water will then become sufficiently alkaline for the
purpose of washing.


SHAVING SOAP. Cut half a pound of fine white soap in thin slices, add
half an ounce of salt of tartar, and mix them with full half a pint of
spirits of wine. Put the ingredients into a quart bottle, tie it down
with a bladder, digest it in a gentle heat till the soap is dissolved,
and let the air escape through a pinhole in the bladder. Filter the
mixture through paper, and scent it with a little bergamot, or essence
of lemon. It will have the appearance of fine oil. A small quantity
mixed with water will produce an excellent lather, and is much superior
to any other composition in washing or shaving.


SEALING OF LETTERS. To secure letters from being opened, beat up some
fine bean flour with the white of an egg, and make it into a paste. Use
a little of it in the form of a wafer, close the letters with it, and
hold the sealed part to the spout of a tea-pot of boiling water. The
steam will harden the cement so that the letter cannot be opened without
tearing, and will render it more secure than either wax or wafer.


SEASONING. Though general rules may be given for stuffings and
seasoning, yet much must be left to common discretion. The different
tastes of people require more or less of the flavour of spices, salt,
garlic, butter, and other ingredients; and the proportions must of
course be regulated accordingly, taking care that a variety of flavour
be given to the different dishes served at the same time. The proper
articles should be kept ready for use; but if suet or bacon be not at
hand, butter must be used instead, and fish gravy instead of stock or
meat gravy. More depends on judgment and care than on the ingredients
merely, of which the dish is composed.


SEASONING MAHOGANY. Having provided a steam-tight wooden box, capable of
holding such pieces of mahogany as are wanted for chairs or other
purposes, a pipe from a boiler must be adapted to it, by means of which
the box is to be filled with steam, to a temperature about equal to that
of boiling water. The time required for wood an inch and a half thick,
is about two hours; and pieces of this thickness become sufficiently dry
to work, after being placed in a warm room for twenty-four hours. By
this treatment the wood is something improved in colour, and the
blemishes of green veins are entirely removed. The eggs also of any
insect contained in the wood, will be destroyed by the heat of the
steam. By this process, two important advantages are gained. There is a
saving of capital, vested in wood lying to season during several months;
and the warping of small pieces of wood is entirely prevented.


SEED CAKE. Mix a quarter of a peck of flour with half a pound of sugar,
a quarter of an ounce of allspice, and a little ginger. Melt three
quarters of a pound of butter, with half a pint of milk; when just warm,
put to it a quarter of a pint of yeast, and work it up to a good dough.
Add seeds or currants, let it stand before the fire a few minutes before
it goes to the oven, and bake it an hour and a half.--Another way is to
mix a pound and a half of flour, a pound of lump sugar, eight eggs
beaten separately, an ounce of seeds, two spoonfuls of yeast, and the
same of milk and water. Milk alone soon causes cake and bread to get
dry.--Another. Break eighteen eggs into a large pan, and leave out eight
of the whites; add to them two pounds of fresh butter, and with your
hand work the butter and eggs till they are well mixed, and like thick
barme; put in two or three spoonfuls of sack, two pounds of lump sugar
sifted, two pounds of fine flour, and two ounces of carraway seeds, mix
the sugar, flour, and seeds, well together, and set it before the fire
for half an hour, covering it with a cloth, and remember to put the
flour, &c. in by degrees. Tin pudding pans are the best things to bake
it in, and take care it be not over-done; they will rise very high in
the oven, and when they begin to sink again, they are baked enough.--A
cheap seed cake. Take half a peck of flour, set a pint of milk on the
fire, and break in a pound and a half of butter; when all the butter is
melted, stir in half a pint of ale yeast that is not bitter. Take half
an ounce of allspice beat fine, and a pound of sugar sifted; mix these
with the flour first, then make a hole in the middle of the flour, and
pour in the butter, milk, and yeast. While you are working it, strew in
some carraway seeds, and set it before the fire to rise; bake it an hour
and a half in a quick oven. It is best baked in two cakes; if you make
it in two, put currants in one, and carraway seeds in the other.--Seed
cake the nun's way. To four pounds of the finest flour, add three pounds
of double-refined sugar beat and sifted; mix this with the flour, and
set it before the fire to dry; beat up four pounds of nice fresh butter
to a cream, break three dozen of eggs (leaving out sixteen whites) and
beat them up very well, with a tea-cupful of orange-flower water, strain
them into the butter, and beat them well therewith; take the flour and
sugar, and mix in six ounces of carraway seeds; put these ingredients to
the butter and eggs by degrees, and beating all continually for two
hours: butter a hoop, and bake it three hours in a moderate oven. If you
please, you may add two or three grains of ambergris.


SEED WATER. Bruise a spoonful of coriander seeds, and half a spoonful of
carraway. Boil them in a pint of water, strain them, beat up the yolk
of an egg and mix with the water, add a little sweet wine and lump
sugar.


SEEDS. To discover when seeds of any kind are fully ripe and good, throw
them into a basin of water. If not sufficiently ripe, they will swim on
the surface; but when arrived at full maturity, they will be found
uniformly to sink to the bottom; a fact that is said to hold equally
true of all seeds, from the cocoa nut to the orchis.--Seeds of plants
may be preserved, for many months at least, by causing them to be
packed, either in husks, pods, &c. in absorbent paper, with raisins or
brown moist sugar; or a good way, practised by gardeners, is to wrap the
seed in brown paper or cartridge paper, pasted down, and then varnished
over.--To preserve seeds, when sown, from vermin. Steep the grain or
seed three or four hours, or a sufficient time for it to penetrate the
skin, or husk, in a strong solution of liver of sulphur.


SHADS. They must be scaled very clean, then gut and wash them, dry them
in a cloth, score them on the sides, rub them with butter, sprinkle salt
over them, and broil them of a fine brown; boil sorrel, chervil, onion
and parsley, chop it fine; melt a piece of butter in cream sufficient
for your sauce, then put in your herbs, season it with salt, pepper, and
a little nutmeg, toss it up together, and pour over your fish; or you
may serve it with a ragout of mushrooms, or a brown sauce with capers,
garnished with lemon.


SEVILLE ORANGE POSSET. Squeeze Seville orange or lemon juice into a
glass dish, or mix them together if preferred, and sweeten it well with
fine sugar. Then warm some cream over the fire, but do not let it boil.
Put it into a teapot and pour it into the juice, holding the teapot up
very high, that it may froth and curdle the better. Instead of cream,
milk thickened with one or two yolks of eggs may be used, if more
convenient.


SHALOT. As the habits of growth in roots of this nature differ greatly
in the different sorts, some requiring to be nearly or quite on the
surface of the ground, while others stand in need of being a
considerable depth below it, which has not been well attended to in the
garden culture of such roots; it may be readily supposed that these have
considerable influence and effect on the growth of such root crops. In
consequence of finding that crops of this root generally became mouldy
and perished, and that they were usually planted, from the directions of
garden cultivators, at the depth of two or three inches from the
surface; the injury, failure, and destruction of such crops, were
naturally ascribed to this cause. A few bulbs or bunches of this root
were consequently divided, as far as possible, into single buds or
bulbs, and planted upon or rather above the surface of the ground, some
very rich soil being placed underneath them, and the mould on each side
raised to support them, until they became firmly rooted. This mould was
then removed by means of a hoe, and the use of the watering-pot, and the
bulbs of course left wholly out of the ground. The growth of the plants
had now so near a resemblance to that of the common onion, as not
readily to be distinguished from it, until their irregularity of form,
the consequence of the numerous germs within each bulb, became evident.
The forms of the bulbs, however, continued constantly different from all
those raised in the ordinary method, being much more broad, but of less
length. The crop was a great deal better in quality, and at the same
time much more abundant in quantity. It may consequently not be
unworthy of the gardener's attention.--Garlic, rocambole, and shalot are
chiefly used in ragouts and sauces which require to be highly flavoured,
unless a separate sauce is made of them only; and indeed, the mixing of
animal juices in preparations of vegetables is by no means to be
recommended, where the health is to be consulted. The substitution of
butter and flour, yolks of eggs and cream, mushroom or walnut ketchup,
is greatly to be preferred to rich gravies, in dressing of vegetables.


SHALOT SAUCE. Put a few chopped shalots into a little gravy boiled
clear, and nearly half as much vinegar. Season with pepper and salt, and
boil it half an hour.


SHALOT VINEGAR. Split six or eight shalots; put them into a wide-mouthed
quart bottle, and fill it up with vinegar. Stop it close; and in a month
the vinegar will be fit for use.


SHALOT WINE. Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of
shalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for ten days. Pour off the
clear liquor on three ounces more of shalots, and let the wine stand on
them ten days longer. An ounce of scraped horseradish may be added to
the above, and a little lemon peel cut thin. This is rather the most
expensive, but by far the most elegant preparation of shalot. It imparts
the onion flavour to soups and sauces, for chops, steaks, hashes, or
boiled meats, more agreeably than any other, without leaving any
unpleasant taste in the mouth.


SHANK JELLY. Boil fifteen shanks of mutton in three quarts of water. Two
cow heels, three calf's feet, or five sheep's feet, will answer the same
purpose. Let them stew no longer than to extract a good jelly, and when
cold take off the fat, and clear it from the settlement at the bottom.
The jelly may be cleared with whites of eggs, and running it through a
jelly bag. Orange or lemon juice, or wine, and sugar, may be added, as
is suitable for the patient. Wine however should never be given to any
invalid, without the express permission of the medical attendant, as it
may do more harm than good, unless used with great discretion. Much less
should any kind of spirits be allowed, as they are of a much more
dangerous nature than wine in such cases.


SHARP SAUCE. Put into a silver saucepan, or one that is very clean and
well tinned, half a pint of the best white wine vinegar, and a quarter
of a pound of pounded loaf sugar. Simmer it gently over the fire, skim
it well, pour it through a tammis or fine sieve, and send it up in a
basin. This sauce is adapted for venison, and is often preferred to the
sweet wine sauces.


SHEEP'S EARS. Take a dozen and a half of sheep's ears, scald and clean
them very well; then make a forcemeat of veal, suet, crumbs of bread, a
little nutmeg, pepper, salt, and beaten mace, parsley and thyme shred
fine; mix these ingredients with the yolk of an egg; fill the ears, and
lay one over the other, press them close, flour them, and fry them in
clean beef dripping, of a fine brown; serve them up with gravy sauce in
the dish, garnished with lemon. This is a pretty side dish.


SHELFORD PUDDING. Mix three quarters of a pound of currants or raisins,
one pound of suet, a pound of flour, six eggs, some good milk, lemon
peel, and a little salt. Boil it in a melon shape six hours.


SHERBET. This liquor is a species of negus without the wine. It consists
of water, lemon, or orange juice, and sugar, in which are dissolved
perfumed cakes, made of the best Damascus fruit, and containing also an
infusion of some drops of rose-water: another kind is made of violets,
honey, juice of raisins, &c. It is well calculated for assuaging
thirst, as the acidity is agreeably blended with sweetness. It
resembles, indeed, those fruits which we find so grateful when one is
thirsty.


SHIN OF BEEF. A shin or leg of beef, weighing full six pounds, will make
a large tureen of excellent soup. Cut half a pound of bacon into slices
about half an inch thick, lay it at the bottom of a soup kettle or deep
stewpan, and place the meat on this, after having first chopped the bone
in two or three places. Add two carrots, two turnips, a head of celery,
two large onions with two or three cloves stuck in them, a dozen black
peppercorns, the same of Jamaica pepper, and a bundle of lemon thyme,
winter savoury, and parsley. Just cover the meat with cold water, boil
it over a quick fire, skim it well, and then let it stew very gently by
the side of the fire for four hours till it is quite tender. Take out
all the meat, strain off the soup, and remove the fat from the surface
when cold. Cut the meat into small pieces, and put them into the soup,
when it is to be warmed up for the table. A knuckle of veal may be
dressed in the same way.


SHINGLES. This disorder, of the same nature as St. Anthony's fire, and
requiring a similar mode of treatment, attacks various parts of the
body, but chiefly the waist, around which it appears in numerous pimples
of a livid hue, and seldom attended with fever. No attempt should be
made to repel the eruption; the body should be kept gently open, and the
part affected rubbed with a little warm wheaten flour. Then linen bags
of oatmeal, camomile flowers, and a little bruised camphor may also be
applied, which will effectually relieve the inflammation.


SHOE BLACKING. In three pints of small beer, put two ounces of ivory
black, and one pennyworth of brown sugar. As soon as they boil, put a
dessert-spoonful of sweet oil, and then boil slowly till reduced to a
quart. Stir it up with a stick every time it is used; and put it on the
shoe with a brush when wanted.--Another. Two ounces of ivory black; one
tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol, one table-spoonful of sweet oil; and two
ounces of brown sugar; roll the same into a ball, and to dissolve it add
half a pint of vinegar.--Another. Take ivory black and brown sugar
candy, of each two ounces; of sweet oil a table-spoonful; add gradually
thereto a pint of vinegar, cold, and stir the whole till gradually
incorporated.--Another. To one pint of vinegar add half an ounce of
vitriolic acid, half an ounce of copperas, two ounces of sugar candy,
and two ounces and a half of ivory black: mix the whole well
together.--Another. Sweet oil, half an ounce; ivory black and treacle,
of each half a pound; gum arabic half an ounce; vinegar, three pints;
boil the vinegar, and pour it hot on the other ingredients.--Another.
Three ounces of ivory black, one ounce of sugar candy, one ounce of oil
of vitriol, one ounce of spirits of salts, one lemon, one table-spoonful
of sweet oil, and one pint of vinegar.--First mix the ivory black and
sweet oil together, then the lemon and sugar candy, with a little
vinegar to qualify the blacking, then add your spirits of salts and
vitriol, and mix them all well together. N. B. The last ingredients
prevent the vitriol and salts from injuring the leather, and add to the
lustre of the blacking.--Another. Ivory black, two ounces; brown sugar,
one ounce and a half; sweet oil, half a table-spoonful. Mix them well,
and then gradually add half a pint of small beer.--Another. A quarter of
a pound of ivory black, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a
table-spoonful of flour, a piece of tallow about the size of a walnut,
and a small piece of gum arabic.--Make a paste of the flour, and while
hot put in the tallow, then the sugar, and afterwards mix the whole well
together in a quart of water, and you will have a beautiful shining
blacking.


SHOES. The best way of cleaning shoes in the winter time is to scrape
off the dirt with the back of a knife, or with a wooden knife made for
that purpose, while the shoes are wet, and wipe off the remainder with a
wet sponge, or piece of flannel. Set them to dry at a distance from the
fire, and they will afterwards take a fine polish. This will save much
of the trouble in cleaning, when the dirt is suffered to dry on; and by
applying a little sweet oil occasionally, the leather will be prevented
from growing hard. To secure the soles of shoes or boots from being
penetrated with rain or snow, melt a little bees' wax and mutton suet,
and rub it slightly over the edges of the sole where the stitches are;
this will be sufficient to repel the wet. Occasionally rubbing the soles
with hot tar, and dusting over it a small quantity of iron filings, will
tend to fill up the pores of the leather, and preserve the feet dry and
warm in winter. The practice of pouring brandy or spirits into shoes or
boots, with a view to prevent the effects of wet or cold, is very
pernicious, and often brings on inflammation of the bowels. The best
remedy for damp feet is to bathe them in warm water; and if they become
sore or blistered, rub them with a little mutton suet. As many evils and
inconveniences arise from wearing improper shoes, it may be necessary to
observe, that an easy shoe, adapted to the size and shape of the foot,
is of considerable consequence. The soles should be thick, and their
extremities round rather than pointed, in order to protect the toes from
being injured by sharp stones, or other rough substances, that may
occur in walking. Persons wearing narrow or fashionable shoes, merely
for the sake of appearance, not only suffer immediate fatigue and
languor when walking only a short distance, but are exposed to the pain
and inconvenience of warts and corns, and numerous other maladies; while
the want of dry easy shoes checks the necessary perspiration, which
extends its influence to other parts of the body. For children, a kind
of half boots, such as may be laced above the ancles, are superior to
shoes, as they not only have the advantage of fitting the leg, but are
likewise not easily trodden down at the heels, and children can walk
more firmly in them than in shoes.


SHORT BISCUITS. Beat half a pound of butter to a cream, then add half a
pound of loaf sugar finely powdered and sifted, the yolks of two eggs,
and a few carraways. Mix in a pound of flour well dried, and add as much
cream as will make it a proper stiffness for rolling. Roll it out on a
clean board, and cut the paste into cakes with the top of a glass or
cup. Bake them on tins for about half an hour.--Another way. A quarter
of a pound of butter beat to a cream, six ounces of fine sugar powdered
and sifted, four yolks of eggs, three quarters of a pound of flour, a
little mace, and a little grated lemon peel. Make them into a paste,
roll it out, and cut it into cakes with the top of a wine glass.
Currants or carraways may be added if agreeable.


SHORT CAKES. Rub into a pound of dried flour, four ounces of butter,
four ounces of powdered sugar, one egg, and a spoonful or two of thin
cream to make it into a paste. When mixed, put currants into one half,
and carraways into the rest. Cut them into little cakes with the top of
a wine glass, or canister lid, and bake them a few minutes on floured
tins.


SHORT CRUST. Dry two ounces of white sugar; after it has been pounded
and sifted. Mix it with a pound of flour well dried, and rub into it
three ounces of butter, so fine as not to be seen. Put the yolks of two
eggs well beaten into some cream, mix it with the above into a smooth
paste, roll it out thin, and bake it in a moderate oven.--Another. Mix
with a pound of fine flour dried, an ounce of sugar pounded and sifted.
Crumble three ounces of butter into it, till it looks all like flour;
and with a glass of boiling cream, work it up to a fine paste.--To make
a richer crust, but not sweet, rub six ounces of butter into eight
ounces of fine flour. Mix it into a stiffish paste, with as little water
as possible; beat it well, and roll it thin. This, as well as the
former, is proper for tarts of fresh or preserved fruit.--Another. To a
pound of flour allow six ounces of butter, and a little salt. Rub the
butter well into the flour with the hand, till the whole is well united,
and then put in a small quantity of cold water, just enough to mix it to
a paste. Mould it quite smooth with the hand, and roll it out for use.


SHORT PASTE. Rub a quarter of a pound of butter into a pound of flour,
mixed with water and two eggs. Work it up to a good stiffness, and roll
it out. If for sweet tarts, two table-spoonfuls of sugar should be
added.


SHOULDER OF LAMB FORCED. Bone a shoulder of lamb, and fill it up with
forcemeat; braise it two hours over a slow stove. Take it up and glaze
it, or it may be glazed only, and not braised. Serve with sorrel sauce
under the lamb.


SHOULDER OF LAMB GRILLED. Roast a shoulder of lamb till about three
parts done, score it both ways into squares about an inch large, rub it
over with yolks of egg, season it with pepper and salt, and strew it
over with bread crumbs and chopped parsley. Set it before the fire,
brown it with a salamander, and serve it up with gravy, mushroom
ketchup, lemon juice, and a piece of butter rolled in flour. Heat it
over the fire till it is well thickened.


SHOULDER OF MUTTON. If intended to be boiled with oysters, hang it up
some days, and then salt it well for two days. Bone it, sprinkle it with
pepper, and a little pounded mace. Lay some oysters over it, and roll
the meat up tight and tie it. Stew it in a small quantity of water, with
an onion and a few peppercorns, till it is quite tender. Prepare a
little good gravy, and some oysters stewed in it; thicken this with
flour and butter, and pour it over the mutton when the tape is taken
off. The stewpan should be kept close covered. If the shoulder is to be
roasted, serve it up with onion sauce. The blade-bone may be broiled.


SHOULDER OF PORK. A shoulder or a breast of pork is best put into
pickle. Salt the shoulder as a leg; and when very nice it may be
roasted, instead of being boiled.


SHOULDER OF VEAL. Cut off the knuckle for a stew or gravy, and roast the
other part with stuffing. It may be larded, and served with melted
butter. The blade-bone, with a good deal of meat left on it, eats
extremely well with mushroom or oyster sauce, or with mushroom ketchup
in butter.


SHOULDER OF VENISON. The neck and shoulder are roasted the same as the
haunch, and served with the same sauce. But if the shoulder is to be
stewed, take out the bone, and beat the meat with a rolling-pin. Lay
amongst it some slices of mutton fat, that have lain a few hours in a
little port wine; sprinkle a little pepper and allspice over it in fine
powder, roll and tie it up tight. Set it in a stewpan that will just
hold it, with mutton or beef gravy, half a pint of port wine, with
pepper and allspice. Simmer it close covered, and very slowly, for three
or four hours. When quite tender, take off the tape, set the meat on a
dish, and strain the gravy over it. Serve with currant-jelly sauce. This
is the best way of dressing a shoulder of venison, unless it be very
fat, and then it should be roasted. The bone should be stewed with it.


SHREWSBURY CAKES. Sift one pound of sugar, some pounded cinnamon, and
nutmeg grated, into three pounds of fine flour. Add a little rose water
to three eggs well beaten, and mix with the flour; then pour into it as
much melted butter as will make it a good thickness to roll out. Mould
it well, roll it thin, and cut it into any shape you please.


SHRIMP PIE. Pick a quart of shrimps; if they be very salt, season them
only with mace and a clove or two. Mince two or three anchovies, mix
them with the spice, and then season the shrimps. Put some butter at the
bottom of the dish, and over the shrimps, with a glass of sharp white
wine. The pie will not take long in baking, and the paste must be light
and thin.


SHRIMP SAUCE. If the shrimps be not ready picked pour over a little
water to wash them. Put them to butter melted thick and smooth, give
them one boil, and add the juice of a lemon.


SHRUB. To a gallon of rum, put a quart of the juice of Seville oranges,
and two pounds and a half of loaf sugar beaten fine, and then barrel it.
Steep the rinds of half a dozen oranges in a little rum, the next day
strain it into the vessel, and make it up ten gallons with water that
has been boiled. Stir the liquor twice a day for a fortnight, or the
shrub will be spoiled.


SICK ROOMS. To purify sick rooms from noxious vapours, exhalations, and
all kinds of infected air, put half an ounce of finely pulverized black
oxide of manganese into a saucer, and pour upon it nearly an ounce of
muriatic acid. Place the saucer on the floor of the infected apartment,
leave it and shut the door, and the contagion will be completely
destroyed. Muriatic acid with red oxide of lead will have a similar
effect. Sulphur burnt for the same purpose, has the power of overcoming
the effects of noxious vapours. Shallow vessels filled with lime water
are of great use in absorbing carbonic acid gas, especially in workshops
where charcoal is burnt. Newly prepared charcoal will absorb various
kinds of noxious effluvia, and might be used with considerable advantage
for the purification of privies, if small pieces of it are strewed upon
the floor. Never venture into a sick room if you are in a violent
perspiration (if circumstances require your continuance there for any
time,) for the moment your body becomes cold, it is in a state likely to
absorb the infection, and give you the disease. Nor visit a sick person,
(especially if the complaint be of a contagious nature) with an empty
stomach; as this disposes the system more readily to receive the
contagion. In attending a sick person, place yourself where the air
passes from the door or window to the bed of the diseased, not betwixt
the diseased person and any fire that is in the room, as the heat of the
fire will draw the infectious vapour in that direction, and you would
run much danger from breathing in it.


SILK DYES. Silk is usually dyed red with cochineal, or carthamus, and
sometimes with Brazil wood. Archil is employed to give silk a bloom, but
it is seldom used by itself, unless when the colour wanted is lilac.
Silk may be dyed crimson, by steeping it in a solution of alum, and then
dyeing it in the usual way in a cochineal bath. Poppy colour, cherry,
rose, and flesh colour, are given to silk by means of carthamus. The
process consists merely in keeping the silk as long as it extracts any
colour, in an alkaline solution of carthamus, into which as much lemon
juice has been poured, as is sufficient to give it a fine cherry red
colour. Silk cannot be dyed a full scarlet; but a colour approaching to
scarlet may be given to it, by first impregnating the stuff with
murio-sulphate of tin, and afterwards dyeing it in equal parts of
cochineal and quercitron bark.


SILK STOCKINGS. To clean silk stockings properly, it is necessary first
to wash them in a lukewarm liquor of white soap, then to rinse them in
clean water, and wash them again as before. They are to be washed a
third time in a stronger soap liquor, made hot and tinged with blueing,
and rinsed in clean water. Before they are quite dry, they are to be
stoved with brimstone, and afterwards polished with glass upon a wooden
leg. Gauzes are whitened in the same manner, only a little gum is put in
the soap liquor before they are stoved.


SILKS CLEANED. The best method of cleaning silks, woollens, and cottons,
without damage to their texture and colour, is to grate some raw
potatoes to a fine pulp in clean water, and pass the liquid matter
through a coarse sieve into another vessel of water. Let the mixture
stand till the fine white particles of the potatoes are precipitated;
then pour off the liquor, and preserve it for use. The article to be
cleaned should then be laid upon a linen cloth on a table; and having
provided a clean sponge, dip it into the potatoe liquor, and apply it to
the article to be cleaned, till the dirt is made to disappear; then wash
it in clean water several times. Two middle-sized potatoes will be
sufficient for a pint of water. The coarse pulp, which does not pass
through the sieve, is of great use in cleaning worsted curtains,
tapestry, carpets, and other coarse articles. The mucilaginous liquor
will clean all sorts of silk, cotton or woollen goods, without hurting
or spoiling the colour. It may also be used in cleaning oil paintings,
or furniture that is soiled. Dirtied painted wainscots may be cleaned by
wetting a sponge in the liquor, then dipping it in a little fine clean
sand, and afterwards rubbing the wainscot with it.


SILVERING. For silvering glass globes, and such kind of articles, one
part of mercury, and four of tin, are generally used. But if two parts
of mercury, one of tin, one of lead, and one of bismuth, are melted
together, the compound which they form will answer the purpose better.
Either of them must be made in an iron ladle, over a clear fire, and be
frequently stirred. The glass to be silvered must be very clean and dry.
The alloy is poured in at the top, and shaken till the whole internal
surface is covered.


SILVERING OF IVORY. Prepare a diluted solution of nitrate of silver, and
immerse in it an ivory paper knife. When the ivory has become yellow, in
that part where it is in contact with the fluid, take it out and immerse
it in an ale glass containing distilled water, placed in a window. In a
short time, by exposure to the rays of the sun, it will become intensely
black. Take it out of the water, wipe it dry, and rub it with a piece of
leather. The silver will now appear on the ivory in a metallic state,
and the knife will retain its silvery coat for a long time.


SILVERING ON SILK. Paint flowers or figures of any kind on a white silk
ribbon, with a camel hair pencil, dipped in a solution of nitrate of
silver. Immerse this whilst wet in a jar of sulphurous acid gas, by
burning sulphur under a jar of atmospheric air. The penciling will then
assume a beautiful metallic brilliance.


SINAPISMS. The sinapism is a poultice made of vinegar instead of milk,
and rendered warm and stimulating by the addition of mustard,
horseradish, or garlic. The common sinapism is made of equal quantities
of bread crumbs and mustard, a sufficient quantity of strong vinegar,
and mixing all together into a poultice. When a sinapism is required to
be more stimulating, a little bruised garlic may be added. Sinapisms are
employed to recal the blood and spirits to a weak part, as in the case
of palsy; they are also of service in deep-seated pains, as in the case
of sciatica. When the gout seizes the head or stomach, they are applied
to the feet to bring the disorder down, and are likewise applied to the
soles of the feet in a low state of fever. They should not be suffered
to lie on till they have raised blisters, but till the parts become red,
and will continue so when pressed with the finger.


SIPPETS. When the stomach is too weak to receive meat, put on a very hot
plate two or three sippets of bread, and pour over them some beef,
mutton, or veal gravy. Flavour with a little salt.


SIMPLE WATERS. The most expeditious method of distilling waters is to
tie a piece of muslin or gauze, over a glazed earthen pot, whose mouth
is just large enough to receive the bottom of a warming pan; on this lay
your herb, clipped, whether mint, lavender, or whatever else you please;
then place upon them the hot warming-pan, with live coals in it, to
cause heat just enough to prevent burning, by which means, as the steam
issuing out of the herb cannot mount upwards, by reason of the bottom of
the pan just fitting the brim of the vessel below it, it must
necessarily descend, and collect into water at the bottom of the
receiver, and that strongly impregnated with the essential oil and salt
of the vegetable thus distilled; which, if you want to make spirituous,
or compound water of, is easily done, by simply adding some good
spirits, or French brandy to it, which will keep good for a long time,
and be much better than if the spirits had passed through a still, which
must of necessity waste some of their strength. Care should be taken not
to let the fire be too strong, lest it scorch the plants; and to be made
of charcoal, for continuance and better regulation, which must be
managed by lifting up and laying down the lid, as you want to increase
or decrease the degrees of heat. The cooler the season, the deeper the
earthen pan; and the less fire at first (afterwards to be gradually
raised) in the greater perfection will the distilled water be
obtained.--As the more moveable, or volatile parts of vegetables, are
the aqueous, the oily, the gummy, the resinous, and the saline, these
are to be expected in the waters of this process; the heat here employed
being so great as to burst the vessels of the plants, some of which
contain so large a quantity of oil, that it may be seen swimming on the
surface of the water.--Medical waters thus procured will afford us
nearly all the native virtues of vegetables, and give us a mixture of
their several principles, whence they in a manner come up to the
expressed juice, or extract gained therefrom: and if brandy be at the
same time added to these distilled waters, so strong of oil and salt, a
compound, or spirituous water, may be likewise procured, at a cheap and
easy rate.--Although a small quantity only of distilled water can be
obtained at a time by this confined operation, yet it compensates in
strength what is deficient in quantity. Such liquors, if well corked up
from the air, will keep good a long time, especially if about a
twentieth part of any spirits be added, in order to preserve the same
more effectually.


SIZE FROM POTATOES. One of the beneficial uses of potatoes, not perhaps
generally known, is, that the starch of them, quite fresh, and washed
only once, may be employed to make size, which, mixed with chalk, and
diluted in a little water, forms a very beautiful and good white for
ceilings. This size has no smell, while animal size, which putrefies so
readily, always exhales a very disagreeable odour. That of potatoes, as
it is very little subject to putrefaction, appears, from experience, to
be more durable in tenacity and whiteness; and, for white-washing,
should be preferred to animal size, the decomposition of which is always
accompanied with unhealthy exhalations.


SKATE. In the purchase of this article, observe that it be very white
and thick. It requires to be hung up one day at least before it is
dressed; if too fresh, it eats tough. Skate may either be boiled, or
fried in crumbs, being first dipped in egg. Crimp skate should be boiled
and sent up in a napkin, or it may be fried as above.


SKATE SOUP. This is made of the stock fish for soup, with an ounce of
vermicelli boiled in it, a little before it is served. Then add half a
pint of cream, beaten with the yolks of two eggs. Stir it by the side of
the fire, but not on it. Serve it up with a small French roll warmed in
a Dutch oven, and then soaked an hour in the soup.


SKIRRETS. Hamburgh parsley, scorzonera, and skirrets, are much esteemed
for their roots, the only part which is eaten. They should be boiled
like young carrots, and they will eat very well with meat, or alone, or
in soups. The shoots of salsify in the spring, from the roots of a year
old, gathered green and tender, will eat very nice, if boiled in the
same manner as asparagus.


SLATE, a well-known, neat, convenient, and durable material, for the
covering of the roofs of buildings. There are great varieties of this
substance; and it likewise differs very greatly in its qualities and
colours. In some places it is found in thick laminæ, or flakes; while in
others it is thin and light. The colours are white, brown, and blue. It
is so durable, in some cases, as to have been known to continue sound
and good for centuries. However, unless it should be brought from a
quarry of well reputed goodness, it is necessary to try its properties,
which may be done by striking the slate sharply against a large stone,
and if it produce a complete sound, it is a mark of goodness; but if in
hewing it does not shatter before the edge of the _sect_, or instrument
commonly used for that purpose, the criterion is decisive. The goodness
of slate may be farther estimated by its colour: the deep black hue is
apt to imbibe moisture, but the lighter is always the least penetrable:
the touch also may be in some degree a guide, for a good firm stone
feels somewhat hard and rough, whereas an open slate feels very smooth,
and as it were, greasy. And another method of trying the goodness of
slate, is to place the slate-stone lengthwise and perpendicularly in a
tub of water, about half a foot deep, care being taken that the upper or
unimmersed part of the slate be not accidentally wetted by the hand, or
otherwise; let it remain in this state twenty-four hours; if good and
firm stone, it will not draw water more than half an inch above the
surface of the water, and that perhaps at the edges only, those parts
having been a little loosened in the hewing; but a spongy defective
stone will draw water to the very top. There is still another mode,
held to be infallible. First, weigh two or three of the most suspected
slates, noting the weight; then immerge them in a vessel of water twelve
hours; take them out, and wipe them as clean as possible with a linen
cloth; and if they weigh more than at first, it denotes that quality of
slate which imbibes water: a drachm is allowable in a dozen pounds, and
no more. It may be noticed, that in laying of this material, a bushel
and a half of lime, and three bushels of fresh-water sand, will be
sufficient for a square of work; but if it be pin plastered, it will
take above as much more: but good slate, well laid and plastered to the
pin, will lie an hundred years; and on good timber a much longer time.
It has been common to lay the slates dry, or on moss only, but they are
much better when laid with plaster. When they are to be plastered to the
pin, then about the first quantity of lime and sand will be sufficient
for the purpose, when well mixed and blended together, by properly
working them. Slates differ very much in thickness as well as colour,
which suits them for different situations and purposes. A great deal of
good slate of various kinds is raised in different parts of Wales, and
much excellent blue and other coloured sorts is procured from the
northern parts of Lancashire, and other neighbouring places, as well as
from different other counties throughout the kingdom. In some parts the
slate is distributed into three kinds, as the best, the middling, and
the waste or common sort.


SLEEP. 'Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep,' is indispensible to
the continuance of health and life; and the night is appropriated for
the recovery of that strength which is expended on the various exercises
of the day. But sleep, as well as diet and exercise, ought to be duly
regulated; for too little of it, as well as too much, is alike
injurious. A medium ought therefore to be observed, though the real
proportion cannot be ascertained by any given time, as one person will
be more refreshed by five or six hours sleep, than another by eight or
ten. Children may be allowed to take as much as they please; but for
adults, six hours is generally sufficient, and no one ought to exceed
eight. To make sleep refreshing, it is necessary to take sufficient
exercise in the open air. Too much exertion will prevent sleep, as well
as too little; yet we seldom hear the active and laborious complain of
restless nights, for they generally enjoy the luxury of undisturbed
repose. Refreshing sleep is often prevented by the use of strong tea, or
heavy suppers; and the stomach being loaded, occasions frightful dreams,
and broken and interrupted rest. It is also necessary to guard against
anxiety and corroding grief: many by indulging these, have banished
sleep so long that they could never afterwards enjoy it. Sleep taken in
the forepart of the night is most refreshing, and nothing more
effectually undermines and ruins the constitution than night watching.
How quickly the want of rest in due season will destroy the most
blooming complexion, or best state of health, may be seen in the ghastly
countenances of those who turn the day into night, and the night into
day.


SLICED CUCUMBERS. Cut some cucumbers into thick slices, drain them in a
cullender, and add some sliced onions. Use some strong vinegar, and
pickle them in the same manner as gherkins and French beans.


SLICES OF BEEF. To prepare red beef for slices, cut off a piece of thin
flank, and remove the skin. Rub the beef well with a mixture made of two
pounds of common salt, two ounces of bay salt, two ounces of saltpetre,
and half a pound of moist sugar, pounded together in a marble mortar.
Put it into an earthen pan, and turn and rub it daily for a week. Then
take it out of the brine and wipe it, strew over it pounded mace,
cloves, pepper, a little allspice, plenty of chopped parsley, and a few
shalots. Roll it up, bind it round with tape, boil it quite tender, and
press it. When cold cut it into slices, and garnish it with pickled
barberries, fresh parsley, or any other approved article.


SLICES OF COD. To boil slices of codfish, put plenty of salt into some
spring water. Boil it up quick, and then put in the fish. Keep it
boiling, and skim it very clean. It will be done sufficiently in eight
or ten minutes. Some small pieces may be fried and served round it.
Oyster, shrimp, or anchovy sauce, should be served with it.


SLICES OF HAM. Bacon or ham may be fried, broiled on a gridiron over a
clear fire, or toasted with a fork. The slices should be of the same
thickness in every part. To have it curled, the slices should be cut
about two inches long, then rolled up, and a little wooden skewer passed
through them. Put them into a cheese toaster or Dutch oven, for eight or
ten minutes, turning the slices as they crisp. This is considered the
handsomest way of dressing rashers of bacon, but it is best uncurled,
because it is crisper, and more equally done. Slices of ham or bacon
should not be more than half a quarter of an inch thick, and will eat
much more mellow if soaked in hot water for a quarter of an hour, and
then dried in a cloth, before they are toasted.


SLICES OF SALMON. When washed, wipe the salmon quite dry. Rub the slices
over with a soft brush dipped in sweet oil, season with pepper and salt,
fold them neatly in clean white paper, and broil them over a clear
fire.


SLIGHT WOUNDS. When fresh wounds bleed much, lint dipped in vinegar or
spirits of turpentine, may be pressed upon the surface for a few
minutes, and retained by a moderately tight bandage; but if the blood
spirts out violently, it shows that an artery is wounded, and it must be
held very firmly till a surgeon arrives. But when the blood seems to
flow equally from every part of the wound, and there is no reason
therefore to suppose that any considerable vessel is wounded, it may be
permitted to bleed while the dressings are preparing. The edges of the
wound are then to be gently pressed together, and retained by straps of
sticking plaster. These may remain on for three or four days, unless the
sore becomes painful, or the matter smells offensive, in which case the
straps of plaster must be taken off, the parts washed clean with warm
water, and fresh slips of plaster applied, nicely adjusted to keep the
wound closed. The slips must be laid over the wound crossways, and reach
several inches beyond each side of it, in order to hold the parts firmly
together. By keeping the limb or part very still, abstaining from strong
liquors, taking only light mild food, and keeping the bowels open, all
simple wounds may easily be healed in this manner. But poultices, greasy
salves, or filling the wound with lint, will have an opposite effect.
Even ragged or torn wounds may be drawn together and healed by sticking
plaster, without any other salves or medicines. A broken shin, or slight
ruffling of the skin, may be covered with lint dipped in equal parts of
vinegar and brandy, and left to stick on, unless the place inflames; and
then weak goulard is the best remedy. Common cuts may be kept together
by sticking plaster, or with only a piece of fine linen rag, or thread
bound round them. The rag applied next to a cut or wound of any kind,
should always be of white linen; but calico, or coloured rags, will do
quite as well for outward bandages. Important wounds should always be
committed to the care of a skilful surgeon.


SLUGS. These reptiles do great damage in fields and gardens, especially
to crops of lettuces, cabbages, or turnips. Their track is perceived by
the shining and slimy substance which they leave behind them. There are
several kinds of these little animals. The white and brown leathery kind
often even destroy the strong stems of young cabbage, and other similar
plants. The destruction of them has been suggested to be effected by the
use of tar-water, sprinkled over the ground; and also by having recourse
to lime, in the preparation of the land for such crops. They conceal
themselves in the holes and crevices, only making their appearance early
in mornings and late in the evenings. The white slug or snail is
likewise very destructive to young turnip crops, by rising out of the
holes of the soils, on wet and dewy mornings and evenings. Rolling the
ground with a heavy implement, before the sun rises, has been advised as
a means of destroying them in these cases. Slugs of this sort are
likewise very destructive, in some districts, to the roots of corn
crops, during the day-time, in the early spring months, while they lie
concealed in the ground, by eating and devouring them; and by coming out
in the evenings, and during the night-time, to commit ravages on the
blades, and other parts above the ground. Numbers of them are sometimes
met with upon the same plant, and they may easily be extirpated and
removed from the land by the above practice, while they are at work,
especially in moon-light seasons, and any further injury to the crops
be guarded against. Warm moist weather is always a great encouragement
to their coming out of their hiding-places; and advantage should
constantly be taken of it for their extermination, as they suddenly
retire under ground during the time of cold. The strong lands of other
places are occasionally much infested with them in the pea, bean, and
rye crops and stubbles, as well as clover roots, when a wheat crop is
put in upon them. The slugs, in some cases, are of about half an inch in
length, having their backs of a blueish cast in the skin part, and their
under parts wholly of a white appearance. A mixture of sulphur and lime,
made so as to be conveniently applied, has been found to be highly
destructive of them in general.--The use of lime-water has lately been
advised as an excellent and cheap mode of destroying slugs in gardens,
as well as fields, in the second volume of the Transactions of the
Horticultural Society of London. It is found to be far preferable, in
this intention, to quicklime, which is liable to become too soon
saturated with moisture, and rendered ineffectual. The manner of
employing the water is after it has been newly made from stone lime, by
means of hot water poured upon it, to pour it through the fine rose of a
watering-pot over the slugs, which have been collected by means of
pea-haulm, or some other similar substance, laid down on the ground in
portions, at the distance of about a pole from each other. In proper
weather, the slugs soon collect in this way, in great numbers, for
shelter as well as to get food. When a boy takes up the substance, and
by a gentle shake leaves the whole of the slugs on the ground, another
person then pours a small quantity of lime-water on them, and the boy
removes the haulmy material to some intermediate place, in order that
the same practice may be repeated. By persevering in this method for a
little while, the whole of the slugs may be destroyed, as the least drop
of the water speedily kills them. This practice, it is supposed, will be
found highly beneficial in the flower-garden, as by watering the edgings
of box, thrift, or other kinds, the slugs will be killed with certainty,
even when the weather is moist. The application is considered simple,
the effect certain, and the expence trifling, whether in the garden or
the field; a few pots only being required, in the latter case, to the
acre, which can be made with a very small quantity of lime. And the
labour is not of any material consequence, so that the whole charge will
not, it is imagined, exceed five shillings the acre.--To prevent slugs
from getting into fruit trees. If the trees are standards, tie a coarse
horse-hair rope about them, two or three feet from the ground. If they
are against the wall, nail a narrow slip of coarse horse-hair cloth
against the wall, about half a foot from the ground, and they will never
get over it, for if they attempt it, it will kill them, as their bellies
are soft, and the horse-hair will wound them.


SMALL COAL. There is generally a great waste in the article of coal,
owing to the quantity of dust found amongst it; but this if wetted makes
the strongest fire for the back of the grate, where it should remain
untouched till it is formed into a cake. Cinders lightly wetted give a
great degree of heat, and are better than coal for furnaces, ironing
stoves, and ovens. They should be carefully preserved and sifted in a
covered tin bucket, which prevents the dispersion of the dust.


SMALL POX. Previous to the appearance of the eruption, the patient
should be kept in a cool dry apartment, and abstain from all animal
food, cheese, and pastry. The diet should consist of cooling
vegetables, ripe fruit, pearl barley, and sago. The drink may be barley
water, with a few drops of vinegar or cream of tartar, or lukewarm milk
and water; but neither beer nor wine must be allowed. In case of an
obstruction of the bowels, mild laxatives or clysters may be given; and
if the throat be affected, it should be gargled with vinegar and water.
Warm fomentations should be applied to the neck, and mustard poultices
to the feet. After the eruption has made its appearance, the recovery of
the patient may be chiefly entrusted to nature, while proper attention
is paid to diet and regimen. But if the pustules begin to disappear,
blisters ought to be immediately applied to the calves of the legs, and
parsley-root boiled in milk should frequently be eaten, in order to
encourage the eruption. When the pustules suddenly sink in, it denotes
danger, and medical assistance should speedily be procured. In case of
inoculation, which introduces the disease in a milder form, and has been
the means of saving the lives of many thousands, a similar mode of
treatment is required. For about a week or ten days previous to
inoculation, the patient should adhere to a regular diet; avoiding all
animal food, seasoned dishes, wine and spirits, and should live
sparingly on fruit pies, puddings, and vegetables. The same regimen must
be observed as in the former instance, during the progress of the
disease, and then, but little medicine will be required.


SMALL RICE PUDDINGS. Wash two large spoonfuls of rice, and simmer it
with half a pint of milk till it is thick. Put in a piece of butter the
size of an egg, and nearly half a pint of thick cream, and give it one
boil. When cold, mix four yolks and two whites of eggs well beaten,
sugar and nutmeg to taste. Add grated lemon, and a little cinnamon.
Butter some small cups, and fill them three parts full, putting at
bottom some orange or citron. Bake them three quarters of an hour in a
slowish oven. Serve them up the moment they are to be eaten, with sweet
sauce in the dish, or in a boat.


SMELL OF PAINT. When a room is newly painted, place three or four tubs
full of water near the wainscot, and renew the water daily. In two or
three days it will absorb all the offensive effluvia arising from the
paint, and render the room wholesome. The smell of paint may also be
prevented, by dissolving some frankincense in spirits of turpentine over
a slow fire, and mixing it with the paint before it be laid on.


SMELLING BOTTLE. Reduce to powder an equal quantity of sal-ammoniac and
quicklime separately, put two or three drops of the essence of bergamot
into a small bottle, then add the other ingredients, and cork it close.
A drop or two of æther will improve it.


SMELTS. This delicate fish is caught in the Thames, and some other large
rivers. When good and in season, they have a fine silvery hue, are very
firm, and have a refreshing smell like cucumbers newly cut. They should
not be washed more than is necessary merely to clean them. Dry them in a
cloth, lightly flour them, and shake it off. Dip them in plenty of eggs,
then into bread crumbs grated fine, and plunge them into a good pan of
boiling lard. Let them continue gently boiling, and a few minutes will
make them a bright yellow-brown. Take care not to take off the light
roughness of the crumbs, or their beauty will be lost.


SMOKED HERRINGS. Clean and lay them in salt one night, with saltpetre;
then hang them on a stick, through the eyes, in a row. Have ready an old
cask, in which put some saw-dust, and in the midst of it a heater
red-hot. Fix the stick over the smoke, and let them remain twenty-four
hours.


SMOKY CHIMNIES. The plague of a smoking chimney is proverbial, and has
engaged considerable attention from observers of various descriptions.
Smoky chimnies in a new house, are such, frequently, for want of air.
The workmanship of the rooms being all good and just out of the
workman's hands, the joints of the flooring and of the pannels of the
wainscoting are all true and tight; the more so as the walls, perhaps
not yet thoroughly dry, preserve a dampness in the air of the room which
keeps the woodwork swelled and close: the doors and the sashes too being
worked with truth, shut with exactness, so that the room is perfectly
tight, no passage being left open for the air to enter except the
key-hole, and even that is frequently closed by a little dropping
shutter. In this case it is evident that there can be no regular current
through the flue of the chimney, as any air escaping from its aperture
would cause an exhaustion in the air of the room similar to that in the
receiver of an air-pump, and therefore an equal quantity of air would
rush down the flue to restore the equilibrium; accordingly the smoke, if
it ever ascended to the top, would be beat down again into the room.
Those, therefore, who stop every crevice in a room to prevent the
admission of fresh air, and yet would have their chimney carry up the
smoke, require inconsistencies and expect impossibilities. The obvious
remedy in this case is, to admit more air, and the question will be how
and where this necessary quantity of air from without is to be admitted,
so as to produce the least inconvenience; for if the door or window be
left so much open, it causes a cold draft of air to the fire-place, to
the great discomfort of those who sit there. Various have been the
contrivances to avoid this, such as bringing in fresh air through pipes
in the jambs of the chimney, which, pointing upwards, should blow the
smoke up the funnel; opening passages in the funnel above to let in air
for the same purpose; but these produce an effect contrary to that
intended, for as it is the constant current of air passing from the room
through the opening of the chimney into the flue, which prevents the
smoke coming out into the room, if the funnel is supplied by other means
with the air it wants, and especially if that air be cold, the force of
that current is diminished, and the smoke in its efforts to enter the
room finds less resistance. The wanted air must then indispensably be
admitted into the room to supply what goes off through the opening of
the chimney, and it is advisable to make the aperture for this purpose
as near the ceiling as possible, because the heated air will naturally
ascend and occupy the highest part of the room, thus causing a great
difference of climate at different heights, a defect which will be in
some measure obviated by the admission of cold air near the ceiling,
which descending, will beat down and mingle the air more effectually.
Another cause of smoky chimnies is too short a funnel, as, in this case,
the ascending current will not always have sufficient power to direct
the smoke up the flue. This defect is frequently found in low buildings,
or the upper stories of high ones, and is unavoidable, for if the flue
be raised high above the roof to strengthen its draft, it is then in
danger of being blown down and crushing the roof in its fall. The remedy
in this case is to contract the opening of the chimney so as to oblige
all the entering air to pass through or very near the fire, by which
means it will be considerably heated, and by its great rarefaction,
cause a powerful draft, and compensate for the shortness of its column.
The case of too short a funnel is more general than would be imagined,
and often found where one would not expect it; for it is not uncommon in
ill-contrived buildings, instead of having a separate funnel for each
fire-place, to bend and turn the funnel of an upper room so as to make
it enter the side of another flue that comes from below. By this means
the funnel of the upper room is made short, of course, since its length
can only be reckoned from the place where it enters the lower funnel,
and that flue is also shortened by all the distance between the entrance
of the second funnel and the top of the stack; for all that part being
readily supplied with air through the second flue, adds no strength to
the draft, especially as that air is cold when there is no fire in the
second chimney. The only easy remedy here, is to keep the opening shut
of that flue in which there is no fire. Another very common cause of the
smoking of chimnies is, their overpowering one another. For instance, if
there be two chimnies in one large room, and you make fires in both of
them, you will find that the greater and stronger fire shall overpower
the weaker, and draw air down its funnel to supply its own demand, which
air descending in the weaker funnel will drive down its smoke, and force
it into the room. If, instead of being in one room, the two chimnies are
in two different rooms communicating by a door, the case is the same
whenever that door is open. The remedy is, to take care that every room
have the means of supplying itself from without, with the air its
chimney may require, so that no one of them may be obliged to borrow
from another, nor under the necessity of lending. Another cause of
smoking is, when the tops of chimnies are commanded by higher buildings,
or by a hill, so that the wind blowing over such eminences falls like
water over a dam, sometimes almost perpendicularly on the tops of the
chimnies that lie in its way, and beats down the smoke contained in
them. The remedy commonly applied in this case is, a turn-cap, made of
tin or plate-iron, covering the chimney above, and on three sides, open
on one side, turning on a spindle, and which being guided or governed by
a vane, always presents its back to the wind. This method will generally
be found effectual, but if not, raising the flues, where practicable, so
as their tops may be on a level with or higher than the commanding
eminence, is more to be depended on. There is another case of command,
the reverse of that last mentioned; it is where the commanding eminence
is farther from the wind than the chimney commanded. For instance,
suppose the chimney of a building to be so situated as that its top is
below the level of the ridge of the roof, which, when the wind blows
against it, forms a kind of dam against its progress. In this case, the
wind being obstructed by this dam, will, like water, press and search
for passages through it, and finding the top of the chimney below the
top of the dam, it will force itself down that funnel in order to get
through by some door or window open on the other side of the building,
and if there be a fire in such chimney, its smoke is of course beat down
and fills the room. The only remedy for this inconvenience is, to raise
the funnel higher than the roof, supporting it, if necessary, by iron
bars; for a turn-cap in this case has no effect, the dammed up air
pressing down through it in whatever position the wind may have placed
its opening. Chimnies otherwise drawing well are sometimes made to smoke
by the improper and inconvenient situation of a door. When the door and
chimney are placed on the same side of a room, if the door is made to
open from the chimney, it follows, that when only partly opened, a
current of air is admitted and directed across the opening of the
chimney, which is apt to draw out some of the smoke. Chimnies which
generally draw well, do, nevertheless, sometimes give smoke into the
room, it being driven down by strong winds passing over the tops of
their flues, though not descending from any commanding eminence. To
understand this, it may be considered that the rising light air, to
obtain a free issue from the funnel, must push out of its way, or oblige
the air that is over it to rise. In a time of calm, or of little wind,
this is done visibly; for we see the smoke that is brought up by that
air rise in a column above the chimney. But when a violent current of
wind passes over the top of a chimney, its particles have received so
much force, which keeps them in a horizontal direction, and follow each
other so rapidly, that the rising light air has not strength sufficient
to oblige them to quit that direction, and move upwards to permit its
issue. Add to this, that some of the air may impinge on that part of the
inside of the funnel which is opposed to its progress, and be thence
reflected downwards from side to side, driving the smoke before it into
the room. The simplest and best remedy in this case is the application
of a chimney-pot, which is a hollow truncated cone of earthenware placed
upon the top of the flue. The intention of this contrivance is, that the
wind and eddies which strike against the oblique surface of these covers
may be reflected upwards instead of blowing down the chimney. The bad
construction of _fire-places_ is another cause of smoking chimneys; and
this case will lead us to the consideration of the methods of increasing
the heat and diminishing the consumption of fuel; for it will be found
that the improvements necessary to produce the last-mentioned end will
also have a general tendency to cure smoky chimnies. On this subject the
meritorious labours of Count Rumford are conspicuous, and we shall
proceed to give an abridged account of his method. In investigating the
best form of a fire-place, it will be necessary to consider, first, what
are the objects which ought principally to be had in view in the
construction of a fire-place; and, secondly, to consider how these
objects can best be attained. Now the design of a chimney-fire being
simply to warm a room, it is essential to contrive so that this end
shall be actually attained, and with the least possible expence of fuel,
and also that the air of the room be preserved perfectly pure and fit
for respiration, and free from smoke and all disagreeable smells. To
cause as many as possible of the rays, as they are sent off from the
fire in straight lines, to come directly into the room, it will be
necessary, in the first place, to bring the fire as far forward, and to
leave the opening of the fire-place as wide and high as can be done
without inconvenience; and secondly, to make the sides and back of the
fire-place of such form, and of such materials, as to cause the direct
rays from the fire which strike against them, to be sent into the room
by reflection in the greatest abundance. Now, it will be found, upon
examination, that the best form for the vertical sides of a fire-place,
or the _covings_, as they are called, is that of an upright plane,
making an angle with the plane of the back of the fire-place of about
135 degrees. According to the old construction of chimnies, this angle
is 90 degrees, or forms a right angle; but, as in this case the two
covings are parallel to each other, it is evident that they are very ill
contrived for throwing into the room, by reflection, the rays from the
fire which fall on them. The next improvement will be to reduce the
throat of the chimney, the immoderate size of which is a most essential
fault in their construction; for, however good the formation of a
fire-place may be in other respects, if the opening left for the passage
of the smoke is larger than is necessary for that purpose, nothing can
prevent the warm air of the room from escaping through it; and whenever
this happens, there is not only an unnecessary loss of heat, but the
warm air, which leaves the room to go up the chimney, being replaced by
cold air from without, produces those drafts of air so often complained
of. But though these evils may be remedied, by reducing the throat of
the chimney to a proper size, yet, in doing this, several considerations
will be necessary to determine its proper situation. As the smoke and
hot vapour which rise from a fire naturally tend upwards, it is evident
that it will be proper to place the throat of the chimney
perpendicularly over the fire; but to ascertain its most advantageous
distance, or how far above the burning fuel it ought to be placed, is
not so easy, and requires several advantages and disadvantages to be
balanced. As the smoke and vapour rise in consequence of their being
rarefied by heat, and made lighter than the air of the surrounding
atmosphere, and as the degree of their rarefraction is in proportion to
the intensity of their heat, and as this heat is greater near the fire
than at a distance from it, it is clear, that the nearer the throat of a
chimney is to the fire, the stronger will be what is commonly called its
draught, and the less danger there will be of its smoking, or of dust
coming into the room when the fire is stirred. But, on the other hand,
when a very strong draught is occasioned by the throat of the chimney
being very near the fire, it may happen that the influx of air into the
fire may become so strong as to cause the fuel to be consumed too
rapidly. This however will very seldom be found to be the case, for the
throats of chimnies are in general too high. In regard to the materials
which it will be most advantageous to employ in the construction of
fire-places, little difficulty will attend the determination of that
point. As the object in view is to bring radiant heat into the room, it
is clear that that material is best for the construction of a fire-place
which reflects the most, or which absorbs the least of it, for that heat
which is absorbed cannot be reflected. Now, as bodies which absorb
radiant heat are necessarily heated in consequence of that absorption;
to discover which of the various materials that can be employed for
constructing fire-places are best adapted for that purpose, we have only
to find, by an experiment very easy to be made, what bodies acquire
least heat, when exposed to the direct rays of a clear fire; for those
which are least heated evidently absorb the least, and consequently
reflect the most radiant heat. And hence it appears that iron, and in
general metals of all kinds, which are well known to grow very hot when
exposed to the rays projected by burning fuel, are to be reckoned among
the very worst materials that it is possible to employ in the
construction of fire-places. Perhaps the best materials are fire-stone
and common bricks and mortar. These substances are fortunately very
cheap, and it is not easy to say to which of the two the preference
ought to be given. When bricks are used, they should be covered with a
thin coating of plaster, which, when perfectly dry, should be
white-washed. The fire-stone should likewise be white-washed, when that
is used; and every part of the fire-place which does not come into
actual contact with the burning fuel should be kept as white and clean
as possible. The bringing forward of the fire into the room, or rather
bringing it nearer to the front of the opening of the fire-place, and
the diminishing of the throat of the chimney, being two objects
principally had in view in the alterations of fire-places recommended,
it is evident that both these may be attained merely by bringing forward
the back of the chimney. It will then remain to be determined how far
the back should be brought forward. This point will be limited by the
necessity of leaving a proper passage for the smoke. Now, as this
passage, which in its narrowest part is called the throat of the
chimney, ought, for reasons before stated, to be immediately or
perpendicularly over the fire, it is evident that the back of the
chimney should be built perfectly upright. To determine therefore the
place of the new back, nothing more is necessary than to ascertain how
wide the throat of the chimney ought to be left. This width is
determined by Count Rumford from numerous experiments, and comparing all
circumstances, to be four inches. Therefore, supposing the breast of the
chimney, or the wall above the mantle, to be nine inches thick, allowing
four inches for the width of the throat, this will give thirteen inches
for the depth of the fire-place. The next consideration will be the
width which it will be proper to give to the back. This, in fire-places
of the old construction, is the same with the width of the opening in
front; but this construction is faulty, on two accounts; first, because
the covings being parallel to each other, are ill contrived to throw out
into the room the heat they receive from the fire in the form of rays;
and, secondly, the large open corners occasion eddies of wind which
frequently disturb the fire and embarrass the smoke in its ascent, in
such a manner as to bring it into the room. Both these defects may be
entirely remedied, by diminishing the width of the back of the
fire-place. The width which in most cases it will be best to give it, is
one-third of the width of the opening of the fire-place in front. But it
is not absolutely necessary to conform rigorously to this decision, nor
will it always be possible. Where a chimney is designed for warming a
room of moderate size, the depth of the fire-place being determined by
the thickness of the breast to thirteen inches, the same dimensions
would be a good size for the width of the back, and three times thirteen
inches, or three feet three inches, for the width of the opening in
front, and the angles made by the back of the fire-place, and the sides
of it, or covings, would be just 135 degrees, which is the best position
they can have for throwing heat into the room. In determining the width
of this opening in front, the chimney is supposed to be perfectly good,
and well situated. If there is any reason to apprehend its ever smoking,
it will be necessary to reduce the opening in front, placing the covings
at a less angle than 135 degrees, and especially to diminish the height
of the opening by lowering the mantle. If from any consideration, such
as the wish to accommodate the fire-place to a grate or stove already on
hand, it should be wished to make the back wider than the dimension
recommended, as for instance, sixteen inches; it will be advisable not
to exceed the width of three feet three inches for the opening in front,
as in a very wide and shallow fire-place, any sudden motion of the air
in front would be apt to bring out puffs of smoke into the room. The
throat of the chimney being reduced to four inches, it will be necessary
to make a provision for the passage of a chimney sweeper. This is to be
done in the following manner. In building up the new back of the
fire-place, when this wall is brought up so high that there remains no
more than about ten or eleven inches between what is then the top of it
and the underside of the mantle, an opening or door-way, eleven or
twelve inches wide, must be begun in the middle of the back, and
continued quite to the top of it, which according to the height that it
will commonly be necessary to carry up the back, will make the opening
twelve or fourteen inches high, which will be quite sufficient for the
purpose. When the fire-place is finished, this door-way is to be closed
by a few bricks laid without mortar, or a tile or piece of stone
confined in its place by means of a rebate made for that purpose in the
brick-work. As often as the chimney is swept, the chimney sweeper
removes this temporary wall or stone, which is very easily done, and
when he has finished his work, he again puts it in its place. The new
back and covings may be built either of brick-work or of stone, and the
space between them and the old back and covings, ought to be filled up
to give greater solidity to the structure. This may be done with loose
rubbish or pieces of broken bricks or stones, provided the work be
strengthened by a few layers or courses of bricks laid in mortar; but it
will be indispensably necessary to finish the work where these new walls
end, that is to say, at the top of the throat of the chimney, where it
ends abruptly in the open canal or flue, by a horizontal course of
bricks well secured with mortar. It is of much importance that they
should terminate in this manner; for were they to be sloped outward and
raised in such a manner as to swell out the upper extremity of the
throat of the chimney in the form of a trumpet, and increase it by
degrees to the size of the flue of the chimney, this construction would
tend to assist the winds which may attempt to blow down the chimney, in
forcing their way through the throat, and throwing the smoke backward
into the room. The internal form of the breast of the chimney is also a
matter of great importance, and which ought to be particularly attended
to. The worst form it can have is that of a vertical plane or upright
flat, and next to this the worst form is an inclined plane. Both these
forms cause the current of warm air from the room which will, in spite
of every precaution, sometimes find its way into the chimney, to cross
upon the current of smoke which rises from the fire in a manner most
likely to embarrass it in its ascent and drive it back. The current of
air which, passing under the mantle, gets into the chimney, should be
made gradually to bend its course upwards, by which means it will unite
quietly with the ascending current of smoke, and will be less likely to
check and impede its progress. This is to be effected by rounding off
the inside of the breast of the chimney, which may be done by a thick
coating of plaster. When the breast or wall of the chimney in front is
very thin, it may happen, that the depth of the fire-place determined
according to the preceding rules may be too small. Thus supposing the
breast to be only four inches thick, which is sometimes the case,
particularly in rooms situated near the top of a house, taking four
inches for the width of the throat, will give only eight inches for the
depth of the fire-place. In this case, it would be proper to increase
the depth of the fire-place at the hearth to twelve or thirteen inches,
and to build up the back perpendicularly to the height of the top of the
grate, and then sloping the back by a gentle inclination forward, bring
it to its proper place directly under the back part of the throat of
the chimney. This slope, though it ought not to be too abrupt, yet
should be quite finished at the height of eight or ten inches above the
fire, otherwise it may perhaps cause the chimney to smoke; but when it
is very near the fire, its heat will enable the current of rising smoke
to overcome the obstacle which this slope will oppose to its ascent,
which it could not so easily do, were the slope situated at a greater
distance from the burning fuel. There is one important circumstance
respecting chimney fire-places designed for burning coals which remains
to be examined, and that is the grate. Although there are few grates
that may not be used in chimnies, altered or constructed on the
principles recommended by Count Rumford, yet they are not by any means
all equally well adapted for that purpose. Those whose construction is
most simple, and which of course are the cheapest, are beyond comparison
the best on all accounts. Nothing being wanted but merely a grate to
contain the coals, and all additional apparatus being not only useless
but pernicious; all complicated and expensive grates should be laid
aside, and such as are more simple substituted in their room. The proper
width for grates in rooms of a middling size, will be from six to eight
inches, and their length may be diminished more or less according to the
difficulty of heating the room, or the severity of the weather. But
where the width of a grate is not more than five inches, it will be very
difficult to prevent the fire from going out. It has been before
observed that the use of metals is as much as possible to be avoided in
the construction of fire-places, it will therefore be proper always to
line the back and sides of a grate with fire stone, which will cause the
fire to burn better and give more heat into the room.


SNAILS. These are a species of slugs covered with shell, and which are
very destructive to wall fruit. To prevent their ascending the standard
trees, tie a coarse horse-hair rope about them, two or three feet from
the ground; and to secure the wall trees, nail a narrow slip of
horse-hair cloth against the wall, about half an inch from the ground,
underneath the branches of the tree. In the winter time the snails may
be found in the holes of walls, under thorns, behind old trees or close
hedges, and might be taken and destroyed. When they attack vegetables, a
few sliced turnips laid on the borders will attract them in the evening,
when they may easily be gathered up. Lime and ashes strewed on the
ground, will also prevent their depredations.


SNIPES. These birds will keep several days, and should be roasted
without drawing, and then served on toast. Butter only should be eaten
with them, as gravy takes off from the fine flavour. The thigh and back
are most esteemed.


SNIPES IN RAGOUT. Slit them down the backs, but do not take out the
insides; toss them up with a little melted bacon fat, seasoned with
pepper and salt, and a little mushroom ketchup; when they are enough,
squeeze in a little juice of lemon, and serve them up.


SNIPES IN SURTOUT. Half roast your snipes, and save the trail; then make
a forcemeat with veal, and as much beef suet chopped, and beat in a
mortar; add an equal quantity of bread crumbs: season it with beaten
mace, pepper, salt, parsley, and sweet herbs shred fine; mix all
together, and moisten it with the yolks of eggs: lay a rim of this
forcemeat round the dish, then put in your snipes. Take strong gravy,
according to your dish, with morels and truffles, a few mushrooms, a
sweetbread cut in pieces, and an artichoke bottom cut small: let all
stew together, then beat up the yolks of two or three eggs with a little
white wine; pour this into your gravy, and keep it stirring till it is
of a proper thickness, then let it stand to cool; work up the remainder
of your forcemeat, and roll it out as you do paste; pour your sauce over
the birds, and lay on your forcemeat; close the edges, and wash it over
with the yolks of eggs, and strew bread crumbs over that; send it to the
oven about half an hour, and then to table as hot as you can.


SNOW BALLS. Swell some rice in milk, and strain it off. Having pared and
cored some apples, put the rice round them, and tie up each in a cloth.
Add to each a bit of lemon peel, a clove, or cinnamon, and boil them
well.


SNOW CREAM. Put to a quart of cream the whites of three eggs well
beaten, four spoonfuls of sweet wine, sugar to sweeten, and a bit of
lemon peel. Whip it to a froth, remove the peel, and serve the cream in
a dish.


SOLDERING. Put into a crucible two ounces of lead, and when it is
melted, throw in an ounce of tin. This alloy is that generally known by
the name of solder. When heated by a hot iron, and applied to tinned
iron, with powdered rosin, it acts as a cement or solder. It is also
used to join leaden pipes, and other articles.


SOLES. A fine thick sole is almost as good eating as turbot, and may be
boiled in the same way. Wash the fish and clean it nicely, put it into a
fish-kettle with a handful of salt, and as much cold water as will cover
it. Set it on the side of the fire, take off the scum as it rises, and
let it boil gently about five minutes, or longer if it be very large.
Send it up on a fish-drainer, garnished with slices of lemon and sprigs
of curled parsley, or nicely fried smelts, or oysters. Slices of lemon
for garnish are universally approved, either with fried or boiled fish.
Parsley and butter, or fennel and butter, make an excellent sauce;
chervil sauce, or anchovies, are also approved. Boiled soles are very
good warmed up like eels, or covered with white wine sauce. When soles
are very large, the best way is to take off the fillets, trim them
neatly, and press them dry in a soft cloth. Egg them over, strew on fine
bread crumbs, and fry them. Or skin and wash a pair of large soles very
clean, dry them in a cloth, wash them with the yolk of an egg on both
sides, and strew over them a little flour, and a few bread crumbs; fry
them of a fine gold colour, in Florence oil, enough to cover them; when
done, drain them, and lay them into an earthen dish that will hold them
at length, and set them by to cool; then make the marinate with a pint
of the best vinegar, half a pint of sherry, some salt, pepper, nutmeg,
two cloves, and a blade of mace; boil all together for about ten
minutes, then pour it over the fish hot, the next day they will be fit
for use. When you dish them up, put some of the liquor over them;
garnish the dish with fennel, sliced lemon, barberries, and horseradish.
If you have any fried fish cold, you may put it into this marinate.--To
fricassee soles white. Clean your soles very well, bone them nicely, and
if large, cut them in eight pieces, if small, only in four; take off the
heads; put the heads and bones, an anchovy, a faggot of sweet herbs, a
blade or two of mace, some whole pepper, salt, an onion, and a crust of
bread, all into a clean saucepan, with a pint of water, cover it close,
and let it boil till a third is wasted; strain it through a fine sieve
into a stew-pan; put in your soles with a gill of white wine, a little
parsley chopped fine, a few mushrooms cut in two, a piece of butter
rolled in flour, enough to thicken your sauce; set it over your stove,
shake your pan frequently, till they are enough, and of a good
thickness; take the scum off very clean, dish them up, and garnish with
lemon and barberries.--Another way. Strip off the black skin of the
fish, but not the white; then take out the bones, and cut the flesh into
slices about two inches long; dip the slices in the yolks of eggs, and
strew over them raspings of bread; then fry them in clarified butter,
and when they are fried enough, take them out on a plate, and set them
by the fire till you have made the following sauce. Take the bones of
the fish, boil them up with water, and put in some anchovy and sweet
herbs, such as thyme and parsley, and add a little pepper, cloves and
mace. When these have boiled together some time, take the butter in
which the fish was fried, put it into a pan over the fire, shake flour
into it, and keep it stirring while the flour is shaking in; then strain
the liquor into it, in which the fish bones, herbs, and spice were
boiled, and boil it together, till it is very thick, adding lemon juice
to your taste. Put your fish into a dish, and pour the sauce over it;
serve it up, garnished with slices of lemon and fried parsley. This dish
may take place on any part of the table, either in the first or second
course.--Another way. Take a pair of large soles, skin and clean them
well, pour a little vinegar, and strew some salt over them; let them lay
in this till they are to be used. When you want to boil them, take a
clean stew-pan, put in a pint of white wine, and a little water, a
faggot of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with three or four cloves, a blade
of mace, a little whole pepper, and a little salt. When your soles are
enough, take them up, and lay them into a dish, strain off the liquor,
put it into the stew-pan, with a good piece of butter rolled in flour,
and half a pint of white shrimps clean picked; toss all up together,
till it is of a proper thickness; take care to skim it very clean, pour
it over the fish. Garnish the dish with scraped horseradish, and sliced
lemon; or you may send them to table plain, and for sauce, chop the meat
of a lobster, bruise the body very smooth with a spoon, mix it with your
liquor, and send it to table in a boat or bason. This is much the best
way to dress a small turbot.


SOLE PIE. Split some soles from the bone, and cut the fins close. Season
with a mixture of salt, pepper, a little nutmeg and pounded mace, and
put them in layers, with oysters. A pair of middling-sized soles will be
sufficient, and half a hundred oysters. Put in the dish the oyster
liquor, two or three spoonfuls of broth, and some butter. When the pie
comes from the oven, pour in a cupful of thick cream, and it will eat
excellently.--Another way. Clean and bone a pair of large soles; boil
about two pounds of eels tender; take off all the meat, put the bones
into the water they were boiled in, with the bones of the soles, a blade
of mace, whole pepper, and a little salt; let this boil till you have
about half a pint of strong broth. Take the flesh off the eels, and chop
it very fine, with a little lemon peel, an anchovy, parsley, and bread
crumbs: season with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and beaten mace; melt a
quarter of a pound of butter, and work all up to a paste. Sheet the dish
with a good puff-paste; lay the forcemeat on the paste, and then lay in
the soles; strain off the broth, scum it clean, pour over the fish a
sufficient quantity, and lay on the lid. When it comes from the oven, if
you have any of the broth left, you may warm it, and pour it into the
pie.


SOLID SYLLABUBS. Mix a quart of thick raw cream, one pound of refined
sugar, a pint and a half of fine raisin wine, in a deep pan; and add
the grated peel and the juice of three lemons. Beat or whisk it one way,
half an hour; then put it on a sieve, with a piece of thin muslin laid
smooth in the shallow end, till the next day. Put it in glasses: it will
keep good in a cool place ten days.


SOMERSETSHIRE SYLLABUB. Put into a large china bowl a pint of port, a
pint of sherry, or other white wine, and sugar to taste. Milk the bowl
full. In twenty minutes' time, cover it pretty high with clouted cream.
Grate nutmeg over it, add pounded cinnamon, and nonpareil comfits.


SORE BREASTS. Sore breasts in females, during the time of suckling, are
often occasioned by the improper practice of drawing the breasts, which
is both painful and dangerous. If they get too full and hard before the
infant can be applied, it is better to let them remain a few hours in
that state, than to use any unnatural means, or else to present the
breast to a child that is a few months old. It is the application of too
great force in drawing them, placing a child to suck at improper times,
the use of stimulating liquors and heated rooms, which frequently
occasion milk fevers and abscesses in the breast. The nipple is
sometimes so sore, that the mother is sometimes obliged to refuse the
breast, and a stagnation takes place, which is accompanied with
ulcerations and fever. To prevent these dangerous affections, the young
mother should carefully protrude the nipple between her fingers to make
it more prominent, and cover it with a hollow nutmeg several weeks
previous to her delivery. But if the parts be already in a diseased
state, it will be proper to bathe them with lime water, or diluted port
wine. After this the breast should be dressed with a little spermaceti
ointment, or a composition of white wax and olive oil, which is mild
and gentle. If this do not answer the purpose, take four ounces of
diachylon, two ounces of olive oil, and one ounce of vinegar. Boil them
together over a gentle fire, keep stirring them till reduced to an
ointment, and apply a little of it to the nipple on a fine linen rag. If
accompanied with fever, take the bark in electuary three or four times a
day, the size of a nutmeg, and persevere in it two or three weeks if
necessary.


SORE EYES. Pound together in a mortar, an ounce of bole-ammoniac, and a
quarter of an ounce of white copperas. Shred fine an ounce of camphor,
and mix the ingredients well together. Pour on them a quart of boiling
water, stir the mixture till it is cold, and apply a drop or two to the
eye, to remove humours or inflammation. A cooling eye-water may be made
of a dram of lapis calaminaris finely powdered, mixed with half a pint
of white wine, and the same of plantain water.


SORE THROAT. An easy remedy for this disorder is to dip a piece of broad
black ribband into hartshorn, and wear it round the throat two or three
days. If this be not sufficient, make a gargle in the following manner.
Boil a little green sage in water, strain it, and mix it with vinegar
and honey. Or pour a pint of boiling verjuice on a handful of rosemary
tops in a basin, put a tin funnel over it with the pipe upwards, and let
the fume go to the throat as hot as it can be borne. A common drink for
a sore throat may be made of two ounces of Turkey figs, the same
quantity of sun raisins cut small, and two ounces of pearl barley,
boiled in three pints of water till reduced to a quart. Boil it gently,
then strain it, and take it warm. Sometimes a handful of salt heated in
an earthen pan, then put into a flannel bag, and applied as hot as
possible round the throat, will answer the purpose. A fumigation for a
sore throat may be made in the following manner. Boil together a pint of
vinegar, and an ounce of myrrh, for half an hour, and pour the liquor
into a basin. Place over it the large part of a funnel that fits the
basin, and let the patient inhale the vapour by putting the pipe of the
funnel into his mouth. The fumigation must be applied as hot as
possible, and renewed every quarter of an hour, till the patient is
relieved. For an inflammation or putrid sore throat, or a quinsey, this
will be found of singular use if persisted in.


SORREL SAUCE. Wash and clean a quantity of sorrel, put it into a stewpan
that will just hold it, with a piece of butter, and cover it close. Set
it over a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, pass the sorrel with the
back of a wooden spoon through a hair sieve, season it with pepper and
salt, and a dust of powdered sugar. Make it hot, and serve it up under
lamb, veal, or sweetbreads. Cayenne, nutmeg, and lemon juice, are
sometimes added.


SORREL SOUP. Make a good gravy with part of a knuckle of veal, and the
scrag end of a neck or a chump end of a loin of mutton. Season it with a
bunch of sweet herbs, pepper, and salt, and two or three cloves. When
the meat is quite stewed down, strain it off, and let it stand till
cold. Clear it well from the fat, put it into a stewpan with a young
fowl nicely trussed, and set it over a slow fire. Wash three or four
large handfuls of sorrel, chop it a little, fry it in butter, put it
into the soup, and let the whole stew till the fowl is well done. Skim
it very clean, and serve it up with the fowl in the soup.


SOUPS. It has generally been considered as good economy to use the
cheapest and most inferior kind of meat for broths and soups, and to
boil it down till it is entirely destroyed, and hardly worth giving to
the pigs. But this is a false frugality; and it is far better to buy
good pieces of meat, and only stew them till they are tender enough to
be eaten. Lean juicy beef, mutton, or veal, form the basis of good
broth; and it is therefore advisable to procure those pieces which
afford the richest succulence, and such as is fresh slain. Stale meat
will make the broth grouty and bad tasted, and fat is not so well
adapted to the purpose. The following herbs, roots, and seasonings, are
proper for making and giving a relish to broths and soups, according as
the taste may suit. Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, oatmeal,
bread, raspings, peas, beans, rice, vermicelli, maccaroni, isinglass,
potatoe mucilage, mushroom, or mushroom ketchup, champignons, parsnips,
carrots, beet root, turnips, garlic, shalots, and onions. Sliced onions
fried with butter and flour till they are browned, and then rubbed
through a sieve, are excellent to heighten the colour and flavour of
brown soups and sauces, and form the basis of most of the fine relishes
furnished by the cook. The older and drier the onion, the stronger will
be its flavour, and the quantity must be regulated accordingly. Leeks,
cucumber, or burnet vinegar; celery, or celery seed pounded. The latter,
though equally strong, does not impart the delicate sweetness of the
fresh vegetable; and when used as a substitute, its flavour should be
corrected by the addition of a bit of sugar. Cress seed, parsley, common
thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter
savoury, and basil. As fresh green basil is seldom to be procured, and
its fine flavour is soon lost, the best way of preserving the extract is
by pouring wine on the fresh leaves. Bay leaves, tomata, tarragon,
chervil, burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black
pepper, white pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon peel, lemon juice, and
Seville orange juice. The latter imparts a finer flavour than the lemon,
and the acid is much milder. The above materials, with wine and mushroom
ketchup, combined in various proportions, will make an endless variety
of excellent broths and soups. The general fault of English soups seems
to be the employment of an excess of spice, and too small a proportion
of roots and herbs. This is especially the case with tavern soups, where
cayenne and garlic are often used instead of black pepper and onion, for
the purpose of obtaining a higher relish. Soups, which are intended to
constitute the principal part of a meal, certainly ought not to be
flavoured like sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some
particular dish. The principal art in composing a good rich soup, is so
to proportion the several ingredients one to another, that no particular
taste be stronger than the rest; but to produce such a fine harmonious
relish, that the whole becomes delightful. In order to this, care must
be taken that the roots and herbs be perfectly well cleaned, and that
the water be proportioned to the quantity of meat, and other
ingredients. In general a quart of water may be allowed to a pound of
meat for soups; and half the quantity for gravies. If they stew gently,
little more water need be put in at first, than is expected at the end;
for when the pot is covered quite close, and the fire gentle, very
little is wasted. Gentle stewing is incomparably the best; the meat is
more tender, and the soup better flavoured. The cover of a soup kettle
should fit very close, or the most essential parts of the broth will
soon evaporate, as will also be the case with quick boiling. It is not
merely the fibres of the meat that afford nourishment, but chiefly the
juices they contain; and these are not only extracted but exhaled, if
it be boiled fast in an open vessel. A succulent soup can never be made
but in a well closed vessel, which preserves the nutritive parts by
preventing their dissipation, yet the flavour is perhaps more wholesome
by an exposure to the air. Place the soup kettle over a moderate fire,
sufficient to make the water hot, without causing it to boil; for if the
water boils immediately, it will not penetrate the meat, and cleanse it
from the clotted blood and other matters, which ought to go off in scum.
The meat will be hardened all over by violent heat, will shrink up as if
it were scorched, and afford very little gravy. On the contrary, by
keeping the water heating about half an hour without boiling, the meat
swells, becomes tender, and its fibres are dilated. By this process, it
yields a quantity of scum, which must be taken off as soon as it
appears. After the meat has had a good infusion for half an hour, the
fire may be improved to make the pot boil, and the vegetables be put in
with a little salt. These will cause more scum to rise, which must be
taken off immediately. Then cover the boiler very closely, and place it
at a proper distance from the fire, where it is to boil very gently and
equally, but not fast. Soups will generally take from three to six hours
doing. The better way is to prepare them the evening before, as that
will give more time to attend to the dinner the next day. When the soup
is cold, the fat may much more easily and completely be removed; and
when it is decanted, take care not to disturb the settlings at the
bottom of the vessel, which are so fine that they will escape through a
sieve. A tammis is the best strainer, the soup appears smoother and
finer, and the cloth is easier cleaned than any sieve. If you strain it
while it is hot, let the tammis or napkin be previously soaked in cold
water; the coldness of the strainer will tend to coagulate the fat, and
only suffer the pure broth to pass through. The full flavour of the
ingredients can only be extracted by long and slow simmering, during
which the boiler must be kept close covered, to prevent evaporation.
Clear soups must be perfectly transparent, thickened soups about the
consistence of cream; the latter will require nearly double the quantity
of seasoning, but too much spice makes it unwholesome. To thicken and
give body to soups and sauces, the following materials are used. Bread
raspings, potatoe mucilage, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice,
or oatmeal and water rubbed well together. Any of these are to be mixed
gradually with the soup, till thoroughly incorporated, and it should
afterwards have at least half an hour's gentle simmering. If it appears
lumpy, it must be passed through a tammis or fine sieve. A piece of
boiled beef pounded to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and
rubbed through a sieve, and gradually incorporated with the soup, will
be found an excellent addition. If the soup is too thin or too weak,
take off the cover of the boiler, and let it boil till some of the
watery part of it has evaporated; or add some of the thickening
materials before mentioned. When soups and gravies are kept from day to
day, in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into
fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cool cellar. In temperate
weather, every other day may be sufficient.--It has been imagined that
soups tend to relax the stomach; but so far from being prejudicial in
this way, the moderate use of such kind of liquid food may rather be
considered as salutary, and affording a good degree of nourishment. Soup
of a good quality, if not eaten too hot, or in too great a quantity, is
attended with great advantages, especially to those who drink but
little. Warm fluids in the form of soup, unite with our juices much
sooner and better, than those which are cold and raw. On this account,
what is called Restorative Soup is the best food for those who are
enfeebled by disease or dissipation, and for old people, whose teeth and
digestive organs are impaired. After taking cold, or in nervous
headachs, cholics, indigestions, and different kinds of cramps and
spasms in the stomach, warm broth or soup is of excellent service. After
intemperate eating, to give the stomach a holiday for a day or two, by a
diet on mutton broth, is the best way to restore its tone. The
stretching of any power to its utmost extent, weakens it; and if the
stomach be obliged every day to do as much as it can, it will every day
be able to do less. It is therefore a point of wisdom to be temperate in
all things, frequently to indulge in soup diet, and occasionally in
almost total abstinence, in order to preserve the stomach in its full
tone and vigour.--Cheap soups for charitable purposes are best made of
fat meat, well boiled with vegetables. Much unreasonable prejudice has
prevailed on this subject, as if fat was unsuitable for such a purpose,
when it is well known that the nutritious parts of animal and vegetable
diet depend on the oil, jelly, mucilage, and sweetness which they
contain. The farina of grain, and the seeds of vegetables, contain more
of the nutritious and essential parts of the plant than any other, as is
evident from the use of celery seed, the eighth part of an ounce of
which will give more relish to a gallon of soup, than a large quantity
of the root or stalk. On the same principle, the fat is the essence of
meat, nearly so as the seeds of plants are of their respective species.
To establish this fact, a simple experiment will be sufficient. Boil
from two to four ounces of the lean part of butcher's meat in six quarts
of water, till reduced to a gallon. Thicken it with oatmeal, and the
result of the decoction will be found to be water gruel, or something
like it. But dissolve the same quantity of the fat of meat in a gallon
of water, thicken it over the fire with oatmeal, and the result will be
a very pleasant broth, possessing the identical taste of the meat in a
considerable degree, whether of beef or mutton. If some of the
gelatinous parts of meat be added, the broth is then of a rich and
nutritious quality, and can be made very cheap. For example: take from
four to six ounces of barley, oatmeal two ounces, onions or leeks a
small quantity; beef fat, suet, or drippings, from two to four ounces;
celery seed half a spoonful, pepper and salt to give the soup a relish,
and water sufficient to make a gallon. Boil the barley, previously
washed, in six quarts of water, which when boiled sufficiently soft will
be reduced to a gallon. It will be necessary to skim it clean in the
course of the boiling, and to stir it well from the bottom of the
boiler. The celery seed should be bruised, and added with the leeks and
onions, towards the end of the process. The oatmeal is to be mixed in a
little cold water, and put in about an hour before the soup is done. In
the last place add the fat, melted before the fire, if not in a state of
drippings, and season with pepper and salt. A few grains of cayenne
would give the soup a higher relish. Wheat flour may be used instead of
oatmeal, but in a smaller proportion. The addition of turnips, carrots,
and cabbages, will be a considerable improvement. The intention of the
oatmeal or flour is, by the mucilage they contain, assisted with barley
broth, to unite the fat with the liquid, so as to form one uniform
mass. Where the fat is suspended in the soup, and not seen floating on
the top, by which it is rendered easier of digestion, and more readily
convertible into good chyle, it is evident that it must be more
palatable, as well as abundantly more nutritious. Some may think this
kind of soup unwholesome, from the quantity of fat it contains; but a
little reflection will shew the contrary. Suet puddings and dumplins are
not unwholesome, neither are mutton drippings with potatoes or other
vegetables. In short, fat is eaten daily by all ranks of people, in some
way or other, in much larger quantities than is prescribed for soup. A
labouring man would find no difficulty in eating as much suet at one
meal, in a flour pudding, or as much drippings as is necessary for a
gallon of soup, in a mass of potatoes or cabbages; while at the same
time a quart of soup with a slice of bread, would be a very hearty meal.
In no other way could meat drippings be applied to so good a purpose, as
in the manufacture of a gallon of soup, sufficient to give a dinner to a
whole family. The quantity of fat or drippings necessary for the soup is
so small, that it may easily be spared from a joint of roast meat, while
enough will remain for other purposes. When mutton dripping is made into
soup, wheat flour is better than oatmeal; but the mucilage of potatoe is
better still, requiring only one ounce to the gallon. When pork is
roasted, peas should be used in preference to boiled barley, and the
soup will be very superior in flavour to any that is made with the bones
of meat, or combined with bacon. Fat pork is eaten daily in large
quantities, in most of the counties of England; and in some parts, hog's
lard is spread on bread instead of butter, besides the abundance of lard
that is used by all ranks of people, in puddings, cakes, and pasties.
Fat enters so much into the composition of our diet, that we could
scarcely subsist without it; and the application of it to soups is only
a different mode of using it, and certainly more frugal and economical
than any other. It may readily be perceived how soups made from lean
meat might be improved by the addition of a little fat, mixed up and
incorporated with a mucilage of potatoes, of wheat flour, oatmeal, peas,
and barley. But where a quantity of fat swims on the surface of the
broth, made from a fat joint of meat, and it cannot from its
superabundance be united with the liquid, by means of any mucilage, it
had better be skimmed off, and preserved for future use; otherwise the
soup will not be agreeable, for it is the due proportion of animal and
vegetable substance that makes soup pleasant and wholesome. To make good
soup of a leg of beef or an ox cheek, which is generally called stew, a
pretty large quantity of the vegetable class ought to be added; and none
seems better adapted than Scotch barley, by which double and treble the
quantity of soup may be made from the same given weight of meat. One
pint of well prepared leg of beef, or ox cheek soup, together with the
fat, will make a gallon of good soup at the trifling expense of
four-pence. In the same way soups may be made from the stew of beef,
mutton, veal, or pork, choosing those parts where mucilage, jelly, and
fat abound. Bacon is allowed to be a considerable improvement to the
taste of veal, whether roasted or boiled; and it is the same in soup.
When therefore veal broth is made for family use, two ounces of fat
bacon should be added to every gallon, melted before the fire or in a
fryingpan. The soup should then be thickened with flour, potatoe starch,
and barley. The last article should seldom be omitted in any soup, it
being so very cheap and pleasant, as well as wholesome and nutritious.
Soup made of tripe is another cheap article. Boil a pound of well
cleaned tripe in a gallon of barley broth, with onions and parsley,
adding two ounces of bacon fat, with salt and pepper. This produces an
extremely nutritious soup, from the gelatinous principle with which the
tripe abounds. Cow heels, calves and sheep's feet, are also well adapted
to the purpose. Excellent soups may be made from fried meat, where the
fat and gravy are added to the boiled barley; and for that purpose, fat
beef steaks, pork and mutton chops, should be preferred, as containing
more of the nutritious principle. Towards the latter end of frying the
steaks, add a little water to produce a gravy, which is to be put to the
barley broth. A little flour should also be dredged in, which will take
up all the fat left in the fryingpan. A quantity of onions should
previously be shred, and fried with the fat, which gives the soup a fine
flavour, with the addition of pepper, salt, and other seasoning. There
would be no end to the variety of soups that might be made from a number
of cheap articles differently combined; but perhaps the distribution of
soup gratis does not answer so well as teaching people how to make it,
and to improve their comforts at home. The time lost in waiting for the
boon, and fetching it home, might by an industrious occupation, however
poorly paid for labour, be turned to a better account than the mere
obtaining of a quart of soup. But it unfortunately happens, that the
best and cheapest method of making a nourishing soup, is least known to
those who have most need of it. The labouring classes seldom purchase
what are called the coarser pieces of meat, because they do not know how
to dress them, but lay out their money in pieces for roasting, which
are far less profitable, and more expensive in the purchase. To save
time, trouble, and firing, these are generally sent to the oven to be
baked, the nourishing parts are evaporated and dried up, the weight is
diminished nearly one third, and what is purchased with a week's
earnings is only sufficient for a day or two's consumption. If instead
of this improvident proceeding, a cheap and wholesome soup were at least
occasionally substituted, it would banish the still more pernicious
custom of drinking tea two or three times a day, for want of something
more supporting and substantial. In addition then to the directions
already given, the following may be considered as one of the cheapest
and easiest methods of making a wholesome soup, suited to a numerous
family among the labouring classes. Put four ounces of Scotch barley
washed clean, and four ounces of sliced onions, into five quarts of
water. Boil it gently for one hour, and pour it into a pan. Put into a
saucepan nearly two ounces of beef or mutton drippings, or melted suet,
or two or three ounces of minced bacon; and when melted, stir into it
four ounces of oatmeal. Rub these together into a paste, and if properly
managed, the whole of the fat will combine with the barley broth, and
not a particle, appear on the surface to offend the most delicate
stomach. Now add the barley broth, at first a spoonful at a time, then
the rest by degrees, stirring it well together till it boils. Put into a
teacup a dram of finely pounded cress or celery seed, and a quarter of a
dram of finely pounded cayenne, or a dram and a half of ground black
pepper or allspice, and mix it up with a little of the soup. Put this
seasoning into the whole quantity, stir up the soup thoroughly, let it
simmer gently a quarter of an hour, and add a little salt. The flavour
may be varied by doubling the portion of onions, or adding a clove of
garlic or shalot, and leaving out the celery seed. Change of food is
absolutely necessary, not only as a matter of pleasure and comfort, but
also of health. It may likewise be much improved, if instead of water,
it be made of the liquor that meat has been boiled in. This soup has the
advantage of being very soon made, with no more fuel than is necessary
to warm a room. Those who have not tasted it, cannot imagine what a
savoury and satisfying meal is produced by the combination of these
cheap and homely ingredients.


SOUP WITH CUCUMBERS. Pare and cut the cucumbers, then stew them with
some good broth, and veal gravy to cover them. When done enough, heat
the soup with the liquor they were stewed in, and season it with salt.
Serve up the soup garnished with the cucumbers. These will be a proper
garnish for almost any kind of soup.


SOUP A L' EAU. Put into a saucepan holding about three pints, a quarter
of a cabbage, four carrots, two parsnips, six onions, and three or four
turnips. Add a root of celery, a small root of parsley, some sorrel, a
bunch of white beet leaves and chervil, and half a pint of peas tied in
a piece of linen. Add water in proportion to the vegetables, and stew
the whole for three hours. Strain off the broth, add some salt, heat it
and serve it up, garnished with the vegetables.


SOUP GRAVY. Take some good juicy lean beef, free from sinews or other
offal substance; or take the lean of a neck, or loin, or the fleshy part
of a leg of mutton, or well-grown fowl, in the proportion of a pound of
meat to a quart of water to beef, and rather less to mutton or fowl. Cut
the meat in pieces, and let it stew very gently till the pure gravy is
fairly drawn from the meat, without extracting the dregs. The time
required for this will vary according to the quantity, the proper degree
of heat being of course longer in penetrating the larger portion. From
an hour and a half to three hours, at discretion, will allow sufficient
time for any quantity that is likely to be wanted at once for soup, at
least in private families. When done, strain the gravy through a hair
sieve into an earthen pot, and let it stand till cold. Take off the fat,
and pour the gravy clear from the sediment at the bottom.


SOUP MAIGRE. Melt half a pound of butter into a stewpan, shake it round,
and throw in half a dozen sliced onions. Shake the pan well for two or
three minutes, then put in five heads of celery, two handfuls of
spinach, two cabbage lettuces cut small, and some parsley. Shake the pan
well for ten minutes, put in two quarts of water, some crusts of bread,
a tea-spoonful of beaten pepper, and three or four blades of mace. A
handful of white beet leaves, cut small, may be added. Boil it gently an
hour. Just before serving, beat in two yolks of eggs, and a large
spoonful of vinegar.--Another. Flour and fry a quart of green peas, four
sliced onions, the coarse stalks of celery, a carrot, a turnip, and a
parsnip. Pour on three quarts of water, let it simmer till the whole
will pulp through a sieve, and boil in it the best of the celery cut
thin.--Another way. Take a bunch of celery washed clean and cut in
pieces, a large handful of spinage, two cabbage lettuces, and some
parsley; wash all very clean, and shred them small; then take a large
clean stewpan, put in about half a pound of butter, and when it is quite
hot, slice four large onions very thin, and put into your butter; stir
them well about for two or three minutes; then put in the rest of your
herbs; shake all well together for near twenty minutes, dust in some
flour, and stir them together; pour in two quarts of boiling water;
season with pepper, salt, and beaten mace: chip a handful of crust of
bread, and put in; boil it half an hour, then beat up the yolks of three
eggs in a spoonful of vinegar; pour it in, and stir it for two or three
minutes; then send it to table.


SOUP WITH ONIONS. Blanch some small white onions in scalding water, peel
off the first skin, and stew them in a little broth. When ready, lay
them in a row round the edge of the dish intended for the soup. To keep
them in their place, put a thin slip of bread rubbed with white of egg
round the rim of the dish, and set the dish for a moment over a stove to
fasten the bread. Slips of bread may be used in this manner to keep all
kinds of garnishing to soups in their proper place.


SOUP A LA REINE. Blanch and beat very fine in a marble mortar, three
quarters of a pound of sweet almonds, with the white part of a cold
roasted fowl. Slice to these the crumb of four small rolls, and then
strain to it three quarts of good veal gravy, boiled with a blade of
mace. Simmer these all together for a quarter of an hour, then rub them
through a tammis, season it with salt, give it a boil, and serve it up
with a small tea-cupful of cream stirred into it, and the slices of
crust cut off the rolls laid on the top.--Another way. Have ready a
strong veal broth that is white, and clean scummed from all fat; blanch
a pound of almonds, beat them in a mortar, with a little water, to
prevent their oiling, and the yolks of four poached eggs, the lean part
of the legs, and all the white part of a roasted fowl; pound all
together, as fine as possible; then take three quarts of the veal broth,
put it into a clean stew-pot, put your ingredients in, and mix them well
together; chip in the crust of two French rolls well rasped; boil all
together over a stove, or a clear fire. Take a French roll, cut a piece
out of the top, and take out all the crumb: mince the white part of a
roasted fowl very fine, season it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a
little beaten mace; put in about an ounce of butter, and moisten it with
two spoonfuls of your soup strained to it; set it over the stove to be
thoroughly hot: cut some French roll in thin slices, and set them before
the fire to crisp; then strain off your soup through a tammis or a lawn
strainer, into another clean stew-pot; let it stew till it is as thick
as cream; then have your dish ready; put in some of your crisp bread;
fill your roll with your mince, and lay on the top as close as possible;
put it into the middle of your dish, and pour a ladleful of your soup
over it; put in your bread first, then pour in your soup, till your dish
is full. Garnish with petty patties; or make a rim for your dish, and
garnish with lemon raced. If you please, you may send a chicken boned in
the middle, instead of your roll; or you may send it to table with only
crisp bread.


SOUP A-LA SAP. Boil half a pound of grated potatoes, a pound of beef
sliced thin, a pint of grey peas, an onion, and three ounces of rice, in
six pints of water till reduced to five. Strain it through a cullender,
pulp the peas into it, and return it into the saucepan with two heads of
sliced celery. Stew it tender, add pepper and salt, and serve it with
fried bread.


SOUR BEER. If beer be brewed ever so well, much will depend on the
management afterwards, to prevent its becoming sour or vapid. Different
conveniences of cellarage will materially affect beer. If the cellar is
bad, there should not be more than six weeks between brewing and
brewing. Where beer is kept too long in a bad cellar, so as to be
affected by the heat of the weather, it will putrefy, though ever so
well bunged. Hops may prevent its turning sour, but will not keep it
from becoming vapid. It should be well understood, that there is no
certainty in keeping beer, if not brewed at the proper season. In winter
there is a danger of wort getting too cold, so as to prevent the process
of fermentation; and in the summer, of its not being cool enough, unless
brewed in the dead of night. In temperate weather, at the spring or
autumn, the spirit of the beer is retained, and it is thereby enabled to
work the liquor clear; whereas in hot weather, the spirit quickly
evaporates, leaving the wort vapid and flat, unable to work itself
clear, but keeping continually on the fret, till totally spoiled. This
is the obvious reason for the use of sugar, prepared for colour, because
sugar will bear the heat better than malt; and when thoroughly prepared,
possesses such a strong principle of heat in itself, as to bid defiance
to the hottest temperature of the air, and to render its turning sour
almost impossible. Clean casks are also essential to the preservation of
good beer. To keep the casks sweet and in order, never allow them to
remain open; but whenever the beer is drawn off, bung them up tight with
the lees within them. In a good cellar they will never spoil. Should the
casks get musty, the following method will remedy the evil. Soak them
well for three or four days in cold water, then fill them full of
boiling hot water; put in a lump or two of lime, shake it thoroughly
till quite dissolved, let the casks stand about half an hour, then wash
them out with cold water, and they will be clean and sweet. If still
apprehensive of the beer getting flat or sour, put into a cask
containing eighteen gallons, a pint of ground malt suspended in a bag,
and close the bung perfectly. This will prevent the mischief, and the
beer will improve during the whole time of drawing it. When beer has
actually turned sour, put in some oyster shells, calcined to whiteness,
or a little powdered chalk. Either of these will correct the acidity,
and make it brisk and sparkling. Salt of tartar, or soda powder, put
into the beer at the time of drinking it, will also destroy the acidity,
and make it palatable.


SOUR KROUT. Take some full-grown hard cabbages of the closest texture,
and cut them into slices about an inch thick, opening them a little,
that they may receive the salt more effectually. Rub a good deal of salt
amongst them, lay them into a large pan, and sprinkle more salt over
them. Let them remain twenty-four hours, turning them over four or five
times, that every part may be alike saturated. Next day put the cabbage
into a tub or large jar, pressing it down well, and then pour over it a
pickle made of a pint of salt to a quart of water. This pickle must be
poured on boiling hot, and the cabbage entirely covered with it. Let it
stand thus twenty-four hours longer, when it will have shrunk nearly a
third. Then take the cabbage out, and put it into a fresh tub or jar,
pressing it down well as before, and pour over it a pickle made as
follows. To one quart of the salt and water pickle which had been used
the day before, put three quarts of vinegar, four ounces of allspice,
and two ounces of carraway seeds. This must be poured on cold, so as to
cover the cabbage completely. Let it stand one day loosely covered, and
then stop it down quite close.


SOUR SAUCE FOR FISH. Boil two blades of mace in a wine glass of water,
and half as much sharp vinegar, for a quarter of an hour. Then take out
the mace, and put in a quarter of a pound of butter, and the yolk of an
egg well beaten. Shake these over the fire one way till the sauce is
properly thickened, without suffering it to boil.


SOUSE FOR BRAWN. Boil a quarter of a pint of wheat bran, a sprig of bay,
and a sprig of rosemary, in two gallons of water for half an hour,
adding four ounces of salt. Strain it, and let it cool. This will do for
pig's feet and ears, as well as brawn.


SOUSED STURGEONS. Draw and divide the fish down the back, and then into
pieces. Put the fish into salt and water, clean it well, bind it with
tape, and boil it very carefully in vinegar, salt, and water. When done
lay it to cool, and pack it up close in the liquor it was boiled in.


SOUSED TRIPE. Boil the tripe, but not quite tender; then put it into
salt and water, which must be changed every day till it is all used.
When the tripe is to be dressed, dip it into a batter of eggs and flour,
and fry it of a good brown.


SOY. To make English soy, pound some walnuts when fit for pickling, in a
marble mortar, very small. Squeeze them through a strainer, let the
liquor stand to settle, and then pour off the fine. To every quart of
liquor put a pound of anchovies, and two cloves of shalot. Boil it
enough to make the scum rise, and clear it well. Add two ounces of
Jamaica pepper, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and half a pint of
vinegar. Boil it again, until the anchovies are dissolved and the shalot
tender, and let it stand till the next day. Then pour off the fine, and
bottle it for use. Strain the thick through a sieve, and put it by
separately. When used for fish, put some of the soy to the usual
anchovies and butter, or to plain butter.


SPANISH CARDOONS. Cut them three inches long, leaving out any that are
hollow and green. Boil them in water half an hour, and then put them
into warm water to pick them. Stew them with some broth, with a
spoonful of flour mixed in it. Add salt, onions, roots, a bunch of sweet
herbs, a dash of verjuice, and a little butter. When they are well done
take them out, and put them into a good cullis, with a little broth.
Boil them half an hour in this sauce to give them a flavour, and then
serve them up. Let the sauce be neither too clear nor too thick, and of
a fine light colour.


SPANISH FLUMMERY. Scald a quart of cream, with a little cinnamon or
mace. Mix this gradually into half a pound of rice flour, and then stir
it over a gentle fire till it acquires the thickness of jelly. Sweeten
it to the taste, and pour it into cups or shapes. Turn it out when cold,
and serve it up. Cream, wine, or preserves eat well with it, or it may
be eaten alone as preferred. Oatmeal may be used instead of rice.


SPANISH FRITTERS. Cut the crumb of a French roll into square lengths, of
the thickness of one's finger, nutmeg, sugar, pounded cinnamon, and an
egg. When well soaked, fry the fritters of a nice brown; and serve with
butter, wine, and sweet sauce.


SPANISH PUFFS. Boil a stick of cinnamon, a piece of lemon peel, and a
little sugar, in three quarters of a pint of water for ten minutes. Let
it cool, then add three eggs well beaten, and shake in three large
spoonfuls of flour. Beat these well together, add three more eggs, and
simmer the whole over the fire, till it thickens almost to a paste. Drop
this with a tea-spoon into boiling lard, and fry these little puffs of a
delicate light brown.


SPANISH SAUCE. Put some gravy into a saucepan with a glass of white
wine, and the same of good broth. Add a bunch of parsley and chives, two
cloves of garlic, half a bay leaf, a pinch of coriander seed, two
cloves, a sliced onion, a carrot, half a parsnip, and two spoonfuls of
salad oil. Stew these for two hours over a very slow fire. Skim off the
fat, pass the sauce through a tammis, season it with pepper and salt,
and use it with any thing as approved.


SPARERIB. Baste it with a very little butter and flour; and when done,
sprinkle it with dried sage crumbled. Serve it with potatoes and apple
sauce.


SPARROW. A mischievous destructive bird in corn-fields, and which should
mostly be destroyed. It is observed, that were all the farmers in a
neighbourhood to agree to their destruction, by offering rewards for
their heads, their numbers might be lessened; and that were the practice
general, surely the whole race might be extirpated. It is supposed that
six-pence a dozen the first year, nine-pence the second, and a shilling
the third year, would nearly reach their complete extirpation. To
enforce which it should be considered how soon twelve sparrows destroy
twelve penny-worth of wheat. In Kent, they use a species of trap, which
is very effectual in taking them. It consists of a small wicker basket,
resembling a fruit-sieve of the London markets, with a cover of the same
material fitted to it, and formed on the principle of the fish-pot, and
the vermin trap, into which the entrance is easy, but the return
difficult. These traps, which are an ordinary article of sale in the
markets of the district, are constituted of brown unpeeled oziers. The
diameter about two feet; the depth nine inches; the cover is somewhat
dishing, with a tunnel or inverted cone, in the centre, reaching to
within an inch of the bottom of the basket; the aperture or entrance,
formed by the points of the twigs, of which the tunnel is constructed,
being about an inch and a half in diameter. And the usual bait is wheat
scattered in the basket. The number caught at once, is frequently more
than theory would suggest; the contentions of a few that have entered,
seldom failing to bring others to the combat. These mischievous birds,
however, soon grow too cunning to be taken in any sort of trap to any
extent, which has a chance of extirpating and destroying the race;
consequently some more effectual and certain plan, such as that
suggested above, or some other, which is better and more fully adapted
to the purpose, must be had recourse to in order to completely
exterminate them, and prevent the injury they do annually to the farmer,
in the destruction of his wheat and other crops. Though these are only
small birds, they destroy vast quantities of grain, much more than has
indeed been commonly supposed. It is stated to have been calculated to
have amounted to a hundred sacks of wheat besides the oats and barley,
in the course of only one season, in a township of no very great extent
in the north-western part of the kingdom. Where rewards or sums of money
are paid for the taking or destroying them, no advantages are gained,
except where there are sufficiently ample and proper regulations entered
into and enforced, the whole district, parish, or township, becomes
partakers in the business. No languid or half measures will do any thing
useful, or to the purpose, in this sort of undertaking. It is not
improbable, but that these destructive birds might be greatly extirpated
and thinned down in their numbers, by the use of some tasteless infusion
of a strongly poisonous nature, either to the ears of the grain at the
time of harvest, or to the naked grain in the winter season, when they
are extremely eager for food, as they are constantly found to remain
hovering about houses or other buildings, where the effects of such
trials might easily be ascertained. If such a method should succeed,
the whole race might readily, and with great facility and certainty, be
exterminated.


SPASMS. An involuntary and painful contraction of the muscles may arise
from various causes, and require different modes of treatment. But if no
medical assistance be at hand, the application of volatile liniments to
the part affected, a clyster with a little laudanum in it, or the warm
bath, may be tried with advantage.


SPERMACETI OINTMENT. This is made of a quarter of a pint of fine salad
oil, a quarter of a pound of white wax, and half an ounce of spermaceti,
melted over a gentle fire, and kept stirring till the ointment is cold.


SPICES. As it regards health, spices are generally improper; but black
pepper, ginger, and cayenne, may be esteemed the best. Nutmegs, cloves,
mace, cinnamon, and allspice, are generally productive of indigestion
and headach, in persons of a weakly habit.


SPIDERS. These industrious insects are generally loathed and destroyed,
though they are extremely useful in reducing the quantity of flies, and
serve as a very accurate barometer for the weather. When they are
totally inactive, it is a certain sign that rain will shortly follow;
but if they continue to spin during a shower, it indicates that the rain
will soon be over, and that calm and fine weather will succeed. If the
weather be about to change, and become wet or windy, the spider will
make the supporters of his web very short; but if the threads be
extended to an unusual length, the weather will continue serene for ten
or twelve days, or more, according to the length of the threads which
support the web. The red spider however is very injurious and
destructive to different sorts of plants and fruit-trees, especially in
forcing houses. It is found particularly so to those of the forced
French bean, melon; peach, vine, cherry, currant, and some other kinds.
The generation and production of this insect are greatly caused and
promoted by the dry warm heat that is constantly kept up in the houses
which contain these sorts of plants and trees, and there are many other
circumstances which combine in bringing it forth. It is an insect which
has no wings, and the female is oviparous. Several different methods
have been attempted in order to the removal and destruction of it.
Constant daily watering, or washing the trees, are said to have the
power of subduing it, but in the execution of the work, care is always
to be taken that every part of the leaves be wetted, otherwise the
insects shelter and save themselves in the dry parts, and are preserved
from the effects of the water. Moisture conveyed in some way or other is
certainly found to be the most destructive, of any thing yet discovered,
of these pernicious insects, as well as many others that infest
hot-houses. Throwing weak lime-water in a plentiful manner on the under
sides of the leaves, where these insects are commonly found, will, for
the most part, soon destroy them. The following directions have been
given for the destruction of this sort of spider, when it becomes
injurious to melon plants; and the same may probably be found useful for
those of the forced French bean, and some other similar kinds. In cases
of dry weather, and with a dry heat, melon plants are very subject to be
infested with the red spider; and the appearances of it may constantly
be long noticed before the insects can be seen with the naked eye, by
the leaves beginning to curl and crack in their middle parts. Whenever
they are discovered to be in this state or condition, and there is fine
warm sunny weather, the watering of them all over the leaves, both on
the under and upper sides, is advised; a watering-pot, with a rose
finely perforated with holes, or a garden-engine, which disperses the
water in a fine dew-like manner, being employed for the purpose. The
work should be performed about six o'clock in the morning, and the
plants be shaded with mats about eight, if the sun shine with much
power, shutting the frames down closely until about eleven; and then
admitting a small quantity of fresh air, letting the mats remain until
about three in the afternoon, when they should be wholly taken away. The
shade which is thus afforded by the mats prevents the leaves of the
plants from being scorched or otherwise injured by the action of the
heat of the sun while they are in a wet cooled down state. Where a
southerly breeze prevails, watering them again about three in the
afternoon is recommended, shutting them up close as before, to keep the
heat in, which causes a strong exhalation of the moisture, and is
greatly destructive of the spiders. In all these waterings, the water is
to be thrown as much and as finely as possible on the under sides of the
leaves, where the insects mostly lodge; the vines or stems of the plants
being gently turned in that intention, taking great care not to injure
them, by which means the water is capable of being easily thrown over
the whole of the under sides of the leaves, it being done in a gentle
manner, in the modes already suggested, so as not to wash up the mouldy
matters unto the plants: the lights and sides of the frames which
contain the plants, should also, at the same time, have water
plentifully thrown on and against them. When these waterings are
finished, the vines or stems of the plants are to be carefully laid down
again in their former positions. And if the day be sunny, the mats may
be let remain, as already directed, until the leaves of the plants
become perfectly dry, air being admitted according to the heat that may
be present at the time. It is likewise further advised as a
precautionary measure, that, before the frames and lights, which are to
contain plants of this sort, are employed, they should be well washed,
both inside and out, first with clean water, and then with a mixture of
soap-suds and urine; a brush or woollen rag being made use of in the
operation; as by this method the ova or eggs of the spiders or other
insects that may have been deposited and lodged in or on them, in the
preceding season, may be cleared away and destroyed. The exhalations of
the water which has been thrown upon the plants, and the frames or boxes
that contain them, may also be useful in killing these insects, in other
cases by keeping them in a close state. These washings should never,
however, be performed in cold frosty seasons; and the water made use of
in such cases should always be of the rain or soft kind.


SPINACH. This vegetable requires to be carefully washed and picked. When
that is done, throw it into a saucepan that will just hold it, sprinkle
it with a little salt, and cover it close. Set the pan on the fire, and
shake it well. When sufficiently done, beat up the spinach with some
butter, but it must be sent to table pretty dry. It would look well, if
pressed into a tin mould in the form of a large leaf, which is sold at
the tin shops. A spoonful of cream is an improvement.


SPINACH CREAM. Beat the yolks of eight eggs with a whisk or a wooden
spoon, sweeten it well, and add a stick of cinnamon, a pint of rich
cream, and three quarters of a pint of new milk. Stir it well, and then
add a quarter of a pint of spinach juice. Set it over a gentle stove,
and stir it constantly one way, till it is as thick as a hasty pudding.
Put into a custard dish some Naples biscuits, or preserved orange, in
long slices, and pour the mixture over them. It is to be eaten cold, and
is a dish either for supper, or for a second course.


SPINACH AND EGGS. The spinach must be well washed, then throw a small
handful of salt into a saucepan of boiling water, before the spinach is
put in, and press it down as it boils. When it becomes tender, press it
well in a sieve or cullender. Break the eggs into cups, and put them
into a stewpan of boiling water. When done, take them out with a slice,
and lay them on the spinach. Send them to table with melted butter.


SPINACH PUDDING. Scald and chop some spinach very fine, four ounces of
biscuit soaked in cream, the yolks of eight eggs beat up, a quarter of a
pound of melted butter, a little salt and nutmeg, and sugar to your
taste; beat up all together, and set it over the fire till it is stiff,
but do not let it boil; cool it, and bake it in puff-paste; or you may
butter a bason, and boil it.--Another. Boil a pint of cream, with some
lemon-peel, a blade of mace, half a nutmeg cut in pieces; strain it off,
and stir it till it is cold, then boil a good handful of young spinach
tender; chop it very fine; beat up eight eggs, leave out four whites,
add some fine sugar pounded, and a glass of sack; mix all well together,
put it into the dish, with a puff-paste at the bottom, and lay on the
top candied orange and lemon cut in thin slices. Half an hour, or a
little better, will bake it.


SPINACH SOUP. Shred two handfuls of spinach, a turnip, two onions, a
head of celery, two carrots, and a little parsley and thyme. Put all
into a stewpot, with a bit of butter the size of a walnut, and a pint of
good broth, or the liquor in which meat has been boiled. Stew till the
vegetables are quite tender, and work them with a spoon through a coarse
cloth or sieve. To the vegetable pulp and liquor, add a quart of fresh
water, salt and pepper, and boil all together. Have ready some suet
dumplins the size of a walnut, and put them into a tureen, before the
soup is poured over. The suet must be quite fresh, and not shred too
fine.


SPIRITS. Good pure spirits ought to be perfectly clear, pleasant, and
strong, though not of a pungent odour, and somewhat of a vinous taste.
To try the purity of spirits, or whether they have been diluted with
water, see whether the liquor will burn away without leaving any mixture
behind, by dipping in a piece of writing paper, and lighting it at the
candle. As pure spirit is much lighter than water, put a hollow ivory
ball into it: the deeper the ball sinks, the lighter the liquor, and
consequently the more spirituous.


SPIRITS OF CLARY. Distil a peck of clary flowers in a cold still, and
then another peck of flowers, adding to them the distilled liquor. Put
to this a bottle of sack or sweet wine, and another peck of flowers, and
put all together into a glass still. Let it distil on white sugar candy,
with the addition of a little ambergris.


SPIRITS OF LAVENDER. Take fourteen pounds of lavender flowers, ten
gallons and a half of rectified spirits of wine, and one gallon of
water. Draw off ten gallons by a gentle fire, or which is much better,
by a sand-bath heat. To convert this into the red liquid known by the
name of compound lavender spirits, take of the above lavender spirits
two gallons, of Hungary water one gallon, cinnamon and nutmegs three
ounces each, and of red saunders one ounce. Digest the whole for three
days in a gentle heat, and then filtre it for use. Some add saffron,
musk, and ambergris, of each half a scruple; but these are now generally
omitted.


SPIRITS OF SAFFRON. Pick eight ounces of English saffron very clean, cut
it fine, and steep it twenty-four hours in a gallon of the best white
wine. Put it into an alembic with three gallons of water, draw it off
gently so long as the saffron tastes, and sweeten it with white sugar
candy. Dissolve the candy in some of the weaker extract, after the
stronger part is drawn off, by setting it on the fire, and then mix the
whole together.


SPITS. Roasting spits require to be kept bright and clean, and should be
scoured with nothing but sand and water. If they are wiped clean, as
soon as the meat is drawn from them, and while they are hot, a very
little cleaning will be necessary. A very useful kind of spit is sold at
the ironmongers, which sustains the meat without the necessity of
passing it through, which is much to be preferred.


SPITCHCOCK EELS. Take one or two large eels, leave the skin on, cut them
into pieces of three inches long, open them on the belly side, and clean
them nicely. Wipe them dry, smear them over with egg, and strew on both
sides chopped parsley, pepper and salt; a very little sage, and a bit of
mace pounded fine and mixed with the seasoning. Rub the gridiron with a
bit of suet, broil the fish of a fine colour, and serve with anchovy and
butter sauce.


SPLINTERS. To run splinters, prickles or thorns, such as those of roses,
thistles, or chesnuts, into the hands, feet, or legs, is a very common
accident; and provided any such substance is immediately extracted, it
is seldom attended with any bad consequences. But the more certainly to
prevent any ill effects, a compress of linen dipped in warm water, may
be applied to the part, or it may be bathed a little while in warm
water. If the thorn or splinter cannot be extracted directly, or if any
part of it be left in, it causes an inflammation, and nothing but timely
precaution will prevent its coming to an abscess. A plaster of
shoemaker's wax spread upon leather, draws these wounds remarkably well.
When it is known that any part of it remains, an expert surgeon would
open the place and take it out; but if it be unobserved, as will
sometimes happen, when the thorn or splinter is very small, till the
inflammation begins, and no advice can be at once procured, the steam of
water should be applied to it at first, and then a poultice of bread and
milk, with a few drops of peruvian balsam. It is absolutely necessary
that the injured part should be kept in the easiest posture, and as
still as possible. If this does not soon succeed, good advice must be
obtained without delay, as an accident of this kind neglected, or
improperly treated, may be the occasion of losing a limb. In this and
all cases of inflammation, a forbearance from animal food, and fermented
liquors, is always advisable.


SPONGE CAKE. Weigh ten eggs, add their weight in very fine sugar, and of
flour the weight of six eggs. Beat the yolks with the flour, and the
whites alone, to a very stiff froth. Mix by degrees the whites and the
flour with the other ingredients, beat them well half an hour, and bake
the cake an hour in a quick oven.--Another, without butter. Dry a pound
of flour, and a pound and a quarter of sugar. Grate a lemon, add a
spoonful of brandy, and beat the whole together with the hand for an
hour. Bake the cake in a buttered pan, in a quick oven. Sweetmeats may
be added if approved.


SPOONMEATS FOR INFANTS. It is something more than a human axiom, that
milk is for babes; and as this forms the basis of nearly all the food
from which their nourishment is derived, it is necessary to observe,
that the best way of using it is without either skimming or boiling it.
The cream is the most nutritious balsamic part of milk, and to deprive
it of this is to render it less nourishing, and less easy of digestion,
than in its pure state. In some particular cases skimmed milk may be
preferable, but it may be adopted as a general rule, that new milk is
the wholesomest and the best. If it stands any time before it is used,
instead of taking off the cream, it should be mixed in with the milk.
Boiling the milk, if it be only a little, fixes it, and entirely alters
its qualities. As a proof of this, it will not afterwards afford any
cream, but merely a thin skin. In this state it is hard of digestion,
and therefore apt to occasion obstructions. It is most proper for food
in its natural state, or when only scalded.--One of the first and
simplest preparations for infants is Bread Pap, made by pouring scalding
water on thin slices of good white bread, and letting it stand uncovered
till it cools. The water is then drained off, the bread bruised fine,
and mixed with as much new milk as will make it of a tolerable
consistence. It is then warm enough for use, without setting it upon the
fire. Sugar is very commonly put into this pap, but it is much better
without it. The palate of the child will not require sugar in any kind
of food, till habit makes it familiar.--Egg Pap is another suitable
article for young children. Set a quart of spring water on a clear brisk
fire. Mix two spoonfuls of fresh fine flour with the yolks of two or
three eggs well beaten, adding a little cold water. When the water is
ready to boil, stir in the batter before it boils, till of a sufficient
thickness. Then take it off the fire, add a little salt, pour it into a
basin, and let it cool of itself till it become about as warm as milk
from the cow. If eggs cannot be procured, a small piece of butter may be
added with the salt, and stirred in gently till well mixed, to prevent
its oiling. Eggs however are to be preferred. This food is extremely
wholesome, affords real nourishment, opens all the passages, breeds good
blood and lively spirits, is pleasant to the palate, and grateful to the
stomach. The frequent use of it purifies the blood and all the humours,
prevents windy distempers and griping pain, both of the stomach and
bowels. From all the ingredients bearing a resemblance to each other, no
predominant quality prevails, so that it may justly claim the first
place amongst all spoonmeats or paps, and as food for infants it is next
to the milk of the breast. In some cases it is much better, on account
of the various diseases to which suckling women are subject, and the
improper food in which they too frequently indulge. No other ingredients
should however be added to this kind of food, such as sugar, spices, or
fruits, which tend only to vitiate the diet, and to render it less
nutritious. This and other sorts of spoonmeat should be made rather thin
than otherwise, and abounding with liquid, whether milk or water. All
porridges and spoonmeats that are made thin, and quickly prepared, are
sweeter, brisker on the palate, and easier of digestion, than those
which are thick, and long in preparing. Food should never be given to
children more than milk warm, and the proper way to cool it is by
letting it stand uncovered to cool itself; for much stirring alters the
composition, and takes off the sweetness. Covering it down too, keeps in
the fumes that ought to go off, and by excluding the air, renders it
less pure.--Flour Pap. To two thirds of new milk, after it has stood
five or six hours from the time of milking, add one third of spring
water, and set it on a quick clear fire. Make a batter of milk and fine
flour, and just as the milk and water is ready to boil, pour in the
batter, and stir it a few minutes. When it is ready to boil again, take
it off, add a little salt, and let it stand to cool. A good spoonful of
flour is sufficient to thicken a pint of milk, or milk and water. This
will make it about the thickness of common milk porridge, which is what
will eat the sweetest, and be the easiest of digestion. This kind of
food affords substantial nourishment, it neither binds nor loosens the
body, but keeps it in proper order, nourishes the blood, and tends to
produce a lively disposition. Pap prepared in this way is far more
friendly to nature than in the common way of boiling, and may be
constantly eaten with much better effect, and without ever tiring or
cloying the stomach.--Oatmeal Pap. Mix a pint of milk and water, in the
proportion of two thirds milk and one third water, with a good spoonful
of oatmeal, but it is best not to be too thick. Set it in a saucepan
upon a quick clear fire, and when it is near boiling take it off. Pour
it from one basin into another, backwards and forwards seven or eight
times, which will bring out the fine flour of the oatmeal, and
incorporate it with the milk. Then return it into the saucepan, set it
upon the fire, and when it is again ready to boil take it off, and let
it stand in the saucepan a little to fine, for the husky part of the
oatmeal will sink to the bottom. When settled, pour it off into a basin,
add a little salt, and let it stand to cool. This is an excellent pap,
very congenial to a weak constitution, affording good nourishment, and
easy of digestion.--Water Gruel. Take a spoonful and a half of fresh
ground oatmeal, mix with it gradually a quart of spring water, and set
it on a clear fire. When ready to boil take it off, pour it from one
basin into another, backwards and forwards five or six times, and set it
on the fire again. Take it off again just before it boils, and let it
stand a little time in the saucepan, that the coarse husks of the
oatmeal may sink to the bottom. Then pour it out, add a little salt, and
let it stand to cool. When water gruel is made with grots, it must boil
gently for some time. The longer it boils the more it will jelly; but
moderation must be observed in this respect, for if it be very long
boiled and becomes very thick, it will be flat and heavy. A mistaken
idea very generally prevails, that water gruel is not nourishing; on the
contrary, it is a light, cleansing, nourishing food, good either in
sickness or in health, both for old and young.--Milk Porridge. Make some
water gruel, and when it has stood awhile to cool, add to it about one
third part of new milk without boiling. It may be eaten with or without
salt. Milk porridge is exceedingly cleansing and easy of digestion, and
is agreeable to the weakest stomach. There is also another way of making
it, which some prefer. Stir a pint of water gradually into three large
spoonfuls of fresh oatmeal, let it stand till clear, and then pour off
the water. Put a pint of fresh water to the oatmeal, stir it up well,
and leave it till the next day. Strain off the liquor through a fine
sieve, and set it in a saucepan over a clear brisk fire. Add about half
the quantity of milk gradually while it is warming, and when it is just
ready to boil take it off, pour it into a basin, add a little salt, and
let it stand to cool. This as well as the former porridge is very light,
and proper for weak stomachs.--Indian Arrow Root is another excellent
preparation for children. Put a dessert-spoonful of the powdered root
into a basin, and mix with it as much cold new milk as will make it
into a paste. Pour upon this half a pint of milk scalding-hot, stirring
it briskly to keep it smooth. Set it on the fire till it is ready to
boil, then take it off, pour it into a basin, and let it cool. This may
be made with water instead of milk, and some cold milk mixed with it
afterwards; or if the stomach be very weak, it will be best without any
milk at all. Great care must be taken to procure the genuine arrow root,
which makes a very strengthening and excellent food for infants or
invalids.--Sago Jelly. Soak a large spoonful of sago for an hour in cold
water, then pour off the water, add a pint of fresh water to the sago,
and stew it gently till it is reduced to about half the quantity. When
done, pour it into a basin, and let it cool.--Sago with Milk. Prepare a
large spoonful of sago by soaking it for an hour in cold water, but
instead of adding water afterwards, put in a pint and a half of new
milk. Boil it gently till reduced to about half the quantity, then pour
it into a basin, and let it cool.--Tapioca Jelly. Wash two good
spoonfuls of the large sort of tapioca in cold water, and then soak it
in a pint and a half of water for four hours. Stew it gently in the same
water till it is quite clear. Let it stand to cool after it is poured
out of the saucepan, and use it either with or without the addition of a
little new milk.--Pearl Barley Gruel. Put two ounces of pearl barley,
after it has been well washed, into a quart of water. Simmer it gently
till reduced to a pint, then strain it through a sieve, and let it
cool.--Rice Gruel. Soak two large spoonfuls of rice in cold water for an
hour. Pour off the water, and put a pint and a quarter of new milk to
the rice. Stew it gently till the rice is sufficiently tender to pulp it
through a sieve, and then mix the pulp into the milk that the rice was
stewed in. Simmer it over the fire for ten minutes, and if it appear
too thick, gradually add a little more milk, so as not to damp it from
simmering. When done, pour it into a basin to cool.--Rice Milk. To four
large spoonfuls of whole rice, washed very clean in cold water, add a
quart of new milk, and stew them together very gently for three hours.
Let it stand in a basin to cool before it is used. Another way of making
rice milk is boiling the rice first in water, then pouring off the
water, and boiling the rice with milk. A better way perhaps is, after
washing the rice well, setting it over the fire for half an hour with a
little water to break it. Add a little at a time some warm milk, till it
is sufficiently done, and of a proper thickness. Let it simmer slowly,
and season it with salt and sugar; but for children the sugar had better
be omitted.--Ground Rice Milk. Mix a large spoonful of ground rice into
a batter, with two or three spoonfuls of new milk. Set a pint of new
milk on the fire, and when it is scalding hot, stir in the batter, and
keep it on the fire till it thickens, but it must not boil. It should be
carefully stirred to prevent its burning, and cooled by standing by in a
basin.--Millet Milk. Wash three spoonfuls of millet seed in cold water,
and put it into a quart of new milk. Simmer it gently till it becomes
moderately thick, and cool it in a basin till wanted for use. All those
preparations which require some time in doing, also require the
precaution of being carefully stirred, to prevent their burning.--Drinks
for young children, in addition to their diet, are best made of milk and
water, whey, barley water, pearl barley water, apple water, and toast
and water. For Milk and Water, put one third of new milk to two thirds
of spring water. This is best drunk cold; but if it must be warmed, it
should be by putting warm water to cold milk. It ought not to be made
more than milk warm. For Whey, take a quart of new milk before it is
cold, and put in as much rennet as will turn it to a clear whey. Let it
stand till it is properly turned, and pour it off through a cheesecloth
without pressing the curd, that the whey may be the purer. It may be
drunk cold, or just warmed by setting it before the fire for a little
while. If new milk cannot be had, other milk must be warmed to the
degree of new milk.--Barley Water is made of a handful of common barley
well washed, and simmered in three pints of water, till of a proper
thickness for use; but the longer the barley boils, the thinner the
liquor will become. Pearl Barley Water is made of an ounce of pearl
barley, heated in half a pint of water over the fire in order to clean
it. The water is then poured off, and a quart of fresh water added to
the pearl barley. Simmer it half an hour, and if it appears too thick,
add more water, but let it be kept warm, as any quantity of cold water
would damp it too suddenly, and thus tend to spoil it. Both this and
barley water may be used cold, or milk warm.--Apple Water. Slice into a
jug two or three sound ripe apples, and pour on them a quart of scalding
hot water. Let it stand to cool, and it will be fit for use. The apples
should not be pared, as it takes off their spirit.--Toast and Water is
made of a slice of white bread toasted quite dry, and of a dark brown
colour. It is then put into a jug, and spring water poured upon it.
After an hour it is fit for use. As all these preparations, both of
drinks and spoonmeats, become flat and good for little by long standing,
it is better to make only such quantities of them at a time as will soon
be used. When they are warmed up, no more should be done at once than is
just sufficient for the occasion, as repeated warming injures the
nutritious quality of every thing. When it can be avoided it is better
not to set things on the fire to warm them up, but to place them before
or on the side of the fire. Care however must be taken not to let them
dry and scorch, as it makes them very strong and unwholesome. Some
earthenware vessel should be used for this purpose, as less liable to
produce an injurious effect. A very good method of warming things is by
setting them in a basin over boiling water, or by placing them in it.


SPRAINS. These generally proceed from some external injury, attended
with pain, swelling, and inflammation. A fomentation of vinegar, or
camphorated spirits of wine, if applied immediately, will generally be
sufficient: if not, a few drops of laudanum should be added. The
fomentation should be frequently renewed, and the sprained part kept in
a state of rest and relaxation.


SPRATS. When quite good and fresh, their gills are of a fine red, their
eyes and whole body beautifully bright. After being scaled and cleaned,
they should be fastened in rows by a skewer run through the heads; then
broiled, and served up hot and hot.


SPRATS LIKE ANCHOVIES. Salt them well, and let the salt drain from them.
In twenty-four hours wipe them dry, but do not wash them. Mix four
ounces of common salt, an ounce of bay salt, an ounce of saltpetre, a
quarter of an ounce of sal-prunella, and half a tea-spoonful of
cochineal, all in the finest powder. Sprinkle it amongst three quarts of
the fish, and pack them in two stone jars. Keep them in a cool place,
fastened down with a bladder. These artificial anchovies are pleasant on
bread and butter, but the genuine should be used for sauce.


SPRING FRUIT PUDDING. Peel and wash four dozen sticks of rhubarb, put
them into the stewpan with a lemon, a little cinnamon, and sweeten the
whole with moist sugar. Set it over the fire, and reduce it to a
marmalade. Pass it through a hair sieve, add the yolks of four eggs and
one white, a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, half a nutmeg, and the
peel of a lemon grated. Beat all well together, line the inside of a pie
dish with good puff paste, put in the pudding, and bake it half an hour.


SPRING SOUP. Put a pint of peas into a saucepan with some chervil,
purslain, lettuce, sorrel, parsley, three or four onions, and a piece of
butter. Shake them over the fire a few minutes, add warm water in
proportion to the vegetables, and stew them till they are well done.
Strain off the soup, and pulp the vegetables through a tammis or sieve.
Heat the pulp with three parts of the soup, mix six yolks of eggs with
the remainder of it, and thicken it over the fire. When ready to serve,
add this to the soup, and season the whole with salt.


SPROUTS. Before the sprouts of greens are boiled, trim and wash them
very nicely, and drain them in a cullender. Then put them into boiling
water, with some salt thrown in, and sprinkle a little more upon the
sprouts. Boil them very fast, and clear off any scum that may arise.
When the stalks are quite tender, drain the sprouts off directly into a
cullender, or they will lose both their flavour and colour. Serve them
up laid neatly in the dish with a fork, as that will not break them like
a spoon. Borecole and Brussel sprouts, like all the cabbage species,
should be boiled in plenty of water, changing it when about half done,
and boiling them well.


SPRUCE BEER. Pour sixteen gallons of warm water into a barrel, with
twelve pounds of molasses, and half a pound of the essence of spruce.
When cool, add a pint of yeast, stir it well for two or three days, and
put it into stone bottles. Wire down the corks, pack the bottles in saw
dust, and the liquor will ripen in about a fortnight.


SQUAB PIE. Prepare apples as for other pies, and lay them in rows with
mutton chops. Shred some onion, and sprinkle it among them, and also
some sugar.--Another. Make a good crust, and sheet your dish all over;
lay a layer of pippins, and strew sugar over them; cut a loin of mutton
into steaks, season them with pepper and salt; lay a layer of steaks,
then pippins; then lay some onions sliced thin on the apples, then the
rest of your mutton, and apples and onions over all; pour in a pint of
water, and lid your pye; let it be well baked.


STAFFORDSHIRE BEEF STEAKS. Beat them a little with a rollingpin, then
flour and season, and fry them of a fine light brown, with sliced
onions. Lay the steaks into a stewpan, and pour over them as much
boiling water as will serve for sauce. Stew them very gently for half an
hour, and add a spoonful of ketchup or walnut liquor, before they are
served up.


STAFFORDSHIRE SYLLABUB. Put into a bowl a pint of cider, and a glass of
brandy, with sugar and nutmeg. Pour into it some warm milk, from a large
tea-pot, held up high, and moved over it.


STAINS BY ACIDS. Wet the injured part, and lay on some salt of wormwood;
then rub it, without diluting it with more water. Or let the cloth
imbibe a little water without dipping, and hold the part over a lighted
match at a due distance. The spots will be removed by the sulphureous
gas. Another way is to tie up some pearl ash in the stained part, then
scrape some soap into cold soft water to make a lather, and boil the
linen till the stain disappears.


STAINS IN MAHOGANY. If any kind of furniture get stained with ink,
dilute half a tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol with a large spoonful of
water, and touch the stained part with a feather dipped in the liquid.
It must be watched, and not suffered to remain too long, or it will
leave a white mark. It is better to rub it quick, and to moisten it
again, if the stain be not entirely removed.


STAINING OF BONE. This article must first be prepared, by being steeped
for several days in a mixture of roche alum, vitriol, verdigris, and
copper filings, infused in white wine vinegar. When the ingredients are
dissolved, the mixture may be boiled with the bone in it, and it will
take a fine green colour. By infusing brazil wood, French berries, or
indigo in the vinegar, with a little roche alum, either red, yellow, or
blue may be produced. Either bone, ivory, or wood, may be coloured in
this manner.


STAINING OF PARCHMENT. Paper or parchment may be stained of a green
colour, by gradually dissolving some copper filings in aqua-fortis, or
the spirits of salt, putting in the filings till the ebullition ceases.
A solution of verdigris in vinegar, or the crystals of verdigris in
water, will answer the same purpose. A fine crimson stain may be
produced by a tincture of the Indian lake, made by infusing the lake
several days in spirits of wine, and pouring off the tincture from the
dregs. A beautiful yellow may be formed from the tincture of turmeric,
made in the same way. If the colours be wanted of a deeper cast, arnatto
or dragon's blood may be added to the tincture.


STAINING OF WOOD. To stain wood of a mahogany colour, put it into a
mixture of oil of turpentine and pounded dragon's blood, and let it
stand an hour over a slow fire. When taken off the fire, the wood may
remain in the liquor all night. The dye may be made stronger or weaker,
by using more or less of dragon's blood, and by a greater or less degree
of digestion and boiling. The best wood for this purpose is plane tree,
because it may easily be sawn and polished, and is beautifully veined
and spotted. To stain wood a fine black, drop a little oil of vitriol
into a small quantity of water, rub it on the wood, and hold it to the
fire. It will then become a fine black, and receive a beautiful polish.


STALKS OF BEET LEAVES. Trim and well wash the stalks of green and white
beet leaves, and boil them in water, moving them frequently, to prevent
the upper ones from turning black. When done enough, drain them in a
cullender. Make a white sauce with a little flour and water, a piece of
butter, some pepper and salt, and a taste of vinegar. Thicken this over
the fire, and put in the stalks to stew gently for a few minutes, to
give them a flavour. If the butter oils, it is a sign that the sauce is
too thick. In this case add another spoonful or two of water, and shake
the stewpan till the sauce recovers it appearance.


STARCH is a substance which is extracted from wheaten flour, by washing
it in water. All farinaceous seeds, and the roots of most vegetables,
afford this substance in a greater or less degree; but it is most easily
obtained from the flour of wheat, by moistening any quantity thereof
with a little water, and kneading it with the hand into a tough paste:
this being washed with water, by letting fall upon it a very slender
stream, the water will be rendered turbid as it runs off, in consequence
of the fecula or starch which it extracts from the flour, and which will
subside when the water is allowed to stand at rest. The starch so
obtained, when dried in the sun, or by a stove, is usually concreted
into small masses of a long figure and columnar shape, which have a
fine white colour, scarcely any smell, and very little taste. If kept
dry, starch in this state continues a long time uninjured, although
exposed to the air. It is not soluble in cold water; but forms a thick
paste with boiling-hot water, and when this paste is allowed to cool, it
becomes semi-transparent and gelatinous, and being dried, becomes
brittle, and somewhat resembles gum. Starch, although found in all
nutritive grains, is only perfect when they have attained maturity, for
before this it is in a state approaching to mucilage, and so mixed with
saccharine matter and essential oils, that it cannot be extracted in
sufficient purity to concrete into masses. Wheat, or such parts of it as
are not used for human food, are usually employed for manufacturing
starch, such as the refuse wheat and bran; but when the finest starch is
required, good grain must be used. This, being well cleaned, and
sometimes coarsely bruised, is put into wooden vessels full of water to
ferment: to assist the fermentation, the vessels are exposed to the
greatest heat of the sun, and the water is changed twice a day, during
eight or twelve days, according to the season. When the grain bursts
easily under the finger, and gives out a milky white liquor when
squeezed, it is judged to be sufficiently softened and fermented. In
this state, the grains are taken out of the water by a sieve, and put
into a canvas sack, and the husks are separated and rubbed off, by
beating and rubbing the sack upon a plank: the sack is then put into a
tub filled with cold water, and trodden or beaten till the water becomes
milky and turbid, from the starch which it takes up from the grain. A
scum sometimes swims upon the surface of the water, which must be
carefully removed; the water is then run off through a fine sieve into a
settling-vessel, and fresh water is poured upon the grains, two or
three times, till it will not extract any more starch, or become
coloured by the grain. The water in the settling-vessels being left at
rest, precipitates the starch which it held suspended; and to get rid of
the saccharine matter, which was also dissolved by the water, the
vessels are exposed to the sun, which soon produces the acetous
fermentation, and takes up such matter as renders the starch more pure
and white. During this process, the starch for sale in the shops
receives its colour, which consists of smalt mixed with water and a
small quantity of alum, and is thoroughly incorporated with the starch;
but this starch is unfit for medicinal purposes. When the water becomes
completely sour, it is poured gently off from the starch, which is
washed several times afterwards with clean water, and at last is placed
to drain upon linen cloths supported by hurdles, and the water drips
through, leaving the starch upon the cloths, in which it is pressed or
wrung, to extract as much as possible of the water; and the remainder is
evaporated, by cutting the starch into pieces, which are laid up in airy
places, upon a floor of plaster or of slightly burnt bricks, until it
becomes completely dried from all moisture, partly by the access of warm
air, and partly by the floor imbibing the moisture. In winter time, the
heat of a stove must be employed to effect the drying. Lastly, the
pieces of dried starch are scraped, to remove the outside crust, which
makes inferior starch, and these pieces are broken into smaller pieces
for sale. The grain which remains in the sack after the starch is
extracted, contains the husks and the glutinous part of the wheat, which
are found very nutritious food for cattle. The French manufacturers,
according to "Les Arts et Metiers," pursue a more economical method, as
they are enabled, by employing an acid water for the fermentation in
the first instance, to use the most inferior wheat, and the bran or
husks of wheat. This water they prepare, by putting a pailful of warm
water into a tub, with about two pounds of leaven, such as some bakers
use to make their dough rise or ferment. The water stands two days, and
is then stirred up, and half a pailful of warm water added to it; then
being left to settle till it is clear, it is poured off for use. To use
this water in the fermentation of the materials, a quantity of it is
poured into a tub, and about as much fair water is poured upon it as
will fill the tub half full: the remainder of the tub is then filled up
with the materials, which are one half refuse wheat, and the other half
bran. In this tub it continues to steep and ferment during ten days, or
less, according to the strength of the leaven-water, and according to
the disposition of the weather for fermentation. When the materials have
been sufficiently steeped, or fermented, an unctuous matter, which is
the oil of the grain, will be seen swimming on the surface, having been
thrown up by the fermentation. This must be scummed off; and the
fermented grain, being taken out of the tub, is put into a fine hair
sieve, placed over a settling-tub, when fair water is poured upon it,
and washed through the sieve into the tub; by which means the starch is
carried through the sieve with the water, of which about six times the
quantity of the grain are used. The water stands in the settling tub for
a day, and becomes clear at top; when it is carefully laded out of the
tub, leaving at the bottom a white sediment, which is the starch. The
water which is taken off is sour, and is called _sure_ water: this is
the proper leaven for the first steeping of the materials. The starch
now obtained must be rendered marketable; for which purpose, as much
water is poured upon it as will enable it to be pounded and broken up
with a shovel, and then the tub is filled up with fair water. Two days
after this, the water is laded out from the tub, and the starch appears
in the bottom, but covered over with a dark-coloured and inferior kind
of starch, which is taken off, and employed for fattening hogs. The
remainder of the sediment, which is good starch, is washed several
times, to remove all the inferior starch; and when this is done, about
four inches of thick starch should be found at the bottom of each tub:
but the quantity varies, according to the goodness of the meal or bran
which has been used. It is evident that the refuse wheat, when employed
for making starch, ought to afford more, the whole being used, than the
bran or husks; but the starch so extracted is always of an inferior
quality to that which is extracted from the bran of good wheat,
particularly in the whiteness of its colour. The starch in the different
tubs is brought together into one, and there worked up with as much
water as will dissolve it into a thin paste, which is put into a silk
sieve, and strained through with fresh water. This water is settled in a
tub, and afterwards poured off, but before it is so completely settled
as to lose all its white colour: this renders the starch which is
deposited, still finer and whiter; and the starch which is deposited by
the water so poured off, is of a more common quality. The starch, thus
purified, is taken out of the bottom of the tubs, and put into
wicker-baskets, about eighteen inches long and ten deep, rounded at the
corners, and lined with linen cloths, which are not fastened to the
baskets. The water drips from the starch through the cloths for a day,
and the baskets are then carried up to apartments at the top of the
house, where the floor is made of very clean white plaster; and the
windows are thrown open, to admit a current of air. Here the baskets
are turned downwards upon the plaster-floor, and the linen cloths, not
being fastened to the baskets, follow the starch, and when taken off,
leave loaves, or cakes of starch, which are left to dry a little, and
are then broken into smaller pieces, and left on the plaster-floor, till
very dry. But if the weather is at all humid, the starch is removed from
the plaster-floor and spread out upon shelves, in an apartment which is
warmed by a stove, and there it remains till perfectly dry. The pieces
are afterwards scraped, to remove the outside crust, which makes common
starch; and the scraped pieces being again broken small, the starch is
carried to the stove, and spread out to a depth of three inches, on
hurdles covered with cloths. The starch must be turned over every
morning and evening, to prevent it from turning to a greenish colour,
which it would otherwise do. Those manufacturers who are not provided
with a stove, make use of the top of a baker's oven to spread the starch
upon; and after being thoroughly dried here, it is ready for sale.
Starch may be made from potatoes, by soaking them about an hour in
water, and taking off their roots and fibres, then rubbing them quite
clean by a strong brush: after this they are reduced to a pulp, by
grating them in water. This pulp is to be collected in a tub, and mixed
up with a large quantity of clear water: at the same time, another clean
tub must be provided; and a hair sieve, not too fine, must be supported
over it by two wooden rails extended across the tub. The pulp and water
are thrown into the sieve, and the flour of starch is carried through
with the water; fresh water must then be poured on, till it runs through
quite clear. The refuse pulp which remains in the sieve, being boiled in
water, makes an excellent food for animals; and the quantity of this
pulp is near seven-eighths of all the potatoes employed. The liquor
which has passed through the sieve is turbid, and of a darkish colour,
from the extractive matter which is dissolved in it. When it is suffered
to rest for five or six hours, all this matter deposits or settles to
the bottom, and the liquor which remains is to be poured off as useless;
and a large quantity of fresh water is thrown upon the flour, and
stirred up: it is then settled for a day, and the water being poured
off, the flour will be found to have again settled in a whiter state.
But to improve it, another quantity of water is poured on, and mixed up
with it; in which state it is passed through a fine silk sieve, to
arrest any small quantity of the pulp which may have escaped the first
hair sieve. The whole must afterwards be suffered to stand quiet, till
the flour is entirely settled, and the water above become perfectly
clear; but if the water has any sensible colour or taste, the flour must
be washed again with fresh water, for it is absolutely necessary that
none of the extractive matter be suffered to remain with it. The flour,
when thus obtained pure, and drained from the water, may be taken out of
the tub with a wooden shovel, and placed upon wicker-frames covered with
paper, to be dried in some situation properly defended from dust. When
the manufacture of starch from potatoes is attempted in a large way,
some kind of mill must be used to reduce them to a pulp, as the grating
of them by hand is too tedious an operation. A mill invented by M. Baumé
is very complete for this purpose. In its general structure it resembles
a large coffee-mill: the grater consists of a cone of iron plate, about
seven inches in diameter, and eight inches in height, the exterior
surface of which is made toothed, like a rasp, by piercing holes through
the plate from the inside. This cone is fixed upon a verticle axle, with
a handle at the top to turn it by; and is mounted on the pivots of the
axle, within a hollow cylinder of plate-iron, toothed withinside like
the outside of the cone; the smallest end of the interior cone being
uppermost, and the lower or larger end being as large as the interior
diameter of the hollow cylinder. A conical hopper is fixed to the hollow
cylinder, round the top of it, into which the potatoes are thrown; and
falling down into the space between the outside of the cone and the
inside of the hollow cylinder, they are ground, and reduced to a pulp,
when the interior cone is turned round by its handle; and as the lower
part of the cone is fitted close to the interior diameter of the
cylinder, the potatoes must be ground to a fine pulp before they can
pass through between the two. The machine, when at work, is placed in a
tub filled with water; and as fast as the grinding proceeds, the pulp
mixes regularly with the water, ready for the process before described.
Poland starch is reckoned the best: its quality may be judged of by the
fineness of the grain, its being very brittle, and of a good colour. The
price of starch depends upon that of flour; and when bread is cheap,
starch may be bought to advantage. If it be of good quality it will keep
for some years, covered close, and laid up in a dry warm room. In the
year 1796, lord William Murray obtained a patent for manufacturing
starch from horse-chesnuts. The method was to take the horse-chesnuts
out of the outward green prickly husk, and either by hand, with a knife
or tool, or else with a mill adapted for the purpose, the brown rind was
carefully removed, leaving the chesnuts perfectly white, and without the
smallest speck. In this state the nuts were rasped or ground to a pulp
with water, and the pulp washed with water through a coarse horse-hair
sieve, and twice afterwards through finer sieves, with a constant
addition of clear cold water, till all the starch was washed clean from
the pulp which remained in the sieve; and the water being settled,
deposited the starch, which was afterwards repeatedly washed, purified,
and dried, in the same manner as the potatoe-starch before described. We
are not informed if this manufacture has been carried into effect. The
sour, nauseous, milky liquor obtained in the process of starch-making,
appears, upon analysis, to contain acetous acid, ammonia, alcohol,
gluten, and phosphate of lime. The office of the acid is to dissolve the
gluten and phosphate of lime, and thus to separate them from the starch.
Starch is used along with smalt, or stone-blue, to stiffen and clear
linen. The powder of it is also used to whiten and powder the hair. It
is also used by the dyers, to dispose their stuffs to take colours the
better. Starch is sometimes used instead of sugar-candy for mixing with
the colours that are used in strong gum-water, to make them work more
freely, and to prevent their cracking. It is also used medicinally for
the same intentions with the viscous substance which the flour of wheat
forms with milk, in fluxes and catarrhs, under various forms of powders,
mixtures, &c. A drachm of starch, with three ounces of any agreeable
simple water, and a little sugar, compose an elegant jelly, of which a
spoonful may be taken every hour or two. These gelatinous mixtures are
likewise an useful injection in some diarrhoeas, particularly where the
lower intestines have their natural mucus rubbed off by the flux, or are
constantly irritated by the acrimony of the matter.


STEAKS FRIED. Moisten the pan with butter, put in some beef steaks, and
when done, lay them on a dish. Put to the gravy that comes out of them,
a glass of port wine, half an anchovy, a sliced shalot with nutmeg,
pepper, and salt. Give it a boil in the pan, pour it over the steaks,
and send them hot to table. In a plainer way, put a little flour and
water into the pan with the gravy when the steaks are taken out, adding
a spoonful of ketchup, an onion or shalot. The wine and anchovy may be
omitted. Garnish with scraped horse-radish round the dish.


STEAK PIE. Raise a crust pretty deep and thick. Divide a breast or neck
of mutton into steaks, beat and season them with nutmeg, pepper, and
salt. Add some sweet herbs cut very fine, two onions sliced, the yolks
of three or four hard eggs minced, and two spoonfuls of capers. Scatter
these among the steaks as they are laid into the pie. Put on the top
crust, and let the pie soak in a moderately hot oven for two hours or
longer, according to its size. Have some gravy ready to put into it
through a funnel, when it is to be served up.


STEAK PUDDING. Make a paste of suet or dripping and flour, roll it out,
and line a basin with it. Season the meat, and put it in. Cover it with
the paste, pinch it close round the edge, tie it up in a cloth, and boil
it two hours, but be careful not to break it.--Another way. Make a good
paste, with suet shred very fine, and flour; mix it up with cold water,
and a little salt, and make your crust pretty stiff; about two pounds of
suet to a quarter of a peck of flour. Let the steaks be either beef or
mutton, well seasoned with pepper and salt; make it up like an
apple-pudding, tie it in a cloth tight, and put it into the water
boiling. If it be a large pudding, it will take four or five hours; if a
middling one, three hours.


STEAKS ROLLED. After beating them to make them tender, spread them over
with any quantity of high seasoned forcemeat. Then roll them up, and
skewer them tight. Fry the steaks in nice dripping, till they become of
a delicate brown. Then take them out of the fat in which they were
fried, and put them into a stewpan with some good gravy, a spoonful of
port wine, and some ketchup. When sufficiently stewed, serve them up
with the gravy, and a few pickled mushrooms.


STEAM. Steam is employed to great advantage for culinary purposes. It is
made to communicate with vessels in the form of boilers, as a substitute
for having fires under them, which is a great advantage, both in the
economy of fuel, and in avoiding at the same time the nuisance of ashes
and smoke. The most convenient application of steam for culinary
purposes is, when it directly acts upon the substance to be heated. This
has been generally effected by placing the substance, whether meat or
vegetables, in a vessel without water, and allowing the steam to enter
and condense upon it. The most convenient apparatus of this kind we have
yet heard of, consists of a cast-iron plate about thirty inches or three
feet square, standing horizontally in a recess in the wall, like a
table. Round the edge of this plate is a groove, about half an inch wide
and two inches deep. Into this groove fits an inverted tin vessel, like
a dish-cover. This is capable of being elevated and depressed by a
pulley and chain, having a counterpoise, in order to expose the table at
any time. The steam comes under the table and enters in the centre. The
dishes to receive the heat are placed on any part within the groove, the
steam being common to all. The water resulting from the condensation
runs into the groove, and at a point short of the top runs off. The
water which remains forms a complete water-lute, to prevent the escape
of steam. The table being placed in a recess, like a common stone
hearth, a small flue is placed over it to take away any steam that may
escape when the cover is lifted up. The great quantity of hot water
required in a scullery should be perpetually kept up by a supply of
steam. For this purpose a large cylindrical vessel of cast-iron should
be elevated in a corner of the scullery, in order that water may be
drawn from it by a cock. This vessel should be connected from the bottom
with a cold-water cistern, the bottom of which is level with the top of
the cylinder, by which the latter is kept constantly full. The hot-water
cylinder is closed firmly at the top, and therefore, when the air is
allowed to escape, the water rises to the top. If now a pipe be
connected with the top, coming down to where it is to be drawn off, if
any portion is drawn out here, as much will come in at the bottom of the
cylinder from the reservoir above. So far we have described this
cylinder without its steam-vessel. Within this cylinder, and about the
middle, is a distinct vessel, nearly of the width of the cylinder; but
having a free space round the inner vessel about an inch wide. The depth
of the inner vessel must be about one-sixth that of the outer one. This
inner vessel must have no connection with the outer one, and must be so
water-tight, that although it is surrounded with the water of the outer
one, none should get in. The inner vessel is on one side connected by a
pipe with a steam-boiler, having another pipe to allow the condensed
water to run off, which may be preserved as distilled water, and is
valuable for many purposes. The heat arising from the condensation is
communicated to the water in the outer vessel, the hottest being at the
top, where the mouth of the exit-pipe is placed. When, therefore, a
portion of hot water is drawn from the cock, the pipe of which comes
from the top of the vessel immediately under the cover, an equal
quantity comes in at the bottom from the reservoir. This useful
apparatus is the invention of an ingenious economist of Derby, and is
at present in use in his kitchen. The art of boiling vegetables of all
kinds in steam instead of water, might probably be managed to advantage,
as a greater degree of heat might be thus given them, by contriving to
increase the heat of the steam after it has left the water; and thus the
vegetable mucilage in roots and seeds, as in potatoes and flour
puddings, as well as in their leaves, stems, and flower-cups, might be
rendered probably more nutritive, and perhaps more palatable; but that
many of the leaves of vegetables, as the summits of cabbage-sprouts,
lose their green colour by being boiled in steam, and look like blanched
vegetables. Steam has likewise lately been applied in gardening to the
purpose of forcing plants of different kinds in the winter season, in
order to have their produce at an early period, as to the cucumber, and
some other vegetables of a somewhat similar nature; but the exact manner
of its application in this intention, so far as we know, has not yet
been communicated to the public; it is, however, by some mode of flues,
pipes, and other contrivances for conveying and containing it, so as
that its heat may be uninterruptedly, equally, and regularly afforded to
the roots of the plants which it is designed to push forward into the
fruiting state. It is said to have been used in some instances in
different parts of Lancashire with great success. But how far the
expense and advantage of such a method may admit of and encourage its
being introduced into general practice, have not, probably, yet been
well or fully ascertained. If it should be found capable of perfectly
succeeding in this use, on more full and correct experience, it will,
however, constitute not only a neat and clean, but an elegant mode of
forcing plants into fruit at early seasons.


STEAMED POTATOES. The potatoes must be well washed, but not pared, and
put into the steamer when the water boils. Moderate sized potatoes will
require three quarters of an hour to do them properly. They should be
taken up as soon as they are done enough, or they will become watery.


STEEL. To transform iron into steel, put four ounces of cast iron into a
crucible, with a considerable degree of heat. While in a state of
fusion, immerse in it a polished iron wire of some thickness, and keep
it there for some time, but not so long as to fuse it. When cold, the
wire will be so hard as to resist the action of a common file, being
converted into steel.


STEEL RUST. The prevention of rust, on such articles of furniture as are
made of polished steel, is an object of great importance in domestic
economy. The cutlers in Sheffield, when they have given a knife or razor
blade the requisite degree of polish, rub them with powdered quick-lime,
in order to prevent them from tarnishing; and it seems that articles
made of polished steel are dipped in lime water, before they are sent
into the retail market. But when steel has contracted rust, the method
of cleaning and polishing it is to oil the rusty parts, and let it
remain in that state two or three days. Then wipe it dry with clean
rags, and polish with emery or pumice stone, or hard wood. After the oil
is cleared off, a little fresh lime finely powdered will often be found
sufficient; but where a higher polish is required, it will be necessary
to use a paste composed of finely levigated bloodstone and spirits of
wine.


STEEL STOVES. To preserve them effectually from rust, beat into three
pounds of unsalted lard, two drams of camphor sliced thin, till the
whole is absorbed. Then take as much black lead as will make it of the
colour of broken steel; dip a rag into it, rub it thick on the stove,
and the steel will never rust, even if wetted. When the stove is to be
used, the grease must be washed off with hot water, and the steel be
dried before polishing.


STEWED ARTICHOKES. Wash and pare some Jerusalem artichokes, and part
them in two. Boil them in a small quantity of gravy till almost done,
and the liquor nearly consumed. Then add some cream, a piece of butter
rolled in flour and a little salt, all in proportion to the number of
artichokes. Stew them gently for ten minutes, and serve them up with
sippets of white bread fried.


STEWED ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS. Boil some artichokes till about half done, and
then take off the leaves and the choke. Trim the bottoms nicely, and
stew them gently in some gravy, with a little lemon-juice or vinegar,
and some salt, till they are quite tender. Before serving them up, wipe
them dry, then lay them in a dish with sippets of toasted or fried bread
laid round it, and pour some strong clear gravy over them. Dried
artichoke bottoms may also be used for stewing, but should first be
soaked a little while in warm water.


STEWED BREAST OF VEAL. Take a nice breast of veal, cut off the thin end,
and boil it down for your sauce, with a faggot of sweet herbs, an onion
stuck with three cloves, two blades of mace, some whole pepper and salt;
put to it a quart of water, and let it stew gently till half is wasted,
then raise the skin off your breast of veal, and make a forcemeat of the
sweetbread first parboiled, a few crumbs of bread, a little beef suet,
and some parsley shred very fine; season it with pepper, salt, and
nutmeg; moisten it with a spoonful of cream, and an egg; mix all well
together, and force your veal; skewer it down close, dredge it over with
flour, tie it up in a clean cloth, and let it boil an hour and a half.
If your gravy is done, strain it off, and take off the fat very clean;
blanch and beard half a pint of oysters, a gill of pickled mushrooms, a
little lemon-peel shred very fine: put this to your gravy, and thicken
it with a piece of butter rolled in flour; fry six or eight large
oysters, dipped in batter for garnish. When your veal is enough, dish it
up, and pour your sauce over. Garnish your dish with lemon, oysters, and
barberries.


STEWED BRISKET OF BEEF. Stew nine pounds of brisket of beef, in two
gallons of water, for two or three hours over night. When made
sufficiently tender, take out the bones, and carefully skim off the fat.
Boil in some of the liquor a few carrots, turnips, onions, celery, and
white cabbage, till they become quite tender. Add some salt, and the
remainder of the broth to the beef, and stew all together till
sufficiently done.


STEWED CALF'S LIVER LARDED. Take a calf's liver, and lard it, and put it
into a stewpan, with some water, a bundle of sweet herbs, an onion, a
blade of mace, some whole pepper, and a little salt; cover it close, and
let it stew till it is enough; then take up your liver, and put it into
the dish you intend; cover it over, and take out your herbs and spice;
skim off all the fat very clean; put in a piece of butter rolled in
flour; boil it till it is of a proper thickness; pour it over your
liver, and send it to table garnished with lemon.


STEWED CARDOONS. Cut them into pieces, not more than five or six inches
long. Take off the outward skin, and wash and scald them. Put them into
a stewpan, with gravy enough to cover them, and let them stew gently
till almost done, and the liquor nearly exhausted. Add a small quantity
of fresh gravy, and continue stewing them gently till quite tender.
Serve them up with sippets of toasted bread round the edge of the dish.
If the gravy is not sufficiently seasoned, add a little salt and
cayenne.


STEWED CARP. Scale and clean the fish, and preserve the roe. Lay the
carp in a stewpan, with a rich beef-gravy, an onion, eight cloves, a
dessert-spoonful of Jamaica pepper, the same of black pepper, and a
glass of port or cider. Simmer it closely covered; when nearly done, add
two anchovies chopped fine, a dessert-spoonful of made mustard, a little
fine walnut ketchup, and a bit of butter rolled in flour. Shake it, and
let the gravy boil a few minutes. Serve with sippets of fried bread, the
roe fried, and a good deal of horseradish and lemon.--Another way. Scale
your carp, then gut and wash them very clean, and dry them in a cloth;
put a piece of butter into a stewpan, when it is hot, fry them as quick
as you can, till they are of a fine brown; boil the roes, then fry them
of a fine gold colour; take them up, and keep them hot before the fire:
then put to your carp half port wine and half water, as much as will
cover them a little more than half way; put in some thyme, parsley, a
piece of lemon-peel, whole pepper, a few cloves, a blade or two of mace,
an onion, some horse-radish sliced, and two spoonfuls of ketchup; put on
your cover, and let it stew very gently, till your fish is enough; do
not turn them in the pan, but with a ladle take some of the liquor, and
pour over your fish every now and then, while they are stewing, then
cover them close again: When they are done enough, take them out of the
pan with a slice, and take care not to break them; put them into the
dish you intend to send them to table in, then strain the liquor, and
thicken it up with a piece of butter rolled in flour; let it boil till
it is pretty thick, pour the sauce over the fish, and garnish your dish
with the roes, lemon, and horseradish, and send it to table. You may
squeeze a little lemon into the sauce, if you like it, and add oysters
fried in butter; or you may stew them in cider, instead of wine, and it
is very little inferior. Tench may be done the same way.--To stew carp
white. Scale and gut your fish very clean, save the roes and melts, then
stove them in some good white broth; season them with mace, salt, whole
pepper, an onion stuck with cloves, a faggot of sweet herbs, and about
half a pint of white wine; cover them close, and let them stew gently
over a charcoal fire. Dip the roes and melts in the yolk of an egg;
flour them, and fry them of a fine brown, and have fried parsley and
sippets ready. When the fish is near done, take out the onion and
faggot, beat up the yolks of four or five eggs, take up the fish
carefully, and put it into the dish you serve it in; pour off the sauce,
then strain it into a stewpan, and put in your eggs; keep it stirring
till it is as fine as cream, then pour it over the dish. Garnish with
the roes, fried parsley, sippets, horseradish scraped, and lemon: send
it as hot as possible to table.--A plain way to stew carp. Clean your
carp very well, cut them in two, put them into a stewpan, with a little
onion shred fine, pepper, salt, a little beaten mace, a few capers
chopped small, and some crusts of bread chipped in. Then pour in a gill
of white, and a gill of red wine, and as much water as will just cover
them; cover the pan close, and let them stew till they are enough, and
the sauce grown thick. Serve it up with lemon and horseradish for
garnish.


STEWED CARROTS. Half boil, scrape them nicely, and slice them into a
stewpan. Add half a tea-cupful of weak broth, the same quantity of
cream, with pepper and salt. Simmer till the carrots are quite tender,
but not broken. Before serving, warm them up with a bit of butter
rubbed in flour. Chopped parsley may be added, if approved, ten minutes
before serving.


STEWED CELERY. Wash six heads, and strip off the outer leaves. Either
divide or leave them whole, according to their size, and cut them into
lengths of four inches. Put them into a stewpan with a cup of broth, or
weak gravy, and stew them tender. Add two spoonfuls of cream, and a
little flour and butter seasoned with pepper, salt, and nutmeg, and
simmer them all together.


STEWED CHICKENS. Cut two chickens into quarters; wash them clean, and
put them into a stewpan, with half a pint of red wine, and a gill of
water, an onion, a faggot of sweet herbs, seasoned with mace, pepper,
and salt; cover them close, and let them stew half an hour, then take
the quantity of an egg of butter rolled in flour; take out the onion and
sweet herbs; shake it round till it is of a good thickness, and take off
all the scum very clean: dish it up garnished with lemon.--To stew
chickens for a tender stomach. Take two nice chickens, and half boil
them; then take them up into a small soup-dish; separate all the joints,
and add three or four spoonfuls of the liquor they are boiled in, with a
little beaten mace, and salt; then cover them close with another dish,
and keep in all the steam; set it over a clear stove, and let it stew
till the chickens are enough, and send them hot to table in the same
dish they were stewed in.


STEWED COD. Cut a cod in slices, as you would for crimping, lay it in a
clean stewpan; season it with nutmeg, a little mace finely beaten,
pepper, and salt, and a bundle of sweet herbs; then pour in white wine
and water an equal quantity, just to cover it: put on the cover, and let
it simmer for six or eight minutes; skim it very clean, put in half a
pint of shrimps clean picked, a good piece of butter rolled in flour,
and the juice of a lemon; cover it, and shake your pan round gently: as
soon as it begins to boil, take off all the scum as it rises: if your
sauce is of a proper thickness, your fish will be enough; wipe the rim
of the pan very clean, and slide the fish into your dish, taking care
not to break it. Garnish with lemon and scraped horse-radish.--Another
way. Lay the slices into a large stewpan, so that they need not be laid
one upon another. Season with nutmeg, pepper, and salt, a bundle of
sweet herbs, and an onion. Add half a pint of white wine, and a quarter
of a pint of water. Simmer it gently a few minutes, squeeze in a lemon,
add a few oysters, the liquor strained, a piece of butter rolled in
flour, and a little mace. Cover it close, and let it stew gently,
shaking the pan often. When done take out the herbs and onions, and
serve it up with the sauce poured over it.


STEWED CUCUMBERS. Slice them thick, or halve and divide them into two
lengths. Strew over them some salt and pepper, and sliced onions: add a
little broth, or a bit of butter. Simmer very slowly, and put in a
little flour and butter before serving.--Another way. Slice the onions,
and cut the cucumbers large. Flour and fry them in butter, then stew
them in good broth or gravy, and skim off the fat.


STEWED DUCK. Half roast a duck, put it into a stewpan with a pint of
beef gravy, a few leaves of sage and mint cut small, pepper and salt,
and a small bit of onion shred as fine as possible. Simmer them a
quarter of an hour, skim it clean, and add nearly a quart of green peas.
Cover the stewpan close, and simmer near half an hour longer. Put in a
piece of butter and a little flour, give it one boil, and serve all
together in a dish.


STEWED EELS. Melt an ounce of butter in a stewpan, add a handful of
sorrel cut in large pieces, a dozen sage leaves finely minced, five
pounds of eels cut in pieces, and seasoned with pepper and salt. Then
put in two anchovies boned and minced, half a nutmeg, and half a pint of
water. Stew them gently together for half an hour, take out the onion,
squeeze in a lemon, and lay toasted bread round the dish. Half this
quantity will be sufficient for a small dish.--Another way. Take what
quantity of eels you please; after they are cleaned, fry them in butter,
then pour the butter clear off; put into your pan a bundle of sweet
herbs, an onion stuck with two or three cloves, a blade of mace, some
whole pepper, and a little salt; then add a pint of red wine and water,
and let them stew till they are tender: put the eels into a dish, strain
off the sauce, and thicken it up with a piece of butter rolled in flour,
or a piece of thickened burnt butter. Garnish your dish with
horse-radish and lemon.--Another way. Having cleaned your eels very
well, cut them in pieces, put them into a stewpan, with a bundle of
sweet herbs, an onion stuck with cloves, mace, whole pepper, and a
little salt; put to them a gill of white wine, half a pint of red, and a
gill of water; cover them close, and let them stew till tender; strain
off the gravy, thicken it up, and send it to table.--To stew an eel
whole. Take a fine large eel, clean it well, force the inside with
crumbs of bread, an anchovy cut fine, salt, pepper, a little nutmeg, and
two or three oysters bruised, with some parsley shred fine; fill the
inside as full as you can, sew it up with fine thread, turn it round,
and run a small skewer through it, to keep it in its folds; put it into
a small stewpan, with an onion stuck with cloves, and a faggot of herbs;
put over it red wine; cover the pan down very close, and let it stew
gently till tender; take out the onion, &c. put the eel into a dish,
and a plate over it; thicken the sauce with butter rolled in flour, and
squeeze a little lemon into the plate. If you have any forcemeat left,
make them into small balls, and fry them; put them into the sauce, give
them a toss, and pour it over the eel. Garnish the dish with fried
oysters, horseradish, and lemon.


STEWED ENDIVE. Trim off all the green parts of the endive, wash and cut
into pieces, and scald it till about half done. Drain it well, chop it a
little, put it into a stewpan with a little strong gravy, and stew it
gently till quite tender. Season it with some pepper and salt, and serve
it up as a sauce to any kind of roast meat; or it eats well with
potatoes.


STEWED FOWL WITH CELERY. Take a fowl or turkey trussed short as for
boiling, press down the breast-bone, put it into a clean stewpan, with
good veal broth, as much as will cover it; season it with beaten mace,
pepper and salt, a faggot of sweet herbs, and an onion; cover it close,
and let it boil; in the mean time, take a large bunch of celery, cut all
the white part small, and wash it very clean; if your turkey or fowl
boils, take out the onion and herbs; scum it very clean, and put in your
celery; cover it down close, and let it stew till your celery is very
tender, and your fowl likewise; take a clean stewpan, and set it over
your stove; take up your fowl or turkey, and keep it hot; pour your
celery and sauce into your stewpan; beat up the yolks of two or three
eggs in half a pint of cream, and a large spoonful of white wine; stir
it till it is of a good thickness, and just at boiling squeeze in a
little juice of lemon, or a little mushroom pickle; shake it round, and
pour it over your fowl. Garnish your dish with lemon.


STEWED FRENCH BEANS. Prepare some young beans as for boiling, and boil
them in plenty of water, with salt in it, till they are rather more
than half done. Drain them in a cullender, beat up the yolks of three
eggs with a quarter of a pint of cream, put them into a stewpan with two
ounces of fresh butter, and set it over a slow fire. When hot, put in
the beans, with a spoonful of vinegar, and simmer them quite tender,
stirring the mixture to keep it from curdling or burning. To stew French
beans with gravy, pursue the same method, only instead of the eggs and
cream, put half a pint of gravy. Use only half the quantity of butter,
and add that rolled in flour, to thicken up the whole after the beans
are put in. The vinegar should be omitted, and cayenne and salt added if
required.


STEWED GIBLETS. After very nicely cleaning goose or duck giblets, and
removing the thick membrane from the gizzards, stew them, in a little
water. Season them with salt and pepper, and a very small piece of mace.
Before serving, give them one boil with a cup of cream, and a piece of
butter rubbed in a tea-spoonful of flour.


STEWED GREEN PEAS. To a quart of peas add a quart of gravy, two or three
lumps of sugar, with pepper and salt. Stew them gently till the peas are
quite tender, and if the gravy is not sufficiently thick, add a piece of
butter rolled in flour. If the peas are old, half boil them first in
hard water, before they are stewed. Whether for young or old peas, the
gravy must be strong. To stew them in a mild way, put a pint of young
peas into a stewpan, with very little water, and two young lettuces cut
small. Stew them gently till the peas are tender, then add four
spoonfuls of cream, a lump of sugar, and the yolks of two eggs. Stir the
whole together over the fire for a short time, but do not allow it to
boil. A little salt should be added before serving up the stew. Another
way is to take a quart of young peas, a small onion sliced, two
lettuces cut small, and a sprig or two of mint. Put them into a stewpan,
adding some salt, a little pepper and mace, and half a pint of hard
water. Stew these gently for twenty minutes, then put in a quarter of a
pound of butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful of mushroom ketchup.
Keep the stewpan over the fire till the peas are quite tender, shaking
it frequently, and never suffering them to boil. Receipts for stewing
peas might be multiplied to almost any extent, for there is no one
preparation in cookery perhaps more varied than this, though without any
very material difference.


STEWED HARE. Take off the legs and shoulders, cut out the backbone, cut
into pieces the meat which comes off the sides, and put all into a
stewpan. Add three quarters of a pint of small beer, the same of water,
a large onion stuck with cloves, some whole pepper, a slice of lemon,
and a little salt. Stew it gently for an hour, close covered, and put to
it a quart of gravy. Stew it gradually two hours longer, or till it is
quite tender. Take out the hare, rub smooth half a spoonful of flour in
a little gravy, add it to the sauce, and boil it up. Then add a little
salt and cayenne, and put in the hare again. When heated through, serve
it up in a tureen or deep dish, adding port wine if approved.


STEWED KNUCKLE OF VEAL. Take a knuckle of veal of about five pounds;
wash it clean, and put it into a clean stewpan, with two quarts of
water, a faggot of sweet herbs, two blades of mace, an onion stuck with
three or four cloves, some whole pepper, and a little salt; put in a
crust of the upper part of a loaf, cover it down close, and make it
boil, then scum it very clean, and let it just simmer for full two
hours. When you take it up, put your veal into the dish first, and
strain your broth through a fine sieve over it, then take off all the
fat very clean, and put some thin slices of French roll in your dish,
and toasted bread cut in dice, in a plate. Serve it up hot. You may boil
a quarter of a pound of rice in fair water, till it is very tender; then
strain it off; and when you send your veal to table, lay your rice all
over it.--Rice is better boiled by itself, for when you boil it with the
meat, the scum is apt to discolour it, and make it eat greasy.


STEWED LOBSTER. Pick the meat out of the shell, put it into a dish that
has a lamp, and rub it down with a bit of butter. Add two spoonfuls of
any sort of gravy, one of soy or walnut ketchup, a little salt and
cayenne, and a spoonful of port. A lobster thus stewed will have a very
fine relish.


STEWED MUSCLES. Wash your muscles very clean, then put them into a large
stewpan over a good fire; put over them a coarse wet cloth doubled: when
they begin to boil, take up the cloth; if the shells are open, take them
off the fire, and pick out the fish, beard them, and cut off the tongue:
when you have picked about a quart, strain half a pint of the liquor to
them, roll two ounces of butter in flour, add a glass of white wine, a
little beaten mace, and squeeze in a little lemon juice; let them stew
till of a proper thickness, put toasted sippets in the dish, pour in the
muscles, and send them to table. Cockles may be done the same way.


STEWED MUSHROOMS. The large buttons are best, and the small flaps while
the fur is still red. Rub the large buttons with salt and a piece of
flannel, cut out the fur, and take off the skin from the others.
Sprinkle them with salt, put them into a stewpan, and add some
peppercorns. Let it simmer slowly till it is done, then put in a small
bit of butter and flour, and two spoonfuls of cream. Give it one boil,
and serve up the dish with sippets of bread.


STEWED MUTTON CHOPS. Take some chops of the best end of a loin of
mutton, or some slices out of the middle part of a leg. Season them with
pepper and salt, lay them into a stewpan with some sliced onion, and
cover them with water and a little gravy. When done on one side, turn
the steaks on the other, and thicken the gravy at the same time with
some butter and flour. A little shalot or ketchup, or both, may be added
at pleasure. Twenty or twenty-five minutes will stew them, but long
stewing will make them hard.


STEWED ONIONS. Peel six large onions, fry them gently of a fine brown,
but do not blacken them. Then put them into a small stewpan, with a
little weak gravy, pepper and salt. Cover and stew them gently two
hours, and let them be lightly floured at first.


STEWED OX CHEEK. Soak and cleanse a fine cheek the day before it is to
be eaten. Put it into a stewpan that will cover close, with three quarts
of water; simmer it after it has first boiled up, and been well skimmed.
In two hours put in plenty of carrots, leeks, two or three turnips, a
bunch of sweet herbs, some whole pepper, and four ounces of allspice.
Skim it often, and when the meat is tender, take it out. Let the soup
get cold, take off the cake of fat, and serve the soup separately, or
with the meat. It should be of a fine brown, which may be done by adding
a little burnt sugar, or by frying some onions quite brown with flour,
and simmering them with it. This last method improves the flavour of all
soups and gravies of the brown sort. If vegetables are not approved,
they may be taken out of the soup, and a small roll be toasted, or bread
fried and added. Celery is a great addition, and should always be
served. When out of season, the seed of it gives quite as good a
flavour, boiled in, and strained off.--Another way. Soak an ox cheek
three hours, and clean it with plenty of water. Take the meat off the
bones, and put it into a stewpan with a large onion, a bunch of sweet
herbs, some bruised allspice, pepper and salt. Lay the bones on the top,
pour on two or three quarts of water, and cover the pan close with stout
paper, or a dish that will fit close. Let it stand eight or ten hours in
a slow oven, or simmer it by the side of the fire, or on a hot hearth.
When done tender, put the meat into a clean pan, and let it get cold.
Take off the cake of fat, and warm the head in pieces in the soup. Serve
with any sort of vegetables.


STEWED OYSTERS. Open the shells, separate the liquor from the oysters,
and wash them from the grit. Strain the liquor, add to the oysters a bit
of mace, lemon peel, and a few white peppers. Simmer them very gently,
put in some cream, a little flour and butter, and serve them up with
sippets. Boiled oysters should be served in the shell, and eaten with
cold butter.


STEWED PARSNIPS. Boil the parsnips in milk and water, or milk alone,
till fully half done. Slice and divide them into two, down the middle
and across. Stew them gently with some good gravy, seasoned with pepper
and salt; and five minutes before they are taken up, add a piece of
butter rolled in flour. If parsnips are to be stewed white, put in broth
and cream in equal quantities, instead of gravy.


STEWED PEARS. Pare and quarter some large pears; throw them into water
as soon as pared, and before they are divided, to prevent their turning
black. Pack them round a block-tin stewpan, and sprinkle as much sugar
over as will make them pretty sweet. Add lemon peel, a clove or two, and
some bruised allspice; just cover them with water, and add a little red
liquor. Cover them close, and stew three or four hours: when tender,
take them out, and pour the liquor upon them.


STEWED PEAS. Steep some old peas in water all night, if not fine
boilers; otherwise only half an hour. Put them into a stewpan of water,
just enough to cover them, with a good bit of butter, or a piece of beef
or pork. Stew them very gently till the peas are soft, and the meat is
tender. If it be not salt meat, add salt and a little pepper, and serve
the peas round the meat.


STEWED PHEASANTS. Stew your pheasants in a strong veal gravy. While they
are simmering, prepare artichoke bottoms cut in dice, and some chesnuts
roasted, blanched, and cut in four: let your pheasants stew till your
gravy is half wasted, then scum it very clean, and put in your chesnuts
and artichoke bottoms; season with a little beaten mace, pepper, and
salt, a small glass of white wine, and a little juice of lemon. If your
sauce is not thick enough, roll a piece of butter in flour, and let it
boil up: in case any scum arises, take it clean off; dish your
pheasants, and pour the sauce over them; garnish with lemon.


STEWED PIGEONS. See that they are quite fresh, carefully cropped, drawn,
and washed; then soak them half an hour. In the mean time cut a hard
white cabbage in slices, as if for pickling, and put it in water. Then
drain and boil it in milk and water; drain it again, and lay some of it
at the bottom of a stewpan. Put the pigeons upon it, but first season
them well with salt and pepper, and cover them with the remainder of the
cabbage. Add a little broth, and stew gently till the pigeons are
tender; then put among them two or three spoonfuls of cream, and a piece
of butter and flour for thickening. After a boil or two, serve up the
birds in the middle of the dish, with the cabbage placed round
them.--Another way is to stew the birds in a good brown gravy, either
stuffed or not; and seasoned high with spice and fresh mushrooms, or a
little ketchup.--Another way. Take your pigeons trussed as for baking;
bruise the livers, and mix them up with a few bread crumbs, parsley, and
a little lemon peel chopped small; season it with mace, nutmeg, pepper,
and salt; work all up with a piece of butter, and stuff the bellies of
your pigeons; tie up the necks and vents; then stew them with some
butter, till they are brown all over; put them into another pan that
will just hold them, with as much strong gravy as will cover them; let
them stew till they are tender, then bruise an anchovy, a shalot shred
fine, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful of white wine;
let all boil together to a proper thickness; scum very clean; dish up,
and garnish with crisp bacon and lemon.


STEWED PIPPINS. Scoop out the core of some golden pippins, pare them
very thin, and throw them into water. For every pound of fruit, make
half a pound of refined sugar into a syrup, with a pint of water. When
skimmed, put in the pippins, and stew them quite clear. Grate some lemon
over, be careful not to break them, and serve them up in the syrup. They
make an elegant corner dish, or a dessert.--Another way. Pare your
pippins nicely, cut them in halves, and take out the cores; to a quart
of spring water, put a pound of double refined sugar, and a piece of
lemon-peel; boil it almost to a syrup; take out the peel, and put in the
pippins; boil them till they are pretty tender, then draw them to one
side of the fire, and let them stew till clear; take them out carefully
one at a time, and lay them in a china or earthen dish for use. If
golden pippins are done this way, they are very little inferior to
apricots.


STEWED PORK STEAKS. Cut some steaks from the best end of a loin or neck
of pork. Take off the skin, and nearly all the fat, and fry them of a
nice brown. Put the steaks into a stewpan, with good gravy enough to
make a proper sauce to them, adding pepper and salt. Ten minutes before
they are done, thicken the gravy with a piece of butter rolled in flour.
A little shalot, or ketchup, or both may be added.


STEWED POTATOES. Half boil some potatoes, drain and peel them nicely,
and cut them into neat pieces. Put them into a stewpan with some cream,
fresh butter, and salt, each proportioned to the quantity of potatoes;
or stew them in good gravy, with pepper and salt. Simmer them gently
till they are well done and be careful not to let them break.


STEWED PRUNES. Stew some prunes gently in a little water, till the
stones will slip out easily, but they must not be boiled too much. These
are useful in fevers, or in any complaint where fruit is proper; and
when fruit more acid would not agree.


STEWED RABBIT. Divide them into quarters, flour and fry them in butter;
then put them into a stewpan, with some good gravy, and a glass of white
wine. Season with salt, pepper, and a sprig of sweet herbs. Cover them
close, and let them stew till they become tender. Strain off the sauce,
thicken it with flour and butter, and pour it over them.


STEWED RED CABBAGE. Slice a small red cabbage, or half a large one, and
wash it clean. Put it into a saucepan with pepper, salt, and butter, but
no water except what hangs about the cabbage. Stew it tender, and when
ready to serve, add two or three spoonfuls of vinegar, and give it one
boil over the fire. It may be eaten with cold meat, or with sausages
laid upon it.--Another way. Shred the cabbage, and wash it. Put it into
a saucepan with pepper, salt, some slices of onion; and a little plain
gravy. When it is boiled quite tender, add a bit of butter rubbed with
flour, a few minutes before serving, with two or three spoonfuls of
vinegar, and boil it up.--Another. Cut the cabbage very thin, put it
into a stewpan with a small slice of ham, and half an ounce of butter at
the bottom. Put in half a pint of broth, and a gill of vinegar, and let
it stew three hours covered down. When it is very tender, add a little
more broth, salt, pepper, and a table-spoonful of pounded sugar. Mix
these well, and boil it till the liquor is wasted. Then put it into the
dish, and lay fried sausages upon it.


STEWED RUMP OF BEEF. Wash it well, and season it high with pepper,
cayenne, salt, allspice, three cloves, and a blade of mace, all in fine
powder. Bind it up tight, and lay it into a pot that will just hold it.
Fry three large onions sliced, and put them to it, with three carrots,
two turnips, one shalot, four cloves, a blade of mace, and some celery.
Cover the meat with good beef broth, or weak gravy. Simmer it as gently
as possible for several hours, till quite tender. Clear off the fat, and
add to the gravy half a pint of port wine, a glass of vinegar, and a
large spoonful of ketchup; half a pint of beer may be added. Simmer for
half an hour, and serve in a deep dish. The herbs to be used should be
burnet, tarragon, parsley, thyme, basil, savoury, marjoram, pennyroyal,
knotted marjoram, and some chives; a good handful all together. But
observe to proportion the quantities to the pungency of the several
sorts. Garnish with carrots, turnips, or truffles and morels, or pickles
of different colours, cut small, and laid in little heaps separate.
Chopped parsley, chives, and beet root may be added. If there is too
much gravy for the dish, take only a part to season for serving, the
less the better; and to increase the richness, add a few beef bones and
shanks of mutton in stewing. A spoonful or two of made mustard is a
great improvement to the gravy.--Another way. Half roast the rump, then
put it into a large pot with three pints of water, one of small beer,
one of port vine, some salt, three or four spoonfuls of vinegar, and two
of ketchup. Add a bunch of sweet herbs, consisting of burnet, tarragon,
parsley, thyme, basil, savoury, pennyroyal, marjoram, knotted marjoram,
and a leaf or two of sage; also some onions, cloves, and cayenne. Cover
it close, and simmer it for two or three hours, till quite tender. When
done lay it into a deep dish, set it over some hot water, and cover it
close. Skim the gravy, put in a few pickled mushrooms, truffles, morels,
and oysters if agreeable, but it is very good without. Thicken the gravy
with flour and butter, heat it with the above, and pour it over the
beef. Forcemeat balls of veal, anchovies, bacon, suet, herbs, spice,
bread, and eggs to bind, are a great improvement. A rump of beef is
excellent roasted; but in the country it is generally sold whole with
the edge-bone, or cut across instead of lengthways as in London, where
one piece is for boiling, and the rump for stewing or roasting. This
must be attended to, the whole being too large to dress
together.--Another way. Raise the lean next the chump-end; cut that bone
off, but leave the chine-bone, then with two skewers fasten the meat as
if the bone was not taken away: Put it into a pot with a little more
water than will cover it: Add parsley, thyme, two or three large onions,
a handful of salt, whole pepper half an ounce, half a quarter of an
ounce of cloves, the same quantity of mace; cover it close down, and
stew it over a slow fire for three hours, till your beef is very tender.
To make your sauce, take two pounds of gravy beef, cut it in pretty
thick slices, and flour them well; put a piece of butter into your
stewpan, over a stove, or a quick fire. When that is brown, put in the
slices of beef, and fry them brown, as quick as you can; then add water
as much as you think will be sufficient to make a very strong gravy; cut
an onion cross with parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt, two or three
cloves, and a blade of mace; let this stew till your gravy is very rich,
then strain it off, and thicken it up with a piece of butter rolled in
flour.


STEWED SAVOYS. These may be done in the same manner as red cabbage; but
the better way is to boil the savoy in water till about half done, and
then stew it. This takes off the strong flavour, and makes it much more
agreeable.


STEWED SCALLOPS. Boil them very well in salt and water; take out the
fish, stew them in some of their liquor, with a little white wine, two
or three blades of mace, a little nutmeg, and a good piece of butter
rolled in flour; let them be thoroughly stewed, then pour in a little
cream, shake your pan round, and squeeze in the juice of a Seville
orange. Send them to table garnished with baked sippets and orange.


STEWED SOLES. Half fry them in butter, take out the fish, and put a
quart of water or gravy into the pan, two anchovies, and a sliced onion.
When they have boiled slowly for a quarter of an hour, put the fish in
again, and stew them gently about twenty minutes. Take them out, thicken
the liquor with butter and flour, boil it gently, strain it over the
fish, and serve it with oyster, cockle, or shrimp sauce.


STEWED SORREL. Wash it clean, and put it into a silver vessel, or stone
jar, with no more water than hangs to the leaves. Simmer it as slowly as
possible; and when done enough, beat it up with a piece of butter. This
is very fine with a fricandeau, with roast meat, mackarel, or any thing
usually eaten with an acid sauce. The same thickening may be added, as
for spinach and sorrel. It is as well prepared in a stone jar set before
the fire, only it requires a longer time.


STEWED SPINACH WITH CREAM. Boil the spinach till nearly done enough,
then squeeze all the water from it, and put it into a stewpan, with a
piece of butter and some salt. Stir it over the fire till the butter is
well mixed in with it, and add as much cream as will make it of a
moderate thickness. Shake it for a minute or two over the fire, and
serve it up with sippets of bread, either fried or toasted.


STEWED SPINACH WITH GRAVY. Pick the spinach nicely, then wash it well,
and put it into a stewpan, with a few spoonfuls of water, and a little
salt. Stew this till quite tender, shaking the pan very often to prevent
its burning. When done enough, put it into a sieve to drain, and give it
a slight squeeze. Beat the spinach well, then return it to the stewpan
with some gravy, pepper, salt, and a piece of butter. Let it stew about
a quarter of an hour, stirring it frequently. Serve it up either in a
dish by itself, or with poached eggs upon it, according to the occasion
for which it is wanted.


STEWED SPINACH WITH SORREL. Take spinach and sorrel, in the proportion
of three fourths of spinach to one of sorrel. Pick and wash these very
nicely; cut them a little, and put them into a stewpan, with two or
three spoonfuls of water. Keep them stirring over the fire, till they
begin to soften and to liquify. Then leave it to stew at a distance over
the fire for an hour or more, stirring it every now and then. Thicken it
with a little flour, and when quite done, add some pepper and salt, and
serve it up. This will form an excellent sauce to all kinds of meat, or
to eat with potatoes. Almost any kind of cold vegetables may be added to
this stew. They should be put in just long enough to heat, and mixed in
properly with the spinach before it is served up.


STEWED TONGUE. Prepare a tongue with saltpetre and common salt for a
week, and turn it every day. Boil it tender enough to peel, and
afterwards stew it in a moderately strong gravy. Season it with soy,
mushroom ketchup, cayenne, pounded cloves, and salt if necessary. Serve
with truffles, morels, and mushrooms. The roots of the tongue must be
removed before it is salted, but some fat should be left.


STEWED TURKEY. Have a nice hen turkey trussed close, and the breast-bone
broken; put it into a stewpan with a good piece of butter; let the
breast and pinions be glazed of a fine brown; then put it into a stewpan
that is very clean; and a faggot of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with
three cloves, two blades of mace, some whole pepper, and a little salt;
then put in as much strong broth or gravy as will just cover it; cover
it very close, and let it stew over a moderate fire, till you think it
is tender; in the mean time make some forcemeat balls of veal, &c. and
let them be fried of a fine brown, in readiness. When your turkey is
done, take it up, put it into your dish, and keep it hot; strain off
your liquor into a clean stewpan, and scum it very clean: if it is not
thick enough, roll apiece of butter in flour; put in half a glass of
white wine, and your forcemeat balls; toss up all together, till your
sauce is of a good thickness; squeeze in a little lemon; pour your sauce
over the turkey, and garnish your dish with lemon. In the same manner
you may do a large fowl; and you may add morels, truffles, artichoke
bottoms, &c.--Another. Put turkey or fowl into a stewpan, with a
sufficient quantity of gravy or good broth, a head of celery cut small,
whole pepper, and a sprig of thyme tied up in a muslin bag. When these
are stewed enough, take them up, thicken the liquor with flour and
butter, lay the meat in a dish, and pour the sauce over it.


STEWED VEAL. Cut off the neck end of a breast of veal, and stew it for
gravy. Make a forcemeat of the sweetbread boiled, a few crumbs of bread,
a little beef suet, an egg, pepper and salt, a spoonful or two of cream,
and a little grated nutmeg. Mix them all together, raise the thin part
of the breast, and put in the stuffing. Skewer the skin close down,
dredge it over with flour, tie it up in a cloth, and stew it in milk and
water rather more than an hour: if a large one, an hour and a half. The
proper sauce for this dish is made of a little gravy, a few oysters, a
few mushrooms chopped fine, and a little lemon juice, thickened with
flour and butter. If preferred, the veal may be stewed in broth, or weak
gravy. Then thicken the gravy it was stewed in, pour it over the veal,
and garnish with forcemeat balls.


STEWED VENISON. Let the meat hang as long as it will keep sweet. Take
out the bone, beat the meat with a rolling-pin, lay on some slices of
mutton fat, sprinkle over it a little pepper and salt, roll it up light
and tie it. Stew it in mutton or beef gravy, with a quarter of a pint of
port wine, some pepper and allspice. Cover it close, and simmer it as
slowly as possible for three or four hours. When quite tender take off
the tape, lay the meat on a dish, strain the gravy over it, and serve it
up with currant jelly.


STEWED WATER CRESSES. Pick and wash a quantity of water cresses, and
boil them for a few minutes. Drain and press them dry, chop them
slightly, and put them into a stewpan, either with good gravy or cream,
and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Add a thickening of butter rolled in
flour, if necessary. Stew them gently for ten minutes, or a quarter of
an hour, and serve them up with a garnish of sippets, of fried or
toasted bread.


STICKING PLASTER. Melt three ounces of diachylon with half an ounce of
rosin, and when cooled to about the thickness of treacle, spread it upon
a piece of smooth soft linen.


STILTON CHEESE. This rich and relishing article is made in the following
manner. The night's cream is put into the morning's milk, with the
rennet. When the curd is come, it is not broken, as is usually done with
other cheese, but taken out whole, and put into a sieve to drain. Here
it is pressed till it becomes firm and dry, when it is placed in a
wooden hoop made to fit it, in order to prevent its breaking. After
being taken out of the hoop, the cheese is bound with cloths, which are
changed every day, till it is sufficiently firm to support itself. The
cloths are then removed, and the cheese is rubbed with a brush and
turned every day. The rennet bag should be kept perfectly sweet and
fresh: if it be in the least degree tainted, the cheese will never have
a good flavour.


STINGS. The stings of bees are often more virulent than those of wasps,
and attended with more painful effects. The sting being barbed, it is
always left in the wound. When therefore a person is stung by a bee, the
sting should be instantly extracted, or it will communicate more of its
poison, according to the time it is permitted to remain. It should be
carefully pulled out with a steady hand, for if any of it break in,
remedies will in a great measure be ineffectual. When the sting is
completely extracted, the wounded part should be sucked, and very little
inflammation will ensue. If a few drops of the spirits of hartshorn be
immediately rubbed on the part affected, the cure will be more speedily
accomplished. Another simple remedy is, a solution of indigo in water,
or of potash, a little oil of tartar, or common sweet oil, rubbed upon
the part. Honey and olive oil, or some bruised mallows, may occasionally
be substituted with advantage; but their application should be repeated
till the pain ceases. Rubbing on a little common salt, after it has been
moistened, is also said to be an effectual cure. If a wasp or bee has
been incautiously swallowed in a glass of liquor, take a spoonful of
common salt, or repeated doses of salt and water. This will immediately
kill the insect, and prevent the injurious effects of the sting. To
remove the disagreeable itching which arises from the sting of gnats,
wash the part directly with cold water; or at night, rub on fuller's
earth mixed with water.


STOCK. To make a clear brown stock, for gravy or gravy soup, put into a
stewpan with two quarts of water, a pound of lean beef, a pound of the
lean of a gammon of bacon, all sliced. Add two or three scraped carrots,
two onions, two turnips, and two heads of sliced celery. Stew the meat
quite tender, but do not let it brown. When thus prepared, it will serve
either for soup, or brown or white gravy. If for brown, put in some soup
colouring, and boil it a few minutes.


STOCK-FISH. Put it into water, and let it remain there two days,
shifting the water often; then take it out, and clean the skin and inner
part with a hard brush, and hang it up for one night in the air. In the
morning put it again into water, and let it remain till the next
morning, shifting the water often; take it out, and hang it up for
another day, when it will be fit for dressing. Roll up the fish round,
and tie it close with a tape; put it into a fish-kettle, the water of
which simmers when you put it on: let it remain simmering for three
quarters of an hour, then let it boil for five minutes, and the fish is
enough.


STOMACHIC TINCTURE. In low nervous affections arising from a languid
circulation, and when the stomach is in a state of debility, the
following tincture will be found to be strengthening and beneficial. An
ounce and a half of peruvian bark bruised, and an ounce of orange peel,
steeped in a pint of the best brandy, for ten days. Shake the bottle
every day, then let it settle for two days, and decant off the clear
liquor. Take a tea-spoonful of the tincture in a wine glass of water,
twice a day, when the stomach feels empty and uneasy, an hour before
dinner, and also in the evening. This agreeable aromatic tonic will
procure an appetite, and aid digestion. Tea made with dried Seville
orange peel, in the same way as common tea, and drunk with milk and
sugar, has been taken by nervous persons with great benefit. Sucking a
bit of dried orange peel about an hour before dinner, when the stomach
is empty, is very grateful and strengthening.


STONE STAIRS AND HALLS. In order to clean these properly, boil a pound
of pipe-maker's clay with a quart of water, a quart of small beer, and a
bit of stone blue. Wash the stairs or the floor with this mixture, and
when dry, rub it with flannel and a brush.


STOPPLES. When a glass stopple is set fast, in a bottle or decanter, rub
a drop or two of olive oil round it, close to the mouth of the decanter,
and place it near the fire. The oil will soon insinuate itself
downwards, and the stopple may then be loosened by the hand, or by
striking it lightly with a piece of soft wood. Sometimes the rubbing of
the neck of the bottle with a small key, and striking the head of the
stopper, will be sufficient to loosen it, without the application of any
oil.


STORING. The storing of fruits, vegetables, and roots, has been
performed in various ways, which are well known already; but lately some
better modes have been suggested for this purpose. For apples and pears,
after they have been carefully gathered from the trees, and laid in
heaps covered with clean cloths or mats for sweating, which is effected
in three or four days, they remaining for that length of time
afterwards, they are to be wiped separately with clean cloths; when some
glazed earthen jars are to be provided with tops and covers, and
likewise a quantity of pure pit-sand, which is quite free from any
mixture. This is to be thoroughly dried upon a flue. Then put a layer of
this sand an inch thick on the bottoms of the jars; above this layer of
fruit, a quarter of an inch free of each other; covering the whole with
sand to the depth of an inch; then a second course of fruit is to be
laid in, and again covered with an inch of the sand, proceeding in the
same way until the whole be finished and completed. An inch and a half
in depth of sand may be laid over the last or uppermost layer of fruit;
when the jars are to be closed and placed in some dry situation, as cool
as possible, but entirely out of the way of frost. The usual time at
which each kind of such fruits should be ready for the table being
known, the jars containing such fruit may, it is said, be examined, by
turning out the sand and fruit together cautiously into a sieve. The
ripe fruit may then be laid upon the shelves of the fruit-room for use,
and the unripe be carefully replaced in the jars as before, but with
fresh dry sand. Some kinds of apples managed in this way, will, it is
said, keep a great while, as till July; and pears until April, and in
some sorts till June. It is not improbable but that many other sorts of
fruit might be stored and preserved in somewhat the same way. Vegetables
of the cauliflower kind have been stored and kept well through a great
part of the winter, by putting them, when in full head, on a dry day,
into pits about eighteen inches in depth, and much the same breadth, in
a perfectly dry soil, with the stalks and leaves to them, the latter
being carefully doubled over and lapped round the heads, instead of
hanging them up in sheds or other places, as is the usual practice in
preserving them. In performing the work, it is begun at one end of the
pits, laying the heads in with the root-stalks uppermost, so as that the
former may incline downwards, the roots of the one layer covering the
tops or heads of the other, until the whole is completed. The pits are
then to be closely covered up with the earth into a sort of ridge, and
beaten quite smooth with the back of the spade, in order that the
rain-water may be fully thrown off. Fine cauliflowers have been thus
stored and kept for the occasional supply of the table until the middle
of the following January. For storing and preserving different kinds of
roots for common summer use, until the coming in or return of the
natural crops, the following method has likewise been proposed. As the
ice in ice-houses has commonly subsided some feet, as four, five, or
more, by the beginning of the spring, it is proposed to deposit in the
rooms or vacancies so left empty, the roots that are to be preserved. As
soon as any openings in the places have been well stuffed with straw,
and the surfaces of the ice covered with the sort of material,
case-boxes, dry ware, casks, baskets, or any other such vessels, are to
be placed upon it, which are then to be filled with the roots, such as
turnips, carrots, beets, celery, potatoes in particular, and some
others. In cases where there are not ice-houses, vegetation may be
greatly retarded, and the roots preserved by storing them in deep
vaulted cellars, caves, coal-pits, mines, or in any place seated deep in
the earth. Potatoes have also been well stored and preserved, it is
said, by earthing them in small parcels, as about two bolls each, heaped
up, and covered in the usual way with straw and earth; which are turned
over into other pits in the early spring, first rubbing off all the
sprouts or shoots, and having the roots well watered in small quantities
as they are put into the other pits, the whole earthy covering being
also well watered and beaten together at the time with the back part of
the spade. This covering is to be made to the thickness of about two
feet. The same practice or process is to be repeated every time the
potatoes are turned over, which should be about once in three weeks, as
the state of the weather may be. And where the pits or heaps are not in
the shade, it is sometimes proper, when the season is very hot, to cover
them with mats supported on sticks, so as to permit a free current of
air between the mats and the heaps. In this way it is stated that these
roots have been preserved quite plump and entire in the taste until the
end of September, or till the succeeding crop becomes perfectly ripe, so
as to be used without loss, as that must always be the case where the
roots are largely employed before they are in a state of mature growth.
It is asserted, too, that in this manner potatoes are even capable of
recovering in plumpness and taste, where they have been suffered, by
improper exposure to air or heat, to become deficient in these
qualities.


STOVE BLACKING, for backs of grates, hearths, and the fronts of stoves,
is made in the following manner. Boil a quarter of a pound of the best
black lead, with a pint of small beer, and a bit of soap the size of a
walnut. When that is melted, dip in a painter's brush, and wet the
grate, having first cleared off all the soot and dust. Then take a hard
brush, and rub it till it is quite bright. A mixture of black lead and
whites of eggs well beaten together, will answer the same purpose.


STRAMONIUM. This celebrated plant, commonly called the Thorn Apple,
often grows on dunghills, and flowers in the month of July. Having
lately been discovered as possessing very powerful medical properties,
and as affording the most effectual remedy for the asthma, it is now
frequently transplanted into gardens, though its odour is extremely
offensive. A kind of herb tobacco is made of the dried leaves, mixed
with a little rosemary to prevent nausea, and a pipeful is smoked in the
evening before going to bed. The practice should be continued for some
time, or as often as asthma returns, and it will afford very sensible
relief. The plant may easily be raised from seed; but an elegant
preparation of the stramonium, or the asthmatic tobacco, may be had of
several medicine vendors in the kingdom.


STRAWBERRIES. Sir Joseph Banks, from a variety of experiments, and the
experience of many years, recommends a general revival of the now almost
obsolete practice of laying straw under strawberry plants, when the
fruit begins to swell; by which means the roots are shaded from the sun,
the waste of moisture by evaporation prevented, the leaning fruit kept
from damage, by resting on the ground, particularly in wet weather, and
much labour in watering saved. Twenty trusses of long straw are
sufficient for 1800 feet of plants. On the management of strawberries in
June and July, the future prosperity of them greatly depends; and if
each plant has not been kept separate, by cutting off the runners, they
will be in a state of confusion, and you will find three different
sorts of plants. 1. Old plants, whose roots are turned black, hard, and
woody. 2. Young plants, not strong enough to flower. 3. Flowering
plants, which ought only to be there, and perhaps not many of them.
Before the time of flowering is quite over, examine them, and pull up
every old plant which has not flowered; for, if once they have omitted
to flower you may depend upon it they will never produce any after,
being too old, and past bearing; but to be fully convinced, leave two or
three, set a stick to them, and observe them next year. If the young
plants, runners of last year, be too thick, take some of them away, and
do not leave them nearer than a foot of the scarlet, alpines, and wood,
and fifteen or sixteen inches of all the larger sorts; and in the first
rainy weather in July or August, take them all up, and make a fresh
plantation with them, and they will be very strong plants for flowering
next year. Old beds, even if the plants be kept single at their proper
distance, examine, and pull all the old plants which have not flowered.
When the fruit is nearly all gathered examine them again, and cut off
the runners; but if you want to make a fresh plantation, leave some of
the two first, and cut off all the rest. Then stir up the ground with a
trowel, or three-pronged fork, and in August they will be fit to
transplant. If you have omitted in July do not fail in August, that the
runners may make good roots to be transplanted in September, for, if
later, the worms will draw them out of the ground, and the frost
afterwards will prevent them from striking root; the consequence of
which is, their not flowering the next spring; and you will lose a year.


STRAWBERRY AND RASPBERRY FOOL. Bruise a pint of scarlet strawberries,
and a pint of raspberries, pass them through a sieve, and sweeten them
with half a pound of fine sugar pounded, add a spoonful of orange-flower
water, then boil it over the fire, for two or three minutes; take it
off, and set on a pint and a half of cream, boil it and stir it till it
is cold; when the pulp is cold, put them together, and stir them till
they are well mixed; put the fool into glasses, or basins, as you think
proper.


STRAWBERRY JAM. Dissolve four pounds of lump sugar in a quart of currant
juice, then boil and scum it quite clean. Mash four quarts of
raspberries, and mix with it. Let it boil quick, over a clear fire, for
nearly an hour, or till the sugar and raspberries are quite mixed. This
may be known by putting a little on a plate; if the juice drains from
the fruit, it must be boiled longer. When done enough, put it into pots,
and the next day put brandy papers over them. Tie them down with another
paper, and set the jars in a dry place.


STRAWBERRIES PRESERVED. To keep whole strawberries, take equal weights
of the fruit and double refined sugar. Lay the strawberries in a large
dish, and sprinkle over them half the sugar in fine powder. Shake the
dish gently, that the sugar may touch the under side of the fruit. Next
day make a thin syrup with the remainder of the sugar, and instead of
water, allow to every pound of strawberries a pint of red currant juice.
Simmer the fruit in this, until sufficiently jellied. Choose the largest
scarlet strawberries, before they are dead ripe. They will eat well in
thin cream, served up in glasses.


STRAWBERRIES IN WINE. Put a quantity of the finest strawberries into a
gooseberry bottle, and strew in three spoonfuls of fine sugar. Fill up
the bottle with madeira, or fine sherry.


STRENGTHENING DRAUGHT. For weakly persons, any of the following
preparations will be highly beneficial. Put two calves' feet in two
pints of water, and the same quantity of new milk; bake them in a jar
closely covered, three hours and a half. When cold remove the fat, and
take a large teacupful of the mucilage, morning and evening. It may be
flavoured by baking in it lemon peel, cinnamon, or mace: sugar is to be
added afterwards.--Or simmer six sheeps' trotters, with two blades of
mace, a bit of cinnamon, lemon peel, a few hartshorn shavings, and a
little isinglass, in two quarts of water till reduced to one. When cold,
remove the fat, and take nearly half a pint twice a day, warming it with
a little new milk.--Another way. Boil an ounce of isinglass shavings,
forty peppercorns, and a bit of brown crust of bread, in a quart of
water, till reduced to a pint, and strain it. This makes a pleasant
jelly to keep in case of sickness, and a large spoonful may be taken in
wine and water, in milk, tea, soup, or any other way.--Or boil a quarter
of an ounce of isinglass shavings with a pint of new milk, till reduced
one half. Add a little sugar, and for a change a bitter almond. Take
this at bed-time, but not too warm. Dutch flummery, jellies, or
blamange, if not too rich, are also very strengthening.


STRENGTHENING JELLY. Put an ounce of isinglass shavings, with a few
Jamaica peppercorns, and a toast of bread. Boil it to a pint, and strain
it off. A large spoonful of the jelly may be taken in wine and water,
milk, tea, or any other agreeable liquor. Or boil a quarter of an ounce
of isinglass shavings in a pint of new milk, till it is reduced to half
a pint, adding a bitter almond, or a little sugar, by way of change.


STRONG GRAVY. Take a stewpan that will hold four quarts, lay at the
bottom of it a slice or two of undressed ham or bacon, about a quarter
of an inch thick, and two pounds of beef or veal. Add a carrot, a large
onion with four cloves stuck in it, one head of celery, a bundle of
parsley, lemon thyme, and savoury; a few leaves of sweet basil, a bay
leaf, a shalot, a piece of lemon peel, and a dozen corns of allspice.
Pour on half a pint of water, cover it close, and let it simmer gently
on a slow fire for half an hour, in which time it will be almost dry.
Watch it very carefully, and let it take a nice brown colour. Turn the
meat and herbs, to brown on all sides; then put in a pint of water to a
pound of meat, and let it boil for two hours. It will now be formed into
a rich strong gravy, easily converted into cullis, or thickened gravy.


STUCCO. A stucco for walls, &c. may be formed of the grout or putty,
made of good stone-lime, or the lime of cockle-shells, which is better,
properly tempered and sufficiently beat, mixed with sharp grit-sand, in
a proportion which depends on the strength of the lime: drift-sand is
best for this purpose, and it will derive advantage from being dried on
an iron plate or kiln, so as not to burn; for thus the mortar would be
discoloured. When this is properly compounded, it should be put up in
small parcels against walls, or otherwise, to mellow, as the workmen
term it; reduced again to a soft putty, or paste, and spread thin on the
walls without any undercoat, and well trowelled. A succeeding coat
should be laid on, before the first is quite dry, which will prevent
joints of brick-work appearing through it. Much depends upon the workmen
giving it sufficient labour, and trowelling it down. If this stucco,
when dry, is laid over with boiling linseed oil, it will last a long
time, and not be liable, when once hardened, to the accidents to which
common stucco is liable. Liardet's, or, as it is commonly called, _Adams
oil-cement_, or stucco, is prepared in the following manner: for the
first coat, take twenty-one pounds of fine whiting, or oyster-shells, or
any other sea-shells calcined, or plaster of Paris, or any calcareous
material calcined and pounded, or any absorbent material whatever,
proper for the purpose; add white or red lead at pleasure, deducting
from the other absorbent materials in proportion to the white or red
lead added; to which put four quarts, beer measure, of oil; and mix them
together with a grinding-mill, or any levigating machine: and afterwards
mix and beat up the same well with twenty-eight quarts, beer measure, of
any sand or gravel, or of both, mixed and sifted, or of marble or stone
pounded, or of brick-dust, or of any kind of metallic or mineral
powders, or of any solid material whatever, fit for the purpose. For the
second coat, take sixteen pounds and a half of super-fine whiting, or
oyster-shells, or any sea-shells calcined, &c. as for the first coat;
add sixteen pounds and a half of white or red lead, to which put six
quarts and a half of oil, wine measure, and mix them together as before:
afterwards mix and beat up the same well with thirty quarts, wine
measure, of fine sand or gravel sifted, or stone or marble pounded, or
pyrites, or any kind of metallic or mineral powder, &c. This composition
requires a greater proportion of sand, gravel, or other solids,
according to the nature of the work, or the uses to which it is to be
applied. If it be required to have the composition coloured, add to the
above ingredients such a proportion of painter's colours, as will be
necessary to give the tint or colour required. In making the
composition, the best linseed or hempseed, or other oils proper for the
purpose, are to be used, boiled or raw, with drying ingredients, as the
nature of the work, the season, or the climate requires; and in some
cases, bees' wax may be substituted in place of oil: all the absorbent
and solid materials must be kiln-dried. If the composition is to be of
any other colour than white, the lead may be omitted, by taking the full
proportion of the other absorbents; and also white or red lead may be
substituted alone, instead of any other absorbent material. The first
coat of this composition is to be laid on with a trowel, and floated to
an even surface with a rule or darby, (i. e. a handle-float.) The second
coat, after it is laid on with a trowel, when the other is nearly dry,
should be worked down and smoothed with floats edged with horn, or any
hard smooth substance that does not stain. It may be proper, previously
to laying on the composition, to moisten the surface on which it is to
be laid by a brush with the same sort of oil and ingredients which pass
through the levigating machine, reduced to a more liquid state, in order
to make the composition adhere the better. This composition admits of
being modelled or cast in moulds, in the same manner as plasterers or
statuaries model or cast their stucco work. It also admits of being
painted upon, and adorned with landscape, or ornamental, or
figure-painting, as well as plain painting.--To make an excellent
stucco, which will adhere to wood work, take a bushel of the best stone
lime, a pound of yellow ochre, and a quarter of a pound of brown umber,
all in fine powder. Mix them to a proper thickness, with a sufficient
quantity of hot water, but not boiling, and lay it on with a new
white-washer's brush. If the wall be quite smooth, one or two coats will
do; but each must be dry before the next is put on. The month of March
is the best season for doing this.


STUCCO WASHES. The most beautiful white-wash is made of clean good lime
mixed with skim milk instead of water. For Blue wash, put four pounds
of blue vitriol into an iron or brass pot, with a pound of the best
whiting, and a gallon of water. Let it boil an hour, stirring it all the
time. Then pour it into an earthen pan, and set it by for a day or two
till the colour is settled. Pour off the water, and mix the colour with
the white-washer's size. Wash the walls over three or four times,
according as it may be necessary. To make Yellow wash, dissolve in soft
water over the fire equal quantities of umber, bright ochre, and blue
black. Add as much white-wash as is necessary for the work, and stir it
all together. If either cast predominates, put in more of the others,
till the proper tint is obtained.


STUFFINGS. Forcemeat or stuffing is generally considered as a necessary
accompaniment to most of the made dishes, and when composed with good
taste, it gives to them additional spirit and relish. It is often
employed in making of patties, for stuffing of veal, game, and poultry.
The ingredients should be so proportioned, that no one flavour
predominates; and instead of using the same stuffing for veal, hare, and
other things, it is easy to make a suitable variety. The poignancy of
forcemeat should be regulated by the savouriness of the viands, to which
it is intended to give an additional zest. Some dishes require a very
delicately flavoured stuffing, while for others it should be full and
high seasoned. The consistence of forcemeats is attended with some
difficulty; they are almost always either too heavy or too light. They
should be mixed perfectly smooth, and the ingredients thoroughly
incorporated. Forcemeat balls must not be larger than a small nutmeg. If
for brown sauce, flour and fry them: if for white sauce, put them into
boiling water, and boil them for three minutes: the latter are by far
the most delicate. Parboiled sweetbreads and tongues are the principal
ingredients for stuffing or forcemeat. Besides these, yolks of hard
eggs, flour, bread crumbs, boiled onion, mashed potatoe, mutton, beef,
veal suet, marrow, calf's udder or brains, veal minced and pounded, and
potted meats. Also of garden herbs and roots, parsley, thyme, spinach,
marjoram, savoury, tarragon, sage, chervil, basil, burnet, bay leaf,
truffles, morels, mushrooms, leeks, shalot, onions, and garlic. Of fish,
shrimps, prawns, crabs, oysters, lobsters, and anchovies. Of spices,
pepper, mace, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cayenne, and cloves.
These, with bacon and ham, form the principal ingredients for various
kinds of stuffing. The liquids in general consist of meat gravy, lemon
juice, syrup of lemons, essence of anchovy, mushroom ketchup, vegetable
essences, and the essence of spices.


STUFFING FOR GOOSE. Chop very fine one or two onions, and a little green
sage. Add a large teacupful of bread crumbs, a very little pepper and
salt, half the liver parboiled, and the yolks of two eggs. Incorporate
the whole well together, put it into the goose, but leave a little room
for the stuffing to swell.


STUFFING FOR HARE. Two ounces of beef suet chopped fine, three ounces of
fine bread crumbs, a little parsley, marjoram, lemon thyme, or winter
savory; a dram of grated lemon peel, half a dram of nutmeg, of shalot,
and the same of pepper and salt. Mix these with an egg, so as to make
them cohesive; but if the stuffing be not of a sufficient consistence,
it will be good for nothing. If the liver be quite sound, it may be
parboiled, minced very fine, and added to the above. Put the stuffing
into the hare, and sow it up.


STUFFING FOR PIG. Rub some of the crumb of a stale loaf through a
cullender, mince fine a handful of sage, and a large onion. Mix these
together with an egg, some pepper and salt, and a piece of butter. Fill
the belly of the pig with the stuffing, and sow it up. Lay the pig to
the fire, and baste it with salad oil, without leaving it for a moment.


STUFFING FOR PIKE. Take equal parts of fat bacon, beef suet, and fresh
butter; some parsley, thyme, and savoury; a small onion, and a few
leaves of scented marjoram shred fine; an anchovy or two, a little salt
and nutmeg, and some pepper. Oysters will be an improvement, with or
without anchovies; add some crumbs, and an egg to bind.


STUFFING FOR POULTRY. Mince a quarter of a pound of beef suet, (marrow
is better,) the same weight of bread crumbs, two drams of parsley
leaves, nearly as much of sweet marjoram or lemon thyme, and the same of
grated lemon peel. Add an onion or shalot, chopped as fine as possible,
a little grated nutmeg, pepper and salt. Pound all together thoroughly,
with the yolk and white of two eggs. This is about the quantity for a
turkey poult; a very large turkey will take nearly twice as much. To the
above may be added an ounce of dressed ham.


STUFFING FOR VEAL. Take an equal quantity of grated bread and beef suet,
shred very fine. Add parsley and sweet herbs chopped small, a minced
anchovy, some nutmeg, pepper, and salt, and a little grated lemon peel.
Mix these well together with raw egg or milk. This stuffing will do for
roast turkey or hare.


STURGEON. Fresh sturgeon should be cut in slices, rubbed over with egg,
and sprinkled with grated bread, parsley, salt and pepper. Then fold the
slices in white paper, and broil them gently. For sauce, send up
butter, anchovy, and soy.--Another way. Clean the sturgeon, and prepare
as much liquor as will cover it, thus: take a pint of vinegar, about two
quarts of water, a stick of horseradish cut in slips, some lemon peel,
two or three bay leaves, and a small handful of salt, boil it in this
pickle, till you think it is enough, and serve it with the following
sauce: melt a pound of butter, with an anchovy bruised, a blade or two
of mace, the body of a crab, or lobster bruised, a little ketchup, a
small glass of white wine, half a pint of white shrimps, boil all
together, till it is of a proper thickness, squeeze in some lemon, and
scraped horseradish; pour a little sauce over your fish, the rest send
in boats.


STURTIUMS. Gather them young and dry, and put them into a jar of old
vinegar, which has been taken from green pickles and onions. The vinegar
must be boiled afresh, or boil some fresh vinegar with salt and spice,
and when cold, put in the sturtiums.


SUBSTITUTE FOR CREAM. As milk or cream is difficult to procure in some
situations, particularly during a long voyage, a very good substitute
may be found in beating up a fresh egg, and gradually pouring on boiling
water to prevent its curdling. The taste of this composition in tea will
scarcely be distinguished from the richest cream, and eggs may easily be
preserved for a considerable length of time.


SUBSTITUTE FOR GRAVY. Mix a gill of water, a gill of table beer, a
spoonful of ketchup, an onion sliced thin, a clove or two, three or four
peppercorns, and a little salt, all together. Melt a piece of butter,
the size of an egg in a small saucepan, and when hot dredge in some
flour, stirring it till the froth subsides, by which time it will be
browned. Add to it the mixture already prepared, give it a boil, and
flavour it with a very small quantity of the essence of anchovy.


SUCCORY. Wild white succory is only good to eat in salads. The green is
used to put into cooling broths, and to make decoctions in medicine.
Common white succory is eaten in salads, and used for ragouts. First
pick and wash it, then scald it half an hour in water, put it afterwards
into fresh water, in order to press it well with the hands. Stew it with
some broth, a little butter, and some cullis, if any at hand. If not,
brown a little flour to thicken the sauce. When done enough, take off
the fat, season it nicely, and add a little shalot. Serve it under a
shoulder, a leg, or neck of mutton, roasted.


SUCKERS. The season for taking up or transplanting suckers of trees and
shrubs, is almost any time, in open weather, from October till March,
being careful to dig them up from the mother-plant with as much and many
root-fibres as possible, and trimming them ready for planting, by
shortening the long straggling fibres, and cutting off any thick-nobbed
part of the old root that may adhere to the bottom, leaving only the
fibres arising from the young wood; though it is probable some will
appear with hardly any fibres; but as the bottom part, having been under
ground, and contiguous to the root of the main plant, is naturally
disposed to send forth fibres for rooting; preparatory to planting them
out, the stems of the shrub and tree-suckers should likewise be trimmed
occasionally, by cutting off all lower laterals; and any having long,
slender, and weak tops, or such as are intended to assume a more
dwarfish or bushy growth, may be shortened at top in proportion, to form
about half a foot to one or two feet in length, according to their
nature or strength; and others that are more strong, or that are
designed to run up with taller stems, may have their tops left entire,
or shortened but little: when thus taken up and trimmed, they should be
planted out in rows in the nursery; the weak suckers separately in close
rows; and also the shortened and stronger plants, each separately in
wider rows; so that the rows may be from one to two feet asunder, in
proportion to the size and strength of the suckers: and after being thus
planted out, they should have the common nursery-culture of cleaning
from weeds in summer, and digging the ground between the rows in winter,
&c. and in from one to two or three years they will be of a proper size
for planting out where they are to remain: and some kinds of trees,
large shrubs, &c. produce suckers strong enough in one season to be fit
for planting where they are to remain; as well as some sorts of roses,
and numerous other flowering shrubs; also some plants of the strong
shooting gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and others of similar
kinds. It may generally be observed of such trees and shrubs as are
naturally disposed to send up many suckers, that by whatsoever method
they are propagated, whether by seeds, suckers, layers, cuttings, &c.
they commonly still continue their natural tendency in this respect.
When it is, therefore, required to have any sorts to produce as few
suckers as possible, not to over-run the ground, or disfigure the
plants, it is proper, both at the time of separating the suckers, or
planting them off from the main plants, and at the time of their final
removal from the nursery, to observe if at the bottom part they shew any
tendency to emit suckers, by the appearance of prominent buds, which, if
the case, should all be rubbed off as close as possible: as, however,
many sorts of trees and shrubs are liable to throw out considerably more
than may be wanted, they should always be cleared away annually at
least, and in such as are not wanted for increase, it is proper to
eradicate them constantly, as they are produced in the spring and summer
seasons. Also numerous herbaceous and succulent plants are productive of
bottom offset suckers from the roots, by which they may be increased. In
slipping and planting these sorts of offset suckers, the smaller ones
should be planted in nursery beds, pots, &c. according to the nature of
growth and temperature of the different sorts, to have the advantage of
one summer's advanced growth; and the larger ones be set at once, where
they are to remain, in beds, borders, pots, &c. according to the
different sorts or descriptions of them. The suckers of many of the
finer kinds of flower-plants, as in the auricula and others, may be
separated or taken off from the parent plants any time between the month
of February and that of August, as they may become of a proper size, or
be wanted for increase; but if they be not wanted for this use, they
should never be suffered to remain. They can often be slipped off by the
fingers, or a sharp piece of wood, without removing much earth, or the
plants from the pots; but when they are large, and cannot be thus
separated with a sufficient number of fibres to their bottom parts, they
may be taken out of the pots, and be removed by the knife without
danger, which is perhaps the best way, as affording most fibres. The
suckers of such old flower-plants, when they are wanted to blow strong,
should always be taken off without disturbing the plants in the pots,
especially when they are few. The suckers, in all cases of this sort,
should constantly be planted as soon as possible after they are slipped,
in proper small upright pots, giving a slight watering at the time, with
suitable temporary shade. They should be placed in proper situations
out of the droppings of trees. They thus soon become rooted. The suckers
of such flower-plants must, however, never be removed after the latter
of the above periods, as they have then done shooting, and are become
inactive, and as the winter immediately succeeds, seldom do well,
especially without great care and trouble.


SUCKING PIG. When the pig has been killed and well cleaned, cut off the
feet at the first joint, and put them with the heart, liver, and lights,
to boil for gravy. Before the pig is spitted, chop a little sage very
fine, mix it with a handful of bread crumb, a little pepper and salt,
and sow it up in the belly. Lay it down to a brisk fire, rub it with
butter tied up in a piece of thin rag, during the whole time of
roasting. Take off the head while at the fire, take out the brains and
chop them, mix them with the gravy that comes from the pig, and add a
little melted butter. Before the spit is drawn, cut the pig down the
back and belly, and lay it in the dish. Put a little of the sauce over
it, take the bottom jaws and ears to garnish with, and send brown gravy
sauce to table, mixed with the bread and sage that comes out of the pig.
Currant sauce is frequently eaten with it. A moderate sized pig will
require about an hour and a half roasting.


SUET. The proper way of treating suet, is to choose the firmest part as
soon as it comes in, and pick it free from skin and veins. Set it in a
nice saucepan at some distance from the fire, that it may melt without
frying, or it will taste. When melted, pour it into a pan of cold water.
When it comes to a hard cake, wipe it very dry, fold it in fine paper,
and then in a linen bag. Keep it in a dry cool place. Suet prepared in
this way, will keep a twelvemonth. When used, scrape it fine, and it
will make a good crust, either with or without butter.


SUET DUMPLINS. Take a pound of suet, or the outward fat of loins or
necks of mutton, and shred it very fine. Mix it well with a pound and a
quarter of flour, two eggs, a sufficient quantity of milk to make it,
and a little salt. Drop the batter into boiling water, or boil the
dumplins in a cloth.


SUET DUMPLINS WITH CURRANTS. Take a pint of milk, four eggs, a pound of
suet shred fine, and a pound of currants well cleaned, two tea-spoonfuls
of salt, and three of beaten ginger; first take half the milk and mix it
like a thick batter, then put in the eggs, the salt, and ginger, then
the rest of the milk by degrees, with the suet and currants, and flour
enough to make it like a light paste. Make them up about the bigness of
a large turkey's egg, flat them a little, and put them into boiling
water; move them softly that they do not stick together, keep the water
boiling, and a little more than half an hour will do them.


SUET DUMPLINS WITH EGGS. Mix up a pint of milk, two eggs, three quarters
of a pound of beef suet chopped fine, a tea-spoonful of grated ginger,
and flour enough to make it into a moderately stiff paste. Make the
paste into dumplins, roll them in a little flour, and put them into
boiling water. Move them gently for a little while to prevent their
sticking together. If the dumplins are small, three quarters of an hour
will boil them; if large, the time must be proportioned to their size.
They will boil equally well in cloths, which is often preferred for
keeping the outside drier.


SUET PUDDING. Shred a pound of suet; mix with it a pound and a quarter
of flour, two eggs beaten separately, some salt, and as little milk as
will make it. Boil the pudding four hours. It eats well the next day,
cut in slices and broiled. The outward fat of a loin or neck of mutton
finely shred, makes a more delicate pudding than suet.


SUET PUDDING WITH EGGS. To a pound of beef suet chopped very fine, add
six large spoonfuls of flour, a tea-spoonful of grated ginger, and a
tea-spoonful of salt. Gradually mix with these ingredients a quart of
milk, and four eggs well beaten. Boil it three hours in a buttered
basin, or two hours and a half in a cloth well floured.


SUFFOCATION. Immediately on discovering a person in this unfortunate
situation, whatever be the cause, the windows and doors ought to be
opened; the body undressed, covered with blankets, removed to the open
air, and supported in a leaning posture on a chair. The patient's face
should be sprinkled with vinegar, the pit of the stomach with water, and
the legs plunged into a cold bath; at the same time rubbing the skin
with flannel, or a soft brush. Clysters of vinegar and water will also
be useful, and an attempt should be made to promote sickness, by
tickling the throat with a feather dipped in oil. When the patient is
able to swallow, the most proper drink is vinegar and water, or
infusions of mint and balm.


SUFFOLK CHEESE. The curd is broken up in the whey, which is poured off
as soon as the former has subsided. The remainder, with the curd, is put
into a coarse strainer, left to cool, and is then pressed as tightly as
possible. After this it is put into the vat, and set in a press to
discharge the remaining whey. The curd is then taken out, broken again
as finely as possible, salted, and returned to the press.


SUFFOLK DUMPLINS. Make a very light dough with yeast, as for bread; add
a little salt, and use milk instead of water. Let it rise an hour
before the fire. Round the dough into balls, the size of a middling
apple; throw them into boiling water, and let them boil twenty minutes.
To ascertain when they are done enough, stick a clean fork into one; and
if it come out clear, they are ready to take up. Do not cut, but tear
them apart on the top with two forks, for they become heavy by their own
steam. They should be eaten immediately, with gravy or cold butter, or
with meat.


SUGARS. These being an article of considerable expense in all families,
the purchase demands particular attention. The cheapest does not go so
far as the more refined, and there is a difference even in the degree of
sweetness. Of white sugar that should be preferred which is close,
heavy, and shining. The best sort of brown sugar has a bright gravelly
appearance, and it is often to be bought pure as imported. East India
sugars are finer for the price, but not so strong, consequently unfit
for wines and sweetmeats, but do well for common purposes, if good of
their kind. To prepare white sugar pounded, rolling it with a bottle and
sifting it, wastes less than pounding it in a mortar.


SUGAR CAKES. Make into a paste a pound of flour, twelve ounces of fine
sugar sifted, the yolks of two eggs, a little nutmeg, and orange-flower
water. Roll it out thin, cut out the cakes with a tin or glass, sift
sugar over them, and bake them in a quick oven.


SUGAR PASTE. To a pound of flour put two ounces of loaf sugar rolled and
sifted, and rub in half a pound of butter. Mix it up with one egg well
beaten, and cold water sufficient to make it into a paste. Mould it with
the hand till it is quite smooth, and roll it out for use.

SUGAR VINEGAR. To every gallon of water, add two pounds of the coarsest
sugar; then boil and skim it thoroughly, and add one quart of cold water
for every gallon of hot. When cool, put in a toast spread with yeast.
Stir it nine days, then barrel it off, and set it in the sun, with a
piece of slate on the bung hole. Make the vinegar in March, and it will
be ready in six months. When sufficiently sour it may be bottled, or may
be used from the cask with a wooden spigot and faucet.


SUN FLOWER. The valuable properties of the sun flower are too much
neglected, and might be rendered of general advantage. The leaves
furnish abundance of agreeable fodder for cattle, the flower is enriched
with honey for the bees, the dry stalks burn well, affording a
considerable quantity of alkali from the ashes, and the seed is highly
valuable in feeding pigs and poultry. The cultivation of this plant
cannot be too much recommended, and requires but little management.


SUPPER DISH. To make a pretty supper dish, wash a tea-cupful of rice in
milk, and boil it tender. Strain off the milk, lay the rice in small
heaps on a dish, strew over them some finely-powdered sugar and
cinnamon, and put warm wine and a little butter into the dish.


SUPPERS. Hot suppers are not much in use where people dine late, nor
indeed in ordinary cases. When required, the top and bottom of the table
may be furnished with game, fowls, rabbit; boiled fish, such as soles,
mackarel, oysters, stewed or scalloped; French beans, cauliflower, or
Jerusalem artichokes, in white sauce; brocoli with eggs, stewed spinach
with eggs, sweetbreads, small birds, mushrooms, scalloped potatoes;
cutlets, roast onions, salmagundi, buttered eggs on toast, cold neat's
tongue, ham, collared things, sliced hunter's beef, buttered rusks with
anchovies, grated hung beef with butter, with or without rusks; grated
cheese round, and butter dressed in the middle of a plate; radishes the
same, custards in glasses with sippets, oysters cold or pickled; potted
meats, fish, birds, cheese; good plain cake sliced, pies of birds or
fruit; lobsters, prawns, cray fish, any sweet things, and fruits. A
sandwich set with any of the above articles, placed on the table at a
little distance from each other, will look well. The lighter the things,
the better they appear, and glass intermixed has the best effect.
Jellies, different coloured things, and flowers, add to the beauty of
the table. An elegant supper may be served at a small expense, by those
who know how to make trifles that are in the house form the greatest
part of the entertainment.


SUSAN PUDDING. Boil some Windsor beans, just as they begin to be
black-eyed, till they are quite tender. Then peel them, and beat up half
a pound of them very smooth in a marble mortar. Add four spoonfuls of
thick cream, sugar to taste, half a pound of clarified butter, and eight
eggs, leaving out half the whites. Beat up the eggs well with a little
salt, and white wine sufficient to give it an agreeable flavour. Line a
dish with puff paste, add a pretty good layer of candied citron cut in
long pieces, pour in the other ingredients, and bake it in a moderate
oven three quarters of an hour.


SWEEPING OF CHIMNIES. The common practice of employing poor children to
sweep narrow chimnies, is most inhuman and unwise: many lives are lost
by this means, and much injury is done to the building. The children
being obliged to work themselves up by pressing with their feet and
knees on one side, and their back on the other, often force out the
bricks which divide the chimnies, and thereby encrease the danger, in
case a foul chimney should take fire, as the flames frequently
communicate by those apertures to other apartments, which were not
suspected to be in any danger. To avoid these consequences, a rope twice
the length of the chimney should be provided, to the middle of which a
bunch of furze or broom is to be tied, sufficient to fill the cavity of
the chimney. Put one end of the rope down the chimney, with a stone
fastened to it, and draw the brush after it, which will clear the sides
of the chimney, and bring down the soot. If necessary, a person at top
may draw the brush up again to the top of the chimney, keeping hold of
the rope, and thus clean the chimney thoroughly without difficulty or
danger.


SWEET HERBS. It is of some importance to know when the various seasons
commence for procuring sweet and savoury herbs, fit for culinary
purposes. All vegetables are in the highest state of perfection, and
fullest of juice and flavour, just before they begin to flower. The
first and last crop have neither the fine flavour nor the perfume of
those which are gathered in the height of the season; that is, when the
greater part of the crop of each species is ripe. Let them be gathered
on a dry day, and they will have a better colour after being preserved.
Cleanse them well from dust and dirt, cut off the roots, separate the
bunches into smaller ones, and dry them by the heat of a stove, or in a
Dutch oven before the fire. Take them in small quantities, that the
process may be speedily finished, and thus their flavour will be
preserved. Drying them in the sun exhausts some of their best qualities.
In the application of artificial heat, the only caution requisite is to
avoid burning; and of this, a sufficient test is afforded by the
preservation of the colour. The common custom is, when they are
perfectly dried, to put them in bags, and lay them in a dry place. But
the best way to preserve the flavour of aromatic plants, is to pick off
the leaves as soon as they are dried; then to pound and pass them
through a hair sieve, and keep them in well-stopped bottles.--Basil is
in the best state for drying, from the middle of August, and three weeks
afterwards. Knotted marjoram, from the beginning of July to the end of
the month. Winter savoury, the latter end of July, and throughout
August. Thyme, lemon thyme, and orange thyme, during June and July.
Mint, the latter end of June, and throughout July. Sage, August and
September. Tarragon, June, July, and August. Chervil, May, June, and
July. Burnet, June, July, and August. Parsley, May, June, and July.
Fennel, the same. Elder flowers, and orange flowers, May, June, and
July. Herbs carefully dried, are a very agreeable substitute; but when
fresh ones can be had, their flavour and fragrance are much finer, and
therefore to be preferred.


SWEET LAMB PIE. Make a good puff paste; then cut a loin of lamb into
chops, and season with salt and nutmeg; lay a paste over the bottom of
your dish; put in your chops, with a handful of currants washed and
picked very clean; lay on your lid, and bake it. When it comes from the
oven, take off the lid nicely, and pour over a caudle made of white
wine, the yolks of eggs, a little nutmeg, and sugar pounded: lay the lid
on again, and send it to table as hot as you can.


SWEET MACARONI. To make a very nice dish of macaroni, boil two ounces of
it in a pint of milk, with a bit of cinnamon and lemon peel, till the
pipes are swelled to their utmost size without breaking. Lay them on a
custard dish, pour a custard over them, and serve them up cold.


SWEET PATTIES. Chop the meat of a boiled calf's foot, the liquor of
which is intended for jelly; two apples, one ounce of orange and lemon
peel candied, and some fresh peel and juice. Mix with them half a nutmeg
grated, the yolk of an egg, a spoonful of brandy, and four ounces of
currants washed and dried. Fill some small pattipans lined with paste,
and bake them.--To make patties resembling mince pies, chop the kidney
and fat of cold veal, apple, orange and lemon peel candied; adding some
fresh currants, a little wine, two or three cloves, a little brandy and
sugar.


SWEET POT. Take three handfuls of orange flowers, three of clove
gilliflowers, three of damask roses, one of knotted marjoram, one of
lemon thyme, six bay leaves, a handful of rosemary, one of myrtle, one
of lavender, half one of mint, the rind of a lemon, and a quarter of an
ounce of cloves. Chop all together, and put them in layers, with pounded
bay-salt between, up to the top of the jar. If all the ingredients
cannot be got at once, put them in when obtained, always throwing in
salt with every fresh article. This will be found a quick and easy way
of making a sweet-scented pot.


SWEET SAUCE. Put some currant jelly into a stewpan, and when melted,
pour it into a sauce boat. This is a more salubrious relish for venison
or hare, than either spice or salt, and is an agreeable accompaniment to
roast or hashed meats.


SWEETBREADS FRICASSEE. Cut the sweetbreads in pretty thick slices, boil
them till about half done, with a little more water than just to cover
them. Add a little salt, white pepper, and mace. Then some butter, the
yolks of four eggs beaten with a little white wine, and some verjuice.
Keep this over the fire, shaking it well, till the sauce is properly
thickened. Serve it up with the juice of a Seville orange squeezed over
it. If it is to be a brown fricassee, fry the sweetbreads first in
butter till the outside is browned. Then pour away the butter, put water
to the sweetbreads, and boil and finish them as before. An onion or a
clove of garlic may be added to the water; or if broth be used instead
of water, it will make the fricassee more savoury.


SWEETBREADS FRIED. Cut them into long slices, rub them over with egg,
season with pepper, salt, and grated bread, and fry them in butter.
Serve them up with melted butter and ketchup, garnished with crisped
parsley, and thin slices of toasted bacon.


SWEETBREADS RAGOUT. Cut them about the size of a walnut, wash and dry
them, then fry them of a fine brown. Pour on them a good gravy, seasoned
with salt, pepper, allspice, and either mushrooms or mushroom ketchup,
adding truffles and morels, if approved. Strain, and thicken with butter
and a little flour.


SWEETBREADS ROASTED. Parboil two large ones; when cold, lard them with
bacon, and roast them in a Dutch oven. For sauce, plain butter and
mushroom ketchup.


SWEETMEATS. Preserves or sweetmeats should be carefully kept from the
air, and set in a very dry place. If they have only a small proportion
of sugar, a warm situation would not injure them; but if they have not
been sufficiently boiled, the heat will make them ferment, and the damp
will cause them to grow mouldy. They should be inspected two or three
times in the first two months that they may be gently boiled again, if
not likely to keep. It is necessary to observe, that the boiling of
sugar more or less, constitutes the chief art of the confectioner; and
those who are not practically acquainted with the subject, and only
preserve fruit in a plain way for family use, are not aware that in two
or three minutes, a syrup over the fire will pass from one gradation to
another, called by the confectioners, degrees of boiling, of which there
are six, and those sub-divided. Without entering, however, into the
minutiæ of the business, it is only necessary to make the observation in
order to guard against under boiling, which prevents sweetmeats from
keeping; and quick and long boiling, which reduces them to candy.
Attention, without much practice, will enable a person to do any of the
following sorts of sweetmeats and preserves, which are quite sufficient
for a private family. The higher articles of preserved fruits may be
bought at less expense than made. Jellies of fruit are made with an
equal quantity of sugar, that is, a pound to a pint, and require no very
long boiling. A pan should be kept for the purpose of preserving, of
double block tin, with a bow handle for safety, opposite the straight
one: and if when done with, it be carefully cleaned and set by in a dry
place, it will last for several years. Pans of copper or brass are
extremely improper, as the tinning wears out by the scraping of the
ladle. Sieves and spoons should likewise be kept on purpose for
sweetmeats. Sweetmeats keep best in drawers that are not connected with
a wall. If there be the least damp, cover them only with paper dipped in
brandy, and laid on quite close; and to prevent the mouldiness
occasioned by insects, cover them with fresh paper in the spring. When
any sweetmeats are to be dried in the sun, or in a stove, it will be
best in private families, where there is not a regular stove for the
purpose, to place them in the sun on flag stones, which reflect the
heat, and to cover them with a garden glass to keep off the insects. If
put into an oven, take care that it be not too warm, and watch to see
them done properly and slowly. When green fruits are to be preserved,
take pippins, apricots, pears, plums, or peaches, and put them into a
block tin preserving pan, with vine leaves under and over them, and
cover them with spring water. Put on the tin cover to exclude the air,
and set the pan on the side of the fire. When the fruit begins to
simmer, remove the pan from the fire, pour off the water, and if not
green, put fresh leaves when cold, and repeat the same. Take them out
carefully with a slice, peel and do them as directed for the different
kinds of preserves. When fruit is plentiful, and sweetmeats are wanted
for tarts, divide two pounds of apricots just ripe, and take out and
break the stones. Put the kernels without their skins to the fruit; add
three pounds of greengages, and two pounds and a half of lump sugar. The
sugar should be broken in large pieces, and just dipped in water, and
added to the fruit over a slow fire. Simmer it till reduced to a clear
jam, but observe that it does not boil, and skim it well. If the sugar
be clarified, it will make the jam the better. Put it into small pots,
which art the best for preserving sweetmeats.


SWEETMEAT PIES. Sweetmeats made with syrups are made into pies the same
as raw fruit, and the same crusts may be used for them. Tarts made of
any kind of jam are commonly made with a crust round the bottom of the
dish, the sweetmeat then put in, and only little ornaments of crust cut
with a jagging iron, and laid over the top. Sugar paste may be used if
preferred. Little tartlets are made in the same way, only baked in tins
and turned out.


SWOONS. In a swooning fit, the patient should immediately be exposed to
the open air, and the face and neck sprinkled with cold water. Pungent
odours, or volatile spirits, should be held to the nostrils, and the
feet rubbed with hot flannels, or put into warm water.


SYLLABUB. Put a pint of cider and a bottle of strong beer into a large
punch bowl, grate in a nutmeg, and sweeten it. Put in as much new milk
from the cow as will make a strong froth, and let it stand an hour.
Clean and wash some currants, and make them plump before the fire: then
strew them over the syllabub, and it will be fit for use. A good
imitation of this may be made by those who do not keep cows, by pouring
new milk out of a tea-pot into the cider and beer, or wine.--A fine
syllabub from the cow. Make your syllabub either of wine or cyder, (if
cyder, put a spoonful of brandy in) sweeten it, and grate in some
nutmeg; then milk into the liquor till you have a fine light curd; pour
over it half a pint, or a pint of good cream, according to the quantity
of syllabub you make: you may send it in the basin it was made in, or
put it into custard-cups, and tea-spoons with it on a salver.--To make
very fine syllabubs. Take a quart and half a pint of cream, a pint of
Rhenish, and half a pint of sack; grate the rind of three lemons into
the cream; with near a pound of double-refined sugar; squeeze the juice
of three lemons into the wine, and put it to the cream; then beat all
together with a whisk half an hour, take it up together with a spoon,
and fill the glasses. It is best at three or four days old, and will
keep good nine or ten days. These are called the everlasting syllabubs.


SYMPATHETIC INK. Write on paper with a solution of nitrate of bismuth,
and smear the writing over with a feather, moistened with an infusion of
galls. The letters which were before invisible, will now appear of a
brown colour. Or write with a solution of muriate of antimony, and
smear the writing over with a feather dipped in a solution of galls. The
writing before invisible, will now turn yellow. Or write with a
transparent infusion of gall nuts, and smear it over with a solution of
metallic salt; and on a slight exposure to the air, the writing will
turn quite black. If written with a solution of sulphate of iron, and
rubbed over with a solution of prussiate of potass, it will appear of a
beautiful blue colour.


SYRUP OF CREAM. Scald a pint of perfectly fresh cream, add to it a pound
and a quarter of powdered lump sugar. Keep it in a cool place for two or
three hours, then put it into small phials, holding one or two ounces
each, and cork it close. It will keep good thus for several weeks, and
will be found very useful in voyages.


SYRUP OF DIACODIUM. Steep two pounds and a quarter of poppy heads in a
gallon of water, and let it infuse twenty-four hours. Boil the infusion
till reduced to three pints, and add to it a pound and a half of sugar.


SYRUP OF MULBERRIES. Put the mulberries into a jar, and the jar into a
kettle of water over the fire, till the juice runs from them. Then
squeeze the fruit, and add to the juice twice its weight in sugar. Set
it over a slow fire, skim it clean, and keep it simmering till the sugar
is all dissolved.




T.


TABLE BEER. If the quantity to be brewed is taken as a barrel, or six
and thirty gallons, two bushels and a half of malt will be sufficient.
The dimensions of the vessels may be supposed to correspond with those
used in a moderate family, and the copper holding about thirty gallons.
A quantity of boiling water being poured into the mash tub, is suffered
to remain there till the steam is nearly all evaporated. The malt
previously ground, is then thrown into the water, and thoroughly stirred
and mixed with it. This agitation of the malt and water, commonly called
mashing, is kept up for a quarter of an hour, by which the malt is more
effectually brought into contact with the water, and a greater
proportion of its soluble matter extracted. After this the mash tub is
covered over in order to retain as much heat as possible, and the whole
is suffered to remain undisturbed for an hour and a half or two hours.
At the end of that time, the water thus impregnated with the malt, in
which state it is commonly called sweet wort, is slowly drawn off into
another vessel. The quantity of water used in the first mashing is about
twenty-five gallons; of which, not above fifteen are afterwards
obtained, the rest being absorbed by the malt, with the exception of a
small quantity carried off by evaporation. This first wort being drawn
off from the malt, a fresh portion of hot water is thrown into the mash
tub, and the process of mashing is repeated for ten minutes. The tub
being again covered, the whole is suffered to remain for about an hour,
when a second wort is drawn off. The quantity of water used in this
second mashing is about fifteen gallons; and the malt having already
retained as much water as is sufficient to saturate it, the whole
amount of the fifteen gallons is afterwards recovered from the mash tub.
About twelve gallons of hot water is now added to the malt, and the
mixture being mashed for a few minutes, is suffered to remain another
hour, in order to form a third wort. In the meantime a part of the two
first worts is poured into the copper, with a pound and a half or two
pounds of hops, and boiled for an hour, or an hour and a half; after
which it is strained through a sieve into another vessel. The third wort
is now drawn off from the mash tub, and being mixed with the remaining
part of the first and second wort, it is boiled for an hour or more,
with the hops used in the former instance. The three worts are then
distributed into shallow vessels or coolers, and suffered to remain
there till the liquor is reduced to a lukewarm state. It is then
collected into the tun tub, and fermented with about a quart of yeast,
which converts it into beer. But as table beer is sometimes brewed in
considerable quantities for the use of large families, and in a still
more economical manner, an estimate will be given, in order to show the
saving that is made in private brewing. The following is a preparation
for ten barrels.

                                           £ _s._ _d._
          Malt, one quarter                2  10   0
          Hops, eight pounds               0  10   0
          Colouring, ditto                 0   4   0
          Spanish liquorice, 8oz.          0   0   8
          Treacle, ten pounds              0   3   4
                                           ---------
                                           3   8   0
                                           ---------
          Ten barrels bought at
            the brewery at 16_s._          8   0   0
          Ten barrels brewed at home       3   8   0
                                           ---------
          Clear gain                       4  12   0
                                           ---------

Liquorice root and other flavouring substances may be added: what are
here inserted are only the general requisites.--Another way of making a
cheap and wholesome table beer, is to dissolve four pounds of coarse
sugar in ten gallons of water. Then put in three ounces of hops, boil
the whole for three quarters of an hour, and let it work as usual. It
should be kept a week or ten days before it is tapped, and it will
improve daily afterwards, if not kept too long. Or for a still smaller
quantity, put a pound of treacle to eight quarts of boiling water: add
two bay leaves, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered ginger. Boil the
whole for fifteen minutes, then let it cool, and work it with yeast.


TAINTED MEAT. When the weather is so hot that meat will scarcely keep
from day to day, wrapping it in a thin cloth dipped in vinegar, and not
wrung very dry, will help to keep it from being tainted. Or rubbing the
meat with black pepper will preserve it, and let it be hung up as usual.
It is much better however, that meat should not be kept so long as to
risk its being tainted.


TAN GLOVES. To dye gloves to look like York tan or Limerick, put some
saffron into a pint of water boiling hot, and let it infuse all night.
Next morning wet the leather over with a brush, but take care that the
tops of the gloves be sewn close, to prevent the colour from getting in.


TANSEY. To make a tansey, beat up seven eggs, yolks and whites
separately. Add a pint of cream, nearly the same of spinach juice, and a
little tansey juice, gained by pounding it in a stone mortar; a quarter
of a pound of Naples biscuit, a glass of white wine, and a little sugar
and nutmeg. Set all in a saucepan, just to thicken, over the fire; then
put it into a dish, lined with paste to turn out, and bake
it.--Another. Beat ten eggs very well with a little salt, half a pound
of loaf sugar pounded, half a pint of spinach juice, and a spoonful of
the juice of tansey; mix them well together, and strain it to a quart of
cream; grate in half a pound of Naples biscuits, and a nutmeg; add a
quarter of a pound of Jordan almonds blanched and beat fine, with a
little rose water, and mix all well together; put it into a stewpan,
with a piece of butter the bigness of a golden pippin. Set it over a
slow charcoal fire; keep it stirring till it is hardened; then butter a
dish very well, that will just hold it: put in the tansey, bake it in a
moderate oven, taking care that it is not scorched. When it comes home,
turn it upon a pie plate, cut Seville oranges in small quarters, and lay
round it, and on the tansey, citron, and orange peel cut thin, with
double refined sugar laid in little heaps between. If you have not
Naples biscuits, grate seven ounces of the finest stale bread you
have.--_A boiled tansey._ Cut the crumb of a stale penny loaf thin, pour
over as much hot cream as will wet it, and cover it over till cold; then
beat and strain six eggs to it, a little lemon peel shred fine, a little
grated nutmeg, and salt; green it as you did the baked tansey, and
sweeten it to your taste; stir all very well together, butter a bason,
that will hold it, butter also a cloth to lay over the top, tie it
tight, and boil it an hour and quarter; turn it into a dish, and garnish
with Seville orange; stick candied orange cut thin on the top.


TANSEY PUDDING. Grate four ounces of bread, blanch two ounces of sweet
almonds, and beat them fine in a marble mortar, with orange-flower
water. Mix these, and four ounces of fine powdered sugar with the bread.
Add five eggs, a little salt, a pint of cream, a grated nutmeg, half a
pint of spinach juice expressed from the leaves, beaten in a marble
mortar, and strained through a cloth, and two or three spoonfuls of
tansey juice beaten out and strained in the same manner. Stir the whole
together, and put it into a saucepan with a small piece of butter. Set
it over the fire till it thickens, stirring it all the time, but do not
let it boil. When done, cool it in a basin, then pour it into a dish
well buttered, and bake it half an hour. Turn it out of the dish before
it is sent to table, sift some fine sugar over it, and lay a Seville
orange round it cut in pieces, and squeeze the juice upon it.


TAPIOCA JELLY. Choose the largest sort, pour on cold water to wash in
two or three times, and then soak it in fresh water five or six times.
Simmer it in the same until it become quite clear, with a bit of lemon
peel. Then add lemon juice, wine, and sugar.


TAPIOCA PUDDING. Wash six spoonfuls of the large kind of tapioca, and
stew it gently in a quart of milk till it is pretty thick. Let it stand
uncovered to cool. Add two eggs well beaten with some salt, and sugar to
the taste. Bake it with a crust round the edge of a dish, in a moderate
oven, for an hour.


TAR WATER. Pour a gallon of cold water on a quart of tar, and stir and
mix them thoroughly with a ladle or flat stick, for the space of three
or four minutes; after which the vessel must stand forty-eight hours,
that the tar may have time to subside; when the clear water is to be
poured off, and kept for use, no more being made from the same tar,
which may still serve for common purposes. The general rule for taking
it is, about half a pint night and morning, on an empty stomach, which
quantity may be varied according to the case and age of the patient;
provided it be always taken on an empty stomach, and about two hours
before or after a meal. Tar water cures indigestion, and gives a good
appetite. It is an excellent medicine in an asthma; it imparts a kindly
warmth, and quick circulation to the juices, without heating, and is
therefore useful, not only as a pectoral and balsamic, but also as a
powerful and a safe deobstruent in cachectic and hysteric cases. As it
is both healing and diuretic, it is very good for the gravel. It is
believed to be of great use in a dropsy, having been known to cure a
very bad anasarca in a person whose thirst, though very extraordinary,
was in a short time removed by the drinking of tar water. It is also
believed to be the best and safest medicine, either for preventing the
gout, or for so strengthening nature against the fit, as to drive it
from the vitals. It may likewise be safely used in inflammatory cases;
and, in fact, hath been found an admirable febrifuge, at once the safest
cooler and cordial. The salts and more active spirits of tar are got by
infusion in cold water; but the resinous part is not to be dissolved
thereby. Hence the prejudice which some, perhaps, may entertain against
tar water, the use of which might inflame the blood by its sulphur and
resin, as a medicine, appears not to be well grounded. It is observed by
chemists, that all sorts of balsamic wood afford an acid spirit, which
is the volatile oily salt of the vegetable. Herein is chiefly contained
their medicinal virtues; and it appears that the acid spirit in tar
water possesses the virtues, in an eminent degree, of that of guaiacum,
and other medicinal woods. It is certain tar water warms, and therefore
some may perhaps still think it cannot cool. The more effectually to
remove this prejudice, let it be farther considered, that, as on one
hand, opposite causes do sometimes produce the same effect; for
instance, heat by rarefaction, and cold by condensation, do both
increase the air's elasticity; so, on the other hand, the same cause
shall sometimes produce opposite effects. Heat, for instance, in one
degree thins, in another coagulates, the blood. It is not therefore
strange, that tar water should warm one habit and cool another; have one
good effect on a cold constitution, and another good effect on an
inflamed one; nor, if this be so, that it should cure opposite
disorders. A medicine of so great virtue in so many different disorders,
and especially in that grand enemy the fever, must needs be a benefit to
mankind in general. There are nevertheless three sorts of people to whom
it may be peculiarly recommended; seafaring persons, ladies, and men of
studious and sedentary lives. If it be asked, what precise quantity, or
degree of strength is required in tar water? It is answered, that the
palate, the stomach, the particular case and constitution of the
patient, the very season of the year, will dispose and require him to
drink more or less in quantity, stronger or weaker in degree. Precisely
to measure its strength by a scrupulous exactness, is by no means
necessary. It is to be observed, that tar water should not be made in
unglazed earthen vessels, these being apt to communicate a nauseous
sweetness to the water. Tar water is also recommended in the plague, and
for the distemper among horned cattle; with what success must be left to
experience.


TARRAGON VINEGAR. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with tarragon leaves,
gathered on a dry day, just before the plant begins to flower. Dry the
leaves a little before the fire, steep them a fortnight in the best
vinegar, and strain it fine through a flannel jelly bag. Pour it into
half-pint bottles, cork them up carefully, and keep them in a dry place.
This forms an agreeable addition to soups and salad sauce, and to mix
with mustard.


TARTAR WINE. Add to a quantity of mare's milk a sixth part of water,
and pour the mixture into a wooden vessel. Use as a ferment an eighth
part of sour cow's milk; but at any future preparation, a small portion
of old koumiss will answer better. Cover the vessel with a thick cloth,
and set it in a place of moderate warmth, leaving it at rest for twenty
four hours. At the end of this time the milk will become sour, and a
thick substance will be gathered on its surface. Now with a churn-staff,
beat it till the thick substance just mentioned, be intimately blended
with the subjacent fluid. In this situation leave it at rest for twenty
four hours more. Afterwards pour it into a higher and narrower vessel,
resembling a churn, where the agitation must be repeated as before, till
the liquor appear to be perfectly combined. In this state it is called
koumiss, the taste of which ought to be a pleasant mixture of sweet and
sour. Agitation must be employed every time before it is used. This
wine, prepared by the Tartars, is cooling and antiseptic. Sometimes
aromatic herbs, as angelica, are infused in the liquor during
fermentation.


TARTS. Sweetmeats made with syrups are formed into pies and tarts the
same as raw fruits, and the same crusts may be used for them. Tarts made
of any kind of jam are usually formed with a crust round the bottom of
the dish, the sweetmeat is then put in, and little ornaments of crust
placed over the top, made with a jagging iron. Sugar paste is suitable
for these. Little tartlets are made in the same way, only baked in tins
and turned out.----Take apples, or pears, cut them in small quarters,
and set them over the fire, with a piece of lemon peel, and some
cinnamon; let them simmer in as much water as will cover them, till
tender; and if you bake them in tin pattipans, butter them first, and
lay over a thin paste; lay in some sugar, then the fruit, with three or
four tea-spoonfuls of the liquor they were simmered in; put in a little
more sugar, and lid them over. If your tarts are made of apricots, green
almonds, nectarines, or green plums, they must be scalded before you use
them, and observe to put nothing to them but sugar, and as little water
as possible; make use of the syrup they were scalded in, as you did for
your apples, &c. Cherries, currants, raspberries, and all ripe fruits
need not be scalded; and if you make your tarts in china, or glass
patties, lay the sugar at bottom, then the fruit, with a little more
sugar on the top; put no paste at the bottom, only lid them over, and
bake them in a slack oven. You have receipts how to make crust for
tarts; mince pies must be baked in tin patties, that you may slip them
out into a dish, and a puff paste is the best for them. When you make
sweetmeat tarts, or a crocant tart, lay in the sweetmeats, or preserved
fruit either in glass or china patties that are small, for that purpose;
lay a very thin crust on the top, and let them be baked no more than
till your crust is nicely coloured, and that in a slow oven. If you
would have a crocant tart for the middle of the table, or a side-dish,
have a glass, or china dish, of what size you please, and lay in the
preserved fruit of different sorts, (you must have a round cover just
the size of the inside of your dish) roll out a sugar crust, the
thickness of an half crown, and lay over the cover; mark it with marking
irons made on purpose for that use, of what shapes you please; then put
the crust, with the cover, into a very slack oven, not to discolour it,
only to have it crisp. When you take it out of the oven, loosen it from
the cover very gently, and when quite cold, take it carefully off, and
lay over your sweetmeats, and it being hollow, you will see the fruit
through it. If the tart is not eaten, only take off the lid, and your
sweetmeats may be put into the pots again.


TEA. The habit of drinking tea frequently, and in large quantities,
cannot fail to be injurious, as it greatly weakens and relaxes the tone
of the stomach. This produces indigestion, nervous trembling and
weakness, attended with a pale, wan complexion. When tea is taken only
at intervals, and after solid food, it is salutary and refreshing; but
when used as a substitute for plain nourishing diet, as is too commonly
the case amongst the lower classes, it is highly pernicious, especially
as large quantities of a spurious description are too frequently imposed
upon the public. The policy which compels a very numerous class to
purchase this foreign article, for procuring which immense sums are sent
out of the country, while the produce of our own soil is comparatively
withheld by an exorbitant system of taxation, cannot be too severely
condemned, as alike injurious to health, to the interests of
agriculture, and to the comfort and industry of the people. The duty on
foreign tea has indeed been greatly encreased, but at the same time, so
has the duty on malt and beer; no encouragement therefore is given to
the home consumption, but the money which ought to be paid for the
production of barley and malt is given to the foreigner, while by the
enormous price of the article, a powerful stimulus is furnished for
attempting an illicit importation, and for the pernicious adulteration
of what is now esteemed almost a common necessary of life. It is
desirable to lessen the injurious effects of tea as much as possible by
mixing it with milk, which will render it softer and more nutritious.
With the addition of sugar it may be made to form a wholesome breakfast
for those who are strong and live freely, operating as a diluent for
cleansing the bladder and kidnies, and the alimentary passages. Persons
of weak nerves ought however to abstain from tea, as they would from
drains and cordials, as it causes the same kind of irritation on the
delicate fibres of the stomach, which ends in lowness, trembling, and
vapours. Tea should never be drunk hot at any time, as it tends still
more to produce that relaxation which ought to be carefully avoided.
Green tea is less wholesome than black or bohea.


TEA CAKES. Rub four ounces of butter into eight ounces of flour, mix
with it eight ounces of currants, and six of fine Lisbon sugar. Add two
yolks and one white of eggs, and a spoonful of brandy. Roll the paste
about the thickness of a biscuit, and cut it out with a wine glass into
little cakes. The white of the other egg beaten up, may be washed over
them, and then they may be dusted with fine sugar.


TEA-KETTLES. Hard water used for tea is apt to form an offensive crust
inside the tea-kettle, which may be prevented by frequent cleaning, or
putting a flat oyster shell at the bottom. This will attract the stony
particles that are in the water, and the concretion will be formed upon
it.


TEA-POTS. An infusion of tea is always more perfect in a metal tea-pot,
than in one of stone or earthenware. If boiling water be poured into two
tea-pots, one of bright silver or polished tin, and the other of black
stoneware, and they be left in a room of moderate temperature, it will
be found that the former will retain its heat nearly twice as long as
the other. Tea-pots of polished metal are therefore to be preferred.


TEATS. Sore teats, in Neat Cattle, is an affection in those of the cow
kind, to which some are much more subject than others; especially such
as have newly or lately calved. When the teats of these animals are
affected during the summer months, they often become ulcerated, and by
the teazing of the flies, the cattle are rendered difficult to be
milked; they also become a very great nuisance at the periods of
milking, as the discharges from them are apt, without much attention, to
pass between the fingers of the operator into the milk-pail, and spoil
the milk. The affection is caused by inflammation, irritation, and too
much distention of the parts by the milk. In order to the removal of it,
the milk should be first frequently drawn, and the parts well washed
with soft soap and warm water; after which, a substance composed of
elder ointment and wax melted together, to which is then added a little
alum and sugar of lead, in fine powder, may be used to the parts after
milking at night and in the morning; or a weak solution of white vitriol
and a little sugar of lead, in soft water may be made use of in the same
way, in some cases, with more advantage. The addition of a little
assafoetida, and such like substances, in powder, is, it is said,
beneficial in the summer season in driving away the flies. Great care is
to be taken to keep the teats as clean as possible during the time of
cure.


TEETH AND GUMS. In order to preserve the teeth and gums, they require to
be cleaned very carefully; for if the enamel of the teeth be worn off by
an improper mode of cleaning, they will suffer more injury than by a
total neglect. A common skewer of soft wood, bruised and bitten at the
end, will make the best brush for this purpose. Once a week dip the
skewer brush into a few grains of gunpowder, after they have been
bruised, and it will remove every spot and blemish till the teeth appear
beautifully white. The mouth should be well washed after the operation,
to prevent any ill effects of the gunpowder. Teeth, if not regularly
cleaned, are apt to contract a false kind of enamel which is injurious
to the gums, leaving the fangs of the teeth bare, so that they are soon
destroyed, by being exposed to the air, and for want of being protected
by the gums. This tartarous enamel must therefore be scaled off, that
the gums may grow up to their proper place. Raspberries or strawberries
eaten plentifully have been found to dissolve these concretions, and
contribute to the preservation of the teeth and gums. Tooth powders and
tinctures also have their use. A very convenient powder may be made of
charcoal pounded in a mortar, and sifted fine. Apply a little of it to
the teeth twice a week, and it will not only render them beautifully
white, but also make the breath sweet, and the gums firm and
comfortable. The charcoal may be ground in water, and so preserved for
use. A tincture for the gums may be made of three ounces of the tincture
of bark, and half an ounce of sal ammoniac, mixed together. Dip the
finger into a tea-spoonful of the tincture, and rub the gums and teeth
with it, which are afterwards to be washed with warm water. This
tincture not only cures the toothache, but preserves the teeth and gums,
and causes them to adhere to each other.


TENANT AT SUFFERANCE. When a lease is expired, and the tenant keeps
possession without any new contract, he is deemed a tenant at
sufferance. But on the landlord's acceptance of any rent after the
expiration of the lease, the tenant may hold the premises from year to
year, till half a year's notice is given.


TENANT AT WILL. A tenant at will is one who holds an estate or tenement
at the will of the landlord, and may at any time be ejected. Meanwhile
he is at liberty to leave when he chooses, on giving proper notice, and
cannot be compelled to occupy.


TENCH. These are a fine flavoured fresh-water fish, and should be
killed and dressed as soon as caught. They abound very much in the dykes
of Lincolnshire. When they are to be bought, examine whether the gills
are red and hard to open, the eyes bright, and the body stiff. The tench
has a slimy matter about it, the clearness and brightness of which
indicate freshness. The season for this delicate fish is July, August,
and September. When to be dressed, put them into cold water, boil them
carefully, and serve with melted butter and soy. They are also very fine
stewed, or fricasseed, as follows. To fricassee tench white. Having
cleaned your tench very well, cut off their heads, slit them in two, and
if large, cut each half in three pieces, if small, in two: melt some
butter in a stewpan, and put in your tench; dust in some flour, and pour
in some boiling water, and a few mushrooms, and season it with salt,
pepper, a bundle of sweet herbs, and an onion stuck with cloves: when
this boils, pour in a pint of white wine boiling hot; let it stew till
sufficiently wasted; take out the fish, and strain the liquor, saving
the mushrooms; bind your fricassee with the yolk of three or four eggs
beaten up with a little verjuice, some parsley chopped fine, and a
little nutmeg grated; stir it all the time it boils, scum it very clean,
pour your sauce over the fish, and send it to table.--To fricassee tench
brown. Prepare your tench as in the other receipt; put some butter and
flour into a stewpan, and brown it; then put in the tench with the same
seasoning you did your white fricassee; when you have tossed them up,
moisten them with a little fish broth; boil a pint of white wine, and
put to your fricassee, stew it till enough, and properly wasted; then
take the fish up, and strain the liquor, bind it with a brown cullis,
and serve it up. If asparagus or artichokes are in season, you may boil
these, and add them to your fricassee.


TENCH BROTH. Clean the fish, and set them on the fire with three pints
of water; add some parsley, a slice of onion, and a few peppercorns.
Simmer till the fish is broken, the broth become good, and reduced one
half. Add some salt, and strain it off. Tench broth is very nutricious,
and light of digestion.


THICK MILK. Beat up an egg, and add to it a tea spoonful of flour. Mix
it smooth with a tea-spoonful of cold milk, and put to it a pint of
boiling milk. Stir it over a slow fire till it boils, then pour it out,
and add a little sugar and nutmeg. The saucepan should have a little
cold water put into it first, to prevent the milk from burning at the
bottom, or marbles boiled in it will answer the same purpose.


THICKENED GRAVY. To a quart of gravy allow a table-spoonful of
thickening, or from one to two table-spoonfuls of flour, according to
the thickness required. Put a ladleful of the gravy into a basin with
the thickening, stir it up quick, add the rest by degrees, till it is
all well mixed. Then pour it back into a stewpan, and leave it by the
side of the fire to simmer for half an hour longer, that the thickening
may be thoroughly incorporated with the gravy. Let it neither be too
pale nor too dark a colour. If not thick enough, let it stew longer, or
add to it a little glaze or portable soup. If too thick, it may be
diluted with a spoonful or too of warm broth or water.


THICKENED SOUP. Put into a small stewpan three table-spoonfuls of the
fat taken off the soup, and mix it with four table-spoonfuls of flour.
Pour in a ladleful of the soup, mix it with the rest by degrees, and
boil it up till it is smooth. This may be rendered more savoury by
adding a little ketchup. The soup should be strained through a tammis.


THICKENING. Clarified butter is best for this purpose, or put some fresh
butter into a stewpan over a slow clear fire. When it is melted, add
fine flour sufficient to make it the thickness of paste. Stir it well
together with a wooden spoon for fifteen or twenty minutes, till it is
quite smooth, and the colour of a guinea. This must be done very
gradually and patiently, or it will be spoiled. Pour it into an earthen
pan, and it will keep good a fortnight in summer, and longer in winter.
Particular attention must be paid in making it; if it gets any burnt
smell or taste, it will spoil every thing it is put into. When cold, it
should be thick enough to cut out with a knife, like a solid paste. This
is a very essential article in the kitchen, and the basis of consistency
in most made dishes, soups, sauces, and ragouts. In making this
thickening, the less butter and the more flour is used the better. They
must be thoroughly worked together, and the broth or soup added by
degrees. Unless well incorporated, the sauce will taste floury, and have
a greasy disagreeable appearance. To prevent this, it must be finished
and cleansed, after it is thickened, by adding a little broth or warm
water, and setting it by the side of the fire to raise any fat that is
not thoroughly incorporated with the gravy, that it may be carefully
removed as it comes to the top. Some cooks merely thicken their soups
and sauces with flour, or the farina of potatoe; and others use the fat
skimmings off the top of broth, as a substitute for butter.


THORNS AND SPLINTERS. To run prickles or thorns, such as those of roses,
thistles, and chesnuts, or little splinters of wood or bone, into the
hands, feet, or legs, is a very common accident, and provided any such
substance be immediately extracted, it is seldom attended with any bad
consequences. But the more certain prevention is a compress of linen
dipped in warm water, and applied to the part, or to bathe it a little
while in warm water. If the thorn or splinter cannot be extracted
directly, or if any part of it be left in, it causes an inflammation,
and nothing but timely precaution will prevent its coming to an abscess.
A plaster of shoemaker's wax spread upon leather, draws these wounds
remarkably well. When it is known that any part of the splinter remains,
an expert surgeon would open the place and take it out; but if it be
unobserved, as will sometimes happen when the substance is very small,
till the inflammation begins, and no advice can at once be procured, the
steam of water should be applied to it first, and then a poultice of
bread crumb and milk, with a few drops of peruvian balsam. It is quite
necessary that the injured part should be kept in the easiest posture,
and as still as possible. If this does not soon succeed, good advice
must be procured without delay, as an accident of this kind neglected,
or improperly treated, may be the occasion of losing a limb. In this and
all other cases of inflammation, a forbearance from animal food and
fermented liquors, is always advisable.


THRUSH. This disorder in children affects the mouth and throat, and
sometimes the stomach. In the former case it will be sufficient to
cleanse the mouth with a little sage tea, sweetened with the honey of
roses, and mixed with a dram of borax. In the latter, great benefit may
be derived from a decoction of carrots in water, or an ounce of linseed
boiled in a pint of water till reduced to a consistence, and sweetened
with two ounces of honey, a table-spoonful of which may be given
occasionally. This complaint may generally be prevented by a due
attention to cleanliness, daily washing and bathing the child in
lukewarm water, washing its mouth after it has been applied to the
breast, giving it pure air, and removing any obstruction in the bowels
by the use of manna or tamarinds.


THYME. These plants may be easily raised from seed, by slipping the
roots and branches, and by cuttings; but the seed method is seldom
practised, except with the second sort, or garden thyme. The seed should
be sown in the early spring on light, rich, dry ground, which should be
properly dug over, and the surface be made moderately smooth with the
spade. As the seed is small, it should not be sown too thick, or be
covered too deep: the seed is best sown while the ground is fresh
stirred, either broad-cast on the surface, raking it in lightly, or in
flat shallow drills, earthed over thinly: the plants appear in two or
three weeks. It is necessary to be careful to keep them well weeded,
giving occasional light waterings in dry weather; and by June they will
require thinning, especially if the plants are to grow stocky, and with
bushy full heads; in which case they should be set out to six or eight
inches distance; when those thinned out may be planted in another place,
in rows six or eight inches asunder, giving water till fresh rooted,
keeping the whole clean from weeds by occasional hoeing between them in
dry days, which will also stir the surface of the earth, and much
improve the growth of the plants: they will be in perfection for use in
summer, or early in autumn. Some think the common thyme best cultivated
for kitchen use in beds or borders, in rows at least half a foot apart,
employing for the purpose either the young seedling plants, which are
fit to set out, or the root slips of old plants, each of which soon
increase into plants of bushy growths proper for being cropped for the
above use. It may also often be well cultivated as an edging to herbary
and other compartments; in both of which methods the plants multiply
exceedingly fast by offsets, and are abiding, furnishing the means of
great future increase. Some should, however, always be annually raised
from seed in the above manner, as such plants possess a stronger
aromatic quality than those from old ones. When it is intended to
increase any particular varieties, and continue them the same with
certainty, it can only be effected by slips and cuttings. In respect to
the offsets and slips, all the sorts multiply by offsets of the root and
slips of the branches: the rooted slips are the most expeditious method,
as the old plants increase into many offset stems rising from the root,
each furnished with fibres; and by taking up the old plants in the
spring, &c. and slipping or dividing them into separate parts, not too
small, with roots to each, and planting them in beds of good earth, in
rows half a foot asunder, giving water directly, and repeating it
occasionally in dry weather till they have taken root, and begin to
shoot at top; they soon grow freely, and form good bushy plants in two
or three months. The strong slips of the branches without roots, succeed
when planted any time in the early spring season in a shady border, in
rows four or five inches distant, giving due waterings; and become good
plants by autumn, when they may be planted out where they are to remain.
The cuttings of the young branches grow readily, the same as the slips,
when planted at the same season in a shady place, and well watered. The
common thyme is in universal use as a pot-herb for various culinary
purposes; it may also be employed in assemblage with other small plants,
to embellish the fronts of flower-borders, shrubbery clumps, small and
sloping banks, &c. placing the plants detached or singly, to form little
bushy tufts, and in which the variegated sorts, and the silver thyme and
lemon thyme particularly, form a very agreeable variety. The lemon thyme
is also in much estimation for its peculiar odoriferous smell. Some of
each of these sorts may also be potted, in order to be moved
occasionally to any particular places as may be required, and under
occasional shelter in severe winters, to preserve the plants more
effectually in a lively state; likewise some of the mastick thyme.
Spanish and Portugal thymes are also sometimes potted for the same
purpose, and to place under the protection of a garden frame or
greenhouse in winter, to continue them in a more fresh and lively
growth; and sometimes some of the smaller thymes are sown or planted for
edgings to particular beds or borders for variety, such as the lemon
thyme, silver-leaved and variegated sorts; also occasionally the common
thyme; and all kept low, close and regular, by clipping them at the
sides and tops annually in the summer season. All the several sorts and
varieties possess an aromatic quality, which principally resides in the
leaves, whence it is imparted and affords a line agreeable fragrance.
But the first three kinds are much the most noted and valued in kitchen
gardens, and more especially the common thyme, which is so very useful
as a culinary herb.


TIN COVERS. Properly to clean tin covers and pewter pots, get the finest
whiting, which is only sold in large cakes, the small being mixed with
sand. Powder and mix a little of it with a drop of sweet oil, rub the
pots and covers well with it, and wipe them clean. Then dust over some
dry whiting in a muslin bag, and rub the articles bright with dry
leather. The last is to prevent rust, which must be carefully guarded
against by wiping thoroughly dry, and setting them by the fire when they
come from table. If covers are once hung up without wiping, the steam
will be sure to rust the inside.


TINCTURE OF ALLSPICE. Bruise three ounces of allspice, and steep it in a
quart of brandy. Shake it up occasionally and after a fortnight pour off
the clear liquor. It makes a most grateful addition in all cases where
allspice is used, in gravies, or to flavour and preserve potted meats.


TINCTURE OF BARK. To make the compound tincture, take two ounces of
Peruvian bark powdered, half an ounce of Seville orange peel, and half
an ounce of bruised cinnamon. Infuse the whole in a pint and a half of
brandy, let it stand five or six days in a close vessel, and then strain
off the tincture. Take one or two tea-spoonfuls twice a day in any
suitable liquor, sharpened with a few drops of the spirits of vitriol.
This tincture is highly beneficial in intermitting fevers, and in slow,
nervous, or putrid fevers, especially towards their decline.


TINCTURE OF CINNAMON. This exhilirating cordial is made by pouring a
bottle of the best brandy on three ounces of bruised cinnamon. A
tea-spoonful of it, and a lump of sugar, in a glass of good sherry or
madeira, with the yolk of an egg beaten up in it, was formerly
considered as the balsam of life. Two tea-spoonfuls of it in a wine
glass of water, are at present a very pleasant remedy in nervous
languors, and in relaxations of the bowels. In the latter case, five
drops of laudanum may be added to each dose.


TINCTURE OF CLOVES. Bruise three ounces of cloves, steep them for ten
days in a quart of brandy, and strain off the tincture through a flannel
sieve. It imparts an excellent flavour to mulled wine. In all cases
tinctures are to be preferred to essences, as affording a much finer
flavour.


TINCTURE OF LEMON PEEL. A very easy and economical way of obtaining and
preserving the flavour of lemon peel, is to fill a wide-mouthed pint
bottle half full of brandy or rum; and when a lemon is used, pare off
the rind very thin, and put it into the spirits. In the course of a
fortnight the liquor will be strongly flavoured with the lemon.


TINCTURE OF NUTMEG. Steep three ounces of nutmeg in a quart of brandy,
and let it stand a fortnight. Shake it up occasionally, and then pour
off the clear liquor.


TINCTURE OF RHUBARB. Take two ounces and a half of rhubarb, and half an
ounce of lesser cardamon seeds; steep them for a week in a quart of
brandy, and strain off the tincture. To make the bitter tincture of
rhubarb, add an ounce of gentian root, and a dram of snake root. The
tincture is of great use in case of indigestion, pain or weakness of the
stomach; and from one to three or four spoonfuls may be taken every day.


TINGEING OF GLASS. The art of tingeing glass of various colours is by
mixing with it, while in a state of fusion, some of the metallic oxides;
and on this process, well conducted, depends the formation of pastes.
Blue glass is formed by means of oxide of cobalt; green, by the oxide of
iron or copper; violet, by oxide of manganese; red, by a mixture of the
oxides of copper and iron; purple, by the purple oxide of gold; white,
by the oxides of arsenic and of zinc; yellow, by the oxide of silver,
and by combustible bodies.


TOAST AND WATER. Take a slice of fine and stale loaf-bread, cut very
thin, (as thin as toast is ever cut) and let it be carefully toasted on
both sides, until it be completely browned all over, but no wise
blackened or burned in any way. Put this into a common deep stone or
china jug, and pour over it, from the tea kettle, as much clean boiling
water as you wish to make into drink. Much depends on the water being
actually in a boiling state. Cover the jug with a saucer or plate, and
let the drink stand until it be quite cold; it is then fit to be used;
the fresher it is made the better, and of course the more agreeable. The
above will be found a pleasant, light, and highly diuretic drink. It is
peculiarly grateful to the stomach, and excellent for carrying off the
effects of any excess in drinking. It is also a most excellent drink at
meals, and may be used in the summer time, if more agreeable to the
drinker.


TOASTED CHEESE. Mix some fine butter, made mustard, and salt, into a
mass. Spread it on fresh made thin toasts, and grate some Gloucester
cheese upon them.


TOMATOES. These are chiefly used in soups and sauces, and serve as
little dishes at table at any part of a dinner. When they are to be
baked, cut the tomatoes lengthways in the middle, with the part where
there is a rind downwards. Strew upon each a seasoning of pepper, salt,
and sweet herbs chopped small. Set them in the oven till they are soft,
and serve them up, without any other sauce. The fruit of the purple egg
plant is eaten, prepared in the same manner.


TOMATA SAUCE. For hot or cold meats put tomatas, when perfectly ripe,
into an earthen jar. Set it in an oven when the bread is drawn, till
they are quite soft; then separate the skins from the pulp, and mix this
with capsicum vinegar, and a few cloves of pounded garlic, which must
both be proportioned to the quantity of fruit. Add powdered ginger and
salt to taste. Some white wine vinegar and cayenne may be used instead
of capsicum vinegar. Keep the mixture in small wide-mouthed bottles,
well corked, and in a cool dry place.


TONGUES. When a tongue is intended to be eaten cold, season it with
common salt and saltpetre, brown sugar, a little bay salt, pepper,
cloves, mace, and allspice, in fine powder, and let it lie a fortnight.
Then take away the pickle, put the tongue into a small pan, and lay some
butter on it. Cover it with brown crust, and bake it slowly till it
becomes so tender that a straw would go through it. The thin part of
tongues, when hung up to dry, grates like hung beef, and also makes a
fine addition to the flavour of omlets.--To boil a tongue. If it is a
dried tongue, soak it over night; the next day put it into cold water,
and let it have a good deal of room; it will take at least four hours.
If it is a green tongue out of the pickle, you need not soak it, but it
will require near the same time. About an hour before you send it to
table, take it out and blanch it, then put it into the pot again till
you want it, by this means it will eat the tenderer.


TONGUE AND UDDER. Clean the tongue nicely, rub it with salt, a very
little saltpetre, and a little coarse sugar, and let it lie for two or
three days. When to be dressed, have a fresh tender udder with some fat
to it, and boil that and the tongue gently till half done. Take them
very clean out of the water, then tie the thick end of the one to the
thin end of the other, and roast them with a few cloves stuck into the
udder. Serve them up with gravy in the dish, and currant jelly in a
tureen. A dried tongue to be boiled, requires to be previously soaked
for ten or twelve hours. A tongue out of pickle is only to be washed,
and boiled in the same way. It will take four hours to do it well, and
for the first two hours it should only simmer. About an hour before it
is done it should be taken up and peeled, and then put into the boiler
again to finish it. Serve it up with turnips nicely mashed, and laid
round it.


TOOTH ACH. The best possible preventive of this disorder is to keep the
teeth clean, as directed for the Teeth and Gums. If the gums be
inflamed, recourse should be had to bleeding by leeches, and blisters
behind the ears. A few drops of laudanum in cotton, laid on the tooth,
will sometimes afford relief. In some cases, vitriolic æther dropped on
the cheek, and the hand held to the part till the liquid is evaporated,
is found to answer the purpose. But it is much easier to prescribe the
means of preventing the disorder, than to point out a specific remedy;
and the nostrums generally given on this subject are either ineffectual
or injurious.


TOURTE CRUST. To make a crust for French pies called tourtes, take a
pound and a half of fine flour, a pound of butter, and three quarters of
an ounce of salt. Put the flour upon a clean pie board, make a hole in
the middle, and put in the salt, with the butter cut into small pieces.
Pour in the water carefully, as it is of great importance that the crust
be rather stiff; and for this purpose there should only be just water
enough to make it hold together so as to roll it out smooth. Work up the
butter and water well together with the hand, and mix it in the flour by
degrees. When the flour is all mixed in, mould the paste till it is
quite smooth and free from lumps, and let it lie two hours before it be
used. This is a very nice crust for putting round the dish for baked
puddings.


TOURTES OF FISH. Prepare the crust and put it into the dish, as for meat
tourtes. Then take almost any kind of fish, cut them from the backbone,
and lay them in slices upon the crust, with a little bunch of sweet
herbs in the middle, some salt and pounded spice, according to the
taste. Lay butter all over the top crust, and bake it an hour and a
half. Cut the crust round after it is baked, take out the herbs, skim
off the remainder of the fat, pour on a sauce of fish gravy, and serve
it up. Mushrooms are very nice in the sauce, and so are capers, but the
flavour of the sauce must be regulated by the taste. Truffles and morels
may also be put in, as in the meat tourtes. Eels, pike, salmon, tench,
whiting, are proper for the purpose. Nothing makes a nicer tourte in
this way than large soles, taking off the flesh from the backbone,
without the side fins. Lobsters also make an excellent tourte, and
oysters are very nice mixed with other fish.

TOURTES OF MEAT. Prepare a crust of paste, roll it out, and line a dish
with it not deeper than a common plate. Veal, chicken, pigeons,
sweetbread, or game of any kind, may be prepared as follows. Cut in
pieces whichever is preferred, just heat it in water, drain it, season
it with pepper and salt, lay it upon the crust without piling it up
high, and leave a border round the rim of the dish. Place some pieces of
butter upon the meat to keep it moist, and add truffles, mushrooms,
morels, artichoke bottoms, or forcemeat balls, at pleasure. Cover the
whole with slices of fat bacon, and then lay a crust over it exactly
corresponding with that underneath. Glaze over the upper crust with yolk
of egg, and set the tourte into an oven. When it has been in a quarter
of an hour, draw it to the mouth of the oven, and make a hole in the
centre of the crust to let out the fumes. Let it stand nearly three
hours longer in the oven, then take it out, cut the crust round with the
rim, take it off, take out the bacon, and clear off any fat that may
remain on the top. Have ready a rich ragout sauce to pour over it, then
replace the crust, and serve it up. This dish is according to the
French fashion.


TRANSPARENT MARMALADE. Cut the palest Seville oranges in quarters, take
out the pulp, and put it in a bason, picking out the seeds and skins.
Let the outsides soak in water with a little salt all night, then boil
them in a good quantity of spring water till tender; drain, and cut them
in very thin slices, and put them to the pulp. To every pound, add a
pound and a half of double-refined sugar beaten fine; boil them together
twenty minutes, but be careful not to break the slices. It must be
stirred all the time very gently, and put into glasses when cold.


TRANSPARENT PAINTINGS. The paper must be fixed in a straining frame, in
order to place it between the eye and the light, when required. After
tracing the design, the colours must be laid on, in the usual method of
stained drawings. When the tints are got in, place the picture against
the window, on a pane of glass framed for the purpose, and begin to
strengthen the shadows with Indian ink, or with colours, according as
the effect requires; laying the colours sometimes on both sides of the
paper, to give greater force and depth of colour. The last touches for
giving final strength to shadows and forms, are to be done with ivory
black or lamp black, prepared with gum water; as there is no pigment so
opaque, and capable of giving strength and decision. When the drawing is
finished, and every part has got its depth of colour and brilliancy,
being perfectly dry, touch very carefully with spirits of turpentine, on
both sides, those parts which are to be the brightest, such as the moon
and fire; and those parts requiring less brightness, only on one side.
Then lay on immediately with a pencil, a varnish made by dissolving one
ounce of Canada balsam in an equal quantity of spirit of turpentine. Be
cautious with the varnish, as it is apt to spread. When the varnish is
dry, tinge the flame with red lead and gamboge, slightly touching the
smoke next the flame. The moon must not be tinted with colour. Much
depends on the choice of the subject, and none is so admirably adapted
to this species of effect, as the gloomy Gothic ruin, whose antique
towers and pointed turrets finely contrast their dark battlements with
the pale yet brilliant moon. The effect of rays passing through the
ruined windows, half choked with ivy; or of a fire among the clustering
pillars and broken monuments of the choir, round which are figures of
banditti, or others, whose haggard faces catch the reflecting light;
afford a peculiarity of effect not to be equaled in any other species of
painting. Internal views of cathedrals also, where windows of stained
glass are introduced, have a beautiful effect. The great point to be
attained is, a happy coincidence between the subject and the effect
produced. The fine light should not be too near the moon, as its glare
would tend to injure her pale silver light. Those parts which are not
interesting, should be kept in an undistinguishing gloom; and where the
principal light is, they should be marked with precision. Groups of
figures should be well contrasted; those in shadow crossing those that
are in light, by which means the opposition of light against shade is
effected.


TRANSPARENT PUDDING. Beat up eight eggs, put them into a stewpan, with
half a pound of sugar finely pounded, the same quantity of butter, and
some grated nutmeg. Set it on the fire, and keep it stirring till it
thickens. Then set it into a basin to cool, put a rich puff paste round
the dish, pour in the pudding, and bake it in a moderate oven. It will
cut light and clear. Candied orange and citron may be added if
approved.


TRANSPLANTING OF FLOWERS. Annuals and perennials, sown in March or
April, may be transplanted about the end of May. A showery season is
preferable, or they must frequently be watered till they have taken
root. In the summer time the evening is the proper season, and care
should be taken not to break the fibres in digging up the root.
Chinasters, columbines, marigolds, pinks, stocks, hollyhocks, mallows,
sweetwilliams, wallflowers, and various others, may be sown and
transplanted in this manner.


TRAPS. Garden traps, such as are contrived for the purpose of destroying
mice and other vermin; which are often conveyed into such places with
the straw, litter, and other matters that are made use of in them; and
which are extremely hurtful and troublesome in the spring season, in
destroying peas and beans, as well as lettuces, melons, and cucumbers in
frames. Traps for this purpose are contrived in a great many ways; but
as field vermin are very shy, and will rarely enter traps which are
close, the following simple cheap form has been advised, though it has
nothing of novelty in it. These traps may be made by stringing garden
beans on a piece of fine pack-thread, in the manner of beads, and then
driving two small stake-like pieces of wood into the ground at the
breadth of a brick from each other, and setting up a brick, flat stone,
or board with a weight on it, inclining to an angle of about forty-five
degrees; tying the string, with the beans on it, round the brick or
other substances and stakes, to support them in their inclining
position, being careful to place all the beans on the under sides of the
bricks or other matters. The mice in eating the beans, in such cases,
will also destroy the pack-thread, and by such means disengage the brick
or other weighty body, which by falling on them readily destroys them.
Mice are always best got rid of by some sort of simple open traps of
this nature.


TREACLE BEER. Pour two quarts of boiling water on a pound of treacle,
and stir them together. Add six quarts of cold water, and a tea-cupful
of yeast. Tun it into a cask, cover it close down, and it will be fit to
drink in two or three days. If made in large quantities, or intended to
keep, put in a handful of malt and hops, and when the fermentation is
over, stop it up close.


TREACLE POSSET. Add two table-spoonfuls of treacle to a pint of milk,
and when ready to boil, stir it briskly over the fire till it curdles.
Strain it off after standing covered a few minutes. This whey promotes
perspiration, is suitable for a cold, and children will take it very
freely.


TREATMENT OF CHILDREN. It ought to be an invariable rule with all who
have the care of children, to give them food only when it is needful.
Instead of observing this simple and obvious rule, it is too common,
throughout every period of childhood, to pervert the use of food by
giving it when it is not wanted, and consequently when it does mischief,
not only in a physical but in a moral point of view. To give food as an
indulgence, or in a way of reward, or to withhold it as a matter of
punishment, are alike injurious. A proper quantity of food is necessary
in all cases, to sustain their health and growth; and their faults ought
to be corrected by more rational means. The idea of making them suffer
in their health and growth on account of their behaviour, is sufficient
to fill every considerate mind with horror. It is the project only of
extreme weakness, to attempt to correct the disposition by creating
bodily sufferings, which are so prone to hurt the temper, even at an age
when reason has gained a more powerful ascendancy. Eatables usually
given to children by well-meaning but injudicious persons, in order to
pacify or conciliate, are still worse than the privations inflicted by
way of punishment. Sugar plums, sugar candy, barley sugar, sweetmeats,
and most kinds of cakes, are unwholesome, and cloying to the appetite.
Till children begin to run about, the uniformity of their lives makes it
probable that the quantity of food they require in the day is nearly the
same, and that it may be given to them statedly at the same time. By
establishing a judicious regularity with regard to both, much benefit
will accrue to their health and comfort. The same rule should be applied
to infants at the breast, as well as after they are weaned. By allowing
proper intervals between the times of giving children suck, the breast
of the mother becomes duly replenished with milk, and the stomach of the
infant properly emptied to receive a fresh supply. The supposition that
an infant wants food every time it cries, is highly fanciful; and it is
perfectly ridiculous to see the poor squalling thing thrown on its back,
and nearly suffocated with food to prevent its crying, when it is more
likely that the previous uneasiness arises from an overloaded stomach.
Even the mother's milk, the lightest of all food, will disagree with the
child, if the administration of it is improperly repeated. A very
injurious practice is sometimes adopted, in suckling a child beyond the
proper period, which ought by all means to be discountenanced, as
evidently unnatural, and tending to produce weakness both in body and
mind. Suckling should not be continued after the cutting of the first
teeth, when the clearest indication is given, that the food which was
adapted to the earliest stage of infancy ceases to be proper. Attention
should also be paid to the quantity as well as to quality of the food
given, for though a child will sleep with an overloaded stomach, it will
not be the refreshing sleep of health. When the stomach is filled beyond
the proper medium, it induces a similar kind of heaviness to that
arising from opiates and intoxicating liquors; and instead of awakening
refreshed and lively, the child will be heavy and fretful. By the time
that children begin to run about, the increase of their exercise will
require an increase of nourishment: but those who overload them with
food at any time, in hopes of strengthening them, are very much
deceived. No prejudice is equally fatal to such numbers of children.
Whatever unnecessary food a child receives, weakens instead of
strengthening it: for when the stomach is overfilled, its power of
digestion is impaired, and food undigested is so far from yielding
nourishment, that it only serves to debilitate the whole system, and to
occasion a variety of diseases. Amongst these are obstructions,
distention of the body, rickets, scrophula, slow fevers, consumptions,
and convulsion fits. Another pernicious custom prevails with regard to
the diet of children, when they begin to take other nourishment besides
their mother's milk, and that is by giving them such as their stomachs
are unable to digest, and indulging them also in a mixture of such
things at their meals as are hurtful to every body, and more especially
to children, considering the feeble and delicate state of their organs.
This injudicious indulgence is sometimes defended on the plea of its
being necessary to accustom them to all kinds of food; but this idea is
highly erroneous. Their stomachs must have time to acquire strength
sufficient to enable them to digest varieties of food; and the filling
them with indigestible things is not the way to give them strength.
Children can only acquire strength gradually with their proper growth,
which will always be impeded if the stomach is disordered. Food for
infants should be very simple, and easy of digestion. When they require
something more solid than spoonmeats alone, they should have bread with
them. Plain puddings, mild vegetables, and wholesome ripe fruits, eaten
with bread, are also good for them. Animal food is better deferred till
their increased capacity for exercise will permit it with greater
safety, and then care must be taken that the exercise be proportioned to
this kind of food. The first use of it should be gradual, not exceeding
two or three times in a week. An exception should be made to these rules
in the instances of scrophulous and rickety children, as much bread is
always hurtful in these cases, and fruits are particularly pernicious.
Plain animal food is found to be the most suitable to their state. The
utmost care should be taken under all circumstances to procure genuine
unadulterated bread for children, as the great support of life. If the
perverted habits of the present generation give them an indifference as
to what bread they eat, or a vitiated taste for adulterated bread, they
still owe it to their children as a sacred duty, not to undermine their
constitution by this injurious composition. The poor, and many also of
the middling ranks of society are unhappily compelled to this species of
infanticide, as it may almost be called, by being driven into large
towns to gain a subsistence, and thus, from the difficulty of doing
otherwise, being obliged to take their bread of bakers, instead of
making wholesome bread at home, as in former times, in more favourable
situations. While these are to be pitied, what shall be said of those
whose fortunes place them above this painful necessity. Let them at at
least rear their children on wholesome food, and with unsophisticated
habits, as the most unequivocal testimony of parental affection
performing its duty towards its offspring. It is proper also to observe,
that children ought not to be hurried in their eating, as it is of great
importance that they should acquire a habit of chewing their food well.
They will derive from it the various advantages of being less likely to
eat their food hot, of thus preparing what they eat properly for the
stomach, instead of imposing upon it what is the real office of the
teeth; and also that of checking them from eating too much. When food is
not properly masticated, the stomach is longer before it feels
satisfied; which is perhaps the most frequent, and certainly the most
excusable cause of eating more than is fairly sufficient. Thoughtless
people will often, for their own amusement, give children morsels of
high dishes, and sips of spirituous or fermented liquors, to see whether
they will relish them, or make faces at them. But trifling as this may
seem, it would be better that it were never practised, for the sake of
preserving the natural purity of their tastes as long as possible.


TREATMENT OF THE SICK. Though an unskilful dabbling in cases of illness,
which require the attention of the most medical practitioners, is both
dangerous and presumptuous; yet it is quite necessary that those who
have the care of a family should be able to afford some relief in case
of need, as well as those whose duty it is more immediately to attend
upon the sick. Uneasy symptoms are experienced at times by all persons,
not amounting to a decided state of disease, which if neglected may
nevertheless issue in some serious disorder that might have been
prevented, not only without risk, but even with greater advantage to the
individual than by an application to a positive course of medicine.
Attention to the state of the bowels, and the relief that may
frequently be afforded by a change of diet, come therefore very properly
within the sphere of domestic management, in connection with a few
simple medicines in common use. The sensations of lassitude or
weariness, stiffness or numbness, less activity than usual, less
appetite, a load or heaviness at the stomach, some uneasiness in the
head, a more profound degree of sleep, yet less composed and refreshing
than usual; less gaiety and liveliness, a slight oppression of the
breast, a less regular pulse, a propensity to be cold, or to perspire,
or sometimes a suppression of a former disposition to perspire, are any
of them symptomatic of a diseased state, though not to any very serious
or alarming degree. Yet under such circumstances persons are generally
restless, and scarcely know what to do with themselves; and often for
the sake of change, or on the supposition that their sensations proceed
from lowness, they unhappily adopt the certain means of making them
terminate in dangerous if not fatal diseases. They increase their usual
quantity of animal food, leave off vegetables and fruit, drink freely of
wine or other strong liquors, under an idea of strengthening the
stomach, and expelling wind; all of which strengthen nothing but the
disposition to disease, and expel only the degree of health yet
remaining. The consequence of this mistaken management is, that all the
evacuations are restrained, the humours causing and nourishing the
disease are not at all attempered and diluted, nor rendered proper for
evacuation. On the contrary they become sharper, and more difficult to
be discharged. By judicious management it is practicable, if not
entirely to prevent a variety of disorders, yet at least to abate their
severity, and so to avert the ultimate danger. As soon as any of the
symptoms begin to appear, the proper way is to avoid all violent or
laborious exercise, and to indulge in such only as is gentle and easy.
To take very little or no solid food, and particularly to abstain from
meat, or flesh broth, eggs, and wine, or other strong liquors. To drink
plentifully of weak diluting liquor, by small glasses at a time, at
intervals of about half an hour. If these diluents are not found to
answer the purpose of keeping the bowels open, stronger cathartics must
be taken, or injections for the bowels, called lavements. By pursuing
these precautions, the early symptoms of disease will often be removed,
without coming to any serious issue: and even where this is not the
case, the disorder will be so lessened as to obviate any kind of danger
from it. When confirmed diseases occur, the only safe course is to
resort to the most skilful medical assistance that can be obtained. Good
advice and few medicines will much sooner effect a cure, than all the
drugs of the apothecary's shop unskilfully administered. But the success
of the best advice may be defeated, if the patient and his attendants
will not concur to render it effectual. If the patient is to indulge
longings for improper diet, and his friends are to gratify them, the
advantage of the best advice may be defeated by one such imprudent
measure. Patients labouring under accidents which require surgical
assistance, must be required strictly to attend to the same directions.
General regulations are all that a physician or surgeon can make
respecting diet, many other circumstances will therefore require the
consideration of those who attend upon the sick, and it is of
consequence that they be well prepared to undertake their charge, for
many fatal mistakes have arisen from ignorance and prejudice in these
cases. A few rules that may be referred to in the absence of a medical
adviser, are all that are necessary in the present instance, more
especially when the patient is so far recovered as to be released from
medicines, and put under a proper regimen, with the use of a gentle
exercise, and such other regulations as a convalescent state
requires.--When for example, persons are labouring under acute
disorders, or accidents, they are frequently known to suffer from the
injudiciousness of those about them, in covering them up in bed with a
load of clothes that heat and debilitate them exceedingly, or in keeping
them in bed when the occasion does not require it, without even
suffering them to get up and have it new made, and by never allowing a
breath of fresh air to be admitted into the room. The keeping patients
quiet is undoubtedly of essential importance; they should not be talked
to, nor should more persons be admitted into the room than are
absolutely necessary. Every thing that might prove offensive should
immediately be removed. Sprinkling the room sometimes with vinegar, will
contribute to keep it in a better state. The windows should be opened
occasionally for a longer or shorter time, according to the weather and
season of the year, without suffering the air to come immediately upon
the patient. Waving the chamber door backward and forward for a few
minutes, two or three times in a day, ventilates the room, without
exposing the sick person to chilness. Occasionally burning pastils in
the room, or a roll of paper, is also useful. The bed linen, and that of
the patient, should be changed every day, or in two or three days, as
circumstances may require. A strict forbearance from giving sick persons
any nourishment beyond what is prescribed by their medical attendant,
should invariably be observed. Some persons think they do well in this
respect to cheat the doctor, while in fact they cheat the patient out of
the benefit of his advice, and endanger his life under a pretence of
facilitating his recovery. In all cases it is important to wait with
patience the slow progress of recovery, rather than by injudicious means
to attempt to hasten it; otherwise the desired event will only be
retarded. What has long been undermining the stamina of health, which is
commonly the case with diseases, or what has violently shocked it by
accident, can only be removed by slow degrees. Medicines will not
operate like a charm; and even when they are most efficacious, time is
required to recover from the languid state to which persons are always
reduced, both by accident and by disease. When the period is arrived at
which sick persons may be said to be out of danger, a great deal of
patience and care will still be necessary to prevent a relapse. Much of
this will depend on the convalescent party being content for some time
with only a moderate portion of food, for we are not nourished in
proportion to what we swallow, but to what we are well able to digest.
Persons on their recovery, who eat moderately, digest their food, and
grow strong from it. Those in a weak state, who eat much, do not digest
it; instead therefore of being nourished and strengthened by it, they
insensibly wither away. The principal rules to be observed in this case
are, that persons in sickness, or those who are slowly recovering,
should take very little nourishment at a time, and take it often. Let
them have only one sort of food at each meal, and not change their food
too often; and be careful that they chew their food well, to make it
easy of digestion. Let them diminish their quantity of drink. The best
drink for them in general is water, with a third or fourth part of white
wine. Too great a quantity of liquids at such a time prevents the
stomach from recovering its tone and strength, impairs digestion,
promotes debility, increases the tendency to a swelling of the legs;
sometimes it even occasions a slow fever, and throws back the patient
into a languid state. Persons recovering from sickness should take as
much exercise in the open air as they are able to bear, either on foot,
in a carriage, or on horseback: the latter is by far the best. The
airing should be taken in the middle of the day, when the weather is
temperate, or before the principal meal. Exercise taken before a meal
strengthens the organs of digestion, and therefore tends to health; but
when taken after a meal, it is injurious. As persons in this state are
seldom quite so well towards night, they should take very little food in
the evening, in order that their sleep may be less disturbed and more
refreshing. It would be better not to remain in bed above seven or eight
hours; and if they feel fatigued by sitting up, let them lie down for
half an hour to rest. The swelling of the legs and ancles, which happens
to most persons in a state of weakness and debility, is attended with no
danger, and will generally disappear of itself, if they live soberly and
regularly, and take moderate exercise. The most solicitous attention
must be paid to the state of the bowels; and if they are not regular,
they must be kept open every day by artificial means, or it will produce
heat and restlessness, and pains in the head. Care should be taken not
to return to hard labour too soon after recovering from illness; some
persons have never recovered their usual strength for want of this
precaution.--Common colds, though lightly regarded, are often of serious
consequence. A cold is an inflammatory disease, though in no greater
degree than to affect the lungs or throat, or the thin membrane which
lines the nostrils, and the inside of certain cavities in the bones of
the cheeks and forehead. These cavities communicate with the nose in
such a manner, that when one part of this membrane is affected with
inflammation, it is easily communicated to the rest. When the disorder
is of this slight kind, it may easily be cured without medicine, by only
abstaining from meat, eggs, broth, and wine; from all food that is
sharp, fat, and heavy. Little or no supper should be eaten, but the
person should drink freely of an infusion of barley, or of elder
flowers, with the addition of a third or fourth part of milk. Bathing
the feet in warm water before going to bed, will dispose the patient to
sleep. In colds of the head, the steam of warm water alone, or of water
in which elder flowers or some mild aromatic herbs have been boiled,
will generally afford speedy relief. These also are serviceable in colds
which affect the breast. Hot and close rooms are very hurtful in colds,
as they tend to impede respiration; and sitting much over the fire
increases the disorder. Spermaceti is often taken in colds and coughs,
which must from its greasy nature impair the digestive faculty, and
cannot operate against the cause of a cold; though the cure of it, which
is effected in due time by the economy of nature, is often ascribed to
such medicines as may rather have retarded it. Whenever a cold does not
yield to the simple treatment already described, good advice should be
procured, as a neglected cold is often the origin of very serious
disorders.--A few observations on the nature of the diet and drink
proper for sickly persons, will be necessary at the close of this
article, for the information of those who occasionally undertake the
care of the afflicted. As the digestion of sick persons is weak, and
very similar to that of children, the diet suited to the latter is
generally proper for the former, excepting in the two great classes of
diseases called putrid and intermittent fevers. In case of putrid fever
no other food should be allowed, during the first weeks of recovery,
than the mildest vegetable substances. When recovering from agues and
intermittent fevers, animal jellies, and plain animal food, with as
little vegetable as possible, is the proper diet. Meat and meat broth,
generally speaking, are not so well adapted for the re-establishment of
health and strength, as more simple diets. Flesh being the food most
used by old and young at all other times, is consequently that from
which their distempers chiefly proceed, or at least it nourishes those
disorders which other causes may have contributed to introduce. It is of
a gross, phlegmatic nature and oily quality, and therefore harder of
digestion than many other sorts of food, tending to generate gross
humours and thick blood, which are very unfavourable to the recovery of
health. The yolk of an egg lightly boiled or beaten up raw with a little
wine may be taken, when animal food is not forbidden, and the party
cannot chew or swallow more solid food. The spoonmeats and drinks
directed for children, and simple puddings made as for them, may all be
used for invalids, subject only to the restrictions imposed by their
medical attendant. Puddings and panadoes made of bread are better for
weak stomachs than those made of flour.--Diet drinks may be made of an
infusion of herbs, grains, or seeds. For this purpose the herbs should
be gathered in their proper season, then dried in the shade, and put
into close paper bags. When wanted for use, take out the proper
quantity, put it into a linen bag, suspend it in the beer or ale, while
it is fermenting, from two to six or eight hours, and then take it out.
Wormwood ought not to be infused so long; three or four hours will be
sufficient, or it will become nauseous, and soon turn to putrefaction.
The same is to be understood in infusing any sort of well-prepared
herbs, and great care is required in all preparations of this kind that
the pure properties are neither evaporated, nor overpowered by the bad
ones. Beer, ale, or any other liquor in which herbs are infused, must be
unadulterated, or the benefit of these infusions will be destroyed by
its pernicious qualities. Nothing is more prejudicial to health than
adulterated liquors, or liquors that are debased by any corrupting
vegetable substance. Those things which in their purest state are of a
doubtful character, and never to be trusted without caution, are by this
means converted into decided poisons.--Herb Tea of any kind should
always be made with a moderate proportion of the herb. When the tea is
of a proper strength, the herb should be taken out, or it will become
nauseous by long infusion. These kinds of tea are best used quite
fresh.--Herb Porridge may be made of elder buds, nettle tops, clivers,
and water cresses. Mix up a proper quantity of oatmeal and water, and
set it on the fire. When just ready to boil, put in the herbs, cut or
uncut; and when ready again to boil, lade it to and fro to prevent its
boiling. Continue this operation six or eight minutes, then take it off
the fire, and let it stand awhile. It may either be eaten with the
herbs, or strained, and should not be eaten warmer than new milk. A
little butter, salt, and bread, may be added. Another way is, to set
some oatmeal and water on a quick fire; and when it is scalding hot, put
in a good quantity of spinage, corn salad, tops of pennyroyal, and mint
cut small. Let it stand on the fire till ready to boil, then pour it up
and down six or seven minutes, and let it stand off the fire that the
oatmeal may sink to the bottom. Strain it, and add butter, salt, and
bread. When it is about milk-warm it will be fit to eat. This is an
excellent porridge, pleasant to the palate and stomach, cleansing the
passages by opening obstructions. It also breeds good blood, thus
enlivens the spirits, and makes the whole body active and easy.--A
Cooling Drink may be made of two ounces of whole barley, washed and
cleansed in hot water, and afterwards boiled in five pints of water till
the barley opens. Add a quarter of an ounce of cream of tartar, and
strain off the liquor. Or bruise three ounces of the freshest sweet
almonds, and an ounce of gourd melon seeds in a marble mortar, adding a
pint of water, a little at a time, and then strain it through a piece of
linen. Bruise the remainder of the almonds and seeds again, with another
pint of water added as before; then strain it, and repeat this process a
third time. After this, pour all the liquor upon the bruised mass, stir
it well, and finally strain it off. Half an ounce of sugar may safely be
bruised with the almonds and seeds at first; or if it be thought too
heating, a little orange-flower water may be used instead.--Currant
Drink. Put a pound of the best red currants, fully ripe and clean
picked, into a stone bottle. Mix three spoonfuls of good new yeast with
six pints of hot water, and pour it upon the currants. Stop the bottle
close till the liquor ferments, then give it as much vent as is
necessary, keep it warm, and let it ferment for about three days. Taste
it in the mean time to try whether it is become pleasant; and as soon as
it is so, run it through a strainer, and bottle it off. It will be ready
to drink in five or six days.--Boniclapper is another article suited to
the state of sickly and weakly persons. Boniclapper is milk which has
stood till it has acquired a pleasant sourish taste, and a thick
slippery substance. In very hot weather this will be in about
twenty-four hours from the time of its being milked, but longer in
proportion as the weather is colder. If put into vessels which have been
used for milk to be soured in, it will change the sooner. New milk must
always be used for this purpose. Boniclapper is an excellent food at all
times, particularly for those who are troubled with any kind of
stoppages; it powerfully opens the breast and passages, is itself easy
of digestion, and helps to digest all hard or sweeter foods. It also
cools and cleanses the whole body, renders it brisk and lively, and is
very efficacious in quenching thirst. No other sort of milkmeat or
spoonmeat is so proper and beneficial for consumptive persons, or such
as labour under great weakness and debility. It should be eaten with
bread only, and it will be light and easy on the stomach, even when new
milk is found to disagree. If this soured milk should become unpleasant
at first, a little custom and use will not only render it familiar, but
agreeable to the stomach and palate; and those who have neither wisdom
nor patience to submit to a transient inconvenience, will never have an
opportunity of knowing the intrinsic value of any thing. To these may be
added a variety of other articles adapted to a state of sickness and
disease, which will be found under their respective heads; such as Beef
Tea, Flummery, Jellies of various kinds, Lemon Whey, Vinegar Whey, Cream
of Tartar Whey, Mustard Whey, Treacle Posset, Buttermilk, Onion
Porridge, Water Gruel, and Wormwood Ale.


TREES. Several different methods have been proposed of preventing the
bark being eaten off by hares and rabbits in the winter season; such as
twisting straw-ropes round the trees; driving in small flat stakes all
about them; and the use of strong-scented oils. But better and neater
modes have lately been suggested; as with hog's lard, and as much
whale-oil as will work it up into a thin paste or paint, with which the
stems of the trees are to be gently rubbed upwards, at the time of the
fall of the leaf. It may be done once in two years, and will, it is
said, effectually prevent such animals from touching them. Another and
still neater method, is to take three pints of melted tallow to one pint
of tar, mixing them well together over a gentle fire. Then, in the month
of November, to take a small brush and go over the rind or bark of the
trees with the composition in a milk-warm state, as thin as it can be
laid on with the brush. It is found that such a coating does not hinder
the juices or sap from expanding in the smallest degree; and the
efficacy of the plan is proved, in preventing the attacks of the
animals, by applying the liquid composition to one tree and missing
another, when it was found that the former was left, while the latter
was attacked. Its efficacy has been shewn by the experience of five
years. The trees that were gone over the first two years have not been
touched since; and none of them have been injured by the hares.--The
Mossing of trees is their becoming much affected and covered with the
moss-plant or mossy substance. It is found to prevail in fruit-grounds
of the apple kind, and in other situations, when they are in low, close,
confined places, where the damp or moisture of the trees is not readily
removed. It is thought to be an indication of weakness in the growth, or
of a diseased state of the trees, and to require nice attention in
preventing or eradicating it. The modes of removing it have usually been
those of scraping, rubbing, and washing, but they are obviously
calculated for trees only on a small scale. How far the use of powdery
matters, such as lime, chalk, and others, which are capable of readily
absorbing and taking up the wetness that may hang about the branches,
and other parts of the trees, by being well dusted over them, may be
beneficial, is not known, but they would seem to promise success by the
taking away the nourishment and support of the moss, when employed at
proper seasons. And they are known to answer in destroying moss in some
other cases, when laid about the stems of the plants, as in
thorn-hedges, &c. The mossing in all sorts of trees is injurious to
their growth by depriving them of a portion of their nourishment, but
more particularly hurtful to those of the fruit-tree kind, as preventing
them from bearing full good crops of fruit by rendering them in a weak
and unhealthy state.----The following are substances destructive of
insects infesting fruit shrubs and trees in gardening, or of preventing
their injurious ravages and effects on trees. Many different kinds of
substances have been recommended for the purpose, at different times;
but nothing perhaps has yet been found fully effectual in this
intention, in all cases. The substances and modes directed below have
lately been advised as useful in this way. As preventives against
gooseberry caterpillars, which so greatly infest and injure shrubs of
that kind, the substances mentioned below have been found very simple
and efficacious. In the autumnal season, let a quantity of cow-urine be
provided, and let a little be poured around the stem of each bush or
shrub, just as much as merely suffices to moisten the ground about them.
This simple expedient is stated to have succeeded in an admirable
manner, and that its preventive virtues have appeared to extend to two
successive seasons or years. The bushes which were treated in this
manner remained free from caterpillars, while those which were
neglected, or intentionally passed by, in the same compartment, were
wholly destroyed by the depredations of the insects. Another mode of
prevention is proposed, which, it is said, is equally simple and
effectual; but the good effects of which only extend to the season
immediately succeeding to that of the application. This is, in
situations near the sea, to collect as much drift or sea-weed from the
beach, when occasion serves, as will be sufficient to cover the whole of
the gooseberry compartment to the depth of four or five inches. It
should be laid on in the autumn, and the whole covering remain untouched
during the winter and early spring months; but as the fruiting season
advances, be dug in. This method, it is said, has answered the most
sanguine expectations; no caterpillars ever infesting the compartments
which are treated in this manner. Another method, which is said to have
been found successful, in preventing or destroying caterpillars on the
above sort of fruit shrubs, is this: as the black currant and elder
bushes, growing quite close to those of the gooseberry kind, were not
attacked by this sort of vermin, it was conceived that an infusion of
their leaves might be serviceable, especially when prepared with a
little quick-lime, in the manner directed below. Six pounds each of the
two first sorts of leaves are to be boiled in twelve gallons of soft
water; then fourteen pounds of hot lime are to be put into twelve
gallons of water, and, after being well incorporated with it, they are
both to be mixed well together. With this mixture the infested
gooseberry bushes by fruit trees are to be well washed or the hand
garden-engine; after which a little hot lime is to be taken and laid
about the root of each bush or tree so washed, which completes the work.
Thus the caterpillars will be completely destroyed, without hurting the
foliage of the bushes or trees in any way. A dull day is to be preferred
for performing the work of washing, &c. As soon as all the foliage is
dropped off from the bushes or trees, they are to be again washed over
with the hand-engine, in order to clean them of all decayed leaves, and
other matters; for which purpose any sort of water will answer. The
surface of the earth, all about the roots of the bushes and trees, is
then to be well stirred, and a little hot lime again laid about them, to
destroy the ova or eggs of the insects. This mode of management has
never failed of success, in the course of six years' practice. It is
noticed, that the above quantity of prepared liquid will be sufficient
for about two acres of ground in this sort of plantation, and cost but
little in providing. The use of about a gallon of a mixture of equal
proportions of lime-water, chamber-ley, and soap-suds, with as much soot
as will give it the colour and consistence of dunghill drainings, to
each bush in the rows, applied by means of the rose of a watering-pot,
immediately as the ground between them is dug over, and left as rough as
possible, the whole being gone over in this way without treading or
poaching the land, has also been found highly successful by others. The
whole is then left in the above state until the winter frosts are fairly
past, when the ground between the rows and bushes are levelled, and
raked over in an even manner. By this means of practice, the bushes have
been constantly kept healthy, fruitful, and free from the annoyance of
insects. The bushes are to be first pruned, and dung used where
necessary. A solution of soft soap, mixed with an infusion of tobacco,
has likewise been applied with great use in destroying caterpillars, by
squirting it by the hand-syringe upon the bushes, while a little warm,
twice in the day. But some think that the only safety is in picking them
off the bushes, as they first appear, together with the lower leaves
which are eaten into holes: also, the paring, digging over, and
clearing the foul ground between the bushes, and treading and forcing
such foul surface parts into the bottoms of the trenches. Watering
cherry-trees with water prepared from quick-lime new burnt, and common
soda used in washing, in the proportion of a peck of the former and half
a pound of the latter to a hogshead of water, has been found successful
in destroying the green fly and the black vermin which infest such
trees. The water should stand upon the lime for twenty-four hours, and
be then drawn off by a cock placed in the cask, ten or twelve inches
from the bottom, when the soda is to be put to it, being careful not to
exceed the above proportion, as, from its acridity, it would otherwise
be liable to destroy the foliage. Two or three times watering with this
liquor, by means of a garden engine, will destroy and remove the vermin.
The application of clay-paint, too, has been found of great utility in
destroying the different insects, such as the coccus, thrips, and fly,
which infest peach, nectarine, and other fine fruit trees, on walls, and
in hot-houses. This paint is prepared by taking a quantity of the most
tenacious brown clay, and diffusing it in as much soft water as will
bring it to the consistence of a thick cream or paint, passing it
through a fine sieve or hair-searce, so as that it may be rendered
perfectly smooth, unctuous, and free from gritty particles. As soon as
the trees are pruned and nailed in, they are all to be carefully gone
over with a painter's brush dipped in the above paint, especially the
stems and large branches, as well as the young shoots, which leaves a
coat or layer, that, when it becomes dry, forms a hard crust over the
whole tree, which, by closely enveloping the insects, completely
destroys them, without doing any injury to either the bark or buds. And
by covering the trees with mats or canvas in wet seasons, it may be
preserved on them as long as necessary. Where one dressing is not
effectual, it may be repeated; and the second coating will mostly be
sufficient. Where peach and nectarine trees are managed with this paint,
they are very rarely either hide-bound or attacked by insects. This sort
of paint is also useful in removing the mildew, with which these kinds
of trees are often affected; as well as, with the use of the
dew-syringe, in promoting the equal breaking of the eyes of vines,
trained on the rafters of pine stoves. Watering the peach tree borders
with the urine of cattle, in the beginning of winter, and again in the
early spring, has likewise been thought beneficial in destroying the
insects which produce the above disease. Careful and proper cleaning and
washing these trees, walls, and other places in contact with them, has,
too, been found of great utility in preventing insects from accumulating
on them.


TRIFLE. To make an excellent trifle, lay macaroons and ratifia drops
over the bottom of a dish, and pour in as much raisin wine as they will
imbibe. Then pour on them a cold rich custard, made with plenty of eggs,
and some rice flour. It must stand two or three inches thick: on that
put a layer of raspberry jam, and cover the whole with a very high whip
made the day before, of rich cream, the whites of two well-beaten eggs,
sugar, lemon peel, and raisin wine, well beat with a whisk, kept only to
whip syllabubs and creams. If made the day before it is used, the trifle
has quite a different taste, and is solid and far better.


TRIPE. After being well washed and cleaned, tripe should be stewed with
milk and onion till quite tender. Serve it in a tureen, with melted
butter for sauce. Or fry it in small pieces, dipped in batter. Or cut
the thin part into bits, and stew them in gravy. Thicken the stew with
butter and flour, and add a little ketchup. Tripe may also be fricasseed
with white sauce.


TROUGHS. Water troughs of various kinds, which require to be rendered
impervious to the wet, may be lined with a strong cement of gypsum and
quicklime, mixed up with water. Four fifths of pulverised coal or
charcoal, and one fifth of quicklime, well mixed together, and infused
in boiling pitch or tar, will also form a useful cement for this
purpose. It requires to be of the consistence of thin mortar, and
applied hot with a trowel.


TROUT. Open them along the belly, wash them clean, dry them in a cloth,
and season them with pepper and salt. Set the gridiron over the fire,
and when it is hot rub the bars with a piece of fresh suet. Lay on the
fish, and broil them gently over a very clear fire, at such a distance
as not to burn them. When they are done on one side, turn them carefully
on the other, and serve them up the moment they are ready. This is one
of the best methods of dressing this delicate fish; but they are
sometimes broiled whole, in order to preserve the juices of the fish,
when they are fresh caught. Another way is, after they are washed clean
and well dried in a napkin, to bind them about with packthread, and
sprinkle them with melted butter and salt; then to broil them over a
gentle fire, and keep them turning. Make a sauce of butter rolled in
flour, with an anchovy, some pepper, nutmeg, and capers. Add a very
little vinegar and water, and shake it together over a moderate fire,
till it is of a proper thickness. Put the trout into a dish, and pour
this sauce over them. Trout of a middle size are best for broiling. The
gurnet or piper is very nice broiled in the same manner, and served with
the same kind of sauce. Mullets also admit of the same treatment. Trout
are very commonly stewed, as well as broiled; and in this case they
should be put into a stewpan with equal quantities of Champaigne,
Rhenish, or Sherry wine. Season the stew with pepper and salt, an onion,
a few cloves, and a small bunch of parsley and thyme. Put into it a
crust of French bread, and set it on a quick fire. When the fish is
done, take out the bread, bruise it, and then thicken the sauce. Add a
little flour and butter, and let it boil up. Lay the trout on a dish,
and pour the thickened sauce over it. Serve it with sliced lemon, and
fried bread. This is called Trout á la Genevoise. A plainer way is to
dry the fish, after it has been washed and cleaned, and lay it on a
board before the fire, dusted with flour. Then fry it of a fine colour
with fresh dripping; serve it with crimp parsley and plain butter.


TROUT PIE. Scale and wash the fish, lard them with pieces of silver eel,
rolled up in spice and sweet herbs, with bay leaves finely powdered.
Slice the bottoms of artichokes, lay them on or between the fish, with
mushrooms, oysters, capers, and sliced lemon or Seville orange. Use a
dish or raised crust, close the pie, and bake it gently.--Another way.
Clean and scale your trouts, and cut off the heads and fins; boil an eel
for forcemeat; when you have cut off the meat of the eel, put the bones
and the heads of the trout into the water it was boiled in, with an
onion, mace, whole pepper, a little salt, and a faggot of sweet herbs;
let it boil down till there is but enough for the pie. Chop the meat of
the eel very fine, add grated bread, an anchovy chopped small, sweet
herbs, and a gill of oysters blanched and bearded, the yolks of two hard
eggs chopped very fine, and as much melted butter as will make it into a
stiff forcemeat; season the trout with mace, pepper and salt; fill the
belly with the forcemeat, and make the remainder into balls; sheet your
dish with a good paste, lay some butter on that, then the trout and
forcemeat; strain off the fish broth, and scum it very clean, and add a
little white wine, and a piece of butter rolled in flour; when it is all
melted, pour it into the pie, and lid it over; bake it in a gentle oven,
and let it be thoroughly done.


TRUFFLES. The largest are the most esteemed; those which are brought
from Perigord are the best. They are usually eaten dressed in wine, and
broth seasoned with salt, pepper, a bunch of sweet herbs, some roots and
onions. Before being dressed they must be soaked in warm water, and well
rubbed with a brush, that no earth may adhere to them. When dressed,
serve them in a plate as an entremet. The truffle is also very excellent
in all sorts of ragouts, either chopped or out into slices, after they
are peeled. It is one of the best seasonings that can be used in a
kitchen. Truffles are also used dried, but their flavour is then much
diminished.


TRUFFLES RAGOUT. Peel the truffles, cut them in slices, wash and drain
them well. Put them into a saucepan with a little gravy, and stew them
gently over a slow fire. When they are almost done enough, thicken them
with a little butter and flour. Stewed in a little water, and thickened
with cream and yolk of egg, they make a nice white ragout. Truffles,
mushrooms, and morels are all of them very indigestible.


TUNBRIDGE CAKES. Rub six ounces of butter quite fine into a pound of
flour; then mix six ounces of sugar, beat and strain two eggs, and make
the whole into a paste. Roll it very thin, and cut it with the top of a
glass. Prick the cakes with a fork, and cover them with carraways; or
wash them with the white of an egg, and dust a little white sugar over.


TURBOT. This excellent fish is in season the greatest part of the
summer. When fresh and good, it is at once firm and tender, and abounds
with rich gelatinous nutriment. Being drawn and washed clean, it may be
lightly rubbed with salt, and put in a cold place, and it will keep two
or three days. An hour or two before dressing it, let it soak in spring
water with some salt in it. To prevent the fish from swelling and
cracking on the breast, score the skin across the thickest part of the
back. Put a large handful of salt into a fish kettle with cold water,
lay the turbot on a fish strainer and put it in. When it is beginning to
boil, skim it well; then set the kettle on the side of the fire to boil
as gently as possible for about fifteen or twenty minutes; if it boil
fast, the fish will break to pieces. Rub a little of the inside coral
spawn of the lobster through a hair sieve, without butter; and when the
turbot is dished, sprinkle the spawn over it. Garnish the dish with
sprigs of curled parsley, sliced lemon, and finely scraped horseradish.
Send up plenty of lobster sauce. The thickest part of the fish is
generally preferred. The spine bone should be cut across to make it
easier for carving.


TURBOT PIE. Take a middling turbot, clean it very well, cut off the
head, tail, and fins. Make a forcemeat thus; take a large eel, boil it
tender, then take off the flesh; put the bones of the turbot and eel
into the water the eel was boiled in, with a faggot of herbs, whole
pepper, an onion, and an anchovy; let this boil till it becomes a strong
broth. In the mean time, cut the eel very fine; add the same quantity of
grated bread, a little lemon-peel, an anchovy, parsley, and the yolks of
two or three hard eggs, and half a pint of oysters blanched and bearded;
chop all these as fine as possible; mix all together with a quarter of
a pound of melted butter; and with this forcemeat lay a rim in the
inside of the dish; put in the turbot, and fill up the vacancies with
forcemeat; strain off the broth, scum it very clean, and add a lump of
butter rolled in flour, and a glass of white wine; pour this over the
fish. Make a good puff paste, cover the pie with it, and let it be
thoroughly baked. When it comes from the oven, warm the remainder of the
liquor; pour it in, and send it to table.


TURKEYS. When young they are very tender, and require great attention.
As soon as hatched, put three peppercorns down their throat. They must
be carefully watched, or they will soon perish. The hen turkey is so
careless, that she will stalk about with one chicken, and leave the
remainder, or even tread upon and kill them. Turkeys are violent eaters,
and must therefore be left to take charge of themselves in general,
except one good feed a day. The hen sets twenty-five or thirty days, and
the young ones must be kept warm, as the least cold or damp kills them.
They must be fed often, and at a distance from the hen, or she will pick
every thing from them. They should have curds, green cheese parings cut
small, and bread and milk with chopped wormwood in it. Their drink milk
and water, but must not be left to turn sour. All young fowls are a prey
for vermin, therefore they should be kept in a safe place where none can
come. Weasels, stoats, and ferrets will creep in at a very small
crevice. The hen should be under a coop, in a warm place exposed to the
sun, for the first three or four weeks; and the young ones should not be
suffered to wander about in the dew, at morning or evening. Twelve eggs
are enough to put under a turkey; and when she is about to lay, lock her
up till she has laid every morning. They usually begin to lay in March,
and set in April. Feed them near the hen-house, and give them a little
meat in the evening, to accustom them to roosting there. Fatten them
with sodden oats or barley for the first fortnight; and the last
fortnight give them as above, and rice swelled with warm milk over the
fire twice a day. The flesh will be beautifully white and fine
flavoured. The common way in Norfolk is to cram them, but they are so
ravenous that it seems unnecessary, if they are not suffered to wander
far from home, which keeps them lean and poor.--When fat turkeys are to
be purchased in the market, in order to judge of their quality it is
necessary to observe, that the cock bird when young has a smooth black
leg, and a short spur. If fresh and sweet, the eyes are full and bright,
and the feet moist and supple. If stale, the eyes will be sunk, and the
feet stiff and dry. The hen turkey is known by the same rules; but if
old, the legs will be red and rough.


TURKEY PATTIES. Mince some of the white part, and season it with grated
lemon, nutmeg, salt, a dust of white pepper, a spoonful of cream, and a
very small piece of butter warmed. Fill the patties, and bake them.


TURKEY PIE. Break the bones, and beat the turkey flat on the breast.
Lard it with bacon, lay it into a raised crust with some slices of bacon
under it, and well seasoned with salt, pepper, nutmeg, whole cloves, and
bay leaves. Lay a slice of bacon over it, cover it with a crust, and
bake it. When baked, put a clove of garlic or shalot into the whole in
the middle of the crust, and let it stand till cold. The turkey may be
boned if preferred. Duck or goose pie may be made in the same manner.


TURKEY SAUCE. Open some oysters into a bason, and pour the liquor into a
saucepan as soon as it is settled. Add a little white gravy, and a
tea-spoonful of lemon pickle. Thicken it with flour and butter, boil it
a few minutes, add a spoonful of cream, and then the oysters. Shake them
over the fire, but do not let them boil. Or boil some slices or fine
bread with a little salt, an onion, and a few peppercorns. Beat it well,
put in a bit of butter, and a spoonful of cream. This sauce eats well
with roast turkey or veal.


TURKISH YOGURT. Let a small quantity of milk stand till it be sour, then
put a sufficient quantity of it to new milk, to turn it to a soft curd.
This may be eaten with sugar only, or both this and the fresh cheese are
good eaten with strawberries and raspberries, as cream, or with
sweetmeats of any kind.


TURNIPS. To dress this valuable root, pare off all the outside coat, cut
them in two, and boil them with beef, mutton, or lamb. When they become
tender take them up, press away the liquor, and mash them with butter
and salt, or send them to table whole, with melted butter in a boat.
Young turnips look and eat well with a little of the top left on them.
To preserve turnips for the winter, cut off the tops and tails, and
leave the roots a few days to dry. They should then be stacked up with
layers of straw between, so as to keep them from the rain and frost, and
let the stack be pointed at the top.


TURNIPS MASHED. Pare and boil them quite tender, squeeze them as dry as
possible between two trenchers, put them into a stewpan, and mash them
with a wooden spoon. Then rub them through a cullender, add a little bit
of butter, keep stirring them till the butter is melted and well mixed
with them, and they are ready for the table.


TURNIP BUTTER. In the fall of the year, butter is apt to acquire a
strong and disagreeable flavour, from the cattle feeding on turnips,
cabbages, leaves of trees, and other vegetable substances. To correct
the offensive taste which this produces, boil two ounces of saltpetre in
a quart of water, and put two or more spoonfuls of it into a pail before
milking, according to the quantity of milk. If this be done constantly,
the evil will be effectually cured: if not, it will be owing to the
neglect of the dairy maid.


TURNIP FLY. To prevent the black fly from injuring the turnip crop, mix
an ounce of sulphur daily with three pounds of turnip seed for three
days successively, and keep it closely covered in an earthen pan. Stir
it well each time, that the seed may be duly impregnated with the
sulphur. Sow it as usual on an acre of ground, and the fly will not
attack it till after the third or fourth leaf be formed, when the plant
will be entirely out of danger. If garden vegetables be attacked by the
fly, water them freely with a decoction of elder leaves.


TURNIP PIE. Season some mutton chops with salt and pepper, reserving the
ends of the neck bones to lay over the turnips, which must be cut into
small dice, and put on the steaks. Add two or three spoonfuls of milk,
also a sliced onion if approved, and cover with a crust.


TURNIP SAUCE. Pare half a dozen turnips, boil them in a little water,
keep them shaking till they are done, and the liquor quite exhausted,
and then rub them through a tammis. Take a little white gravy and cut
more turnips, as if intended for harrico. Shake them as before, and add
a little more white gravy.


TURNIP SOUP. Take from a knuckle of veal all the meat that can be made
into cutlets, and stew the remainder in five pints of water, with an
onion, a bundle of herbs, and a blade of mace. Cover it close, and let
it do on a slow fire, four or five hours at least. Strain it, and set it
by till the next day. Then take the fat and sediment from it, and
simmer it with turnips cut into small dice till tender, seasoning it
with salt and pepper. Before serving, rub down half a spoonful of flour
with half a pint of good cream, and a piece of butter the size of a
walnut. Let a small roll simmer in the soup till fully moistened, and
serve this with it. The soup should be as thick as middling cream.


TURNIP TOPS. These are the shoots which come out in the spring from the
old turnip roots, and are to be dressed in the same way as cabbage
sprouts. They make very nice sweet greens, and are esteemed great
purifiers of the blood and juices.


TURNPIKES. Mix together a quarter of a pound each of flour, butter,
currants, and lump sugar powdered. Beat up four eggs with two of the
whites, make the whole into a stiff paste, with the addition of a little
lemon peel. Roll the paste out thin, and cut it into shapes with a wine
glass. The addition of a few carraway seeds will be an improvement.


TURTLE. The morning that you intend to dress the turtle, fill a boiler
or kettle with a quantity of water sufficient to scald the callapach and
callapee, the fins, &c. and about nine o'clock hang up your turtle by
the hind fins, cut off its head, and save the blood; then with a sharp
pointed knife separate the callapach from the callapee (or the back from
the belly part) down to the shoulders, so as to come at the entrails,
which take out, and clean them, as you would those of any other animal,
and throw them into a tub of clean water, taking great care not to break
the gall, but cut it off the liver, and throw it away. Then separate
each distinctly, and take the guts into another vessel, open them with a
small penknife, from end to end, wash them clean, and draw them through
a woollen cloth in warm water, to clear away the slime, and then put
them into clean cold water till they are used, with the other part of
the entrails, which must all be cut up small to be mixed in the baking
dishes with the meat. This done, separate the back and belly pieces
entirely, cutting away the four fins by the upper joint, which scald,
peel off the loose skin, and cut them into small pieces, laying them by
themselves, either in another vessel, or on the table, ready to be
seasoned. Then cut off the meat from the belly part, and clean the back
from the lungs, kidneys, &c. and that meat cut into pieces as small as a
walnut, laying it likewise by itself. After this you are to scald the
back and belly pieces, pulling off the shell from the back and the
yellow skin from the belly; when all will be white and clean, and with
the kitchen cleaver cut those up likewise into pieces about the bigness
or breadth of a card. Put those pieces into clean cold water, wash them
out, and place them in a heap on the table, so that each part may lie by
itself. The meat, being thus prepared and laid separately for seasoning,
mix two third parts of salt, or rather more, and one third part of
Cayenne pepper, black pepper, and a spoonful of nutmeg and mace pounded
fine, and mixed together; the quantity to be proportioned to the size of
the turtle, so that in each dish there may be about three spoonfuls of
seasoning to every twelve pounds of meat. Your meat being thus seasoned,
get some sweet herbs, such as thyme, savoury, &c. let them be dried and
rubbed fine, and having provided some deep dishes to bake it in, (which
should be of the common brown ware) put in the coarsest parts of the
meat at the bottom, with about a quarter of a pound of butter in each
dish, and then some of each of the several parcels of meat, so that the
dishes may be all alike, and have equal portions of the different parts
of the turtle; and between each laying of the meat, strew a little of
this mixture of sweet herbs. Fill your dishes within an inch and an
half, or two inches of the top; boil the blood of the turtle, and put
into it; then lay on forcemeat balls made of veal, or fowl, highly
seasoned with the same seasoning as the turtle; put into each dish a
gill of good Madeira wine, and as much water as it will conveniently
hold; then break over it five or six eggs, to keep the meat from
scorching at the top, and over that shake a small handful of shred
parsley, to make it look green; which done, put your dishes into an oven
made hot enough to bake bread, and in an hour and half, or two hours,
(according to the size of the dishes) it will be sufficiently done. Send
it to the table in the dishes in which it is baked, in order to keep it
warm while it is eating.


TURTLE FINS. Put into a stewpan five large spoonfuls of brown sauce,
with a bottle of port wine, and a quart of mushrooms. When the sauce
boils, put in four fins; and after taking away all the small bones that
are seen breaking through the skin, add a few sprigs of parsley, a bit
of thyme, one bay leaf, and four cloves, and let it simmer one hour. Ten
minutes before it is done, put in five dozen of button onions ready
peeled, and see that it is properly salted.


TURTLE SOUP. The best sized turtle is one from sixty to eighty pounds
weight, which will make six or eight tureens of fine soup. Kill the
turtle the evening before; tie a cord to the hind fins, and hang it up
with the head downwards. Tie the fore fins by way of pinioning them,
otherwise it would beat itself, and be troublesome to the executioner.
Hold the head in the left hand, and with a sharp knife cut off the neck
as near the head as possible. Lay the turtle on a block on the back
shell, slip the knife between the breast and the edge of the back shell;
and when the knife has been round, and the breast is detached from the
back, pass the fingers underneath, and detach the breast from the fins,
always keeping the edge of the knife on the side of the breast;
otherwise if the gall be broken, the turtle will be spoiled. Cut the
breast into four pieces, remove the entrails, beginning by the liver,
and cut away the gall, to be out of danger at once. When the turtle is
emptied, throw the heart, liver, kidneys, and lights, into a large tub
of water. Cut away the fins to the root, as near to the back shell as
possible; then cut the fins in the second joint, that the white meat may
be separated from the green. Scrape the fat from the back shell by
skimming it, and put it aside. Cut the back shell into four pieces. Set
a large turbot pan on the fire, and when it boils dip a fin into it for
a minute, then take it out and peel it very clean. When that is done,
take another, and so on till all are done; then the head, next the shell
and breast, piece by piece. Be careful to have the peel and shell
entirely cleaned off, then put in the same pan some clean water, with
the breast and back, the four fins, and the head. Let it boil till the
bones will leave the meat, adding a large bundle of turtle herbs, four
bay leaves, and some thyme. If two dishes are to be made of the fins,
they must be removed when they have boiled one hour. Put into a small
stewpan the liver, lights, heart, and kidneys, and the fat that was laid
aside. Take some of the liquor that the other part was boiled in, cover
the stewpan close, and let it boil gently for three hours. Clean the
bones, breast, and back from the green fat, and cut it into pieces an
inch long, and half an inch wide, but suffer none of it to be wasted.
Put all these pieces on a dish, and set it by till the broth is ready.
To prepare the broth, put on a large stockpot, and line the bottom of it
with a pound and a half of lean ham, cut into slices. Cut into pieces a
large leg of veal, except a pound of the fillet to be reserved for
forcemeat; put the rest upon the ham, with all the white meat of the
turtle, and a couple of old fowls. Put it on a smart fire, with two
ladlefuls of rich broth, and reduce it to a glaze. When it begins to
stick to the bottom, pour the liquor in which the turtle was boiled into
the pot where the other part of the turtle has been boiled. Add to it a
little more sweet herbs, twenty-four grains of allspice, six blades of
mace, two large onions, four carrots, half an ounce of whole pepper, and
some salt. Let it simmer for four hours, and then strain the broth
through a cloth sieve. Put into it the green part of the turtle that has
been cut in pieces and nicely cleaned, with two bottles of Madeira. When
it has boiled a few minutes with the turtle, add the broth to it. Melt
half a pound of butter in a stewpan, add four large spoonfuls of flour,
stir it on the fire till of a fine brown colour, and pour some of the
broth to it. Mix it well, and strain it through a hair sieve into the
soup. Cut the liver, lights, heart, kidneys, and fat into small square
pieces, and put them into the soup with half a tea-spoonful of cayenne,
two of curry powder, and four table-spoonfuls of the essence of
anchovies. Let it boil an hour and a half, carefully skimming off the
fat. Pound the reserved veal in a marble mortar for the forcemeat, and
rub it through a hair sieve, with as much of the udder as there is of
meat from the leg of veal. Put some bread crumbs into a stewpan with
milk enough to moisten it, adding a little chopped parsley and shalot.
Dry it on the fire, rub it through a wire sieve, and when cold mix it
all together, that every part may be equally blended. Boil six eggs
hard, take the yolks and pound them with the other ingredients; season
it with salt, cayenne, and a little curry powder. Add three raw eggs,
mix all well together, and make the forcemeat into small balls the size
of a pigeon's egg. Ten minutes before the soup is ready put in the
forcemeat balls, and continue to skim the soup till it is taken off the
fire. If the turtle weighs eighty pounds, it will require nearly three
bottles of Madeira for the soup. When the turtle is dished, squeeze two
lemons into each tureen. It is also very good with eggs boiled hard, and
a dozen of the yolks put in each tureen. This is a highly fashionable
soup, and such as is made in the royal kitchen; but it is difficult of
digestion, and fit only for those who 'live to eat.' Foreigners in
general are extremely fond of it; and at the Spanish dinner in 1808,
eight hundred guests attended, and two thousand five hundred pounds
weight of turtle were consumed.


TUSK. Lay the tusk in water the first thing in the morning; after it has
lain three or four hours, scale and clean it very well; then shift the
water, and let it lie till you want to dress it. If it is large, cut it
down the back, and then across; if small, only down the back; put it
into cold water, and let it boil gently for about twenty minutes. Send
it to table in a napkin, with egg sauce, butter and mustard, and
parsnips cut in slices, in a plate.


TWOPENNY. The malt beverage thus denominated, is not formed to keep, and
therefore not likely to be brewed by any persons for their own
consumption. The following proportions for one barrel, are inserted
merely to add to general information in the art of brewing.

                                      £  _s._ _d._
          Malt, a bushel and a half   0   9    0
          Hops, one pound             0   1    6
          Liquorice root, a pound and
            a half                    0   1    6
          Capsicum, a quarter of an
            ounce                     0   0    1
          Spanish liquorice, 2 ounces 0   0    2
          Treacle, five pounds        0   1    8
                                      ----------
                                      0  13   11
                                      ----------

                                      £  _s._ _d._
          One barrel of twopenny,
            paid for at the
            publican's, 128 quarts,
            at _4d._ per quart         2   2   8
          Brewed at home, coals
            included                   0  15   0
                                      ----------
                          Clear gain, 1    7   8
                                      ----------

It is sufficient to observe respecting this liquor, that it requires no
storing, being frequently brewed one week, and consumed the next. The
quantity of capsicum in one barrel of twopenny, is as much as is
commonly contained in two barrels of porter: this readily accounts for
the preference given to it by the working classes, in cold winter
mornings. Twopenny works remarkably quick, and must be carefully
attended to, in the barrels.




V.


VACCINE INOCULATION. One of the most important discoveries in the
history of animal nature is that of the Cow Pox, which was publicly
announced by Dr. Jenner in the year 1798, though it had for ages been
known by some of the dairymen in the west of England. This malady
appears on the nipples of cows in the form of irregular pustules, and it
is now ascertained that persons inoculated with the matter taken from
them are thereby rendered incapable of the small pox infection.
Innumerable experiments have been made in different countries, in Asia
and America, with nearly the same success; and by a series of facts duly
authenticated, in many thousands of instances, it is fully proved that
the vaccine inoculation is a milder and safer disease than the
inoculated small pox; and while the one has saved its tens of thousands,
the other is going on to save its millions. With a view of extending the
beneficial effects of the new inoculation to the poor, a new dispensary,
called the Vaccine Institution, has been established in London, where
the operation is performed gratis, and the vaccine matter may be had by
those who wish to promote this superior method of inoculation. The
practice itself is very simple. Nothing more is necessary than making a
small puncture in the skin of the arm, and applying the matter. But as
it is of great consequence that the matter be good, and not too old, it
is recommended to apply for the assistance of those who make it a part
of their business, as the expense is very trifling.


VARNISH FOR BOOTS. To render boots and shoes impervious to the wet, take
a pint of linseed oil, half a pound of mutton suet, six or eight ounces
of bees' wax, and a small piece of rosin. Boil all together in a pipkin,
and let it cool to milk warm. Then with a hair brush lay it on new boots
or shoes; but it is better still to lay it on the leather before the
articles are made. The shoes or boots should also be brushed over with
it, after they come from the maker. If old boots or shoes are to be
varnished, the mixture is to be laid on when the leather is perfectly
dry.


VARNISH FOR BRASS. Put into a pint of alcohol, an ounce of turmeric
powder, two drams of arnatto, and two drams of saffron. Agitate the
mixture during seven days, and filter it into a clean bottle. Now add
three ounces of clean seed-lac, and agitate the bottle every day for
fourteen days. When the lacquer is used, the pieces of brass if large
are to be first warmed, so as to heat the hand, and the varnish is to be
applied with a brush. Smaller pieces may be dipped in the varnish, and
then drained by holding them for a minute over the bottle. This varnish,
when applied to rails for desks, has a most beautiful appearance, like
that of burnished gold.


VARNISH FOR DRAWINGS. Mix together two ounces of spirits of turpentine,
and one ounce of Canada balsam. The print is first to be sized with a
solution of isinglass water, and dried; the varnish is then to be
applied with a camel-hair brush. But for oil paintings, a different
composition is prepared. A small piece of white sugar candy is dissolved
and mixed with a spoonful of brandy; the whites of eggs are then beaten
to a froth, and the clear part is poured off and incorporated with the
mixture. The paintings are then brushed over with the varnish, which is
easily washed off when they are required to be cleaned again, and on
this account it will be far superior to any other kind of varnish for
this purpose.


VARNISH FOR FANS. To make a varnish for fans and cases, dissolve two
ounces of gum-mastic, eight ounces of gum-sandaric, in a quart of
alcohol, and then add four ounces of Venice turpentine.


VARNISH FOR FIGURES. Fuse in a crucible half an ounce of tin, with the
same quantity of bismuth. When melted, add half an ounce of mercury; and
when perfectly combined, take the mixture from the fire and cool it.
This substance, mixed with the white of an egg, forms a very beautiful
varnish for plaster figures.


VARNISH FOR FURNITURE. This is made of white wax melted in the oil of
petrolium. A light coat of this mixture is laid on the wood with a
badger's brush, while a little warm, and the oil will speedily
evaporate. A coat of wax will be left behind, which should afterwards be
polished with a woollen cloth.


VARNISH FOR HATS. The shell of the hat having been prepared, dyed, and
formed in the usual manner, is to be stiffened, when perfectly dry, with
the following composition, worked upon the inner surface. One pound of
gum kino, eight ounces of gum elemi, three pounds of gum olibanum, three
pounds of gum copal, two pounds of gum juniper, one pound of gum
ladanum, one pound of gum mastic, ten pounds of shell lac, and eight
ounces of frankincense. These are pounded small and mixed together;
three gallons of alcohol are then placed in an earthen vessel to receive
the pounded gums, and the vessel is then to be frequently agitated. When
the gums are sufficiently dissolved by this process, a pint of liquid
ammonia is added to the mixture, with an ounce of oil of lavender, and a
pound of gum myrrh and gum opoponax, dissolved in three pints of spirit
of wine. The whole of the ingredients being perfectly incorporated and
free from lumps, constitute the patent water-proof mixture with which
the shell of the hat is stiffened. When the shell has been dyed, shaped,
and rendered perfectly dry, its inner surface and the under side of the
brim are varnished with this composition by means of a brush. The hat is
then placed in a warm drying-room until it becomes hard. This process is
repeated several times, taking care that the varnish does not penetrate
through the shell, so as to appear on the outside. To allow the
perspiration of the head to evaporate, small holes are to be pierced
through the crown of the hat from the inside outward; and the nap of
silk, beaver, or other fur, is to be laid on by the finisher in the
usual way. That on the under side of the brim, which has been prepared
as above, is to be attached with copal varnish.


VARNISH FOR PAINTINGS. Mix six ounces of pure mastic gum with the same
quantity of pounded glass, and introduce the compound into a bottle
containing a pint of oil of turpentine. Now add half an ounce of camphor
bruised in a mortar. When the mastic is dissolved, put in an ounce of
Venice turpentine, and agitate the whole till the turpentine is
perfectly dissolved. When the varnish is to be applied to oil paintings,
it must be gently poured from the glass sediment, or filtered through a
muslin.


VARNISH FOR PALING. A varnish for any kind of coarse wood work is made
of tar ground up with Spanish brown, to the consistence of common paint,
and then spread on the wood with a large brush as soon as made, to
prevent its growing too stiff and hard. The colour may be changed by
mixing a little white lead, whiting, or ivory black, with the Spanish
brown. For pales and weather boards this varnish is superior to paint,
and much cheaper than what is commonly used for that purpose. It is an
excellent preventive against wet and weather, and if laid on smooth wood
it will have a good gloss.


VARNISH FOR SILKS. To one quart of cold-drawn linseed oil, add half an
ounce of litharge. Boil them for half an hour, and then add half an
ounce of copal varnish. While the ingredients are heating in a copper
vessel, put in one ounce of rosin, and a few drops of neatsfoot oil,
stirring the whole together with a knife. When cool, it is ready for
use. This varnish will set, or keep its place on the silk in four hours,
the silk may then be turned and varnished on the other side.


VARNISH FOR STRAW HATS. For straw or chip hats, put half an ounce of
black sealing-wax powdered into two ounces of spirits of wine or
turpentine, and place it near the fire till the wax is dissolved. If the
hat has lost its colour or turned brown, it may first be brushed over
with writing ink, and well dried. The varnish is then to be laid on warm
with a soft brush, in the sun or before the fire, and it will give it a
new gloss which will resist the wet.


VARNISH FOR TINWARE. Put three ounces of seed-lac, two drams of dragon's
blood, and one ounce of turmeric powder, into a pint of well-rectified
spirits. Let the whole remain for fourteen days, but during that time,
agitate the bottle once a day at least. When properly combined, strain
the liquid through a piece of muslin. This varnish is called lacquer; it
is brushed over tinware to give it a resemblance to brass.


VARNISH FOR WOOD. The composition which is the best adapted to preserve
wood from the decay occasioned both by the wet and the dry rot, is as
follows. Melt twelve ounces of rosin in an iron kettle, and when melted,
add eight ounces of roll brimstone. When both are in a liquid state,
pour in three gallons of train oil. Heat the whole slowly, gradually
adding four ounces of bees' wax in small pieces, and keep the mixture
stirring. As soon as the solid ingredients are dissolved, add as much
Spanish brown, red or yellow ochre, ground fine with some of the oil, as
will give the whole a deep shade. Lay on this varnish as hot and thin as
possible; and some days after the first coat becomes dry, give a second.
This will preserve planks and other wood for ages.


VEAL. In purchasing this article, the following things should be
observed. The flesh of a bull calf is the firmest, but not so white. The
fillet of the cow calf is generally preferred for the udder. The
whitest meat is not the most juicy, having been made so by frequent
bleeding, and giving the calf some whiting to lick. Choose that meat
which has the kidney well covered with fat, thick and white. If the
bloody vein in the shoulder look blue, or of a bright red, it is newly
killed; but any other colour shows it stale. The other parts should be
dry and white: if clammy or spotted, the meat is stale and bad. The
kidney turns first in the loin, and the suet will not then be firm. This
should carefully be attended to, if the joint is to be kept a little
time. The first part that turns bad in a leg of veal, is where the udder
is skewered back: of course the skewer should be taken out, and both
that and the part under it wiped every day. It will then keep good three
or four days in hot weather. Take care also to cut out the pipe that
runs along the chine of a loin of veal, the same as in beef, to hinder
it from tainting. The skirt of the breast of veal is likewise to be
taken off, and the inside of the breast wiped and scraped, and sprinkled
with a little salt.


VEAL BLANQUETS. Cut thin slices off a fillet of veal roasted. Put some
butter into a stewpan, with an onion chopped small; fry them till they
begin to brown, then dust in some flour, and add some gravy, and a
faggot of sweet herbs, seasoned with pepper, salt, and mace; let this
simmer till you have the flavour of the herbs, then put in your veal;
beat up the yolks of two eggs in a little cream, and grated nutmeg, some
chopped parsley, and a little lemon peel shred fine. Keep it stirring
one way till it is smooth, and of a good thickness: squeeze in a little
juice of orange, and dish it up. Garnish with orange and barberries.


VEAL BROTH. To make a very nourishing veal broth, take off the knuckle
of a leg or shoulder of veal, with very little meat to it, and put it
into a stewpot, with three quarts of water. Add an old fowl, four
shank-bones of mutton extremely well soaked and bruised, three blades of
mace, ten peppercorns, an onion, and a large slice of bread. Cover it
close, boil it up once, and skim it carefully. Simmer it four hours as
slowly as possible, strain and take off the fat, and flavour it with a
little salt.--Another way. Take a scrag of veal, of about three pounds;
put it into a clean saucepan, with a tea-spoonful of salt; when it
boils, scum it clean; put in a spoonful of ground rice, some mace, a
faggot of herbs, and let it boil gently for near two hours, or till you
have about two quarts: send it to table with your veal in the middle,
toasted bread, and parsley and butter in a boat.


VEAL A LA CREME. Take the best end of a loin of veal, joint it, and cut
a little of the suet from the kidney. Make it lie flat, then cut a place
in the middle of the upper part about three inches deep and six inches
long, take the piece out and chop it, add a little beef suet or beef
marrow, parsley, thyme, green truffles, mushrooms, shalots, lemon peel
chopped fine, and season it with pepper, salt, and a little beaten
allspice. Put all together into a marble mortar, add the yolks of two
eggs, and a little French bread soaked in cream. Pound the ingredients
well, fill the cavity with the forcemeat, and cover it with a piece of
veal caul. Then tie it down close, cover the whole with a large piece of
caul, and roast it gently. When to be served up, take off the large
caul, let it colour a little, glaze it lightly, and put under it a white
sauce. A fillet of veal may be done in the same way, instead of using
plain stuffing for it.


VEAL CAKE. Boil six or eight eggs hard; cut the yolks in two, and lay
some of the pieces in the bottom of the pot. Shake in a little chopped
parsley, some slices of veal and ham, and then eggs again; shaking in
after each, some chopped parsley, with pepper and salt, till the pot is
full. Then put in water enough to cover it, and lay on it about an ounce
of butter: tie it over with a double paper, and bake it about an hour.
Then press it close together with a spoon, and let it stand till cold.
The cake may be put into a small mould, and then it will turn out
beautifully for a supper or side dish.


VEAL COLLOPS. Cut long thin collops, beat them well, and lay on them a
bit of thin bacon of the same size. Spread forcemeat over, seasoned
high, and also a little garlic and cayenne. Roll them up tight, about
the size of two fingers, but not more than two or three inches long.
Fasten each firmly with a small skewer, smear them over with egg, fry
them of a fine brown, and pour a rich brown gravy over.--To dress
collops quickly in another way, cut them as thin as paper, and in small
bits, with a very sharp knife. Throw the skin and any odd bits of veal
into a little water, with a dust of pepper and salt. Set them on the
fire while the collops are preparing and beating, and dip them into a
seasoning of herbs, bread, pepper, salt, and a scrape of nutmeg, having
first wetted them with egg. Then put a bit of butter into a fryingpan,
and give the collops a very quick fry; for as they are so thin, two
minutes will do them on both sides. Put them into a hot dish before the
fire, strain and thicken the gravy, give it a boil in the fryingpan, and
pour it over the collops. The addition of a little ketchup will be an
improvement.--Another way is to fry the collops in butter, seasoned only
with salt and pepper. Then simmer them in gravy, either white or brown,
with bits of bacon served with them. If white, add lemon peel and mace,
and a little cream.


VEAL CUTLETS. Cut the veal into thin slices, dip them in the yolks of
egg, strew them over with grated bread and nutmeg, sweet herbs and
parsley, and lemon peel minced fine, and fry them with butter. When the
meat is done, lay it on a dish before the fire. Put a little water into
the pan, stir it round and let it boil; add a little butter rolled in
flour, and a little lemon juice, and pour it over the cutlets. Or fry
them without the bread and herbs, boil a little flour and water in the
pan with a sprig of thyme, and pour it on the cutlets, but take out the
thyme before the dish is sent to table.


VEAL GRAVY. Make it as for cullis; but leave out the spices, herbs, and
flour. It should be drawn very slowly; and if for white dishes, the meat
should not be browned.


VEAL LARDED. Take off the under bone of a neck of veal, and leave only a
part of the long bones on. Trim it neatly, lard and roast it gently with
a veal caul over it. Ten minutes before it is done, take off the caul,
and let the veal be of a very light colour. When it is to be served up,
put under it some sorrel sauce, celery heads, or asparagus tops, or
serve it with mushroom sauce.


VEAL OLIVES. Cut some long thin collops, beat them, lay them on thin
slices of fat bacon, and over these a layer of forcemeat highly
seasoned, with some shred shalot and cayenne. Roll them tight, about the
size of two fingers, but not more than two or three inches long. Fasten
them round with a small skewer, rub egg over them, and fry them of a
light brown. Serve with brown gravy, in which boil some mushrooms
pickled or fresh, and garnish with fried balls.


VEAL OLIVE PIE. Having prepared the veal olives, lay them round and
round the dish, making them highest in the middle. Fill it nearly up
with water, and cover it with paste. When baked, mix some gravy, cream,
and flour, and pour it hot into the pie.


VEAL PATTIES. Mince some veal that is not quite done, with a little
parsley, lemon peel, a dust of salt and nutmeg. Add a spoonful of cream,
gravy sufficient to moisten the meat, and a little scraped ham. This
mixture is not to be warmed till the patties are baked.


VEAL PIE. Take some of the middle or scrag of a small neck, and season
it, adding or not a few slices of lean bacon or ham. If wanted of a high
relish, add mace, cayenne, and nutmeg, to the salt and pepper; also
forcemeat, and eggs. To these likewise may be added, truffles, morels,
mushrooms, sweetbreads cut into small bits, and cocks' combs blanched,
if approved. It will be very good without any of the latter additions,
but a rich gravy must be prepared, and poured in after baking.--To make
a rich veal pie, cut steaks from a neck or breast of veal, season them
with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a very little clove in powder. Slice two
sweetbreads, and season them in the same manner. Lay a puff paste on the
ledge of the dish, put in the meat, yolks of hard eggs, the sweetbreads,
and some oysters, up to the top of the dish. Lay over the whole some
very thin slices of ham, and fill up the dish with water. Cover it with
a crust, and when taken out of the oven, pour in at the top, through a
funnel, a few spoonfuls of good veal gravy, and fill it up with cream;
but first boil and thicken it with a tea-spoonful of flour.


VEAL AND PARSLEY PIE. Cut some slices from a leg or neck of veal; if the
leg, from about the knuckle. Season them with salt, scald some pickled
parsley, and squeeze it dry. Cut the parsley a little, and lay it at the
bottom of the dish; then put in the meat, and so on, in layers. Fill up
the dish with new milk, but not so high as to touch the crust. When
baked, pour out a little of the milk, and put in half a pint of good
scalded cream. Chicken may be cut up, skinned, and dressed in the same
way.


VEAL PORCUPINE. Bone a fine large breast of veal, and rub it over with
the yolks of two eggs. Spread it out, and lay on it a few slices of
bacon, cut as thin as possible. Add a handful of parsley shred fine, the
yolks of five eggs, boiled hard and chopped, and a little lemon peel
finely shred. Steep the crumb of a penny loaf in cream, and add to it,
seasoning the whole together with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Roll the
veal close, and skewer it up. Cut some fat bacon, the lean of boiled
ham, and pickled cucumbers, about two inches long. Place these in rows
upon the veal, first the ham, then the bacon, and last the cucumbers,
till the whole is larded. Put the meat into a deep earthen pan with a
pint of water, cover it close, and set it in a slow oven for two hours.
Skim off the fat afterwards, and strain the gravy through a sieve into a
stewpan. Add a glass of white wine, a little lemon pickle and caper
liquor, and a spoonful of mushroom ketchup, and thicken the gravy with a
bit of butter rolled in flour. Lay the porcupine on a dish, and pour the
sauce over it. Have ready prepared a thin forcemeat, made of the crumb
of a penny loaf, half a pound of beef suet shred fine, the yolks of four
eggs, and a few oysters chopped. Mix these together, season the
forcemeat with cayenne, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and spread it on the
veal caul. Having rolled the whole up tight, like collared eel, bind it
in a cloth, and boil it an hour. When done enough, cut it into four
slices, laying one at each end, and the others on the sides of the dish.
Have the sweetbreads ready prepared, cut in slices and fried, and lay
them round the dish, with a few mushrooms pickled. This is allowed to
make a fine bottom dish, when game is not to be had.


VEAL ROLLS. Cut thin slices of either fresh or cold veal, spread on them
a fine seasoning of a very few crumbs, a little chopped bacon or scraped
ham, and a little suet, parsley, and shalot. Or instead of the parsley
and shalot, some fresh mushrooms stewed and minced. Then add pepper and
salt, and a small piece of pounded mace. This stuffing may either fill
up the roll like a sausage, or be rolled with the meat. In either case
tie it up very tight, and stew very slowly in good gravy, and a glass of
sherry. Skim it very carefully, and serve it up quite tender.--Another
way. Take slices of veal, enough to make a side dish; lay them on your
dresser, and lay forcemeat upon each slice; roll them up, and tie them
round with coarse thread. Rub them over with the yolk of an egg, spit
them on a bird spit, and roast them of a fine brown. For sauce, have
good gravy, with morels, truffles, and mushrooms, tossed up to a proper
thickness. Lay your rolls in your dish, and pour your sauce over.
Garnish with lemon.


VEAL SAUSAGES. Chop equal quantities of lean veal and fat bacon, a
handful of sage, a little salt and pepper, and a few anchovies. Beat all
in a mortar; and when used, roll and fry it. Serve it with fried
sippets, or on stewed vegetables, or on white collops.


VEAL SCALLOPS. Mince some cold veal very small, and set it over the fire
with a scrape of nutmeg, a little pepper and salt, and a little cream.
Heat it for a few minutes, then put it into the scallop shells, and fill
them with crumbs of bread. Lay on some pieces of butter, and brown the
scallops before the fire. Either veal or chicken looks and eats well,
prepared in this way, and lightly covered with crumbs of fried bread; or
these may be laid on in little heaps.


VEAL-SUET PUDDING. Cut the crumb of a threepenny loaf into slices, boil
and sweeten two quarts of new milk, and pour over it. When soaked, pour
out a little of the milk; mix it with six eggs well beaten, and half a
nutmeg. Lay the slices of bread into a dish, with layers of currants and
veal suet shred, a pound of each. Butter the dish well, and bake it; or
if preferred, boil the pudding in a bason.


VEAL SWEETBREAD. Parboil a fine fresh sweetbread for five minutes, and
throw it into a basin of water. When the sweetbread is cold, dry it
thoroughly in a cloth, and roast it plain. Or beat up the yolk of an
egg, and prepare some fine bread crumbs. Run a lark spit or a skewer
through it, and tie it on the ordinary spit. Egg it over with a paste
brush, powder it well with bread crumbs, and roast it. Serve it up with
fried bread crumbs round it, and melted butter, with a little mushroom
ketchup and lemon juice. Or serve the sweetbread on toasted bread,
garnished with egg sauce or gravy. Instead of spitting the sweetbread,
it may be done in a Dutch oven, or fried.


VEGETABLES. There is nothing in which the difference between an elegant
and an ordinary table is more visible, than in the dressing of
vegetables, especially greens. They may be equally as fine at first, at
one place as at another, but their look and taste afterwards are very
different, owing entirely to the careless manner in which they have been
prepared. Their appearance at table however is not all that should be
considered; for though it is certainly desirable that they should be
pleasing to the eye, it is of still greater consequence that their best
qualities should be carefully preserved. Vegetables are generally a
wholesome diet, but become very prejudicial if not properly dressed.
Cauliflowers, and others of the same species, are often boiled only
crisp, to preserve their beauty. For the look alone, they had better not
be boiled at all, and almost as well for the purpose of food, as in such
a crude state they are scarcely digestible by the strongest stomach. On
the other hand, when overboiled they become vapid, and in a state
similar to decay, in which they afford no sweet purifying juices to the
stomach, but load it with a mass of mere feculent matter. The same may
be said of many other vegetables, their utility being too often
sacrificed to appearance, and sent to table in a state not fit to be
eaten. A contrary error often prevails respecting potatoes, as if they
could never be done too much. Hence they are popped into the saucepan or
steamer, just when it happens to suit, and are left doing, not for the
time they require, but till it is convenient to take them up; when
perhaps their nutricious qualities are all boiled away, and they taste
of nothing but water. Ideas of nicety and beauty in this case ought all
to be subservient to utility; for what is beauty in vegetables growing
in the garden is not so at table, from the change of circumstances. They
are brought to be eaten, and if not adapted properly to the occasion,
they are deformities on the dish instead of ornaments. The true
criterion of beauty is their suitableness to the purposes intended. Let
them be carefully adapted to this, by being neither under nor over done,
and they will not fail to please both a correct eye and taste, while
they constitute a wholesome species of diet. A most pernicious method of
dressing vegetables is often adopted, by putting copper into the
saucepan with them in the form of halfpence. This is a dangerous
experiment, as the green colour imparted by the copperas, renders them
in the highest degree unwholesome, and even poisonous. Besides, it is
perfectly unnecessary, for if put into boiling water with a little
salt, and boiled up directly, they will be as beautifully green as the
most fastidious person can require. A little pearlash might safely be
used on such an occasion, and with equal effect, its alkaline properties
tending to correct the acidity. Many vegetables are more wholesome, and
more agreeable to the taste, when stewed a good while, only care must be
taken that they stew merely, without being suffered to boil. Boiling
produces a sudden effect, stewing a slower effect, and both have their
appropriate advantages. But if preparations which ought only to stew,
are permitted to boil, the process is destroyed, and a premature effect
produced, that cannot be corrected by any future stewing. In order to
have vegetables in the best state for the table, they should be gathered
in their proper season, when they are in the greatest perfection, and
that is when they are most plentiful. Forced vegetables seldom attain
their true flavour, as is evident from very early asparagus, which is
altogether inferior to that which is matured by nature and common
culture, or the mere operation of the sun and climate. Peas and Potatoes
are seldom worth eating before midsummer; unripe vegetables being as
insipid and unwholesome as unripe fruit, and are liable to the same
objections as when they are destroyed by bad cooking. Vegetables are too
commonly treated with a sort of cold distrust, as if they were natural
enemies. They are seldom admitted freely at our tables, and are often
tolerated only upon a sideboard in small quantities, as if of very
inferior consideration. The effect of this is like that of all
indiscriminate reserve, that we may negatively be said to lose friends,
because we have not the confidence to make them. From the same distrust
or prejudice, there are many vegetables never used at all, which are
nevertheless both wholesome and palatable, particularly amongst those
best known under the denomination of herbs. The freer use of vegetable
diet would be attended with a double advantage, that of improving our
health, and lessening the expense of the table. Attention should however
be paid to their size and quality, in order to enjoy them in their
highest degree of perfection. The middle size are generally to be
preferred to the largest or the smallest; they are more tender, and full
of flavour, just before they are quite full grown. Freshness is their
chief value and excellence, and the eye easily discovers whether they
have been kept too long, as in that case they lose all their verdure and
beauty. Roots, greens, salads, and the various productions of the
garden, when first gathered, are plump and firm, and have a fragrant
freshness which no art can restore, when they have lost it by long
keeping, though it will impart a little freshness to put them into cold
spring water for some time before they are dressed. They should neither
be so young as not to have acquired their good qualities, nor so old as
to be on the point of losing them. To boil them in soft water will best
preserve the colour of such as are green; or if only hard water be at
hand, a tea-spoonful of potash should be added. Great care should be
taken to pick and cleanse them thoroughly from dust, dirt, and insects,
and nicely to trim off the outside leaves. If allowed to soak awhile in
water a little salted, it will materially assist in cleansing them from
insects. All the utensils employed in dressing vegetables should be
extremely clean and nice; and if any copper vessel is ever used for the
purpose, the greatest attention must be paid to its being well tinned.
The scum which arises from vegetables as they boil should be carefully
removed, as cleanliness is essential both to their looking and eating
well. The lid of the saucepan should always be taken off when they boil,
to give access to the air, even if it is not otherwise thought
necessary. Put in the vegetables when the water boils, with a little
salt, and let them boil quickly; when they sink to the bottom, they are
generally done enough. Take them up immediately, or they will lose their
colour and goodness. Drain the water from them thoroughly, before they
are sent to table. When greens are quite fresh gathered, they will not
require so much boiling by at least a third of the time, as when they
have been gathered a day or two and brought to the public market. The
following table shows when the various kinds of vegetables are in
season, or the time of their earliest natural growth, and when they are
most plentiful, or in their highest perfection.

          Artichokes,                 July, September,
          ---- Jerusalem ditto,       Sept. November,
          Angelica stalks,            May, June,
          Asparagus,                  April, June,
          Beet roots,                 Dec. January,
          Boricole,                   November, January
          Cabbage,                    May, July,
          ---- Red ditto,             July, August,
          ---- White ditto,           October,
          Cardoons,                   Nov. December,
          Carrots,                    May, August,
          Cauliflowers,               June, August,
          Celery,                     Sept. November,
          Chervil,                    March, May,
          Corn Salad,                 May, June,
          Cucumbers,                  July, September,
          Endive,                     June, October,
          Kidney Beans,               July, August,
          Leeks,                      Sept. December,
          Lettuce,                    April, July,
          Onions,                     August, November,
          Parsley,                    February, March,
          Parsnips,                   July, October,
          Peas,                       June, August,
          Potatoes,                   June, November,
          Radishes,                   March, June,
          ---- Spanish ditto,         August, September,
          Scarlet Beans,              July, August,
          Small Salad,                May, June,
          Salsify,                    July, August,
          Scorzonera,                 July, August,
          Sea Kale,                   April, May,
          Shalots,                    August, October,
          Savory Cabbage,             Sept. November,
          Sorrel,                     June, July,
          Spinage,                    March, July,
          ---- Winter ditto,          Oct. November,
          Turnips,                    May, July,
          Turnip tops,                April, May,
          Windsor Beans,              June, August.


VEGETABLES AND FISH. Pick, wash, and chop some sorrel, spinage, small
onions or chives, and parsley. Put them into a stewpan with fresh
butter, a good spoonful of lemon or Seville orange juice, or vinegar and
water, some essence of anchovy, and cayenne pepper. Do these gently over
the fire till the vegetables are tender, then put in the fish, and stew
them till well done.


VEGETABLE ESSENCES. The flavour of the various sweet and savoury herbs
may be obtained, by combining their essential oils with rectified spirit
of wine, in the proportion of one dram of the former to two ounces of
the latter; by picking the leaves, and laying them in a warm place to
dry, and then filling a wide-mouth bottle with them, and pouring on them
wine, brandy, or vinegar, and letting them steep for fourteen days.


VEGETABLE MARROW. Take off all the skin of six or eight gourds, put them
into a stewpan with water, salt, lemon juice, and a bit of butter, or
fat bacon. Let them stew gently till quite tender, and serve them up
with rich Dutch sauce, or any other sauce highly flavoured.


VEGETABLE PIE. Scald and blanch some broad beans, and cut in some young
carrots, turnips, artichoke bottoms, mushrooms, peas, onions, parsley,
celery, or any of these. Make the whole into a nice stew, with some
good veal gravy. Bake a crust over a dish, with a little lining round
the edge, and a cup turned up to keep it from sinking. When baked, open
the lid, and pour in the stew.


VEGETABLE SOUP. Pare and slice five or six cucumbers, add the inside of
as many cos-lettuces, a sprig or two of mint, two or three onions, some
pepper and salt, a pint and a half of young peas, and a little parsley.
Put these into a saucepan with half a pound of fresh butter, to stew in
their own liquor half an hour, near a gentle fire. Pour on the
vegetables two quarts of boiling water, and stew them two hours. Rub a
little flour in a tea-cupful of water, boil it with the rest nearly
twenty minutes, and serve it.--Another way. Peel and slice six large
onions, six potatoes, six carrots, and four turnips; fry them in half a
pound of butter, and pour on them four quarts of boiling water. Toast a
crust of bread quite brown and hard, but do not burn it; add it to the
above, with some celery, sweet herbs, white pepper, and salt. Stew it
all together gently four hours, and strain it through a coarse cloth.
Put in a sliced carrot, some celery, and a small turnip, and stew them
in the soup. An anchovy, and a spoonful of ketchup, may be added if
approved.


VEGETABLE SYRUP. To a pint of white wine vinegar, put two pounds of the
best brown sugar. Boil them to a syrup; and when quite cold, add two
table-spoonfuls of paregoric elixir, which is made in the following
manner. Steep in a pint of brandy a dram of purified opium, a dram of
flowers of benjamin, and two scruples of camphor, adding a dram of the
oil of anniseed. Let it stand ten days, occasionally shaking it up, and
then strain it off. This added to the above composition, forms the
celebrated Godbold's Vegetable Syrup. The paregoric elixir taken by
itself, a tea-spoonful in half a pint of white wine whey or gruel at bed
time, is an agreeable and effectual medicine for coughs and colds. It is
also excellent for children who have the hooping cough, in doses of from
five to twenty drops in a little water, or on a small piece of sugar.
The vegetable syrup is chiefly intended for consumptive cases.


VELVETS. When the pile of velvet requires to be raised, it is only
necessary to warm a smoothing iron, to cover it with a wet cloth, and
hold it under the velvet. The vapour arising from the wet cloth will
raise the pile of the velvet, with the assistance of a whisk gently
passed over it. To remove spots and stains in velvet, bruise some of the
plant called soapwort, strain out the juice, and add to it a small
quantity of black soap. Wash the stain with this liquor, and repeat it
several times after it has been allowed to dry. To take wax out of
velvet, rub it frequently with hot toasted bread.


VENISON. If it be young and good, the fat of the venison will be clear,
bright, and thick, and the cleft part smooth and close: but if the cleft
is wide and tough, it is old. To judge of its sweetness, run a very
sharp narrow knife into the shoulder or haunch, and the meat will be
known by the scent. Few people like it when it is very high.


VENISON PASTY. To prepare venison for pasty, take out all the bones,
beat and season the meat, and lay it into a stone jar in large pieces.
Pour over it some plain drawn beef gravy, not very strong; lay the bones
on the top, and set the jar in a water bath, or saucepan of water over
the fire, and let it simmer three or four hours. The next day, when
quite cold, remove the cake of fat, and lay the meat in handsome pieces
on the dish. If not sufficiently seasoned, add more pepper, salt, or
pimento. Put in some of the gravy, and keep the remainder for the time
of serving. When the venison is thus prepared, it will not require so
much time to bake, or such a very thick crust as usual, and by which the
under part is seldom done through. A shoulder of venison makes a good
pasty, and if there be a deficiency of fat, it must be supplied from a
good loin of mutton, steeped twenty-four hours in equal parts of rape,
vinegar, and port. The shoulder being sinewy, it will be of advantage to
rub it well with sugar for two or three days; and when to be used, clear
it perfectly from the sugar and the wine with a dry cloth. A mistake
used to prevail, that venison could not be baked too much; but three or
four hours in a slow oven will be sufficient to make it tender, and the
flavour will be preserved. Whether it be a shoulder or a side of
venison, the meat must be cut in pieces, and laid with fat between, that
it may be proportioned to each person, without breaking up the pasty to
find it. Lay some pepper and salt at the bottom of the dish, and some
butter; then the meat nicely packed, that it may be sufficiently done,
but not lie hollow to harden at the edges. In order to provide gravy for
the pasty, boil the venison bones with some fine old mutton, and put
half a pint of the gravy cold into the dish. Then lay butter on the
venison and cover as well as line the sides with a thick crust, but none
must be put under the meat. Keep the remainder of the gravy till the
pasty comes from the oven; pour it quite hot into the middle by means of
a funnel, and mix it well in the dish by shaking. It should be seasoned
with pepper and salt.--Another way. Take a side of venison, bone it, and
season it with pepper and salt, cloves, and mace finely beaten; cut your
venison in large pieces, and season it very well with your spices then
lay it into an earthen pan; make a good gravy of two pound of beef, and
pour this gravy over the venison; take three quarters of a pound of beef
suet, well picked from the skins, wet a coarse cloth, lay your suet on
it, and cover it over, and beat it with a rolling-pin, till it is as
fine as butter; as your cloth dries, wet it, and shift your suet, and
put it over the top of the venison; make a paste of flour and water, and
cover the pan, and send it to the oven to bake; it is best baked with a
batch of bread; when it comes from the oven, and is quite cold, make a
puff-paste; lay a paste all over your dish, and a roll round the inside,
then put in your venison with the fat, and all the gravy, if the dish
will hold it; put on the lid, and ornament it as your fancy leads. It
will take two hours and a half in a quick oven. A sheet of paper laid on
the top, will prevent it from catching, and the crust will be of a fine
colour. By baking your venison in this manner, it will keep four or five
days before you use it, if you do not take off the crust.


VENISON SAUCE. Boil an ounce of dried currants in half a pint of water,
and some crumbs of bread, a few cloves or grated nutmeg, a glass of port
wine, and a piece of butter. Sweeten it to your taste, and send it to
table in a boat.


VERJUICE. Lay some ripe crabs together in a heap to sweat, then take out
the stalks and decayed ones, and mash up the rest. Press the juice
through a hair cloth into a clean vessel, and it will be fit to use in a
month. It is proper for sauces where lemon is wanted.


VERMICELLI PUDDING. Boil a pint of milk with lemon peel and cinnamon,
and sweeten it with loaf sugar. Strain it through a sieve, add a quarter
of a pound of vermicelli, and boil it ten minutes. Then put in the yolks
of five and the whites of three eggs, mix them well together, and steam
the pudding an hour and a quarter, or bake it half an hour.


VERMICELLI SOUP. Boil two ounces of vermicelli in three quarts of veal
gravy, then rub it through a tammis, season it with salt, give it a
boil, and skim it well. Beat up the yolks of four eggs, mix with them
half a pint of cream, stir them gradually into the soup, simmer it for a
few minutes, and serve it up. A little of the vermicelli may be reserved
to serve in the soup, if approved.--Another way. Take two quarts of
strong veal broth, put into a clean saucepan a piece of bacon stuck with
cloves, and half an ounce of butter worked up in flour; then take a
small fowl trussed to boil, break the breastbone, and put it into your
soup; stove it close, and let it stew three quarters of an hour; take
about two ounces of vermicelli, and put to it some of the broth; set it
over the fire till it is quite tender. When your soup is ready, take out
the fowl, and put it into your dish; take out your bacon, skim your soup
as clean as possible; then pour it on the fowl, and lay your vermicelli
all over it; cut some French bread thin, put it into your soup, and send
it to table. If you chuse it, you may make your soup with a knuckle of
veal, and send a handsome piece of it in the middle of your dish,
instead of the fowl.


VICARAGE CAKE. Mix a pound and a half of fine flour, half a pound of
moist sugar, a little grated nutmeg and ginger, two eggs well beaten, a
table-spoonful of yeast, and the same of brandy. Make it into a light
paste, with a quarter of a pound of butter melted in half a pint of
milk. Let it stand half an hour before the fire to rise, then add three
quarters of a pound of currants, well washed and cleaned, and bake the
cake in a brisk oven. Butter the tin before the cake is put into it.


VINEGAR. Allow a pound of lump sugar to a gallon of water. While it is
boiling, skim it carefully, and pour it into a tub to cool. When it is
no more than milk warm, rub some yeast upon a piece of bread and put
into it, and let it ferment about twenty-four hours. Then tun the liquor
into a cask with iron hoops, lay a piece of tile over the bung-hole, and
set it in the kitchen, which is better than placing it in the sun. It
will be fit to bottle in about six months. March is the best time of the
year for making vinegar, though if kept in the kitchen, this is of less
consequence. A cheap sort of vinegar may be made of the refuse of the
bee hives, after the honey is extracted. Put the broken combs into a
vessel, and add two parts of water: expose it to the sun, or keep it in
a warm place. Fermentation will succeed in a few days, when it must be
well stirred and pressed down to make it soak; and when the fermentation
is over, the matter is to be laid upon sieves to drain. The yellow
liquor which forms at the bottom of the vessel must be removed, the
vessel well cleaned, and the liquor which has been strained is to be
returned to the vessel. It will immediately begin to turn sour; it
should therefore be covered with a cloth, and kept moderately warm. A
pellicle will be formed on the surface, beneath which the vinegar
acquires strength: it must be kept standing for a month or two, and then
put into a cask. The bunghole should be left open, and the vinegar will
soon be fit for use. The prunings of the vine, being bruised and put
into a vat or mash tub, and boiling water poured on them, will produce a
liquor of a fine vinous quality, which may be used as vinegar.--Another
method. To every pound of coarse sugar add a gallon of water; boil the
mixture, and take off the scum as long as any rises. Then pour it into
proper vessels, and when sufficiently cooled put into it a warm toast
covered with yeast. Let it work about twenty-four hours, and then put
it into an iron-bound cask, fixed either near a constant fire, or where
the summer sun shines the greater part of the day. In this situation it
should not be closely stopped up, but a tile or something similar should
be laid on the bunghole, to keep out the dust and insects. At the end of
three months or less it will be clear, and fit for use, and may be
bottled off. The longer it is kept after it is bottled, the better it
will be. If the vessel containing the liquor is to be exposed to the
sun's heat, the best time to begin making it is in the month of April.


VINEGAR FOR SALADS. Take three ounces each of tarragon, savory, chives,
and shalots, and a handful of the tops of mint and balm, all dry and
pounded. Put the mixture into a wide-mouthed bottle, with a gallon of
the best vinegar. Cork it down close, set it in the sun, and in a
fortnight strain off and squeeze the herbs. Let it stand a day to
settle, and filter it through a tammis bag.


VINEGAR WHEY. Set upon the fire as much milk as is wanted for the
occasion, and when it is ready to boil, put in vinegar sufficient to
turn it to a clear whey. Let it stand some minutes, and then pour it
off. If too acid, a little warm water may be added. This whey is well
adapted to promote perspiration. Lemon or Seville orange juice may be
used instead of vinegar.


VINGARET. Chop some mint, parsley, and shalot; and mix them up with oil
and vinegar. Serve the sauce in a boat, for cold fowl or meat.


VIPERS. The bites of such reptiles should constantly be guarded against
as much as possible, as they are not unfrequently attended with
dangerous consequences. Animals of the neat-cattle kind are more liable
to be bitten and stung by these reptiles, than those of any other sort
of live stock. Instances have been known where the tongues of such
cattle have been even bitten or stung while grazing or feeding, which
have proved fatal. Such stock are, however, seldom attacked by reptiles
of the adder kind, except in cases where these are disturbed by the
animals in pasturing or feeding; which is the main reason why so many of
them are bitten and stung about the head, and occasionally the feet.
There are mostly much pain, inflammation, and swelling produced by these
bites and stings; the progress of which may commonly be checked or
stopped, and the complaint removed, by the use of such means as are
directed below. A sort of soft liquid of the liniment kind may be
prepared by mixing strong spirit of hartshorn, saponaceous liniment,
spirit of turpentine, and tincture of opium, with olive oil; the former
in the proportion of about two ounces each to three of the last,
incorporating them well together by shaking them in a phial, which will
be found very useful in many cases. A proper quantity of it should be
well rubbed upon the affected part, two or three times in the course of
the day, until the inflammation and swelling begin to disappear, after
the bottle has been well shaken. In the more dangerous cases, it may
often be advantageous to use fomentations to the affected parts,
especially when about the head, with the above application; such as
those made by boiling white poppy-heads with the roots of the
marshmallow, the leaves of the large plantain, and the tops of wormwood,
in the quantities of a few ounces of the first, and a handful of each of
the latter, when cut small, and bruised in five or six quarts of the
stale grounds of malt liquor. They may be applied frequently to the
diseased parts, rubbing them afterwards each time well with the above
soft liquid liniment. Where there are feverish appearances, as is often
the case in the summer season, a proper quantity of blood may sometimes
be taken away with great benefit, and a strong purge be afterwards
given of the cooling kind with much use. In slight cases of this kind,
some think the continued free use of spirit of hartshorn, given
internally, and applied externally to the affected parts, is the best
remedy of any that is yet known. As they are so dangerous, these
reptiles should always be destroyed as much as possible in all pastures
and grazing grounds.




U.


UDDER SWEET PIE. Either parboil or roast a tongue and udder, slice them
into tolerably thin slices, and season them with pepper and salt. Stone
half a pound of sun raisins, raise a crust, or put a puff crust round
the edge of a dish, place a layer of tongue and udder at the bottom, and
then some raisins, and so on till the dish is full. Cover the top with a
crust, and when the pie is baked, pour in the following sauce. Beat up
some yolks of eggs, with vinegar, white wine, sugar, and butter. Shake
them over the fire till ready to boil, and add it to the pie immediately
before it is sent to table.


ULCERS. Ulcers should not be healed precipitately, for it may be
attended with considerable danger. The first object is to cleanse the
wound with emollient poultices, and soften it with yellow basilicon
ointment, to which may be added a little turpentine or red precipitate.
They may also be washed with lime water, dressed with lint dipped in
tincture of myrrh, with spermaceti, or any other cooling ointment.


UMBRELLA VARNISH. Make for umbrellas the following varnish, which will
render them proof against wind and rain. Boil together two pounds of
turpentine, one pound of litharge in powder, and two or three pints of
linseed oil. The umbrella is then to be brushed over with the varnish,
and dried in the sun.


UNIVERSAL CEMENT. To an ounce of gum mastic add as much highly rectified
spirits of wine as will dissolve it. Soak an ounce of isinglass in water
until quite soft, then dissolve it in pure rum or brandy, until it forms
a strong glue, to which add about a quarter of an ounce of gum ammoniac
well rubbed and mixed. Put the two mixtures in an earthen vessel over a
gentle heat; when well united, the mixture may be put into a phial, and
kept well stopped. When wanted for use, the bottle must be set in warm
water, and the china or glass articles having been also warmed, the
cement must be applied. It will be proper that the broken surfaces, when
carefully fitted, should be kept in close contact for twelve hours at
least, until the cement is fully set, after which the fracture will be
found as secure as any other part of the vessel, and scarcely
perceptible.




W.


WAFERS. Dry some flour well, mix with it a little pounded sugar, and
finely pounded mace. Make these ingredients into a thick batter with
cream. Butter the wafer irons, and make them hot; put a tea-spoonful of
the batter into them, bake them carefully, and roll them off the iron
with a stick.


WAINSCOTS. Dirty painted wainscots may be cleaned with a sponge wetted
in potato water, and dipped in a little fine sand. For this purpose
grate some raw potatoes into water, run the pulp through a sieve, and
let it stand to settle; the clear liquor will then be fit for use. If
applied in a pure state, without the sand, it will be serviceable in
cleaning oil paintings, and similar articles of furniture. When an oak
wainscot becomes greasy, and has not been painted, it should be washed
with warm beer. Then boil two quarts of ale, and put into it a piece of
bees' wax the size of a walnut, with a large spoonful of sugar. Wet the
wainscot all over with a brush dipped in the mixture, and when dry, rub
it bright: this will give it a fine gloss.


WALNUT KETCHUP. To make the finest sort of walnut ketchup, boil or
simmer a gallon of the expressed juice of walnuts when they are tender,
and skim it well. Then put in two pounds of anchovies, bones and liquor;
two pounds of shalot, one ounce of mace, one ounce of cloves, one of
whole pepper, and one of garlic. Let all simmer together till the
shalots sink; then put the liquor into a pan till cold; bottle it up,
and make an equal distribution of the spice. Cork it well, and tie a
bladder over. It will keep twenty years, but is not good at first. Be
careful to express the juice at home, for what is sold as walnut ketchup
is generally adulterated. Some people make liquor of the outside shell
when the nut is ripe, but neither the colour nor the flavour is then so
fine.--Another way. Take four quarts of walnut juice, two quarts of
white wine vinegar, three ounces of ginger sliced, two ounces of black
pepper bruised, two ounces of white pepper bruised, half a pound of
anchovies; let these simmer gently, till half the quantity is
evaporated; then add to it a quart of red wine, two heads of garlic, the
yellow rind of eight Seville oranges, or half a pound of dried orange
peel cut very small, and forty bay leaves: give it one boil together,
then cover it close in an earthen vessel, and let it stand till it is
cold. When it is cold put it into wide-mouthed quart bottles; and into
each of the bottles put one ounce of shalots skinned and sliced: cork
the bottles close, and put them by for two months, when it will be fit
for use. The shalots will likewise eat very fine when taken out, though
they will look of a bad colour.--Another way, for fish sauce. Take
walnuts, when they are fit for pickling, bruise them well in a marble
mortar, and strain off the liquor from them through a cloth, let it
stand to settle, pour off the clear, and to every pint of it add one
pound of anchovies, half a quarter of an ounce of mace, half a quarter
of an ounce of cloves, half a quarter of an ounce of Jamaica pepper,
bruised fine; boil them together till the anchovies are dissolved; then
strain it off, and to the strained liquor add half a pint of the best
vinegar, and eight shalots; just boil it up again, pour it into a stone
pan or china bowl, and let it stand till cold, when it is fit to put up
in bottles for use. It will keep for years, and is excellent with fish
sauce.


WARTS AND CORNS. Warts may safely be destroyed by tying them closely
round the bottom with a silk thread, or a strong flaxen thread well
waxed. Or they may be dried away by some moderately corroding
application, such as the milky juice of fig leaves, of swallow wort, or
of spurge. Warts may also be destroyed by rubbing them with the inside
of bean shells. But these corrosives can only be procured in summer; and
persons who have very delicate thin skins should not use them, as they
may occasion a painful swelling. Instead therefore of these
applications, it may be proper to use a little vinegar impregnated with
as much salt as it will dissolve. A plaster may also be made of sal
ammoniac and some galbanum, which well kneaded together and applied,
seldom fails of destroying them. The general and principal cause of
corns is, shoes too hard and stiff, or else too small. The cure consists
in softening the corns by repeated washing, and soaking the feet in warm
or hot water; then cutting the corn very carefully when softened, with a
sharp penknife without wounding the quick, and afterwards applying a
leaf of houseleek, ground ivy, or purslain, dipped in vinegar. Or
instead of these leaves, they may be dressed every day with a plaster of
simple diachylon, or of gum ammoniacum softened in vinegar. The bark of
the willow tree burnt to ashes, and mixed with strong vinegar, forms a
lixivium which by repeated applications eradicates, warts, corns, and
other cutaneous excrescences. It is however the wisest way to obviate
the cause which produces them.


WASH. An infusion of horseradish in milk, makes one of the safest and
best washes for the skin; or the fresh juice of houseleek, mixed with an
equal quantity of new milk or cream. Honey water made rather thick, so
as to form a kind of varnish on the skin, is a useful application in
frosty weather, when the skin is liable to be chipped; and if it
occasions any irritation or uneasiness, a little fine flour or pure hair
powder should be dusted on the hands or face. A more elegant wash may be
made of four ounces of potash, four ounces of rose water, and two of
lemon juice, mixed in two quarts of water. A spoonful or two of this
mixture put into the basin, will scent and soften the water intended to
be used.


WASH BALLS. Shave thin two pounds of new white soap, into about a
teacupful of rose water, and pour on as much boiling water as will
soften it. Put into a brass pan a pint of sweet oil, four pennyworth of
oil of almonds, half a pound of spermaceti, and dissolve the whole over
the fire. Then add the soap, and half an ounce of camphor that has first
been reduced to powder by rubbing it in a mortar with a few drops of
spirits of wine, or lavender water, or any other scent. Boil it ten
minutes, then pour it into a basin, and stir till it is quite thick
enough to roll up into hard balls, which must then be done as soon as
possible. If essence is used, stir it in quick after it is taken off the
fire, that the scent may not fly off.


WASHING. Soda, by softening the water, saves a great deal of soap. It
should be melted in a large jug of water, and some of it poured into the
tubs and boiler; and when the lather becomes weak, more is to be added.
The new improvement in soft soap is, if properly used, a saving of
nearly half in quantity; and though something dearer than the hard, it
reduces the expence of washing considerably. Many good laundresses
advise soaping linen in warm water the night previous to washing, as
facilitating the operation with less friction.


WASPS. These insects are not only destructive to grapes, peaches, and
the more delicate kinds of fruit, but also to bees; the hives of which
they attack and plunder, frequently compelling those industrious inmates
to forsake their habitation. About the time when the wasps begin to
appear, several phials should be filled three parts full of a mixture
consisting of the lees of beer or wine, and the sweepings of sugar, or
the dregs of molasses, and suspended by yellow packthread on nails in
the garden wall. When the bottles are filled with insects, the liquor
must be poured into another vial, and the wasps crushed on the ground.
If they settle on wall fruit, they may be destroyed by touching them
with a feather dipped in oil; or may be taken with birdlime put on the
end of a stick or lath, and touched while sitting on the fruit. The
number of these noxious insects might be greatly reduced by searching
for their nests in the spring of the year. The places to find them are
at new posts, pales, melon frames, or any solid timber; for as they make
their combs of the shavings of sound wood, which they rasp off with
their fangs, and moisten up with a mucus from their bodies, they may
often be found near such materials.


WATER. As it is difficult in some places to obtain a sufficient quantity
of fresh spring water for constant use, especially in large towns and
cities, it is important to know that river water or such as becomes
turbid, may be rendered fit for use by the following easy experiment.
Dissolve half an ounce of alum in a pint of warm water, and stir it
about in a puncheon of water taken from the river; the impurities will
soon settle to the bottom, and in a day or two it will become as clear
as the finest spring water. To purify any kind of water that has become
foul by being stagnant, place a piece of wicker work in the middle of a
vessel; spread on this a layer of charcoal four or five inches thick,
and above the charcoal a quantity of sand. The surface of the sand is to
be covered with paper pierced full of holes, to prevent the water from
making channels in the sand. The water to be purified is to be poured
on, to filter through the sand and charcoal, and the filter is to be
removed occasionally. By this simple process, any person may procure
good limpid water at a very trifling expense, and preserve what would
otherwise become useless and offensive.


WATER FOR BREWING. The most proper water for brewing is soft river
water, which has had the rays of the sun, and the influence of the air
upon it, which have a tendency to permit it easily to penetrate the
malt, and extract its virtues. On the contrary, hard waters astringe and
bind the power of the malt, so that its virtues are not freely
communicated to the liquor. Some people hold it as a maxim, that all
water that will mix with soap is fit for brewing, which is the case with
the generality of river water; and it has frequently been found from
experience, that when an equal quantity of malt has been used to a
barrel of river water, as to a barrel of spring water, the brewing from
the former has exceeded the other in strength above five degrees in the
course of twelve months keeping. It has also been observed, that the
malt was not only the same in quantity for one barrel as for the other,
but was the same in quality, having all been measured from the same
heap. The hops were also the same, both in quality and in quantity, and
the time of boiling equal in each. They were worked in the same manner,
and tunned and kept in the same cellar; a proof that the water only
could be the cause of the difference. Dorchester beer, which is
generally in much esteem, is chiefly brewed with chalky water, which is
plentiful in almost every part of that county; and as the soil is mostly
chalk, the cellars, being dug in that dry soil, contribute much to the
good keeping of their drink, it being of a close texture, and of a dry
quality, so as to dissipate damps; for it has been found by experience,
that damp cellars are equally injurious to the casks and the good
keeping of the liquor. Where water is naturally of a hard quality, it
may in some measure be softened by an exposure to the sun and air, and
by infusing in it some pieces of soft chalk; or when the water is set on
to boil, in order to be poured on the malt, put into it a quantity of
bran, and it will have a very good effect.


WATER CAKES. Dry three pounds of fine flour, and rub into it a pound of
sifted sugar, a pound of butter, and an ounce of carraway seeds. Make it
into a paste with three quarters of a pint of boiling new milk; roll the
paste very thin, and cut it into any form or size. Punch the cakes full
of holes, and bake on tin plates in a cool oven.


WATER GRUEL. Mix by degrees a large spoonful of oatmeal with a pint of
water in a saucepan, and when smooth, boil it. Or rub the oatmeal smooth
in a little water, and put it into a pint of water boiling on the fire.
Stir it well, and boil it quick, but do not suffer it to boil over. In a
quarter of an hour strain it off, add salt and a bit of butter when
eaten, and stir it together till the whole is incorporated. To make it
however in the quickest manner, mix a spoonful of ground oatmeal very
smooth, with as much hot water as will just liquify it. Then gradually
pour upon it a pint of boiling water, stirring it all the time to keep
it smooth. It may be cooled by pouring it from one basin to another till
it is fit to drink. Water gruel made in this way is very smooth and
good, and being prepared in a few minutes, it is particularly useful
when wanted in haste, to assist the operation of medicine.


WATER PIPES. To prevent their freezing when full of water, preserve a
little circulation by leaving the cock dripping; or by tying up the ball
cock during the winter's frost, the water may be preserved for use. Care
should be taken however to lay the pipe which supplies the cistern in
such a position as not to retain the water, and of course it will not be
liable to freeze.


WATER SOUCHY. Stew two or three flounders, some parsley leaves and
roots, thirty peppercorns, and a quart of water, till the fish are
boiled to pieces, and then pulp them through a sieve. Set over the fire
the pulped fish, the liquor that boiled them, some perch, tench, and
flounders, and some fresh leaves or roots of parsley. Simmer them
together till done enough, and serve in a deep dish. Slices of bread and
butter are to be sent to table, to eat with the souchy.


WAX. Bees' wax is obtained from the combs, after the sweet and liquid
parts are extracted, by heating and pressing them between iron plates.
The best sort is firm and hard, of a clear yellow colour and an
agreeable odour, similar to that of honey. New wax is tough, yet easily
broken; by long keeping it becomes harder and more brittle, loses its
colour, and partly also its fragrance. With a view to bleach the wax, it
is cut into small pieces, melted, and poured into cold water. In this
state it is exposed to the sun, afterwards melted again, poured into
water, and exposed to the air, two or three times over, till it is
perfectly blanched. It is then dissolved for the last time, cast into
flat moulds, and again exposed to the air for a day or two, in order to
render it more transparent.


WAX PLASTER. This is made of a pound of yellow wax, half a pound of
white rosin, and three quarters of mutton suet, melted together. This
forms a proper plaster for blisters, and in other cases where a gentle
digestive is necessary.


WEAK EYES. Dimness of sight, arising from weakness or inflammation, is
best relieved by frequent washing of the eyes with cold water. If this
do not succeed, the following solution may be applied. Dissolve four
grains each of the sugar of lead and crude sal-ammoniac, in eight ounces
of water, to which a few drops of laudanum may occasionally be added,
and bathe the eyes with it night and morning. A tea-spoonful of brandy
in a cup of water will also make good eye-water, or a little simple rose
water may supply the place.


WEDDING CAKE. Take two pounds of butter, beat it to a cream with the
hand, and put in two pounds of fine sugar sifted. Mix well together two
pounds of fine dried flour, half a pound of almonds blanched and pounded
with orange-flower water, and an ounce of beaten mace. Beat up sixteen
eggs, leaving out three whites, and put to them half a glass of sack,
and the same of brandy. Put a handful of the flour and almonds to the
sugar and butter, then a spoonful of the eggs, and so on till they are
all mixed together. Beat it an hour with the hand, add two pounds of
currants, half a pound of citron, half a pound of orange peel, and two
spoonfuls of orange-flower water. Butter the tin, and bake it three
hours and a half. An iceing should be put over the cake after it is
baked.


WEEDS. Weeds are in their most succulent state in the month of June,
and there is scarcely a hedge border but might be rendered useful by
mowing them at this season, but which afterwards would become a
nuisance. After the weeds have lain a few hours to wither, hungry cattle
will eat them with great freedom, and it would display the appearance of
good management to embrace the transient opportunity.


WELCH ALE. To brew very fine Welch ale, pour forty-two gallons of hot
but not boiling water, on eight bushels of malt; cover it up, and let it
stand three hours. Mean while infuse four pounds of hops in a little hot
water, and put the water and hops into a tub; run the wort upon them,
and boil them together three hours. Strain off the hops, and reserve
them for the small beer. Let the wort stand in a high tub till cool
enough to receive the yeast, of which put in two quarts of the best
quality: mix it thoroughly and often. When the wort has done working,
the second or third day, the yeast will sink rather than rise in the
middle: remove it then, and tun the ale as it works out. Pour in a quart
at a time gently, to prevent the fermentation from continuing too long,
which weakens the liquor. Put paper over the bung-hole two or three days
before it is closed up.


WELCH BEEF. Rub three ounces of saltpetre into a good piece of the round
or buttock. After four hours apply a handful of common salt, a quarter
of an ounce of Jamaica pepper, and the same of black pepper, mixed
together. Continue it in the pickle a fortnight, then stuff it with
herbs, cover it with a thick paste, and bake it. Take off the paste,
pour the liquor from it, and pour over it some melted beef suet.


WELCH PUDDING. Melt half a pound of fine butter gently, beat with it the
yolks of eight and the whites of four eggs. Mix in six ounces of loaf
sugar, and the rind of a lemon grated. Put a paste into a dish for
turning out, pour in the batter, and bake it nicely.


WELCH RABBIT. Toast a slice of bread on both sides, and butter it. Toast
a slice of Gloucester cheese on one side, and lay that on the bread;
then toast the other side with a salamander, rub mustard over, and serve
it up hot under a cover.


WENS. These are prevalent chiefly among the inhabitants of marshy
countries, bordering on rivers and standing waters, especially among
females, and persons of a delicate habit; but they very often arise from
scrophula. Camphor mixed with sweet oil, or a solution of sal ammoniac,
have often been applied to these tumours with success. In Derbyshire,
where this disorder greatly prevails, they use the following
preparation. Fifteen grains of burnt sponge are beaten up with a similar
quantity of millipede, and from eight to ten grains of cinnabar
antimony. The whole is to be mixed with honey, and taken every morning
before breakfast.


WESTPHALIA HAM. Rub the ham with half a pound of coarse sugar, let it
lie twelve hours, then rub it with an ounce of saltpetre pounded, and a
pound of common salt. Let it lie three weeks, turning it every day. Dry
it over a wood fire, and put a pint of oak sawdust into the water when
it is boiled.--Another way. Take spring water that is not hard, add
saltpetre and bay salt to it till it will bear an egg, the broad way,
then add a pound and a half of coarse sugar; mix all together, and let
the ham lay in this pickle a fortnight or three weeks; then lay it in
the chimney to dry. When you boil it, put some hay into the copper with
it. You may keep the pickle as long as you please by often boiling it
up.


WET CLOTHES. When a person has the misfortune to get wet, care should
be taken not to get too near the fire, or into a warm room, so as to
occasion a sudden heat. The safest way is to keep in constant motion,
until some dry clothes can be procured, and to exchange them as soon as
possible.


WHEAT BREAD. To make it in the most economical way, the coarsest of the
bran only is to be taken from the flour, and the second coat, or what is
called pollard, is to be left in the meal. Five pounds of the bran are
to be boiled in somewhat more than four gallons of water, in order that,
when perfectly smooth, three gallons and three quarts of clear bran
water may be poured into and kneaded up with forty-six pounds of the
meal; adding salt as well as yeast, in the same way as for other bread.
When the dough is ready to bake, the loaves are to be made up, and baked
two hours and a half in a tolerably hot oven. As flour when thus made up
will imbibe three quarts more of this bran liquor than of common water,
it evidently produces not only a more nutricious and substantial food,
but increases one fifth above the usual quantity; consequently it makes
a saving of at least one day's consumption in every week. If this meal
bread were in general use, it would be a saving to the nation of nearly
ten millions a year. Besides, this bread has the following peculiar
property: if put into the oven and baked for twenty minutes, after it is
ten days old, it will appear again like new bread.


WHEAT EARS. To roast wheat ears and ortolans, they should be spitted
sideways, with a vine leaf between each. Baste them with butter, and
strew them with bread crumbs while roasting. Ten or twelve minutes will
do them. Serve them up with fried bread crumbs in the dish, and gravy in
a tureen.


WHEY. Cheese whey is a very wholesome drink for weakly persons,
especially when the cows are in fresh pasture. Tending to quench thirst,
and to promote sleep, it is well adapted to feverish constitutions. It
is the most relaxing and diluting of all drinks, dissolving and carrying
off the salts, and is a powerful remedy in the hot scurvy.


WHEY BUTTER. The whey is first set in mugs, to acquire a sufficient
degree of consistence and sourness for churning, either by the warmth of
the season, or by a fire, as in the making of milk butter. Sometimes the
green and white whey are boiled together, and turned by a little sour
ale. When the green whey is boiled alone, it is necessary to keep it
over the fire about half an hour, till it begins to break and separate,
but it must be allowed to simmer only. The process is much the same as
in milk butter, but it will keep only a few days, and does not cut so
firm as the butter which is made of cream.


WHIGS. Mix with two pounds of fine flour, half a pound of sugar pounded
and sifted, and an ounce of carraway seeds. Melt half a pound of butter
in a pint of milk; when as warm as new milk, put to it three eggs,
leaving out one white, and a spoonful of yeast. Mix them well together,
and let the paste stand four hours to rise. Make them into whigs, and
bake them on buttered tins.--Another way. Rub half a pound of butter
into a pound and a half of flour, add a quarter of a pound of sugar, a
very little salt, and three spoonfuls of new yeast. Make it into a light
paste with warm milk, let it stand an hour to rise, and then form it
into whigs. Bake them upon sheets of tin in a quick oven. Carraway seeds
may be added if preferred.--Another way. Take two pounds and a half of
flour, dry it before the fire, and when cold rub in a quarter of a pound
of fresh butter, and six ounces of sugar; mix half a pint of yeast that
is not bitter, with warm milk, put this to the flour with some carraway
seeds; mix all together to a light dough, set it before the fire to
rise, then make it into what shape you please; bake them in a slack
oven. You may add allspice beat fine, instead of carraways, if you
please.--Another way. Take a pound and a half of flour, add a quarter of
a pint of ale yeast to half a pint of warm milk, mix these together, and
let it lie by the fire half an hour; then work in half a pound of sugar
and half a pound of fresh butter to a paste; make them up, and let them
be put into a quick oven.


WHIPT CREAM. Take a quart of thick cream, the whites of eight eggs well
beaten, with half a pint of sack; mix all together, and sweeten it to
your taste, with double-refined sugar; (you may perfume it if you
please, with a little musk, or ambergris, tied in a piece of muslin, and
steeped a little while in the cream) pare a lemon, and tie some of the
peel in the middle of the whisk, then whip up the cream, take off the
froth with a spoon, and lay it in the glasses, or basons. This does well
over a fine tart.


WHIPT SYLLABUBS. Put some rich cream into an earthen pot, add some white
wine, lemon juice, and sugar to the taste. Mill them well together with
a chocolate mill, and as the froth keeps rising take it off with a
spoon, and put it into syllabub glasses. They should be made the day
before they are to be used. Syllabubs are very pretty in the summer time
made with red currant juice, instead of lemon juice.--Another way. Take
a quart of cream, boil it, and let it stand till cold; then take a pint
of white wine, pare a lemon thin, and steep the peel in the wine two
hours before you use it; to this add the juice of a lemon, and as much
sugar as will make it very sweet; put all together into a bowl, and
whisk it one way till it is pretty thick, fill the glasses, and keep it
a day before you use it. It will keep good for three or four days. Let
the cream be full measure, and the wine rather less; if you like it
perfumed, put in a grain or two of ambergris.--Another way. To a quart
of thick cream put half a pint of sack, the juice of two Seville
oranges, or lemons, grate the peel of two lemons, and add half a pound
of double-refined sugar well pounded; mix a little sack with sugar, and
put it into some of the glasses, and red wine and sugar into others, the
rest fill with syllabub only. Then whisk your cream up very well, take
off the froth with a spoon, and fill the glasses carefully, as full as
they will hold. Observe, that this sort must not be made long before
they are used.


WHITE BREAD. This is made the same as household bread, except that it
consists of fine flour unmixed. The water to be used should be lukewarm
in summer, and in very cold weather it must be hot, but not so as to
scald the yeast. Bricks are made by moulding the loaves long instead of
round, and cutting the sides in several places before they are put into
the oven.


WHITE CAKES. Dry half a pound of flour, rub into it a very little
pounded sugar, one ounce of butter, an egg, a few carraways, and as much
milk and water as will make it into a paste. Roll it thin, cut it into
little cakes with a wine glass, or the top of a canister, and bake them
fifteen minutes on tin plates.


WHITE CAUDLE. Boil four spoonfuls of oatmeal in two quarts of water,
with a blade or two of mace, and a piece of lemon peel; stir it often,
and let it boil a full quarter of an hour, then strain it through a
sieve for use; when you use it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to your
palate, and add what white wine you think proper: if it is not for a
sick person, you may squeeze in a little lemon juice.


WHITE CERATE. Take four ounces of olive oil, half an ounce of
spermaceti, and four ounces of white wax. Put them into an earthen
pipkin, and stir the mixture with a stick till it is quite cold.


WHITE GRAVY. Boil in a quart of water a pound and a half of veal, from
the knuckle or scrag end of the neck. Add a small onion, a bunch of
sweet herbs, a blade of mace, a little whole pepper and salt. After an
hour's simmering over the fire, strain off the gravy, and it is ready
for use.


WHITE GRAVY FOR SOUPS. To a few slices of lean ham, add a knuckle of
veal cut in pieces, some turnips, parsnips, leeks, onions, and celery.
Put them all into a stewpan with two quarts of water, and let it simmer
till the meat is nearly tender, without allowing it to colour. Add to
this half as much clear beef gravy, and boil it an hour, skimming off
the fat very clean. Strain it, and set it by for use.


WHITE HERRINGS. If good, their gills are of a fine red, and the eyes
bright; as is likewise the whole fish, which must be stiff and firm.
Having scaled, drawn, and cleaned them, dust them with flour, and fry
them of a light brown. Plain or melted butter for sauce.


WHITE LEAD. White oxide of lead is often adulterated by the carbonate of
lime. To detect this pour four drams of pure acetous acid, over a dram
of the suspected oxide. This will dissolve both oxide and chalk; but if
a few drops of a solution of oxalic acid be now poured in, a very
abundant white precipitate of oxalate of lime will take place.


WHITE PAINT. An excellent substitute for white oil paint may be made of
fresh curds bruised fine, and kneaded with an equal quantity of slacked
lime. The mixture is to be well stirred, without any water, and it will
produce an excellent white paint for inside work. As it dries very
quickly, it should be used as soon as made; and if two coats be laid on,
it may afterwards be polished with a woollen cloth till it becomes as
bright as varnish. If applied to places exposed to moisture, the
painting should be rubbed over with the yolk of an egg, which will
render it as durable as the best of oil painting. No kind of painting
can be so cheap; and as it dries speedily, two coats of it may be laid
on in a day and polished, and no offensive smell will arise from it.


WHITE POT. The antient way of making a white pot is to put the yolks of
four or five eggs well beaten to a pint of cream, adding some pulps of
apples, sugar, spices, and sippets of white bread. It may be baked
either in a dish, or in a crust.--Another way. Beat eight eggs, leaving
out four whites, with a little rose water; strain them to two quarts of
new milk, and a small nutmeg grated, and sugar to your taste; cut a
French roll in thin slices, and lay in the bottom of a soup dish (after
buttering it) then pour over your milk and eggs, and bake it in a slow
oven.


WHITE PUDDINGS. Pour two pints and a half of scalding hot milk upon half
a pound of Naples biscuits, or bread; let it stand uncovered, and when
well soaked, bruise the bread very fine. Add half a pound of almonds
well beaten with orange-flower water, three quarters of a pound of
sugar, a pound of beef suet or marrow shred fine, a quarter of an ounce
of salt, ten yolks of eggs and five whites. Mix the whole thoroughly
together, and put it into the skins well prepared, filling them but half
full, and tying them at proper distances like sausages. The skins must
be carefully cleaned, and laid in rose water some hours before they are
used. Currants may be used instead of almonds, if preferred.


WHITE HOG'S PUDDINGS. When the skins have been well soaked and cleaned,
rinse and soak them all night in rose water, and put into them the
following preparation. Mix half a pound of blanched almonds cut into
seven or eight parts, with a pound of grated bread, two pounds of marrow
or rich suet, a pound of currants, some beaten cinnamon, cloves, mace,
and nutmeg; a quart of cream, the yolks of six and whites of two eggs, a
little orange-flower water, a little fine Lisbon sugar, and some lemon
peel and citron sliced, and half fill the skins. To know whether it be
sweet enough, warm a little in a panikin. Much care must be taken in
boiling, to prevent the puddings from bursting. Prick them with a small
fork as they rise, and boil them in milk and water. Lay them in a table
cloth till cold.



WHITE ONION SAUCE. Peel half a dozen white Spanish onions, cut them in
half, and lay them in a pan of spring water for a quarter of an hour.
Boil them an hour, or till quite tender, drain them well on a hair
sieve, and then chop and bruise them fine. Put them into a clean
saucepan with flour and butter, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and some
cream or good milk. Stir it till it boils, rub the whole through a
sieve, adding milk or cream to make it of a proper thickness. This is
the usual sauce for boiled rabbits, mutton, or tripe; but there requires
plenty of it.


WHITE SAUCE. This favourite sauce is equally adapted to fowls,
fricassee, rabbits, white meat, fish, and vegetables; and it is seldom
necessary to purchase any fresh meat to make it, as the proportion of
that flavour is but small. The liquor in which fowls, veal, or rabbit
have been boiled, will answer the purpose; or the broth of whatever
meat happens to be in the house, such as necks of chickens, raw or
dressed veal. Stew with a little water any of these, with a bit of lemon
peel, some sliced onion, some white peppercorns, a little pounded mace
or nutmeg, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Keep it on the fire till the
flavour is good; then strain it, and add a little good cream, a piece of
butter, a very little flour, and salt to your taste. A squeeze of lemon
may be added after the sauce is taken off the fire, shaking it well.
Yolk of egg is often used in fricassee, cream is better, as the former
is apt to curdle.


WHITE SOUP. Take a scrag of mutton, a knuckle of veal, after cutting off
as much meat as will make collops, two or three shank bones of mutton
nicely cleaned, and a quarter of very fine undressed lean gammon of
bacon. Add a bunch of sweet herbs, a piece of fresh lemon peel, two or
three onions, three blades of mace, and a dessert-spoonful of white
pepper. Boil all in three quarts of water, till the meat falls quite to
pieces. Next day take off the fat, clear the jelly from the sediment,
and put it into a nice tin saucepan. If maccaroni be used, it should be
added soon enough to get perfectly tender, after soaking in cold water.
Vermicelli may be added after the thickening, as it requires less time
to do. Prepare the thickening beforehand thus: blanch a quarter of a
pound of sweet almonds, and beat them to a paste in a marble mortar,
with a spoonful of water to prevent their oiling. Then mince a large
slice of cold veal or chicken, and beat it with a piece of stale white
bread; add all this to a pint of thick cream, a bit of fresh lemon peel,
and a blade of pounded mace. Boil it a few minutes, add to it a pint of
soup, and strain and pulp it through a coarse sieve. This thickening is
then fit for putting to the rest, which should boil for half an hour
afterwards.--To make a plainer white soup, boil a small knuckle of veal,
till the liquor is reduced to three pints. Add seasoning as above, and a
quarter of a pint of good milk. Two spoonfuls of cream, and a little
ground rice, will give it a proper thickness. The meat and the soup may
both be served together.--Another. Take a scrag or knuckle of veal,
slices of undressed gammon of bacon, onions, mace, and simmer them in a
small quantity of water, till it is very strong. Lower it with a good
beef broth made the day before, and stew it till the meat is done to
rags. Add cream, vermicelli, a roll, and almonds.


WHITE WINE WHEY. Set on the fire half a pint of new milk; the moment it
boils up, pour in as much sound raisin wine as will completely turn it,
and until it looks clear. Let it boil up, then set the saucepan aside
till the curd subsides, and do not stir it. Pour the whey off, add to it
half a pint of boiling water, and a little lump sugar. The whey will
thus be cleared of milky particles, and may be made to any degree of
weakness.


WHITINGS. These may be had almost at any time, but are chiefly in season
during the first three months of the year. In choosing them, the
firmness of the body and fins is chiefly to be looked to; and in places
where there is no regular supply of fish, it will be found an
accommodation to dry them for keeping. The largest are best for this
purpose. Take out the gills, the eyes, and the entrails, and remove the
blood from the backbone. Wipe them dry, salt the inside, and lay them on
a board for the night. Hang them up in a dry place, and after three or
four days they will be fit to eat. When to be dressed, skin and rub
them over with egg, and cover them with bread crumbs. Lay them before
the fire, baste with butter till sufficiently browned, and serve them
with egg sauce.


WHITLOWS. As soon as the disorder is apparent, the finger affected is to
be plunged into warm water, or the steam of boiling water may be applied
to it. The application must be very frequently repeated the first day,
and the complaint will soon be dispersed. Unfortunately however it is
too generally supposed, that such slight attacks can have only slight
consequences, and hence they are too apt to be neglected till the
complaint has considerably increased. But in this state no time should
be lost in resorting to skilful advice, as the danger attending these
small tumours is much greater than is usually imagined.


WHOLE RICE PANCAKES. Stew half a pound of whole rice in water till it is
very tender, and let it stand in a basin to cool. Break it small, put to
it half a pint of scalded cream, half a pound of clarified butter, a
handful of flour, a little nutmeg and salt, and five eggs well beaten.
Stir these well together, and fry them in butter or lard. Serve them up
with sugar sifted over them, and a Seville orange or lemon cut and laid
round the dish. This preparation may be made into a pudding, either
baked or boiled, and with currants added or not, as approved. Three
quarters of an hour will bake it, and an hour will boil it.

WHOLE RICE PUDDING. Stew very gently a quarter of a pound of whole rice,
in a pint and a half of new milk. When the rice is tender, pour it into
a basin, stir in a piece of butter, and let it stand till quite cool.
Then put in four eggs, a little salt, some nutmeg and sugar. Boil it an
hour in a basin well buttered.


WILD DUCKS. A wild duck, or a widgeon, will require twenty or
twenty-five minutes roasting, according to the size. A teal, from
fifteen to twenty minutes; and other birds of this kind, in proportion
to their size, a longer or a shorter time. Baste them with butter, and
take them up with the gravy in, sprinkling a little over them before
they are quite done. Serve them up with shalot sauce in a boat, or with
good gravy, and lemons cut in quarters.


WILD FOWL. Season with salt and pepper, and put a piece of butter into
each; but the flavour is best preserved without stuffing. To take off
the fishy taste which wild fowl sometimes have, put an onion, salt, and
hot water, into the dripping pan, and baste them with this for the first
ten minutes: then take away the pan, and baste constantly with butter.
Wild fowl require much less dressing than tame: they should be served of
a fine colour, and well frothed up. A rich brown gravy should be sent in
the dish; and when the breast is cut into slices, before taking off the
bone, a squeeze of lemon, with pepper and salt, is a great improvement
to the flavour.


WILTSHIRE BACON. The way to cure Wiltshire bacon is to sprinkle the
flitch with salt, and let the blood drain off for twenty-four hours.
Then mix a pound and a half of coarse sugar, the same quantity of bay
salt, not quite so much as half a pound of saltpetre, and a pound of
common salt. Rub this mixture well on the bacon, turning it every day
for a month: then hang it to dry, and afterwards smoke it ten days. The
quantity of salts above mentioned is sufficient for the whole hog.


WILTSHIRE CHEESE. This is made of new milk, a little lowered with water
and skim milk. The curd is first broken with the hand and dish, care
being taken to let the whey run off gradually, to prevent its carrying
away with it the fat of the cowl. For thin cheese the curd is not
broken so fine as in Gloucestershire; for thick cheese it is crushed
finer still. The whey is poured off as it rises, and the curd pressed
down. The mass is then pared down three or four times over, in slices
about an inch thick, in order to extract all the whey from it, and then
it is pressed and scalded as before. After separating the whey, the curd
is sometimes broken again, and salted in the cowl; and at others it is
taken warm out of the liquor, and salted in the vat. Thin cheeses are
placed in one layer, with a small handful of salt; and thick ones in two
layers, with two handfuls of salt; the salt being spread and rubbed
uniformly among the curd.


WINDSOR BEANS. These should be boiled in plenty of water, with a little
salt, and be put in when the water boils. Serve them up with boiled
bacon, and parsley and butter in a boat.


WINDSOR BEANS FRICASSEED. When grown large, but not mealy, boil, blanch,
and lay them in a white sauce previously heated up. Warm them through in
the sauce, and serve them up. No beans but what are of a fine green
should be used for this dish.


WINDSOR PUDDING. Shred half a pound of suet very fine, grate into it
half a pound of French roll, a little nutmeg, and the rind of a lemon.
Add to these half a pound of chopped apple, half a pound of currants
clean washed and fried, half a pound of jar raisins stoned and chopped,
a glass of rich sweet wine, and five eggs well beaten, with a little
salt. Mix all thoroughly together, and boil it in a basin or mould for
three hours. Sift fine sugar over it when sent to table, and pour white
wine sauce into the dish.


WINDSOR SOAP. Cut the best white soap into thin slices, melt it over a
slow fire, and scent it with oil of carraway, or any other agreeable
perfume. Shaving boxes may then be filled with the melted soap, or it
may be poured into a small drawer or any other mould; and after it has
stood a few days to dry, it may be cut into square pieces ready for use.


WINE. The moderate use of wine is highly conducive to health, especially
in weak and languid habits, and in convalescents who are recovering from
the attacks of malignant fevers. Hence it forms an extensive article of
commerce, and immense quantities are consumed in this country. But
nothing is more capable of being adulterated, or of producing more
pernicious effects on the human constitution, and therefore it requires
the strictest attention. A few simple means only will be sufficient to
detect such adulterations, and to prevent their fatal consequences. If
new white wine, for example, be of a sweetish flavour, and leave a
certain astringency on the tongue; if it has an unusually high colour,
disproportionate to its nominal age and real strength; or if it has a
strong pungent taste, resembling that of brandy or other ardent spirits,
such liquor may be considered as adulterated. When old wine presents
either a very pale or a very deep colour, or possesses a very tart and
astringent taste, and deposits a thick crust on the sides or bottom of
glass vessels, it has then probably been coloured with some foreign
substance. This may easily be detected by passing the liquor through
filtering paper, when the colouring ingredients will remain on the
surface. The fraud may also be discovered by filling a small vial with
the suspected wine, and closing its mouth with the finger: the bottle is
then to be inverted, and immersed in a basin of clear water. The finger
being withdrawn, the tinging or adulterating matter will pass into the
water, so that the former may be observed sinking to the bottom by its
own weight. Wines becoming tart or sour, are frequently mixed with the
juice of carrots and turnips; and if this do not recover the sweetness
to a sufficient degree, alum or the sugar of lead is sometimes added;
but which cannot fail to be productive of the worst effects, and will
certainly operate as slow poison. To detect the alum, let the suspected
liquor be mixed with a little lime water. At the end of ten or twelve
hours the composition must be filtered, and if crystals be formed, it
contains no alum. But if it be adulterated, the sediment will split into
small segments, which will adhere to the filtering paper on which it is
spread. In order to detect the litharge or sugar of lead, a few drops of
the solution of yellow orpiment and quicklime should be poured into a
glass of wine. If the colour of the liquor change, and become
successively dark red, black or brown, it is an evident proof of its
being adulterated with lead. As orpiment is poisonous, it would be
better to use a few drops of vitriolic acid for this purpose, which
should be introduced into a small quantity of the suspected liquor. This
will cause the lead to sink to the bottom of the glass, in the form of a
white powder. A solution of hepatic gas in distilled water, if added to
wine sophisticated with lead, will produce a black sediment, and thus
discover the smallest quantity of that poisonous metal; but in pure
wine, no precipitation will take place. The following preparation has
been proved to be a sufficient test for adulterated wine or cider. Let
one dram of the dry liver of sulphur, and two drams of the cream of
tartar, be shaken in two ounces of distilled water, till the whole
become saturated with hepatic gas: the mixture is then to be filtered
through blotting paper, and kept in a vial closely corked. In order to
try the purity of wine, about twenty drops of this test are to be
poured into a small glass: if the wine only become turbid with white
clouds, and a similar sediment be deposited, it is then not impregnated
with any metallic ingredients. But if it turn black or muddy, its colour
approach to a deep red, and its taste be at first sweet, and then
astringent, the liquor certainly contains the sugar, or other pernicious
preparation of lead. The presence of iron is indicated by the wine
acquiring a dark blue coat, after the test is put in, similar to that of
pale ink; and if there be any particles of copper or verdigris, a
blackish grey sediment will be formed. A small portion of sulphur is
always mixed with white wines, in order to preserve them; but if too
large a quantity be employed, the wine thus impregnated becomes
injurious. Sulphur however may easily be detected, for if a piece of an
egg shell, or of silver, be immersed in the wine, it instantly acquires
a black hue. Quicklime is also mixed with wine, for imparting a
beautiful red colour. Its presence may easily be ascertained by
suffering a little wine to stand in a glass for two or three days; when
the lime, held in solution, will appear on the surface in the form of a
thin pellicle or crust. The least hurtful but most common adulteration
of wine, is that of mixing it with water, which may be detected by
throwing into it a small piece of quicklime. If it slack or dissolve the
lime, the wine must have been diluted; but if the contrary, which will
seldom be the case, the liquor may be considered as genuine.


WINE COOLED. The best way of cooling wine or other liquors in hot
weather, is to dip a cloth in cold water, and wrap it round the bottle
two or three times, then place it in the sun. The process should be
renewed once or twice.


WINE POSSET. Boil some slices of white bread in a quart of milk. When
quite soft, take it off the fire, grate in half a nutmeg, and a little
sugar. Pour it out, and add by degrees a pint of sweet wine, and serve
it with toasted bread.


WINE REFINED. In order to refine either wine or cider, beat up the
whites and shells of twenty eggs. Mix a quart of the liquor with them,
and put it into the cask. Stir it well to the bottom, let it stand half
an hour, and stop it up close. In a few days it may be bottled off.


WINE ROLL. Soak a penny French roll in raisin wine till it will hold no
more: put it in a dish, and pour round it a custard, or cream, sugar,
and lemon juice. Just before it is served, sprinkle over it some
nonpareil comfits, or stick into it a few blanched almonds slit. Sponge
biscuits may be used instead of the roll.


WINE SAUCE. For venison or hare, mix together a quarter of a pint of
claret or port, the same quantity of plain mutton gravy, and a
table-spoonful of currant jelly. Let it just boil up, and send it to
table in a sauce boat.


WINE VINEGAR. After making raisin wine, when the fruit has been
strained, lay it on a heap to heat; then to every hundred weight, put
fifteen gallons of water. Set the cask in the sun, and put in a toast of
yeast. As vinegar is so necessary an article in a family, and one on
which so great a profit is made, a barrel or two might always be kept
preparing, according to what suited. If the raisins of wine were ready,
that kind might be made; if gooseberries be cheap and plentiful, then
gooseberry vinegar may be preferred; or if neither, then the sugar
vinegar; so that the cask need not be left empty, or be liable to grow
musty.


WINE WHEY. Put on the fire a pint of milk and water, and the moment it
begins to boil, pour in as much sweet wine as will turn it into whey,
and make it look clear. Boil it up, and let it stand off the fire till
the curd all sinks to the bottom. Do not stir it, but pour off the whey
for use. Or put a pint of skimmed milk and half a pint of white wine
into a basin, let it stand a few minutes, and pour over it a pint of
boiling water. When the curd has settled to the bottom, pour off the
whey, and put in a piece of lump sugar, a sprig of balm, or a slice of
lemon.


WINTER VEGETABLES. To preserve several vegetables to eat in the winter,
observe the following rules. French beans should be gathered young, and
put into a little wooden keg, a layer of them about three inches deep.
Then sprinkle them with salt, put another layer of beans, and so on till
the keg is full, but be careful not to sprinkle too much salt. Lay over
them a plate, or a cover of wood that will go into the keg, and put a
heavy stone upon it. A pickle will rise from the beans and salt; and if
they are too salt, the soaking and boiling will not be sufficient to
make them palatable. When they are to be eaten, they must be cut,
soaked, and boiled as fresh beans. Carrots, parsnips, and beet root,
should be kept in layers of dry sand, and neither they nor potatoes
should be cleared from the earth. Store onions keep best hung up in a
dry cold room. Parsley should be cut close to the stalks, and dried in a
warm room, or on tins in a very cool oven. Its flavour and colour may
thus be preserved, and will be found useful in winter. Artichoke
bottoms, slowly dried, should be kept in paper bags. Truffles, morels,
and lemon peel, should be hung in a dry place, and ticketed. Small close
cabbages, laid on a stone floor before the frost sets in, will blanch
and be very fine, after many weeks' keeping.


WOOD. An excellent glue, superior to the common sort, and suitable for
joining broken furniture or any kind of wood, may be made of an ounce
of isinglass dissolved in a pint of brandy. The isinglass should be
pounded, dissolved by gentle heat, strained through a piece of muslin,
and kept in a glass closely stopped. When required for use, it should be
dissolved with moderate heat, and applied the same as common glue. Its
effect is so powerful as to join the parts of wood stronger than the
wood itself, but should not be exposed to damp or moisture.


WOODCOCKS. These will keep good for several days. Roast them without
drawing, and serve them on toast. The thigh and back are esteemed the
best. Butter only should be eaten with them, as gravy diminishes the
fineness of the flavour. To roast woodcocks and snipes in the French
method, take out the trails and chop them, except the stomachs, with
some minced bacon, or a piece of butter. Add some parsley and chives,
and a little salt. Put this stuffing into the birds, sow up the opening,
and roast them with bacon covered with paper. Serve them up with Spanish
sauce.


WOOLLENS. To preserve articles of this sort from the moths, let them be
well brushed and shaken, and laid up cool and dry. Then mix among them
bitter apples from the druggists', in small muslin bags, carefully sewn
up in several folds of linen, and turned in at the edges.


WORMS. A strong decoction of walnut tree leaves thrown upon the ground
where there are worm casts, will cause them to rise up. They may then be
given to the poultry, or thrown into the fish pond. Salt and water, or a
ley of wood ashes, poured into worm-holes on a gravel walk, will
effectually destroy them. Sea water, the brine of salted meat, or soot,
will be found to answer the same purpose.


WORMS. Worms in children are denoted by paleness of the face, itching of
the nose, grinding of the teeth during sleep, offensive breath, and
nausea. The belly is hard and painful, and in the morning there is a
copious flow of saliva, and an uncommon craving for dry food. Amongst a
variety of other medicines for destroying worms in the human body, the
following will be found effectual. Make a solution of tartarised
antimony, two grains in four ounces of water, and take two or three
tea-spoonfuls three times a day, for four days; and on the following day
a purging powder of calomel and jalap, from three to six grains each. Or
take half a pound of senna leaves well bruised, and twelve ounces of
olive oil, and digest them together in a sand heat for four or five
days. Strain off the liquor, take a spoonful in the morning fasting,
persevere in it, and it will be found effectual in the most obstinate
cases. A more simple remedy is to pour some port wine into a pewter
dish, and let it stand for twenty-four hours. Half a common
wine-glassful is a sufficient dose for an infant, and a whole one for an
adult.


WORMWOOD ALE. The proper way to make all sorts of herb drinks, is to
gather the herbs in the right season. Then dry them in the shade, and
put them into closed paper bags. When they are wanted for use, take out
the proper quantity, put it into a linen bag, and suspend it in the beer
or ale, while it is working or fermenting, from two to six or eight
hours, and then take it out. Wormwood ought not to lie so long, three or
four hours will be quite sufficient. If the herbs are properly gathered
and prepared, all their pure and balsamic virtues will readily infuse
themselves into the liquor, whether wine or beer, as the pure sweet
quality in malt does into the warm liquor in brewing, which is done
effectually in about an hour. But if malt is suffered to remain more
than six hours, before the liquor is drawn off, all the nauseous
properties will be extracted, and overpower the good ones. It is the
same in infusing any sort of well-prepared herbs, and great care
therefore is requisite in all preparations, that the pure qualities are
neither evaporated or overpowered. Otherwise, whatever it be, it will
soon tend to putrefaction, and become injurious and loathsome. Beer,
ale, or other liquor, into which herbs are infused, must be
unadulterated, or the infusion will be destroyed by its pernicious
qualities. Nothing is more prejudicial to the health, or the
intellectual faculties of mankind, than adulterated liquors. Articles
which in their purest state are of an equivocal character, and never to
be trusted without caution, are thus converted into decided
poisons.--Another way of making wormwood ale. Take a quantity of the
herb, according to the intended strength of the liquor, and infuse it
for half an hour in the boiling wort. Then strain it off, and set the
wort to cool. Wormwood beer prepared either ways, is a fine wholesome
liquor. It is gentle, warming, assisting digestion, and refining to the
blood, without sending any gross fumes to the head. The same method
should be observed in making all sorts of drinks, in which any strong
bitter herbs are infused. It renders them pleasant and grateful, both to
the stomach and palate, and preserves all the medicinal virtues. Most
bitter herbs have a powerful tendency to open obstructions, if
judiciously managed; but in the way in which they are too commonly made,
they are not only rendered extremely unpleasant, but their medicinal
properties are destroyed.


WOUNDS. If occasioned by a cut, it will be proper immediately to close
the wounded part, so as to exclude the air and prevent its bleeding, and
then any common sticking plaister may be applied. When the wound is deep
and difficult to close, a bandage should be applied; and if the skin be
lacerated, or the edges of the wound begin to be rough, lay on some lint
dipped in sweet oil, and cover the whole with a piece of fine oil cloth.
New honey spread on folded linen affords an excellent remedy for fresh
and bleeding wounds, as it will prevent inflammation and the growth of
proud flesh. In wounds which cannot readily be healed, on account of
external inflammation and feverish heat, emollient poultices, composed
of the crumb of bread boiled in milk, must be applied, and renewed
several times in a day, without disturbing or touching the wounded part
with the fingers. Wounds of the joints will heal most expeditiously by
the simple application of cold water, provided the orifice of such
wounds be immediately closed by means of adhesive plaster.


WOW WOW. For stewed beef, chop some parsley leaves very fine, quarter
two or three pickled cucumbers or walnuts, and divide them into small
squares, and set them by ready. Put into a saucepan a good bit of
butter, stir up with it a table-spoonful of fine flour, and about half a
pint of the broth in which the beef was boiled. Add a table-spoonful of
vinegar, as much ketchup or port wine, or both, and a tea-spoonful of
made mustard. Let it simmer gently till it is sufficiently thickened,
put in the parsley and pickles ready prepared, and pour it over the
beef, or send it up in a sauce tureen.


WRIT OF EJECTMENT. When a tenant has either received or given a proper
notice to quit at a certain time, and fails to deliver up possession, it
is at the option of the landlord to give notice of double rent, or issue
a writ to dispossess the tenant. In the latter case he recovers the
payment of the rent, or the surrender of the premises. In all cases
between landlord and tenant, when half a year's rent is due, such
landlord may serve a declaration or ejectment for the recovery of the
premises, without any formal demand or re-entry. If the premises be
unoccupied, though not surrendered, he may affix the declaration to the
door, or any other conspicuous part of the dwelling, which will be
deemed legal, and stand instead of a deed of re-entry.




Y.


YEAST. This is the barm or froth which rises in beer, and other malt
liquors, during a state of fermentation. When thrown up by one quantity
of malt or vinous liquid, it may be preserved to be put into another, at
a future period; on which it will exert a similar fermentative action.
Yeast is likewise used in the making of bread, without which it would be
heavy and unwholesome. It has a vinous sour odour, a bitter taste
arising from the hops in the malt liquor, and it reddens the vegetable
blues. When it is filtered, a matter remains which possesses properties
similar to vegetable gluten; by this separation the yeast loses the
property of exciting fermentation, but recovers it again when the gluten
is added. The addition of yeast to any vegetable substance, containing
saccharine matter, excites fermentation by generating a quantity of
carbonic acid gas. This very useful substance cannot always be procured
conveniently from malt liquor for baking and brewing: the following
method will be found useful for its extemporaneous preparation. Mix two
quarts of soft water with wheat flour, to the consistence of thick
gruel; boil it gently for half an hour, and when almost cold, stir into
it half a pound of sugar and four spoonfuls of good yeast. Put the whole
into a large jug, or earthen vessel, with a narrow top, and place it
before the fire, that by a moderate heat it may ferment. The
fermentation will throw up a thin liquor, which pour off and throw
away; keep the remainder in a bottle, or jug tied over, and set it in a
cool place. The same quantity of this as of common yeast will suffice to
bake or brew with. Four spoonfuls of this yeast will make a fresh
quantity as before, and the stock may always be kept up, by fermenting
the new with the remainder of the former quantity.--Another method. Take
six quarts of soft water, and two handfuls of wheaten meal or barley.
Stir the latter in the water before the mixture is placed over the fire,
where it must boil till two thirds are evaporated. When this decoction
becomes cool, incorporate with it, by means of a whisk, two drams of
salt of tartar, and one dram of cream of tartar, previously mixed. The
whole should now be kept in a warm place. Thus a very strong yeast for
brewing, distilling, and baking, may be obtained. For the last-mentioned
purpose, however, it ought to be diluted with pure water, and passed
through a sieve, before it is kneaded with the dough, in order to
deprive it of its alkaline taste.--In countries where yeast is scarce,
it is a common practice to twist hazel twigs so as to be full of chinks,
and then to steep them in ale yeast during fermentation. The twigs are
then hung up to dry, and at the next brewing they are put into the wort
instead of yeast. In Italy the chips are frequently put into turbid wine
for the purpose of clearing it, which is effected in about twenty-four
hours.--A good article for baking bread may be made in the following
manner. Boil a pound of fine flour, a quarter of a pound of brown sugar,
and a little salt, in two gallons of water, for one hour. Let it stand
till it is milk warm, then bottle and cork it close, and it will be fit
for use in twenty-four hours. A pint of this yeast will make eighteen
pounds of bread. Or mash a pound of mealy potatoes, and pulp them
through a cullender; add two ounces of brown sugar, and two spoonfuls of
common yeast. Keep it moderately warm while fermenting, and it will
produce a quart of good yeast.--The best method of preserving common
yeast, produced from beer or ale, is to set a quantity of it to settle,
closely covered, that the spirit may not evaporate. Provide in the mean
time as many small hair sieves as will hold the thick barm: small sieves
are mentioned, because dividing the yeast into small quantities conduces
to its preservation. Lay over each sieve a piece of coarse flannel that
may reach the bottom, and leave at least eight inches over the rim. Pour
off the thin liquor, and set it by to subside, as the grounds will do
for immediate baking or brewing, if covered up for a few hours. Fill the
sieves with the thick barm, and cover them up for two hours: then gather
the flannel edges as a bag, and tie them firmly with twine. Lay each bag
upon several folds of coarse linen, changing these folds every half
hour, till they imbibe no more moisture. Then cover each bag with
another piece of flannel, changing it if it becomes damp, and hang them
in a cool airy place. The yeast should be strained before it is set to
settle, and while the flannel bags are laid upon the folds of linen,
they must be covered with a thick cloth. When the yeast is wanted for
use, prepare a strong infusion of malt; to a gallon of which add a
piece of dried barm, about the size of a goose's egg. The proportion
indeed must depend upon its quality, which experience only can
ascertain. The malt infusion must be nearly milk warm when the yeast is
crumbled into it: for two hours it will froth high, and bake two bushels
of flour into well-fermented bread. A decoction of green peas, or of
ripened dry peas, with as much sugar as will sweeten it, makes fairer
bread than the malt infusion; but it will take a larger quantity of
dried yeast to produce fermentation. It was usual some years ago to
reduce porter yeast to dryness, and in that state it was carried to the
West Indies, where it was brought by means of water to its original
state, and then employed as a ferment.--Another method of preserving
yeast. Take a quantity of yeast, and work it well with a whisk till it
becomes thin; then have a broad wooden platter, or tub, that is very
clean and dry, and, with a soft brush, lay a layer of yeast all over the
bottom, and turn the mouth downwards that no dust can fall in, but so
that the air may come to it, to dry it. When that coat is very dry, lay
on another; do so till you have as much as you intend to keep, taking
care that one coat is dry before you lay on another. When you have
occasion to make use of this yeast, cut a piece off, and lay it in warm
water; stir it till it is dissolved, and it is fit for use. If it is for
brewing, take a whisk, or a large handful of birch tied together, and
dip it into the yeast, and hang it up to dry; when it is dry wrap it up
in paper, and keep it in a dry place; thus you may do as many as you
please. When your beer is fit to work, throw in one of your whisks, and
cover it over; it will set it a working as well as fresh yeast. When you
find you have a head sufficient, take out your whisk and hang it up. If
the yeast is not all off, it will do for your next brewing.


YEAST CAKES. The inhabitants of Long Island in America are in the habit
of making yeast cakes once a year. These are dissolved and mixed with
the dough, which it raises in such a manner as to form it into very
excellent bread. The following is the method in which these cakes are
made. Rub three ounces of hops so as to separate them, and then put them
into a gallon of boiling water, where they are to boil for half an hour.
Now strain the liquor through a fine sieve into an earthen vessel, and
while it is hot, put in three pounds and a half of rye flour, stirring
the liquid well and quickly as the flour is put in. When it has become
milk warm, add half a pint of good yeast. On the following day, while
the mixture is fermenting, stir well into it seven pounds of Indian corn
meal, and it will render the whole mass stiff like dough. This dough is
to be well kneaded and rolled out into cakes about a third of an inch in
thickness. These cakes are to be cut out into large disks or lozenges,
or any other shape, by an inverted glass tumbler or any other
instrument; and being placed on a sheet of tinned iron, or on a piece of
board, are to be dried by the heat of the sun. If care be taken to turn
them frequently, and to see that they take no wet or moisture, they will
become as hard as ship biscuit, and may be kept in a bag or box, which
is to be hung up or kept in an airy and perfectly dry situation. When
bread is to be made, two cakes of the above-mentioned thickness, and
about three inches in diameter, are to be broken and put into hot water,
where they are to remain all night, the vessel standing near the fire.
In the morning they will be entirely dissolved, and then the mixture is
to be employed in setting the sponge, in the same way as beer yeast is
used. In making a farther supply for the next year, beer or ale yeast
may be used as before; but this is not necessary where a cake of the old
stock remains, for this will act on the new mixture precisely in the
same way. If the dry cakes were reduced to powder in a mortar, the same
results would take place, with perhaps more convenience, and in less
time. Indian meal is used because it is of a less adhesive nature than
wheat flour, but where Indian meal cannot easily be procured, white
pea-meal, or even barley-meal, will answer the purpose equally well. The
principal art or requisite in making yeast cakes, consists in drying
them quickly and thoroughly, and in preventing them from coming in
contact with the least particle of moisture till they are used.


YEAST DUMPLINS. Make a very light dough as for bread, only in a smaller
quantity. When it has been worked up, and risen a sufficient time before
the fire, mould it into good sized dumplins, put them into boiling
water, and let them boil twenty minutes. The dough may be made up with
milk and water if preferred. These dumplins are very nice when done in a
potatoe steamer, and require about thirty-five minutes, if of a good
size. The steamer must not be opened till they are taken up, or it will
make the dumplins heavy. Dough from the baker's will answer the purpose
very well, if it cannot conveniently be made at home. The dough made for
rolls is the most delicate for dumplins. If not eaten as soon as they
are taken up, either out of the water or the steamer, they are apt to
fall and become heavy. Eaten with cold butter they are much better than
with any kind of sauce, except meat dripping directly from the pan. The
addition of a few currants will make good currant dumplins.


YELLOW BLAMANGE. Pour a pint of boiling water to an ounce of isinglass,
and add the peel of one lemon. When cold, put in two ounces of sifted
sugar, a quarter of a pint of white wine, the yolks of four eggs, and
the juice of a lemon. Stir all well together, let it boil five minutes,
strain it through a bag, and put it into cups.


YELLOW DYE. There is a new stain for wood, and a yellow dye for cloth,
which consists of a decoction of walnut or hickory bark, with a small
quantity of alum dissolved in it, in order to give permanency to the
colour. Wood of a white colour receives from the application of this
liquid a beautiful yellow tinge, which is not liable to fade. It is
particularly for furniture made of maple, especially that kind of it
which is called bird's eye, and which is commonly prepared by scorching
its surface over a quick fire. The application of the walnut dye gives a
lustre even to the darkest shades, while to the paler and fainter ones
it adds somewhat of a greenish hue, and to the whiter parts various
tints of yellow. After applying this stain to cherry and apple wood, the
wood should be slightly reddened with a tincture of some red dye, whose
colour is not liable to fade. A handsome dye is thus given to it which
does not hide the grain, and which becomes still more beautiful as the
wood grows darker by age. Walnut bark makes the most permanent yellow
dye for dyeing cloth of any of the vegetable substances used in this
country. Care should be taken that the dye be not too much concentrated:
when this happens, the colour is far less bright and delicate, and
approaches nearer to orange. It is hardly necessary to add, that the dye
should be boiled and kept in a brass vessel, or in some other which has
no iron in its composition. A lively yellow colour for dyeing cloth, may
be produced from potato tops. Gather them when ready to flower, press
out the juice, mix it with a little water, and suffer the cloth to
remain in it for twenty-four hours. The cloth, whether of wool, cotton,
or flax, is then to be dipped in spring water. By plunging the cloth
thus tinged with yellow, into a vessel of blue dye, a brilliant and
lasting green is obtained.


YELLOW LEMON CREAM. Pare four lemons very thin into twelve large
spoonfuls of water, and squeeze the juice on seven ounces of finely
powdered sugar. Beat well the yolks of nine eggs; then add the peels and
juice of the lemons, and work them together for some time. Strain the
whole through a flannel, into a silver saucepan, or one of very nice
block-tin, and set it over a gentle fire. Stir it one way till it is
pretty thick, and scalding hot, but not boiling, or it will curdle. Pour
it into jelly glasses. A few lumps of sugar should be rubbed hard on the
lemons before they are pared, to attract the essence, and give a better
colour and flavour to the cream.


YORKSHIRE CAKES. Mix two pounds of flour with four ounces of butter
melted in a pint of good milk, three spoonfuls of yeast, and two eggs.
Beat all well together, and let it rise; then knead it, and make it into
cakes. Let them first rise on tins, and then bake in a slow
oven.--Another sort is made as above, leaving out the butter. The first
sort is shorter; the last lighter.


YORKSHIRE KNEAD CAKES. Rub six ounces of butter into a pound of flour
till it is very fine, and mix it into a stiff paste with milk. Knead it
well, and roll it out several times. Make it at last about an inch
thick, and cut it into cakes, in shapes according to the fancy. Bake
them on an iron girdle, and when done on one side turn them on the
other. Cut them open and butter them hot. They also eat well cold or
toasted. Half a pound of currants well washed and dried may be added at
pleasure.


YORKSHIRE HAMS. Mix half a pound of salt, three ounces of saltpetre,
half an ounce of sal prunella, and five pounds of coarse sugar. Rub the
hams with this mixture, after it has been well incorporated, and lay the
remainder of it upon the top. Then put some water to the pickle, adding
salt till it will bear an egg. Boil and strain it, cover the hams with
it, and let them lie a fortnight. Rub them well with bran, and dry them.
The above ingredients are sufficient for three good hams.


YORKSHIRE PUDDING. Mix five spoonfuls of flour with a quart of milk, and
three eggs well beaten. Butter the pan. When the pudding is brown by
baking under the meat, turn the other side upwards, and brown that. Set
it over a chafing-dish at first, and stir it some minutes. It should be
made in a square pan, and cut into pieces before it comes to table.


YOUNG FOWLS. The following will be found to be a nice way of dressing up
a small dish. Bone, singe, and wash a young fowl. Make a forcemeat of
four ounces of veal, two ounces of lean ham scraped, two ounces of fat
bacon, two hard yolks of eggs, a few sweet herbs chopped, two ounces of
beef suet, a tea-spoonful of lemon peel minced fine, an anchovy, salt,
pepper, and a very little cayenne. Beat all in a mortar, with a
tea-cupful of crumbs, and the yolks and whites of three eggs. Stuff the
inside of the fowl, draw the legs and wings inwards, tie up the neck and
rump close. Stew the fowl in a white gravy; when it is done through and
tender, add a large cupful of cream, with a bit of butter and flour.
Give it one boil, add the squeeze of a lemon, and serve it up.


YOUNG ONION SAUCE. Peel a pint of button onions, and lay them in water.
Put them into a stewpan with a quart of cold water, and let them boil
for half an hour or more, till they are quite tender. They may then be
put to half a pint of mushroom sauce.


FINIS.


J. AND R. CHILDS, PRINTERS, BUNGAY.

       *       *       *       *       *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired with the exception of emdashes and
long dashes which seem to have been chosen on a whim. This was retained
as no clear usage could be determined.

Varied hyphenation was retained. Archaic spelling was retained, this
includes words such as "controul" and "bason." Decisions on what to
correct were mainly made on the spelling occurring more than once in the
text.

The dictionary portion of the text places the letter V before the letter
U.

Page viii, "coudescend" changed to "condescend" (who condescend to
examine)

Page xiv, "sometims" changed to "sometimes" (and sometimes never is)

Page 10, extra word "a". Original reads: (pint add a a pound)

Page 23, "fricasee" changed to "fricassee" (fricassee sauce; adding
cream)

Page 29, "salsafy" changed to "salsify" (rape, salsify, herbs)

Page 37, "composion" changed to "composition" (sifted. This composition)

Page 40, "perper" changed to "pepper" (parsely, salt, pepper)

Page 41, "artle" changed to "article" (a much better article)

Page 46, "or" changed to "of" (of as much wort)

Page 53, "Housleek" changed to "Houseleek" (Houseleek used by)

Page 55, "Boorhaave" changed to "Boorhaäve" (Boerhaäve recommended the)

Page 55, "runnet" changed to "rennet" (rennet as is sufficient)

Page 57, "of" changed to "off" (take off the fat)

Page 59, "trufflles" changed to "truffles" (cayenne, a few truffles)

Page 63, "thorougly" changed to "thoroughly" (thoroughly blended, so as)

Page 63, "boi" changed to "boil" (days; then boil)

Page 64, "wisk" changed to "whisk" (swept with a whisk)

Page 65, "seady" changed to "ready" (ready cut up)

Page 65, "prerides" changed to "presides" (a lady presides)

Page 81, "CLARIFED" changed to "CLARIFIED" (CLARIFIED SUGAR. Break)

Page 82, "degress" changed to "degrees" (be added by degrees, keeping)

Page 87, "them" changed to "then" (then be oval)

Page 91, "accomodation" changed to "accommodation" (accommodation of
mercenary)

Page 98, "acacording" changed to "according" (buttermilk strained,
according)

Page 98, "gizards" changed to "gizzards" (line the gizzards of turkeys)

Page 102, "marjarom" changed to "marjoram" (marjoram, pepper, salt)

Page 103, "scissars" changed to "scissors" (scissors in the other)

Page 106, "rhubard" changed to "rhubarb" (two of rhubarb, four)

Page 108, "tkem" changed to "them" (liberty to rescue them)

Page 117, "but' changed to "put" (and put in six)

Page 122, "peefectly" changed to "perfectly" (after being perfectly
soaked)

Page 122, "soakd" changed to "soaked" (after being perfectly soaked)

Page 140, " e" changed to "lie" (let it lie closely)

Page 144, "i" changed to "in" (saving in the article)

Page 149, "candid" changed to "candied" (sweetmeats, add some candied)

Page 167, "ot" changed to "of" (of coarse sugar. Let)

Page 174, "vingear" changed to "vinegar" (vinegar, to change his)

Page 198, "coppera" changed to "copperas" (mixture of alum and copperas)

Page 204, "und" changed to "and" (and take a small)

Page 231, word "do" added to text (In order to do this)

Page 237, "trough" changed to "through" (passed through a riddle)

Page 239, "penicious" changed to "pernicious" (of course pernicious)

Page 244, "dey" changed to "dry" (three weeks, then dry)

Page 249, "crums" changed to "crumbs" (with crumbs of bread)

Page 251, "smootly" changed to "smoothly" (on a tin foil, smoothly)

Page 263, "surperfluous" changed to "superfluous" (burning; the
superflous)

Page 266, "than" changed to "then" (the pan, then shift)

Page 267, "d wn" changed to "down" (Press down each, and)

Page 267, word "be" added to text (flour. These are to be)

Page 279, "infeority" changed to "inferiority" (dressed, their
inferiority)

Page 288, "chaffing" changed to "chafing" (over a chafing-dish)

Page 294, "Out" changed to "Cut" (OF MORELS. Cut)

Page 309, "stir it is till it cool" changed to "stir it till it is cool"
(stir it till it is cool)

Page 316, repeated word "it" removed from text. Original read (it it in
pieces of four)

Page 324, "o" changed to "of" (one pound of currants)

Page 326, "binns" changed to "bins" (kept in sacks or bins)

Page 336, "ofe th" changed to "of the" (strain the contents of the)

Page 364, "rgeat" changed to "great" (great rarefaction, causes)

Page 391, "injuririous" changed to "injurious" (to produce an injurious)

Page 414, "celebated" changed to "celebrated" (STRAMONIUM. This
celebrated)

Page 432, "cherries" changed to "Cherries" (apples, &c. Cherries,)

Page 434, "regulary" changed to "regularly" (regularly cleaned, are apt)

Page 436, "chessnut" changed to "chesnut" (thistles, and chesnuts,)

Page 442, "brililant" changed to "brilliant" (the pale yet brilliant)

Page 442, "TRASPLANTING" changed to "TRANSPLANTING" (TRANSPLANTING OF
FLOWERS)

Page 447, "romoved" changed to "removed" (removed by slow degrees)

Page 456, "YOURT" changed to "YOGURT" (TURKISH YOGURT. Let a small)

Page 485, the entry for "WILD DUCKS" was moved to before "WILD FOWL."

Page 489, "close" changed to "closed" (closed paper bags)





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