The >ok Bo And s. .' wd can e*t, ! bo thai PublUhcd fay THE RURAL NEW-YORKER PREFACE For many years The R. N.-Y. has been collecting tested recipes from an immense army of practical housewives. Some are entirely original; others are doubtless modifications of familiar practice. It is an easy matter to mislay a recipe not needed for immediate use, and we are thus cften asked to repeat their publication, not once, but perhaps a dozen times. For this reason it seemed wise to print a selection of these recipes in permanent form, and "The Rural Cook Book" was decided upon, as a successor to "The Business Hen" and "The Farmer's Garden." Before we had finished assembling our material, however, we discovered that we had enough recipes alone to fill four books of the required size, and the question became not what to put in, but what to leave out. It was decided that we must give as much space as possible to canning, preserving, pickling, and other uses of fruit and vegetables, as such recipes are especially useful to farm housekeepers. This little book is not intended, however, to be a complete guide to domestic economy; in spite of its omissions we feel sure that it will be found a real practical helper, and we also think it will fill a place left vacant by many a more pretentious volume. CONTENTS Chapter I. Soups. Vegetable, Meat, Chowders, etc 7-12 Chapter II. Fish. Including Oysters and Clams 13-18 Chapter III. Meats. Roasts,. Stews, Broiling, Meat Pies, Curing Hams, Corning Beef, Making Sausage, Game 19-39 Chapter IV. Pastry and Pies." Crusts and Puff Pastes, Tarts, Pie Fillings and Small Dainties.. 40-50 Chapter V. Puddings, Hot and Cold. Baked, Steamed, Boiled, Fruit and Cereal 51-69 Chapter VI. Apples. Many Wholesome and Appetizing Ways of Preparing this Familiar Fruit 70-78 Chapter VII. Bread and Muffins. White, Brown, Oat and Corn. Breads; Biscuits, Buns, Rolls, Coffee Cake, Waffles 79-89 Chapter VIII. Cakes. Doughnuts, Gingerbread, Cookies, Lebkuchen, Many Plain and Layer Cakes, Cake Fillings and Icings 90-108 Chapter IX. Eggs. Boiled, Baked, Poached, Omelets, Welsh Rabbit 109-113 Chapter X. Vegetables. Many Methods of Preparing Familiar Vegetables, Hulled Corn, Succotash, etc 114-122 Chapter XI. Canning and Preserving. Jams, Jellies, Marmalades, Fruit Butters, Glace Fruits, Practical Methods of Canning Fruits and Vegetables 123-155 Chapter XII. Pickles and Relishes. Fruit and Vegetable Pickles, Chow Chow, Sauces, Catsups, Vinegars 156-182 Chapter XIII. Salads 183-135 Chapter XIV. Cheese 186-188 Chapter XV. Warm Supper and Breakfast Dishes. Toasts, Croquettes, Noodles, Pancakes : 189-192 V CHAPTER I. soups. Here are some certain rules of health; Take them—they're better far than wealth: Don't overeat, don't overdrink, Don't overwork, don't overthink, Be not afraid of honest sweat; Run like a deer from shame and debt. Beware of bigness of the head. Get bigness of the soul Instead. Almond and Celery Soup.—Cut in small pieces a bunch of celery, using the leaves and carefully scraped root; add six peppercorns, two bay leaves, a tablespoonful of onion juice, a thin slice of lemon, a tea- spoonful of salt, and a stick of cinnamon; cover with a quart of water and cook an hour, strain and reheat, stirring in a cup of rich milk (icream is better), a teaspoonful each of flour and butter blended together, and one-quarter of a cup of blanched almonds that have been pounded to a paste, allowing soup to boil for a moment or two after the nuts are added. Serve very hot with cheese crackers. English Beef Soup.—Take the cracked joints of beef, and after put- ting the meat in the pot and covering it well with water let it come to a boil, when it should be well skimmed. Set the pot where the meat will simmer slowly until it is thoroughly done, keeping it closely cov- ered all the time. The next day, or when cold, remove the fat which hardens on the top of the soup. Peel, wash and slice three good-sized potatoes and put them into the soup; cut up half a head of white cab- bage in shreds and add to this a pint of Shaker corn that has been soaked over night, two onions, one head of celery, and tomatoes, if de- sired. When these are done, and they should simmer slowly, care being taken that they do not burn, strain (or not, as preferred) the soup and serve. The different varieties of beef soup are formed by this method of seasoning and the different vegetables used in preparing it after the joints have been well boiled. Besides onions, celery, cabbage, tomatoes and potatoes, many use a few carrots, turnips, beets and force-meat balls, seasoned with spice. Rice or barley will give the soup consistency, and are to be preferred to flour for the purpose. Parsley, thyme and sage are the favorite herbs for seasoning, but should be used sparingly. To make force-meat balls add to one pound chopped beef one egg, a small lump of butter, a cup or less of bread crumbs; season with salt and pepper and moisten with water from stewed meat; make in balls and 8 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. fry brown, or make egg-balls by boiling eggs, mashing the yolks with a silver spoon and mixing with one raw yolk and one teaspoonful of flour; season with salt and pepper, make into balls; drop in soup just before serving. Black Bean or Lentil Soup.—Soak a pint of black beans or lentils over night. In the morning, parboil them. Boil gently in fresh water until soft enough to rub through a sieve. Add a bay leaf, some cloves, and a stalk of celery. Brown two slices of bacon cut in dice with half a minced onion and turn into the soup. Serve with squares of toast. Brown Flour Soup.—Put a lump of butter into a clean iron frying pan. When melted, sprinkle in half a cupful of flour and stir briskly until the flour is of a uniform brown color like roasted coffee. Add this gradually to two quarts of water. Peel and cut into cubes three pota- toes and cook in the soup 20 minutes. Season with an onion and a tea- spoonful of celery salt. Consomme.—Cut up two pounds of lean raw meat, beef or veal, and ■ add a cupful of cold roast beef, cut in pieces. Put over the fire with a cracked knuckle of veal, four quarts of cold water, two onions, one carrot, two stalks of celery, six peppercorns, a spoonful of salt, six cloves and a few herbs. Cook slowly all day. Strain, and -when cold skim off the fat. Add the white and shells of two eggs. Bring to a boil and boil 10 minutes. Strain through a cloth. Corn Chowder.—Pare and slice thin onions enough to make a pint; boil one hour; to this add one-half pint potatoes cut small, boil 10 minutes longer. Fry brown a slice of fat salt pork cut small and add fat and all, then a pint of tender sweet corn (canned corn is all right). Boil 10 minutes longer; the whole of this now should be two quarts or more; this is the best time to salt and pepper to taste. Add one pint of milk and a cupful of cream or a piece of butter as large as an egg if cream is not plentiful. Do not let cream boil; serve very hot. Cream of Corn Soup.—Scrape the corn from eight tender young ears. Boil the cobs in as little water as may be for 30 minutes. Strain off the liquid, add the scraped corn and boil 20 minutes. Heat one quart of sweet milk to scalding point; rub together one tablespoonful butter and one teaspoonful flour; stir into the hot milk. Add one-half tea- spoonful salt, one-quarter teaspoonful white pepper. Pour over the corn, stir for a minute or' two, then pour into. hot tureen. Serve with crou- tons. Croutons—Cut bread two days old into small triangles or dice. Brown in oven to a golden tint. They are very nice spread with a paste made of twice the quantity of butter creamed, of delicate cheese grated and a little finely chopped parsley. (Two teaspoons butter, one of grated cheese, one-fourth teaspoon chopped parsley). The croutons can be fried if desired. 12 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Squirrel Soup.—Allow one large or two small squirrels, well washed and jointed, to two quarts of cold water and two teaspoonfuls (level) of salt. Put to cook directly after breakfast in a stone pipkin or enam- eled kettle. Cover closely and set on the back of the range to simmer— not' boil. After two hours add the corn from two ears, two small Irish potatoes, one-half cupful of Lima beans, three sprigs of parsley, three celery stalks and one-half cupful of sliced okra. Keep closely covered, and as the water evaporates add enough to keep the original two quarts. When the squirrels have cooked to rags strain through a coarse colander to remove the troublesome little bones. Return to the soup kettle, cover and continue to simmer until nearly time to serve. Then thicken with a dessertspoonful of butter rolled in a dessertspoonful of flour. Those who like may add a teaspoonful of powdered sassafras leaves. Have two slices of toast cut into inch squares, fried in butter and placed in the bottom of a hot tureen. Pour over them the soup, boiling hot, and serve immediately. Puree of Tomatoes.—Cook the contents of a can of tomatoes for 15 minutes, then rub through a colander. Return to the fire and season with salt and pepper to taste, and a little sugar. Rub three tablespoonfuls of butter into one tablespoonful of cornstarch, and stir this smooth paste into the strained tomatoes. Cook, stirring steadily, until smooth and thick. Have ready heated in a saucepan a quart of rich milk into which has been stirred a pinch of baking soda. To this add, gradually, the thickened tomato liquor, beating the milk constantly as you do so. Serve immediately, putting a great spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream on the surface of each plate of soup. Vegetable Cream Soups.—Scald three cupfuls of milk. Rub together one tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour, cook until it bubbles; add the hot milk gradually to this, and cook for five minutes, stirring until thick and smooth. Blend some of this cream with a cup- ful of cooked vegetable, mashed to a smooth pulp, mix all together, and simmer for five minutes, seasoning appropriately. Potato soup should have a little celery and onion cooked in the milk, and when ready to serve some finely-chopped parsley should be scattered on top. Celery, asparagus, green peas or beans, carrots, spinach, cucumbers and lettuce are all good in such soup; all must first be cooked and reduced to a smooth pulp. Bread cut into dice and browned in butter is often added when the soup is ready to serve. CHAPTER II. All small fish are best fried, and many large fish are excellent cooked in the same way. The fish should be well cleaned; if small left whole, if large cut into neat pieces. Beat an egg with a tablespoonful of cold water; dip the fish in this, then roll in bread crumbs or cornmeal. Cook in plenty of fat, which must be boiling hot when put in. Baking and boiling are both excellent methods of cooking fish, but very soft fish should never be boiled. The recipes given below refer mainly to canned and salt fish, because these are more helpful in an emergency. Clam Chowder.—Take the liquor from fifty clams, put it on the stove to heat. Cut into dice % pound salt pork, brown it in the frying pan, and add to the clam liquor. Peel and cut into dice three quarts of ripe tomatoes and half the quantity of potatoes. Cut up 50 clams, and let all the ingredients boil slowly for two or three hours. Half hour before serving add half a dozen large crackers rolled fine. Clam Gumbo.—In one large tablespoonful of lard fry one finely- chopped onion, add one cupful of chopped cooked ham, one tablespoonful of chopped green pepper, four tomatoes, skinned and cut in pieces, one pint of okra, stemmed and sliced, one scant teaspoonful of salt and one quart of water or broth. Simmer for an hour, add one dozen finely chopped clams, simmer 15 minutes, and serve. Clam Pie.—From a half pound of rather fat salt pork trim off the rind and cut in slices, then in dice. Slowly fry this, and when the fat is well drawn out and just beginning to color add half of a small onion cut fine. When golden brown add one quart of raw, diced potatoes, one pint of boiling water and one-quarter of a teaspoonful of black pep- per. Cover and cook slowly until the potatoes are almost tender. Take from the fire, add one solid pint of raw clams cut in quarters and their strained juice. Turn into a deep well-greased baking dish. While this mixture is cooking mix and sift together one pint and a half of flour, a .half teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix to a soft dough with sweet milk, and roll out not over a half inch thick. Cut in small round biscuits. Place these close together over the top of the pie, brush with milk and bake in a hot oven for 35 minutes. Roast Clams.—Wash the clams and drain them in a colander for a few minutes, then lay them in a large dripping pan and put the pan into a very hot oven. As soon as the shells begin to open, the clams are 14 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cooked; it takes from seven to 10 minutes to roast them. Have a cov- ered dish hot, and drop the clams into it as soon as they are taken from the shell. Spread over them a mustard cream sauce and serve at once. To make the sauce: Put one cup of milk over the fire in a double boiler. When boiling, gradually stir into it three tablespoonfuls of but- ter, one of flour, and one teaspoonful of dry' mustard that have been beaten to a creamy mass. Season with salt and pepper and return to the fire; cook three minutes, and it is ready to serve. Thin slices of brown bread, buttered, are served with roast clams. Baked Fish.—Bluefish, cod, or haddock are the best fish to bake. Clean the fish and make a stuffing as follows: Soak stale bread in cold water for 20 minutes. Press dry, and season with one egg, one table- spoonful melted butter and a small quantity of sage, or the prepared poultry dressing, or a little onion juice, as preferred. When the stuf- fing has been thoroughly mixed, fill the fish and sew up with needle and thread. Flour the fish well and salt it. Lay a few thin slices of salt pork into the bottom of the baking dish, also a few slices on top of the fish. Baste it often with the liquor which cooks out of it, adding a lit- tle water if there is not enough. Allow 15 minutes to the pound for baking fish. Have a moderate oven, as, if very hot, it will not cook well in the middle. New England Codfish.—Select a whole fish, and put it to soak in cold water over night; in the morning wash it clean and cut off the fins and tail. Cook the fish whole; if you have not got a fish kettle place it in a large milk pan partly filled with water. Cover the pan closely and set over a kettle of hot water. It will cook very slowly in this way, say five or six hours, according to the size of the fish, but it will be done properly when ready for the table. Serve it whole, placing it- on a hot platter. Indeed, one of the essentials of a good salt fish dinner is to have everything hot, not only the fish and vegetables, but plates and dishes as well. The dish on which your fish is served must be an ample one, and around the fish you will place a garnish of nicely sliced beets and carrots. With the fish you will serve pork scraps and egg sauce and boiled potatoes. The pork should be cut into dice and fried a rich brown. To make the egg sauce, take two eggs that have been boiled 10 minutes, remove the shell, and cut into little pieces, placing them in the sauce dish. Blend a piece of butter the size of an egg with a table- spoonful of flour, and when the fish is ready to serve, pour over a coffee- cupful of boiling water, stir, and pour into the sauce dish with the egg and stir again. If the sauce is too thick, add still more boiling water. When you have not time to cook a salt fish for dinner and desire an emergency dish, try salt fish in cream prepared as follows: Shred a cupful of salt cod, or, if you prefer, use the prepared article, place it in THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 17 dish and cover with dressing made of one cupful bread crumbs, one table- spoonful butter (scant), pinch of pepper, a little grated lemon peel and one-fourth cupful of cream. Lay the other fish on dressing, skin side up, and baste well with hot water and melted butter. Put into a hot oveta for 20 minutes, then cover with bread crumbs, dot with bits of butter and put back in the oven till nicely browned. Carefully dish without disturbing the layers and serve with thin lemon slices and parsley as a garnish. Oyster Chowder.—Fry together two ounces of salt pork and one onion, sliced. Parboil one pint of sliced potatoes five minutes and drain. Look over carefully one pint of oysters, pour over one-half cupful of water and heat to the boiling point; skim out the oysters and pour the liquor over the potatoes, add the pork and onions and cook the potatoes until tender, adding a little more water if necessary; add the oysters, one pint of milk and one-half cupful of fine bread crumbs. Season with one teaspoonful of salt and half-teaspoonful of pepper and pour in the serving dish. Oyster Stew.—Put one quart of oysters in a colander, and pour over three-fourths of a cupful of cold water, reserving the liquor. Pick cater the oysters, being careful that no particles of shells adhere to the tough muscles. Heat the reserved liquor to the boiling point, strain through a double thickness of cheese cloth, add the oysters, and cook, stirring oc- casionally, until the oysters are plump and the edges begin to curl. Re- move the oysters with a skimmer to a heated tureen, and add one-fourth of a cupful of butter, one-half tablespoonful of salt, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper, the oyster liquor, strained a second time through a double thickness of cheese cloth, and four cupfuls of scalded milk. Baked Pickerel.—Clean the fish carefully and lay on a rack in a dripping pan; dredge with a teaspoonful of salt, several dashes of pepper, and a little flour. Bake carefully, basting every 10 minutes until well done, with hot water to which a tablespoonful of butter has been added. Make the sauce with half a cup of cream and half a cup of the basting liquid in which the fish was cooked; thicken with a teaspoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of flour; let the sauce boil up once, then add a ta- blespoonful of chopped parsley. Pour part of the sauce around the fish on a platter, and serve the remainder in a gravy boat. Quahaug Pie.—Remove the loose brown skin and black part from a quart of sea clams and chop the remainder fine. Scald a cup of milk, the liquid from the clams and enough water.to make a pint in all, and thicken it with a tablespoonful each of flour and butter cooked to a smooth paste; then add pepper and salt to taste and two finely-chopped hard-boiled eggs, and lastly, the chopped clams. Line a meat pie dish with pie crust, then add a thin layer of cracker crumbs, the prepared 22 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. sistency of biscuit. Roll out the paste to the thickness of half an inch. Butter an earthen pudding bowl, and line with the paste. Take flank or round steak, cut into one-inch pieces, season with pepper and salt, and fill the dish. Pour in as much gold water as will find its way in around the meat, then cover it with paste, having moistened the edges to make them stick together. Cover with a cloth, well floured, leaving a little room for the pudding to swell. Put it into a pot of boiling water, and let it boil three hours, or put it in a steamer, and allow four hours' cooking. When fully cooked the meat should be very tender, with an abundance of rich clotted gravy. The addition of a few oysters with the meat forms a palatable change. Serve with boiled carrots and turnips. Spiced Beef.—This makes a desirable cold dish for luncheon or tea, or for Sunday dinner in Summer. Select a piece of the flank, trim off the coarse skin, lay it flat on the table, and, with a knife, spread over it the following mixture: One teaspoonful ground mustard, one teaspoonful celery salt, half teaspoonful black pepper, pinch of red pepper, mixed to a smooth paste with vinegar. Then roll up the meat like a jelly cake, the spice inside, tie it up, tie it in a cloth like a pudding. Put it into boiling water, and let it boil 2l/2 hours. When cooked lift the kettle off the stove, and allow the water to cool before removing the meat. Do not take the cloth off until cold, then slice the meat for serving. Waverly Collared Beef.—Corn a six-pound piece of the thick part of the brisket by putting it in brine strong enough to float an egg, to which is added a heaping teaspoonful of saltpeter, one of brown sugar and a saltspoon of red pepper. Leave it in five or six days in Summer; eight or 10 in Winter. Use an earthen crock, and turn the meat every two or three days. Grate two large carrots, a good-sized stick of horseradish, and chop fine a large bunch of parsley; mix all together, and spread a thick layer on the corned beef, keeping it well to the middle, as it presses out when you roll; if the meat is not long, and difficult to roll nicely, cut a few pockets in it and fill with the dressing; then roll very tightly, fastening with skewers and binding with strong string round and round. Any of the dressing that has squeezed out press back into the open ends of the roll; remove the skewers; then tie up in cheesecloth, cover with cold water, bring slowly to a simmer, and let it cook at this point four hours. Remove the cheesecloth, put the meat on a tray, place a heavy weight on it and leave it over night. Cut off the string. Serve cold, cutting thin slices off the end, showing the dressing. Brown Stew.—A piece of tough steak can be very well cooked in this way: Brown a tablespoonful of sugar in the kettle and add a sliced onion; when brown cool and add for each pound of beef cut in small bits s tablespoonful of flour and one of butter or suet. Add a pint of boiling water, stir well and add the bits of meat. Put in half of a bay leaf or a THE RURAL COOK BOOK. S3 pinch of celery seed. Cook very slowly for an hour. Just before serving add a teaspoonful of salt. The meat will be tender, the flavor excellent. The browned sugar, or caramel, as cooks call it, does not give a percep- tibly sweet flavor, but gives e different taste, and makes brown gravy. Brunswick Stew.—Stew a large fowl until the meat leaves the bone; remove skin, gristle and bones and chop the meat in coarse pieces. Return to the liquor; add a pint of corn scraped from the ears, a pint of young Lima beans, three cupfuls of tomato, a good-sized onion, minced fine, a pint of young okras, a small red pepper, minced, a little celery seed, two tablespoonfuls of butter and salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Simmer until okra is tender and then serve. The addition of n little paprika just before the stew is taken up improves it greatly. Belgian Hare.—If you broil see that the hares are young, under four or five months, and therefore tender. After a brief soaking in water into which no soda or salt has been put (if the hares are young they have no unpalatable flavor and consequently great care must be taken to pre- serve their natural delicacy), dry well with a clean cloth, and gash them down the back through the thickest portion; then flatten each, place it on a gridiron, and broil it over a bed of coals, turning often, or you may lay them smooth on the bottom of a dripping pan and cook in a hot oven without basting; oil the pan slightly with a little sweet dripping, or a bit of fresh butter; they should be done in half an hour. Stewed.—Cut the hares into joints, drop into a pot and cover with boiling water; then slice in an onion and a bit of bacon, and stew slowly one hour or until tender. As old hares are best stewed, it will do no harm to put in a young chicken, stewing all together. At the end of half an hour add a few potatoes, peeled, and cut in quarters, and, if liked, some small bits of light paste, after the potatoes get fairly boiling. When all are done, stir in a little cream thickened with white flour, boil up a moment and dish for the table. Fried.—Disjoint, cut uniform pieces, cover with boiling water, and let it simmer until quite tender. Then remove carefully to a dry dish. Dredge well with flour, and drop into very hot butter to brown. Serve with gravy made from the liquor in which it was boiled and cream. Two tablespoonfuls of vinegar added while boiling are an improvement. Roast Hare.—Make a dressing of fine dry bread crumbs; part graham is best. Add to the crumbs a small lump of fresh butter, a little dry sage (or other herb, if preferred), and moisten well with tepid water, stirring well as you add it. Do not put in too much water; have the dressing light and flaky, not wet and heavy. The large and delicious liver of the hare, having been thoroughly steamed will add an unwonted zest if chopped into bits and put into the stuffing. Fill the hares with this, leaving plenty of room for the dressing to swell, sew up, put the 24 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. hares into a dripping pan, add a cupful of boiling water, and roast as slowly as possible during the first half hour. Baste every 15 or 20 min- utes, turning as needed, and if any part browns too fast, cover it with a clean napkin wet in warm water and folded two or three times. Allow from one to two hours for roasting; test with a fork to ascertain when the hares are done; take them out of the pan and make the gravy, drain the grease all off and set the pan on the stove; then put in any tid-bits (as the liver, etc.), and the liquor in which they are boiled; thicken with a little browned flour wet with milk or water, and boil up a moment. Canning Meat.—Half cook the meat in a kettle, cut meat from the bcnes. If this is done while the meat is hot, wring out a cloth from cold or tepid water, fold in several thicknesses, and set under the glass can, letting cloth come up about an inch around sides of can, and it will not break, no matter how hot the meat may be. If you spill more broth on the cloth be sure to wring out extra water from it, for if the cloth is sopping wet, the can will break. Having filled can with meat, pour in all the broth the can will hold, and see that it is salted and peppered just right for the table. Screw on cover without rubber and, if hot put in kettle partly filled with hot water, putting a tin in bottom of kettle to set cans on. Three quarts can be put in common-sized kettle. Cover with a well-fitting cover that will keep in the steam, and keep boiling for two hours. Take out one can at a time, and at once put on a good rubber. If you want to keep the meat for several months, if it is chicken, veal or beef, have hot melted beef suet and fill the cans even full. If you only care to keep the meat for two or three weeks fill up even full with boiling broth. This work must be done with dispatch, not letting the contents of the can cool in the least. Screw on the cover to the last limit, and if your covers and rubbers are not defective your meat will keep per- fectly. In canning pork there Is nearly always sufficient grease to broth; if not the can may be filled with lard. Canning Meat in Tins.—Trim off all surplus tallow from meat, and either boil or roast the beef, using but little salt and pepper, preferably none at all, as these will attack the tin; meat can be spiced, etc., when removed from can to serve. When cooked remove from liquid and trim off from bones. If liquid is too greasy let it get cold and then remove tallow. While again heating liquid and meat boiling hot get the cans and covers ready, the covers to be pierced by an awl in the center. Use the friction top tin can only, for keeping meat through the Summer and dog days. You can use glass jars to keep same till May, but they are risky during warm weather. When meat and liquid are hot pack meat into the cans—any size you wish—not quite full, and pour liquid over same so as to cover meat somewhat, then place on the covers good and tight. Put cans into oven and bake one to two hours. If cans are too full, liquid THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 25 will ooze through vent. The baking will drive out every particle or atom of air through vent, and is absolutely necessary for safety. When nearly done baking liquefy some paraffin or sealing wax, and heat a soldering iron. The paraffin is to seal cover airtight around edge, and the soldering iron to use with solder to close up vent opening in center. Take out of oven a can at a time and solder vent opening as quickly as possible, then paraffin the edge of cover. Place cans—after finishing job—where it is dry and cool. A steer can be packed into about 50 or 60 quart cans. Chicken Baked in Milk.—Dress and joint a chicken of four to six pounds, dust each piece with salt and pepper, and roll in flour. Put the chicken in a roasting pan or casserole that it will half fill, then pour over it enough sweet milk to cover the chicken completely. Put a close-fitting iid on the baker, and put it in the oven, cooking the chicken until tender; it will take from two to 2J/j hours. This requires but little attention while cooking, the meat is tender and juicy, and the gravy delicious. It is an excellent way to cook an elderly fowl; a young bird will, of course, cook in a shorter time. As it really gains in flavor by being warmed over, it can be cooked on Saturday for the Sunday dinner, thus lessening work. Broiled Chicken.—Take broilers of suitable age or size, dress in the usual way, split down the back and remove breast bone, which can be easily done by running finger along it. Place right side up in dripping pan, season with plenty of butter, pepper and salt; put in a hot oven for 20 minutes to "draw" or heat well through. Take out; if cooking with gas turn, and put under flame a few minutes to brown; then brown the top, but do not burn. If cooking on stove with fuel proceed the same way on toaster or gridiron. Broiled Chicken, O. W. Mapes's Recipe.—The first essential of course is to have a nice fat chicken. This should be split through the back and laid in a shallow basin. Now place the basin containing the chicken in a steamer and steam for an hour and a half. The basin will catch all the juices which drip from the meat. These should all be saved and used in making the gravy. As soon as it is steamed sufficiently place in a well- buttered pan and fry until well browned; remove the meat and add the juices from steaming to make a good gravy. This method never has failed to bring satisfaction to both cook and guests. Possibly it would be equally as good with older birds by allowing more time in the steaming. Spring Chicken Fried in Cream.—Put a pint of rich cream in a frying pan over a moderate fire till it begins to color, dip the different parts of the chicken in flour, fry in the cream on each side till it is a delicate brown- When done put it on a hot platter, pour another half pint of cream into the pan, let it boil one minute, add a saltspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, then pour it over the chicken. Serve garnished with sprigs of parsley and a dish of puffed potato slices. 26 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Jugged Chicken.-—Cut the bird up as for a fricassee. To every pound allow two heaping teaspoonfuls of flour, one scant teaspoonful of salt and one-quarter teaspoonful of pepper; mix thoroughly and roll each piece of chicken in the mixture, then pack closely in a large bean-pot; cover with boiling water and bake in a good oven until tender—from two to three hours. When placed in the pot sprinkle in a tablespoonful of minced onion. When done remove to a hot platter, thicken the liquor for gravy and serve in a boat. Chicken Loaf.—Mince fine two cupfuls of cold cooked chicken, one pound of lean veal and one-fourth pound of fat salt pork. Work in these three beaten eggs, a cupful of seasoned and strained tomato sauce, one teaspoonful of grated lemon peel, one teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of paprika and enough cracker crumbs to mold with the hands. Press firmly into a large wet bowl, invert carefully into a buttered baking pan, removing bowl. Add one cupful of water and one tablespoonful of butter to the pan. Sift buttered crumbs lightly over the loaf and cover the top and sides with carefully peeled and sliced lemons. Bake V/2 hour in a moderate oven, browning it nicely before serving. Baste fre- quently with the liquor. Serve garnished with lemon slices and parsley. Paprika Chicken.—This is a favorite Hungarian dish. Cut a nice tender chicken into pieces as for a fricassee; flatten a little, such pieces as need it. Season each piece with salt and pepper, and dredge it lightly with flour, while you fry a minced onion in two tablespoonfuls of butter. Lay the chicken in the butter and onion, cooking for 20 minutes, so it will be evenly and thoroughly done. Take up the chicken and stir in an even teaspoonful of salt and a very scant teaspoonful of paprika, or half a scant teaspoonful of good mild cayenne pepper of any kind. Add last of all a cupful of rich cream. Make some dumplings of a pint of sifted flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a saltspoonful of salt and butter the size of half an egg; moisten the dumplings with a cupful of milk, and drop them over the sauce. Let them cook well, covered for 50 minutes, when they will be well puffed up and light. Pour the sauce around the chicken and make a circle of the dumplings. If the dumplings are steamed over the cream sauce so they do not sink into it they will be lighter. Panned Fowl with Oysters.—Cut the fowl into pieces suitable for serving; lay them in a baking dish, flesh side down; season with a tea- spoonful of salt, a fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper and cover with thin slices of salt pork. Put one cupful of boiling water in the pan, cover closely and bake in a hot oven half an hour (for young chickens). Remove the cover, and baste every 10 minutes for another half hour, turning the pieces so they will brown. Remove to a hot platter, add half a cupful of rich milk or cream to the gravy in the pan, first skimming off all fat; THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 27 place on the top of the range and stir in a tablespoonful of flour and same of butter blended together; when it boils add a cupful of well-washed (and cleaned from shells) oysters; watch carefully and as soon as the oysters are plump remove them from the fire; add a teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Pour around the fowl; garnish with celery tips. An old fowl will require longer cooking. Chicken Pie, Southern Style.—Select a fowl weighing four or five pounds; clean carefully, singe and put it on in boiling water enough to cover it, and let it simmer gently until it begins to grow tender. Save this broth with the giblets. Now cut the chicken in small pieces; slice a quarter of a pound of fat pork very thin and fry it with the chicken until it' is brown. After the chicken and pork are fried take them up and stir into the pan in which they were cooked a tablespoonful of flour. Stir it over the fire until brown; then add a pint of the chicken broth, a teaspoonful of salt, quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper. Stir this gravy until it has boiled two minutes and use it for pie. To make the crust: Mix together in a bowl with a knife one pound of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of butter, and just enough cold water to hold it together. Roll it out about an inch thick; cut a quarter of a pound of butter in large slices, and lay it all over the paste; fold it up and wrap in a floured' towel and put in the ice box for half an hour. Roll it out, repeating same with another quarter of a pound of butter; roll it to a thickness of half an inch, fold it in three thicknesses and roll it out again. If the butter breaks through, fold it again in a towel and cool for half an hour before using. Line a deep dish; then put in alternate layers of chicken, pork and sliced raw potatoes; pour in as much gravy as the dish will hold. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley, a dash more pepper and salt, and cover with a top crust, wetting the edges to make them adhere. Cut a hole in the top to allow the steam to escape. Chicken Potpie with Stirred Dumplings.—Cut up the fowl for serving, wash, put in a deep stewpan, and add three pints of boiling water, salt, pepper and a bay leaf. Cook one large onion, and about three slices each of turnip and carrot, in a tablespoonful of butter, and cook till soft; mash and add to stew; then dip out two tablespoonfuls of the fat from the stew, put with the butter, and when boiling stir in three tablespoonfuls of flour. Stir over the fire till brown, then stir into the chicken to thicken it. A year-old chicken will need two hours' cooking; it should only simmer, without hard boiling. For dumplings, into a quart of wheat flour sift two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a half tea- spoonful of salt. Sift at least three times. Then stir in rich, sweet milk to make a batter, not thick as can be stirred nor yet soft enough to run. Drop in spoonfuls over the top of the boiling potpie a half hour before 28 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. dinner time. Should there be so much gravy that the batter would sink beneath its surface remove a bowlful. Cover closely and keep constantly boiling. Serve the dinner on a large meat platter, arranging the dumplings about its border, heaping the meat and potatoes in the center and serving the gravy from a gravy boat. In taking up the dumplings tear them apart with two forks instead of using a knife or spoon. Smothered Chicken.—Have a year-old chicken split as for broiling. Wipe dry, spread it liberally with butter all over, dust with flour and pepper, and place, skin side down, in a dripping pan (over a meat rack). Pour in a cupful boiiing water, add a few sprigs of parsley, cover closely and bake in a hot oven one hour. Then turn the chicken skin side up, sprinkle with a half teaspoonful of salt, and brown uncovered, 10 or 15 minutes. Cut up the giblets, which have been cooked tender in one pint of water, add a level dessertspoonful flour and a lump of butter the size of an egg with the water from the giblets, which will be reduced to about a cupful, and stir all in the dripping pan, seasoning with a saltspoonful of salt, a good dash of pepper, parsley or sweet marjoram. Joint the chicken that it' may be easily carved, but do not separate it. Serve on a platter with the gravy poured around. Victoria Chicken.—Procure a young chicken of three and one-half pounds in weight, singe, draw and wash it, cut the chicken into 10 pieces, season with half teaspoonful pepper, and half tablespoonful of salt; rub the seasoning and the chicken well together. Cut half pound bacon into slices, remove the rind and place the bacon in a pan of boiling water, let it lie five minutes, then drain. Put the bacon into a saucepan and fry to a delicate brown, then take out the bacon. Put the chicken into the bacon fat, add half tablespoonful butter, cover and cook slowly for 30 minutes, turning the chicken with a fork three times during that time, then lay the chicken in a round pan with the slices of bacon between, pour over three cups of cream, cover the pan and bake one hour in a medium-hot oven. When ready to serve lay the chicken on a hot dish, and lay six bread croutons in a circle around the dish, strain the sauce over the chicken and serve. . Deviled Mutton.—This is a nice way to warm up cold roast mutton 6r lamb. Put one teaspoonful of chopped onion into a stewpan with one ounce of butter. Place it over a slow fire, keep the onions stirred until rather brown, then add some flour, mix it in well and fry for five min- utes; then pour in one-half pint of gravy well seasoned, and let it boil until thickened and brown; add one teaspoonful of sugar and one of vinegar, one of Worcestershire sauce, a few chopped gherkins and a few button mushrooms if at hand; put in the mutton, which has been pre- viously sliced in thin slices and perfectly free from fat; let it remain a few minutes and simmer, not boil. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 29 Flank Steak, Rolled.—Spread a steak weighing about V/2 pounds with a dressing composed of V/2 cupful bread crumbs—dip the crusts previously in boiling water that they may easily crumble—one medium-sized onion, two tablespoonfuls canned tomato, one beaten egg, one tablespoonful butter, one teaspoonful salt, one-quarter teaspoonful pepper. Stir egg with bread, add the onion sliced, tomato, butter and seasoning. After spreading roll snugly and tie with pieces of string. Lay three slices of salt pork on top, place in dripping pan with one-half cupful water. Roast slowly one hour. May be eaten hot with gravy, or cold. Goulash.—Cut two leeks or onions, small-sized ones, into fine pieces, and fry them in hot butter till they are brown. Add one cupful of beef broth, a little salt, half a teaspoonful of paprika or red pepper, and half a teaspoonful of browned flour. Stir until smooth, then strain. Have ready one-half pound of raw steak, cut into quarter-inch squares. The better the steak, necessarily, the better the result will be, and there- fore porterhouse is preferred. Toss the meat into a frying pan just long enough to cook the outside, then add the sauce. Add two warm boiled potatoes, cut into good-sized pieces, and let the pan remain on the back of the stove 15 minutes before serving. Goose, Braised.—Braised goose is superior to a roast, in the taste of many, the bird acquiring flavor from the vegetables with it. The oven is the place for the cooking, and a porcelain-lined iron pot or earthen cooking crock (either having a tight-fitting cover) gives the best results. Prepare the goose as for roasting, but do not stuff. In the baking dish put a layer of chopped or sliced onions, celery, turnips, carrots and two apples. Sprinkle with a teaspoonful of salt, one of powdered sage and six shakes of pepper. Lay the goose upon them, pour over it two cupfuls of boiling water, dredge with salt, pepper, powdered sage and flour. Cover closely and cook slowly for at least four hours (allow 25 minutes to the pound). Turn the goose every two hours. Add more water if necessary. Less time is required if a roaster is used. When tender, remove the goose. Rub the vegetables and gravy through a colander, return to the fire and stir in a tablespoonful of browned flour. Boil up once and serve in a boat. Garnish the goose with parsley. Gumbo.—This takes four hours to make. Put into a kettle two pounds of lean soup beef, one-half a chicken that has been jointed, a small ham bone, or a good-sized slice of lean bacon, a slice of green pepper and a square inch of onion. Add three quarts of water and boil or simmer gently, skimming often for two hours. At the end of this time add three pints of okra that has first been cut in slices and fried lightly in a very small amount of butter, also a large potato cut in pieces, which gradually breaks and thickens the soup. An hour later, after frequent skimmings, add a full quart of tomatoes and the corn cut from two large ears, also 30 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. the cobs, and boil gently for another hour. Then remove the corncobs and what is left of the beef, and the chicken bones, leaving the chicken meat in the stew; season with salt, cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce and a teaspoonful of sugar, and it is ready to serve. Dry boiled rice is nice served with this gumbo, which is a stew rather than a soup. Many recipes for gumbo call for a small quantity of "fillet powder"; this is the tender young green leaves of sassafras powdered. Ham, Curing.—This is a Virginia method. For curing four hams, averaging 12 pounds each, have ready one and a half gallons of the best salt, one pound of good brown sugar, one-eighth pound of powdered saltpeter, one ounce of black pepper and one-half ounce of cayenne. Cut the joints into proper shapes, without unnecessary bone and fat, and lay them on a board on table. First rub the skin well with salt and lay each joint aside, then begin over again, and into the fleshy side of each ham rub two teaspoonfuls of saltpeter and a tablespoonful of brown sugar mixed together. Rub the pepper, particularly, about the hock and under the bone and give to the whole ham a good application of salt. Now pack the hams, one upon another, the skin side downward, with a layer of salt between, into a tub or box, the bottom of which has also been covered "with salt. The process of salting will be complete in five weeks. At the end of that time have ready about a peck of hickory ashes; clean the hams with a brush or dry cloth and rub them with the ashes. To smoke the hams the joints should be hung from joists beneath the ceiling and a slow, smothered fire kept up for five or six weeks, so as to smoke thoroughly, but not overheat the hams. Or, as an excellent substitute for this process, paint the hams with a coating of pyroligneous acid, let them dry and repeat the operation. Wrap each ham in paper and encase it in a canvas or strong cotton bag. A simple way to salt bacon and hams in brine is to rub the meat well with salt, especially into the exposed ends of bones, and then pack into a barrel, with a layer of salt between each piece. Allow the meat to remain thus for 48 hours, then pour over all a brine strong enough to bear up an egg. Let the meat remain in pickle six weeks; then smoke. Molasses pickle is made as follows: To four quarts of fine salt and two ounces of pulverized saltpeter add enough molasses to make a paste. Hang the hams in a cool dry place for three or four days after cutting up; then cover with the pickle mixture, thickest on the flesh side, and lay them skin down for three or four days. For 100 pounds of ham make brine in the following proportion: Seven pounds coarse salt; two ounces saltpeter; one-half ounce pearlash; four gallons soft water. Heat grad- ually, removing all scum as it arises, then cool. Pack the hams in a barrel, pour the brine over them, and keep in pickle five to eight weeks, according to size. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 31 Ham, Sugar Cured.—To 50 pounds of ham or "side bacon" allow three pounds of sugar and a pint of molasses, six pounds of salt, one full tablespoonful of saleratus and the same of saltpeter. Cover the bottom of your firkin with salt (about two pounds). Mix sugar, molasses, salt- peter, saleratus and the remaining salt into a paste. Rub each piece thoroughly with this, work it in well and hard, and pack into the firkin, the rind downward. Cover all with cold water—just enough to rise above the meat. Lay a heavy board on top, weight it with a stone to keep the meat under water, and leave it thus for four weeks, turning the meat and stirring up the pickle every week. Take out, then wipe, rub into the pieces as much dry salt and an equal quantity of sugar as they will take up; pack in a dry firkin and leave for 24 hours before sending to the smokehouse. Hamburg Steak, Baked.—One and one-half pound raw chopped beef, two cupfuls of stale bread softened with half a cupful of hot milk and cooled, two eggs, small onion minced, teaspoonful of salt, saltspoonful of pepper and pinch of ginger. Mix well and shape into a square; place in baking pan with a tablespoonful of tomato, small onion and butter the size of a walnut on top of meat. Bake one hour, basting frequently. The potatoes should be boiled 15 minutes, then drained, pared and placed in pan with the Hamburg steak to cook 45 minutes, being turned and basted often. Medium-sized potatoes are best for this. Serve arranged around the meat. Hungarian Hamburg Steak.—Beat an egg into a bowl, stir in bread crumbs (about a cupful), a small onion, grated, salt and paprika (a mild- flavored cayenne pepper). The meat is stirred into this, and after thor- ough mixing is formed into a ball. An onion is fried brown in butter, put into an earthen saucepan with a tight-fitting cover, and the meat ball is added, with two tomatoes cut into quarters around it. After simmering for half an hour the meat is turned gently, so as not to break the ball, then allowed to cook quietly for nearly an hour, and served with the vegetables as a garnish. Senator Hanna's Hash.—This is the recipe given by the Boston Cook- ing School. Take equal portions of tender boiled corned beef and mealy boiled potatoes. Cut the potatoes into small cubes and the meat as fine as possible. Mix thoroughly with these a small onion, chopped very fine; a slice of onion is often sufficient. Butter a hot frying pan and turn into it chopped materials. Press into the center of the mass a clove of garlic, wrapped in a piece of salt pork or mild cured bacon. Set over a moderate fire, cover and let cook, adding a small quantity of water, if moist hash is preferred; when heated, stir, remove the garlic and give the whole round shape. Let stand in the oven until browned underneath, then carefully slide on a serving dish. While the hash is cooking cut one or 32 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. two Bermuda onions into thin slices and fry until crisp in deep fat . Use these as a garnish for the hash (or omit if preferred). Serve with lemon quarters. Hot-Pot.—Two pounds of cross-rib is cut in small pieces and put in an earthen saucepan, with two minced onions, five or six small green pep- pers, whole, a few chives, a handful of seeded raisins, a cupful of to- matoes, peeled and sliced, eight or 10 olives, a bit of thyme, a big table- spoonful of drippings, salt to taste, and a cupful of vinegar and water. The pot is covered tightly, and the mixture simmered slowly until the meat is cooked to pieces; then a tablespoonful of butter well coated with flour is stirred in to thicken the gravy. Liver and Bacon in Casserole.—Slice liver about half an inch thick, and put in a buttered saucepan, peppering lightly. Over the liver lay a dozen thin slices of bacon, and strew these with chopped onion and par- sley. Cover closely and cook slowly for about two hours. The cooking must not be hurried. When ready to serve the liver, let the gravy, with the bacon in it, boil hard for two minutes, then pour it over the the liver in the serving dish. Liver, Fried in New Orleans Style.—Cut a pound of calf's liver in half- inch cubes. After washing and draining, place in a bowl which has been rubbed with an onion. Between two layers of liver place a layer of chopped onion and parsley, sprinkling with salt and dusting lightly with cayenne. After half an hour take out the liver and shake off all the onion. Roll lightly in flour and drop into a deep kettle of boiling fat. Drain on paper and serve very hot with lemon. The liver cooks to de- licious tenderness and delicacy of flavor. Calves' Liver, English Style.—Two pounds of fresh liver, one-half pound fat salt pork, one spoonful of butter, half an onion, one spoonful chopped parsley and pepper. Put the butter in a warm, not hot, sauce- pan, cut the liver into slices half an inch thick and lay upon the butter; mince the pork and cover the liver; sprinkle the parsley and onion with pepper on top; cover the saucepan closely and set it into a kettle of hot water; keep this water below the boiling point for an hour, then let it boil another hour; the liver will by this time be very tender and juicy if the heat has been properly adjusted. Take it out and place it in a dish to keep warm. Thicken the gravy with brown butter and pour over the liver and serve. English Meat Pie.—Chop cold beef finely, put in a deep baking dish a layer of the meat, strew lightly with bread crumbs, season highly with salt, pepper, butter and a few drops of onion juice; repeat the process till the dish is full or your meat used up. Pour over it a cup of stock or gravy, or, lacking these, hot water with a teaspoonful of butter melted in it; on top a good layer of bread crumbs should be put and seasoned THE RURAL COOK BOOK. S3 and dotted with butter. Cover and bake half an hour; remove the cover and brown. Mock Duck.—Four pork tenderloins; slash lengthwise, rub with salt and pepper, fill with dressing made of bread crumbs, one onion, one egg, one-half cupful butter, salt and pepper to taste; tie together and bake in roaster. Serve with hot apple sauce made as follows: Pare and quarter (if large, cut in.eighths) as many apples as the family appetite requires. Fut a layer of apples in a granite or enameled shallow pan, put bits of butter, goodly supply sugar and dash of cinnamon on the apples. Do this in layers till pan is full; add a little water and bake till rich and clear, not just barely done. Mutton Mince With Eggs.—Scrape every morsel of meat from the bone, crack the latter, cover with cold water and let it simmer at the back of the stove for four or five hours. Strain off the cupful of liquid and thicken with a lump of butter rolled in browned flour; season with salt, pepper and tomato catsup; stir into it the cold mutton cut small and a handful of bread crumbs, strewing some of these on top; bake until the surface bubbles, drop four or five eggs upon the top, pepper and salt them, set back in the oven and leave there until the eggs are "set." Mutton Pie.—A mutton pie made from the neck of mutton is as savory as it is economical. Cut off the spine bone and the scrag end, shorten the ribs to about three inches, but save all these trimmings to make the gravy for the pie. Cut the mutton into neat chops, pare off the fat, season with salt and pepper and place in the deep pie dish in a circle, one lapping over the other. Fill the center with tiny potato tails cut out with the cutter; add the mutton gravy which has been boiled to make the quantity required, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with good pie crust brushed over with the yolk of an egg and bake for an hour and a half in a moderate oven. Ragout of Mutton.—Use two pounds of mutton from the shoulder or breast. Cut in small pieces, about two inches square. Cut up some of the mutton faf which has not touched the skin and fry slowly in a pan until there is about a gill of liquid fat; take out the solid pieces and put in the mutton and stir until it becomes brown. Take the meat from the fat, being careful to press out all the fat. To the fat add one pint of turnip cubes and two tablespoonfuls of onion cut fine; cook slowly for 10 minutes, then take them out and put in the stew pan with the meat. Pour the fat from the frying pan and put in two tablespoonfuls of butter and the same amount of flour; stir until brown, when add one quart of boiling water. When this thickens add it to the meat and vegetables with a rounding teaspoonful of salt and one-third of a teaspoonful of pepper. Simmer for three hours, covered. 34 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. "Pawnhas."—This old-fashioned dish is similar to scrapple. Boil to- gether the "jowls," liver and heart of a hog until very tender. Take out a'l bones, chop the heart and meat from jowls until very fine;; crumble the liver as finely as possible and put all back into* the kettle. Now season with pepper and salt, and be sure to add enough water to keep it from being too rich or greasy. Stir in white cornmeal until you have a thin mush, let cook slowly half an hour, pour into a large crock or jar; set away to cool. When cold, slice like mush and put into a skillet to fry. Add no grease. This is delicious and will keep indefinitely in a cool place. Pigeons, Potted.—Place six cleaned birds in a deep kettle with one pint of vinegar and three onions, halved; let stand over night, then throw the vinegar and onions away. Brown six slices of pork and two onions, sliced; place in the kettle with the pigeons; add one pint of hot water, salt and pepper; cover and simmer about two hours; serve the pigeons on a hot dish about a mound of parsley; strain the liquor, thicken, and pass in a gravy boat. Pigs' Feet in Jelly.—Thoroughly scrape and clean one dozen pigs' feet. Place them in a kettle, cover with boiling water, add one tablespoonful of salt and simmer steadily until tender. Transfer the feet to a stone crock, placing between them thin slices of onion. Heat and boil to- gether for five minutes two quarts of good vinegar, one bay leaf, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one dozen whole cloves, six tiny red peppers, and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Add one quart of boiling water and pour at once over the pigs' feet. Cover and let stand two days before using. Pilgrim Pie.—Cut a two-pound piece of fresh pork into dice, after it is cooked, and prepare the following crust: One pint mashed potatoes, oi.e-half teaspoonful salt, one tablespoonful butter, one-fourth teaspoon- ful pepper, one-fourth cup of milk, one level teaspoonful baking powder, and enough flour to make a crust which can be easily rolled out one inch thick. Put alternate layers, in a baking dish, of the diced pork, raw oysters, minced parsley, a light dusting of Summer savory, finely shredded onion, with salt and pepper to suit, and one tablespoonful but- ter; cover with a brown sauce; fit a cover of the potato biscuit and bake in hot oven 20 minutes. Five minutes before it is finished draw out, cover with fine cracker crumbs mixed with one egg; return to the oven to finish browning; garnish with parsley. This potato crust is excellent for any meat pie. Pork With Corn Dumplings.—Cook a piece of shoulder of pork in a big pot until tender; then mix the desired quantity of cornmeal to a thick dough as in making bread (the addition of an egg to the dough im- proves the dumplings). Drop balls of the dough about the size of a walnut in the boiling water about the meat in the pot and cook 20 min- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 35 utes, when the dumplings will be done, and will have a thick gravy around them. Take care not to let the mixture burn. The fat and juices of the meat season the dumplings excellently. Rabbit, Jugged.—Select a plump tender rabbit. Wash, wipe dry, and cut into well-shaped pieces. Have ready a teaspoonful of salt and one- fcurth teaspoonful of pepper and rub this into the rabbit pieces. Put four tablespoonfuls of flour on a plate and roll each piece in this. Heat half a cupful of butter in frying pan; when hot fry the rabbit, browning on both sides, being careful not to burn the butter. As soon as it browns put the rabbit into a stewpan and into the hot butter stir what is left of the flour in which the rabbit was rolled; add three teacupfuls hot water and cook 10 minutes. Pour this over the rabbit, adding two cloves, one-half bayleaf, two or three allspice, one teaspoonful salt, one- fourth teaspoonful pepper, a slice or two of onion. Cover closely and simmer for an hour and a half. Add one teaspoonful lemon juice and one tablespoonful good catsup. Remove the rabbit to a hot platter; strain what liquid is left, add to it a teaspoonful each of butter and flour rubbed smooth and a cupful of hot water; boil up once, pour over the rabbit and serve. Rabbit, Breaded.—Dress the rabbit, then let it soak over night in cold salt water. Cut into neat pieces, and boil gently until tender in clear water to which an onion has been added. Let it cool and drain; then dip in well-beaten egg, roll in cracker crumbs and fry in hot butter. Serve with cranberry sauce. Barbecued rabbit, a favorite southern dish, may also be recommended: Lay the rabbit in salt and water 30 minutes, then scald with boiling water and wipe dry, rub well with butter, and sprinkle with pepper and salt. Broil until quite brown, and lay on a hot dish; butter plentifully on both sides. Prepare a sauce of four tea- spoonfuls of vinegar, one teaspoonful of made mustard, one of currant jelly and one of walnut catsup. Pour this hot over the rabbit. Ragout with Dumplings.—Get a piece of nice, fresh round steak, about one and one-half pound (cut thick). Cut it into pieces about an inch square, smother it with flour, well seasoned with salt and red pep- per. Brown in the frying pan one large onion or two small ones, with about one large tablespoonful of butter; then add the steak and brown. Put the whole into a granite saucepan, pour over it five pints of boiling water and simmer two hours. About 20 minutes before serving make dumplings as follows: A cup of flour sifted with a little salt and a half teaspoonful of baking powder, and rub in a teaspoonful of butter. Mix very soft with milk—so soft that it is slightly sticky; drop by small spoonfuls into the stew and cover tightly until served. Sausage.—This is a Virginia recipe. To every 10 pounds of meat use three ounces of salt, one of black pepper, one-half ounce of sage 3(5 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. rubbed fine. Having all ingredients weighed, put a layer of the meat cut in strips, sprinkle the mixed seasoning over it, another layer of meat with more seasoning, distributing as evenly as possible. Run twice throungh the grinder, and when it is put on the table it is surprising to see how quickly it vanishes. Ordinary pork sausage, smoked in bags, makes a desirable change, and keeps well. Pack the sausage meat jn small bags of coarse, strong muslin, the size selected being that most convenient for slicing; small salt sacks, well washed, may answer. Close the bags, and then smoke, just like ham, the amount of smoking depend- ing on the family taste. When used, split down the seam of the bag for convenience in cutting the slices, and fry like ham. Sausage, Bologna.—Six pounds of lean beef; one pound salt pork; three pounds lean fresh pork; one pound beef suet; one ounce white pep- per; one teaspoonful ground mace; three ounces salt; one teaspoonful cayenne; one large onion chopped fine. Chop the meat and suet sep- arately very fine, then mix; add all the seasoning, and mix thoroughly. Fill into casings and tie into lengths, or use strong linen bags. Make a brine that will bear an egg; put the sausage into it, and let stand two weeks, turning and skimming every day. At the end of the first week throw away the old brine, and put the sausage into new for the second week; then smoke for a week. When smoked rub over the outside with olive oil, and store in a cool, dark dry place. If you wish to keep the sausage for any length of time sprinkle the outside with pepper. Sausage, Frankfurter.—Chop up pork, lean meat and fat (ham can be used) in the proportion of four pounds lean to one of fat. To a pound of the mixture season with salt, 11 grams, one-half gram salt- petre, two grams white pepper and one-half gram cloves. Mix the whole so intimately that "you cannot tell the fat pieces from the lean." The more thorough the mixing the better the result. If the mixing is not free, you can add a little water, but do not overdo this. If too "waxy" from excess of fat, add lean; or, the other way, if too meaty. Use pig's cases for "the filling. Tie the sausage in length desired. Hang the links well apart in the smokehouse. Tolerable heat will do them rightly enough, but if you want the deep rich tint of brown, you will have to finish them off over a brick fire. It is hard to fix the temperature, as the smokehouse in the open will be cooler than the one indoors. Test the state by running a quill in and examining the extract by the taste, sight and smell. Sometimes they are put in bundles of 10 or 12 folded together and pressed to flatten. Keep in a box under weight before put- ting in the smoke. Sausage, Holland Home.—Grind, mix and season the meat as de- sired. Instead of stuffing "cases," pack in half-gallon stone jars (but- ter jars). Bake four hours in a moderately hot oven. Remove from THE RURAL COOK BOOK. "37 the oven and press with a heavy weight 12 hours—over night usually. Then remove the weight. There will be some fat, but not enough to cover it. Heat lard to the boiling point and pour over enough to cover. This seals—excludes the air. Keep in a cool place. Beef or pork may be kept in this way indefinitely. Oxford Sausage.—One pound each of finely chopped veal, pork and beef suet. Mix through this one quart of bread- crumbs, grated peel of half a lemon, a grated nutmeg, a sprig each of savory, thyme and sweet marjoram and a tablespoonful of powdered sage leaves. Make in cakes and fry in very little hot butter. Sausage, Pork and Beef.—For 10 pounds of sausage use seven and one-half pounds of pork and two and a half of beef; grind fine, add two tablespoonfuls of salt, one teaspoonful each of pepper, allspice, cloves and sage. Heat all together until so hot you cannot hold your finger in it. Turn into stone jars that have been thoroughly scalded and aired, cover with cheesecloth and pour hot suet over the cloth. When any is wanted for use, take out and make into cakes and fry. Summer Sausage.—Use any recipe you like best, but use cloth casings made from muslin, casings to have a diameter of three to four inches, and length to fit a baking pan. Casings are easily made witli sewing machine. Smoke the finished sausage to your heart's content. After smoking let sausage dry sufficiently, which takes four or five weeks, de- pending on where hung to dry. The sausage should be fit for eating, which can readily be ascertained by cutting one through. When dry enough melt a quantity of paraffin—about one-half pound for a dozen sausages—put in baking pan, then place the sausages therein and roll about in the hot paraffin, one at a-time. Hang up in a dry place and they will keep nicely and indefinitely. Virginia Beef Sausage.—Mix two cupfuls of finely-chopped raw beef, \y2 cupful of fat salt pork minced very fine, two teaspoonfuls of pow- dered sage, a scant teaspoonful of pepper—the pork should furnish suffi- cient salt—and one tablespoonful of lemon juice. When thoroughly mixed pack it in small round tin cans and set away to become hard. When wanted for breakfast slice three-fourths of an inch thick and either brown in the oven or fry in a hot, well-greased pan. Scrapple, Philadelphia.—Take a cleaned pig's head and boil until the flesh strips easily from the bones. Remove all the bones and chop fine. Set the liquor in which the meat was boiled aside until cold, take the cake of fat from the surface and return the liquor to the fire. When it boils, put in the chopped meat and season well with pepper and salt. Let it boil again and thicken with cornmeal as you would in making ordinary cornmeal mush, by letting it slip slowly through the fingers to prevent lumps. Cook an hour, stirring constantly at first, afterward putting back 38' THE RURAL COOK BOOK. on the range in a position to boil gently. When done, pour into a long, square pan, not too deep, and mold. In cold weather this can be kept several weeks. Slice and fry brown in butter or dripping. Souse.—Clean pig's ears and feet well; cover them with cold water slightly salted and boil until tender. Pack in stone jars while hot, and cover while you make ready for pickle. To half a gallon of good cider vinegar allow half a cup of white sugar, three dozen whole black pep- pers, a dozen blades of mace and a dozen cloves. Boil this one minute, taking care that it really boils, and pour while hot over the still warm feet and ears. It will be ready to use in two days and will keep in a cool place for two months. If you wish it for breakfast, make a batter of one egg, one cup of milk, salt to taste, and a teaspoonful of butter, with enough flour for a thin muffin batter; dip each piece in this and fry in hot lard or dripping. Or dip each in beaten egg, then in pounded cracker before frying. Souse is also good eaten cold, especially the feet. Stew, Oven.—Two or three pounds of beef shin are selected, the bone being broken into three or four pieces. After wiping with a damp cloth, remove all the meat from the bone and cut into small pieces for serving. Scrape the marrow from the bone and place in a kettle, and in it brown first the meat, then the vegetables cut in cubes—half an onion and one carrot. Now dredge well with flour and salt, adding about a tablespoon- ful of browned flour to give color. Add one or two whole cloves, one- half cup of tomato or a little tomato catsup, then the pieces of bone. Cook in the oven in a deep iron meat-pan for three or four hours, adding potatoes, cut in cubes, one hour before serving. Stew, Tomato.—Fry a tiny onion, or a slice or two of ordinary size, in a couple of tablespoonfuls of fat. Add two or three slices of carrot and let them brown. Then stir in a cupful of canned tomatoes and half a cupful of beef stock or gravy. If stock is used the mixture should be thickened with a little flour. Add also half a bayleaf and a couple of sprays of Summer savory, and simmer the stew slowly for half an hour, so that it may be permeated with the seasonings. At the end of this time add the cold meat from a shank of beef, or any "leftover," cut in small pieces. Simmer very slowly for five or 10 minutes and serve hot, after dashing in a little salt and pepper. Tough Meat.—To soften a tough steak pour a few spoonfuls of vine- gar, or vinegar and oil mixed, over it, and allow it to stand 12 to 24 hours, turning occasionally. A tough piece of meat may be laid in vine- gar (not too strong) for three or four days in Summer, or twice as long in Winter. Oil or spices may be added to the vinegar if desired, this bath being termed a marinade. Tough meat should receive long gentle cook- ing, preferably in an enclosed vessel which will prevent evaporation of juices. Such beef should not be treated like a tender rib roast; it would THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 39 better be braised (pot roast) or cooked as beef a la mode. The mar- inade will be found desirable when the meat is cooked in this way. If stewed, the same system of prolonged gentle cooking (preferably in an earthen stewpan or casserole) should be employed. Stuffed Tenderloin.—Procure a good-sized tenderloin, slit one side open and lay within a dressing made as follows: One cupful of dry grated crumbs, one tablespoonful of minced parseley, one large teaspoonful of mixed sweet herbs, thyme, Summer savory, sweet marjoram and sage, one heaping teaspoonful of finely chopped onion fried in one tablespoon- ful of butter, one-half teaspoonful salt, one saltspoonful pepper. If this amount of butter does not make it moist enough add a trifle more melted butter, but no water. Stuff the tenderloin and sew up the opening. If it is not fat place two or three slices of bacon over the top, fastening with wooden toothpicks. Rub into the meat one teaspoonful of salt, one- fourth teaspoonful of white pepper. Dust with flour and roast. When done remove the tenderloin to a heated platter and put the roasting pan on top of stove, adding one tablespoonful of flour to the gravy which it contains. When thoroughly browned add a cupful of hot water, two tablespoonfuls of chopped gherkins, and one tablespoonful of finely- chopped olives. Veal and Ham Pie.—A pound of veal cutlet cut in small pieces is rolled in flour and browned in hot bacon fat. Cover with boiling water, or, if possible, with stock made from the trimmings of veal and seasoned with sweet herbs, carrot and onion, and simmer for about two hours Put the pieces of veal in a baking dish. Have ready half a cupful of finely chopped cooked ham. Add to it a little of the liquid in which the veal was cooked, and pound smooth in a mortar. Then press through a puree sieve, and add the rest of the liquid with such seasoning as may be desired. Pour this over the meat in the dish, adding half a pint of oysters and a few bits of butter. Cover the dish with a pastry or rich biscuit crust, and bake about 25 minutes. Veal, Paprika Schnitzel.—Cut two pounds of thick veal steak into small pieces, roll in seasoned flour, fry brown in salt pork fat. Remove the meat from the pan, add two tablespoonfuls of flour to the remaining fat, brown lightly and pour in the strained liquid from a pint can of to- matoes, or if desired slice in a pint of fresh peeled tomatoes. Add a slice each of onion and carrot, three bay leaves and a bit of mace, then return the meat to the sauce, cover closely and simmer for three-quarters of an hour. When done remove the meat, add a little more salt if neces- sary (the pork helps to season) a pinch of paprika or red pepper, and strain on to the platter. CHAPTER IV. PASTRY AND PIES. When pieplant gives the first good mess, With nice hot biscuit, I confess Our folks feel good. Pop says: "I guess You ought to have a bran' new dress." "And you a coat," I sez, "no less!" I know our folks will always bless The day that pieplant gives first mess. Some of our friends, who have spent many years abroad, tell of a Roman pension or boarding-house whose proprietor boasted that he had recipes for more than 365 delicious desserts. During the months our friends were at the pension they never had the same dessert twice, which, they complained, was really pathetic, for many of the dishes were so delicious that they longed for a repetition. We doubt whether anyone could duplicate that experience in an American boarding-house, where, too often, pie is almost the only form of dessert, except a restricted range of puddings. The unwholesome effect of pastry often results, we believe, from eating it as the finish to a hearty meal, when the digestion is already fully tasked. We are told by those who use it that the oil pie crust, recipe for which is given, is more easily digested than that made with other shortening. Pie Crust.—For one pie use one cupful sifted flour, one-half cup of shortening, pinch of salt. It will be much flakier if chopped together with a knife, instead of rubbing in the hands. Stir in enough cold water to mix it so it may be rolled out. Handle as little as possible, and keep very cold. It is improved by making a day before using, and storing in the icebox or other cold place. Cream Pie Crust.—If one can use cream, delicious crust may be made. Add baking powder and salt to the flour and mix stiff with cream that is not too heavy. The crust is tender, browns quickly and has a very sweet, agreeable flavor. Oil Pie Crust.—For this either olive or refined cotton-seed oil may be used. For one pie take one cup flour, add pinch of salt, mix and add two tablespoonfuls oil; rub well together and add three tablespoonfuls cold water. Handle dough as little as possible and roll thin. Puff Paste.—Use equal weights of flour and butter; by measure, one pint of flour and one cup of butter. Wash the butter in cold water until all the salt is out; the hands should first be washed in hot, then cold water, to prevent the butter from sticking. When washed until THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 41 smooth and waxy divide butter into four parts, pat until thin, wrap in a napkin and place upon ice. Mix a little salt with the flour, mix in about one-half cup of ice water, stirring it in with a knife, and cut until it can be taken up clean from the bowl. Put on a well-floured board, roll until one-half inch thick. Roll one portion of the butter thin, fold it up inside the paste, pat and roll out again. Repeat this process with the rest of the butter. When putting in the butter, fold the sides of the paste over it toward the middle, then the ends over, and double; then roll. This process should continue until no streaks of fat are shown. Whenever the butter becomes soft, it should be chilled, and when finished the paste should be wrapped in a napkin, and kept in the refrigerator. This is the paste used for patty cases, and similar delicate pastry. It requires a "knack"' as well as a recipe to get good results. Crust for Raised Pies.—This is the crust used by English house- keepers for pork and other meat pies, in which the crust is patted and shaped into a deep dish shape, which is filled with meat and then covered with a top crust. The crust is hard and stiff when cold, but softens when warm. Put one cupful of water in a saucepan, add one pound of lard, put on stove to melt, and allow it to come to boiling point, stirring well; sift about three pounds of flour into a bowl, make a hole in the middle, and stir in the hot liquid, mixing with a spoon until it is cool enough to knead with the hands. It may require the addition of more flour, as it should be very stiff. To make a pork pie, this crust should be molded with the hands into a dish shape four or five inches deep; an oval four or five by six inches is a convenient size. Good, tender, fresh roasting pork is cut into half-inch pieces, and well seasoned; the pie is filled and covered, after a small amount of water is sprinkled over, and then the pie is baked for about V/2 hour, in a steady oven. It is always served cold. Game birds or pigeons make excellent raised pie also. To give a shining yellow appearance to the pastry, brush it over with the yolk of an egg, beaten up with two tablespoonfuls of milk, about 10 minutes before it is taken out of the oven. Almond Bars.—Roll puff paste into thin narrow strips. Beat one egg white slightly and mix it with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and one cupful of finely-chopped almonds. Spread this mixture over the strips of paste and brown them in the oven. Sometimes the almonds are rolled into the paste. Mix two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar with the same amount of chopped almonds and sprinkle over the paste when first rolled out. Fold and roll again, then repeat the process. Finally cut into long sticks, brush with white of an egg and brown in the oven. One teaspoonful of cinnamon may be used in place of the almonds, when th« result will be cinnamon bars. 42 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Apple Pie.—This is how a Michigan housekeeper makes it: The under crust was first brushed over lightly with white of an egg and allowed to stand while the rest of the work went on; this to keep the juices from soaking into the crust before baking. Next a half cupful of sugar was put in, along with a half to a tablespoonful of flour, according to the degree of juiciness of the apples, and a generous pinch of cinnamon or allspice according to choice. These were rubbed smoothly together to insure a jelly-like consistency of the finished pie, without the unpalatable doughy lumps. The fruit is then added, the remainder of the sugar poured over (a cupful in all for very sour apples), the top dotted thickly with butter, and unless the apples are very juicy a dessertspoonful of water added. The edge of the under crust is now moistened with water, the top applied and the two pinched neatly together; the whole brushed over with rich milk to insure an even golden-brownness, and a tiny funnel made of writing paper twisted and pinned into shape inserted in the air hole cut in the top. These details observed you may now put your pie into the oven with a certainty that it will come out a thing of beauty, with none of its savory juices burning to a crisp in the bottom of the oven. For very young apples, however, she always used instead of the water, a generous tablespoonful of spiced vinegar (left over from any spiced Sweet pickle) with a little more flour. Or if apples had been kept some time and were shriveled and insipid, she found the same treat- ment a vast improvement. Lacking the spiced vinegar she sometimes used lemon juice with an additional sprinkling of sugar and spices. Other fruit pies were made in a similar manner, always taking into consideration the qualities of the fruit as to acidity and juiciness. For canned fruits already sweetened, such as huckleberries, elderberries and the like, which were very juicy and required no extra sweetening, she usually rubbed the flour (in same proportion of a spoonful to a pie) in a bit of the juice, and added it with whatever spices were necessary to the rest of the fruit, and set it over the fire until the flour was cooked, adding a little butter. When cold the mixture was filled into the prepared paste, egg-brushed as before. For custard or pumpkin she usually prepared the paste by setting the pan on top of the stove until the crust was nearly cooked through, then adding the custard and putting it at once into a hot oven. When sweet cider is at hand, it may be used to give additional flavor to an apple pie. Warm half a cupful of cider and, 10 minutes before the pie is taken from the oven, pour the cider into it through the hole in the center of top crust, using a little funnel of stiff paper to prevent splashing. Appleless Apple Pie.—Soak two large soda crackers in a large cup of boiling water. Add small piece butter. When cool add two tablespoon- fuls vinegar, one cup sugar, a few raisins and a little nutmeg. Bake with THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 43 two crusts as you do the real apple pie. Another appleless apple pie is made from pumpkins as follows: Procure a good sound pumpkin (or squash), wash, cut a round of same, as deep as an ordinary apple is, from stem to blossom end; peel, cut down crosswise in slices about an eighth of an inch thick; put in water enough to cover, and stew slowly until tender, but not mushy. Lift carefully from the water, let cool. Prepare crust as for apple pie, line your tins with the crust, place your slices of pumpkin just as you would slices of apple; sprinkle over them a little flour—not over a tablespoonful of sugar; add one tablespoonful of pure cider vinegar to each pie, a few lumps of butter, finish with a top crust. Bake to a rich brown color in a moderate oven. Vermont Blackberry Pie.—Line a deep dripping pan with pastry, cover the bottom with a generous layer of blackberries, sprinkle with sugar and cover with a crust. Bake, then add another layer of blackberries and sugar, cover with a top crust, and then bake again. This is recommended as highly delicious, either hot or cold. Buttermilk Pie.—Beat together a heaping cupful of sugar and four eggs; add half a cupful of butter; beat thoroughly and add \l/2 pint of fresh buttermilk; line pie tins with crust; slice an apple thin and lay in each pie; fill crust with the mixture and bake with one crust. Butterscotch Pie.—Two eggs, one cup brown sugar, butter size of walnut, tablespoon of flour, one cup cream, one teaspoon vanillfi Cream the butter, sugar and flour together, add the beaten yolks, cream and flavoring. Pour this into a good baked pie crust and return to the oven. When it has thickened spread over it the whites beaten very stiff, with two level tablespoons" of sugar. Have the, oven quite cool while the meringue is browning. Carrot Pie.—Scrape the skin off the carrots, boil them soft and strain them through a sieve. To a pint of the strained pulp put three pints of milk, six beaten eggs, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, the juice of half a lemon and the grated rind of a whole one. Sweeten it to your taste, and bake it in deep pie plates without an upper crust. Cheese Cakes.—This is a rich English dainty. Take four ounces of butter, and cream it in a warm pan; add four ounces of sugar, beat well; add the yolk of one egg, beat again, then add one whole egg; beat all well together, and mix in four ounces of currants. Line patty pans with paste, fill with the mixture, shake a little sugar over the top, and bake. Curd Cheese Cakes.—Add one egg to one cupful of fresh curd; beat smooth, and beat in one-half cupful of sugar, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Flavor with nutmeg or any other spice, and use as filling for a pie without top crust. A richer curd cheese cake is made by using the recipe given for ordinary cheese cakes, and beating the curd into it before the currants are added. 44 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Chocolate Pie.—Line a deep pie pan with rich pie crust and bake in a quick oven. Grate one-half teacupful of chocolate and put into a sauce- pan, with one cupful of hot water, butter the size of an egg, one table- spoonful vanilla, one cupful of sugar, the beaten yolk of two eggs and two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, dissolved in a little water; mix well; cook until thick, stirring constantly. Pour into the pie shell and let cool. Beat the whites of the two eggs to a stiff froth, add two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, spread on top of pie and slightly brown in oven. Cider Jelly Pie.—This is a tested old-fashioned recipe. A half pint of boiled cider, a cupful of brown sugar, a cupful of boiling water and two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch. Stir the cornstarch into the cider, add the other ingredients and cook for 10 minutes. Fill into a pastry-lined pie tin and cover with an upper crust. Cream Pie.—Mix thoroughly two cups of flour and five tablespoonfuls of butter, then add three tablespoonfuls of sugar and one large egg, which has been thoroughly beaten together previously. Roll an eighth of an inch thick, line two pie tins, prick with a folk and bake a pale brown, then fill with this cream: Two cups milk, two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, five tablespoonfuls of sugar, yolks of five eggs. Cook together like cus- tard, and when cold cover with meringue made of whites of five eggs and five tablespoons powdered sugar. New England Cream Tart Pie.—Select firm Esopus apples and make as dry an apple sauce as possible, sweetened slightly and strained. For a large-sized pie use one pint of apple, one pint of thick cream, yolks of two eggs beaten stiff, and one-half of a nutmeg. An under crust only is used, and this may be baked the day before. Fill and bake about one- half hour. Use the whites of two eggs for the meringue and brown in the oven. Greenings are good for this pie when Esopus is not at hand, but apples of low quality should not be used for it. Crumb Pie.—Soak a pint of bread crumbs in milk. Beat three eggs; add half a cup of sugar. Line two pie plates with crust and strew over enough raisins to cover bottom. Add the bread crumbs to egg and milk, sifting in a bit of cinnamon, pour over the raisins and bake about 30 minutes. Date Pie.—For one pie take one heaping cupful of pastry flour, add a pinch of salt and mix to the right consistency with sweet cream. The crust will be much nicer if allowed to get very cold before using. Filling —To a cupful of seeded dates add a cupful of water, cook over hot water about 30 minutes, then rub through a sieve. Beat an egg and a table- spoonful of sugar until light; add a tablespoonful of lemon juice, the date paste and gradually a cupful of scalded milk. Pour into a half baked shell and finish baking in a moderate oven until a knife blade can penetrate it and come out clean. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 45 Delectable Tarts.—One cup of slightly sour cream, one cup of seeded and chopped raisins, one cup of sugar and one egg with a delicate flavor- ing of spices. Beat the egg light, add the cream and sugar; the raisins well floured and spices. Bake in tart or patty pans with a single crust. Elderberry Pie.—Line a pie dish with paste, upon which sprinkle a scant tablespoonful of flour; to this add a half cup of sugar and a half teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, rubbing all together evenly. Upon this pour the berries, a pint more or less according to the size of your pie dish; pour over another half cup of sugar, dot generously with butter, adding last one large tablespoonful of good vinegar. Apply top crust quickly and bake. Grape Cobbler.—This is best made from very ripe black grapes. Wash them twice—on the bunches and after picking. Line a deep pie dish with half-inch rich crust, put in the grapes and all the sugar that will lie between them, heaping the fruit a little in the middle. Put on the top crust, cut cross slits in the middle and fold back the corners to leave an open square. Set the dish in a quick oven and while the pie bakes make a sauce, using half a cup of butter, one cup of sugar and one table- spoon boiling water. Stir well over hot water and flavor with lemon juice, or grated nutmeg, according to taste. When the pie is nearly done take it out, pour in the sauce through the opening in the crust, return it to the oven. Be careful not to overbake, but keep it hot until served. Grape Roll.—Allow half the weight of the grapes in sugar and only water enough to keep from burning; seed the grapes; allow one pint of cooked grapes for the roll. To make the dough cream one-half teacupful of butter with one pint of sifted flour; add one teacupful of milk, two eggs well beaten, a saltspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of baking powder; roll out on the board in two long ovals, roll up and pinch the ends, lay in a buttered dish, set the dish to bake and twice pour over them a sauce of a tablespoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of sugar mixed together, to which is added one-half teacupful of boiling water (for one basting). Serve the rolls with the same kind of sauce made richer and flavored vrith nutmeg. Green Apple Slump.—Stew and strain a quart of green apples and sweeten to taste. Make a biscuit crust with two cupfuls of flour, one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, one tablespoonful of butter and one-half teaspoonful of salt, and moisten with sweet milk to a dough. Roll out one inch thick. Put the prepared hot sauce in a thick-bottomed saucepan, fit over it the crust and cover closely, first buttering the inside of the cover. Place where the sauce will simmer slowly but steadily for an hour. In serving put the crust on the dish, pour the sauce over it and serve with cream. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 47 scant cup of sugar. Heat in a double boiler until melted; then flavor with orange juice and little grated peel. Pour into the dish and bake three- quarters of an hour. Milk Pie.—Line a pan eight inches in diameter with good paste, put dots of butter over the bottom until you have used about the size of a walnut, dredge over alternately flour to the amount of one-fourth meas- uring cup and sugar to the amount of one-half cup, then sprinkle evenly over the top one level dessertspoon of cinnamon and pour in carefully, so as not to disturb the cinnamon, three-fourths cup milk and bake until crust is brown. Maryland Mincemeat.—Two pounds of lean beef; cook, let get cold, and pass through meat grinder; mix thoroughly with one pint of finely- minced suet, two quarts of chopped, high-flavored apples, one pint of stoned raisins, a scant pint of sugar, one-half pint of currants, one-third pound of citron shaved in fine shreds, a cupful of molasses (which is omitted if preferred, sugar taking its place), one tablespoonful each of ground mace and allspice, two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, one-half table- spoonful of cloves, two grated nutmegs, one and a half tablespoonful of salt, juice and rind of one and a half lemon, same of 'sour orange, one-half cupful each of candied lemon and orange peel. Moisten with unfermented grape juice, sweet cider, peach or plum syrup. The syrup from sweet pickles is a great improvement. Pack solid in airtight jars. Green Tomato Mincemeat. Chop fine four quarts of green tomatoes, drain off all juice, cover with cold water, let come to a boil and scald for 30 minutes, then drain well. Add two pounds of brown sugar, one pound of seeded raisins, one-half pound of chopped citron, one large" half cupful of finely-chopped suet, one tablespoonful of salt and one-half cupful of strong cider vinegar. Stir well together and cook till thick. When cold add one teaspoonful -each of ground cinnamon and cloves and one teaspoonful of grated nutmeg. Stir thoroughly and keep (while it lasts) in a stone jar. Mock Mince Pie with Cranberries.—One cupful bread crumbs, one cupful raisins, one cupful sugar, one cupful cranberries cut in halves, one level saltspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg, one cup- ful hot water, one-half cup vinegar and butter size of a large English walnut. Turn into a pie tin lined with flaky paste, place the top crust and bake in a brisk oven. Mock Pumpkin Pie.—Grate sweet apples, add milk, sugar, ginger and cinnamon, and one egg for each pie. Make the filling of the same con- sistency as pumpkin, and bake just like it. Peach Turnovers.—One pint of dried peaches stewed and sweetened with two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar; flavor with nutmeg to taste. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 49 little sugar and a dust of nutmeg, and bake. If the pumpkin is not up to the standard, one egg may be added, but not as a substitute for the flour, which gives body and smoothness to the filling. Raisin Pie.—One cupful of nice raisins; wash quickly, cover with boiling water, cook until tender; remove seeds; moisten a cupful of bread crumbs with the water, add one-fourth cupful of sugar, one egg (beaten), one tablespoonful lemon juice and the raisins, cut in two or three pieces each; an upper and lower crust of tender pastry and a satisfactory bake make a most delicious pie. Raisin Pie No. 2.—Boil one pound of seeded raisins in sufficient water to cover for one hour. Then add the juice and grated rind of one lemon, a piece of butter the size of an egg, one cupful of sugar, and two table- spoonfuls of cornstarch. Bake in two crusts. This makes filling for two pies. A second way of making a pie is to cook one cupful of raisins in one cupful of water until they are softened, add the grated rind and juice of one lemon, half a cupful of sugar, a sifting of cinnamon and sufficient powdered cracker crumbs to thicken. Bake in two crusts. Raisin Turnovers.—One cupful of seeded raisins, the rind of a lemon, or a few pieces of candied lemon or orange peel, and a small piece of preserved citron, chop all together finely, stir into this one beaten egg, and the juice of one lemon. Roll out puff paste thinly, and cut it in circles, lay them on a plate, fill with the mixture, then cover and press the edges firmly together. Bake the same length of time as you would a pie. Raspberry Cream Tart.—Line a pie plate with good paste, and fill with red raspberries, sweetened with powdered sugar. Cover with paste, but do not pinch it down at the edges. When it is done, lift the top crust, which is thicker than usual, and pour upon the fruit a cream made as follows: One small cup of rich milk, heated to boiling point; whites of two eggs beaten light and stirred into the boiling milk; one tablespoonful of white sugar; one-half teaspoonful of cornstarch wetted with cold milk. Boil three minutes, then let the cream get perfectly cold. Remove the top crust, pour the cream over the fruit, replace the crust, and set the pie away to cool. This recipe is given by Marion Harland; our home recipe for fruit cream pic calls for a simple custard, using both white and yolk of one egg, which is poured'over the fruit as above. Strawberry cream pie is made in the same way. Rhubarb Pie.—Cut in rather coarse pieces enough rhubarb to fill a large cup. Beat one egg thoroughly, adding a good pinch of salt, add the rhubarb, one cup of sugar and two soda crackers rolled fine. Mix thoroughly, then turn into a pie tin lined with pastry. Put a few bits of butter over it here and there, add a grating of nutmeg, and bake as a 50 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. tart pie, bands of pastry laid over the top before baking. This quantity makes one pie—a small deep one, or a thin large one. Rhubarb Cream Pie.—One cupful of rhubarb chopped fine or grated, one cupful of sugar, a pinch of salt, a grating of nutmeg or lemon peel. Moisten a tablespoonful of cornstarch with a tablespoonful of cold water; then fill the cup up with boiling water, stirring until clear. Beat the yolks of three eggs until light, and add them with the cornstarch to the other materials. Line a pie plate with good light paste, fill with the mixture and bake in a moderately hot oven until custard is set. When done and cooled, cover with a meringue made with the whites of the eggs and half a cupful of confectioner's sugar. Brown delicately in the oven. Fresh Strawberry Pie.—Bake an empty bottom crust, making it extra nice; prick holes all over the bottom and sides, to prevent its getting out of shape. As soon as baked sprinkle the inside with sugar and fill with ripe berries; also well dredge with sugar.- Cover with sweetened whipped cream and then cover all with a meringue of the frothed whites of two eggs mixed with two tablespoonfuls of sugar and a dash of lemon juice. Invert a plate in the oven and place the pie plate on top of it and brown. If the work is very carefully done the berries will not be even heated, and the result will be delicious. The pie should be thoroughly chilled before serving. Strawberry Pie No. 2.—Line a pie tin with rich crust shortened with butter, no baking powder being used. Let it cool, then fill with fresh strawberries, hulled and washed, and mixed With sugar. Cover with whipped cream and serve. Strawberry Pie No. 3.—Line a pie plate with good short crust, fill with ripe whole "berries, liberally sugared, and then cover with a lattice formed of criss-cross strips of crust. By the time the crust is browned the berries are cooked in their own rich juice, and the pie is much nicer than with an ordinary double crust. Strawberry Cream Pie.—After picking over the berries carefully, arrange them in layers in a deep pie plate, sprinkling sugar thickly between each layer, having first lined the dish with your best pastry. Cover with a crust with a slit in the top and bake. When the pie is baked, pour into the slit in the top of. the pie the following cream mix- ture: Take a small cupful of rich cream, heat until nearly boiling, then stir into it the whites of two eggs beaten lightly to a froth, also a table- spoonful of granulated or powdered sugar; boil all together a few moments. When cool, pour it into the pie through the slit in the crust. Serve with powdered sugar sifted on top. ■ CHAPTER V. PUDDINGS, HOT AND COLD. The proof of the pudding is not In the eating. Never mind what the old sayings state; The compliment setting the cook's heart a'beating Is the call for a big second plate. As a rule farm housekeepers are admirably situated for making delicious puddings, many of which are more wholesome than pastry. The recipes given below include considerable variety, and will be found suggestive, as many may be altered to suit material on hand. We were obliged to omit a number of good ones, owing to lack of space. Apricot Pudding.—This may be made from evaporated apricots, care- fully soaked and stewed, instead of the canned fruit. Butter. a shallow pudding dish and sprinkle on the surface a layer of soft bread crumbs. Drain the syrup from a can of apricots and arrange a layer of fruit in the dish. Fill the cavities with sugar and a dot of butter the size of a pea on each. Cover each piece of fruit with another half to simulate the whole fruit, then fill the interstices with soft bread crumbs. Mix one pint of milk, the yolks of three eggs, well beaten, with one-quarter teaspoon of salt and three teaspoonfuls sugar, and pour this over the fruit. Lift the fruit a little so the custard may reach every part of the bread. Bake it about half an hour. Beat the whites of the eggs till stiff; add three heaped tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and three teaspoonfuls of lemon juice. When the pudding is done and cooked somewhat spread the meringue over the top and brown it slightly. Serve hot without sauce. Batter Pudding.—This is an old-fashioned recipe, which can be depended upon. Measure 12 tablespoonfuls of flour after sifting; then sift again with a teaspoonful of baking powder and a small one of salt. Beat four eggs, without separating, until very light and before mixing them to a batter with a quart of milk, butter a three-pint oval baking dish and see that the oven is of a steady heat, as if for baking bread. Now make a smooth batter with the milk and flour, stirring in the eggs last, and bake about one hour. The pudding will rise with a brown crust on top, and, by the slow baking, the sides and bottom will also be crisp and brown, while the interior will be tender and light. Serve directly from the oven, with fruit juice slightly thickened for sauce. No other sauce will take the place of this. When the supply of extra juice canned for this very purpose is exhausted, evaporated cherries soaked over night and well simmered in the same water is an excellent substitute. 52 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Black Pudding.—One coffeecup black molasses, one coffeecup sour cream; add one dessertspoon of soda and beat hard and then add one cup chopped suet, one cup seeded raisins, a few almonds (about a table- spoonful), do not blanch them, as they will have a better flavor, three (or more if liked) chopped figs, two apples, and a piece of citron chopped. Three cups of flour, one-half teaspoonful of salt and the grat- ing of one-half nutmeg. Beat well. Take four baking powder cans (pound size), rub with melted butter and pour the batter into them and steam hard three hours. Stand in oven ten or fifteen minutes to dry off. When you wish to use steam half an hour. A quantity may be made at one time, as these puddings will keep six months. Blackberry Pudding.—Beat one-third of a cup of butter to a cream. Add gradually half a cup of sugar and the beaten yolks of two eggs. Sift together two cups of previously sifted flour, four level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt. Add this to the creamed butter, sugar, and eggs. Put in half of the flour mixture, mix, and then put in half a cupful of cold water. Mix in the rest of the flour, etc. Beat thoroughly and last of all fold in the well-beaten whites of the two eggs. Sprinkle a cupful of blackberries with a little flour and add them to the batter as it is dropped a spoonful at a time, into the mold, which should be rubbed with unsalted butter. Steam an hour and a half, or bake twenty-five minutes, and serve with a blackberry hard sauce. The sauce is made in the usual way, with half a cup of butter and a cup of sugar. Add to this half a cupful of crushed berries. Blueberry Betty.—Put a pint of milk in a double boiler and put on the fire to scald. Pick over, wash and drain a pint of fresh blueberries. Have ready a pint of soft whole wheat bread crumbs. Put a layer of crumbs in a buttered pudding dish, then a layer of berries, then more crumbs and so on until the dish is full, having crumbs on top. Stir two tablespoonfuls of sugar in the milk, and when hot pour it over the con- tents of the dish. Cover and set in the oven to bake for about an.hour. Stand the pudding dish in a basin of hot water. Serve with a tart sauce. Blueberry Pudding.—Beat V/2 cupful sugar with four eggs, add one pint milk and one cupful flour, in which sift one tablespoonful baking powder, one-half teaspoonful salt; add one cupful whole blueberries; pour in a buttered covered mold; set in boiling water, letting water only come a little more than half way up to the mold; weight down and boil continuously for one hour; slip on to a dish and cover with sauce, then sprinkle over uncooked fruit. Sauce—Beat one cupful granulated sugar with one cupful butter to a cream; then add yolks of two eggs, one- quarter teaspoonful vanilla. Baked Blueberry Pudding.—One quart ripe, fresh berries, mace or nutmeg one-half teaspoonful; three eggs well beaten, separately; sugar, THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 53 two cups; cold butter, one tablespoon; sweet milk, one cup; flour, one pint; baking powder, two teaspoons. Roll berries well in flour, add them last. Bake half hour and serve with sauce. Delicious. Steamed Blueberry Puffs.—Beat two eggs until light and thick, with- out separating; add half a cupful of sugar and half a cupful of milk; sift together three level teaspoonfuls of baking powder, half a teaspoon- ful of salt and two cupfuls of flour, stir into the liquid ingredients; then stir in one cup of blueberries. Turn into buttered cups and steam half an hour. The batter should drop easily from the end of the spoon. Serve hot with cream and sugar. Bread and Butter Pudding.—Strew half a cupful of currants in the bottom of a baking dish, then butter some slices of freshly-baked bread and lay in the dish. Make a custard with two eggs and a pint of milk, sweeten to taste, and pour it over; grate a little nutmeg over the top and bake a light brown. This pudding should be baked in the dish in which it is to be sent to table. It is delicious eaten with stewed fruit: Steamed Bread and Butter Pudding.—Butter a small pudding bowl. Cut some thin bread and butter, decorate the bottom of the basin with candied peel cut in stars, or a few raisins or preserved cherries; put in the slices of bread and butter, dusting each slice with sugar and sprinkling with a few chopped preserved cherries. When full beat up an egg with half a pint of milk, flavor with essence of almonds, and strain over the pudding. Leave to soak for a while, cover with buttered paper, and steam for an hour and a quarter. Turn out, and serve with custard. Bread Pudding in Disguise.—Break half a loaf of bread into pieces and soak in milk, just what the bread will take up. Then add an egg and a cup of sugar and a cup of rich, creamy milk in which put half teaspoonful of saleratus and teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Bake until light and well browned in a medium oven. To serve pour a little maple syrup over each dish. Brown Betty.—Mix a cupful of sugar and a level teaspoonful of cinnamon. Prepare about a quart of sliced tart apples. Stir into a pint of soft bread crumbs about half a cupful of melted butter. Butter well a deep pudding dish, put in a layer of crumbs, then sliced apples and sprinkle with sugar, then another layer of crumbs, apples and sugar and continue until the materials are used with a thick layer of crumbs on the top. Bake about an hour in a moderate oven. If the oven browns on the bottom set in a pan of hot water or bake on the top grate of the oven, covering the pudding well to prevent too crisp an upper crust. Serve with hard sauce made as follows: Cream a third of a cupful of butter, add gradually a cupful of powdered sugar and when beaten to a cream add drop by drop to prevent separation, two tablespoonfuls of rich cream. Flavor with vanilla or lemon juice. 54 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Carrot Pudding.—Mix together one cupful of grated bread crumbs, a quarter of a pound each of flour and of butter, one-half pound of preserved cherries, and one-half pound of sugar and a saltspoonful of salt. Boil six young carrots until they are tender, then pass them through a sieve and add half a pound of this pulp to the other ingredi- ents. Stir the mixture well, then steam it in a buttered mold for 2}4 hours. In the Winter we make an imitation plum pudding in which a cupful of grated carrot is used, the carrot both lightening and enriching it. Cherry Cups.—Measure a pint of sifted flour, add two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt and sift again. Mix to a soft dough with cold water. Butter little custard cups and drop in a little of the dough and then add a teaspoonful of the cherries; cover these with more dough (the cups should not be more than half full). Set the cups in a steamer, or if you have no steamer you can put them in a deep baking pan with a little boiling water; cover closely with another pan and steam half an hour in the oven. Eat with cherry sauce or sweetened cream. On bread baking day you can make these with bread dough instead of the baking powder dough. Cherry Batter Pudding.—Prepare a cupful of stoned cherries. Beat two eggs separately, add half a pint of milk, or better still, sweet cream, to the yolks, and to this one tablespoonful of melted butter. Have ready V/2 cupful of flour, into which two teaspoonfuls of baking powder have been sifted, with a dash of salt. Add this to the yolks of the eggs and milk, and lastly add the whites of the eggs, beaten light. Beat vigor- ously for a few minutes and turn into a greased baking pan, allowing the batter to be about an inch thick. Cover it with the cherries, add one-third of a cup of granulated sugar, sprinkled lightly on the top, and bake in a quick oven for 30 minutes. Serve hot with hard sauce or a sauce made from a cup of cherries and half a cup of sugar stewed together until the cherries are reduced to a pulp. Sauce as well as pudding should be served hot. Boiled Cherry Pudding.—Beat three eggs light without separating; add a pint of milk. Sift two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a half a teaspoonful of salt in a little less than a quart of sifted flour and add the liquid gradually to the flour, stirring to a smooth batter. Add a teaspoon- ful of melted butter. Beat thoroughly and then stir in a pint of cherries, stoned and drained free from juice and well floured. Turn into a well- buttered pudding dish or mold, or an old-fashioned pudding bag, scalded and floured, and cook in a kettle of boiling water for three hours. Keep the water boiling continually or the pudding will be heavy. If cooked in a mold or dish, the water must not be deep enough to boil over the pudding. If in a bag, there must be sufficient water to keep the pudding THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 55 from touching the bottom of the kettle. Serve with hard or foamy sauce. Cherry Pudding in Winter.—Nearly fill a buttered baking dish with the sour canned cherries. Use just enough of the juice so the cherries will be moist. Spread over this a dough made from one-fourth teacupful sugar, one tablespoonful butter, one-half cupful milk, one egg, a little salt, one cupful flour (use a little more if necessary to make dough like cake), one teaspoonful baking powder. Bake half an hour. Sauce to serve with it is made as follows: One-half cupful butter, one-half cupful sugar, one tablespoonful of flour or cornstarch. Mix thoroughly. To this add a pint of the cherry juice. Boil till it thickens. Canned Cherry Tapioca.—Cover a scant cupful of tapioca with cold water and let it soak over night. In the morning place over the fire with a saltspoonful of salt and a pint of boiling water; simmer slowly until the tapioca is perfectly clear. Stir a pint of stoned cherries into the boiling tapioca; add a cupful of sugar (more if the cherries are very sour); turn into a serving dish and set away to cool. Serve with whipped cream. Chocolate Pudding.—Put into a bowl two cupfuls of stale bread- crumbs. Pour over them one quart of scalded milk. While the bread and milk are cooling melt two squares of chocolate. Mix the chocolate with two-thirds of a cup of sugar, then, with two eggs, lightly beaten, one scant saltspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Add the milk and breadcrumbs and then, when well mixed, turn the whole into a pud- ding dish that has been buttered and sugared. Bake it one hour in a moderately hot oven. Serve cold, with cream. This pudding can be baked in individual molds if preferred. Steamed Chocolate Pudding.—Boil one quart of fresh milk and pour over one pint grated bread crumbs, one-fourth cake grated chocolate, one cup sugar, one cup flour, one cup butter, two teaspoons baking powder, one cup raisins, one cup chopped nuts. Steam two hours and serve with a sauce. Chocolate Tapioca.—Soak three tablespoonfuls of tapioca in a cup of cold water for half an hour; add three pints of hot milk, one cupful of sugar, yolks of two eggs and three tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate. Cook in a double boiler until the tapioca is tender. Serve with a meringue made from the whites of two eggs and powdered sugar or whipped cream. Cider Pudding.—Mix a cupful of cider, a cupful of molasses, a cupful of suet, a cupful of seeded raisins, half a teaspoonful of salt, one tea- spoonful of soda and flour enough to make a stiff batter. Steam three hours. Baked Cider Pudding.—Cream V/2 tablespoonful butter, add three tablespoonfuls granulated sugar and one egg. Beat all together until very light. Add half a cupful of cider. Into one cup of flour put one- 66 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. half teaspoonful cinnamon, one-quarter teaspoonful of ground cloves. Sift this into the batter and add a quarter cupful each of currants and Sultana raisins mixed with a quarter cupful of flour. Add one-quarter teaspoonful baking soda with the last bit of flour and beat briskly for a minute or two. Pour into a well-greased mold and steam one hour and a half; turn out carefully, as the texture is delicate, and serve hot with orange sauce. Cider Bread Pudding.—Butter freely several slices of light bread. Place a layer in pudding dish, cover with a few slices of tart apples; repeat until the dish is full. To a quart of good cider add a cup of sugar and pour over. Bake slowly and serve either hot or cold with cream. Citron Pudding.—A quart of fresh milk, a pint of stale bread crumbs, carefully grated, four eggs, a coffee cup of powdered sugar, half a pound of citron cut fine, a small amount of butter and the juice and rind of one lemon. The yolks and sugar are beaten together and the bread crumbs, milk and lemon rind added by degrees. This is poured into a buttered dish, the citron dropped in and a piece of butter placed over all. The baking required half an hour and the preparation when cold is covered with a meringue made of four whites, a cup of powdered sugar and the juice of a'lemon. This is browned slightly before serving. Cocoanut Pudding.—One-half cupful of cocoanut, one-half cupful of bread crumbs, one pint of milk, one egg, one tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and one level saltspoonful of salt. Soak the bread crumbs and cocoanut in the milk for three hours; mash the bread fine, and add the sugar, salt and melted butter. Beat the white and yolk of the egg separately, and add first the yolk and then the white, stirring well. Place all in a well-buttered pudding dish and bake half an hour. Serve hot without sauce. Coffee Pudding.—Boil three-fourths of a cup of ground coffee in one quart water 10 minutes; then add one-half ounce gelatine which had been soaked 15 minutes; then add one cup sugar; boil one minute; then strain through a cloth, set aside to get cold; when almost jellied beat one-half pint cream till near stiff, then add the coffee jelly, gradu- ally beating all the time. When all is well mixed flavor with vanilla, and set in a cold place to harden. It can be served alone, or with cream. The recipe is enough for six people. Colonial Pudding.—When baking bread put a piece of the dough into a pound baking powder tin and bake this for the top of the pudding. Soak some slices of Boston brown bread in scalded milk for two hours. Then beat up well, add a cupful of raisins, a little chopped mixed peel, half a teaspoonful of mixed spice, half a cupful of sugar, and two ounces of beef suet, chopped very fine, or a piece of butter the size of an egg. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 57 Mix all well together, adding cold milk as you mix it, and then put into a buttered baking dish. A tound, shallow dish is the best to use, and it should also be one that can be sent to the table. Now cut the white bread into slices, butter them, and lay them closely together on the top of the pudding mixture. Grate a little nutmeg over all, and bake in a moderate oven for an hour and a half, covering it for an hour and taking off the cover for the half hour so that it may be a nice light brown. Cottage Pudding.—One cup sugar, two eggs, one pint sweet milk, two scant teaspoons baking powder, flavoring and flour to make a batter as stiff as cake dough. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven and serve with milk or hot sauce. To make hot sauce cream together one tablespoon butter and two of flour with half cup of sugar. Slowly add enough boiling water to make it thin and smooth. Then proceed to add boiling water to make it the consistency of thin starch. Boil a few minutes and flavor before serving. Steamed Cranberry Dumplings.—Make the dumplings of good, pre- pared flour, which cannot fail to be light, using one pint of it; add a pinch of salt and mix with milk to a paste just stiff enough to drop by tablespoonfuls on the buttered steamer bottom; steam over boiling water about half an hour. Serve immediately; first carefully split the fluffy rolls open, lightly butter and put between a tablespoonful of stewed cran- berry sauce (warm); pour over a foamy sauce made as follows: Three tablespoonfuls of milk, stirred into one beaten egg, a half cupful of sugar and one teaspoonful of flour; beat hard and put into double boiler; pour on slowly a cup of boiling water, stir constantly until the sauce thickens, then add one teaspoonful of butter and one of strawberry flavoring. Cranberry Pot-pie.—Butter a porcelain stewpan or kettle; put in a pint of berries, sprinkled with one cupful sugar; make a pint of biscuit dough, shape into a large ring and lay on the fruit in the kettle; then pour another pint of berries into and around the cup of dough, adding another cupful of sugar; pour one pint of boiling water into the center, cover closely and stew steadily for 20 minutes. When done turn from the kettle on to a platter; serve with cream and sugar. Cranberry Pudding.—Sift and measure one pint of flour; add two teaspoonfuls baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt. Sift again until all are thoroughly blended. Add enough sweet milk to make a soft batter. Stir in one cup of cranberries that have been coarsely chopped. Pour into a pudding bag or a porcelain-lined mold. If the bag is used boil one and one-half hour in plenty of water. If the mold is used, steam the pudding two hours. Baked Cranberry Pudding.—Put a layer of coarsely crumbled bread in bottom of buttered dish; then a layer of seeded raisins and stewed cran- berries, a few bits of butter, and a few drops of vanilla extract; repeat 58 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. bread, butter, vanilla and fruit until dish is full; have crumbs and but- ter top layer; bake until puffy and brown; then decorate with meringue and place in very moderate oven to set the latter, but not brown. Cream Curds.—Beat four eggs and stir them into a quart of milk slightly warmed. New milk was originally called for. Add a little salt and turn the mixture into a covered earthen pot. A bean pot or cas- serole will answer. Set the pot in a pan of warm water over the fire. As soon as the milk cracks turn it carefully out on a sieve covered with a linen clofh. When the draining is complete put the curds in a glass dish in large spoonfuls. Cup Custards.—In making cup custards, it is a pleasant change to put in each cup, before the custard is poured in, a tablespoonful of either strawberry or raspberry jam. The custard cups should be stood in a. baking pan containing hot water while baking; every custard should be cooked in this way. A date custard is made and baked in the ordi- nary manner; then, after baking, the top is covered with stoned dates, which may be filled with nuts if desired, and rolled in powdered sugar. The dates are covered with a meringue, which is browned in the oven, and the custard is then served cold. Peach Custard.—Slice ripe peaches in a glass dish and sugar them well two hours before they are to be served. Make a boiled custard by taking three eggs, one and one-half pints sweet milk and one tablespoon corn starch and one cup of sugar. Boil after thoroughly beating together in a double boiler till thick and smooth. Pour over peaches and serve while slightly warm. Date Puffs.—Two eggs, one cupful of sugar, one quarter of a cupful of butter, the same of milk, one teaspoonful of baking powder and flour enough to make a thin batter. Stir in one cupful of stoned dates; fill muffin cups half full and steam 30 minutes. Serve with a liquid sauce or with sweetened cream. Economy Pudding.—Take two cupfuls of ginger cookie crumbs (crumbled cookies) and one cupful sweet milk, one cupful molasses, one teaspoonful cinnamon, one-fourth teaspoonful cloves, one-fourth tea- spoonful nutmeg, three eggs weH beaten, one-half teaspoonful salt, one cup seeded raisins, one-half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in one table- spoonful of water and two cupfuls of flour. Beat thoroughly, turn into greased pudding pan and steam three hours. Serve with hard sauce. Farina Pudding.—Place a double boiler with one pint of milk over the fire; when it boils, sprinkle in two and a half tablespoonfuls farina, one-quarter teaspoonful salt and two tablespoonfuls sugar. Cook twenty minutes, then add the beaten whites of two eggs, stir for a few minutes, remove from fire, pour into a mold and set aside to cool. Serve with orange sauce made in following manner: Stir the yolks of THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 59 two eggs with half cupful sugar to a cream, add half cupful orange juice and one tablespoonful lemon juice, add last the beaten white of one egg and serve. Or a vanilla sauce may be served with the pudding. Fruit Puffs.—Fill old cups or baking cans to the depth of two inches with strawberries, sliced apples, or any kind of berries and cover with a layer of sugar. Put in each cup a small lump of butter and completely cover the berries with a batter made of one egg, one pint sweet milk, one and one-half teaspoon baking powder and flour to make rather stiffer than for pancakes. Bake 40 minutes in a steady oven. Gingerbread Pudding.—One cupful of molasses, one cupful of sugar, one-half cupful of melted lard or butter, salt; all kinds of spice—one- fourth teaspoonful of each—one cupful of buttermilk, two scant tea- spoonfuls of soda, one cupful of raisins or sliced apples, flour for stiff batter. Steam in a covered pudding dish two hours. Hot water may be substituted for buttermilk; then use half the quantity of soda. Whipped cream is better than sugar with this. Gooseberry Charlotte.—Stew a pint of ripe or nearly ripe gooseberries for 10 minutes very slowly, not to break them. Cut six or eight slices of stale plain cake; line the bottom of your pudding dish with them; put next a layer of the gooseberries sprinkled thickly with sugar; more cake, more berries, and so on until the dish is full. Cover closely and steam in a moderate oven 20 or 25 minutes. You will find the juice of the berries sufficient moisture. Serve hot with a good pudding sauce. Gooseberry Fool.—According to the original English recipe it was merely gooseberry sauce enriched with cream; American authorities, how- ever, use eggs and butter instead of cream. To make it English fashion, stew either green or ripe gooseberries, after topping and stemming them, until tender, in just enough water to prevent burning, strain through a sieve, sweeten and then stir in as much rich cream as taste dictates; pour into a glass dish, and set away in a cool place. A very delicious dessert is made by using this gooseberry fool as filling for charlottes, lining either one large mold or small individual cups with ladies' fingers or small slices of sponge cake, and then filling with the gooseberry mix- ture, putting whipped cream on the top. The American recipe adds to one quart of ripe gooseberries, stewed and strained, the yolks of four eggs, one cupful of sugar, and one tablespoonful of butter, beaten to- gether until light. Pour into a glass dish, and heap on top the whites of the eggs, beaten with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Gooseberry Pudding.—Green gooseberries mixed with rhubarb make a nice combination for pie or puddings. Of course plenty of sugar is needed. For gooseberry pudding line a mold with baking powder or suet crust (preferably the latter), fill with gooseberries alone or mixed with rhubarb, sugar liberally, add a little water, and cover; steam three hours. 60 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Graham Pudding.—Make a batter of a cupful of molasses, a cupful of sweet milk, a cupful of seeded and chopped raisins, two cupfuls of graham flour and two teaspoonfuls of soda. Steam for three hours. Eat with a sauce made of a tablespoonful of butter creamed with half a cupful of sugar and the stiffly beaten white of an egg and lemon to flavor. Graham Date Pudding.—Stone a cupful of dates and add them to a pint of boiling water, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and a pinch of salt. Set on the fire and stir in graham flour to make a moderately thick por- ridge. Cook thoroughly, set away to get cold. Serve with whipped cream. Graham Plum Pudding.—One egg, one cup molasses, one cup sweet milk, one teaspoonful soda, one-half teaspoonful salt, two cupfuls gra- ham flour, one-half cupful raisins. Mix and steam three hours. Serve with this sauce: One tablespoonful butter, one tablespoonful sugar, one tablespoonful white flour, the yolk of one egg. Add hot water and let it boil, then white of egg and flavor. Grape Pudding.—Soak one-half a box of gelatine in one-half a cup of cold water, until soft; add one cup of boiling water, juice of one lemon, one cup of sugar and one pint of grape juice. Set aside to cool until it begins to stiffen, then fold in the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Run into a mold. When ready to serve unmold and garnish with whipped cream. A bunch of grapes may be placed on the top of the mold. This will serve eight persons. Grape Pudding No. 2.—This is an old-fashioned dish which may be either boiled or baked. Delaware grapes are best for it. Wash, pick and flour well before putting into the batter. A heaping pint of picked grapes makes a fair-sized pudding. For the batter beat four eggs very light, whites and yolks separate, mix smoothly with the yolks half a pint of milk and one pint of flour sifted twice. Add half a cupful of butter beaten to a cream, and last of all the whites of eggs, stirring them in with long, swift strokes, all the same way. The grapes go in at the very last, and the bag or the pan ought to be ready before they are added. Boil the pudding three hours, and serve with a rich grape juice sauce. For a baked pudding the white of one egg may be kept out, and used for a meringue. Serve with the same sauce. Huckleberry Blanc Mange.—Heat one quart of milk in a double boiler (reserving one-third of a cupful with which to mix three tablespoonfuls of cornstarch). Add one-half cupful of sugar and a pinch of salt. When the milk is scalding hot, stir in the cornstarch, and cook for five minutes. Pour this on the well-beaten whites of two eggs and beat thoroughly. When cool pour a little of it into a wetted mold, strew over this fresh blueberries, then another portion of the blanc mange, then more of the blueberries (using a pint in all), finish with the blanc THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 91 mange and set on ice to harden. When ready to serve turn out on a flat glass or china jelly plate and serve with either whipped or plain cream, slightly sweetened. Huckleberry Pudding.—Ingredients: One pint of New Orleans mo- lasses, a quart of huckleberries, a teaspoonful of baking soda, a teaspoon- ful each of powdered cinnamon, ginger and cloves and V/2 teacupful of flour. Put the molasses in a bowl, dissolve soda in a little water and stir in molasses; add spice, fruit and flour and pour the mixture in the pudding mold. Tie the lid on and set it in a pot of boiling water for three hours. Huckleberry Indian Pudding.—Mix together two quarts of warm milk, three-fourths cupful finely-chopped suet, two tablespoonfuls molasses, a half teaspoonful of soda, a teaspoonful of salt and enough Indian meal to make a stiff batter. Add at the last two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, and a quart of huckleberries dredged with flour. Boil for two and one-half hours in a buttered bag or mold, never allowing the water to stop boiling, and serve hot with foamy sauce. Hulnah Pudding.—Wash a cupful of rice and add to it a quart of milk, a cupful of sugar and a teaspoonful of cornstarch dissolved in a little cold milk. Flavor with quarter of a nutmeg grated. Bake an hour and a half, stirring down occasionally, but do not stir down the skin' which forms on top; then let it brown. When done take from the oven, remove the brown skin and when the pudding is cool lay over the top preserved strawberries or cherries. Make a meringue with the whites of three eggs and three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and heap over the top of the fruit. Set in the oven a moment to brown a delicate color. Eat with cream. Indian Pudding.—One pint of skim-milk scalded. While hot stir in smoothly two cupfuls of Indian meal, add a little salt, a teaspoonful of cinnamon and half a cupful of molasses, also the same of sugar. Stir well. Now add a quart of cold skim-milk, and mix lightly as pos- sible. Bake slowly for two hours. Your finished product will be fra- grant, rich, golden, trembling in its sweet jellied whey. Now add the last touch. When you serve it, put a heaping spoonful of nice apple sauce flavored with nutmeg over the top, and if you like another spoon- ful of whipped cream over that. Indian Apple Pudding.—Take one-half of a cup of molasses, one quart of milk, one teaspoonful of salt, three scant cups of pared and sliced apples, to which add a quarter of a teaspoonful of ginger and cinna- mon. When the milk boils in the double boiler, pour it slowly on the meal. Cook half an hour in the boiler, stirring often. Now add the other ingredients; pour into a deep, well greased pudding dish and bake slowly. Eat with cream or maple syrup. 62 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Boiled Indian Pudding.—One cupful of milk, one cupful of corn meal, one egg, one tablespoonful of sugar, one tablespoonful of beef suet minced fine and strings removed, one-half teaspoonful each of salt and ground cinnamon, one-third saltspoonful of soda in the milk. (Sour milk may be used, in which case take one-half teaspoonful of soda.) Heat the milk with the soda; when boiling stir in the meal, salt and suet and set aside to cool. When cold beat in the spice, sugar and whipped eggs and stir vigorously. Boil in a well-greased brown bread mold for three hours. Leave plenty of room for the pudding to swell. Serve with hard sauce or caramel, maple sugar or molasses. The recipe may be doubled and divided in two molds for steaming—one to be set aside in a cool place and used in a week. A cupful of chopped, floured rai- sins, dates, or cooked dried apricots may be added. For molasses sauce, use one cupful of molasses, one and a half tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, a dash each of nutmeg and cinnamon. Boil molasses, spices and butter five minutes, remove from fire and add lemon juice. Serve very hot. New England Indian Pudding.—Take one pint of milk, scald it and pour it over two heaping tablespoonfuls of Indian meal, in which a saltspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-quarter of a whole nutmeg grated, have been blended. Stir briskly, and when per- fectly smooth add one-third cup of chopped suet, one-third cup of mo- lasses; when this is well mixed add one pint of cold milk. Beat well, turn into a greased dish, set it in another containing warm water and bake three hours in a moderate oven. Serve hot with hard sauce. . This pudding will look as if it had cream and eggs in it, and it should be stirred gently three times during the first hour and a half. Old-Fashioned Indian Pudding.—One quart of milk, one quart of Indian meal, three eggs, three heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar, one tea- spoonful of salt and one-half pound of beef suet chopped into powder. Scald the milk and while boiling hot stir in the meal and suet with the salt. When cold, add the yolks, beaten light with the sugar, then the whites. Dip your bag in hot water, flour it and fill half full with the mixture, as it will swell very much. Boil five hours. Eat very hot, with butter and sugar. This pudding is even better when baked in a well-buttered dish for an hour and a half. Bake, covered, for an hour and a quarter, then brown. Kenilworth Pudding.—Two cupfuls of light chopped bread, one-half cupful chopped suet, taking care to free it from all strings, one-half cupful of molasses, one egg, one cupful raisins, seeded or the seedless, one cupful sweet milk, with one-half teaspoonful soda dissolved in it, one-half teaspoonful powdered cloves, one teaspoonful cinnamon and a THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 63 pinch of mace and salt. Mix thoroughly and boil two hours in a tin pudding dish. Eat with foamy sauce. Lemon Pudding.—Grate the rinds of two lemons and squeeze over them the juice to keep moist. Beat together two eggs, one and one- half cups sugar, two tablespoons cornstarch or flour, tablespoon butter and enough cold water to thoroughly moisten. Place in double boiler and add one and one-half pint boiling water, stirring till the mass is smooth and thick. Just before removing from fire add the rind and juice of the lemons and beat thoroughly. Cover with a meringue made of one white of egg and two tablespoons of sugar and then slightly brown in the oven. Maple Custard.—Scald one pint of rich milk in a double boiler and when hot add a tablespoonful of cornstarch mixed with one-third of a cupful of cold milk. Just before taking from the fire add two table- spoonfuls of fine-shaved maple sugar and the beaten yolks of three eggs. Stir until smooth, adding when cool a pinch of salt and half a tea- spoonful of vanilla. Use whites of the eggs with sugar for frosting. By including whites of eggs in the custard and omitting the cornstarch a delicious cup-custard can be made. Molasses Bread Pudding.—Stir into one quart of milk one pint of bread crumbs, one cup of molasses, one cup of raisins, seeded, cinna- mon and nutmeg to flavor. Bake in a slow oven for three hours, stir- ring a little when first heated. Serve hot with cream. Peach Roll.—Into four cups of flour sift two teaspoons of baking powder, add two cups sour cream, one teaspoon soda and a pinch of salt. Roll out thin and cover with canned peaches which have been drained from the juice. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut the dough into strips and roll up. Bake or steam one-half hour. If baked, pour a little water into the pan. Serve with the reserved juice or with cream and sugar. Peach Tapioca.—Soak one-half cupful of tapioca over night in plenty of cold water. Cover the bottom of a buttered pudding dish with a layer of canned peaches, pour over this the tapioca, which has been sweetened with one tablespoonful of sugar, put over this another layer of the peaches and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Beat the whites of two eggs until very stiff, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, spread this over the peaches and return to the oven until a delicate brown. Add more sugar to the juice left from the canned peaches, beat one-half cupful of cream until light, pour gradually over it the peach juice, beat all together and serve with dessert. This dish is good served either cold or hot. Pear Charlotte.—Slightly moisten six slices of stale bread with cold water, spread them with soft butter, put half of them in the bottom of 64 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. a buttered pudding dish, spread over them two cupfuls of finely chopped ripe pears and sprinkle with four tablespoonfuls of sugar, a g ating of nutmeg and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Lay over them the re- mainder of the bread, another two cupfuls of the chopped pears and nutmeg, sugar and lemon juice as before. Pour over one cupful of thin maple syrup, cover closely and bake in a slow oven for one hour. Serve hot with whipped cream or maple syrup. Pear Pudding.—Put one quart of canned pears into a baking dish; add a finger length of stick cinnamon and three cloves. If the pears have not been sweetened sufficiently when put up add sugar to make them quite sweet, teaspoonful of butter and dredge a teaspoonful of flour over the top. Place the dish on the range where it will heat while you mix a pint of flour into a biscuit dough according to well-known directions; make a very soft dough; pat into shape with the hands and cover the pears. Bake about 25 minutes. There should be rich juice enough to moisten the crust. If preferred it may have plain cream served with it. Persimmon Pudding.—One quart of persimmons mashed fine with the hands, and every seed removed. Add one quart of sweet milk, one egg, one tablespoonful of butter, one-half teaspoonful each of cinnamon, nut- meg and ginger, and half as much of allspice and cloves, half cupful of sugar. Pour into a buttered baking dish, and bake till well set, as if for custard. Eat hot or cold; delicious either way. English Plum Pudding.—One pound stoned raisins; one pound of suet, chopped fine; $4 pound of stale bread crumbs; one-fourth pound of brown sugar; grated rind of one lemon; J4 pound of flour; one pound cleaned currants; Yz nutmeg, grated; five eggs; one cup milk; one-half pound chopped candied peel. Mix all the dry ingredients; then beat the eggs, add the milk to them, pour over the other materials, and mix well; it will" require very hard stirring, as it is stiff. Put in greased molds holding one quart each, cover with well-floured cloth, and boil for six hours. Store away, and when used boil for six hours more. Plum Pudding.—Fill a deep baking pan to the depth o_f two inches with seeded plums, well sugared. Dot with bits of butter and put over the top a thick, good light biscuit crust with holes for the steam to escape. Bake 40 minutes and serve with the juice f rom^ canned plums or cream. This is good pudding when canning is going on to use up the surplus juice. Seeded grapes, peaches, apples or cherries may be used instead of plums. Plum Roll.—Sift together one pint of flour, one teaspoonful of bak- ing powder and one-half teaspoonful of salt; rub into the prepared flour one tablespoonful of butter and make into soft dough with milk or water; roll out quite thin, sprinkle with one cup of seeded chopped rai- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 65 sins, one-fourth of a cup of chopped citron and half a teaspoonful of cinnamon; roll up and steam for 40 minutes; serve hot, with hard sauce. Poor Man's Pudding.—One cupful sour milk, one cupful of mo- lasses, one cupful of cold water, two cupfuls Indian meal, half a cup of butter, one egg, one teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one saltspoonful of salt. Beat all together thoroughly. Pour into a greased pudding pan and bake two hours in a moderately hot oven. Poverty Pudding.—Chop one cup of suet very fine; stone one cup of raisins; add one cup of molasses to the suet; then add milk, one cupful; add one-half teaspoonful of salt, three cupfuls of sifted flour and one teaspoonful of cinnamon; beat hard for three minutes; add raisins well floured and three level teaspoonfuls of baking powder; turn into a greased mold and boil three hours; serve with hard sauce. Prune Sago.—After washing one-half pound of prunes put them to soak till well puffed out, then put them into a stewpan with enough cold water to cover them. Cook till soft; pass the fruit through a fine sieve, after stoning it. Mix with it some pearl sago that has been well boiled. There should be equal quantities of fruit pulp and sago. Heat up, but do not boil; if too stiff thin with a little milk or water, season with lemon juice; it will be sweet enough for ordinary palates. Pour into a jelly mold and when cold turn on a glass dish. Serve with whipped cream or boiled custard. Pumpkin Custard.—One quart of hot milk, a large cup of strained squash or pumpkin, a teaspoonful of butter and one of salt, a cupful of sugar in which half a teaspoonful of cinnamon and a pinch of ginger have been mixed, and three eggs beaten light. Mix pumpkin and milk, add other ingredients, the eggs last, pour into custard cups which must be set in a pan of hot water. Bake until firm, about half an hour, testing with a knife blade. If it comes out clean they are done. Serve ice-cold. Queen's Pudding.—Take about a quart of good, rich, sweet milk, and half a pint of bread crumbs, minus the crust. Milk and bread are scalded together, and cooled enough to work through the colander. In this way the bread is worked smooth, and is thoroughly mixed with the milk. To this mixture are added the yolks of four eggs and the whites of two, about two-thirds of a cup of sugar, and one spoonful of butter. Beat the ingredients together very thoroughly, for the success of the pudding depends much on the beating. Flavor with nutmeg. Bake it in a very moderately hot oven, like a custard pie, which should never come to a boil. When baked, beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth and add three or four spoonfuls of granulated sugar for the frosting. Spread a good layer of jelly upon the pudding, and over this spread the frosting, and set in the oven till it browns, which takes but a very few minutes if the oven is hot. To be eaten with cream and sugar. 66 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Raisin Steamed Pudding.—Blend a piece of butter the size of an egg with one cupful of sugar, to this add one beaten egg, half a cupful of milk, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, sifted with two cupfuls of flour, and one cupful of seeded raisins dredged in flour. Fill cups par- tially full with the batter and steam three-quarters of an hour. Serve either with boiled sauce or sweetened cream. Baked Raspberry Pudding.—Line a small pudding dish with rich puff paste and prick with a fork. Bake a light brown and set it aside until cold. Beat very light the whites of four eggs, add slowly one cup of sugar, and lastly stir in a quart of red raspberries. Heap this lightly into the cooked shell in the pudding dish, return to the oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes. Have the oven just moderately hot. Boiled Raspberry Pudding.—Open a can of canned or preserved rasp- berries and drain off the liquor, saving it for sauce for the pudding. Make a rich biscuit dough; roll this into a sheet a half inch thick, spread thickly with the berries, sprinkle bits of butter over these and roll up the sheet of dough as you would a sheet of music. Put into a floured cloth and boil for three hours. Add to the raspberry liquor a little sugar and boil up once. Take the pudding from the cloth, lay on a dish and pour the steaming sauce over it. Red Pudding.—A pint of ted currants, a pint of raspberries, and a pint of cold water; mix, and add sugar to taste. Thus, if a rather sour pudding is desired, two teacupfuls of sugar will be sufficient to sweeten these ingredients, but if, on the other hand, it is a sweeter pudding that is required, the amount of sugar must be increased correspondingly. To this mixture add cinnamon—two sticks, each about three inches in length will be sufficient— already broken into bits, and when all these ingre- dients have boiled together for half an hour in a porcelain-lined stew- pan, press the juice through a sieve into another receptacle, and, adding a teacupful of blanched almonds and citron that have been chopped finely together, cook again for another 20 minutes. When nearly done, thicken with cornstarch. Set aside in a wet mold until it has had time to be- come hard; then serve it in slices covered thickly with rich cream. Rice Pudding.—Have one pint of rice boiled done and still hot. Into this stir one cup of raisins to swell and begin cooking in the hot mass. When nearly cold beat together three eggs, one quart of milk, one cup sugar and vanilla to taste. Add the rice and raisins, stirring till smooth and free from lumps. This pudding will have a delicious thick custard on top of the layer of'rice if properly made and is better than the old style of nearly solid pudding. Bake one hour and serve with sweet milk. Lemon Rice Pudding.—Boil a cup of well washed rice in a quart of milk until very soft. Add to it while hot the beaten yolks of three eggs, the juice and grated rind of two lemons, eight tablespoonfuls of sugar THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 67 and a pinch of salt. If too thick, add a little milk. It should be rather thicker than boiled custard. Turn it into a pudding dish, beat the whites of the eggs very stiff with six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, spread over the top and brown delicately in a slow oven. Rhubarb Cobbler.—Fill a deep, buttered, earthenware pie dish with rhubarb cut into pieces an inch long. Make a batter of eggs, flour, milk and salt, allowing a large tablespoonful of flour to each egg and milk enough to make a batter thick as for fritter batter. Pour this over the rhubarb and bake until the pudding is light and nicely browned. Rhubarb Puffs.—One cupful of finely chopped rhubarb, one cupful of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of butter creamed with the sugar, add two well-beaten eggs, one-quarter of a cup of milk, flour with one teaspoonful of baking powder well mixed into it, to make a thick batter. Fill well- greased cups half full and steam for half an hour. The sauce to serve with these puffs is made by creaming together one-half cupful of pow- dered sugar and a small half cupful of butter, then add by degrees one whipped egg, beating until perfectly smooth. The last thing before serv- ing stir in three tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Boiled Rhubarb Pudding.—Make three cups of flour into dough as for baking powder biscuit. Roll one-fourth inch thick; cover with rhu- barb that has been cut in inch pieces and scalded. Wipe dry before spreading on the crust. Sprinkle liberally with sugar and add a dash of nutmeg if desired. Make a roll of the dough and cook in steamer, or tie up in floured cloth and drop in boiling water. Cook 30 to 45 minutes; serve with foamy sauce. Rhubarb Bread Pudding.—Peel the rhubarb and cut it into small pieces. Cover the bottom of a pudding dish with pieces of buttered bread. Over this put a layer of rhubarb. Pour over it a half-teaspoon- ful of lemon juice, and cover liberally with sugar. Add another layer of bread and butter, rhubarb, lemon and sugar. Repeat until the dish is full, covering the last layer of rhubarb with well-buttered bread crumbs. Cover the dish, and steam for one hour. Then remove the lid and bake it slowly until it is nicely browned. Rhubarb Tapioca.—Prepare the rhubarb as for stewing; place in a deep baking dish and add sugar enough to sweeten well, a little shredded orange peel, salt and dot with bits of butter. Add one quart of water to half a cupful of fine tapioca. Add a pinch of salt and cook in a double boiler for 15 minutes. Then pour over the rhubarb, cover the dish and bake half an hour. Serve with sweetened whipped cream. Sour Milk Pudding.—Soak four slices of stale bread in a little milk or water until soft. Then stir in a quart of rich, sour milk, a cupful of molasses, a tablespoonful of melte-d butter, a teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, saltspoonful of salt. Bake slowly three hours. 6H THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Steamed Pudding.—One cupful molasses, one egg, one cupful hot water, one teaspoonful saleratus, one tablespoonful butter, one cupful raisins, stoned, a little salt, flour enough to make stiff as cake, steam two hours. With this pudding use the following sauce which is de- licious: Cream until very light one cupful of brown sugar, and nearly one-half cupful butter, a little salt, and one-fourth teaspoonful of va- nilla. Just before serving beat in the unbeaten white of one egg. Strawberry Dumplings.—They will require one egg, a cup of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of melted butter, a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, and flour enough to make a batter that will be a trifle thicker than that which is commonly used for griddle cakes. Pour a little of this batter into buttered tins, or porcelain cups; place a number of well- sweetened berries in the center and cover them with more batter; then steam for about half an hour. Serve with a sauce made by mashing some strawberries and incorporating them into an ordinary hard butter- and-sugar sauce. Strawberry Pudding.—One cup cleaned strawberries, place in an earthen bowl, set in steamer over a pot of cold water, place over the fire; while this is heating and coming to a boil make a batter of the follow- ing: One heaping cup of flour with two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one-half teaspoonful of salt; sift all together two or three times, then add sweet milk or water to make a soft batter that will drop easily from spoon. Lift the lid of steamer and drop quickly over the strawberries, covering them all over nicely. Steam for 40 minutes; do not let the water stop boiling. This quantity makes enough pudding for four persons. Eat either with cream and sugar or a sauce made as follows: Break one egg in a dish, add one heaping tablespoonful of granulated sugar, beat light, then add dessertspoonful of flour and a pinch of salt; beat well again; then add slowly boiling water until the sauce is of the required thickness (about like nice cream); flavor to taste. This sauce is very nice with any kind of pudding, especially cot- tage pudding. Sweet Potato Pudding.—One quart grated raw sweet potato, one quart milk, three eggs, two cupfuls sugar, piece of butter the size of an egg, one-half teaspoonful of salt, cinnamon and allspice to taste. Mix well, put in a buttered earthen pudding dish, and bake two hours in a moderate oven. Steamed Sweet Potato Pudding.—Take two cupfuls of grated raw potatoes, one cupful of grated carrots, two cupfuls of currants, one cupful of raisins stoned and_ chopped, one cupful of minced suet, one cup- ful of sugar, one teaspoonful each of salt and soda, and flour enough to make a stiff batter. Place in a greased mold and steam two hours. Serve with boiled sauce. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 69 Suet Pudding.—One cupful molasses, one cupful beef suet chopped fine, one cupful sour milk, one teaspoonful saleratus, one cupful stoned raisins, one-half teaspoonful salt, four cupfuls flour. Mix thoroughly. Put in a buttered basin in the steamer over a kettle of boiling water. Steam for four hours. Do not disturb while steaming; at least not for the first hour. French Tapioca Pudding.—Scald one pint of milk over hot water. Stir in one-third of a cup of a quick cooking tapioca, mixed with a few grains of salt and one-fourth a cup of sugar. Stir and cook about ten minutes, then add very gradually to three eggs (or two whole eggs and the whites of two more), beaten very light and thick. Also add a grating of lemon rind and a tablespoonful of butter. Turn into a tur- ban-shaped mold, thoroughly buttered and dusted with sugar, and bake, standing in a pan of water, one hour. Serve cold, turned from the mold and surrounded with a fruit sauce. This is a rich, yet delicate pudding. Taylor Pudding.—Stir into a cup of sweet milk a level teaspoonful of soda and a teaspoonful of salt. Beat into the milk a cup of Porto Rican molasses and stir the wet ingredients slowly into two cups of well- sifted flour. Beat the batter well and pour it into a greased cake tin. It will be about the consistency of cake batter. Bake it in a hot oven for about thirty or forty minutes. When it is nearly done prepare a liquid sauce, as follows: Put in a saucepan five tablespoonfuls of sugar and 10 tablespoonfuls of water. Let it boil for four minutes and then add three level tablespoonfuls of butter and flavor well with nutmeg. When the pudding is done turn it out on a platter and carry it to the table. Serve it cut in thick slices with the liquid sauce. Yorkshire Pudding.—This is a batter pudding cooked where it will receive the drippings from the roasting meat, and it is very good; as originally made it was cooked in front of an open fire, where it would receive drippings from the meat cooking upon a spit. About an hour before the roast of beef is done drain off the gravy, leaving about two tablespoonfuls in the dripping pan. The meat should be laid upon a rack over the pan, so as to raise it up. The pudding requires three eggs, one pint of milk, six large tablespoonfuls of flour, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and two dashes of pepper. Beat the eggs until light, then add the milk. Put the flour into a bowl, moisten it gradually with the eggs and milk, beat until smooth; strain it through a sieve to avoid lumps, add the pepper and salt, pour it into the dripping pan and bake. Cut into squares cr strips, and serve around the meat. CHAPTER VI. APPLES. Apple! Apple! Call for Apple! Everywhere you go! Closely watch the bill of fare, And If apple Is not there, Then proceed at once to pare, Cook and landlord down with care. Since apples play a large part in farmhouse economy, it has been thought well to group recipes for their use together, rather than sepa rating them in various chapters. A few other apple recipes will he found, however, included among jellies and preserves, cakes and pastry. Baked Apples.—Pare and core cooking apples; put in a granite pan; put over them a cupful of sugar, butter the size of a walnut; cover; bake until almost done; take the cover off and let them brown. When apples are baked in a covered earthen dish or casserole flavor and appearance are at their best. Pare and core the apples, sprinkle them with sugar and a little powdered cloves and cinnamon. Add a little water, cover the dish, and bake a long time in a slow oven. The apples cook to a deep red, and are very tender and rich in flavor. Honey is a desirable addi- ■ tion to baked apples. Wipe or peel the apples, and remove the core without running the knife clear through. Into this hollow put a bit of butter and a teaspoonful of honey, and bake after the ordinary manner. Baked Apples in Jelly.—Peel, core and quarter a quart of apples, add half a cupful of water and three-fourths cupful of sugar, put in a cov- ered earthen dish and cook three to four hours in a slow oven, when they should be dark red in color. Then mix with the apples a cupful of liquid lemon jelly, and set in a mold to harden. These baked apples are also very nice eaten warm without the jelly. Fancy Baked Apples.—Peel and core medium-sized tart apples. Put them in a baking dish and pour half a cup of water over them. Set in a hot oven, and when the apples are heated, sprinkle with enough sugar to coat each and bake until tender. Make a syrup of one cup of water, half a cup of sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and a teaspoonful of the grated rind. Add two tablespoonfuls of chopped raisins, two of chopped candied cherries, two of chopped candied pineapple, and two of chopped almonds, and when the sugar is dissolved set at the back of the stove and let cook slowly for half an hour. When the apples are done put in little glass saucers, taking care not to break them. Fill with the cooked sweets and pour the syrup over them. Serve cold with whipped cream. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 71 Boiled Apples in Syrup.—Rub the apples clean, but do not peel, and stick four cloves into each. Put in earthen dish, half cover with cold water, and add one cup of sugar to each pint of water. Place upon stove and cook until apple skins crack; remove apples, then boil down syrup until it is like jelly, and pour over the fruit. Apple Butter.—Apple butter should be made from new cider, fresh from the press, and not yet fermented. Fill a porcelain-lined kettle with cider and boil until reduced one-half. Then boil another kettleful in the same way, and so continue until you have sufficient quantity. To every four gallons of boiled cider allow a half-bushel of nice juicy apples, pared, cored and quartered. The cider should be boiled the day before you make the apple butter. Fill a very large kettle with the boiled cider and add as many apples as can be kept moist. Stir fre- quently, and when the apples are soft beat with a wooden stick until they arc reduced to a pulp. Cook and stir continuously until the consistency is that of soft marmalade and the color is a very dark brown. Have boiled cider at hand in case it becomes too thick, and apples if too thin. Twenty minutes before you take it from the fire add ground cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste. It requires no sugar. When cold, put into stone jars and cover closely. Apple Dumplings.—Pare, quarter and core tart apples. Put one table- spoonful of baking powder in one quart of flour, add one cupful of lard and half a teaspoonful of salt and mix with sweet milk, make stiffer than for biscuits, roll and cut in squares and put around the pieces of apple. Into a deep pudding dish put one quart of water, one cupful of sugar and a small lump of butter. Set it on top of the stove and let it come to a boil. Then put in the dumplings and bake in a brisk oven one hour. Apple Dumplings with Bread Dough.-—Take out about a pint of bread dough in the morning when il is ready to go in the baking pans, more or less according to the size of the family; add shortening half the size of an egg, mix through the dough and set aside until an hour and a half before dinner. Then cut the dough into as many pieces as there are persons to serve and roll out. Pare and core good, tart apples, set one on each sheet of dough, putting a teaspoonful of sugar and a small lump of butter in the place of the core, fold the dough about the apple, pinch- ing it tightly together, set them in a deep earthen dish and let rise half an hour; then sprinkle a tablespoonful of sugar over them and pour on one cupful of cold water and bake half an hour in a hot oven. It may be well to cover them with a greased paper to keep them from getting too brown or crusty. Eat warm with cream and sugar or any sauce preferred. Also excellent steamed. Boiled Apple Dumplings.—Pare eight fine apples and cut them in quarters, remove the cores. Roll the suet crust out half an inch thick and 72 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cut into round pieces. Dust each piece of apple with a little sugar and cinnamon and place four sections on each round of paste. Gather up the edges and pinch them together over the apple. When all the dump- lings are made, drop them into a kettle of boiling water and .let them boil gently for an hour. Take them up on a hot dish and serve with plain, sweetened cream. If you want to serve the dumplings "just as grandmother did," sweeten the cream with "treacle." Kenilworth Ranch Dumplings.—Take a quart of flour, one cup of good lard and half-cup of butter; rub this into the flour after it is sifted with one teaspoonful of baking powder; add enough milk to make a soft dough. This is rolled out quickly into a sheet an inch thick and then cut in squares. Into each square is laid a half apple, peeled and cored, and the crust tucked around it. Have ready in a dripping pan a syrup made of one cupful of sugar to one of water; lay the dumplings in; bake in quick oven 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with an old-fashioned molasses sauce. Farmhouse Apples.—Peel and core tart apples, fill the space from which the cores were taken with seeded raisins, bits of shredded citron, sugar and a little lemon peel; stand them in a baking pan, pour over them half a cup of water and dust with about two tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar. Bake in a slow oven until perfectly tender, then sprinkle bread crumbs over the top; dust again with sugar, and leave them in the oven for 10 minutes. While they are baking mix a table- spoonful of flour with a half cup sugar; pour over half a pint of boiling water, and boil a moment; take from the fire, and pour slowly over one well-beaten egg; add the juice of half a lemon. Pour over the apples and serve warm. Apple Fool.—Peel, core and quarter six large apples, cook them until tender with three or four cloves, a small piece of lemon peel, half a cupful of sugar and a teacupful of water. Remove the cloves and lemon peel, beat well with a fork and stir in one-fourth pint of thick, sweet cream. Cut any kind of delicate cake into rather thin slices and place a layer in the bottom of a glass dish. Pour over it diluted red currant jelly, then cover with a thick layer of the apple fool, then another layer of cake and currant jelly, and heap the remainder of the apple fool over the top. With each helping serve a large spoonful of whipped cream flavored with almond. Hidden Apples.—Butter a deep tin pan, cover the bottom with a layer of pared and quartered apples. In another dish beat an.egg well, put in enough sugar to sweeten the apples, add a little water, thicken with powdered bread crumbs, flavor highly with lemon. Pour this mixture over apples and bake until the apples are done, which will take about 20 minutes in a hot oven. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 73 Apple Johnny Cake.—Mix two cupfuls of cornmeal, a saltspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, a scant half-cupful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water and milk to make a thin batter. Stir in three sour apples that have been peeled and cut into thin slices. Bake in a shallow tin in a moderate oven for 35 minutes. Apple Kisses.—Select six small, smooth apples. Pare, cut in half anil remove the core. Mix one-half a cupful of sugar with one-third cupful of butter. Place this mixture between the halves of the apples. Place in a baking dish with a little water and a teaspoonful of vanilla extract Bake till apples are soft. Serve with their own juice for sauce. Apple Pancakes.—Measure two cupfuls of sifted flour; add half a teaspoonful of salt and sift again. Then stir in gradually two cupfuls of cold water and the beaten yolks of three or four eggs, making a per- fectly smooth batter. When well mixed, fold in the whites of the eggs beaten to a froth. Place a tablespoonful of fat in an iron frying pan and when hot pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan quarter of an inch thick; have a few nicely-flavored apples, pared, cored and finely minced; sprinkle a layer of the apple over the cake (not too much, or the pancake is liable to break).' As the cake cooks, slip a flexible knife under it, lifting it so it will not burn, and shake the pan gently to and fro. When the pancake is a light brown on under side, 'slip it on to a hot plate, put a piece of butter on top of the apples, hold the frying pan over it and deftly turn the cake back into the pan and cover and cook until the apples are soft. Then slip it out of pan on to a hot plate; set the plate over hot water to keep the cake warm and con- tinue frying up remainder of the batter in same manner. Serve them separately or piled, one upon the other. Serve with sugar sprinkled over them and oranges or lemons cut in halves for squeezing over them. This quantity of batter should make four cakes. Do not have your pan too large. Apple Custard Pancakes.—Beat four eggs light, adding to them a half pint of cream and a little ground cinnamon. Peel and core the apples, cut them in thin slices and fry them tender in a little butter. When browned slightly, turn them over, pour in the custard and fry to a li&ht brown. Turn out on a hot flat dish and sprinkle powdered sugar over the pancake. Apple Pie.—As a variation from the ordinary pie with two crusts, slice apples into a deep earthen pie dish, sweeten and flavor to taste, and cover with a top crust only. The absence of a soggy bottom crust is usually viewed as an advantage. Apple Custard Pie.—Peel and cut apples very fine. Line a deep pan with crust, put in the apples; scatter over them small pieces of butter and a covering of granulated sugar. Then pour over all a cupful of 74 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. sweet cream and bake until the apples are cooked. Serve just before it is quite cold. Dutch Apple Pie.—Make a rich puff paste and line deep pie plate. Core and cut into eighths as many rich tart apples as will fill the pie plate by laying each piece of apple with the curved side up, just as close together as can be placed; over the top sprinkle half cup light brown sugar, half teaspoonful cinnamon and tablespoonful flour. Dot bits of butter over the top and add half cup water; bake slowly and carefully until apples are tender and water absorbed. Serve warm with cheese. Dried Apple Pie.—Cook a large handful of dried apples quickly in a tightly-covered granite basin in a little less than a quart of water. Six halves of dried apricots are cut fine and cooked in very little water. Fill in the apple, then the apricot, together with water they were cooked in; add a small cupful of sugar, and nutmeg, making the pie with two crusts, and bake quickly. Apple Pot-pie.—Serve this with maple-sugar sauce. Half fill a deep dish with sour apples which have been quartered, pared and cored. Pour over them a little boiling water and place in a hot oven until tender. Make a crust as for baking powder biscuit, roll out an inch thick; lay it over the apples and return to the oven for about 40 minutes or until the crust is done. For the sauce cook together two tablespoonfuls of butter and one teaspoonful of flour, add half a cupful of maple syrup and a tiny pinch of mace, and cook until clear and smooth. Apple Pudding.—Make a dough as for baking powder biscuit; roll out one-quarter inch thick. Peel and slice good tart apples rather thin; put them in the middle of the dough, put on them half a cupful of sugar, tablespoonful of butter, and nutmeg. Wet the edges, lap over the apples well to-keep the juice in, put over the apples a little water, put pudding in a cheesecloth bag, and boil two hours steady. Eat with good cream. Baked Apple Pudding.—Butter a granite or enameled pie tin and fill it with pared and quartered Duchess apples, cut in rather thick slices. Cover with a thick batter made from a cup of flour, in which a teaspoon- ful of baking powder, a saltspoon of salt and a tablespoon of butter have been well mixed. Add two-thirds of a cup of sweet milk, or sour milk in which a quarter of a teaspoon of soda has been dissolved; we prefer the sour milk. Only about half as much baking powder is required with the sour milk as when sweet milk is used, but we always use some and find that it makes the food lighter and better than where soda alone is used. When the pudding is done reverse it on a plate, spread with butter and sprinkle over it a half cup of sugar, add a few gratings of nutmeg. Eat with cream. Canadian Pudding.—One quart of quartered sour apples, one-half cup- ful of sugar, one-fourth cupful of water, a pinch of grated nutmeg. Bake THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 75 these ingredients together 20 minutes in a deep pudding dish; then remove and pour over the apples the following batter: One cupful of flour, one tablespoonful sugar, one-fourth teaspoonful salt, one beaten egg, two tablespoonfuls of soft butter. Return to the oven, increase the heat and bake for 20 minutes mere. Serve with maple sauce made as follows: Add to one thoroughly-beaten egg one cupful of grated maple sugar, one cupful of whipped cream, one-half teaspoonful of vanilla. In Vermont, where this recipe was obtained, a bowl of grated maple sugar invariably accompanied most desserts. Pudding sauces were always well covered with it. Caramel Pudding.—Peel, core and slice enough sour apples to measure one pint. Cook them slowly in a saucepan in two tablespoonfuls of butter until soft; then add one cupful of sugar, one-quarter of a tea- spoonful of cinnamon, two tablespoonfuls of caramel and simmer for twenty minutes. Mix together one and one^half cupfuls of stale bread crumbs, one-half cupful cf crumbled stale macaroons and one-half cupful of seedless raisins. Butter a deep dish and fill with alternate layers of the apples and bread mixture, having crumbs on top. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a rather hot oven, and serve cold with whipped cream. Eureka Pudding.—Put one or two quarts of boiling water in stewpan, add cornmeal to make a thick gruel, and teaspoonful of salt. Let it boil long and slowly. While cooking peel and slice five or six (more or less) good cooking apples; add to gruel. Let boil tender, add sugar and boil longer as for apple sauce. Turn into a mold and eat hot or cold with cream or boiled milk. This can be improved by putting the whites of eggs beaten stiff into pudding before taken from the fire; add the yolks to the boiled milk and serve with the pudding. German Pudding.—Pare, core and slice eight or 10 sour apples and put in a deep pudding dish, sweetening with one cupful of sugar, and sprinkling with a little lemon juice. Pour over them a rich egg batter, bake in a moderate oven one hour, and serve cold. Indian Apple Pudding.—Take one-half of a cup of molasses, one quart of milk, one teaspoonful of salt, three scant cups of pared and sliced apples, to which add a quarter of a teaspoonful of ginger and cinnamon. When the milk boils in the double boiler, pour it slowly on the meal. Cook half an hour in the boiler, stirring often. Now add the other ingredients; pour into a deep, well-greased pudding dish and bake slowly. Eat with cream or maple syrup. Queen Apple Pudding.—Make a rich pie crust, and roll out in an oblong sheet. Spread with chopped apples, cinnamon, sugar and butter (cream the sugar and butter together for convenience in spreading), roll up like a jelly cake, and cut off in two-inch lengths. Stand the slices in a dripping pan, with a little water around them, and bake thoroughly for 76 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 30 minutes. Very good either hot or cold. If desired it may be baked in the entire roll, instead of slices. Apple Roly-Poly.—Mix a half cupful of finely-chopped suet, one egg, one teaspoonful of baking powder, three-quarters of a cupful of cold water and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, with flour enough to make a stiff paste. Roll out the paste in a sheet about three-quarters of an inch thick, brush it over with the yolk of the egg and sprinkle with one tablespoonful of fine bread crumbs. Spread over it three apples peeled and sliced thin. Sprinkle with one-half tablespoonful of sugar and roll the paste. Brush the roll with egg, sprinkle it with bread crumbs and roll it in a napkin that has been wrung out of hot water and that has been covered on one side with flouf; Lap the ends over securely, tie with a string and boil in water that has been slightly salted for an hour and a half. Serve with lemon sauce. Sour Apple Pudding.—Peel and slice several sour cooking apples into a pudding dish; add sugar arid water as for stewing. Cover and bake until nearly tender. Sift together two cupfuls of flour, three tablespoon- fuls of baking powder, and a scant half teaspoonful of salt. Beat one egg, mix in half a cup of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter and one cupful of milk, then stir the latter into the dry ingredients. Pour the batter over the partly cooked apples, and bake about 20 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or a creamy sauce made with sugar, white of egg, and lump of butter. Apple Souffle.—Stew the apples as if for sauce, adding a little lemon peel and juice. Spread the stewed apples high around a baking dish. Make a custard of the yolks of two eggs, a pint of milk, a pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoonful of sugar. Let the custard cool and then pour it into the dish with the apples. Beat the whites of the eggs and spread over the top, sprinkling with sugar, and set it in the oven to brown. The apples should be about an inch thick at the bottom and sides of the dish. Spiced Apples with Cider.—Boil together one cupful of cider, one- quarter cupful vinegar, one cupful brown sugar, one bay leaf, two tea- spoonfuls whole allspice, two dozen whole cloves, two inches stick cinna- mon, two blades mace. Pare and core eight large, tart apples, cut in quarters and add to the boiling syrup; simmer gently until tender, but not broken. Take out the fruit carefully, boil syrup until thick as honey, pour over apples and serve cold. These are delicious with roast goose, duck or pork or any cold meat. Navy Apple Shortcake.—Butter thickly an oblong granite baking dish. Halve and core as many good cooking apples as will fit tightly in dish; cover thickly with sugar (about a coffee cupful), several grates of nut- meg and three tablespoonfu's of boiling water; make a rich shortcake 78 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Instead of the usual watery mass, you will have a rich red sauce, deli- cately flavored with the peel, and of about the consistency of marmalade. Steamed Apple Sauce.—Pare and slice the apples rather thinner than for sauce cooked in the usual way, dropping into cold water as you slice them. Drain, turn into the inner vessel of a double boiler, and fit on the cover. Fill the outer kettle with warm water and bring to a steady boil. Keep this up for half an hour after the boil begins, then lift the lid and beat the soft apple to a mush with a spoon. Close and cook 15 minutes longer. Run through a colander or a vegetable press, sweeten to taste while hot, and set away to cool. Apple Slump.—Make a thin apple sauce, sweeten and flavor with nut- meg; have about two quarts when done. Take pint flour, mix as for biscuit dough, drop the dough by small spoonfuls into the boiling sauce, after they have risen and got set turn over. When done take dumplings out in a deep dish and pour sauce over them; serve hot. Apple Butter Without Cider.—Procure a new 50-pound lard can, eight pounds light brown sugar. Peel and slice the apples. Then commence to fill the can, first a layer of apples, then a layer of sugar, and so on until the can is full. Cover tightly and let it stand 12 hours. Place on ftove and when it begins to boil set it back on the stove until it simmers, or boils gently. Do not take off lid for five hours. Then remove and put in ground cloves and cinnamon to suit your taste. Suet Apple Dumplings.—One cup of chopped suet, two cups of flour, one teaspoonful "of salt, mix with cold water into a dough; put the apples in as for pudding; tie in little cloths; drop into boiling water; boil one hour. Use any sauce, or sugar only. CHAPTER VII. BREAD AND MUFFINS. Here is the recipe for making good bread, given by the great milling companies and used by food demonstrators: To one quart of lukewarm liquid—half water and half milk, or water alone—add two half-ounce compressed yeast cakes, or the usual quantity of liquid yeast, and stir until dissolved. Add one teaspoonful of salt and three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and when well dissolved stir in with wooden spoon three quarts of well-sifted flour, or until dough is sufficiently stiff to be turned from the mixing bowl to the molding board in a mass. If shortening is desired add two tablespoonfuls lard. Knead this dough, adding if necessary from time to time, flour until it becomes smooth and elastic and ceases to stick to fingers or board. Do not make dough too stiff. Spring wheat flour needs a little more working than Winter wheat, and should be a little softer to make it rise properly. Put dough into well-greased earthen bowl, brush lightly with melted butter or drippings, cover with towel and set in warm place, about 75 degrees, for two hours, or until light, then knead well and return to bowl, cover as before and set for another hour's rising, or until light. When light, form gently into loaves or rolls, place in greased bread pans, brush with butter or drippings, cover again and let stand for one and one-half hour, then bake. When bread becomes stale it may be made palatable again and as good as new, or even better than new, by wetting the old loaf with cold water, putting in the pan and rebaking it in the oven 20 to 45 minutes. It will, if originally good, come out moist and fresh. Boston Brown Bread.—Two cupfuls Indian meal; one cupful whole wheat flour; one cupful sour milk; one-third cupful molasses; one tea- spoonful soda; one-half teaspoonful salt. Mix and steam three hours, then brown in hot oven with the lid removed from the can. There are tin molds made smaller at the bottom than the top, so the loaf slips out nicely—the lid fitting on the outside of the tin to prevent the water getting in the bread, but any small tin pail with tight lid will answer the purpose. It is better to place an iron lid or ring in the bottom of the kettle to prevent the mold from coming too close to the fire. Slice around the loaf, not perpendicularly. Easy Brown Bread.—For one.loaf take one cup of sour milk, one cup of sweet milk, one teaspoon of salt, one-half cup of molasses with one teaspoon of soda thoroughly stirred in; add one-half cup of white flour and about three cups of graham flour. Mix so stiff that a little dough 80 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. dropped from the spoon will not quickly settle. Put in a deep bread pan and bake in a moderately hot oven for one hour. If not stiff enough, the top crust may separate from the rest of the loaf. Entire Wheat Bread.—One pint milk, scalded and cooled, one table- spoonful sugar, one teaspoonful salt, one-half cupful yeast, about five or six cupfuls whole wheat flour. In the morning mix in the order given, and knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise till light, allow it to rise a little longer, and then bake a little longer, and in an oven not quite so hot, as for white bread. Whole-wheat bread rises more than white bread, because the flour contains more gluten. Sometimes we make a sponge with white flour, in the same proportion as for ordinary tread, and then thicken and knead with the entire wheat flour. Light Bread.—Into two quarts of wheat flour stir a teaspoonful of granulated sugar and a half teaspoonful of salt, and sift into a large bowl. Bring to the scalding-point two cups of milk; stir into this a generous teaspoonful of butter, and, when this melts, add two cups of boiling water. Remove from the fire and set aside until blood-warm, then stir in a gill of water of the same temperature, in which a half- cake of compressed yeast has been thoroughly dissolved. Make a hollow in the centre of the sifted flour and pour in the liquid. Stir to a soft dough, then turn upon a floured board and knead for 15 minutes; set in a bread raiser in a warm place for six hours or until light. Make into three loaves of uniform size, knead each of these for at least five min- utes, put into a baking-pan, cover with a cloth, and set to rise until very light. Bake in a steady oven. Oatmeal Brown Bread.—Mix in a large bowl one pint of Quaker oats, a rounding teaspoonful of salt, a pint of Pettijohn's breakfast food, half a pint of whole wheat flour and half a pint of yellow gran- ulated cornmeal. Put into another bowl one pint of thick sour milk and half a pint of molasses. Dissolve a level teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in two tablespoonfuls of warm water; add this to the molasses and sour milk; stir until foaming; then add it to the dry ingredients and mix until every grain is moistened. Turn into a greased mold and boil or steam continuously for four hours. Stand in a moderate oven for 30 minutes. It will then be ready to use. This may be toasted on the second day, or warmed over in the oven, or it may be used cold. Toasted it makes an acceptable breakfast bread. Scotch Oat Bread.—To two cups of steel-cut oatmeal, one teaspoon- ful soda and one teaspoonful salt, add two cups of boiling water; when cool add one cup of molasses and one cake of yeast. Stand over night. In the morning mix stiff with wheat flour. Shape into loaves, let rise and bake. 82 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. the flour. Bake to a rich, crisp brown and serve hot. Fine for either breakfast or supper. Egg Bread.—Two eggs, one pint of buttermilk, three pints of corn- meal, one-half pint of lard, one teaspoonful of soda, a pinch of salt, sweet milk or sweet cream. Stir the soda in the buttermilk until it boils up, mix the bread quickly, adding a sufficient quantity of sweet milk or sweet cream to make a rather thin batter; beat in the eggs, and add the lard, melted and hot, last. Pour quickly into frying hot greased baking pans and bake quickly to a delicate brown. This bread will be a golden yellow and as light as cake. Swedish Breakfast Bread.—Add one-third cup butter, one-fourth cup sugar, and one-half teaspoon salt to one cup scalded milk. When luke- warm, add one-third yeast-cake dissolved in one-fourth cup lukewarm milk, one egg, well beaten, one-half cup raisins, stoned and cut in pieces, and flour to make a stiff batter. Cover and let rise over night; in morn- ing cut down and spread in buttered dripping-pan, one-half inch thick. Cover and let rise again. Before baking brush over with beaten egg and cover with the following mixture: Melt three tablespoons butter, add one-third cup sugar, and one teaspoon cinnamon. When sugar is par- tially melted, add three tablespoons flour. Bake in a moderate oven, and cut in squares for serving. Beaten Biscuits.—One quart of sifted flour, one tablespoonful of lard, one-half pint cold water. Put the flour and salt in a bowl, rub the lard in with the hands, add the water gradually. Work and knead until smooth and elastic. Then put the dough on a block and pound it with a mallet, rolling pin or ax for one hour until full of bubbles. The old- fashioned rule was to "hit it 500 licks." Form into small round cakes, stick with a fork here and there, and bake in a moderately quick oven about 20 minutes. They should be brown on top, white on the sides, and extremely white inside. Bread-crumb Biscuits.—Take one quart each. of bread crumbs and sour milk, add one-half cupful of lard, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and stiffen with flour in which is put before sifting one teaspoonful each of saleratus and baking powder. Mold, and bake in a quick oven. Be sure to allow the crumbs to soak for an hour in the milk before adding the other ingredients. Buttermilk Biscuits.—Two coffeecupfuls (even) of flour, half a cof- feecupful of sour milk, half a coffeecupful of buttermilk, one teaspoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of yeast powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of soda. Mix sugar, yeast powder and salt with flour and sift; dissolve soda in two tablespoonfuls of cold water, beat into the sour milk until it stops "purring," mix quickly with dry ingre- dients, using a spoon, turn on a well-floured board, pat with the hand THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 83 into a cake half an inch thick, roll, cut into biscuits; bake in a very hot oven 10 minutes. French Biscuits.—One cupful of butter, one cupful of sugar, the stif- fly-beaten white of one egg, one-fourth cupful of thick sour milk, half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a very little hot water, flour enough to make a dough that may be rolled out. Sprinkle with sugar, cut into large circles, and bake for 20 minutes. Martha Washington Biscuits.—Sift one pint of flour with one table- spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful each of baking powder and salt. Rub into it one tablespoonful of lard. Mix with one well-beaten egg and one cupful of water; roll one-fourth of an inch in thickness and cut with small round cutter. Fry in hot fat until cooked on one side, turn and brown. Molded Biscuits.—One quart of flour, into which two heaping tea- spoonfuls of baking powder and one of salt have been sifted; rub into it a scant half cupful of lard and butter, half and half; stir to a dough with enough milk to make it just too thin to roll out. Grease muffin rings and put on a greased baking pan; drop from a spoon dough enough nearly to fill each ring; bake in a quick oven. Delicious tea cake, to be eaten hot with butter, is made by adding a tablespoonful of sugar and one well-beaten egg to this recipe and baking in one loaf, or in a large flat cake to be split open and buttered, then cut in sections. Potato Biscuits.—Pare and boil six white potatoes. While hot put through a ncer, then add gradually one pint of scalded milk, one-half of a cupful of butter, one teaspoonful each of salt and sugar and one-half of a cupful of flour. Let stand until lukewarm, then add one yeast cake dissolved in a little warm water and sifted flour to make a soft dough. Knead lightly, using no more flour than is needed to keep from sticking to the board. Cover and let stand again until very light, then form into small rolls, handling most carefully and greasing the hands if the dough is inclined to stick. Place in greased pans, let stand until fully doubled in bulk, then bake about twenty minutes in a quick oven. Sour Cream Biscuits.—Use three good tablespoonfuls of thick sour cream; put this into a quart measure and fill it two-thirds full with sweet milk; add half a teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar and a teaspoonful of soda. Stir into this enough flour to make a dough that will roll very soft; cut into small biscuits, brush well with melted butter, and bake about 20 minutes in a good oven. Tea Biscuits.—For a six o'clock tea, set the batter about one o'clock. Add to one' quart sifted flour a teaspoonful sugar, a heaping teaspoonful salt, and a tablespoonful each lard and butter; rub in well; dissolve one- half yeast cake (compressed) in a little tepid water; add to a cupful sweet milk; then mix well with the flour; cover and set out of a draught 84 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. to rise; when light turn out on the molding board, sprinkle with a very little flour and roll out to the thickness of half an inch; cut out with two sizes of round cutters, placing the smaller ones on top of the larger, with a brushing of melted butter between; let stand about an hour to rise, then bake. The oven does not need to be as hot as for baking powder biscuit. Sugared Biscuits.—Ordinary biscuit dough is made, rolled out as for cutting, and then lightly spread with butter and sugar, creamed together. The dough is then rolled up like a jelly roll, and cut into slices like cin- namon buns, each biscuit being sprinkled on top with a little more butter and sugar. Yarmouth Biscuit.—Mix three-quarters of a pound of sifted flour, one-half pound of sugar and one-half pound of currants to a paste with half a pound of butter and three eggs. Roll out to one-eighth of an inch in thickness and bake a light brown in quick ove*i. Brioche.—This is one of the delicate breads that delight visitors in France. One-half pound flour, one egg, one teaspoon sugar, two ounces butter, one half teaspoon salt, one-quarter pint milk, one ounce yeast. Sift the flour. Heat milk lukewarm and dissolve in it the butter and yeast. Add the egg, well beaten, and the salt and sugar. Then stir in the flour, gradually working it all the time with your hand. Beat mixture well for 10 minutes, till the dough almost stops sticking to your fingers. Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise. When four times its original size turn it on a floured board and take pieces about the size of a turkey's egg and form into fancy shapes, twists, knots, etc. Put in a buttered tin and let rise 15 minutes. When risen, brush over lightly with the egg beaten up. Bake in quick oven 20 min- utes. Buckwheat Cake.—This is an old Canadian recipe and very good. Make batter as for buckwheat pancakes, only a trifle thicker, and bake in well-greased shallow pan, like corn bread. There should be a delicious brown crust on the bottom. The prepared flour can be used. Breakfast Buns.—Scald one-half pint of milk; pour it over two table- spoonfuls of sugar; one quart of lukewarm water; when milk is luke- warm add the yeast and. enough flour to make a "sponge." Let rise until it doubles its original bulk, about two hours; then cream together half a cupful of butter and half a cupful of sugar; add two well-beaten eggs and one cupful of scalded milk. Mix this into the sponge and add sufficient flour to make a soft dough; knead lightly, cover and set to rise until very light; then mold into small buns and lay in greased pans, allowing plenty of room to rise; then bake in a quick Qven for 15 cr 20 minutes. They must not be heavy and doughy, THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 85 Hot Cross Buns.—Beat a quarter cup of butter to a cream; add four tablespoonfuls of sugar and then add gradually a pint of milk that has been scalded and cooled; add a yeast cake, dissolved, and sufficient flour to make a batter. Beat thoroughly. Stand in a warm place for about three hours. Then add four eggs well beaten and flour enough to make a soft dough. Knead carefully. Stand aside until very light and form into buns. Cut them in the center; brush them with sugar and white of egg and bake in a quick oven. German Coffee Cake.—Take enough dough after it is mixed for one loaf and add one egg, shortening half the size of an egg and one-half cupful of sugar. Mix thoroughly through the dough and add flour enough to roll out an inch thick; let rise and wet the top of it with cold water, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and bake. To be cut in slices and eaten with or without butter for breakfast with coffee and put up for the children's school lunches in place of so much rich cake. For variety roll the dough quite thin and sprinkle it with currants well cleansed and dates or figs cut in small bits; then roll up tightly and with a sharp knife cut into slices one-half inch thick, lay in greased pans, let rise and bake in moderate heat. Fastnachts.—Mix to a light sponge the following ingredients: Three- fourths quart of warm milk, one-half pound of sifted flour, four ounces of melted butter, one ounce of yeast, one-half cupful of sugar, one egg, one-half pound of warmed currants, the grated rind of a lemon, one teaspoonful of cinnamon. Set in a warm place to rise, when light add enough flour to mold into biscuits, place them on baking tins and let rise once more, then rub over the top with a brush dipped in a well- beaten egg. Bake in a hot oven. Many prefer to serve them warm with butter. Bran Gems.—Beat two eggs very light, add half a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of brown sugar and one and one-half cupfuls of milk, then stir in a pint of finely ground bran. Fill oiled gem pans half full and bake in a hot oven 20 minutes. These gems are advised in some forms of indigestion, where fine flour is objectionable. Corn Gems.—Sift together one pint of cornmeal, one pint of flour and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Add one-third of a pint each of milk and water. Mix into a firm batter and fill greased gem pans two- thirds full. Entire Wheat Gems.—Three cupfuls entire wheat flour or wheat meal, two cupfuls cold water, half cupful of milk. Heat gem pans very hot on the top of the stove, fill them even full of the batter, place on the grate of a very hot oven. Let them remain 10 minutes on the grate, then bake 30 minutes on the bottom of the oven. They are nearly as 86 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. good if 2J4 cupfuls of water and no milk is used. Do not use any salt, or they will not be so light. Puff Gems.—Beat very light one egg, then add to it one-quarter cup- ful sugar, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one cupfuf of sour milk. Beat all well. Then add one cupful of cornmeal and one cupful of white flour into which has been well mixed one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. Lastly dissolve one-quarter teaspoonful of soda in one tablespoonful of boiling water, add, beat well and pour in gem pans, and bake 20 minutes in a hot oven. Golden Johnny Cake.—Heat to scalding point one pint of sweet milk; while hot stir into it one teaspoonful butter, one teaspoonful white su- gar and three-fourths of a cupful of steamed squash out of which all water has been pressed. Sift together two cupfuls cornmeal, one cup- ful flour, two heaping teaspoonfuls baking powder and a scant tea- spoonful salt. Add to this, gradually, the milk and squash, as soon as it is lukewarm. Bake in one greased pan, or in gem pans if preferred. If it seems stiff a little more milk may be added. Bake in a quick oven. Meal varies so that it is hard to give the exact quantity. Oatmeal Gems.—Separate two eggs; beat the yolks for a moment; add a half pint of milk, then one and one-half cup of bread flour, and beat thoroughly; add a tablespoonful of melted butter, a half-teaspoonful of ialt, one cup of left-over oatmeal porridge and one rounding teaspoonful of baking powder. Beat for about two minutes. Fold in carefully the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Pour this mixture into 12 greased gerri pans and bake in a moderately quick oven 20 minutes. Popovers.—To make them without baking powder beat three eggs until very light, then add two cupfuls of sweet milk and one-half tea spoonful of salt. Stir in four cupfuls of flour, and see that the batter is very smooth; then add one additional cupful of milk and a piece of butter the size of an egg, melted. Heat the pop-over irons or cups, and when they are very hot nearly fill with the batter. Bake in a quick oven for half an hour. To make pop-overs with baking powder re- quires one egg, well beaten, one large spoonful of melted butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one cupful of sweet milk, \% cupful of flour, salt, and one-fourth teaspoonful of baking powder. Popovers Without Eggs.—One cup of milk, one cup of water, no salt and no baking powder. The gem pans are heated, a piece of butter the size of a walnut being put to melt in each little pan while the batter is beaten up. The oven must be good, with steady heat, and the door must not be opened for 23 minutes after the popovers are put in, or they will fall. Salt will prevent them from rising, but if made accord- ing to directions, they will be very light. Flour enough for drop batter. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 87 Breakfast Rolls.—Three cups of sweet milk, one cup of butter or lard; dissolve one yeast cake in a cup of warm water, mix with flour enough to make dough. Let rise over night, in the morning add one egg, knead thoroughly, let rise again, and when light make out in rolls Place in pans, keep warm, and bake when very light. Buttermilk Muffins.—A quart of fresh buttermilk, one teaspoonful of soda, a pinch of salt and enough flour to make a stiff batter and two or three tablespoonfuls of sour cream. Dissolve the soda in a little of the buttermilk, then add to the rest; add salt and cream and the flour. Bake in gem pans in a hot oven. Bread Sponge Muffins.—Late in the evening set a sponge as for water bread, allowing a pint of warm water for a dozen muffins, a third of a cake of compressed yeast and a pinch of salt. Mix the bat- ter a little thicker than for pancakes and beat thoroughly. In the morning have gem pans greased, and in cold weather warm them; pour in the batter without stirring, filling half full; let them rise at least an hour and bake in a hot oven. Cape Cod Muffins.—Sift two cupfuls of flour with two teaspoonful* of baking powder, a half-teaspoonful of salt and one rounded teaspoonful of sugar. Beat three eggs without separating; add to them \l/2 cupful of milk and stir the milk and eggs into the flour. Have ready a cupful of carefully-cleaned blueberries and stir them lightly into the mixture. Bake in hot buttered gem pans in a quick oven for 15 minutes. Cream of Wheat Muffins.—Add to two cupfuls of cooked cream of wheat, a cupful of milk and work it smooth, then two eggs well beaten and a tablespoonful of sugar; to a pint of flour add two small tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, and a half teaspoonful of salt, rub into the flour a tablespoonful lard or butter; add to these ingredients the wheat that has been mixed with the milk and eggs. Butter muffin pans, fill them two-thirds full, and bake in a hot oven 20 minutes. Crumb Muffins.—Scraps of stale bread, toasted in the oven until crisp, find many uses. We run them through the food chopper until fine enough for use. If these crumbs are sifted, the fine particles will be found very nice for muffins and griddle cakes. For muffins, use one egg, one tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of sugar and half that of baking powder, two cupfuls of the crumbs and one of flour; mix with water or sweet milk and bake slowly in gem pans. For griddle cakes use two cupfuls of crumbs to one of self-raising buckwheat flour. English Muffins.—Dissolve half of a compressed yeast cake in six tablespoonfuls of lukewarm water. Have a pint of milk scalding hot and stir into it a heaping teaspoonful of lard. Boil until the lard is dis- solved, then take from the fire and, when the milk is blood warm, stir it 88 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. gradually into a pint of flour that has been sifted with two saltspoonfuls of salt. When the milk is all worked in, add the dissolved yeast cake, and blend thoroughly. Turn the batter into a bread raiser and set to rise in a moderately warm room for six or eight hours, or until light. When light, turn the mass out upon a floured pastry board and break off bits of the dough, having them of uniform size, and each about as large as an ordinary tea biscuit. Handle very lightly, and roll each muffin in flour. Have a soapstone griddle thoroughly heated and lay these muffins upon it. Bake them without touching until they swell to twice their original size. When brown on the under side lift carefully and turn. When the other side is baked to a delicate brown, the muf- fins are done. When ready to use, tear them open, toast and butter generously. Parker House Rolls.—Scald one pint of milk with a piece of butter the size of an egg added. Put the milk into a bread pan with one table- spoon of sugar and one teaspoon of salt. When the milk has cooled a trifle, sift in sufficient flour to make a stiff batter. Now add one cake of yeast and beat well, then add flour to make a soft loaf and knead thoroughly. Let it stand over night. In the morning, little kneading is required. Roll out this and cut with a biscuit-cutter. Brush over with melted butter, lap one-half over the other, put in a pan not too close together,. and when very light, bake in a quick oven. Quick Cinnamon Rolls.—Sift together two cups of flour, two teaspoon- fuls of baking powder and a half teaspoonful of salt. Into this rub one tablespoonful of butter. Mix with milk to make a soft dough. Roll out to half an inch in thickness, spread with warmed butter and sprinkle with two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and scatter over one-half cup of seeded raisins. Roll up as for jelly cake and cut into inch slices; place so as they will touch in a pan and bake in a quick oven. Scotch Scones.—Take two pounds of fine oatmeal, a tablespoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of lard and enough water to make a stiff dough. Rub the lard into the oatmeal and add the salt and water. In rolling the palm of the hand should be used instead of a rolling-pin. Press the dough into a round cake about a quarter of an inch thick, cut into seg- ments and cook on a griddle over a slow fire until a light brown. Oat- meal scones properly prepared will keep for weeks. Boston Tea Cakes.—Beat two eggs in a teacup, fill the cup with sweet milk, turn into a bowl with one cupful of sugar, 10 even teaspoonfuls of melted butter, \% cupful of flour and two teaspoonfuls of baking pow- der. This is the most reliable, easily made and accommodating of cakes. Delicious baked in layers and spread with jam or cream. May be baked in a loaf or small patty pans. Serve warm with tea. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 89 English Tea Cake.—Sift four cupfuls of dried flour into a bowl and chop into it a scant cupful of butter. Dissolve half a yeast cake in four tablespoonfuls of warm water and stir it into two cupfuls of milk, or enough to make a soft dough. Roll this out into a sheet and cut into cakes as large as a tea plate and less than half an inch thick. Set them, covered lightly, in a warm place until they have nearly trebled in thick- ness. Bake in a floured pan. Keep them covered for 20 minutes, then brown. Run a sharp knife around the edge, tear the cake open, butter and serve upon a plate lined and covered with a heated napkin. Zimmet-Kuchen.—Two cupfuls of bread sponge, one egg, half a cup- ful of sugar, butter the size of a walnut, one cupful of warm water. Mix these ingredients together and make a dough not quite as stiff as for bread. Let it rise well, roll out one-half inch thick, let it rise again until quite light. Spread the dough thinly and evenly in a long shallow tin. Cover with an egg beaten with a tablespoonful of sugar and sprinkle liberally with powdered cinnamon and granulated sugar. The ingredients on the kuchen will melt and run together into a delicious can- died top. Serve by cutting into strips one inch wide. Butter Cakes.—Sift two cupfuls of floor with three teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a half teaspoonful of salt. Rub in two tablespoonfuls of butter and add gradually three-fourths of a cupful of milk. Toss upon a well-floured board and roll out as thick as though you were making biscuit, then cut into rounds with a small biscuit cutter and bake upon a hot, well-greased griddle. Cook slowly until they puff up double their size, then turn and bake on the other side. Set them in a moderate oven for a few minutes before serving, then break them open and serve with butter and maple syrup. Waffles.—For the batter use one pint of sifted flour, one level tea- spoonful baking powder, one-half teaspoonful salt, one tablespoonful but- ter, melted, two eggs and \yi cupful milk; beat to a smooth batter. Heat the waffle iron very hot; grease both lids; put a cooking spoonful of batter into each lid, and cook five minutes on each side. Slip out on to a hot dish. Place in the oven until more are cooked, then put them one on top of the other, each buttered and heaped with grated maple sugar. CHAPTER VIII. CAKES. "Breathes there a man with Boul so dead He loves not new-baked ginger bread? Who, stepping through the kitchen door, On baking day sees goodly store Of fragrant amber-shadowed cake. And, half-unconscious, does not break A ragged chunk! Ah, toothsome bliss! He is a churl who knows not this." To get a fine grained cake, beat thoroughly after the flour is added. Sweet milk makes cake that cuts like pound cake. Sour milk makes spongy, light cake. Always sift flour before measuring, then it may be sifted again with the baking powder to insure their being thoroughly blended. In making fruit cakes add the fruit before putting in the flour, as this will prevent it falling to the bottom of the cake. Flouring the fruit is unnecessary, unless the fruit is damp. If a cake cracks open while baking, the recipe contains too much flour. In creaming butter and sugar, when the butter is too hard to blend easily, warm the bowl and if necessary warm the sugar, but never warm the butter, as this will change both texture and flavor of the cake. The smaller the cake the hotter should be the oven. Large rich cakes require very slow baking. Grease cake pans with lard or drippings, as butter will be likely to make the cake stick, owing to the salt in it. When eggs are short in the Winter snow may be used as a substitute; one of The R. N.-Y. housewives says that one cupful of snow, beaten in after all the ingredients are put together, is equal to two eggs. Almond Cookies.—Cream together one-half cupful of butter and two cupfuls sugar. Stir in alternately a little at a time one cupful of sweet milk and twice sifted flour to make a dough which can be handled. With the last of the flour sift in two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; roll out one-quarter inch thick; before cutting out sprinkle with a cup of almonds which have been blanched and chopped and a teaspoon of granulated sugar mixed through them. Bake in quick oven. These should be eaten fresh, as should all cakes made without the addition of eggs. Angel Cake.—Four ounces and a heaping tablespoonful of flour, 12 ounces of powdered sugar, the whites of 11 eggs beaten to a very stiff froth (flavor with rose before beating), a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and a little salt. Mix the sugar, flour, salt and cream of tartar together and sift through a very fine sieve six times. Then stir in lightly the THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 91 beaten whites. Bake in a neiv pan, without greasing, for 40 minutes. After taking from the oven, invert the pan and place upon cups or tumblers until the cake is cold, then remove and cover with a thin icing. No soda is used. A pan with a tin tube in the center is preferable for baking. Angel Cake No. 2.—Take the whites of nine large eggs. Add to them a pinch of salt and whip them lightly until they are partly stiff, then add half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and whip them until very stiff. Fold in carefully one and one-fourth cupful of granulated sugar that has been sifted three times. Sift one cupful of the best pastry flour seven times (if you want a perfect cake), and fold it into the sugar and whipped eggs lightly. Last of all, add a teaspoonful of vanilla. Turn the cake into a large, unbuttered pan. Bake in a moderate oven from 35 to 50 minutes. Never open the oven door until you think the cake is done, as it falls very easily. On taking it from the oven turn it upside down in such a way that current of air will pass under it until it is cold. When cold loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and lift it out. It should be so delicately baked that this will not be difficult. If you intend to ice it cover it with a soft uncooked icing made with powdered sugar, white of egg and a very little vanilla. Angel cake is generally better for being kept a day before serving. If it is a little tough place it in a stone jar and cover with a plate. Let it stand for two or three days in this way and it will become tender. Apple Cake.—Measure two cupfuls of sifted flour, add two teaspoon- fuls of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt and sift again into a mixing bowl; make a well in the center; beat whites of two and yolk of one egg until light, add grated rind of a lemon, one tablespoonful of melted butter and a cupful of milk; mix this gradually into the flour until you have a thick batter or very soft dough. Spread this on shallow, well-buttered tins, having batter not more than half an inch thick. Pare and cut into eighths enough large, tart apples to cover the top of the cake by laying the pieces close together in rows, pressing the sharp edges into the dough; brush well with softened but not melted butter, sprinkle thickly with granulated sugar and bake in a hot oven. When done dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Dutch Apple Cake.—Measure a pint of sifted flour, add half a level teaspoonful salt, quarter of a cupful of sugar and a scant teaspoonful of soda. Sift three times. Beat up one egg with a cupful of sour milk. Rub a third of a cupful of butter into the flour thoroughly; then mix in the liquid, making a soft dough. Spread this half an inch thick in a well-greased biscuit pan. Pare and core five juicy, nicely-flavored apples, and cut them into eighths; arrange them in parallel rows, sharp edges down, on top of the dough, pressing down so that they are partially 92 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. imbedded' in the dough. Sprinkle over thickly with sugar and a little cinnamon and spread with bits of butter. Bake in a quick oven for 25 minutes. Serve hot as a dessert or tea cake. Made with fresh, ripe peaches cut in quarters, it is delicious. Omit the cinnamon when peaches are used. Apple Kuchen.—One pint of flour, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, one-half teaspoonful of soda, one-half teaspoonful salt, an egg, a cupful of milk, two tablesponfuls of butter, four large apples. Sift salt, soda • and cream of tartar with the flour and rub in the butter. Put the beaten egg into the milk and mix with the flour. Spread the dough one-half inch thick on a buttered pan. Cut the pared apples in eighths and stick into the dough in rows. Sprinkle with sugar and bake 25 minutes. Apple Layer Cake.—One cupful of sugar creamed with half a cupful ~o~f butter; add the beaten yolks of four eggs, one-half cupful of milk, two cupfuls of flour, with two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder sifted through it. One teaspoonful of lemon or almond extract and the beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in three layers. When cold spread with this mixture: Peel and grate four large apples, beat into them one cupful of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of melted butter and two whipped eggs. Pour into a porcelain saucepan and stir steadily over a moderate fire until the mixture has boiled one minute. Remove from the fire, add two tea- spoonfuls of lemon juice, a dash of powdered cinnamon and two table- spoonfuls of minced almonds. Cool it and build the cake, sprinkling the top with powdered sugar. "Cap the top generously with whipped cream, flavored, and serve at the table. Apple Sauce Cake.—One cup sugar, V2 cup shortening, one saltspoon salt, Y2 teaspoon ground cloves, one teaspoon cinnamon, y2 teaspoon grated nutmeg, V/2 cup raisins, more fruit if desired; one teaspoon soda dissolved in a little water, one cup unsweetened apple sauce. Put the dissolved soda into the sauce, let it foam over the ingredients; 1J4 cup flour; bake 45 minutes. Apricot Shortcake.—Drain the juice away from the fruit, and cut it in small pieces. Set in a warm place and proceed to mix the cake. This calls for one cufiful of flour, four teaspoonfuls of baking powder, two" teaspoonfuls of sugar, and half a teaspoonful of salt sifted together. Into this work four tablespoonfuls of butter, add three-fourths of a cupful of milk, and stir into a light dough. Roll in a floured bowl, and when one-fourth of an inch thick cut into generous squares. Brush. the squares with melted butter, lay one on top of the other, and bake in"* a hot oven. When done separate the pieces, spread the fruit between the layers and on top, and pile whipped cream over all. A sweet sauce which may be served with the shortcake is made by adding to a cupful of the 96 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Crullers, Chocolate.—Two eggs beaten until they are creamy and then beaten into one cupful sugar, adding one tablespoonful melted butter, one- half teaspoonful each of salt r.nd cinnamon, one square grated chocolate. Mix well and then add one cupful sweet milk, three cupfuls of flour sifted with two teaspoonfuls baking powder. Roll out one-fourth inch thick, cut, cook to a golden brown in smoking hot fat. Roll in powdered sugar when cool. Crullers, Olive Oil.—To one-half cup of sugar add two tablespoons of oil, two beaten eggs, one-half teaspoon of salt, one-fourth teaspoon of cinnamon and a little nutmeg; add two cups of flour sifted with two teaspoons of baking powder, alternately with one-fourth cup of milk. Roll out, cut and fry as usual. In frying them let the oil get just hot enough to smoke. Date Cake.—Two cupfuls sugar, one cupful shortening, creamed to- gether, three eggs, well beaten into sugar and shortening, three teaspoon- fuls baking powder, V/2 cupfuls flour. To this add one cupful of stoned and finely-chopped dates, floured. - Bake in five layers and put together with plain or boiled icing. Dolly Varden Cake.—Cream one-half cup butter with one cup sugar. Add one-half cup milk alternately with one and one-half cup of flour in which has been mixed one teaspoonful baking powder. Lastly fold in the dry-beaten whites of three eggs and. flavor to taste. Bake in loaf for one-half hour in a moderately quick oven. For icing make a syrup of one and one-half cup sugar and eight tablespoonfuls water. Boil, when this strings from spoon, add the well-beaten yolks of three eggs and continue beating for one-half hour. Flavor like cake and pour thickly over the cake. Doughnuts, Best.—One egg beaten light; one cupful of sugar and a little salt; one cupful of sour milk sweetened with one teaspoonful of soda; two tablespoonfuls of melted lard; flour to make a stiff dough. Fry in hot lard, and dust with cinnamon and granulated sugar. These doughnuts are light and wholesome. Doughnuts, Potato.—Two cups of mashed potatoes (hot), four ta- blespoonfuls of shortening, three cupfuls of sugar, four eggs, five tea- spoonfuls of baking powder, three cupfuls milk, salt, nutmeg, and lastly flour enough to stiffen. Make a cream of potatoes, shortening, sugar and eggs, then add milk, salt and nutmeg, flour sifted with baking powder, and cook in boiling lard. Dried Apple Cake.—Soak the .dried apples over night and in the morn- ing chop fine, having two cupfuls; then simmer in two cupfuls of molasses until apples are soft. Cream two cupfuls of sugar with a scant cupful of butter; add three well beaten eggs; then the apples and molasses; half a pound of raisins seeded, three cupfuls of flour, sifted with two THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 97 teaspoonfuls baking powder and half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves and grated nutmeg. Bake in very moderate oven as you would fruit cake. Dutch Cake.—Take two pounds of raised bread dough, one pint of sugar, half a cupful of butter (or more if it is to be made quite rich), half a nutmeg grated, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and a pound of large laisins. Mix well and put in a greased pan. Let it rise about three- quarters of an hour, or until the loaf is nearly double its original size, and bake in a moderate oven. This is very good when fresh; if we wish to make it richer we use an egg, which is mixed in with the butter. Us- ing currants instead of raisins, we have the English currant loaf. The same recipe makes very nice buns. Election Cake.—Rub into half a pound of sifted flour five ounces of butter, add a saltspoonful of salt, one cupful of sugar; mix. Scald two cupfuls of milk, and when lukewarm add one yeast cake dissolved, and two eggs well beaten. Make a hole in the center of the flour, pour in the milk mixture, stir in a little of the flour; cover and stand aside for three hours. Then beat in all the flour, add the juice of three oranges, a tablespoonful of cinnamon and half a nutmeg grated; turn into a greased round pan and, when very light, bake in a moderate oven for one hour. Eggless Cake.—Beat one cupful of sugar and half a cupful of butter to a cream; add a cupful of milk, measure two cupfuls of sifted flour, add three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a level teaspoonful of cinna- mon, half a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg and a pinch of cloves. Sift several times until the flour is light and fluffy, then stir into the other materials, add cupful seeded floured raisins. Bake in moderate oven. Eggless Cake with Oil.—Cream one-half cup oil and one cupful sugar, one cupful sour milk, one teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful each of cas- sia and cloves, one-half cupful chopped raisins (if desired) one-half teaspoonful salt, two cupfuls warmed flour. Be sure not to forget the salt, as the oil contains none. This must always be remembered; in using the oil add twice as much salt as common. Eggless Fruit Cake.—One cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of buttermilk, two cups of sifted flour, one cup of raisins (seeded and chopped), one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful of cloves, cne-half teaspoonful of nutmeg. Beat the sugar and butter to a cream; dissolve the soda in a little hot water and stir it into the milk, and add next the spices. Flour the raisins and add them last. Bake in a well-but- tered tin, on the bottom of which place a clean white paper, also well buttered. Layer Cake Without Eggs.—One cupful of sugar, quarter- of a cupful of butter, one cupful of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of soda, two of 98 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cream of tartar, one tablespoonful of cornstarch made smooth in a little milk, two cupfuls of flour. Bake in thin sheets and put together with boiled sugar frosting, jelly, cocoanut or any other rich filling desired, finish the top with the boiled sugar frosting made by boiling together a cupful of sugar and one of water until it will turn creamy white and thick on being stirred. This is quite as delicious as the frosting made from the whites of eggs. Noel Fruit Cake.—This contains neither butter nor eggs. One pound fat salt pork chopped fine, one cupful brown sugar, one cupful New Or- leans molasses in which is dissolved one teaspoonful of soda, one pound each of raisins, currants and figs chopped fine, one-fourth pound of citron chopped fine, one wineglass of coffee (substituted for brandy), V/2 cupfuls of flour well browned. This will make one large loaf or two small ones. The longer kept the better it is. This may be iced or not. A boiled milk frosting is good while eggs are high.' Eggless Waffles.—Mix at night a batter with sour milk if you have it; if not, sweet will answer. To each quart of milk, with flour for bat- ter, add one tablespoonful each of butter and sugar, one-half teaspoonful salt. If sweet milk is used add small quantity yeast or one-quarter com- pressed yeast cake. In the morning add enough baking soda to correct acidity—you will have to try baking a little to get it right. Russian Fried Cakes.—Scald one pint of milk, add one scant tea- spoonful of salt and one tablespoonful of sugar; when lukewarm add one yeast cake dissolved in a little warm water, and sufficient flour to make a drop batter, and set aside to rise. When light and spongy add one-half cupful of butter, creamed together with one cupful of sugar and three eggs; beat until thoroughly mixed; add sufficient flour to make a soft dough and knead for five minutes. Return to the bowl; cover and keep in a warm place until light. Turn out on a floured board; roll out quite thin and cut into three-inch circles. On one-half of these cakes place a small spoonful of any firm jam or marmalade. Cover with the remaining cakes and pinch each together securely. Cover with a floured cloth, and let stand for 20 minutes; then drop a few at a time into smoking hot fat. When well browned and puffed up draw on un- glazed paper and roll in powdered sugar. Fruit Cake.—Three pounds flour,- one pound butter, y2 pound lard, two pounds stoned raisins, two pounds currants, one pound mixed can- died peel, sliced, two teaspoonfuls each of ground allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger; two pounds brown sugar; a little salt; one cup milk; eight eggs; two teaspoonfuls baking powder. If all baked in one loaf bake for four hours. Graham Fruit Cake.—Sift three cups of sifted graham flour, two cups of white flour, one teaspoon each of clove, allspice, soda and salt and THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 99 two teaspoons of cinnamon. To two cups of sugar add one cup of mo- lasses and two cups of milk alternately with the sifted flour mixture. Beat thoroughly and add three cups each of seeded raisins and citron, both slightly floured. Bake in a moderate oven for one hour. Maple Sugar Fruit Cake.—Cream one cupful of butter and add to it two cupfuls of maple sugar, one of maple syrup,.three beaten eggs, one small cupful of milk with a rounding teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it, five cupfuls of flour sifted with two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar and a little salt. Mix all together and add one pound of raisins, one of cur- rants, half a pound of citron and a quarter of a pound of orange peel, all well floured. No spices are used, as the maple sugar flavors the cake. Old-Fashioned Fruit Cake.—This is intended for rolling out and bak- ing in flat pans, instead of the usual loaf. Take two and a half cupfuls of sugar, creamed up with half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of sour milk, a teaspoonful of soda, half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, nut- meg and ground cloves, a cupful of raisins and one of currants, with a little chopped citron and enough flour to make quite stiff. Knead all together, roll about two inches thick and bake in a moderate oven. Spread the layers with boiled sugar frosting and cut into squares before the frosting hardens. Poor Man's Fruit Cake.—Seed and chop a quarter of a pound of dates; mix with them one cupful of seeded raisins, and dust them with one-half cupful of flour. Dissolve a level teaspoonful of baking soda in two tablespoonfuls of warm water; add to it half a pint of very thick sour cream, stir a moment and add one cupful of brown sugar, half a tumblerful of currant or blackberry jelly, .a tablespoonful of cinnamon, a teaspoonful of allspice and two cupfuls and a half of flour. Beat thor- oughly, add the fruit, mix well and turn into a greased square pan. Bake in a very slow oven for one hour and a half. This cake will be quite equal to plain fruit cake if the cream is very thick, and it is allowed to stand a week before cutting. German Cookies.—To one cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of lard, one cJp of molasses, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, one tablespoonful of vinegar, one teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ginger, one and one-half teaspoonful of soda, add one egg, one cup of nuts, one tablespoonful each of candied citron and orange peel chopped fine and flour enough to make stiff. The dough must be stiff or the cookies will not retain the shape in baking. Colonial Gingerbread.—Put a cupful of New Orleans molasses in a mixing bowl with half a cupful of butter and half a cupful of sugar. Over this pour a cupful of boiling water in which a level dessertspoonful of soda has already been dissolved. Stir well, and let the mixture 100 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. cool; then add a cupful of chopped walnuts and a cupful of seeded rai- sins, a teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ginger, two and one-half cup- fuls of flour, and, lastly, two well-beaten eggs. Bake in a shallow pan and serve while still warm from the oven. Honey Gingerbread.—Warm a generous half cup of butter and beat into it two cups of strained honey. When you have a light cream beat in one tablespoon of powdered sugar, a tablespoon of ginger and one half teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the beaten yolks of four eggs, and al- ternately with the frothed whites, three even cups of flour sifted twice with one teaspoon of baking powder. Beat hard for one minute and bake in buttered shallow pans for 45 minutes. Keep covered for 30 minutes. Shiny Gingerbread.—This is very crackly and shiny on top. The secret of making it thus is to pour the shortening boiling hot on the molasses and beat the batter as little as possible. Pour a small half- teacupful of boiling hot shortening, lard and butter, or beef suet and butter mixed, upon one-half pint of New Orleans molasses; add two tablespoonfuls of milk, a tablespoonful of ground ginger, a teaspoonful of cinnamon; then sift in about three-quarters of a pint of flour, to which a teaspoonful of baking soda has been added; lastly add a well- beaten egg, then mix with a few deft turns of the spoon and bake in one large pan or two small ones in a moderate oven; serve hot, and break, not cut, at the table. Ginger Snaps.—Beat together one cupful of sugar, one egg, and one tablespoonful of ginger. Heat one cupful of molasses to the scalding point, stir into it one teaspoonful of soda or saleratus, and, while it foams, pour it over the butter and egg, and beat together. Add a table- spoonful of vinegar, and stir in lightly enough flour to roll out and cut the dough. Half-Pound Cake.—One pound of sugar, one pound of flour, one-half pound of butter, one teacupful of milk, four eggs. Flavor to taste. Whip up the sugar and eggs, putting in one egg at a time. Then stir in the milk and flavoring, following this with the flour, which must be very thoroughly beaten into the batter. Pour into paper-lined tins and bake in a steady oven for 45 minutes. This quantity should make two loaves. The oven must be well regulated, and care taken to avoid any jar, or the cake^twill be apt to fall in the middle. Hardenburg Cake.—This is an old-fashioned Dutch fruit cake. Cream together a pound and a half of butter and two pounds of gran- ulated sugar. Add one-half pint of New Orleans molasses, the beaten yolks of 12 eggs, two ounces of mixed spices—mace, cinnamon and cloves, two grated nutmegs, one-half pound candied peel—two pounds cleansed and dried currants, four pounds stoned and cut raisins, one- THE JiURAL COOK BOOK. 101 half pint pickled fruit syrup or boiled-down cider, and flour to make the ingredients hang together. If not self-raising flour, add a dessertspoonful of baking powder. About a pound and a quarter of flour will be re- quired. Lastly, fold in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs. Bake three or four hours in a moderate even, taking care not to disturb. Honey Apple Cake.—Wash two cupfuls of dried apples (old-fash- ioned kind are the best) and soak them over night. Next morning drain them and mince as fine as possible and simmer for .two hours in a pint of honey. Pour into a bowl and add while hot half a cupful of butter, stir until butter is melted and mixed, then let cool. Add a cupful of sifted sugar and half a cupful of milk, a teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, the grated rind of half a lemon, two eggs well beaten and two cupfuls of flour in which you have mixed two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Line long, shallow tins with buttered paper and pour in the batter to depth of half an inch. When baked cut into strips size of lady fingers and dust the surface with powdered sugar. Hot Cross Buns.—Sift into a large bowl one full quart of flour, half a cupful of sugar, and half a teaspoonful of salt; dissolve one-fourth of a cupful of butter in a generous half-pint of warm milk, and add to the dry ingredients, with the yolks of two beaten eggs; add half a yeast cake dissolved in a little water, half a nutmeg grated, and the whites of the two eggs, beaten stiff; this should make a very soft dough. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth, place it where it will keep warm, and let it rise over night. In the morning take pieces of the dough the size of an egg and, with a little flour, mold them into round cakes an inch in thickness. Place them on a buttered tin, leaving a little space between. Cover the tins and set in a warm place for the buns to rise; they should be double their original size. With a sharp knife cut a cross in the center of each bun. Bake them in a moderate oven for about half an hour. When the buns are baked, brush the top with a syrup made of sugar and water. A few currants or a little candied peel is usually added to this recipe. Icing, Plain.—Dissolve one cupful of granulated sugar in one-quarter of a cupful of hot water; flavor with essence of vanilla or some orange juice and cook until it threads. Then pour it slowly over the whipped white of an egg, beating the mixture all the time until cool. Imperial Cake.—One pound of sugar, one pound of flour, three-quar- ters pound of butter, one pound of almonds, blanched and cut fine; one- half pound of citron, one-quarter pound candied cherries, one-half pound of seeded raisins, rind and juice of one lemon, two pieces of candied orange, one nutmeg, 10 eggs. Bake in a loaf in a moderate oven. This is a rich and delicious cake, that can be made some time before it is used. Grandmother's Jumbles.—Work three-quarters of a pound of butter 102 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. into a pound and a half of flour and half a pound of sugar. Flavor with grated nutmeg, cinnamon or lemon extract, and add three well beaten eggs. Work all well together into a smooth paste and roll out an eighth of an inch in thickness. Sprinkle crushed loaf sugar over it and cut into round cakes with a very small cutter; take out the center. Lay on bak- ing sheets and bake in a quick oven, without browning, about 10 minutes. Jumbles Without Eggs.—A half cupful each of butter and slightly soured milk, one cupful of sugar, a half teaspoonful of soda, saltspoonful of salt, the same of nutmeg and cinnamon mixed, the grated yellow rind of half a lemon, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice, two cupfuls of flour to stiffen. Bake in rings in a hot oven. A cupful of clean, light, new- fallen snow stirred into cake, or other batters, briskly, the very last thing before turning it into the baking pan, is a good substitute for eggs. When snow is used a little more flour is required—about two tablespoonfuls. Lady Baltimore Cake.—One cupful of butter, two cupfuls of sugar, three and one-half cupfuls of flour, one cupful sweet milk, the whites of six eggs, two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a teaspoonful of rose water. Mix as directed for white cakes and bake in three layers, with this filling: Dissolve three cupfuls of granulated sugar in one cup- ful of boiling water, cook until it threads, then pour gradually over the stiffly-beaten whites of three eggs, stirring constantly. Add to this icing one cupful of chopped raisins, one cupful of chopped nut meats (pecans preferred), and five figs cut in very thin strips. Ice and emboss top and sides of cake. Lady Fingers.—Beat the whites of three eggs until very stiff, then beat in gradually one-third of a cup of sugar and just a bit of salt. Beat the yolks of three eggs until light and thick and add to the whites, putting in at the same time a little vanilla extract. Fold in one-third of a cup of flour. Shape on a buttered tin to resemble those sold in the shops; that is, make them very thin and about four and one-half inches long by one inch wide. Dust with confectioner's sugar and bake in a moderate oven. About eight minutes will be required for the baking. Lebkuchen.—Take a cupful of butter and one of sugar, pour over them two cupfuls of honey heated to the boiling point. Add a generous handful of blanched almonds, a grated nutmeg and a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Dissolve a scant teaspoonful of soda in water and add to the ingre- dients. Mix with flour until the dough is as stiff as for ginger cookies. Roll out like cookies. Cut into oblong cakes and bake until well browned. Lemon Sponge Cake.—Three eggs, one-half cupful granulated sugar, one-half cupful of sifted flour, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, one-half teaspoonful of baking powder. Beat the whites of eggs very stiff, beat the yolks and add. When well mixed add the sugar slowly THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 103 and beat; grate the outside of rind of lemon and add the juice, then beat all with egg beater three minutes. Sift in the flour in which the baking powder has been mixed and stir slowly and carefully, but do not beat after flour is in. Bake in a moderate oven 35 minutes. Maple Layer Cake.—Make s tender layer cake by any good recipe, and bake in three large layers. For a filling take two cupfuls of maple su- gar, add one cup of water and boil until it will wax when dropped in cold water. Then remove from the fire and add two teaspoonfuls of but- ter and stir speedily till it will spread on the cake. Add one-half tea- spoonful of vanilla and put between the layers. Molasses Cookies.—Take one cupful of sugar and one cupful of but- ter or good shortening. Cream them and add two cups of molasses and two eggs. Dissolve two good-sized teaspoonfuls of soda in a little hot water, and fill up the cup it is in with cold water. Add it to the other mixture and stir in enough flour to make a soft dough, but one that can be rolled out and cut into cookies. Spice to suit the taste. Delicious Nut Cake.—Cream half a cupful of sugar, adding the stiffly beaten whites of three eggs and beating very light; then add, by alter- nate bits, two-thirds of a cupful of milk and one and a half cupfuls of flour mixed with two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder. At the last turn in a cupful of minced English walnut meat and bake in a shallow tin. When the cake is cool cover with icing, mark in squares and put nut meat on the top of each. Nut Wafers.—Two eggs, one cup of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of flour, one cup of nut meats chopped fine. Hickorynuts are preferred, and the sugar should be light brown. Spread the mixture in a very thin layer on a well-greased tin and bake ten minutes or until well tinged with brown. Cut in squares and remove from the tin as soon as they are done, that the wafers may grow crispy in the air. Oatmeal Cookies.—Cream three-fourths of a cupful of butter with one cupful of sugar; add two well-beaten eggs. Sift three-fourths of a tea- spoonful of soda into two cupfuls of flour; add one-half a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonfulof cinnamon; now add to the mixture two cup- fuls of uncooked rolled oats and one scant cupful of chopped raisins sprinkled with a little flour. Drop by the teaspoonful into a greased pan; bake in moderate oven. Oatmeal Crisps.—One tabler.poonful of butter, creamed, one cup of sugar, added gradually; two and one-half cups rolled oats; two teaspoons baking powder well mixed with the oats; two eggs, well beaten, one- half teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons vanilla in the eggs. Mix in the order given; bake in a medium to slow oven. A heaping teaspoonful of mixture makes a dainty crisp. Allow room for them to spread in the pan. If you cannot get on without flour use a little best bread flour— not pastry. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 105 mainder of the flour, in which has been mixed the nuts. Handle very l'ttle and do not roll too thin. Pork Cake.—One pound of fat salt pork, chopped fine, and dissolved in one pint of boiling water, three cups of brown sugar, one cup mo- lasses, one pound each of raisins and currants, two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, one teaspoonful cloves, two nutmegs grated, grated zest of one orange and lemon, one teaspoonful baking soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, seven cups of sifted flour. Bake in moderate oven. This amount makes three medium-sized loaf cakes. Potato Cake.—Two cups sugar, one-half cup butter, one cup hot mashed potato, four eggs beaten, one-half cup milk, one-fourth tea- spoon nutmeg, one-fourth teaspoon cloves, one-half teaspoon cinnamon, one cup walnut meats chopped • fine, two rounding cups flour, two tea- spoons baking powder, two ounces chocolate melted over hot water and mixed with potato; add to sugar and butter and mix as usual. Bake in three layers and put together with frosting. Pound Cake.—Mix a pound of sugar with three-quarters of a pound of butter. When worked white, stir in the yolks of eight eggs beaten to a froth, then the whites. Add a pound of sifted flour and mace or nutmeg to taste. If you wish to have your cake particularly nice, stir in, just before you put it into the pans, a quarter of a pound of citron or al- monds blanched, and powdered fine in rosewater. Raised Cake.—Two cupfuls light sponge, one cupful sugar, one-half cupful butter, two well-beaten eggs, one cupful stoned raisins, floured, half a nutmeg, grated, one-half teaspoonful soda dissolved in a little water. Make into a loaf or loaves, and when light bake in rather slow oven, as it scorches easily." If desired, cover it with a milk icing, for which use 10 teaspoonfuls sweet milk, V/2 cupful sugar. Boil six min- utes, take from stove and stir until quite white, flavor, spread quickly with a knife dipped in cold water. Raisin-Cake Squares.—Sift and dry half a pound of flour, rub into this two ounces of butter and a very little lard, add three ounces of sugar, a teaspoonful of baking powder and six ounces of stoned raisins. Beat two eggs with a spoonful of milk, and add to the dry ingredients; add a pinch of ground cinnamon and beat all to a light batter; pour into a greased pudding tin and bake in a sharp oven; when cooled a little cut with a hot knife into squares and serve while still warm. Rochester Cake.—Two cups sugar; two-thirds butter; one cup sweet milk; three eggs; three cups flour; two teaspoonfuls baking powder; a little salt and flavoring. Put half the mixture in two jelly cake pans. To the remainder add one tablespoon molasses; one cup chopped raisins or currants; one-fourth pound chopped citron; one teaspoon cinnamon; one- half teaspoon cloves; one-half teaspoon allspice; a little nutmeg; one CHAPTER IX. EGOS. Eggs a la Bonne Femme.—Cut an onion into fine dice, fry it lightly in a tablespoonful of butter, then dash in a teaspoonful of vinegar. But- ter a shallow dish, sprinkle the fried onion over it, and break in five eggs, being very careful that the yolks remain whole. Bake in a hot oven until the whites become a delicate film. Dust with salt and white pepper. Just before sending to the table sprinkle all over the dish coarse bread crumbs fried delicately brown in butter, and garnish with watercress or parsley. A la Maitre d'Hotel.—Put the eggs in boiling water and boil six minutes; then take from the fire and dip in cold water, taking them out immediately; this is to render shelling easy. When shelled, cut the eggs through lengthwise and lay them on a hot dish on which maitre d'hotel butter has been melted. With a spoon cover the eggs with this sauce, which is made as follows: Mix with a spoon on a plate a piece of butter the size of an egg with a tablespoonful of finely chopped par- sley, a pinch of salt, and pepper. Put it on a hot platter to melt. This sauce is often served with fish, broiled meat or boiled vegetables. It is very nice with new potatoes. Eggs boiled as above described are also very good with strained tomato, or parsley sauce, while another varia- tion is given by using black butter, sauce au beurre noir. To make this, brown half a cupful of butter in the frying pan as brown as it can be made without burning, then add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, salt and pepper. This sauce is very good with fish also. Baked Eggs.—One large cupful of milk, add one teaspoonful of but- e slices. Cook the carrots in boiling water for half an hour and the 118 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. with a fork. While the plant is cooking cut one medium-sized onion into small pieces and cover it with salt water. In 10 minutes pour off the water and put the chopped onion into a hot pan, with a tablespoonful of butter. Cook until it is thoroughly tender and brown. Drain the egg plant in a colander, put into a bowl, stir with a silver fork until it is broken up, but not mashed. Mix with it an equal quantity of rolled bread crumbs, add the browned onion and one well-beaten egg. Season with a dash of salt, two dashes of pepper, and add a dessertspoonful of butter. Put the mixture into a well-buttered earthen dish, bake just long enough to be nicely browned. Serve hot in the dish in which it is baked. Dutch Hutspot.—Boil six carrots with six onions (medium size) one hour, or until tender. In another kettle boil six medium-sized potatoes until done. Drain all the water from both, put them together, mash them well, add one teaspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of sugar, one- quarter teaspoonful of pepper, one-half cupful of butter and one-half cupful of milk or cream. Beat well and serve hot. Macaroni and Cheese.—The macaroni is first put into boiling salted water and cooked tender—a half hour or less—then it is drained, and rinsed with cold water, and cut in convenient pieces. A buttered pudding dish is then filled with alternate layers of the macaroni and chopped or grated cheese, perhaps a cupful of the cheese to a quart of the cooked macaroni. Season with salt and pepper, fill the dish with milk, and cover with bread or cracker crumbs mixed with a little melted butter and bake in a moderate oven for nearly an hour, or till the macaroni absorbs most of the milk. Macaroni, Italian Style.—Four tablespoonfuls of butter, one-half pound of macaroni, an onion, parsley, herbs, tomato catsup and spice. Put in a pan one tablespoonful each of finely-chopped onion, parsley and rosemary; fry in bubbling butter until well browned; add four table- spoonfuls of tomato catsup, some mixed spice, four tablespoonfuls of butter and one quart of boiling water; put in macaroni broken into medium-sized pieces; frequently shake the pan and stew over a slow fire until the macaroni is tender. Arrange on a hot dish, pouring the sauce over. Sprinkle thickly with grated cheese. Okra, Creole Style.—Wash, trim and cut into slices a quart of young, tender okra; place in a granite saucepan two teaspoonfuls of butter, a medium-sized onion', a medium-sized green pepper, both minced" fine; stir over the fire until a golden brown, then add three large tomatoes peeled and cut into pieces, three tablespoonfuls of Spanish or some hot pepper sauce -and salt to taste, and the okra. Cover the saucepan and simmer gently for half an hour. Turn out on a hot dish and sprinkle over with a teaspoonful of minced parsley and serve. £ THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 119 Baked Onions.—Peel and cut in thick slices large white onions. Par- boil in plenty of salted water, drain well, arrange in a buttered baking dish, dot with bits of butter and bake until soft and a pale yellow. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with a half-inch layer of grated crumbs thickly dredged with grated cheese. Return to • the oven long enough to melt the cheese. Escalloped Onions.—Slice some onions and cook in salted water until done, drain and put layers of onion and cracker crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and butter in pudding dish; moisten with milk. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. Baked Split Peas.—Rub a large baking dish with onion. Turn into this a pint of split peas soaked until soft. Chop a large onion very fine and spread over the top of the peas with pepper and salt. If you have left over gravy or stock pour it over the mixture. If not, cover with water, spreading over all bacon cut into the thinnest possible slices. Bake in the oven for two hours and add a little boiling water if the peas get too dry. French Fried Potatoes.—Old potatoes are better for this, .or the little yellowish potatoes that German cooks use for potato salad. These con- tain more gluten. Peel very thin and cut in long thin strips lengthwise. Let them stand in cold salted water for two or three hours. Drain and wipe dry; put into a wire basket and fry in very hot, deep fat until brown. Take out and lay on a piece of manila paper to absord the fat; dust with salt and serve. Another way to fry potatoes is to put a little olive oil in a deep frying pan; when very hot add sliced cold boiled potatoes. Cover, and cook until a golden brown, turning once. Drain, put in a hot vege- table dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Still another way, that the French chef delights in, is to chop cold boiled potatoes, then season lightly with salt, pepper and onion juice. Put a couple of table- spoonfuls of olive oil or good drippings in the frying pan, turn in the potatoes, press into a solid cake and cook slowly until crusty and brown on the under side. Turn on to a hot platter, with the brown side upper- most. Potatoes au Gratin.—Peel and cut into dice half a dozen potatoes, crisp in cold water, then drain, and boil until tender. Drain the water off, put the potatoes in a baker, season with pepper and salt, stir a table- spoonful of butter through the pieces, pour over them half a cup of milk, cover the top with grated cheese, bake quickly and serve hot. Potato Chowder.—Wash and pare four large potatoes. Cut them into small dice. Chop fine one-quarter of a pound of ham and one good- sized onion. Slowly fry the ham and onion together until a light brown, then in a saucepan put alternate layers of the ham and diced potato, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Add one tablespoonful of finely- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 121 till crisp. Prepare as you would scalloped oysters with cracker crumbs and salt and pepper sprinkled over each layer, and small dots of butter. Cover the top of the pan with crumbs and carefully pour on sweet milk almost to cover without disturbing the cracker crumbs. Bake two hours and a half in a steady oven, removing cover from pan during last half hour. It is better to use your thickest, heaviest kettle cover or earthen- ware pie pan for the first hour in the oven. Spaghetti with Brown Sauce.—Put a half pound of spaghetti into slightly-salted boiling water. Boil half an hour, drain and pour into a buttered granite pan. Pour over it the following brown sauce: Heat three tablespoonfuls butter, stir into this two tablespoonfuls flour, stir till smooth. Draw to a cooler place on the stove and add gradually one cupful cold water, stirring constantly. Let it boil up, add one scant tea- spoonful salt, one-fourth teaspoonful pepper, one teaspoonful of catsup, simmer two or three minutes, pour over spaghetti, set it into the oven and let it bake 10 or 15 minutes. Squash Puff.—Press dry cooked squash through a sieve; to a half pint add two tablespoons of melted butter, quarter of a cup of milk, seasoning of salt and pepper, and two beaten egg yolks. . Mix thoroughly, fold in two beaten egg whites, and turn into a buttered mold, set in a pan of hot water and bake in the oven until the center is firm. Serve turned from the mold and accompanied by a rich cream sauce made from one tablespoon each of flour and butter with a cup of scalded cream or rich milk and seasoning of salt, pepper, celery salt and mace. This can be baked in individual molds if desired. Scalloped Squash.—Two cupfuls of boiled squash run through a colander, and then let cool; two eggs, a tablespoonful of melted butter, half a cup of milk; pepper and salt; half a cupful of bread crumbs. Beat eggs, butter and milk and squash light; season; pour into a buttered bake dish, sift crumbs over it and bake, covered, half an hour; then brown lightly. Stewed Summer Squash.—Wash, pare, cut into pieces after removing the seeds, cook in a small quantity of water until tender; drain and press dry, salt slightly and serve on golden-browned toast with a cream dress- ing made as follows: Into half a pint of rich milk stir one teaspoonful of cornstarch, let boil until slightly thickened, then pour it over the toast and squash. Sweet Potato, Southern Style.—Peel and boil until they are thoroughly but not too well cooked. Then they should be cut into four pieces length- wise and placed in a tin baking pan. Butter and sugar should be placed over the potatoes abundantly before they are put in the oven to bake slowly. After a while, the butter and sugar mingling with the juice of the potatoes, forms a delicate crust that should be cooked until it has CHAPTER XI. CANNING AND PRESERVING. is chapter does not aim to cover the entire ground, but to give the experience of other housewives, which may include some in- ition not generally found in print. There are still many housewives laboriously can fruit by cooking it in a kettle, and then lifting it the jars; we make preserves in that way, but our canned fruit ncked into jars, covered with hot syrup, and then cooked by standing jars in water in a wash boiler. Instead of putting odd pieces of board the bottom of the boiler to rest the jars on, have a board made to fit, th three cleats across it underneath and a number of auger holes bored it so that the water passes through. We usually put enough water to jme half way up the jars, but some housekeepers elevate the jars above le water and cover the boiler closely, thus cooking the fruit in the steam. Jf course there are cooking kettles made for this purpose which are nore convenient than a wash boiler. Fruit is canned without sugar after the following method: Fill the jars with fruit; then pour in as much water as they will hold; adjust the rubbers; lay the lids carefully on top without fastening them down; stand the jars in a wash boiler, the bottom of which has been protected with a rack; surround them with cold water; put the lid on the boiler; bring to boiling point and boil strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and curranti for twenty minutes; cherries, for three-quarters of an hour; pineapples, for half an hour; peaches and pears, for half an hour. Strawberries and raspberries are better without water. Fill the jars with fruit, bring them to boiling point, and when the fruit shrinks or settles you may fill two jars from a third; put them back in the boiler; cook for five or 10 minutes longer and then fasten on the lids. Seal the jars. Lift the jar* one at a time and screw on the lids without lifting them. Wipe the jars, put them into a cool place out of the draught. Next morning give each lid a turn and store in a cool dark place. Canned fruit may also be cooked in the oven. Pack the prepared fruit in the jars, fill up with hot syrup, and lay the cover on top of the jar without fastening. Place in the oven, setting in a dripping-pan holding about two inches of water, or on a strip of asbestos. The oven should be moderately hot. Cook the fruit 10 or 15 minutes, dependent again upon the fruit, then lift from the oven, one can at a time, fill to overflowing with the scalding syrup, running the blade of a silver knife art -d the edge of the can to allow for the escape of all air-bubbles, th' 122 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. almost reached the point at which it is candy. Under this crust is a thick, rich syrup of the sap of the potatoes, sugar and butter. Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.—Select large, fine potatoes of uniform size. Bake them soft, taking care that they do not burn. With a sharp knife cut a slit lengthwise in each and scrape out the inside, breaking the skin as little as possible. Put the pulp into a bowl; work into it a tablespoon- ful of butter, enough hot milk to make a soft paste; salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Beat light, and fill the emptied skins with the mixture. Bring the cut edges neatly together, and set the potatoes back in the oven to reheat. Serve in a deep dish lined with a heated napkin. Baked Tomatoes, Italian Style.—Pour two tablespoonfuls of olive oil into a baking dish. Add four tablespoonfuls of grated bread crumbs that have already been mixed with parsley and other herbs, all of which must have been chopped very fine. Season with pepper and salt. Upon this bed of oil and crumbs lay a dozen tomatoes that have been cut in halves. Cover them with four more tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs that have previously been seasoned in the same way. Pour over all two more tablespoonfuls of oil and send the dish to a hot oven, where the tomatoes must bake for about one hour. Panned Tomatoes.—These are excellent served with roast meats. Put in a pan with two ounces of butter six firm tomatoes that have been cut in halves. Cook slowly on the top of the range for 10 minutes, then brown quickly in the oven. Remove the tomatoes to a hot platter, and make a sauce by adding to the browned butter two tablespoonfuls of flour, and after it is rubbed smooth one pint of milk. Stir until boiling. Season well with salt and pepper and pour over the tomatoes. Garnish with parsley and points of toast. Scallop of Tomatoes and Potatoes.—Season a pint of peeled and chopped tomatoes with salt, pepper and onion juice to suit the taste, and add enough potatoes to make a cupful when chopped fine. Butter a baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and put in half of the tomatoes; then a layer of soft crackers, buttered and broken in coarse bits. Cover the crackers with two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated American cheese. Then add the remainder of the tomatoes, more cracker crumbs and bits of butter and place in a hot oven. Bake 20 minutes. Serve at once. CHAPTER XL CANNING AND PRESERVING. This chapter does not aim to cover the entire ground, but to give briefly the experience of other housewives, which may include some in- formation not generally found in print. There are still many housewives who laboriously can fruit by cooking it in a kettle, and then lifting it into the jars; we make preserves in that way, but our canned fruit is packed into jars, covered with hot syrup, and then cooked by standing the jars in water in a wash boiler. Instead of putting odd pieces of board in the bottom of the boiler to rest the jars on, have a board made to fit, with three cleats across it underneath and a number of auger holes bored in it so that the water passes through. We usually put enough water to come half way up the jars, but some housekeepers elevate the jars above the water and cover the boiler closely, thus cooking the fruit in the steam. Of course there are cooking kettles made for this purpose which are more convenient than a wash boiler. Fruit is canned without sugar after the following method: Fill the jars with fruit; then pour in as much water as they will hold; adjust the rubbers; lay the lids carefully on top without fastening them down; stand the jars in a wash boiler, the bottom of which has been protected with a rack; surround them with cold water; put the lid on the boiler; bring to boiling point and boil strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and curranti for twenty minutes; cherries, for three-quarters of an hour; pineapples, for half an hour; peaches and pears, for half an hour. Strawberries and raspberries are better without water. Fill the jars with fruit, bring them to boiling point, and when the fruit shrinks or settles you may fill two jars from a third; put them back in the boiler; cook for five or 10 minutes longer and then fasten on the lids. Seal the jars. Lift the jars one at a time and screw on the lids without lifting them. Wipe the jars, put them into a cool place out of the draught. Next morning give each lid a turn and store in a cool dark place. Canned fruit may also be cooked in the oven. Pack the prepared fruit in the jars, fill up with hot syrup, and lay the cover on top of the jar without fastening. Place in the oven, setting in a dripping-pan holding about two inches of water, or on a strip of asbestos. The oven should be moderately hot. Cook the fruit 10 or 15 minutes, dependent again upon the fruit, then lift from the oven, one can at a time, fill to overflowing with the scalding syrup, running the blade of a silver knife around the edge of the can to allow for the escape of all air-bubbles, then wipe and 136 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. closely and stand in a cool, dark place for one week. At the end of that time turn them carefully into the kettle, bring them to boiling point, and simmer for five minutes, then return them to the jars, cover closely with tissue paper brushed over with the white of an egg, and put in a dark, cool place to keep. Apples are more difficult to keep than any other fruit. Blackberry cheese is an old-fashioned but excellent recipe. Three pounds apples, peeled and cored; three pounds blackberries. To each pound pulp allow three-quarters pound sugar. Peel, core and slice the apples, put them in a jar with the blackberries, which must be picked over, and let them remain in the oven for three-quarters of an hour, or till the fruit is quite soft; pulp through a sieve, and to every pound of pulp allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar; boil the pulp for another hour; put into jars very hot, and when cold cover in the usual way. It should be firm enough to slice when turned out. Barberry Jam.—Pick three pounds of barberries from the stalk, put them in a jar or farina boiler, with three pounds of sugar. Stand the jar in a saucepan of boiling water, and simmer gently until the sugar is dissolved and berries soft, then stand aside all night. In the morning put them in a porcelain-lined kettle, and simmer slowly for 25 minutes, stirring continually. Turn into glasses and seal when cool, like jelly. Barberry Preserves.—This is a very old-fashioned recipe. Four quarts of barberries picked from the stems, washed and drained. Heat one large quart of molasses and one quart of white sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Skim, and then add the barberries. Cook until they begin to pop and shrivel, which will be in about 10 minutes. Skim them into a stone jar, then boil the syrup slowly until it will cover the berries. Bar le Due Preserves.—Take selected red (or white) currants of large size, one by one, carefully make an incision in the skin, one-fourth an inch in size, with tiny embroidery scissors. Through this slit, with a sharp needle, remove the seeds, separately, preserving the shape of the fruit. Take the weight of the currants in strained honey and, when hot, add the currants. Let simmer a minute or two, then seal as jelly. The currants retain their shape, are of a beautiful color and melt in the mouth. Should the currants liquefy the honey too much, carefully skim them out, reduce the syrup at a gentle simmer to desired consistency and store as before after adding the fruit. Black Currants.—Gather the currants on a dry day; to every pound allow half a pint red currant juice and a pound and a half of finely pounded loaf sugar. Clip off the heads and stalks; put the juice, currants and sugar in a preserving pan; shake it frequently till it boils; carefully remove the fruit from the sides of the pan, and take off the scum as it rises; let it boil for 10 or 15 minutes. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 127 Blueberry Mixtures.—A combination of blueberries and gooseberries, one portion of gooseberries to three of the blueberries, canned in the ordinary fashion, makes an excellent Winter sauce or filling for piei. So does a combination of blueberries and rhubarb, one cupful of rhubarb and one cupful of sugar to a quart of blueberries. Cherry Conserve.—Five quarts cherries (sour), one pound raisins (seeded and cut); two oranges (pulp cut in pieces, also yellow of skin); one pound English walnuts (chopped); 2l/2 pounds sugar. Cook until thick and put in jelly tumblers. Cherries must be boiled about 20 minutes before putting in sugar, etc. Cherry Conserve No. 2.—Three pounds sour cherries; two pounds raisins; four pounds granulated sugar; four large oranges. Seed and steam the raisins for half an hour. Grate some of the orange peel in the cherries. Do not use the orange skin. Cut the pulp into small pieces. Mix all the ingredients together, boil for 20 minutes, put in glasses. Cherry Preserve, Sun-cooked.—Pit the cherries, which must be perfect ripe fruit, weigh, and put in a preserving kettle, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Do not add any water; the juice and sugar make the syrup. Bring to a boil, and boil for 20 minutes, stirring to avoid .burning and skimming to keep clear. Skim out the fruit, putting on shallow platters, pour the syrup over, and cover with clean panes of glass. Put the platters out in the sun, and keep outdoors three days, bringing in at night. Then put in jars, like any other pre- serve. The sun cooks the syrup to a honey-like consistence, and the flavor is delicious. Strawberries .cooked the same way have all the rich frag- rance of the fresh fruit. Citron Preserves.—Pare and core the citron, cut into strips and notch the edges, or cut into fancy shapes. Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and to six pounds of the fruit allow four lemons and a quarter of a pound of ginger root. Tie the ginger root in a cloth and boil it in a quart and a half of water until the flavor is extracted; then remove it and add to the water the sugar and the juice of the lemons. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear, remove any scum that may form, then add the citron and cook until it is clear, but not soft enough to fall apart; can and seal while hot. Citron Preserves No. 2.—Cut the citron in strips half an inch wide, pare off the rind as thin as possible and cut up the fruit in small squares. Put in a vessel and cover the fruit with water in which has been dis- solved an ounce of alum to the gallon of water. Soak 24 hours, or until the citron is clarified. Take out of alum water and soak in clear water until the alum is all out, which will probably be in 12 hours. Weigh and allow to each pound of fruit a pound of sugar. Put the fruit in a pre- serving kettle with only a little sugar, adding sugar several times until THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 131 to remove the seeds. Add the skins to the pulp, cooking till tender. Allow one-half pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Gooseberries with Currant Juice.—The tops and tails being removed from the gooseberries, allow an equal quantity of finely-pounded loaf sugar and put a layer of each alternately into a large, deep jar; pour into it as much dripped red currant juice as will dissolve the sugar, adding its weight in sugar. The next day put all in a preserving pan, boil it, and put up as other jams. Grape Marmalade.—Choose ripe grapes of any familiar kind, and place them in the preserving kettle with just enough water to prevent their burning. Cook slowly at the side of the stove until they are well broken and mashed. Then press through a sieve and measure the pulp. For each pint allow half a pound of sugar. Place the grape pulp over the fire, boil for 20 minutes, add the sugar and boil from 10 to 20 minutes longer, or until a drop of the mixture when put on a plate will retain its shape without spreading. Stir constantly while cooking. Skim carefully from time to time and when done pack in small jars. Grape and Apple Marmalade.—Many people do not care for the flavor of the Clinton grape, but it is excellent to use with sweet apples in mar- malade, following a New England recipe, in which the wild frost grape is ordinarily used. Heat four pounds of stemmed and pulped grapes until the seeds are free of pulp. Have four pounds of sweet apples pared, cored, sliced and steamed until tender. Sift the grape pulp, add the apples,- turn into a kettle set on asbestos mat or back of range and simmer slowly for two hours; measure, add sugar in the proportion of three-quarters of a pound to a pint of pulp, and cook until a little, chilled on ice, shows that it is stiff enough to retain its shape. Turn into jelly glasses and seal. Grape Preserves.—Press the pulp out of each grape; boil the pulps until tender, then press through colander to remove the seeds; mix the skins with the pulp and juice; add as many cupfuls of sugar as there are of grapes and boil together until thickened. Green grapes are preserved by cutting each grape in halves, taking out the seeds, then adding an equal quantity of sugar and boiling all together until the right consistency; seal while hot. Spiced Grapes.—Press the skins from the grapes and put the pulp through the colander; add the skins and weigh. To every pound of grapes add one cupful of vinegar, two ounces of powdered cinnamon, one ounce of powdered cloves and three and a half pounds of sugar; boil an hour and a half until thick, then bottle. Small Damson plums are very nice prepared in the same way. Marmalades.—One simple process will serve for all kinds of marma- lade, and that is to cook the fruit in its own juice to a state of collapse. Then press through a colander, measure, bring to a boil, and skim, before 188 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. adding the sugar—measure for measure. Cook with care after the sugar scum begins to thicken. When the juice rolls up a jelly on a cold silver spoon, the marmalade is ready for pint can, or for glasses, covered when cold with one-fourth inch, at the least, of hot paraffin. All the small fruits make delicious marmalades when pressed through a fine colander or sieve to remove the seeds. Grapes and blackberries do not require full measure for measure of sugar. Plums are easily converted into a palatable mar- 'malade after removing the pits, but they are more easily made into pre- serves, the same as peaches, and quinces; both are too good for marma- lades. By the following method clingstone peaches can be utilized, also imperfect pears and quinces. Pare the peaches and cut into pieces as small as a cherry, pack into a measuring dish and note the amount. Add water to prevent burning and cook thoroughly before adding the sugar— measure for measure. Boil with care the same as for marmalade, and place in airtight cans. Pineapple Marmalade.—Use thoroughly ripe pineapples, peel them, and after removing the hard core, chop them. To each pound of fruit and juice, add a pound of sugar, and simmer one hour. Frequent skimming and stirring will be necessary. Cool some of it, and if not thick enough, continue the boiling half an hour longer. An asbestos cover slipped under the kettle is a safeguard against scorching. Crab-apple and plum marma- lade is excellent. Use the Siberian crab-apples and Bradshaw or other violet red plums. Allow two parts apples to one part plums. Wash the fruit and cut out the imperfections. Simmer both kinds until soft, then rub through a sieve. Allow a pound of sugar to each pint of fruit puip. Put the sugar in the oven to heat, and cook the fruit 20 minutes in a porcelain-lined or agate kettle. Add the hot sugar, skim, and cook 30 minutes longer. Stir very often. • Peach Marmalade.—Use firm late peaches. Peel the peaches and cut them in halves. Crack two-thirds of the kernels, blanch them, and cut into lengthwise strips. Put the peaches over the fire with three-fourths of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Stir frequently and cook from 20 minutes to half an hour. Five minutes before removing from the fire add the blanched kernels. Quince Marmalade.—Rub the fruit with a cloth, cut out the flower end, and chop without removing the skins and cores. Cook until soft enough to rub through a sieve. Strain the fruit and add three-quarters pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Cook slowly until done, which should be in 15 or 20 minutes. Apple marmalade affords a change from cider apple sauce and stewed apples. Take seven pounds of apples (Fall Pippins are nice) and stew them with a pint of water. Put them through a sieve, add three-quarters pound of sugar to a pound of pulp, also the juice and grated yellow rind of three lemons. Boil half hour, then add a little THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 133 of flavor. Pears were also canned in perry (pear cider), but the result was not considered so desirable as where the apple juice was used. "-'; Pear Chips.—Four pounds of Duchess or other hard pears sliced thin, four pounds of sugar, the juice of three lemons and grated rind of one, one ounce of dry or green ginger root chopped fine and one-half tumbler of water. Cook until clear, then seal in jelly glasses. Pear Syrup.—Very nice syrup may be made from pears, core and pare them; cover with cold water and set on back of stove, let simmer until soft, then dip off juice carefully or strain through a colander. If the juice is not clear strain through a fine strainer. Return to the fire and boil down rapidly to about one-quarter, then add sugar, about as for jelly, a cupful of sugar to a cupful of juice. Boil until the syrup is thick as you wish and put in glass jars. This, when properly made, is thought to be as nice as maple syrup. The flavor may be varied a little by using a very little lemon juice or green ginger. If desirable, the cooked pears may be used by boiling them a short time with a little sugar, or with sugar and vinegar. Persimmon Figs.—Gather them, and press each fruit between thumb and finger, and put in layers in an open-mouthed jar with a thin layer of sugar between the layers of fruit and sugar on the top. After a few weeks, say three or four, lay on a platter or plate in single layers and dry in a very cool oven or in the sun. Canned Plums Without Cooking.—This recipe comes from the plum belt of central New York, and will be found very satisfactory: Take enough large yellow egg plums to fill a quart can. Put them into a granite or earthen pan and pour boiling water over them, let stand three minutes, then drain. Pour over more boiling water, which will crack the skins. Remove the skins, and place the plums carefully in a hot sterilized glass jar. Have ready a thick syrup made by boiling two cupfuls of granulated sugar that has been moistened with water, and cooked to the "brittle stage." Pour the boiling syrup over the plums and seal. The syrup will form like "icicles," but after a day or two will dissolve. Make enough syrup for two or three cans at once, as it is hard to tell just how much it will take to fill a can. They always keep perfectly, and retain their flavor much better than when cooked, but the secret is in having everything boiling hot. Plum Cheese.—For economy make this on the same day you make plum jelly. After extracting the jelly juice pass the remaining pulp through a colander to remove skins and pits, then weigh. Add a pound of sugar to every two pounds of plums and boil one-half an hour; seal up. Plums in Cold Water.—A housekeeper who has had experience with the cold-water process of keeping fruit says she has kept wild plums all Winter in this way, putting them in a large stone jar and covering 136 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. them with enough cold water to leave about four inches over them. A saucer or plate with a weight on it must be placed on top of the fruit to keep the top layers deep enough under the water. To make sauce from wild plums kept in this way, take out as many of the fruit as ara required, and parboil until the skins crack in water containing a pinch of baking soda. Then rinse well in clear cold water, drop into boiling syrup, and cook until done. This makes a delicious sauce; the parboiling with the soda takes the "pucker" out of the fruit. Cranberries will keep for months if covered with cold water as described, and many house- keepers put up green currants and gooseberries, also rhubarb, in the same way. Plum Conserve.—Five pounds plums, peeled and pitted; five pounds sugar; cook plums 20 minutes before adding sugar. Put in sugar and boil a little, then add two pounds seeded raisins (cut into small pieces), grated rind of four oranges and the pulp chipped (easier to cut with scissors). Cook to a thick conserve (15 to 20 minutes), and put in jelly glasses. Cherries (sour) are good used instead of p'.ums; pit them. Currants may also be used instead of plums. Pineapple and Plum Jam.—Twelve pounds of large plums, five targe pineapples, one quart of water and sugar in the proportion of three- quarters of a pound to every pound of fruit, and one pound to every pint of water. Peel and pit the plums, add the water, bring to the boiling point, add the pineapple cut in dice and boil until soft and thick, then add the sugar and cook three-quarters of an hour longer. Spiced Plums.—Spiced plums are the best of re'.ishes with game, poul try, and mutton. Wash, drain, pick and weigh the plums, prick the skins lightly, then pack them down in earthen jars with one-half their own weigh of sugar. Strew through the fruit while packing plenty of whole cloves, whole allspice, mace, ginger slightly bruised and stick cinnamon. Put in also a few whole black peppercorns, and to each jar allot a single pod of the small red pepper. Take half a pint of cider vinegar for each pound of fruit, add to it as much sugar as the fruit was packed in, bring to a boil, skim well and pour over it scalding hot. Let stand 24 hours, then drain off the syrup, boil up, skim and return to the fruit. Do this three times, then put fruit and syrup together in the kettle, let them boil five minutes, skimming well, fill jars and cover. Canned Pumpkin.—This will supply pie material when stored pump- kins are gone. Cook the pumpkin and strain it, just as you do for pies, being careful not to have much water in it. Fill the can full. Shake down so as to have them solid. Put on the tops, screw down just a little, so you can lift by them, place in boiler, with something between the cans and boiler on the bottom, fill to the neck of cans with water and boil one good hour. Take out and wipe the necks of the cans, and THE I^URAL COOK BOOK. m if the pumpkin has shrank away, fill cans up with boiling water, put on nngs and screw down the tops tight, and the pumpkin will keep six months in a good, cool place. Quince Butter.—Use half a gallon of quinces pared and cored, half a gallon of tart apples pared and cored, two quarts of sweet cider, one pint of cold water. Cover the crock and stew gently until the fruit is very soft; then pass through a sieve. Add five cupfuls of sugar and cook until soft. Canned Quinces.—Prepare the quinces by paring, coring and quarter- ing. Use a silver knife. Keep the prepared quinces in cold water to prevent them from discoloring until sufficient have been prepared. Cook the quinces in boiling water slowly till tender. Have ready a syrup of one-half pound of sugar and a pint of water to each pound of fruit. Put the cooked quinces in the syrup, allowing them to remain five minutes. Then can and seal while hot. Quince Honey.—One medium quince and one cupful of granulated sugar will make one jelly glass of honey. Pare and grate the quinces, then stir this grated pulp into a boiling syrup made of the sugar and enough water to dissolve it. Stir slowly and quite often until the pulp will remain suspended through the syrup. One should not get it too stiff. Put into jelly glasses, and when cool cover in the same way you do preserves and jellies, and keep in the preserve closet. Quince Jam.—Take one pint of quince juice left from preserves, add one pound of sliced apples, three-q.jarters of a pound of sugar; boil two hours, stirring well; pour into glasses while hot and seal. Quince and Pear Sauce.—Three pounds light brown sugar, six pounds pears, quartered if large, small ones cut in halves; nine pounds quinces, quartered. Boil sugar, pears and quinces nearly all day, taking care not to let them cook too rapidly, until both pears and quinces are of a rich red, and the juice an amber syrup. Can and seal tight. The fruit keeps its shape, the pears having gained a fine flavor from the quinces, and the quinces having an added goodness from the pears. Raisine Bourgogne.—Stem wid seed two pounds of ripe grapes. Boi! with one cup of water until soft. Press through a sieve and add two pounds of ripe pears, peeled and sliced; cook until reduced to half the amount. Weigh and add an equal amount of sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved, strain again, put in small earthen jars, set in a plate-warm- ing oven for a day or until firm to the touch. Tie down and keep in a cool place. Raspberry and Currant Bar-le-Duc.—To four pounds of raspberries add one pound of currants; bruise the currants and strain the juice; add to it three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of juice, including the weight of the berries left whole. Boil 20 minutes and skim, add the 138 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. raspberries, cook 20 minutes more. When the syrup jellies on a plate, take off and place in glasses or small jars while hot. Canned Raspberries.—(Mrs. Mapes's recipe).—First make a syruj> by boiling seven pounds granulated sugar in 2l/2 quarts water. Fill cans with fresh berries, putting in as many as possible without crushing the berries. Apply covers without the rubbers, and set in a kettle or boiler of cold water, so the water comes about two-thirds of the height of the cans. Bring to a boil and cook seven to 10 minutes after boiling begins. Now take the cans out of the water, remove the covers, fill with hot syrup brimming full, and seal up tight in the usual way. Uncooked Canned Rhubarb.—Wash, peel, cut into inch cubes and fill compactly into glass jar, then pour slowly into the jar good fresh water to overflowing. Adjust rubber, screw on the top and set away in a cool place until morning. Then if there be any air bubbles, tap the side of the jar, fill again to the brim with water and screw on cover tightly. If tops and rubbers are perfect the rhubarb will keep until used. Canned Rhubarb.—Wash it, cut into inch pieces, put in a preserving kettle, and let it come to a good boil all through, without a particle of sugar. It will keep perfectly. When you wish to open it for use, take one cupful of sugar for a pie, and it will be like the fresh pie plant. For a small family, the pint cans are much better for any fruit.' Rhubarb Jam with Ginger.—String some rhubarb, cut into short lengths, and weigh. Put into u kettle and add just enough water to pre- vent burning. When it has become quite soft, add sugar, one pound for each pound of rhubarb. Stir well until the jam becomes rich and syrupy. For each pound take about a teaspoonful of ground ginger, rub it smooth with a little water, and add it to your jam. Boil up jam again, stirring well; put into glasses, and when cold cover. If a large amount of rhu- barb is at command, a high grade of brown sugar is very good; the only difference seems to be that the jam is not quite so clear. Rhubarb Jelly.—Make when the rhubarb is tender, using the pink variety without peeling it, as much of the flavor and all of the color is in the skin. Cook eight pounds of rhubarb with the yellow part of the peel from three lemons, in a covered dish, until all the juice of the rhu- barb is free. Strain, and add all the juice that can be extracted from the three lemons. Boil half an hour and strain through a bag. To each cupful of this juice add a cup and a quarter of granulated sugar, .-y which should be heated before putting into the juice. Stir until the *- sugar is entirely dissolved, then boil without stirring until it jellies when ~\ . tested. A fine jelly which may be made later in the season has three- fourths of a pound of tart apples (peeled and cored) cut and cooked with- each pound of rhubarb. Cook until soft and drain through bag THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 139 without pressing. Allow a cup of vinegar to each cup of juice and proceed as in former recipe. Rhubarb and Orange Jam.—To a quart of cut up rhubarb, add half a dozen oranges, peeled, cut up and with the pits removed, and a pound and a half of sugar. Boil gently until a little set on a plate will jelly. This can be varied by slicing the peel of three oranges in thin strips and adding it to the fruit. This jam will also keep indefinitely in earthen jars, or jelly glasses which have been sealed with paraffin. Rhubarb and Pineapple.—The following rule for canning is a decided improvement upon pineapple alone, and the rhubarb taste disappears. Chop and cook equal parts of pineapple and rhubarb, and add a cupful of sugar for each pint jar. Rhubarb Marmalade.—Peel the rhubarb, and cut into pieces one-half inch long. Put into a large earthen bowl, and cover with sugar in the proportion of one pound of sugar to one quart of rhubarb. Allow this to stand over night, or 15 to 18 hours. Be sure that the bowl is amply large, as there will be a flood of juice by morning. Strain off the juice and sugar into a preserving kettle; when it begins to boil, add the rhu- barb. Boil slowly for an hour, or until the preserve assumes a deep red color, stirring carefully to prevent burning, and removing any scum that rises to the top. About 15 or 20 minutes before removing from the fire, peel the yellow rind from one lemon, chop it fine, and add to the preserve, together with the juice of two lemons, this being our usual proportion to about four or five quarts of preserve, but the quantity of lemon may be varied to suit the taste. This gives a piquant flavor other- wise lacking, in spite of the acidity of the rhubarb. When bottled, keep in a cool, dark place. This rhubarb jam is very nice in open tarts, or as a filling for boiled roly puddings. RhubarB and Almond Marmalade.—Cut rhubarb up very fine, and to each cupful add the pulp and juice of one orange, one teaspoonful of the grated yellow of the rind, one tablespoonful lemon juice and one and one- half cup of sugar. Let stand until the sugar is dissolved, boil rapidly until transparent, then add one-half cup of blanched almonds cut in thin slices, boil up once and put in glasses. Hackensack Rhubarb Marmalade.—Cut a pound and a half of rhubarb into inch lengths and put it in an earthen dish. Scatter over this a quarter of a pound of figs and an ounce of candied peel (both cut fine); over all sprinkle a pound and a quarter of sugar and let stand over night. In the morning boil for about 15 minutes, then add a pound of either orange or lemon pulp, cut fine, and cook until heavy enough to be firm when cold. Put in jelly glasses, and when cool,cover with paraf- fin, or any other material used for keeping air from jellies. Rhubarb and Fig Marmalade.—Three pounds of rhubarb, three pounds 140 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. of sugar, one pound of figs, juice of one lemon and grated rind of half. Wash the figs and cut fine and put in the bottom of the kettle; cut rhu- barb into inch cubes and spread evenly over the figs; over the rhubarb distribute one pound of the sugar and let stand over night. In the morn- ing cook slowly until it looks clear, then add remainder of sugar and cook until thick. About fifteen minutes before taking from the stove add juice and rind of lemon. This quantity will make two quarts of mar- malade. It can be sealed while hot, or put in jelly glasses and covered with paraffin. Rhubarb and Orange Marmalade.—Three pounds of rhubarb,■ four and one-half pounds of sugar, three oranges, the grated rind of one orange. After grating the yellow from one orange, remove the peel from all three and cut in small pieces. Cut the rhubarb in inch cubes, mix with one and one-half pounds of sugar and the oranges and let stand twenty-four hours. Cock until it looks clear, then heat the re- maining three pounds of sugar, add, and cook until thick. Rhubarb and Raisin Marmalade.—Four pounds rhubarb, four oranges, juice of all, peel of two; four pounds sugar, one lemon, two pounds of . raisins. Peel and cut the rhubarb into half-inch pieces., Prepare the oranges by squeezing out juice and cooking the peel in water till tender. Drain and scrape out white skin. Extract the juice of the lemon. Put the rhubarb into a granite preserving kettle, heat it slowly to boiling, cook fifteen minutes, then add the sugar, orange juice and peel, lemon juice and raisins, and cook slowly until thick. Spiced Rhubarb.—Peel and slice 2}4 pounds of rhubarb; sprinkle a pound of sugar over it and let stand until morning. Drain off the syrup and add one cup of sugar and half a cupful each of vinegar and water. Drop into this syrup small bags filled with a mixture composed of one third of a teaspoonful each of cloves, mace, allspice and ginger, and a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Boil until the syrup begins to thicken, then take out the bags and add the rhubarb and cook until clear. Canned Strawberries.—To can strawberries so that they will keep their shape and color, after the berries are picked over, put them in n jar, with a layer of sugar and then of berries until all are used. Set them in the cellar over night, and the sugar will penetrate them, and no water must be added: there will be sufficient juice. Have a sugar syrup on the stove hot, put the strawberries in -and let them boil up gently; then fill cans with the fruit and juice all cooked together. Screw on the cover, stand the can upside down a few minutes, then turn again, changing it in this way until it is cool, and the berries will not rise to the top. This way preserves the shape, color, and flavor of the fruit. Canned Strawberries, No. 2.—An excellent way to can strawberries, raspberries or any fruit that requires little or no cooking is the follow- THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 141 ing: Prepare fruit carefully, discarding all blemished or imperfect berries. Prepare a syrup of one quart of water boiled, one cupful of sugar. More or less sugar may be added according to the taste of family and the acidity of the fruit to be calmed. Have jars thoroughly sterilized as above, fill with the prepared fruit, pour over the syrup until it is filled to the brim. Screw on cap after adjusting rubber. Place jars in a stone crock with thin strips of board or a cloth under them and pour around them enough boiling water to fill crock up to the rubbers on jars. Cover with blankets, carpets, etc., to exclude air, and leave over night or until the water is cold. Canned in this way soft fruits keep both shape and color, and very nearly resemble fresh fruit. Fruits that lose color, such as strawberries or red raspberries, should have paper bags or pasteboard boxes slipped over them to exclude the light. Canned Strawberries, No. 3.—Fill a quart jar with large, ripe berries, from which the hulls have been taken; fill the jar with cold water; then pour it out again into a measure. For every twelve jars to be put up use thirteen of these measures of water and in it dissolve six pounds of sugar. Pack the jar with berries as closely as possible without mashing them. Fill each jar up to the shoulder with syrup, cover loosely with the lid and set it in a large boiler, which should have a loosely fitting wooden bottom pierced with holes. If set on the metal bottom the jars are liable to crack. When the boiler is full of jars pour in cold water up to their shoulders; cover it and set it on the fire. At the same time put the surplus syrup in a saucepan and allow it to become hot. As soon as the water in the boiler begins to boil note the time, and when it has boiled for eight minutes remove the boiler from the fire. Take out one jar at a time, fiil it even with the hot syrup-in the saucepan, fasten it airtight and stand it back in the boiler until all are filled and covered; let them stand there until cold, and then store in a cool place. Uncooked Canned Strawberries.—A correspondent of the Chicago Record-Herald says that she has preserved strawberries and red raspber- lies without cooking for years with entire success. Her method is as fol- lows: Mash together with a silver fork equal quantities of fruit and sugar. Let stand for an hour or more until the sugar is entirely dissolved. Then put into jelly glasses or pint jars, filling to the brim. Leave un- covered for & hours in an open window exposed to the sun. Then seal in the usual way and keep in a cool, dark place. The flavor of the ber- ries is as when picked, and the jam is rich and delicious. All utensils used must be absolutely clean and jars sterilized. Dried Strawberries.—One quart of strawberries, clean off the stem and hull. Wash; add one pound of granulated sugar, put in a porcelain or granite kettle, set on stove, and heat gently till they come to a boiling point, then boil hard for 20 minutes. Do not stir, just shake the kettle 142 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. enongh to keep from burning, then pour out on large plates, and dry in the sun for at least three days, or until the juice has become jellied; 't may take a longer time or a little less according to heat of sun. Do not let them stay out of doors over night, as the dew will cause the juice to get thin again. When-the juice has become jellied, pack in jars and make airtight. These are most delicious and very delicate in flavor; the berries are whole and cleai. Strawberry and Currant Jam.—To every pound of fruit allow three- quarters of a pound of sugar, also one pint of red currant juice to every four pounds of the berries. Boil the currant juice with the strawberries for half an hour, stirring all the time, then add the sugar and boil 20 minutes longer, skimming carefully. Put in small jars or tumblers with paraffin on top. The currant juice may be omitted. Wiesbaden Strawberries.—Take six pounds of strawberries—they need not be large or extra fine, but they must be sound; add to them in the kettle a very little cold water and cook slowly as for jelly. Pour in. a jelly bag and allow them to drip overnight. In the morning add to the juice six pounds of broken loaf or granulated sugar and half a pound of strained honey. Boil to a very thick syrup Fill pint cans with freshly capped strawberries, the largest and finest to be had. Screw on the tops, set in cold water in a large kettle—the wash boiler will do—and let the water come to a boil. Open the jars and fill to the brim with the hot syrup. Seal and put away in a cool, dark place. Tomato Butter.—Cook ripe tomatoes, salt to taste and put them through a colander to remove the seeds. Have ready an equal quantity of sour apple sauce, well cooked; add it to the tomatoes, sweeten slightly and let it boil until the mixture begins to thicken. Be careful that it does not burn. Seal in jelly glasses. Excellent to serve with meats. Tomato Butter No. 2.—Seven pounds of large, ripe tomatoes, four pounds of brown sugar, half a cupful of vinegar, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one teaspoonful of cloves. Pour boiling water over the toma- toes; let stand five minutes, then the skins can be rubbed off. Remove stem end, then slice tomatoes. Cook until soft, add the sugar and stew until very thick; then add spices and vinegar. Let simmer 20 minutes, pour into jars and seal. Tomato and Apple Butter.—Scald and skin ripe tomatoes, add a quarter of the quantity of pared, cored and quartered pleasant sour apples. Weigh the kettle, put in the tomatoes and apples and cook to the consistency of marmalade, then to every six pounds add a teaspoonful of ginger, the juice of a large lemon and four pounds of light brown sugar; boil fifteen minutes, or until it will spread smoothly. Green Tomato Butter.—Select tomatoes that are full grown, but quite green. Slice them thin. Make a syrup in proportion of one pound of THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 143 sugar to two pounds of tomatoes. Boil down slowly for four hours or until the butter is smooth and thick, stirring frequently to prevent stick- ing. Flavor with lemon when done. Green Tomato Conserve.—For one peck of green tomatoes, slice six lemons without removing the skin, but taking out the seeds. Put to this quantity six pounds of sugar and boil until transparent and the syrup thick. Ginger root may be added if liked. Tomato Jam.—Select sound, ripe fruit and peel and quarter them. Then put them into the preserving kettle with an equal weight of loaf sugar, the strained juice and rind of a lemon for every four pounds of the fruit, and a little powdered ginger. Cook the mixture slowly until it jellies when tried on a spoon. Turn into jars and cover. Tomato Marmalade.—Remove the skin from four quarts of ripe tomatoes and slice. Cut six large lemons in halves, lengthwise, and slice very thin. Seed one cup of raisins. Put the tomatoes, raisins and lemons into a preserving kettle, in layers, alternating with four pounds of granulated sugar. Cook one hour on the front of stove. Then set the kettle back, and allow contents to simmer until it is of the consistency of marmalade. Put up, while hot, as jelly. This recipe makes about two and one-half quarts. When properly prepared no one article will be recognizable. The small yellow tomatoes are nice for.such use. Tomato Marmalade No. 2.—For every two pounds of the tomatoes allow two pounds of sugar and the juice and grated rind of one lemon. Pour scalding water over the tomatoes to loosen the skins. After remov- ing the skin, mix the tomatoes with the sugar and boil slowly for one hour, stirring and skimming frequently. At the epd of that time add the lemon juice and rind and cook another hour or until the whole is a thick, smooth mass. Tomato Mock-Orange Marmalade.—Scald and peel large-sized yellow tomatoes. Cut downward over each seed section, press open and remove all seeds with the thumb, leaving the pulp comparatively whole. To two parts of the prepared tomatoes allow one part of oranges, slicing thinly. Cover all with an equal quantity of sugar and let stand over night. In the morning pour off syrup and cook down about half, add the tomatoes and oranges and cook until the orange skins are transparent. Seal in jelly glasses. This is an original recipe, and is a delightful substitute for the genuine orange marmalade, though much cheaper. Tomato Mincemeat.—Chop fine four quarts of green tomatoes, drain off juice, cover with cold water and bring to a boil, scalding for 30 minutes, then drain. Repeat till parboiled three times. Add two pounds brown sugar, one pound seeded raisins, one-half pound chopped citron, one large half cup chopped suet, one tablespoonful salt and one-half cup 144 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. strong vinegar. Mix and cook until thick. When cold add one tea- spoonful each of ground cinnamon and cloves, and one tablespoonful of grated nutmeg (or suit taste). Mix thoroughly, and keep in open jar. Tomato Clove Preserves.—To four pounds of yellow plum tomatoes, not too ripe, allow four pounds of sugar, three lemons and one-half ounce (or according to taste) of whole cloves. Peel the tomatoes with- out breaking, sprinkle sugar over and let them stand over night. In the morning pour off the syrup, add the cloves and let it boil until thick, then strain. Return to fire and add the chopped pulp of the lemons, rejecting the skin, and the tomatoes, and cook gently until the tomatoes look clear. Put into jars and seal. To give a quite different flavor substitute one- half ounce of ginger root for the cloves, and proceed as above. Green Tomato Preserves.—Required, eight pounds of small green tomatoes, seven pounds of sugar, one ounce of ginger and mace mixed, and the juice of four lemons. Pierce each of the tomatoes with a fork and put them in the preserving kettle with all the other ingredients. Heat slowly, then boil until the tomatoes are clear, then skim them out and boil the syrup until thick. Put the tomatoes into jars and pour in the hot syrup. Yellow Tomato Preserves.—Put the tomatoes into a wire basket and plunge into boiling water to loosen the skins. When a cut is made across the skin its whole contents can be quickly squeezed out. Three-fourths cf a pound of sugar is allowed for each pound of the fruit pulp, and sometimes ginger root is added for flavoring. Prolonged cooking is not necessary; just before ready for the jars add several lemons sliced in thin even circles. Ruby Watermelon Preserves.—Dice the red portion of the melon, removing all seeds and every bit of the white part; weigh and use half as much sugar as you have melon, adding to every six pounds of melon the juice and grated yellow rinds of two lemons. Put all together in a large granite kettle and boil slowly, stirring often until it is quite thick; at first you will think it is all going to water, but very soon you will notice it thicken nicely; when it has become as thick as you like it, seal hot in glass pint jars. JELLIES. Jelly should never be stored in a cellar. It demands a cool, dry, dark place, which can be well ventilated, to insure its keeping perfectly. Great care must be given the juice, sugar, etc. The glasses should be hot, dry and clean (surgically clean, we mean). Small tapering cups or bowls THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 149 quickly over it; this will generally occur after five or ten minutes' boiling. Take from the fire and pour into jelly glasses. Let stand Until cold, pour over the top of each glass a little melted paraffin, and when it hardens cover. Hum Jelly.—Pour boiling water over one-half peck of plums placed in a colander. Then put them in a preserving kettle, pour over them just enough water to cover and boil until the plums have become soft and the juice has flowed out. Drain through a colander, then through a jelly bag without squeezing. Measure juice and put to boil in preserve kettle. Add one dozen blanched plum kernels. Allow an equal measure of granulated sugar and put it to heat in shallow pans in the oven. When the juice has boiled 20 minutes skim well, add the hot sugar, stir until dissolved, let come to the boiling point, take immediately from the fire and fill into glasses which have been rolled in boiling water, drained and stood upright on a cloth folded in a shallow pan of boiling water. Use a small teacup to dip the jelly into the tumblers, and fill them very full. Cover airtight next day. The pulp remaining may be used to make a little marmalade, allowing three-quarters of a pint of sugar to one pint of pulp, and a few blanched kernels from the plum stones. Plum and Green Grape Jelly.—Plums mixed with green grapes make the most delicious of all tart jellies. Small yellow plums are the best. Wash, pick and scald them with their own bulk of green grapes picked from the stem, strain out the juice, let it settle 10 minutes, then pour it carefully off the sediment. Put in a shallow kettle over a quick fire, boil for five minutes, skimming well; then add for each pint of juice a pound and a quarter of very hot granulated sugar; stir hard until the sugar dissolves; then skim again and boil hard for two minutes. Drop a little in ice water—the minute this hardens take it off the fire and pour into hot glasses. Plum and Peach.—Japan plums not quite ripe, with a few peaches, make a nice clear amber jelly. Quince Jelly.—Simmer the quinces in a stone jar till tender in enough water to cover them. Drip and strain the juice and boil 20 minutes before adding- an almost equal amount of sugar. This will be a beautiful color if well made and have a delicate flavor. Quince Jelly No. 2.—Place the parings and cores left from preserving in the preserving kettle, cover with cold water and cook until the parings are soft; strain through cheesecloth, measure, and when boiling hard, put a pound of white sugar to each pint of the juice. Boil hard unjil it will set. Ten minutes of hard boiling is usually enough; then pour into glasses. Quince and Cranberry.—Stew cores and skins of quinces in very little water, and strain the juice as for quince jelly; stew tart cranberries 150 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. separately in very little water, strain, and combine with an equal propor- tion of quince juice. Add to the combined juices one cupful of sugar to each cupi'ul of juice, and boil briskly until it jellies. Raspberry Jelly.—One of our friends tells us with pride that she made delicious stiff raspberry jelly last year by mixing the red raspberries with an equal quantity of green grapes. The two fruits were cooked together, then strained as usual. The resulting jelly was clear red, with full rasp- berry flavor. Our friend had never been able to make raspberries "jell" properly before, so she was much pleased with the experiment. It is quite possible that green grapes would stiffen strawberry jelly, which is usually difficult to harden. Some experimenters say they mix either red currants or early apples with strawberries to make jelly. If raspberries and Summer apples are available at the same time, a combination of the two will make an excellent jelly. Cook and strain separately, then mix the juice, and proceed as with any other jelly. Raspberry and red cur- rants mixed are excellent. Rhubarb Jelly.—On account of the watery consistency of the fruit it cannot be made into jelly as readily as most fruit. A fine jelly and one specially suitable for serving with game can be made if the following directions are observed: Let the rhubarb heat on the back of the stove until the juice flows freely. Strain the juice through a jelly bag. Do not squeeze the bag into the jelly, but use only what will drip of itself. The bag can be squeezed into a different vessel, and the liquid thus gained can be re-added to the pulp of the rhubarb and made into jam. Take the rhubarb juice and boil gently for 10 minutes. Measure and to each pint allow a pound of granulated sugar. Boil until a little poured out on a cold plate will set nicely. Do not measure the juice before it has been boiled. Such treatment is needed to reduce the water and make the pure juice and sugar jelly properly. If care is taken in the boiling of the jelly, it turns out a pretty color and is very desirable for garnishing various dishes. Rhubarb Jelly No. 2.—Cut off the leaves and ends from the stalks, and wipe with a clean, damp cloth. Use an earthen dish for cooking. Without removing the skins, cut the rhubarb into pieces 2J^ inches long, and put over them V/2 cupful of sugar, a piece of lemon peel, and a pint of water, this proportion to two pounds of rhubarb. Cover and set in the oven on a shelf. Moisten a half ou»ce of white gelatine in a quarter of a cupful of cold water. When the rhubarb is tender put the gelatine in a large bowl, on which an earthen colander is placed. Pour the rhubarb on this, but remove it very soon to a dish, in order to retain sufficient juice with it. Stir the hot liquid underneath, and when the gelatine is dissolved pour into teacups or molds dipped in cold water. Strawberry Jelly.—To 10 quarts of strawberries add two quarts of 152 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. and when dipping the orange do it gently, or the syrup will be spoiled, and for this reason it is not advisable to use more than a pound of sugar at one time. Peaches.—Pare and halve enough large peaches to weigh two pounds'. Make a syrup with one-half a pound of sugar and a cup of water by boiling together for five minutes. Drop the fruit in and cook gently until tender, then drain out and spread on plates. Boil the syrup until fairly thick and pour over the fruit. Place the plates in a warm oven; turrf the ftuit over frequently until dry. Roll each piece in granulated sugar and put in hot sunshine. Let stand in sun an hour or two. When cooled pack in layers between waxed paper. Pineapple.—Get the finest fruit to be had; pare and cut into the thin- nest possible slices. Weigh, and allow a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Spread sliced fruit on platters and sprinkle the sugar over it. Keep in a warm place for a week—or until dry—then put in a hot oven for 10 minutes. When cold, pack between waxed papers. Quinces.—Boil fruit until tender in as little water as possible (may be steamed) and put through a sieve. Weigh the sifted fruit and to each pound of fruit allow a pound of sugar. Put fruit and sugar together and boil until very thick. Spread on plates; dry in oven or sun; cut in bars; roll in sugar; dry again, and pack like the others described, or wrap each bar in waxed paper. Tin boxes are fine for packing away these fruits, but small tin pails will serve the purpose equally well. Glass cans are good so far as keeping quality goes, but are not so easy to use. CANNING VEGETABLES. Vegetables for canning should be fresh gathered, and of the highest quality, just in the right condition for eating. Asparagus.—Straight-sided quart glass jars, such as the "Royal," should be used for asparagus, so as to avoid breaking the stalks. Wash care- fully, cut the right length to stand the whole stalk upright in the jar and pack in snugly, heads up; then pour in cold water slowly, until the jar is full to overflowing, and lay on the tops. Place straw or boards in the bottom of the wash-boiler, stand the jars on this, and pour in enough cold water to come half way up the jars; put the boiler over the fire, and when the water comes to a boil, boil steadily for three hours. Take up the jars, see that they are full to overflowing (if not fill up with boiling water) put on rubbers and screw or otherwise fasten the covers tight. Keep in a cool, dark place. Another recipe recommends boiling the asparagus for 15 minutes, then putting in the jar, and boiling in the wash-boiler for \l/2 hour, but we think some of the stalks are very likely to be broken by this method. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 153 Beans.—String beans are cut in lengths, boiled for 10 minutes, then put into cans, which are stood in a kettle of water and boiled for two - hours. Add a teaspoonful of sa'.t, fill the jar to overflowing with boiling | water, screw up, and keep in a cool dark place. Another plan is as \ follows: Wash and break each pod in two or three pieces, put on the $ stove in a saucepan of cold salt water and when it just commences to ; bubble (don't let it boil) drain the beans out and put in cans that have 'been washed and scalded. Have ready another saucepan of boiling salt ! water and fill the cans nearly to the brim, leaving just room enough for one tablespoonful of hot vinegar, screw on the caps and set away. When | wanted for use pour off the brine and put in a saucepan of fresh water j with a pinch of soda added; let them come to a boil and immediately ! pour off the water, then cook as you would fresh beans. Dried String Beans.—When fit for the table pick and prepare them i by removing the strings and breaking up into inch pieces; put into a I kettle of cold water and then bring to a scalding heat. Skim out, spread ■i I on plates and dry in the oven or out of doors until all moisture is i removed. Put away in bags until snow flics, then take out a quart and soak in cold water over night. Next morning boil with a good-sized 'piece of sweet salt pork until tender. Beets.—Young beets are delicious canned; cook until tender in salted I water the same as for table use. Cut in thin slices, fill the cans and cover i with hot vinegar, sweetened and spiced, seal. Cauliflower.—Cauliflower may be canned either in vinegar or water- i Break into flowerets and cook until tender in a small quantity of water, :pack the cans as full as possible, add the salt, and fill to overflowing with - hot liquor in which it was cooked, seal. When vinegar is used, steam the ^cauliflower until tender, fill into cans and pour over hot vinegar, sweet- 'ened and spiced. 'Corn.—For canned corn cut the kernels off the cob with a sharp .knife, scraping out the pulp. Fill into the can a little at a time, pressing -it down firmly until the milk overflows the can. Add a teaspoonful of salt. When all are filled place the cans in a boiler and cook half an hour with the covers laid loosely on. Remove from the fire and seal, then cook two hours longer. The preliminary cooking permits the corn to swell without endangering the cans, which may burst if tightly sealed -from the first. Succotash is canned by first half filling the cans with green Lima beans, then filling the remainder of the can with corn, pressed down firmly. Add a teaspoonful of salt to eacli can, and cook like corn. Salted Corn.—This recipe has been highly endorsed by readers who have tried it. Have corn "just right" for eating. While it may be brought from the field the previous evening it should not be prepared 154 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. otherwise until the following morning, as there is danger of its souring. Clean and scald your boiler thoroughly and fill with the corn properly husked and silked, discarding all ears either over or under ripe. Cook as for the table. Removing from the boiler, score each row of kernels with a sharp knife and shave off not too close to the cob. After cutting from cob, measure and to each eight pints of corn add one pint of salt and mix thoroughly with the hands until a brine is formed. Have ready a well-scalded and clean crock and pack corn in this as it is mixed. When jar is filled within one inch of top, cover with a clean white cloth large- enough to hang over edge of crock. On this cloth put about an inch of salt, and on the salt a plate that fits the top of jar. Now it is ready to put in the cellar or any cool place for Fall and Winter use, but in its preparation for the table lies the secret of its success. There is only one way of making it palatable, but with directions strictly adhered to it is preferred by many to canned corn. About one and one-half hour before the meal at which one wishes to serve it it must be brought from the cellar—enough for one meal—and cold water enough to cover poured on and at once poured off. Then sufficient boiling water is poured on to cover and it is allowed to stand on the back of the range for 15 minutes. This water is drained off and sufficient fresh boiling water poured on to cover and the same time allowed. This process is repeated twice more, in all four times. Then cream, butter, sugar and if liked a little pepper is added. In short after pouring off the water for the fourth time it is prepared exactly as canned corn. The process of removing the salt by a swift boiling water process instead of a slow cold water process seems to leave the corn as fresh as when taken from the cob. This, together with the ease with which it is prepared—so much easier and surer than canning—makes the process ideal. Southern Dried Corn.—Sew firmly into a quilting-frame a strong sheet. Gather the corn when ready for use, husk and remove silk. Put on in boiler, cover with water and when it starts boiling let cook well for 10 or 15 minutes. Take off, allow it to cool some, then score and cut off, but not too close, to have it shucky, and scrape off what remains on ear. Have your frame out in a sunny place, spread corn evenly upon it, cover with a mosquito netting and it will dry quickly in this way, as it dries from below just as fast as above. Then at some convenient time when the oven is piping hot put it in the oven to heat well through in order to kill any chance "microbe." When it comes time to cook the dried corn wash well in water. Put to soak in milk over night and cook in the milk it soaked in; season with sugar, salt, pepper and butter, and you will find it very good and know that it is clean. Uncooked Canned Corn.—Prepare corn by removing husks and silk; break into pieces large enough to fit into two-quart cans. Season cold THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 155 water with just enough salt to taste. Then fill the cans up with this salt water; have new rubbers for cans, and when you have got the air bubbles all out seal your cans and stand them upside down to see that they do not leak. If they do not your Corn will keep all right. Some cut it off and can same way, but always fill the can first and then put in the salt water. We are told that this corn keeps perfectly. Peas.—To can peas, fill the jars full of peas, uncooked; then fill with cold water, and lay on the tops. Place straw or boards in the bottom of the wash boiler, stand the jars on this, and pour enough cold water in the boiler to come half way up the jars. Put the boiler on the stove with the lid tightly closed, and boil three hours. When the jars are taken out, see that they are full to overflowing, and screw the lid on tight. Another method of preparing peas is to cook five minutes iu very little water, then fill the cans, and place them in the boiler to cook for one hour. A teaspoonful of salt is added the last thing before sealing. Dried Peas.—Green peas are dried as follows: Shell the peas, put them in boiling water, and boil for five minutes. Drain, then spread out in shallow trays, and dry in the sun, or near the stove. When dry, store away in paper bags, in a dry place. The peas should be soaked before using; then boiled in salted water. Tomatoes.—Scald to remove the skins, put in the jars whole or halved, fill up with cold water; stand the jars in the wash boiler, boil 30 minutes, and seal. Do not use any overripe or fermenting fruit. The main things to observe in canning vegetables are that the jars are filled to overflow- ing; that they are hermetically sealed, while hot, and that they are stored in a cool, dry place. Vegetables, like fruits, should be taken in their regular order and canned while in the best possible condition. Tomatoes Canned Whole.—Select firm, smooth fruit, not overripe, and of a size to slip into the ordinary fruit jar. Peel without breaking and with as little scalding as possible. Have ready a preserving kettle full of water, which has been salted slightly, only enough to taste. Just before the water reaches the boiling point drop the tomatoes into it, one layer at a time and heat through. Do not allow the water to boil at any time. When thoroughly heated transfer tomatoes to the cans, being careful not to bruise them. Fill the cans with the hot, salted water, and screw the tops on. quickly. Turn the cans over in a deep kettle of hot water until the rubbers are heated and set, which hermetically seals the cans. In using drain from the salt water, and serve exactly as fresh tomatoes. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 157 the skins off as soon as they are cool enough to handle, also cut off top and tail and pack in fruit jars; set aside and prepare your vinegar. It will not be necessary to heat the beets over again. Put as much vinegar over the fire as will be required to cover the beets; when this comes to a boil add a little sugar, according to taste. Let the vinegar boil five minutes longer; pour over the beets piping hot and seal. A small piece of horseradish put into each jar will keep the white scum from forming on the top of the vinegar. Beet Relish.—Boil two medium-sized beets until tender, drain and let stand in cold water three minutes, then skin, slice thin and cover with strong vinegar for one hour. Drain -off the vinegar and mash the beets thoroughly, adding three tablespoons of grated horseradish, a pinch of salt and a dash of black pepper. Beet Sweet Pickle.—Boil till tender, then skin, and cut into slices or strips. Put in glass jars rather loosely, so that each piece will be sur- rounded by the pickle. To two quarts of vinegar add four pounds of brown sugar, and, when these are in the kettle, add a scant half-teaspoon- ful of pulverized alum. Use a porcelain-lined kettle for this liquid, and bring the contents to a boil. Skim carefully, and then add to it a small cheesecloth bag containing a teaspoonful each of whole peppercorns, allspice and cloves. Boil again, and add a little cayenne pepper and salt. Fill the jars to overflowing with this liquid, and set aside over night. The next morning drain the beets, and bring the syrup again to a hard boil. Pour this again into the jars of beets, doing so while it is scalding hot, and filling each jar to overflowing. Seal immediately. Blackberry Pickle.—Put a pint of the best cider vinegar in a granite kettle, together with four cupfuls of granulated sugar, one teaspoonful of ground cloves, and two teaspoonfuls of ground cinnamon; when it boils add three quarts of dewberries or blackberries that have been care- fully cleaned; let the fruit cock 10 minutes in the syrup, then skim the berries into a gallon jar; pour over the syrup and turn a plate over them to keep the berries below the surface; tie a double fold of cloth and thick paper over the jar when the fruit is cold and the pickle will keep perfectly. Cauliflower Pickles.—Two cauliflowers, broken up, cne pint small onions, three medium-sized red peppers; dissolve half a pint of salt in water sufficient to cover the vegetables, and let stand over night; drain in the morning; steam the vegetables until tender; heat two quarts of vinegar with three level tablespoonfuls of mustard (less if preferred) until it boils; pour over vegetables; bottle and seal. Pickled Cherries.—Five pounds of cherries, stoned or not, as pre- ferred; one quart of vinegar, two pounds of sugar, one-half ounce of cinnamon, one-half ounce of cloves, same amount of mace, all ground, 158 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Boil the sugar, vinegar and spices (tie the latter in a bag) together, and pour hot over the cherries. Spiced Cherries.—Make a syrup by boiling together four pounds of granulated sugar, one pint of vinegar, one-half ounce each of cinnamon bark and whole cloves. Cook in this till the skin breaks nine pounds of firm, ripe cherries. Chopped Pickle.—One-half peck green tomatoes, two stalks of celery, one green pepper, one-half a cabbage, three large onions, all chopped, to which add one-half a cupful of mustard seed, two tablespoonfuls of celery seed, one-half cupful of brown sugar, one-quarter cupful of salt, one teaspoonful of black pepper, the same of cinnamon, one saltspoonful each of cloves and allspice and one quart of vinegar. Mix all well to- gether and seal in Mason jars. Will keep perfectly. Chow Chow.—Wash thoroughly and chop without paring half a peck of green tomatoes; chop fine one large head of white cabbage; pare and chop six large cucumbers; clean thoroughly and cut into small dice one bunch of celery and finely chop one large white onion. Mix all together, add half a cup of salt and let stand over night. Clean 100 tiny pickles and fifty small silver-skinned onions; put into separate jars, cover with strong salt water and let them stand over night. The next morning drain the first mixture thoroughly, wash off the pickles and onions and wipe dry. Chop fine one large red mango pepper. Put all together into a preserving kettle, add two quarts of the best cider vinegar (dilute somewhat if very strong), half a pound of. granulated sugar, half an ounce each of turmeric and celery seed, one ounce of ground mustard seed. Cook 30 minutes, then bottle and seal. English Chow Chow.—This calls for two medium-sized heads of firm white cabbage, half a peck of green tomatoes, two quarts of firm ripe tomatoes, half a dozen green peppers and two red peppers. Chop all together as fine as you can, and pack the mixture in layers of salt. Put it in a coarse bag of burlap or some rough material. Lay it over a rack placed upon a deep keg or jar and put a heavy press upon it. Let it drain in this way over night, or for 24 hours. A pint and a half of sugar, half a cup of grated horseradish, half a teaspoonful of ground black pepper, half an even teaspoonful of ground mustard, an ounce of white mustard seed, an ounce of celery seed, a tablespoonful of ground mace and, finally, a gill of Dutch mustard compose the seasonings and must be added to the mixture. After it has drained sufficiently moisten the whole with enough good cider vinegar scantily to cover it. This chow chow requires no cooking and does not have to be put up in sealed jars. A stone crock is all sufficient, if kept in a cold, dry place. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 1S9 Virginia Chow Chow.—This is an old recipe. One peck each of green and ripe tomatoes, one large, firm head of cabbage, six each of green and ripe peppers, six large white onions and two bunches of celery. Chop the vegetables fine, sprinkle over them a cupful of coarse salt and let them soak 24 hours. Drain all the liquid off, cover with best cider vinegar, stir in one pound of dark brown sugar, one-half cupful of grated horse-radish, two tablespoonfuls of white mustard seed, one tablespoonful of ground ginger, one teaspoonful of ground cloves and the same amount of allspice. Let the pickle come slowly to the boiling point, then remove to the back of the range and let it stand for one hour. Seal up in Mason jars, and it will be ready for use in a week, but will improve with age. Corn and Cabbage.—Cut the kernels from 12 large ears of 'corn, add as much chopped cabbage as there is cut corn, one large sweet pepper freed from seeds and chopped, one cupful of brown sugar, two table- spoonfuls of salt, one-half tablespoonful of ground mustard and one quart of vinegar. Bring all to a boil and then can. Corn Relish.—Chop one head of cabbage; sprinkle over it two table- spoonfuls of salt and let stand over night. Cut the kernels from 12 ears of corn; chop three peppers. Mix all together. Mix with them a little celery seed; grated horseradish, or both if liked, though neither are needed to insure the keeping qualities of the relish. Bring two quarts of vinegar to boiling heat; add one cup of sugar and a quarter of a pound of mustard that has been rubbed smooth in a little cold vinegar. Pour this hot dressing over the mixture; stir until well mixed; put in glass jars, or small jars. Corn Salad.—Eighteen large ears corn, one head cabbage, one-fourth pound ground mustard, four red peppers (chopped), one-half cup.salt, one and two-thirds cup sugar, two quarts vinegar. Corn is shaved from cob, cabbage and peppers chopped and all ingredients thoroughly mixed. It is then cooked one hour. By cooking in oven it need not be stirred so frequently and there is much less danger of burning. It is canned and sealed while hot. Pickled Crab Apple.—One quart of vinegar, three pounds brown sugar; make this into a syrup. Have the apples in a gallon jar or one of size that will set in an iron kettle. Pour this syrup over them, have seasoning tied in small pieces of cheese cloth and cook with the rest. Boil in the jar until a fork will go easily into the apples. The juice need not cover the fruit at first, the apples help make more. This keeps the fruit whole and is very satisfactory; it needs a weight like a small plate to keep apples under the liquor. Cucumbers in Barrels.—Choose small cucumbers free from spots. Put a layer of cucumbers in the bottom of a cask, then a layer of coarse 160 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. salt, about one-fourth inch thick, then another layer of cucumbers, more salt, and so on until all are used. Place a board on top of the pickles, with a heavy stone to keep them down. Then pour in about a quart of water to moisten the salt, which, with the juice exuding from the cu- cumbers should make sufficient brine to cover. Continue to add cu- cumbers, as they are gathered, in layers as before; a few cabbage or horseradish leaves on top, under the board, will prevent molding. When the cask is full, tuck a cloth closely around the edges, put board and weight on top, and cover closely, and the cucumbers will keep for a year or two. When cucumbers are wanted for pickling, remove cloth, board and stone, and wash them well in warm water; wipe all scum from sides of cask with a clean cloth, take out cucumbers, and then cover any remaining as before. Soak cucumbers for three days in cold water, changing water each day; drain and wipe carefully. Half fill a large porcelain-lined preserving kettle with good cider vinegar, put in as many cucumbers as the vinegar will cover, with a piece of alum the size of a hazelnut; heat to boiling point, stirring with a wooden spoon so that they do not soften at bottom of kettle, and then drain, throw- ing away the vinegar. Cover with fresh cold vinegar, spice if desired. A little chopped horseradish at top will prevent molding. They will be ready for use in about a week. A great many cucumber pickles are sold direct from the brine. Brine for Cucumbers.—To six parts of water use one part salt, and one part of cider vinegar. Keep the pickles well under the brine, and they will keep longer and be more brittle than when laid down in salt, in the old way. Pickle for Cucumbers.—One-half ounce of black pepper, one and one-half ounce of ginger, one ounce of allspice, one ounce of cloves, one ounce of mustard seed, three-fourths of a pound of salt, half z>tea- spoon cayenne pepper, one ounce ground mustard, one ounce turmeric, and six quarts of vinegar. The spices are to be scalded in the vinegar, except the mustard and turmeric which should be added when the vinegar is cold. For a good pickle without mustard: Put a teacupful of" salt and a tablespoonful of powdered alum into a gallon of vinegar. Pick small cucumbers and pour a weak brine over them, boiling hot. Let stand over night; drain, and put into prepared vinegar. Add cu- cumbers as convenient, and when as many have been put into the vinegar as it will cover scald them up, and put into fresh vinegar, to which has been added a little red pepper and horseradish. Canned Cucumbers.—Cucumbers canned as follows will keep until the following June, and are excellent to serve with meat or salad:' Peel and slice thin medium-sized cucumbers, sprinkle with salt and a little alum; let stand two hours; drain and put in jars, adding vinegar THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 1«1 enough to cover, pepper and a few whole mustard seeds, the quantity of pepper to be governed by the taste, and the whole pepper to be used in preference to the ground. On top of the jar, when ready for seal- ing, add a dessertspoonful of olive oil. Chopped Cucumber Relish.—This is simple and very excellent. Pare and chop fine half a peck of medium-sized cucumbers; chop two medium- sized onions. Salt each separately over night, using one-third of a cup of salt in all. Drain thoroughly the next morning and mix. If the mixture seems too salty cover with cold water and drain a second time. Then put into a granite kettle, add a rounding tablespoonful each of celery seed and mustard seed, a level tablespoonful of ground mustard, one-eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, half a cup of brown sugar and a pint of best vinegar. Boil 10 minutes, then bottle and seal. Dill Pickles.—Make a brine strong enough to bear an egg, then add half as much more water as you have brine. Wash cucumbers in cold water, and into a stone jar put first a layer of cucumbers, then a layer of grape leaves and a layer of dill, using leaves and stems. Continue in this way until the jar is full. Pour the brine over all and cover, first with a cloth, then with a plate, and put a weight on top of the plate. The cloth must be washed frequently as in making sauerkraut. Gherkins.—Wipe one quart of small unripe cucumbers. Put in a stone crock and add one-quarter cupful of salt dissolved in one pint of boiling water. Let stand three days. Drain cucumbers from brine, bring the brine to the boiling point,- pour over the cucumbers, and again let stand three days. Repeat; drain, wipe cucumbers, and pour over one quart of boiling water in which one scant teaspoonful of alum has been dissolved. Let stand six hours, then drain from alum water. Cook cucumbers 10 minutes, a few at a time, in one-fourth of the fol- lowing mixture, heated to the boiling point and boiled 10 minutes: One quart of vinegar, one red pepper, one-half stick of cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful allspice, one-half tablespoonful of cloves. Strain the re- maining liquor over the pickles, which have been put in a stone jar. Bring liquor to boiling point before turning it over the pickles. Grated Cucumber Pickles.—Take cucumbers fully grown, pare them, and if the seeds are large remove them, then grate and drain through a colander, and to the pulp left add as much vinegar as there is juice, and can. Cucumber Mustard Pickles.—To every gallon of water add two pints of fine salt, heat scalding hot and pour over the cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours, pour off the brine. Heat sufficient vinegar to cover them. To every gallon of vinegar add one tablespoonful pulverized alum, pour over the cucumbers and cover tight to steam. Put on fresh cabbage THE RURAL COOK BOOK. . 165 one quart of vinegar, three pounds moist sugar, one-half ounce cinna- mon, three blades of mace, one-quarter ounce allspice. The plums should be ripe, but not too much so; the bloom is rubbed off with a piece of flannel or a clean cloth, and they are pricked a little with a needle. The vinegar, sugar and spices are boiled together for 10 min- utes, then strained and poured over the fruit, in a large basin Next day the vinegar is boiled again, and again poured over the damsons, and on the third day the damsons themselves are simmered in the vinegar for exactly' five minutes. They should be tied down while hot. A quicker method of pickling either plums or damsons is the following: Remove the stalks from the fruit; wipe it and arrange in layers in a jar with good brown sugar sprinkled between. Fill up the jars with cold vinegar, tie them down and bake in rather a slow oven till the plums are tender, then tie down for use. French Mustard.—Take six ounces of salt, four ounces of scraped horseradish, one clove of garlic, and two quarts of boiling vinegar; steep these together in a covered vessel for six hours, then strain and add mustard to the spiced vinegar sufficient to make it the proper con- sistency. These proportions are large; they can be reduced if necessary, but the mustard will keep a long time, as it is made with boiling vinegar. Gillespie Relish.—Ore peck ripe tomatoes, two cupfuls celery, six large onions, seven red peppers. Run the peeled tomatoes and the onions through a meat grinder. Chop the celery and the peppers fine. Add two ounces of mustard seed and ground cinnamon, one-half cupful of salt, three pints cider vinegar and two pounds of light brown sugar. Mix and seal. Do not cook. It is claimed that this will keep per- fectly for five years, and it is very appetizing and universally liked. Hebrew Pickle.—For a pint of pickles grate two roots of horse- radish. Mix with it two tablespoonfuls of celery seed, three tablespoon- fuls of mustard seed, four tablespoonfuls of sugar and one tablespoonful of turmeric. Cover the ingredients with scalding hot vinegar. Seal in glass jars. Let stand one week before using. India Relish.—This recipe calls for gherkins, large cucumbers, small onions, cabbage and red peppers. Green nasturtium seeds may be added. Cut the vegetables all into small pieces and put the mixture, layer by layer, into a stone jar, separating the layers with salt. Sprinkle the top well with salt, cover with a plate weighted with a flatiron, stone or brick, and let the jar and contents stand for three days. At the end of that time drain off the liquid and rinse the vegetables thoroughly in cold water. Then cover with fresh cold water and leave for 36 hours. In tfie mebntime scald three-quarters of a gallon of cider vinegar with half a tablespoonful each of celery seed, paprika, cloves, mace, ground mustard; and horseradish and two tablespoonfuls of curry. Add one 166 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. and three-quarters cupful of brown sugar. Turn the vinegar over the drained vegetables and cook for a quarter of an hour. Put the relish into a stone jar and leave it for two or three days. Then drain off the vinegar, scald it and pour it while hot over the vegetables. Let it stand until the next day, then fill into small jars, cover closely and keep in a cool dark place. India Relish No. 2.—This comes from the South. Two pounds of citron melon or watermelon rind, two heads of cabbage, white and firm; six white onions, one large cupful of sugar, one heaping teaspoonful each of ground cinnamon, mace, paprika (Hungarian sweet pepper), mustard and powdered alum, one tablespoonful of curry powder, one quart of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of celery seed, one tablespoonful of salt. Prepare the melon by cutting off the green rind and scraping away the softer inner coating, leaving less than an inch firm and white. Cut into thin strips, put into a porcelain-lined kettle, cover with cold water and sprinkle a tablespoonful of powdered alum over it. Cover closely and cook gently for three hours. Drain well and cover with ice water. Change the water twice in four hours, and then wipe the melon dry. Cut the cabbage into quarters, cook in boiling water slightly salted for fifteen minutes. Let it get perfectly cold. Parboil the onions, and allow them also to get cold and stiff. Now chop cabbage, melons and onions separately and very fine. Mix all together in a large crock and pour over them the scalding hot vinegar, in which have been boiled for one minute the spices, sugar and celery seed. Leave the crock covered 24 hours. Strain off the vinegar, bring it to a boil and pour again over the mixture in the crock. Repeat this for three days in succession, after which pack in small jars, cover closely and set away to ripen. It will be ready for use in six weeks, but improves by keeping. Pickled Mangoes.—Young musk, or nutmeg melons are needed for the purpose. Through a slit in the side of the melon extract all the seeds with the fingers without breaking the fruit. In case the patience gives out, a plug can be cut out, saved and replaced, but it is better to make only the slit. Keep the melons in strong brine for three days, then drain them and let them remain in pure water for 24 hours. Heat slowly in vinegar, in which alum has been dissolved, until the melons are green. For a gallon of vinegar a piece of alum half the size of a hickorynut will be wanted. The following is the recipe for the stuf- fing, given in an old cook book: One handful of horseradish scraped; two handfuls of English mustard seed, two teaspoonfuls of chopped garlic, one teaspoonful of ground nutmeg and mace, one dozen whole peppercorns, one teaspoonful of ground ginger, half a tablespoonful of ground mustard, one teaspoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of celery seed and one tablespoonful of olive oil. Fill the greened mangoes THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 167 through the slit with the mixture. Sew up the slit, or tie the melon securely so that it will not open. Pack the mangoes in a big stone jar and pour scalding vinegar over them. After two days, drain off the vinegar, scald and return it to the jar, and repeat twice at intervals of two days. The mangoes will be ready for use in four or five months. Minced Pickle.—Chop half a peck of green tomatoes, cover them with two-thirds of a cupful of salt and let them stand for a day and a night. Then scald half a gallon of vinegar with a tablespoonful of pepper, a tablespoonful and a half each of ground mustard, allspice, cinnamon and cloves and half a cupful of white mustard seed. Add to the tomatoes two onions chopped fine and four large green peppers de- nuded of seeds and cut into rings. Turn the vinegar over the mixture and boil steadily 20 minutes; then bottle. Mixed Pickle.—Three hundred small cucumbers, two heads of cauli- flower, one of cabbage, six green peppers with seeds taken out, three quarts small onions and two quarts small beans. Cut the cabbage and the cauliflower in small pieces, and put all in a brine strong enough to bear up an egg. Let them remain 24 hours, then rinse and drain thor- oughly. Place on the stove two gallons of vinegar, add a large root of horseradish, grated, two ounces each of mustard seed and black pep- per, one teaspoon cayenne, and one ounce of turmeric. Let it boil and pour over pickles in a jar. When cold mix in one cupful of mustard wet with cold vinegar. Mixed Pickle No. 2.—One-half medium-sized head of cabbage, four celery roots, four tablespoonfuls grated horseradish, six large green tomatoes, one large or two small Spanish onions, V/2 quart of vinegar, one-fourth teaspoonful of powdered alum. Chop all the vegetables and mix them together. Put a layer about two inches thick in the bottom of a jar, sprinkle it with a tablespoonful of salt, then another layer of vegetables and salt, and so on until all is used. Allow it to stand 24 hours, then drain, and press out all the liquor; cover with boiling water, allow it to stand 10 minutes, then press with the hands until entirely dry. Add to one quart of vinegar '% teaspoonful of alum, and stir until dissolved. Put a layer of the pickles two inches thick in the bottom of a jar, sprinkle with mustard seed, black pepper, and the grated horseradish; then another layer of pickle, and so on until used. Pour the vinegar over, let it stand two days, and it is ready for use. Mock Olives.—Two quarts of green plums, V/, tablespoonful mus- tard seed, V/2 tablespoonfuls salt, two quarts vinegar. Place the plums in a stone jar with mustard seed and salt; turn the vinegar into a pre- serving kettle, bring to a boil and pour over plums. Cover closely. 168 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. Next day drain off the vinegar, bring again to a boil and pour over plums while hot. If plums are large repeat the third morning. When cold place all in olive bottles and cork tightly. They will taste like real olives. Muskmelon Pickles.—Pare the rind off ripe, spicy, green melons, re- move the seeds and cut into thick slices. Weigh as for peaches, seven pounds of fruit to three and one-quarter pounds of sugar, and put the sugar to cook with water enough to dissolve it. Boil and skim it until clear, then pour it over the melon in a crock. Repeat this for three mornings, but on the third morning add a cupful of vinegar to each three pints of syrup and boil it up with a cupful of spices in a bag. Pour it over the melon in jars and seal at once. Mustard Pickles.—Two quarts small cucumbers, one quart small onions, one quart green tomatoes, one large cauliflower, six green pep- pers, quartered. Lay in weak brine twenty-four hours, then scald in same water and drain. Paste—six tablespoonfuls English mustard, one tablespoonful tumeric, one and one-half cup of sugar, orte small cup of flour, two quarts best cider vinegar. Mix dry ingredients thor- oughly, add vinegar, boil a few minutes, pour over pickles and bottle. Mustard Pickles Nc. 2.—This differs from most recipes for this pickle in being made without green tomato. Put one-half peck small encumbers, two quarts silver skinned onions, and two heads of picked cauliflower to soak in water to cover and a cupful of salt over night. In the morning drain; mix one dessertspoonful of turmeric powder with three-quarters of a pound of the best mustard; wet with sufficient vinegar to mix without lumps. Put three quarts of vinegar over the fire, add five cents' wcrth of mixed pickling spices, one-half ounce celery seed, one-half ounce white mustard seed, one teaspoonful each of cinnamon and cloves, one pound of brown sugar, carefully stir in the mustard and turmeric paste and let boil up well; then add the mixed pickles, two red peppers chopped with the seeds of same, and stir all together. After it begins to bubble let boil well for five minutes. Mustard Pickles No. 3.—Equal quantities of cucumbers, celery, cauli- flower and small button onions. Cut all in small pieces except the onions. Cover with strongly-salted water for 24 hours; drain, put into a jar, and pour on hot vinegar (not too strong) sufficient to cover. Let the pickles stand three days, and then drain. To five quarts of the pickle use three quarts of cider vinegar, one cupful of sugar, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Heat to boiling, then stirring constantly (for fear of burning) add cne cupful of flour, six tablespoonfuls of ground mustard and one-half ounce of turmeric powder wetted in cold vinegar. Stir till smooth, and pour over the pickle while hot; stir well. When cold cover close. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 169 Sliced Mustard Pickles.—One dozen large cucumbers sliced, two dozen very small cucumbers, one quart of small onions, one large cauli- flower, steamed slightly. Soak all these ingredients in cold brine over night. Paste for the pickles is made as follows: One-half pound of ground yellow mustard, one teacupful of flour, one teacupful of sugar, one-half ounce of turmeric. Rub the above ingredients together with a little vinegar until smooth. Then add three quarts of vinegar, letting it scald until a thick paste. Next add one-half ounce of celery seed, and pour the hot paste over the pickles, put in cans and seal. Nasturtium Pods Pickled.—Put the pods to soak in weak brine for two days, then in fresh water one day; drain, put in a jar, and cover with boiling vinegar. The vinegar may be spiced if desired, but if the pods are to be used in sauce they are better unspiced. Pickled Onions.—First pour boiling water over the onions to loosen the skins. As soon as cool enough to handle begin to peel, dropping the onions as peeled into salt water (not brine) to prevent their being discolored. Make a strong brine, heat to the boiling point, and pour over the onions. Leave them in the brine 48 hours, then drain. Spice vinegar 'according to taste, beat 1o boiling point, 'and pour over the onions. Set away for two or three days, drain off the vinegar, heat it again, and pour it over the onions in the jars in which they are to be stored; tie up the jars and set away. Pickled Peaches.—For pickling select medium-sized peaches, ripe and firm. Rub off the down with a piece of flannel. To eight pounds of fruit use four pounds of granulated sugar, one quart of vinegar, two ounces of stick cinnamon. Boii the sugar, vinegar and cinnamon for five minutes. Then put in the peaches carefully, a few at a time. If one likes cloves, two or three may be stuck in each peach. When the peaches arc done enough to be easily pricked with a fork, take them out and put in the jar. When the peaches are all cooked boil the syrup till a little thick, pour over peaches and seal cans or jars. Sweet Pickled Peaches.—Cut the peaches in two, remove the stones, and close the openings with halves together, pack in jars, and cover with the following liquid: To two pounds of sugar add one pint of vinegar (best cider vinegar alone should be used for all pickles), tie in a bag a teaspoonful of whole cloves, one-half teaspoonful cassia buds, three sticks of cinnamon (broken) and some tiny bits of ginger, allspice and nutmeg (about a teaspoonful in all). Scald three times and seal the jars. Keep in dark, dry place; when ready to use remove the spice. Sweet Pickled Pears.—Select ripe but firm fruit, peel and measure out for every seven pounds of fruit four of white sugar, one pint of soft vinegar and half a tablespoonful each of whole cloves, whole allspice 170 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. and cinnamon sticks. Put the pears in a kettle and over each layer sprinkle sugar until both are exhausted. Heat slowly until the boiling point is reached, then add the vinegar and spice and boil five minutes. Take out the fruit with a perforated skimmer and spread upon platters to cool. Boil the syrup till thick. Heat the jars, pack in the pears and pour the syrup over boiling hot; seal. Pepper Hash.—Wash and dry five large green peppers and one red one, remove seeds and chop shells quite fine; chop fine a good-sized cabbage, and place with the peppers in a bowl, mixing well. Add two tablespoonfuls of brown mustard seed, three tablespoonfuls of salt and enough good cider vinegar to cover the whole. Stir well together and put into pickle bottles. Ready for use in two days, or will keep for Winter use. Pepper Mangoes.—Two dozen full-grown pods of red pepper. Cut out the stems with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. Lay the pods in brine and let soak for 24 hours. Drain. Make a dressing of finely chopped cabbage, enough to fill the peppers, seasoned with one table- spoonful each of salt and pulverized mustard seed, one teaspoonful of grated horseradish, qne teaspoonful of black pepper and one tablespoon- ful of made mustard. When well mixed stuff the peppers, sew the stems on with a coarse thread, pack in a stone jar, cover with strong vinegar and let stand two weeks before using. Pickled Peppers.—Put two dozen green peppers in a bowl and pour over them a very strong brine. Put a weight over them to keep them under the water and let them lie for two days. Drain them, make a small incision in the side of each to let out the water, wipe them with a soft cloth and put them in a stone jar, with one-half ounce of whole allspice, one-half ounce of whole cloves and a small lump of alum. Pour cold vinegar over them and tie a bladder securely over the jar. Pickled in this way the peppers should preserve their color. Pepper Relish.—Remove the seeds from six large green peppers and one red bell pepper, and chop the peppers fine. Mix the peppers with a finely minced head of cabbage. Turn in a little less than a quarter of. a cupful of salt, a full cupful of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of mus- tard seed and nice cider vinegar enough to cover the mixture. Stir thoroughly and bottle. Piccalilli.—Two pecks of green tomatoes, two heads of white cab- bage, 12 large onions, four green peppers, two red peppers, one good root of horseradish (grated), one tablespoonful each of cinnamon, nut- meg and allspice. Chop all fine, stir in two cups of salt and let stand all night, then drain; cover with cold vinegar, boil 10 minutes and drain again. Cover with vinegar, add the spices and three pounds of brown sugar. Boil a few minutes and put away in jars. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 171 Canned Pimentos.—These are simply red peppers, the long, tapering, sharp-pointed sweet variety. They repay one for the trouble, as they retail at 15 cents a can, and in glass jars at 35 cents per quart. Select ripe red ones, neither dry nor woody. Cut off stem.end and extract the seeds. Drop in a jar and cover with brine that will float an egg. Let stand three days. Wash in several waters, cover with clear water one day, then drain well. Place peppers in cans, fill to overflowing with boiling water, add a level tablespoonful of salt to each quart of water; place in a boiler on two-inch layer of straw, weight cans to prevent tipping, pour in boiling water to cover two-thirds of the can, screw lids on loosely and cover the boiler. When the water boils simmer 10 minutes, remove and seal. They are used in salads, as a relish with cold meats or are stuffed with rice, macaroni or bread crumbs. Pumpkin Pickle.—This is very good when there is a scarcity of apples. Pare the pumpkins carefully, leaving out all soft or stringy parts, then cut into pieces about one or two inches square. Soak over night in vinegar, salt and water, just enough vinegar and salt to make a good flavor. The next day make a pickle as you would for any nice pickle and let them simmer on the back of the stove for a long time without stirring. Our rule for pickle is seven pounds fruit, four pounds sugar and one pint of vinegar. We usually flavor the pumpkin pickle with either sliced lemon or ginger root. Quince Sweet Pickles.—Scrub with a small vegetable brush to re- move the down, wipe dry and cut out any spots or decayed portions. Slice, without paring, into rounds a fourth of an inch thick, leaving in both core and seeds, unless imperfect, then weigh. Put the fruit, a thin layer at a time, in a steamer or colander over boiling water, cover closely and steam until it is perfectly tender, then place in a stone jar. Make the syrup of four pounds of sugar, a pint of vinegar of medium strength, a pint of the water over which the fruit was steamed. an ounce of stick cinnamon, a heaping tablespoonful of allspice berries and a level tablespoonful of whole cloves to seven pounds of the fruit. Pour over the fruit, cover securely and stand in a cool place over night. The next morning drain off the syrup, boil for 10 minutes with the spice bag, skim and pour again boiling hot over the fruit. Continue this process for three successive mornings. The last morning add the fruit to the syrup and spices and boil gently until heated through, then skim out and put into the crock. Continue to boil the syrup until it is as thick as molasses. If, after the second boiling, it does not seem spiced sufficiently, add more spices tied in a fresh bag. When the syrup is done, reheat the quinces in it, then fill into self-sealing glass jars as in canning. Red Cabbage Pickle.—Cut a red cabbage of good size into six pieces, THE RURAL COOK BOOK. "~r^ 173 French Sweet Pickle.—One peck green tomatoes chopped and six large onions sliced. Salt them and let stand over night. Then drain off the watery part and cover with vinegar, add two teaspoons of baking soda dissolved in a little water, and let the whole boil for 15 minutes. Take two pounds of brown sugar, two ounces of cinnamon, one ounce of ground cloves and one-half pound of white mustard seed and mix dry. Put this in the kettle with three quarts of vinegar. Once more drain the tomato of its liquid part, add it to the spice and vinegar and cook for an hour. Green Tomato Chili Sauce.—Slice the green tomatoes and salt down as you do egg plant, put a weight on them and let stand until morn- ing, then rinse in cold water to take out the salt and wash out the seeds and bitter juice of the green tomato. For 12 tomatoes take four sweet green peppers, half dozen chili peppers, one large onion, one cupful vinegar, one tablespoonful sugar, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one of pep- per, two of ground allspice, half teaspoonful of mace, one of cinnamon, one of cloves. Chop the tomatoes fine, boil 20 minutes, strain and press through a sieve. Chop the peppers and onions very fine, first taking out the seeds of the peppers. Boil all together for 10 minutes; add spices, then bottle and seal. Green Tomato Chow Chow.—Chop fine one peck of green tomatoes, three onions, six green peppers; sprinkle them lightly with salt, let stand an hour, then scald in the juices. Put three quarts of vinegar in a porcelain-lined kettle with one pint of sugar- and a few pieces of horse- radish root. Boil for five minutes, add the tomatoes and boil five minutes longer, put into stone jars, cover and set in cool, dry place. Whole cloves, mace and stick cinnamon may be added to this if you want a spiced pickle. Easy Green Tomato Pickle.—Slice the tomatoes and allow them to stand in weak salt brine over night. In the morning rinse and pack directly in fruit jars. Place the jars uncovered in the steamer and steam for about two hours. Have ready at the end of that time a sweet-spiced vinegar made exactly as you do for pickling peaches, and after draining . all the juice that cooks from the sliced tomatoes, fill the cans brim-full with it and seal as in canning anything. Green Tomato Sweet Pickle.—Wash the tomatoes and let drain, then slice into a large earthen dish, sprinkling salt between the layers. Let stand till next day. Pour off the brine and juice, rinse off with clear water, let the fruit drain, then weigh if you like to follow the exact rule. To a syrup made of brown sugar and a little water add ginger root, cloves and cinnamon bark. Also tie up two or three little bags of mixed, ground spices to cook with the rest. Add the tomato and a handful of nasturtium seeds, and cook till the tomato seems tender. 174 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. The nasturtium seeds should be not more than half grown, green, and if in clusters, so much the better. Skim out the tomato into a stone jar, add a liberal quantity of vinegar to the juice left in the kettle, and when it boils up pour over the contents of the jar. Green Tomato Mangoes.—Select smooth tomatoes of good shape and showing no signs of ripening. Cut across one-fourth of the length below the stem and carefully extract the seeds and pulp. Have ready a filling composed of two parts finely chopped cabbage and one part onions, also chopped fine, and season to taste with celery and mustard seeds, pepper and sugar. Fill the tomato shells as full as possible and tie the tops firmly on with strong cord. Let the mangoes lie over night in very strong brine, then soak them for 24 hours in weak vinegar. Pack in a stone jar, leaving plenty of space above them, and fill the jar with three parts vinegar to one part water, sweetened to the taste. These mangoes may be made either sweet or sour as preferred. A few pieces of horseradish root will season and preserve the vinegar. Tomato soy is made with both green and ripe fruit. The following is an excellent tested recipe for ripe tomato soy: Peel and chop a peck of ripe tomatoes until they are quite fine. Then put them upon the fire in a preserving kettle with a half a teacupful of whole cloves; the same quantify of whole allspice; a scant teacupful of salt; a table- spoonful of black pepper, and three red pepper and five onions, all of which have been chopped fine. Let the ingredients boil together for fully an hour, and immediately add a quart of the best cider vinegar. When the soy has cooled sufficiently, it may be bottled. Green Tomato Soy.—One peck green tomatoes; one quart onions, salt and vinegar as desired; one teaspoonful ground cloves; one tea- spoonful ginger; one teaspoonful cinnamon; the same of black pepper; y2 teaspoonful red pepper; y2 pound brown sugar; half a grated nut- meg. Wash the tomatoes and cut in slices, also the onions. Place a layer of tomatoes and then sprinkle with salt, next a layer of onions in the same way—until all are done. Let stand over night. In the morn- ing drain well and then put on the stove to cook, covering the prepara- tion with vinegar. Add the spices and let it boil slowly together four or five hours; then bottle hot, leaving the covers off the jars till the next day. Tomato Mustard.—To one peck of ripe tomatoes add two teaspoon- fuls of salt and stew half an hour; then pass through a sieve. Add two dessertspoonfuls of finely chopped onions, one dessertspoonful each of whole pepper, allspice and cloves tied in a muslin bag, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne; simmer down one-third, then stir in a tea- 176' THE RURAL COOK BOOK. toes are quite cold, reheat them gently in the syrup and again lift them out, packing them, when perfectly cold, in jars, pouring the thick syrup (also quite cold) over them, and cover tight. Virginia Pickle.—-Th"is is uncooked. In a three-gallon jar mix one gallon of strong vinegar, one-half pint of salt, three pounds of brown sugar, two ounces each of black pepper, brown ginger, celery seed, mus- tard seed, mace, cloves, horseradish and allspice, one-half box of ground mustard, a little red pepper and one-half dozen pepper pods. Peel three dozen onions and put them with fresh cucumbers, just from the vine, washed and wiped dry, into the spiced vinegar, using enough cucumbers to fill the jar. Agitate the pickles every other morning for several months or until cool weather comes. Then add more sugar until the pickles have a pleasant taste. Pickled Walnuts.—The walnuts must be gathered while young and green, and be laid in strong brine. Leave them in this for a week, changing it every other day. Take them out, dry them between two cloths and pierce each with a large needle. Throw them into cold water and leave them several hours before packing them in small jars and pouring over them scalding hot seasoned vinegar, prepared in the following proportions: Four quarts of vinegar, one cupful of sugar, three dozen cloves, three dozen black peppers, 18 whole allspice and 12 blades of mace boiled together for five minutes. Yellow Mustard Pickle.—One-half gallon vinegar, three dozen sliced cucumbers, three dozen onions, one tablespoonful turmeric, one table- spoon mustard, one-half cup each of sugar and flour, and one-third teaspoon of red pepper. Pare and slice cucumbers and onions, cover with water, add one-half cup salt and let stand over night. In the morning drain the cucumbers and onions; put vinegar on the stove to boil, mix the spices, sugar and flour in a little cold vinegar, add to the boiling vinegar and let boil five minutes, stirring constantly; then put in cucumbers and onions, boil 15 minutes and seal in jars while hot. Vinegar for Yellow Pickles.—This may be used for cucumbers, to- matoes or any other vegetable desired. Use one-half pound of grated horseradish, one pound of white mustard seed, one-half pound of black mustard seed, one ounce each of mace, nutmegs, cloves, allspice and ground white pepper, two ounces of turmeric, one-half cupful of ground mustard, two tablespoon fuls of celery seed, four cloves of garlic, one- quarter pound of ground ginger and two pounds of brown sugar. Put in a three-gallon jar with two gallons of vinegar. Stir frequently and let remain for several weeks before using. This Will keep any length of time. Half quantity may be prepared for the use of a small family. Corn Vinegar.—A friend says she prefers this to cider vinegar: One pint corn cut from cob; one pint of brown sugar or molasses, to THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 179 Cranberry Catsup (Good Housekeeping).—One quart of cranberries, one cup of water and two cups of vinegar. Tie in a piece of muslin a few cloves, three or four allspice, about a dessertspoon of broken cinna- mon, and some mace. Simmer all together in a preserving kettle until the fruit is perfectly soft. Press through a colander, add one pound of brown sugar, simmer 10 minutes longer, and seal. This recipe will make iz most delicious catsup, and one conveniently made in small quantities at any time throughout the Winter. Cucumber Catsup.—For a small quantity take 12 fine full-grown cucumbers and lay them an hour in cold water. Then pare them and grate them down in a deep dish. Grate also six small onions and mix them with the grated cucumber; season the mixture to your taste with pepper, salt and vinegar, making it of the consistency of jam. When thoroughly mixed put it in a glass jar, cover closely so that it will be perfectly air-tight. It will be found very nice to eat with beef or mutton, (L and if properly made and tightly covered it will keep well. It should be _.- grated very fine, and the vinegar must be real cider vinegar. Ripe_ Cucumber Catsup.— (Some people call this a "salad," but it is -worth making under any name.) Peel 12 large, ripe cucumbers; remove seeds and pulp; chop the solid meat; mix with it a cupful of salt and hang in bag to drain. Chop 12 large onions and six peppers and mix with the cucumbers. Mix together one-fourth pound white mustard seed; one-half cupful celery seed, and one cupful of sugar. Mix _4J£-together; cover with cold vinegar; put in cans and fix tops firmly. The above, or ? any similar preparations should be kept in a dark, cool place. If the darkness is not available, wrap the cans with papers. Cooked Cucumber Catsup.—Choose large, nearly ripe cucumbers; pare, reject seeds, chop very fine and measure. Allow one teaspoonful of salt for every pint of pulp, sprinkle with same and drain through a colander for six hours. For every quart of cucumber allow two cups of cider vinegar, four teaspoonfuls of grated horseradish, one tablespoonful each of white mustard seed and minced red pepper (seeds rejected); bring vinegar and flavoring to a boil, skim thoroughly and set aside until perfectly cold. Then add the pulp to the vinegar, stir well, put into pint jars, lay a nasturtium or horseradish leaf over the top and seal. Keep in a dark, cool place. . Currant Catsup.—To five pounds of currants allow three pounds of sugar, one tablespoon of cinnamon, one tablespoonful of cloves, one tablespoonful of allspice, one teaspoonful of black pepper, one teaspoonful of salt and half a pint of vinegar. Mash the currants and rub them through a sieve; then add the other ingredients and boil for twenty minutes. Bottle as you would tomato catsup. THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 181 of cinnamon, a half teaspoonful of allspice and one of ground cloves; simmer gently until as thick as tomato catsup; then bottle and cork. Peach Catsup.—Pare and quarter one peck of firm, ripe peaches; add one pint of water to the peelings and one dozen sliced kernels; simmer 30 minutes, then strain; add peaches to the liquor and simmer another 30 minutes; add one cupful of vinegar, one-half cupful each of lemon juice and sugar, two teaspoonfuls of ground cinnamon, and one-half teaspoonful each of ground cloves, mace and pepper, and boil very slowly until as thick as desired. Seal hot in pint jars. Red Pepper Catsup.—Two dozen pods of red pepper; put in a preserve kettle with a half pint of strong vinegar and a pint of water; set on the stove and let come to a boil. Add one root of grated horseradish, three sliced onions, six whole cloves and one-half ounce of white mustard seed. Let boil 10 minutes longer and strain. Put back in the kettle with a half teacupful of brown sugar, one ounce of celery seed and a pint of strong vinegar. Boil one hour, then bottle. This catsup will keep any length of time. Shirley Sauce.—Chop very fine twenty-four large tomatoes, two large onions, -two peppers; add one tablespoonful of salt, two of sugar, one teaspoonful each of ginger, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, one nutmeg, one pint of vinegar. Stew cne hour and bottle while hot. • Southern Mixed Catsup.—Peel and cut up enough crisp, green cucum- bers to fill a half-gallon measure, sprinkle with salt and let stand six hours, press the water from them and scald in weak vinegar. Prepare half a gallon of cabbage in the same way. Chop one dozen small onions, cover with boiling water and let stand half an hour. Cut in slices one quart of green tomatoes, one pint of green beans, one dozen. small ears of tender corn and one dozen green peppers. Scald and drain them. Mix two tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish, one teacupful of ground mustard, two cupfuls of white mustard seed, three tablespoonfuls of turmeric, one of mace, three of celery seed, one of cinnamon, one of cayenne, two of olive oil and one pound of sugar. Put in a jar with the prepared vegetables and cover with boiling vinegar. Tomato Catsup.—Pare one-half bushel tomatoes and cook until very soft, sift them, taking all the seeds out. Then cook until as thick as you desire the catsup and then add one quart vinegar, one-half pint salt, and the following spices: One tablespoonful each of cloves, ginger'and cinna- mon, two tablespoonfuls each of mustard, black pepper and allspice, and one-half teaspoonful cayenne pepper. Let it cook 10 minutes, then bottle and cork tight, no further sealing is needed as it will keep for years simply corked. Tomato Catsup No. 2.—Wash and cut in pieces a half peck of ripe tomatoes. Cook in a porcelain-lined or granite iron preserving kettle till 183 THE RURAL COOK BOOK. soft enough to put through a sieve, which will remove skins and seeds. To the pulp add two tablespoonfuls of salt, two tablespoonfuls pepper, one-half tablespoon allspice, one-half tablespoon cloves and one-half pint vinegar. Let the tomato cook for several hours before a'dding the spices and vinegar. Mix the salt and spices dry in a bowl, and blend well before putting into the tomato. Cook till quite thick and put in bottles. Store in a cool cellar. Uncooked Tomato Catsup.—Peel and chop a peck of ripe tomatoes and hang in bag, to drain for 24 hours. Add to the drained tomato four bunches of celery (chopped fine) and one large cupful of chopped onion. Mix the three vegetables thoroughly and then add one-fourth cup of salt; one-fourth cup sugar; two tablespoonfuls mustard seed; two tablespoon- fuls ground cinnamon; one teaspoonful ground allspice, and two large red peppers, chopped fine. Mix very thoroughly; cover with good cider vinegar, and put in self-sealing cans. Uncooked Catsup No. 2.—One peck of ripe tomatoes; two horseradish rcots; two large onions; four slalks of celery; two ounces mustard seed; four green peppers; one scant cup of salt; one cup of sugar; three pints . of vinegar. Pare and quarter tomatoes, place in colander to drain; chop fine the celery, onions and peppers; grate the horseradish. Mix all thor- oughly. Put in cans and seal. Green Tomato Catsup.—One peck of green tomatoes and two large onions sliced. Place them in layers, sprinkling salt between; let them stand 24 hours and then wash and drain them. Add a quarter of a pound of mustard seed, one ounce allspice, one ounce cloves, one ounce ground mustard, one ounce ground ginger, two tablespoonfuls black pepper, two teaspoonfuls celery seed, a quarter of a pound of brown sugar. Put all in preserving pan, cover with vinegar and boil two hours; then strain through a sieve and bottle for use. Tomato Chutney.—Two pounds ripe tomatoes, two pounds sugar, one- half pound green ginger, one pound raisins stoned, one-fourth pound of salt, one ounce garlic, one-half ounce powdered chillies, one quart vinegar. Place the tomatoes in a shallow pan and put in an oven till they crack, when the skins can be readily removed. Peel and core and boil them with one-half of the vinegar 10 minutes. Pound or grind the ginger, garlic and raisins with enough vinegar to make them into a paste. Boil the sugar with the remainder of the vinegar into a thick syrup. Mix all the ingredients together with the salt and chillies, and boil till the fruit and syrup run the one way when pm on a plate held sideways. Bottle and seal. CHAPTER XIII. SALADS. Beet Dressing.—One cupful vinegar, one-half cupful sugar, butter the size of a walnut, salt and pepper to taste, scant tablespoon of cornstarch or flour. Mix thoroughly, boil till it thickens, pour over the sliced boiled beets and serve immediately. Butter Dressing for Potato Salad.—One cupful butter, melted, into which is stirred one tablespoonful of flour, half cupful of vinegar, one teaspoonful salt, one egg, half teaspoonful mustard, and a little pepper. Add a small cupful of boiling water, and cook together until thickened like cream. Dressing With Bacon Fat.—Cook two tablespoonfuls of flour and a dash of paprika or red pepper in five tablespoonfuls of hot bacon fat. Add four or five tablespoonfuls of vinegar and half a cupful of water. Stir and cook until boiling. Then gradually pour over the beaten yolk of an egg (preferably two yolks). Return to the fire (over hot water) to cook the egg, and add salt if needed. Use when cold. This dressing is particularly good with endive or lettuce, alone or with eggs. French Dressing.—This consists of three tablespoonfuls of oil to one tablespoonful of vinegar. For every tablespoonful of vinegar and three of oil, take one-half teaspoonful of salt and one-fourth teaspoonful of black or white pepper. Mix the salt and pepper with the oil and add the vinegar gradually, stirring thoroughly until it becomes white and a little thickened. This dressing must be used as soon as it is made or it will separate. Prepared Dressing.—Here is a delicious salad dressing, which will keep a long time if put on ice, or in a cold place. Mix half a cupful of oil, five tablespoonfuls vinegar, half a teaspoonful powdered sugar, half a small Bermuda onion, finely chopped, two tablespoonfuls chopped parsley, half a tablespoonful chopped red pepper, one tablespoonful chopped green pepper, one teaspoonful salt. Let it stand for an hour, then whip up with an egg beater before using. Sour Cream Dressing.—Chill a cupful of rich sour cream until very cold, then beat well foi