enough water to make into a soft dough. Turn upon a floured board,
roll out, and cut into biscuits, handling as little and as lightly as
possible. Bake in a steady oven.

Virginia beaten biscuits

One pint of flour, one cup of water, one teaspoonful of salt. Mix into
a stiff dough; transfer to a floured block of wood and beat with a
rolling-pin, steadily, for ten minutes, shifting the dough often and
turning it over several times. In the olden days half an hour was the
regulation time, but ten minutes are enough if one has a strict eye to
business. Cut into round cakes, prick with a straw and bake in a brisk
oven.

MUFFINS AND THEIR CONGENERS

Whole wheat muffins

Into a quart of whole wheat flour stir a teaspoonful of salt and
two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Beat three eggs light and stir
them into three cups of rich milk. Add these to the flour, stir in a
tablespoonful of melted cottolene or other fat, and beat very hard for
at least five minutes. Turn into greased muffin-tins and bake in a
quick oven.

Oatmeal muffins

(Contributed)

To one cup of oatmeal mush add one-half cup of milk, one well-beaten
egg, one teaspoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of sugar and one cup
of flour in which has been sifted two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.
Stir well together and bake in hot muffin-pans.

Sally’s muffins

One egg; a tablespoonful of sugar; one-quarter cup of butter. Beat all
together thoroughly. Add one cup of milk, a little salt and one cup of
flour into which is sifted two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Now add
enough flour to make a batter a little stiffer than for griddle-cakes.
Bake in well-buttered, hot muffin-tins.

Risen brunette muffins

Cream together two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar and one tablespoonful
of butter and add to it three cups of warm (not hot) milk. Sift into a
bowl three cups of graham flour and one of white, with a teaspoonful
of salt. Pour into this the butter, sugar and milk mixture and add a
cup of warm milk in which half a yeast-cake has been dissolved. Beat
thoroughly and set in a warm place to rise for at least six hours.
Butter muffin-tins, half fill with the mixture, and set on a stool by
the range to rise for fifteen minutes before baking in a steady oven.

Graham puffs

Thoroughly beat the yolks of four eggs, and whip the whites to a stiff
meringue. To the yolks add a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, three
teaspoonfuls of melted cottolene or other fat, and a tablespoonful of
sugar. Sift two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder into a quart of graham
flour and stir this gradually into the milk and yolks. Beat until all
lumps are gone and you have a smooth batter, then, with a few strong
strokes, add the stiffened whites of the eggs. Half fill deep heated
muffin-tins with the batter and bake at once in a hot but steady oven.

Graham gems (No. 1)

Into a quart of warm milk stir four eggs that have been beaten only a
little, add a tablespoonful, each, of melted butter and sugar. Add now,
gradually, three cupfuls of graham flour that has been sifted with a
heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder. Beat very hard for seven or eight
minutes and bake in greased and heated gem pans.

Graham gems (No. 2)

Into a pint of warm milk whip three unbeaten eggs, one tablespoonful
of melted butter and a teaspoonful of sugar. Gradually stir in a cup
and a half of graham flour and beat hard for several minutes. Turn into
heated gem pans, and bake in a very hot oven. Serve immediately.

Rice muffins

Make a batter of a quart of milk, three beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of
melted butter, a teaspoonful, each, of salt and sugar, and two cups of
prepared flour. Mix thoroughly and beat in a cup of cold boiled rice.
Beat very hard and bake in a quick oven.

Graham muffins

Rub to a cream a tablespoonful of sugar and two of butter. Into this
beat four eggs. Sift a teaspoonful of baking-powder into three cups of
graham flour, add the butter and egg mixture, and beat very hard. Turn
into heated and greased muffin-tins and bake in a very hot oven.

Popovers

Two cups of flour, sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder;
half a teaspoonful of salt; two cups of milk; one egg, beaten very
light. Beat for four minutes and bake in hot, buttered _pâté_, or gem
pans, in a brisk oven. Serve at once.

WAFFLES

Risen waffles

Four eggs; two cups of milk; three tablespoonfuls of melted butter;
one tablespoonful of sugar; three cupfuls of flour, sifted with half a
teaspoonful of salt; one-half yeast-cake dissolved in warm water. Beat
well and long; set in a warm place to rise and bake in waffle-irons.

Rice waffles

One cup of boiled rice; one pint of sweet milk; two eggs; one
teaspoonful of baking-powder; one teaspoonful of salt; a tablespoonful
of butter and flour to make a thin batter. Sift salt, baking-powder
and one scant cup of flour twice together; add milk and eggs, beat in
butter and rice. Beat two minutes.

Quick waffles

Two cups of flour sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder
and the same of salt. Three eggs; one tablespoonful of butter or
cottolene or other fat. Two cupfuls of milk.

Beat the yolks smooth, add the milk, and turn this upon the prepared
flour. Whip lightly and quickly for one minute, add the stiffened
whites and drop by the spoonful into heated and greased waffle-irons.

GRIDDLE CAKES

If you can get a soapstone griddle, use no other. Cakes are baked—not
fried—upon it, and are thereby made comparatively wholesome. Set the
griddle at the side of the range to heat gradually at least one hour
before you begin to bake the cakes. If heated suddenly it is liable
to crack. Clean with dry salt, then wipe with a clean cloth and it is
ready for use. _Never_ allow a drop of grease to touch it.

If you have an iron griddle, lubricate with a bit of salt pork, leaving
just enough grease on the surface to prevent sticking. The popular
prejudice against griddle-cakes is founded mainly upon the fact that
dough or batter soaked in grease is abhorrent to dietetic ethics.

Soapstone and iron griddles alike need tempering or seasoning in order
to do their work well. They are seldom “just right” at the first trial.
Give them time and handle them patiently.

Buckwheat cakes (No. 1)

Mix together a quart of buckwheat flour, four tablespoonfuls of yeast,
a handful of Indian meal, two tablespoonfuls of New Orleans molasses,
a teaspoonful of salt and enough water to make a thin batter. Beat
hard and set to rise in the warm kitchen. A pint of this may be left
over in the morning after the baking of the cakes and used as a sponge
the following night, the flour, etc., being added. If the batter seems
sour, add a very little baking-soda. This batter may be kept in a stone
crock for a week or longer.

Buckwheat cakes (No. 2)

One cup of milk and same of boiling water; two tablespoonfuls of
molasses; half cake of compressed yeast dissolved in warm water;
one-half teaspoonful of salt; two cups of buckwheat flour, or enough
for a good batter.

Beat five minutes, and set in a warm place to rise. In the morning beat
hard for one minute; if it be sour, add a little soda, and let it rise
near the fire for half an hour before baking.

Quick buckwheat cakes

Two cups of buckwheat and half a cup of corn-meal; two cups of warm
milk and half a cup of warm water; two tablespoonfuls of molasses, two
teaspoonfuls of baking-powder; one even teaspoonful of salt.

Mix milk, water and molasses together. Sift meal and flour three times
with the baking-powder and salt. Make a hole in the center of the
flour, stir in the milk and water quickly and lightly until you have a
good batter—not too stiff—and bake.

Sour milk buckwheat cakes

Make as in preceding recipe, substituting loppered milk or buttermilk
for sweet, and a rounded teaspoonful of baking-soda for the
baking-powder.

Whole wheat griddle-cakes

Sift a quart of whole wheat flour, a teaspoonful of baking-powder and
one of salt well together. Stir into this a tablespoonful of melted
butter, a tablespoonful of sugar, two beaten eggs and two cupfuls of
milk. Beat all together and bake upon a soapstone griddle.

Lizzie’s flannel cakes

Two cups of flour; two cups of sweet milk; one egg; one teaspoonful of
baking-powder; a generous pinch of salt. Beat the egg very light; add
the milk and, lastly, with just enough beating to mix all together, the
flour, sifted twice with salt and baking-powder. Bake at once.

After several years trial of this simple recipe, I can recommend it
unhesitatingly as the best, cheapest and most wholesome way I know for
preparing breakfast cakes. The excellence of the cakes depends upon
quick mixing and baking. A soapstone griddle, which is never greased,
should be used.

Waffles may be made in the same way mixed a little thinner by using
less flour.

Huckleberry griddle-cakes

(Contributed)

To one cup of milk add one-half teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful
of baking-powder, one tablespoonful of sugar and two well beaten eggs.
Add sufficient flour to make a batter. Stir into this one pint of
huckleberries rolled in flour. Fry on hot griddle. Butter them hot and
serve.

Feather griddle-cakes

Add to a pint of water and milk a teaspoonful of salt, a half-teacupful
of yeast and flour enough to make a batter. Let stand all night. In the
morning add one cupful of thick sour milk, two eggs well beaten, one
level tablespoonful of butter, one level teaspoonful of soda and flour
enough to make the consistency of pancake batter. Let stand twenty
minutes and then bake.

Rice griddle-cakes

Scald one pint of milk and let stand until cold. Then add one-half cake
of compressed yeast, one teaspoonful of salt, one cup of boiled rice
and about one and one-half cups of flour. Beat continuously for three
minutes. Cover and let stand in warm place till morning. In the morning
beat two eggs separately until they are very light. Add first the yolks
and then the whites. Mix thoroughly and let stand fifteen minutes and
then bake on hot griddle.

Peas griddle-cakes

Take two cups of cooked green peas and rub through a strainer. Pour
into this one cup of boiling milk. Add a teaspoonful of butter and one
of sugar and one of salt. When cold add one egg beaten till light and
one cup of flour into which has been sifted three level teaspoonfuls of
baking-powder. Fry on a soapstone griddle.

French pancakes

To the yolks of three eggs add one cup of milk, one-half teaspoonful
of salt and one teaspoonful of sugar. Pour one-third of this mixture
on one-half cup of flour and stir to a smooth paste; then add
the remainder of the mixture and beat well. To this add one-half
teaspoonful of salad oil. Pour enough of the batter into a hot buttered
frying-pan to cover the pan. When brown turn and brown the other side.
Spread with butter and jelly, roll up and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Sour milk griddle-cakes

Into a quart of loppered milk stir a quart of flour, a teaspoonful of
salt and two beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly, then add as much flour as
will be needed to make a good batter. Last of all, add a teaspoonful of
baking soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of hot water. Bake at once on
a very hot griddle.

Stale bread griddle-cakes

Let two cupfuls of dry bread crumbs soak for an hour in a quart of
milk. Into this beat a tablespoonful, each, of molasses and melted
butter, a teaspoonful of salt and three well-beaten eggs. When
thoroughly mixed, add half a cupful of flour which has been sifted with
a half teaspoonful of baking-powder. Bake on a soapstone griddle if
possible.

Hominy griddle-cakes

One cup of cold boiled hominy beaten to a smooth paste with a
tablespoonful of melted butter, then whipped light with the yolks of
the eggs; two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately; one cup of
milk; one tablespoonful of flour sifted twice, with an even teaspoonful
of baking-powder and a teaspoonful of salt; one tablespoonful of
molasses. Stir molasses into the milk, add to the hominy, butter and
yolks; lastly, put in prepared flour and the whites of the eggs.

Sweet corn griddle-cakes

One cup of sweet corn fresh or canned, chopped fine and run through
a vegetable press; one cup of hot milk; one tablespoonful, each, of
butter and sugar; half teaspoonful of salt; one cup of flour sifted
twice with a rounded teaspoonful of baking-powder and a little salt;
two eggs. Mix as you would hominy cakes.

Corn-meal and graham griddle-cakes

Two cups of corn-meal and one cup of graham flour. The flour should be
sifted three times with one even teaspoonful of baking-powder and a
little salt. One quart of scalding milk. One tablespoonful of butter
and the same of molasses, stirred to a cream. One even teaspoonful of
salt. Two eggs—whites and yolks beaten separately.

Scald the meal with the milk, beat in butter and molasses and let it
cool to blood warmth before adding the beaten yolks and the prepared
flour alternately with the stiffened whites. If too stiff, thin with
cold milk. Beat hard and bake. Wholesome and palatable if properly
made.

Graham griddle-cakes

Two cups of graham flour; two tablespoonfuls of butter, or one of
butter and one of cottolene or other fat; one of molasses; three cups
of milk; four eggs; one teaspoonful of baking-powder and twice as much
salt sifted twice with the flour; half a cup of white flour mixed
thoroughly with the brown. Stir shortening and molasses to a cream,
beat in the yolks of the eggs, then the milk, a little at a time,
lastly the mixed flour alternately with the whites of the eggs. The
batter should be like thick cream before you bake it.

VARIOUS BREAKFAST BREADS OF INDIAN MEAL

Corn bread made of northern meal

Two cupfuls of corn-meal; one cupful of flour; two and a half cupfuls
of milk; three eggs; a tablespoonful, each, of butter and white sugar;
one teaspoonful of salt; two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.

Melt the butter and stir it into the eggs, which should have been
beaten very light, and after sifting the salt, sugar and baking-powder
with the meal and flour, put in the milk, eggs and butter. Beat hard
and bake for half an hour in a greased pan in a steady oven.

Corn bread made of southern meal

Beat two eggs light; stir half a cupful of cold boiled rice into a pint
of milk and add to the eggs, rice and milk a tablespoonful of melted
butter. Sift a teaspoonful of salt into two cups of Indian meal; stir
all together and bake in shallow pans. Eat hot.

This is the Southern batter bread, or “egg bread.”

Indian meal crumpets

Heat a quart of milk to scalding and pour it gradually upon two
full cups of corn-meal. When thoroughly mixed, stir into this a
tablespoonful of granulated sugar and a quarter of a yeast-cake
dissolved in a little warm milk. Cover the bowl or batter with a clean
cloth and set to rise. Early in the morning add a tablespoonful of
melted cottolene or other fat and beat hard for a moment before pouring
the batter into muffin-tins. Set near the range for twenty minutes and
bake.

Steamed corn loaf

Mix together in a bowl a pint of corn-meal and a half-pint of flour.
Make a hole in the center of the mixture and pour into this three large
cupfuls of sour milk. Beat hard and stir in a tablespoonful of melted
butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and a teaspoonful of baking-soda
dissolved in a tablespoonful of boiling water. Beat for several
minutes, turn into a greased mold with a tightly-fitting cover and
steam for two hours. Turn out upon a platter, set in the oven for five
minutes, and send to the table.

Sour milk corn bread

Mix together in a bowl three cups of corn-meal and one cup of graham
flour. Stir in a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, a
tablespoonful of melted butter and three cups of sour milk. Now beat in
three eggs, whipped light, and a small teaspoonful of soda dissolved in
a little boiling water. Beat for five minutes, then pour into a greased
mold with a funnel in the center. Bake for an hour, or until a straw
comes out clean from the thickest part of the loaf.

Sour milk corn-meal griddle-cakes

One-half cup of white corn-meal and the same of flour; one and a half
cups of loppered milk or buttermilk; one tablespoonful of molasses and
the same of melted butter; one rounded teaspoonful of soda and half as
much salt sifted twice with flour and meal; one egg beaten very light.
Beat molasses and butter to a cream; add the milk, the egg, lastly the
prepared meal and flour. Beat hard one minute.

Buttermilk corn bread

Two cups of buttermilk; three well-beaten eggs; two scant cups of
Indian meal (white); one rounded teaspoonful of soda; one tablespoonful
of sugar.

Beat the eggs separately, sift the soda twice through the meal and add
one teaspoonful of salt. Beat the ingredients well together, adding the
whites last of all. Bake in a moderate oven in muffin-rings, with a
large spoonful of the batter to each, and cook to a golden brown.

Dinah’s corn bread

Sift two cups of corn-meal twice with an even teaspoonful of soda and
as much salt. Beat two eggs very light. Mix one teaspoonful of sugar
in three cups of buttermilk or loppered milk, add the eggs and a
tablespoonful of melted butter, lastly, the prepared flour. Have ready
three well-greased deep jelly-cake tins (warmed), divide the batter
between them and bake in a quick oven. Eat hot.

Corn-meal gems

Sift together a half-cup of flour, a cup of Indian meal, a teaspoonful
of baking-powder and a half-teaspoonful of salt; into a pint of milk
whip three beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of melted cottolene or other
fat and two tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar. Make a hole in the meal
and flour mixture and gradually pour the liquid into this, beating
steadily. Beat hard for about five minutes, pour into greased and
heated gem pans and bake in a good oven. Remove from the tins and send
immediately to the table.

Two-and-two Indian meal muffins

One full cup, each, of Indian meal and white flour; two cups of milk;
two eggs; two tablespoonfuls of melted butter; two teaspoonfuls of
sugar; two even teaspoonfuls of baking-powder; two saltspoonfuls of
salt. Sift meal and flour together three times with baking-powder and
salt. Add beaten yolks to the milk, then the butter and sugar beaten
together, lastly the prepared flour and meal. If too stiff thin with
milk. Bake in hot muffin-tins or in gem pans.

Johnny-cakes

(Contributed)

Sift with two-thirds of a cup of flour, one tablespoonful of sugar, two
teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and one teaspoonful of salt. Pour two
cups of boiling milk over two cups of cornmeal and when cool add two
tablespoonfuls of melted butter, the yolks of two eggs well beaten and
the sifted flour. Beat the mixture and just before putting in the oven
add the whites of two eggs whipped light and dry. Bake in a shallow pan
and serve hot.

Corn pone

(Contributed)

Mix with cold water one quart of sifted corn-meal, one teaspoonful of
salt and one tablespoonful of melted butter. Mold into oval cakes with
the hands. Bake in a hot oven in well-greased pans. The crust should be
brown.

Hominy cake

(Contributed)

Take one cupful of hot boiled hominy, add one teaspoonful of salt and
yolks of two well-beaten eggs. Add slowly one cupful of milk, one
cupful of corn-meal and the whipped whites of two eggs. Bake in a flat
tin in a hot oven twenty or thirty minutes.

Corn waffles

(Contributed)

Sift together one cup of white flour, one cup of corn-meal, two
teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Beat
the yolks of three eggs until thick, add one and a fourth cups of
milk and stir into the flour mixture. Then add one tablespoonful of
melted butter and the whites of three eggs beaten stiff. Bake on a hot
waffle-iron and serve with caramel sauce.

DIVERS KINDS OF TOAST

Buttered toast

Cut the crusts from thin slices of stale bread and toast them over a
clear fire to a delicate brown; spread lightly with butter and pile
upon a hot plate; keep in the open oven until sent to the table.

German toast

Pare the slices and cut into strips twice as wide as your middle finger
and about as long. Toast quickly on both sides, butter lightly and
serve very hot.

Baked milk toast

Trim off the crust from slices nearly half an inch thick; toast to a
uniform light brown. Have on the range a pan of boiling water, salted.
As you remove each slice from the toaster dip quickly into the boiling
water and lay in a well-buttered pudding dish; buttering the toast
while smoking hot and salting each slice. When all the soaked toast is
packed into place, cover with scalding milk in which has been melted a
tablespoonful of butter. Cover closely and bake fifteen minutes.

This is so far superior to the usual insipid preparation of milk toast
that no one who has eaten the first can enjoy the poor parody.

Cream toast

Toast, and proceed as in last recipe, but dipping each slice in hot
salted milk instead of water, and when in the dish covering with a
mixture one-third milk, two-thirds cream, made very hot. Add a pinch of
soda to the cream to prevent curdling.

Cream toast, baked, is delicious and nutritious. Either of these dishes
can be made of graham bread.

Fried toast

Cut rather thick slices of stale bread round with a cake cutter; spread
upon a platter and pour over them a mixture of one cup of milk with
an egg beaten into it, then salted slightly. Turn the slices until
saturated, drain carefully and fry as you would doughnuts in deep
hot cottolene or other fat, turning when half done. Lay scrambled or
poached eggs or a nice mince upon them for breakfast.

Tomato toast

Prepare precisely as directed in recipe for baked milk toast, but pour
over the pile of slices in the dish a rich strained tomato sauce,
lifting the toast with a fork, that the sauce may get at each piece.
Cover and bake. Serve in the dish as an accompaniment to chops, omelet
or hash.

Anchovy toast

Cut stale bread into strips an inch and a half wide and three inches
long; toast, butter and spread with anchovy paste, as a foundation for
scrambled or poached eggs.

Sardine toast

(Contributed)

Butter rounds of toast and set in the oven to brown. Drain the oil from
a box of sardines and flake with a silver fork. Put into a saucepan one
tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of lemon juice and one-half
teaspoonful of onion juice. Stir until hot and then add the flaked
sardines. Stir until the fish is hot. Spread on the hot rounds of bread
and serve at once.

Cheese custard toast

(Contributed)

Sprinkle hot toasted bread with grated cheese. Set in the oven until
the cheese melts. Take out and arrange in layers in a pudding dish and
pour over it an unsweetened custard. Put in a moderate oven until the
custard is done. Serve at once.

Oyster toast

(Contributed)

Put twelve oysters into a saucepan with their own liquor and
one-quarter teaspoonful of white pepper, one glass of milk and two
cloves. Boil for three minutes. Mix one ounce of butter with one-half
ounce of flour; put this in a pan and stir well. Add one teaspoonful
of lemon juice and, when boiling, pour the mixture over the toast and
serve.

Mushroom toast

(Contributed)

Cut the stems of mushrooms fine and stew in a little milk. Slice, in
quarters, the tops. Cook five minutes in plenty of butter. Then add
cream enough to make a sauce; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let the
stems simmer until tender, adding some cream, if needed. There should
be sauce enough to moisten the toast. Pour on toast and serve.

Ham toast

(Contributed)

Mince the lean of two slices of cooked ham very finely. Beat the yolks
of two eggs, mix with the ham, adding enough cream or stock to make it
soft. Keep it on the fire long enough to warm through, stirring all the
time. Have ready some buttered toast cut in rounds. Lay the ham mixture
neatly on each piece.

EGGS

“The following method of determining the age of eggs is practised in
the markets of Paris. About six ounces of common cooking salt is put
into a large glass, which is then filled with water. When the salt is
in solution an egg is dropped into the glass. If the egg is only one
day old, it immediately sinks to the bottom; if any older it does not
reach the bottom of the glass. If three days old, it sinks only just
below the surface. From five days upwards it floats; the older it is
the more it protrudes out of the water.”—_German Newspaper._

Boiled eggs (No. 1)

Be sure the water is at a rapid boil. Wash the eggs in warm water,
leaving them in it just long enough to take off the chill. If you put
them on to boil while cold you must allow twenty seconds for the shells
to get warm. Boil steadily three minutes and a half, take out, wrap in
a warmed napkin and send immediately to table.

Boiled eggs (No. 2)

Wash in warm water; lay in boiling water and remove the saucepan
promptly from the fire to the side of the range where it will hold the
heat, but can not possibly boil. Cover closely and leave thus for seven
or eight minutes, according to the size of the eggs. It will be of a
custard-like consistency all through, and be far more digestible than
when the white is firm and the yolk soft.

Poached eggs

Add a little vinegar to the water in which you poach eggs, to prevent
the whites from spreading. Breaking each one into a shallow cup about a
quarter of an hour before it is to be cooked is also a good plan.

[Illustration: OMELET

BAKED EGGS

EGGS]

Be sure the water is boiling and free from specks. If you have no
egg-poacher, use a clean frying-pan. Fill with boiling water; draw to
the side of the range, slip the eggs, one by one, upon the surface, set
carefully back over the fire and boil gently three minutes, or until
the whites are firm. Take up with a flat perforated spoon, lay upon
rounds of buttered toast, trim off ragged edges and dust lightly with
salt and white pepper. Celery salt gives a pleasant flavor to poached
eggs, and some relish a drop of onion juice upon each.

Eggs poached in milk

Proceed as with those poached in water, using boiling milk instead.
When done, transfer to slices of hot buttered toast laid upon a platter
and pour over all a white sauce—plain drawn butter, or butter drawn in
stock of some kind. Chicken stock is particularly good for this.

Scrambled eggs

Have a tablespoonful of butter hissing hot in the frying-pan. Break six
eggs into a bowl; add, without breaking the eggs, two tablespoonfuls
of cream, or, if you have none, of milk in which half a teaspoonful of
corn-starch has been wet; add pepper, salt, and a little finely minced
parsley; turn all into the pan, and stir incessantly in all directions,
until you have a creamy mass.

Turn out upon buttered toast or into a hot water dish and serve before
the mass hardens.

Scrambled eggs in cups

With a rather large tin “shape” cut round out of slices of stale bread
an inch thick. With a small “shape” cut more than half through these
rounds and dig out the crumb carefully, leaving bottom and sides a
quarter of an inch thick. Set in a pan on the upper grating of the oven
to crisp. When of a delicate brown, butter the insides and edges of
the “cups” and leave in the oven three minutes longer. Arrange on a
dish and fill with scrambled eggs prepared as in the last recipe.

Fried eggs

Fry slices of bacon quickly, take out the meat and keep it hot; strain
the fat that ran from them, add a tablespoonful of cottolene or other
fat or dripping, bring to a boil and break into the pan as many eggs as
you need. Slip a spatula under each, as soon as it is fairly “set” and
reverse it dexterously if you like “turned” eggs.

Trim ragged and discolored edges, arrange in the center of a hot
platter and lay the bacon about them.

Fried eggs with brown sauce

Put a good lump of butter into the frying-pan, and when it hisses
sharply, cook the eggs as directed in the last recipe. When done, dish
and keep them hot over boiling water. Now put two more tablespoonfuls
of butter into the pan; fry brown, then add one tablespoonful of
vinegar and a little onion juice with pepper and salt. Boil the whole
together for two minutes, pour it over the eggs, and serve.

Deviled eggs

Boil six eggs hard, cut carefully in half, and take out the yolks. Rub
these to a paste with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one-half
teaspoonful of Chili sauce, and a saltspoonful, each, of salt, pepper
and French mustard. Form this mixture into balls that will fit into
the halved whites. Set these halves on end on a hot platter, put a
yolk-ball in each, and keep hot while you make the sauce to pour about
them. To make this, cook together a teaspoonful of butter and one of
flour, and pour over them a half pint of hot milk with a pinch of
soda stirred in it. When this sauce is thick and smooth, add to it
one beaten egg and a tablespoonful of finely minced parsley. Remove
immediately from the fire and pour around the eggs.

Mince of tongue and eggs

Boil a fresh calf’s tongue, let it get cold, and mince fine. Heat
a half-pint of soup stock, and cook together in a frying-pan a
tablespoonful of butter and one of browned flour. On this pour the hot
soup stock, and cook until you have a thick, brown sauce. Into this
turn the chopped tongue, and toss and stir until smoking hot. Season
with a teaspoonful of tomato catsup, a teaspoonful of onion juice, salt
and pepper. Have ready slices of toast on a heated platter, pour the
hot mixture over these; put a poached egg in the center of each slice
of toast, and serve.

Kidneys are delicious cooked in this way.

Mince of ham and eggs

Prepare as above, but using cold boiled and minced ham in place of the
tongue. A mixture of cold liver and ham is very palatable.

Savory eggs

Dissolve a pinch of soda in a cup of cream and heat the cream. In
another vessel heat a pint of stock. Turn into the stock six beaten
eggs, season to taste with salt, pepper and minced parsley; cook until
the eggs begin to thicken, stirring all the time; add the cream and
serve on slices of lightly buttered toast.

A curry of eggs

Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful of butter, and when this has
melted, stir into it a tablespoonful of flour mixed with a teaspoonful
of curry powder. When these are thoroughly blended with the butter pour
slowly into the saucepan a cupful of veal, mutton or chicken stock,
half a teaspoonful of onion juice, and season with salt. Stir until
you have a smooth sauce, then lay in it six hard-boiled eggs cut into
slices about half an inch thick. Cook until the eggs are thoroughly
heated.

A simple omelet

(Contributed)

Beat the yolks and whites of six eggs separately, and stir three
tablespoonfuls of milk into the yolks. Melt a tablespoonful of butter
in a hot frying-pan. Stir the yolks and whites very lightly together;
pepper and salt them, and turn the frothed mass into the frying-pan.
Keep the omelet from sticking to the bottom and sides of the pan by
frequently slipping a knife or cake-turner around the sides and under
the bottom of the egg mixture. When the omelet is set, slip it off upon
a hot platter, and, as you do so, fold it over quickly and lightly.
Serve at once.

An English omelet

Break six eggs, and separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks
until they are thick. Add a saltspoonful of salt to the whites, and
whip them until they are very stiff. Now, with quick strokes, lightly
stir the whites into the yolks. Have a tablespoonful of butter melted
in a frying-pan and turn the beaten eggs into this. With a knife keep
the omelet loosened from the sides and bottom of the pan, and take care
that it does not scorch on the bottom. When “set” slip the omelet upon
a hot platter, and, as it leaves the pan, fold it over upon itself,
sprinkle with salt, and send at once to the table.

Omelet with tomato sauce

Make what is known in cookery as a “white roux” by cooking in a
saucepan a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour, and, when they
bubble, pouring over them a cupful of strained and seasoned tomato
juice. Keep this sauce hot while you make an omelet by the foregoing
recipe; dish it, and after it is on the platter pour the tomato sauce
over and around it.

A bread omelet (baked)

Soak three tablespoonfuls of stale crumbs in a cupful of milk for two
hours. Beat six eggs—whites and yolks separately—very light. Into
the yolks stir the soaked crumbs, and season the mixture with salt and
pepper. Last of all, stir in with a few light strokes the stiffened
whites. Butter a deep pudding dish, pour the mixture into this, set it
on the lower grating of a quick oven and bake until light and brown.
Sift brown crumbs over the top and serve the omelet as soon as it is
removed from the oven.

Omelet aux fines herbes

Chop finely parsley, thyme, summer savory, chives, or any green herbs
you fancy; make two tablespoonfuls in all; season with paprika and
celery salt. Make an omelet in the usual way, pour into the pan, and,
before it forms, sprinkle the herbs over the surface, stirring gently
to mix them. Cook then as you would a plain omelet. A parsley omelet is
made according to this recipe, using no herbs except parsley.

Oyster omelet

Before putting your omelet over the fire, have ready the filling. Chop
a dozen oysters into tiny bits. Stir together over the fire a large
spoonful of butter and one of flour. When smooth and bubbling draw
to the side of the range and add gradually three tablespoonfuls of
cream (with a pinch of soda), and the same quantity of strained oyster
liquor. Set back over the fire and stir until it boils. Season with
paprika and salt; add the chopped oysters, and bring again to a boil.
Set in boiling water while you make the omelet. When this is ready to
fold over, cover with the cooked oysters, fold, and turn out upon a
very hot dish.

Clam omelet is made in the same way.

Baked mushroom omelet

Peel and cut into quarters a dozen fresh mushrooms and put them into a
saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, pepper and salt to taste, and
a few drops of lemon juice. Cover the pan and simmer slowly for ten
minutes. Add one cupful of thickened chicken or veal stock, and cook
slowly ten minutes longer. Then stir in six eggs, well-beaten, turn
into a buttered bake-dish, sift browned crumbs over the top, and set
upon the upper grating of a quick oven until the eggs are “set.” Five
minutes should be enough. Serve at once in the bake-dish.

Daffodils

Chop the whites of six hard-boiled eggs fine, then run through a
vegetable press. Have ready a cup of drawn butter, seasoned with
pepper, salt and onion juice. Mix the whites with this, and keep hot
over boiling water. Have ready eight rounds of toast, buttered and
slightly moistened with gravy—chicken, veal or turkey. Arrange on a hot
platter and cover each round with the white mixture, flattening it on
top.

Run the yolks through the press, reducing them to a yellow powder,
season with salt and pepper, and put a spoonful in the center of each
white round.

Nesting eggs

Boil six eggs hard, and throw into cold water. When cold, strip off
the whites and shred them into long straws. Heat a flat dish—one that
will bear fire—and arrange the shreds around the inner edge. Have ready
a handful of celery (shredded like the eggs), which has been stewed
tender in a little milk, then seasoned. Lay this inside of the lines of
white shavings, and put a few spoonfuls of melted butter over both. Set
in the oven until very hot.

Pick to pieces a cupful of cold boiled or baked fish, and run the yolks
of the eggs through the colander or vegetable press. Mix with the fish,
moisten with drawn butter, and mold into egg-shaped balls. Dispose
these neatly within the “nest,” and pour over them a cupful of drawn
butter to give the desired whiteness. Shut up in the oven for a few
minutes to get them heated through, and serve.

This is a less elaborate dish than would seem at first reading.

[Illustration: DAFFODILS

SCALLOPED OYSTERS

CHICKEN OMELET]

If you have stewed celery left from yesterday’s dinner, and cold fish,
the rest is easy enough.

Chicken or other meat may be substituted for the fish.

Cheese omelet

Make a plain omelet, and when nearly done, strew powdered Parmesan
cheese over it. Fold, transfer to a hot dish, strew more cheese on top,
and hold a red-hot shovel near enough to scorch the cheese.

Baked soufflé of eggs (No. 1)

Scald a cup of milk, putting in a tiny pinch of soda. Beat the yolks
of six eggs until light and creamy, and the whites till stiff enough
to stand alone. Add one-half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper and
one rounded tablespoonful of butter to the milk and stir it into the
yolks; then beat in the whites very quickly. Pour into a deep, buttered
pudding dish and bake in a moderate oven ten minutes, or to a delicate
brown. Serve immediately in the bake-dish.

Baked eggs soufflé (No. 2)

Beat six eggs light, whites and yolks separately. Heat one cupful of
milk, add one teaspoonful of corn-starch, one-half teaspoonful of
salt, and the whipped yolks of the eggs. Cook in a saucepan until as
thick as cream, add the whites, beaten stiff, put into a well-buttered
frying-pan, set in a hot oven and bake well until browned slightly,
then slide off upon a hot platter.

Eggs and tomatoes

Cook a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour together in a saucepan
until smooth and hot. Add a cupful of tomatoes, canned or raw, chopped
fine, and strained from the juice. Season with paprika, celery salt,
a half teaspoonful of sugar, and a teaspoonful of onion juice. Cook
five minutes. Have ready on a bowl six eggs, beaten—whites and yolks
together; take the saucepan from the fire and add the contents
gradually to the eggs. Set back over the fire, stir for one minute, or
until the eggs are set, and serve in a hot, deep dish.

Olla podrida omelet

Make a roux of one tablespoonful of butter and the same of browned
flour in a deep frying-pan. When hissing hot stir in one cupful of
canned tomato, one-half cupful of canned mushrooms, sliced fine, the
same quantity of minced ham, tongue or chicken. Season with onion
juice, paprika and salt to taste. Let it simmer five or eight minutes,
then stir in four beaten eggs. Stir carefully as it thickens, and when
the eggs are set serve on buttered toast.

Scrambled eggs with cheese

(Contributed)

Break ten eggs and slip them into a saucepan. Beat them with one-fourth
of a pound of butter, one-fourth of a pound of grated cheese and
salt and pepper to taste. Butter a saucepan and when hot, pour in
the mixture and allow it to cook for five minutes over a light fire,
stirring all the while. When the mixture becomes quite thick, pour into
a deep dish, and serve with fried toast.

Scrambled eggs with asparagus tops

(Contributed)

Cut the tender tops of asparagus into pieces one-half inch long. Cook
them in salted water for about ten minutes, then let them drain.
Scramble the eggs and when they are cooked add the asparagus tops and
serve on toast. Lobsters, cooked and cut into dice, may be substituted
for the asparagus tops.

Rice omelet

(Contributed)

To one cupful of cold boiled rice add one cupful of warm milk, one
tablespoonful of melted butter, one teaspoonful of salt and a dash of
pepper; mix well and add three well-beaten eggs. Heat a tablespoonful
of butter in a frying-pan and when hot pour in the omelet and set the
pan in a hot oven. When it is thoroughly cooked fold it double, turn
out on a hot dish and serve at once.

Fish omelet

(Contributed)

Make about a half pint of white roux, add a piece of butter about the
size of an egg, twelve shelled and cooked shrimps; season with salt and
pepper; let it cook for two or three minutes, stirring all the time,
then add half of a green sweet pepper, chopped fine, and cook for one
minute. Make an omelet of six eggs; when brown, turn up and fill with
this mixture. Serve at once on a hot platter.

Frizzled beef and eggs

(Contributed)

To every half pound of chipped beef allow half a pint of milk, one
tablespoonful of butter and one tablespoonful of flour. Put the butter
into a frying-pan; when hot add the beef and stir for about two
minutes, or until the butter begins to brown, then dredge in the flour.
Stir well, add the milk and a little pepper, and just before taking
from the fire whip in two well-beaten eggs.

Ham omelet

(Contributed)

Make an omelet in the usual way; pour into an omelet pan and before the
egg sets sprinkle over the top one teacupful of finely minced, cold,
cooked ham.

Egg croquettes

(Contributed)

Cut hard-boiled eggs into one-quarter inch dice. Add one-fourth as many
chopped mushrooms and turn into a thick white sauce. When cold, mold
into croquettes, dip into egg, then in bread crumbs and fry in deep fat.

Eggs in cases

(Contributed)

Make little paper cases of buttered writing paper; put a small piece of
butter in each and a little chopped parsley or onion; pepper and salt.
Put the cases upon a gridiron over a moderate fire of bright coals, and
when the butter melts break a fresh egg into each case. Strew over them
a few buttered bread-crumbs, and when almost done glaze the tops with a
hot shovel.

Minced eggs

(Contributed)

Chop up, but not too fine, four or five hard-boiled eggs. Put over the
fire, in a saucepan, one tablespoonful of butter, and when it begins
to bubble, stir into it one tablespoonful of flour; cook one minute,
then add one cupful of hot milk. When it cooks thick like cream, put in
the minced eggs. Stir it for a few minutes, and serve garnished with
sippets of toast.

Scalloped eggs

(Contributed)

Slice in rings twelve hard-boiled eggs. Cover the bottom of a
well-buttered baking dish with fine bread-crumbs; over this put a layer
of eggs, some small pieces of butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Alternate in this way until the dish is filled, being careful to have
bread-crumbs on top. Add two tablespoonfuls of rich milk or cream and
bake in a moderate oven.

Shirred eggs

Butter small “nappies” and drop an egg carefully into each, taking care
not to break the yolk. Set the nappies in a pan of boiling water on
the range, and cook until the white is set. Put on each egg a bit of
butter, and a dash each of pepper and salt. Serve at once.

FAMILIAR TALK

WHO RULES THE HOME?

The question is seldom put so baldly. Indulgent husbands yield the
point in verbal gallantry. Politic wives make it a point of conscience
and etiquette to speak of their husbands as owners of house and
contents and lawful directors in all pertaining thereunto. At heart,
the complaisant Benedict knows his will to be potent, if not supreme,
in home and family. The wedded Beatrice is secretly conscious that she
can wind her boastful Benedict about her taper finger, and he will not
suspect.

An old, old ballad, warbled with sly smiles by our foremothers, thus
sums up her view of the matter:

    “Now, sisters, since we’ve made it plain
      That the case is really so,
    We’ll even let them hold the rein,
      But _we’ll_ show them the way to go!”

Honest John, while his sinewy fingers feel the taut rein between them,
believes himself master of the situation. He pays for house, food and
servants, and often works hard for the money that secures these for his
family. Upon general principles he has a right to know that the money
is wisely spent and husbanded; a right to be well lodged and fed and
made as comfortable when at home as his means will allow. If he sees
furniture abused, food badly—hence unwholesomely—cooked, and needless
waste in any department, he has an unquestionable right to direct his
wife’s attention to the existing state of things, and insist that it
be amended. On the other hand, in giving his wife his name, he has
made her the managing, as he is the financial, partner of the firm
matrimonial.

She is not his hireling.

Failure to comprehend this vital truth wrecks the happiness of more
married couples than incompatibility of temper, fickleness and
intemperance, all put together.

A reasonably good wife earns so much more than her own living that
the surplus ought to go to her credit. If not in money, in a hundred
other ways. When John stoops to captious surveillance of her methods,
and personal inspection of her work, he degrades her to the position
of a suspected menial, and sinks his manhood into Bettyishness.
“Bettyishness,” according to lexicographers, is the synonym for
“womanishness,” and for John to be “womanish” is to be unmanly; Mary
would rather have him savage, now and then.

I saw a spotless reputation discounted the other day, and many rare,
amiable traits of disposition shrivel as waste paper in the fire, under
a single sarcastic utterance of a society woman who had her own reasons
for disliking the person under discussion.

“Yes!” she said, dubiously, to the praise an elderly matron had given
an excellent son and brother. “But, then, he is such a _ladylike_
person!”

The epithet was apt. Not one of us could deny it. Every woman present,
while she laughed, would have preferred to have her husband called a
brute.

John takes ugly risks when he tempts his hitherto loyal spouse to
name him to her confidential self as “Bettyish,” “Miss Nancy-ish” or
a “Mollycoddle.” They all mean the same thing. As a sloven he may be
forgiven in consideration of the solid manliness back of personal
carelessness. We wink at rusty shoes, and collars awry, and tousled
hair, and missing sleeve-links. For the same reason we condone
crossness, and even a touch of savagery. When he comes home “in a
temper,” he has had a trying day down town, or he is hot, or headachy,
or hungry. Womanly ingenuity is set to work to soothe down the
inclement mood, and womanly love glides to the front with the mantle of
tenderest charity to hide the fault from others, and put it out of our
own minds when it is past.

I know a man—squarely-built, robust and keen-eyed—who carries the keys
of the store-room, and lends them to his wife at night and morning
to give out the supplies needed for the daily meals. He registers in
day-book and ledger every pound of butter and box of crackers and quart
of vinegar brought into the house, with the date of purchase.

I knew another (who ceased from his labors ten years ago), who visited
kitchen, pantries and store-room several times every week to see that
everything was clean and orderly. He used to smell milk-pans, run a
critical finger around the insides of kettles and pots and inquire into
the destination of scraps—and all without a blush or misgiving. In each
case it was, of course, impossible to keep servants who could get any
other place. Wives belong to the class that can not give warning.

If either of these men would have tolerated the apparition in his
counting-room or office, at stated, or irregular, periods of his
wife—bent upon inspection of accounts and sales, the clerks undergoing
examination, or standing as witnesses of his humiliation—then he was
justified to his conscience for his policy of home rule.

Mary would go to prison _for_ her John, and to the scaffold _with_
him. She springs to arms in his defense if her nearest of kin dare to
intimate that he is not the pink of perfection she would have them
believe. His grossest eccentricities are graces so long as they are
masculine.

But let him prowl into the pantry, peep into the bread-box, criticize
the arrangement or _de_rangement of china-shelves, pull open linen
drawers, spy out dusty rungs of chairs, take down, sort, and hang
in better order the contents of clothes-hooks and hat-racks—and he
may shift for and shield himself. With lofty scorn the wife of his
immaculate shirt bosom leaves him to the fate he deserves.

In which course there is some reason and a little unreason. For which
of us does not draw upon John’s sympathies in her domestic distresses?
He must not undertake the management of Bridget, or Daphne, or Marie.
These be womanish matters, in which a man should not intermeddle.
It may be the most temperate of suggestions, such as, “My dear, I
don’t like to find fault, but if you _would_ speak to Margaret about
meddling with the papers upon my table when she dusts the library?”
It is a distinct trespass upon wifely preserves. Margaret is under the
protection of her mistress’ wing. The interests and credit of the two
are identical. But there comes a day when the league snaps in two, like
scorched twine. The maid gives warning, and company is expected, and
the mistress “did think she had a right to expect better things from
Margaret, after all the kindness she has shown her in sickness and in
health, and the excellent wages she has given her, and here, at the
most inconvenient time she could have chosen, the creature is deserting
her!”

Thus runs the torrent of talk into the ears of a man who left a much
worse complication behind him in his office when he set his face
toward home and imaginary peace. Had he found fault with Margaret a
week ago, he would have been a “Molly.” Should he withhold sympathy
from the mistress to-day, to the extent of commending the ingrate’s
past services, and wondering if there may not be possible palliation
somewhere for her present behavior—he is unfeeling, and—“a MAN!” When a
woman brings out the monosyllable in that accent, she may as well go a
semi-tone higher and say, “Monster!”

To be explicit, John must dance when his spouse puts the pipes to her
lips, and not presume to mourn but at her lamenting. As her sister, my
sympathies topple dangerously toward her. As an impartial chronicler
I can not deny that much may be said in his defense, even when he
is convicted of womanish meddling. He is but a passenger upon the
domestic craft in fair weather, a paying passenger, who is expected,
nevertheless, to be smilingly content with his accommodations, to
eat as he is fed, sleep upon the bed as it is made, and to complain
of nothing until the sea gets rough, and another and a stout hand is
needed on deck and in the rigging.

The principle should work well both ways, or it will go to pieces of
its own weight.

FISH FOR BREAKFAST

A modern Peter Magnus, always on the alert for coincidences, once
called my attention to the singular fitness of the height of the fish
season and the coming of Lent.

“It happens uncommonly convenient, at any rate. How very, very awkward
it would be if there were no fish in the market just when the Church
forbids meat!” prosed my interlocutor, whose nationality I need not
specify.

I might have replied, had there been any hope of his seeing the point
of the story, with the anecdote of one of his countrymen who invited me
to view the total eclipse of the moon through his telescope, and, while
I gazed, remarked upon the happy accident that this particular eclipse
“had taken place at the full of the moon.”

Dame Nature adjusts kindly and cleverly all seasons and happenings to
the need of her children. Fish, easily digested and rich in phosphates,
are in their delicious prime as winter suddenly relaxes her hold upon
our world and our systems. We needed fats to keep up animal fats in
cold weather. The first warmer days ease the taut running-gear of
muscles, nerves and digestive apparatus. She cries, “’Ware meat!”
peremptorily. However deaf we may be to the Church’s behest, we can not
afford to disregard the Great Mother’s.

The breaking up of winter, the general letting down of physical
energies and the abundant supply of food precisely adapted to the
season’s needs, form a “coincidence” that the most stupid must
perceive. The like principle of demand and supply might, one might
imagine, be recognized in the matter of breakfast foods. Fish, rightly
cooked, tempts the appetite and does not overload the stomach. Another
recommendation which should have weight with commuters and “hustlers,”
is that the yielding fibers require less strenuous mastication than
those of steaks, chops and rashers.

The truism that as a nation we are inordinate flesh-consumers is
tattered by much wear. Since vegetarianism comes as a hard lesson to
the mass of our race, and the exacting palate demands more definite
flavors than those of eggs in any form, resort to crustacean and finny
delicacies should follow as a matter of course and of common sense.

Shad

Sturgeon is known in England as the “Queen’s Own Fish.” Hiawatha names
him as the “King of Fishes.” The American epicure has transferred this
title to the more delicately flavored salmon. If a vote of native-born
gourmands of all ranks of society were taken, I think the shad would be
the elect favorite—the dainty queen of fishes, the more royal for the
wealth of roes that bespeak her prime.

Planked shad

Have your fish cleaned and split down the back. Wash and wipe dry. Have
ready a clean oak or hickory plank, about two and one-half inches in
thickness and of such a length that it will go easily into your oven.
Set it in the oven until it is heated through. Rub your shad on both
sides with an abundance of butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Lay it, open side up, on the hot plank and fasten it firmly into place
by putting a tin tack at each of the four corners. Lay the plank on
the upper grating of the oven, and rub the fish with butter every few
minutes until done. You can tell when this point is reached by testing
with a fork. Carefully withdraw the tacks and slip the fish upon a hot
platter. Serve with melted butter, and garnish with slices of lemon and
sprigs of parsley.

Broiled shad with sauce piquante

Split the fish down the back, wash, wipe dry, and lay it open on a
well-greased gridiron. Broil over clear coals, taking care to turn
the fish often, as it burns easily. If the shad is a thick one it will
take about twenty minutes to cook thoroughly. Remove carefully from
the gridiron, lay on a hot fish platter, butter well and sprinkle with
pepper and salt. Pass with the fish a sauce made in the following
manner:

Rub to a cream three tablespoonfuls of butter and two teaspoonfuls of
lemon juice. Whip into this two teaspoonfuls of finely minced parsley.
The sauce should be light green in color. Keep in a cold place until
time to serve it with the fish.

Fried shad

Mrs. S. T. Rorer, whose authority on culinary counsels few dare
dispute, says: “Shad, being rich in oils, should never be fried.”

In tide-water Virginia, where shad are eaten in their perfection and
within a few hours after they are drawn from the river, frying is a
most popular method of preparing them. Some cooks there rid the fish
of all suspicion of an oily taste by holding it up by the gills and
pouring a pint or so of boiling water over it. After the shower-bath
it is immediately laid in ice water to keep the flesh firm. Then have
the shad split down the back, and cut each half of the fish into four
pieces. Wash quickly and wipe dry. Roll in beaten egg and cracker
crumbs, lay the pieces, side by side, on a platter and set in the
ice-box for two hours. Fry to a golden brown in deep, boiling cottolene
or other fat. Drain all the grease off in a colander; arrange the fish
in neat order on a folded napkin laid in the bottom of a fish platter.
Garnish with slices of lemon and sprigs of parsley. Serve Bechamel
sauce with the fish.

Shad croquettes

Flake the remains of yesterday’s fish into bits with a silver fork.
There should be about a cupful of the picked fish. Cook together a
tablespoonful of flour and one of butter and pour upon them a cup of
milk. Stir to a thick sauce; pour this gradually upon the beaten yolks
of two eggs, mix well, add the flaked fish, season to taste, and turn
upon a platter to cool and stiffen. When the mixture is cold and firm
form it into small croquettes and roll these, first in cracker dust,
then in beaten egg, and once again in cracker dust. Set aside in a cool
place for two hours, and fry in deep boiling cottolene or other fat
brought slowly to the boil. Serve with sliced lemon.

Scalloped shad

Pick cold shad into bits, removing skin and bones. Put two
tablespoonfuls of butter into a frying-pan and fry a sliced onion in
this. Remove the onion, stir in a tablespoonful of browned flour, and,
when this is blended with the butter, pour upon it slowly a cup of
clear beef-stock. Stir to a smooth sauce, season with pepper and salt,
a very little kitchen bouquet, and a half-cup of tomato liquor. When
smooth and as thick as cream, add the fish, stir and toss for a moment
and remove from the fire. Turn into scallop shells, sprinkle with
crumbs and bake, covered, for twenty minutes; then uncover and brown.

Broiled shad roes

Parboil the roes in salted water as soon as they are taken from the
fish. Cook ten minutes and leave in ice water until cold and firm.
“Marinade” them in bath of lemon juice and salad oil for one hour. Wipe
lightly and broil to a nice brown, turning several times. Pass with
lemon sauce.

Fried shad roes

Parboil as directed, let them get chilled in ice water, wipe dry, roll
in beaten egg and salted cracker crumbs and fry in deep hot cottolene
or other fat heated gradually to the boiling point before the roes go
in.

Scallops of shad roes

Parboil and blanch. When perfectly cold break up and pass through a
colander or vegetable press. Season with lemon juice, kitchen bouquet,
paprika and salt. Have ready a cup of rich drawn butter. Stir the roes
into it, beat up well, pour into scallop shells or pâté-pans, sift fine
crumbs over the top and bake quickly upon the upper grating of the oven.

Shad roe croquettes

Proceed as with the scallops, except that you make the drawn
butter rather thicker, and add a well-beaten egg, together with a
tablespoonful of fine crumbs, to give the croquettes consistency. Let
the mixture get perfectly cold; mold into croquettes, roll in egg and
cracker crumbs and leave on the ice over night. In the morning renew
the crumbs and fry in deep hissing cottolene or other fat which has
been brought gradually to the boil.

Fried smelts with lemon sauce

Clean, wash and dry the smelts. Roll in salted and peppered flour, and
leave in a cold place for an hour to get firm. Fry in deep cottolene or
other fat to a light brown, laying each in a hot colander as you take
it from the pan, to drain off the grease. Serve in a hot dish. A pretty
way of serving them is to fringe several thicknesses of white tissue
paper at both ends, and lay in the bottom of the dish, the fringe
showing beyond the heap of fish. Serve with—

Lemon sauce

Heat (not melt) three tablespoonfuls of butter until you can beat it
to a cream. Whip into it the strained juice of one large or two small
lemons, with a heaping tablespoonful of finely-minced parsley. It
should be like a light-green cream when done. Fill with this mixture
the halves of lemons, from which all the pulp and inner skin have been
scraped, and garnish the dish of smelts with them, serving one of the
“cups” with each portion of fish.

Fried trout

Clean, wipe inside and out, pepper and salt; roll in egg and cracker
crumbs and fry in deep, hot cottolene or other fat, always recollecting
to heat this gradually to boiling point before the fish go in.

Or, having cleaned and dried them, roll in salted and peppered meal;
then fry.

Fried perch and other pan-fish

Cook as directed in last recipe. It is always well to have the fish on
ice for an hour or more after they are egged and breaded, or rolled in
meal.

Fish cutlets

Mince cold boiled or baked salmon, haddock, cod, or any other
firm-fleshed fish. Season to taste and mix well with a little rich
drawn butter, made quite thick with corn starch. Spread upon a broad
platter, and, when stiff, cut into the desired shape with a tin “form.”
Roll in fine crumbs, then in egg and in cracker crumbs again; leave on
the ice to get firm, and fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat
which has been heated slowly.

Lobster and crab cutlets

Are made in the same way.

Salmon steaks

Have the steaks cut nearly an inch thick. Wipe with a damp cloth and
lay in salad oil for an hour. Drain and put upon a gridiron over a
clear fire. Broil slowly, rubbing with butter from time to time.
They will take at least twenty minutes to cook, and must be watched
carefully that they do not scorch. When done, put upon each steak a
generous lump of butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Salmon loaf

Flake cold boiled salmon and moisten it with a gill of cream, a
half-gill of milk and two beaten eggs. Stir in a handful of fine
crumbs, the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoonful of butter, salt and
pepper to taste, and a tablespoonful of minced parsley. Mix thoroughly,
turn into a greased pudding-dish, and bake in a steady oven for about
three-quarters of an hour, then turn out upon a hot platter. Serve with
a white sauce. You may also boil this in a covered mold.

Salmon croquettes

With a silver fork flake the contents of a can of salmon, or two pounds
of fresh salmon, into bits—removing all pieces of skin and bone—and
season to taste with salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Cook
together a tablespoonful, each, of butter and flour, and when they
bubble pour upon them a cup of milk. Stir to a smooth, white sauce, add
slowly a raw egg, then turn in the salmon mixed with two tablespoonfuls
of fine crumbs. When the salmon is heated remove from the fire and set
aside to cool. When cold, form into croquettes, roll these in beaten
egg and cracker crumbs and set in the ice-box for an hour before
frying in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat, which has been heated
gradually.

Scalloped salmon

With a silver fork pick into bits the contents of a can of salmon,
rejecting all particles of skin and bone. Make a sauce of a half-pint
of milk, thickened with a white roux, and turn the salmon into this.
Stir and toss over the fire until smoking-hot; season to taste, put
into a greased pudding-dish. Strew thickly with crumbs, dot with bits
of butter and bake for twenty minutes.

Broiled haddock

Haddock is not popular among “good livers” in the United States. For
some reason it is ranked as a second-hand and plebeian fish. Yet it can
be made good although cheap.

Clean, wash and wipe well, and gash the back with a sharp knife. Then
“marinade” as you would his patrician brethren: i. e., cover him with
salad oil and vinegar, or lemon juice, and let him lie in the bath for
an hour. Wipe and broil, turning when half done. Transfer to a hot
dish, anoint with butter, lemon and chopped parsley, and send to table.

Haddock fillets

Two pounds of what the cooks call “the thick of the fish” will make
four fillets, about four inches long by two wide. Skin each piece with
a sharp knife; trim into shape and leave in a marinade of oil and
vinegar with a tablespoonful of minced chives, or, if you have none, a
tablespoonful of onion juice. Let the fillets lie there for an hour.
Then drain well, roll in a good batter, afterward in fine crumbs, and
fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat. Drain upon hot tissue
paper, and send to table very hot. Send around tomato sauce with it.

Halibut fillets

May be cooked in the same way.

Broiled halibut steak

Rub well with salad oil and lemon juice on both sides, wipe, and broil
over a clear fire, turning three times. Pepper and salt, lay upon a hot
dish and butter well. Send Bearnaise sauce around with it. (See Sauces.)

Fried halibut steaks

Marinade for an hour; drain, roll in salted flour, then in beaten egg,
lastly in salted and peppered crumbs. Leave on ice for an hour, and fry
in clarified dripping, or in cottolene or other fat.

[Illustration: FRIED PERCH

FRIED SMELTS

HALIBUT STEAK

FISH]

Fried pickerel with cream sauce

Clean, wash and wipe dry. Roll in white cornmeal or in flour, and lay
aside in a cold place while you fry slices of fat salt pork quickly
almost to a crisp. Strain the fat and return to the pan; lay in the
fish and brown, turning once. When done, remove to a heated, covered
dish and keep hot over boiling water. To the fat left in the pan
add a tablespoonful of butter and a little boiling water; boil up
and stir in a tablespoonful of flour. When it begins to bubble add
four tablespoonfuls of cream with a tiny pinch of soda. Stir until
smoking-hot, and strain over the fish.

Fried catfish

Skin and clean; lay the fish in very cold water for a few minutes, then
wipe them dry. Dredge thoroughly with flour, or roll them first in
beaten egg, then in cracker crumbs, and fry to a delicate brown.

Fried frogs’ legs

Have them carefully skinned, wash well, wipe perfectly dry, roll in
cracker or bread crumbs, dip in well-beaten egg, then roll again in the
crumbs and fry in butter to a golden brown.

Fricassee of frogs’ legs

Skin and wash well, drain; lay in boiling water for five minutes.
Put over the fire in enough warm milk to cover them and simmer until
tender. Then drain, and lay in a hot dish, buttering well. In another
saucepan make drawn butter, using milk instead of water; season with
salt, paprika and minced parsley, with a dash of lemon juice; remove
from the fire and stir in two well-beaten eggs. Cook one minute,
stirring all the time, and take from the range. Pour over the frogs’
legs, cover, and set over hot water for a few minutes before serving.
They will be found delicious.

Stewed frogs’ legs

Skin and lay in a marinade of lemon juice and salad oil, with a dash of
onion juice or of minced chives, for one hour. Heat two tablespoonfuls
of butter in a saucepan, add a teaspoonful of minced onion, one minced
tomato and one green pepper chopped fine. Cook for five minutes. Add
the frogs’ legs, cover closely and cook ten minutes. Add a little
browned flour and cook until tender. Season and serve.

Clams on toast

Chop a dozen clams and boil them for five minutes in their liquor;
drain, and add to them two tablespoonfuls of fine crumbs, a
tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and a gill of milk
in which a heaping teaspoonful of cornstarch has been dissolved. Stir
constantly over the fire until the mixture boils, then add a gill of
cream; stir for a moment longer and pour upon the toast.

Deviled clams

Slice an onion and fry it to a light brown in a large spoonful of
butter. Strain out the onion and put the hot butter back upon the
fire. Chop two large (peeled) tomatoes fine, season with salt, half a
teaspoonful of sugar, a good dash of paprika and the same of nutmeg.
Stir into the hissing butter; stir for three minutes, and add a
teaspoonful of butter rolled in half as much flour. Have ready the
clams, drained and chopped fine, and mix them with the butter and
tomatoes. Fill buttered scallop-shells, or clam-shells, or a buttered
pudding-dish with the mixture; sift fine-crushed cracker over all,
dropping tiny dabs of butter on top, and cook until delicately browned.

Fried clams

Drain the clams and dry them by laying them on a soft napkin. Season
with a dust of paprika. Beat two eggs light in a soup-plate and have
ready in another deep plate an abundance of cracker crumbs. Dip each
clam in the egg, and then in the crumbs, until thoroughly coated. Lay
side by side on a large platter and set in a cold place for an hour.
Fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat to a golden brown, drain
in a colander, then transfer to a hot platter. Garnish with slices of
lemon and sprigs of parsley.

Clam scallop

Drain the liquor from two cupfuls of soft clams and set aside while you
chop the clams fine. Moisten two cupfuls of cracker crumbs with equal
parts of clam liquor and milk, season with paprika and a tablespoonful
of melted butter, and lastly, add three beaten eggs, and the chopped
clams. Mix thoroughly, and turn into a greased pudding-dish. Bake until
brown and serve from the dish in which the scallop was cooked.

Clam fritters

Make a batter of a pint of flour sifted twice with an even teaspoonful
of baking-powder and half as much salt; one cup of milk, half a cup
of clam liquor and two well-beaten eggs. Chop two dozen soft clams
fine; season with salt and pepper, add to the batter, and drop by the
tablespoonful into deep, boiling cottolene or other fat which has
been heated slowly. They are made more digestible and, to my taste,
more palatable by cooking the batter, as you do griddle-cakes, upon a
soapstone griddle.

Fried scallops

Parboil in hot salted water for five minutes; drain and set them upon
ice to get cold and firm. Roll them in salted flour, next in beaten
egg, then in fine crumbs. Set on ice for half an hour and fry in deep,
boiling cottolene or other fat, which has been gradually heated to the
boil.

Curried scallops

Stew the scallops in just enough oyster liquor to cover them. (Your
fish merchant will give you all the oyster liquor you want and be glad
to get rid of it.) Bring gradually to the boil, after which cook two
minutes. Have ready in another vessel a roux made by stirring into a
great spoonful of hissing hot butter a tablespoonful of white flour
and a teaspoonful of curry powder. Add to these, when smooth and all
a-bubble, the hot liquor from the scallops, a little at a time, keeping
the spoon busy until all is in. Lastly, put in the scallops; boil one
minute and serve. Garnish with rice croquettes, serving these instead
of plain boiled rice. Send around sliced lemons with this dish. The
lovers of scallops will enjoy it.

Soft-shelled crabs

Remove the fringe, or loose shell, from each side of the crab, and
the sandbag; then cut off the eyes. Wash the crabs well, dry and
sprinkle with salt and pepper and roll in flour. Fry in butter, turning
frequently. When nicely browned they are done.

Creamed codfish

Flake cold boiled cod into bits with a silver fork. Cook together a
tablespoonful of flour and one of butter, and pour upon them a cup of
milk. Season to taste and, when smooth, stir in the flaked fish. Stir
and toss until very hot, add salt and pepper and serve.

Fish-balls

If salt cod be used, shred it finely and soak six hours. Boil half an
hour and let it cool. Mash potatoes to a cream; allow half as much
potato as you have fish. Mix and heat by setting in a pan of boiling
water over the fire, stirring frequently. When hot, beat in an egg,
whip the mixture smooth; let the paste get cold, make into cakes
or balls, roll in flour and set on ice. Of course, this should be
done over night. In the morning fry in deep boiling beef dripping,
clarified, or in cottolene or other fat. Cold fresh cod makes delicious
“balls.” Proceed as with the salt, leaving out the soaking, and salting
to taste.

Boiled salt mackerel

Wash and go all over the fish with a stiff whisk to dislodge salt
crystals. Put on to soak in warm water, exchanging this three hours
later for warmer, and leave all night. In the morning cover with hot
water and set at the side of the range. Half an hour before breakfast
drain and put into boiling water to which a tablespoonful of vinegar
has been added, and boil gently for twenty-five minutes. Drain and lay
upon a hot dish. Cover with a white sauce into which a finely-chopped
boiled egg has been stirred, and serve. You may substitute tomato sauce
for white, if you like. It is very nice when milk is used instead of
water in boiling it.

Broiled salt mackerel

Soak and proceed as in the last recipe. Early in the morning take the
fish from the hot water, cover with ice-cold water for five minutes;
wipe dry, “marinade” in olive oil and lemon juice for half an hour,
drain and broil. Serve with sauce tartare.

Fried eels

Skin, clean well, taking especial heed of the fat, which must be
removed to the last bit. Cut into short pieces, marinade in salad oil
and vinegar for an hour; roll, first in salted flour, then in beaten
egg, then in rolled cracker, and fry in deep, boiling cottolene or
other fat. Drain, dish and garnish with parsley and lemon.

Stewed eels

Skin and clean; cut into short lengths, lay in cold water for half an
hour; then put over the fire in cold water, just enough to cover them,
and cook slowly for half an hour, or more, according to their size. A
large eel may require an hour to make it tender. Turn off the water,
cover the eels with a good white sauce seasoned with paprika, onion
juice, salt and minced parsley; simmer five minutes and serve.

Roe herring (smoked)

Soak over night when you have washed it well. In the morning lay in hot
water for half an hour, then in ice-cold water for ten minutes, wipe
dry and grill on a gridiron over a clear fire. It is most appetizing.
Pass corn bread with it.

Finnan haddie

Wash the fish thoroughly, leave in cold water for three-quarters of an
hour, then lay in scalding water for five minutes. Wipe very dry, rub
butter and lemon juice well into the fiber of the fish and broil over a
clear fire for fifteen minutes. Serve with a hot butter sauce, or with
sauce tartare.

Broiled smoked salmon

Wash a piece of smoked salmon in several waters, and soak it for an
hour. Cover with lukewarm water in a saucepan and simmer for twenty
minutes. Drain and wipe very dry, then broil on a buttered gridiron
until browned on both sides. Transfer to a hot dish, rub with butter,
sprinkle lightly with pepper and minced parsley, garnish with sliced
lemon, and serve.

Fried smoked salmon

Wash, soak and parboil the salmon as in the former recipe. Wipe very
dry, roll in egg and cracker dust, and set in a cold place for an hour
before frying in hot salad oil or in cottolene or other fat. Serve with
sauce tartare.

FAMILIAR TALK

WHERE WE EAT

“We eat to live; we do not live to eat,” is a time-stained saying.
It is almost invariably uttered complacently, and seldom in absolute
sincerity. There is something wrong, physically, with the man who
“does not care what he eats.” There is a twist in the moral make-up of
the woman who finds catering for the appetites of those she loves “a
wretched bore, don’t you know?”

Next in importance to the “house-place” in the estimation of the wise
and tender mother of the home comes the dining-room where, three times
a day, she has her brood under the wings of her comforting, provident
and nourishing love. Whatever may be said as to the merits of the “food
products” that fly at the masthead of the company the motto—“Tell me
what you eat, and I will tell you what you are”—there is a potent grain
of truth in the legend.

So much of a man’s temper and morals during the day depends upon what
he has had for breakfast that the mother may well give serious thought
to the composition of the meal. So much depends upon where and how
he eats his breakfast, that the wonder grows in the philosophic mind
that the eating-room and the appurtenances thereof are a third-rate
consideration with so many otherwise excellent managers.

The housemother who can let sunshine into the morning meeting-place
of the family scores an important point in favor of the success of
her pious scheme. Since this can not always be, her aim should be to
simulate the blessed sunbeams as far as she can. Walls of pale buff,
the flash of a gilt frame here, and a bit of bright drapery there;
yellow silk sash curtains, and, on the sideboard, the glitter of
silver and glass will go far to relieve the depressing influence of an
apartment where the sun never falls.

Thanks to the ingenious florist whose name is preserved in the “Wardian
case,” it is quite possible to have a window-garden in the dining-room
on the shady side of the house. A stanch framework of wood, filled
in with glass on the sides and on the hinged top, with a zinc-lined
bottom on which are spread first a layer of broken flower-pots or other
crockery, mixed with charcoal, and on this a stratum, two inches deep,
of garden mold, supply the foundation for the undertaking.

Stock with ferns, tradescantia, English and German ivy, fill the spaces
between the roots with moss, water well, and close. Your gardening
is done for the season, except that, once a day—say while you are at
breakfast—the lid is raised a little way to admit a supply of air, and
once in a fortnight it would be well to water the plants. Shield from
the sun, which, striking through the closed glass, would scald the
succulent greenery that will soon fill the case. Hang the canary’s cage
above it for an added touch of cheer.

Always have flowers upon the family table. A pot of ivy, a geranium,
a fern borrowed from some other room at meal times, will serve the
desired end if you can not afford cut flowers in winter. If you have
no window plants, manage to get a vase of evergreen sprays—something
to lift the gracious ceremonial of eating together above the sordid
commonplace. If you “eat to live,” let that living be comely and
pleasant.

There is no excuse nowadays for setting a table with coarse, thick
stoneware, even when there is no “company” (hateful phrase!) present.
Graceful designs may be had in ware so cheap as to be within the reach
of any woman who can spread a table of her own.

In the matter of napery, modern fashion comes benevolently to the
help of the poor in purse. Have the top of your table polished with
a mixture of raw linseed oil and turpentine—three parts of oil, one
of turpentine—rubbed in long and well. Then set for breakfast and for
luncheon with a linen square—embroidered or simply hemstitched—laid
diagonally to the table corners, in the middle, with doilies of
the same under the plates; a carving-cloth before the master of the
house, and a tray-cloth before the mistress. The effect is pleasing
and decorative, the more agreeable to the housewifely eye because the
weekly wash is materially lessened thereby.

If your table has not a polished top, you would better have for
breakfast and luncheon one of the pretty colored lunch-cloths with
napkins to match, which come in divers patterns and at varying prices.

If your china-closets are insufficient to hold all your china, and
especially if the walls of the room are ungracefully bare, run a shelf
a foot wide near the ceiling and set in graceful array upon it some of
your pretty and odd pieces. The device elevates them to the dignity
of a bric-a-brac, relieves the burdened closet shelves and produces a
frieze-like effect that will further detract from the business-like
look of the apartment.

Tax your ingenuity in every way to make the place tempting to eye and
to thought, as well as to appetite. A place where one is disposed to
linger over one’s meals for social converse and social enjoyment,
instead of bolting food in hungry silence, preparatory to bolting from
the place he calls “home,” through custom and courtesy, to return not
until the approach of the next feeding time.

Since the dining-room chairs are higher than those in the sitting-room
and parlor, women of medium height sit with their feet barely touching
the floor, and short women dangle their toes helplessly and painfully,
the weight of the lower limbs depending from the weary spine.

Provide for each of the shorter sex a footstool or hassock, and reap
your reward in the shallowed lines in brow and cheek, the happier light
in the eyes, the cheerful ring in the voice.

BREAKFAST MEATS

BREAKFAST BACON

Mrs. Mary J. Lincoln—than whom there is not a more trustworthy
authority upon everything pertaining to cookery—says in a sprightly
chapter upon breakfast bacon:

“It has been offered me frequently in thick slices, swimming in grease,
browned almost to blackness, and salt as the briny waves. You will
seldom find a market-man who will take the time and pains to slice it
as thin as it should be, even though they are supposed to have knives
especially adapted for thin slicing. For that reason I prefer always to
buy it by the strip, and slice it as needed.

“With a strong, sharp knife, begin at one end, trim off the outside
strip of lean, the smoked edges and the rind, down about three or four
inches; then shave off in thinnest possible slices, as thin as can be
cut, and have them whole. When you come to the rind, trim off more of
it if more slices are needed. Some prefer to turn the strip over and
slice from the lower side down to the rind, but not dividing from the
rind until sufficient is sliced. But whichever way you do it, keep the
strip entire—that is, do not cut off three inches, or half a pound,
and then trim and slice that amount, for the last slice will be quite
difficult to hold firmly enough to slice uniformly.

“It can be cut thin much easier if very cold. By wrapping it securely
in thick brown paper and changing the paper frequently, it may be kept
in the refrigerator without affecting the other food.

“Have a smooth frying-pan hot, and everything else ready. Lay in the
bacon and turn it frequently as it changes to the transparent stage,
moving it about so all portions will cook equally. The heat should be
sufficient to cook it quickly, but not to brown it. As soon as it loses
the transparent appearance and begins to crisp, draw it from the liquid
fat toward the edge, and you will soon tell by the way it dries off and
the sound whether it is cooked enough to be crisp.

“Tilt the pan so the fat will run down away from the bacon, and let
it drain thoroughly in the pan. By watching and turning it carefully,
every piece will be of a uniform light and color, more or less curly,
crisp as a Saratoga potato, and so dry and free from grease that it
might be picked up with gloved fingers and leave no stain.

“It is less likely to brown when a little of the fat from a previous
frying, or a bit of lard, is put in the pan first, as this keeps the
bacon from sticking to the pan.”

I seldom borrow a recipe, for two reasons: First, because I have a few
old-fashioned prejudices as to the rights of proprietorship in such
products; secondly, because, to be frank, I seldom find one upon which
I think I could not improve in the matter of simplicity and directness.
I could not write out more clearly my ideas on the subject of cutting
and cooking breakfast bacon than my distinguished fellow-laborer
has expressed them. I hereby grant her permission to honor me by
abstracting the same number of words from any of my printed pages.

Bacon and apples

This is a favorite southern dish, and good enough to be transplanted.

Slice bacon thin and fry it crisp. Transfer to a platter and keep it
hot while you fry thick slices of unpeeled sweet apples in the bacon
fat. When these are tender, drain and put in the center of a hot
platter. Lay the fried bacon about the edge of the dish, sprinkle sugar
over the apples, and serve.

Bacon and polenta

Wet a cupful of fine Indian meal with two cupfuls of cold water and
stir it into a quart of boiling water. Add a teaspoonful of salt, beat
up hard, and let it cook steadily for two hours, stirring up often to
prevent lumping. Should it thicken too much, add boiling water.

When done, pour out into a broad platter and set aside until perfectly
cold and stiff. If you are to have it for breakfast, cook it over
night. Cut in squares, triangles or rounds, roll in raw meal (salted),
and fry in plenty of boiling dripping or cottolene or other fat to a
delicate brown. As each piece is done, transfer to a hot colander to
drain. Serve in the center of a hot dish, with thin slices of fried
bacon laid about it.

A pretty way of varying a plain but excellent dish is to pour the hot
polenta into fancy molds wet with cold water, leaving it there until
you are ready to cook it, when turn out and fry.

Bacon and sweet peppers

Cut the stem ends from green sweet peppers, handling very cautiously,
lest the seeds should touch the walls of the peppers and make them
“hot.” With a small sharp knife extract core and seeds and throw them
away. Cut the peppers into rings, lay in ice-cold water slightly salted
for half an hour. Fry sliced bacon in a clean pan, take up and keep
hot. Dry the peppers by patting between two clean cloths and fry until
clear and tender in the fat left in the pan. Arrange the peppers in the
center of a hot dish, the bacon around them.

Barbecued ham

Fry slices of cold boiled ham on both sides. Transfer to a hot dish.
Cook together in a frying-pan four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, a
teaspoonful of granulated sugar, a teaspoonful of French mustard, and
a dash of paprika. Stir until very hot and pour over the fried ham. If
raw ham be used, cook for fifteen minutes in a frying-pan in boiling
water to which has been added a tablespoonful of vinegar; lay in cold
water for ten minutes, wipe dry and fry as directed.

Home-made sausages

Grind in a sausage-mill or meat-chopper six pounds of lean, fresh pork
and three pounds of fat. Mix with this twelve teaspoonfuls of powdered
sage, six, each, of black pepper and of salt, two teaspoonfuls,
each, of ground cloves and of mace, and one nutmeg, grated. When the
seasoning is well mixed with the meat, pack all down in stone jars and
pour melted cottolene or other fat on top to exclude the air, or put
into long bags of stout muslin. Dip these in melted grease and hang in
the cellar.

They may be made in small quantities and used at once, and are much
better than those we buy in market or shop.

Sausages and apples

Lay the sausages (“bulk sausage meat” is best) in a frying-pan, cover
with hot water and bring quickly to a fast boil. At the end of five
minutes pour off the water and fry on both sides, turning twice. Lift
them, drain over the pan, and lay in a hot colander in the open oven,
while you fry sliced and cored apples in the fat that ran from the
sausages in frying.

If you use link sausage, prick each before boiling.

“Frankfurters”

Cover with boiling water and boil slowly until they rise to the surface
of the water. Drain and rub over with a mixture of butter, lemon juice
and made mustard.

Broiled pork chops

Are too heavy as breakfast food for any stomach save that of a
hod-carrier or ditcher. But people will eat them in the “killing”
season, and should have them properly cooked.

Trim away the fat and the skin from the small end; broil over clear
coals, and thoroughly, for fear of trichinæ. Pepper and salt to taste.
Send around tomato catsup with them.

Cutlets and spare-ribs are cooked in like manner.

Curried pork cutlets

Broil as in foregoing recipe and keep hot (covered) over boiling water.
Heat a tablespoonful of butter in a frying-pan, and as soon as it
hisses fry in it a tablespoonful of minced onion. When the onion has
browned, strain it from the fat, return the latter to the pan, and pour
in a cupful of boiling water, with half a cupful of apple sauce. Stir
while it simmers for ten minutes. Cook two minutes, and pour over the
chops. Leave covered in the oven for five minutes and serve.

TRIPE

A much-maligned article, meet for good men’s tables. It is despised
and set at naught by people who should know better, because it is
rarely cooked daintily. At its proper estate under the hands of a cook
who recognizes its real worth it is said to be both nourishing and
digestible. It is certainly palatable, if tender and properly prepared.
Buy from your butcher the prepared tripe—that is, tripe which has been
thoroughly cleaned and is ready for boiling. No matter how you intend
to cook it, boil it first.

Boiled tripe

Lay the tripe in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Set at the side
of the range, where it will come slowly to a boil, and simmer steadily
for at least four hours. Drain, and set in a cool place until wanted.

Stewed tripe

Cook as in the preceding recipe, but cut the tripe in half-inch
squares. At the end of four hours drain off all the water except a
gill; add to this a cup of stewed and strained tomatoes, a dash of
onion juice, salt to taste and a pinch of paprika. Rub together a
heaping teaspoonful, each, of butter and flour, and stir into the tripe
mixture. Stir until the sauce is smooth and thick. Some persons like
a teaspoonful of Parmesan cheese added to this stew just before it is
served.

Fried tripe

Lay cold, boiled tripe in a mixture of equal parts of salad oil and
vinegar for two hours. Drain in a colander for fifteen minutes. Dip in
egg, then in cracker crumbs, and set in a cold place for several hours.
_Sauté_ in a frying-pan to a light brown.

Or you may dip squares of cold boiled tripe into good fritter batter
and fry in deep cottolene or other fat. When done, drain free of grease
and serve with a sauce made according to the following recipe:

Into the yolk of an egg beat very slowly, a few drops at a time, a
half-cup of salad oil. When as thick and smooth as cream add, still
slowly, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, a coffeespoonful of French
mustard, a tablespoonful of minced parsley and salt and paprika to
taste.

Stewed tripe and oysters

Drop three dozen oysters into their boiling liquor, cook for just one
minute, and drain. Cut cold boiled tripe into pieces of uniform size.
Put it over the fire with enough water to cover it and simmer for
three-quarters of an hour. Drain off the water. Have ready a pint of
fresh, scalding milk in a double boiler and drop the tripe into this.
Cook for fifteen minutes; add two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed into the
same quantity of butter, and stir until smooth and thick. Season to
taste, add the oysters and cook until they are heated through. Last of
all, stir in very slowly one beaten egg, and remove at once from the
fire.

Stewed tripe and celery

Cut into inch pieces enough celery to make a cupful, and stew tender in
salted, boiling water. Drain and set aside while you stew the tripe,
first in water, then in milk, as in the recipe for tripe and oysters.
Instead of adding the oysters to the thickened milk, stir in the stewed
celery, and cook for a minute before serving.

BEEFSTEAK

Rub the hot gridiron with a bit of suet before you lay the steak upon
it. The fire should be clear and hot, and yourself at leisure to watch
and to turn quickly when the meat begins to drip. There are houses in
which a flavor of creosote would seem to be inseparable from a broiled
steak. Turn swiftly to keep the smoke from it, and the juices _in_. Try
with the point of a keen knife at the end of ten minutes. If the center
of the steak be ruddy, and not purple, and the outside of a fine brown,
it is done. Remove to a hot platter, pepper and salt and butter well on
both sides. Fit a close cover on the dish and set in the open oven for
five minutes to draw the juices to the surface.

Beefsteak with onions

Cook as just directed. Have ready three tablespoonfuls of minced
onions, cooked for five minutes in hot butter. They should be tender
and clear, but not crisp. After the steak is dished spread the hot
onion thickly over it, let it stand in the open oven, with a close
cover over it, five minutes.

Chateaubriand steak

Broil a neatly-trimmed tenderloin steak, transfer to a hot dish, butter
generously and cover with broiled mushrooms cut into quarters.

Hamburg steaks

Chop a pound of lean beef very fine, and stir into it a beaten egg, a
teaspoonful of onion juice, salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch of
mace. Mix well, mold into flat cakes, dredge with salted flour, set on
the ice for an hour, roll again in flour, and _sauté_ in good dripping
or butter.

Chilli con carni (No. 1)

(A Mexican dish.)

Beefsteak (round), one tablespoonful of hot dripping, two large red
peppers (dry), two tablespoonfuls of rice, one-half pint of boiling
water, salt, onions, flour.

Cut steaks into small pieces. Put into a frying-pan with hot dripping,
hot water and rice. Cover closely, and cook steadily until tender.
Remove seeds and part of rind from red peppers. Cover with the chilli
water, add garlic and thyme. Simmer until cold, then squeeze them in
the hand until the water is thick and red. If not thick enough, add a
little flour. Season with salt and a little onion if desired. Heat and
pour sauce on the meat. Serve very hot.

Chilli con carni (No. 2)

Provide for it two pounds of steak, six red chillies, two cloves, one
tablespoonful of flour, a little garlic, thyme, dripping. Seed the
chillies and cover with boiling water. Soak until tender and then
scrape the pulp into water. Cut steak in small pieces and fry brown
in dripping or butter; add flour and brown it. Cover with the chilli
water, add garlic and thyme. Simmer until the meat is tender and the
gravy of the right consistency.

Beef cakes

Scrape round steak, season to taste with salt and pepper; form with the
hands into small, flat cakes and broil over a quick fire.

Stew of beef’s liver

Cut one pound of liver into slices. Chop a quarter of a pound of fat
salt pork. Spread a layer of the pork in the bottom of the inside
kettle of a double boiler. Cover the pork with slices of liver,
sprinkle this with a teaspoonful, each, of minced onion and parsley,
add more pork, more liver, onion and parsley until all the ingredients
are in the pot. As you do this, sprinkle each layer lightly with
pepper. Pour a half-pint of seasoned weak stock over all, cover the pot
closely and keep the water in the outer pot at a gentle boil for two
hours and a half. Now strain out the meat and keep hot while you return
the gravy in the pot to the fire and thicken it with a brown roux. Boil
up once and pour the gravy over the liver.

KIDNEYS

First of all, they must be perfectly fresh. If not, they have an
odor, and a peculiar “tang” that the unfortunate eater never forgets,
and which causes him to feel an aversion for kidneys henceforth and
forever. Care should also be exercised in removing all bits of fat and
gristle. Last of all, cook the kidneys in a savory way and spare no
pains to make them appetizing.

Brown stew of kidneys

Split the kidneys, wash them, drain and cut into small pieces of
uniform size. Pour cold water over these and set at the side of the
range, where they will come slowly to a boil. Just before the boiling
point is reached turn off the hot water, substitute cold, and bring to
the boil. Drain the kidneys and keep them hot while you cook together
a tablespoonful of browned flour and the same quantity of butter. When
these are blended pour upon them a scant teacupful of salted boiling
water, and stir until thick and smooth. Now add salt and pepper, a
teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet, the same quantity of Worcestershire
sauce, a half-teaspoonful of lemon juice and a tablespoonful of currant
jelly. Turn the kidneys into this and stir until very hot.

Savory kidneys

Skin and slice three pairs of lambs’ kidneys. Cut into halves fourteen
canned mushrooms. Heat together a cup of bouillon and a half-cup of
the liquor from a can of mushrooms. Cook together in a saucepan a
tablespoonful, each, of butter and browned flour, and when these
bubble pour upon them the bouillon and mushroom liquor. Stir to a thick
sauce and add a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, the same quantity
of tomato catsup, a half-teaspoonful of onion juice, salt to taste and
a dash of paprika. Now stir in the mushrooms and sliced kidneys. Cook
for five minutes after the boil is reached, stirring constantly.

Fried kidneys

Cut three pairs of lambs’ kidneys into halves. Fry eight thin slices of
bacon until done; remove from the fire and keep hot while you fry the
halved kidneys in the bacon fat. Cook slowly for ten minutes, turning
often. Remove the kidneys and keep hot with the bacon while you stir
a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce and the same quantity of catsup
into the gravy left in the pan.

Put crustless slices of toasted bread on a platter, lay the kidneys on
these, pour the gravy over them and dispose the crisp slices of bacon
about the edge of the platter.

Broiled kidneys

Cut the kidneys into thick slices. Melt a little butter and stir into
it a saltspoonful of mustard and a dash of lemon juice. Dip each slice
of kidney in this, roll in cracker dust, and set aside until this
coating stiffens. A half-hour will be long enough. Broil on a small
gridiron over a clear fire, turning often that the kidneys may not
burn. Be sure they are thoroughly done. Serve very hot.

Stewed kidneys

Cut the kidneys in halves, remove all the fat and cover the kidneys
with hot water, bring to the boil and drain. Cover with more hot water,
again bring to the boil and drain. Repeat this process a third time.
Remove them from the liquor, slice thin, and thicken the gravy with
browned flour rubbed smooth with two teaspoonfuls of butter. Return
the kidneys to the gravy, and when very hot add pepper, salt, two
tablespoonfuls of mushrooms, minced, two teaspoonfuls of Worcestershire
sauce, a little lemon juice, and two tablespoonfuls of sherry. Serve
immediately.

Kidneys sautés

Split the kidneys, trim off all fat and cut each kidney into quarters.
Melt three tablespoonfuls of butter in a frying-pan, sprinkle the
kidneys with pepper and salt and roll each piece in flour before laying
it in the frying-pan. Cook, turning often, until brown. Lay upon a hot
platter and add to the grease in the pan a wineglassful of sherry, a
quarter of a teaspoonful of onion juice and a tablespoonful of mushroom
catsup. Boil this sauce up once, and pour it over the kidneys.

Kidneys à la brochette

Split the kidneys, put over the fire in cold water, and bring to a
rapid boil. Drain, wipe and slice each half. Cut the same number of
thin slices of bacon the same size and freed from rind and hard lean.
Arrange the bacon and kidney slices alternately on small skewers or
stout straws, and broil them quickly. Send to table on the skewers.

SWEETBREADS

Said a maid to me once: “Indeed, mem, I niver see sich another as
yersel’ for cookin’ wild things and innards!”

The “wild things” to which she referred were quail, woodcock and
hare, while the “innards” of which she spoke with such scorn were
sweetbreads, kidneys and brains. I may remark, _en passant_, that
the lower classes seldom like viands most prized by the epicure, and
the cooking of them, to be done properly, must be performed by the
mistress—not the maid—unless the latter be an accomplished cook.

Broiled sweetbreads

Wash a pair of sweetbreads, throw them in boiling salted water, and
cook for ten minutes. Drain, and lay in iced water until thoroughly
cold. This process is called “blanching” the sweetbreads, and should
be done as soon as the perishable dainties are brought home from the
butcher’s. Wipe them dry, rub with butter, and broil them over a clear
fire. Watch them that they do not scorch. When done, put them on a hot
dish, pour a little melted butter over them, sprinkle lightly with salt
and pepper and serve.

Fried sweetbreads

Blanch and split each sweetbread in half, lengthwise. Dip in beaten
egg, roll in cracker crumbs, and set in a cold place for this coating
to harden. At the end of an hour, fry in deep cottolene or other fat
brought slowly to a fast boil.

Broiled sweetbreads with mushrooms

Blanch the sweetbreads and cut them in half, lengthwise. Grease a small
gridiron, lay the split sweetbreads on this, and broil over a clear
fire, turning frequently and watching carefully lest they scorch. When
done, lay on rounds of crustless toast, rub thoroughly with butter,
salt and pepper to taste, and cover with minced mushrooms fried in
butter.

Sweetbread cutlets

Parboil, blanch and mince enough sweetbreads to make two cupfuls. Put
into a saucepan with a little white stock and bring to a boil. Thicken
with a white roux, and when smooth stir in gradually two beaten egg
yolks; then turn the mixture upon a dish to cool and stiffen. Form with
floured hands into cutlets, and fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other
fat.

Creamed sweetbreads

Blanch and cut two pairs of sweetbreads into neat dice. Cook together
in a saucepan two tablespoonfuls, each, of butter and flour, and pour
upon them a pint of cream. Stir to a smooth sauce, add the sweetbreads
and cook, stirring steadily until very hot. Season with salt, pepper,
and a teaspoonful of minced parsley.

LIVER

It is not known to all housewives, even to those who practise economy
from necessity or from choice—sometimes from both—that lamb’s
liver, which costs one-fourth as much as calf’s liver, is quite as
palatable—some say better than the more expensive viand. The hint may
be borne in mind in studying the following recipes.

Liver and bacon

Slice the liver, sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper, and roll
in salted flour. Set on ice while you fry twice as many thin strips
of bacon as you have slices of liver. Remove the bacon from the pan
and lay in the floured liver. Fry slowly until done, turning often.
It should cook for at least fifteen minutes. Drain the liver, holding
each piece over the pan that the grease may drip off, and arrange on a
heated platter, the bacon around it.

Broiled liver en brochette

Cut the bacon thin and the slices of liver into pieces of the same
length and width. Run a wooden skewer or stout straw through each piece
of liver and, alternately, through a slice of the bacon. Proceed in
this way until each slice of bacon is fastened to a slice of liver,
and each skewer is full. Lay on a broiler and broil over a clear fire.
When done lay the liver and bacon, still skewered together, on a hot
platter.

Fried liver

Cut the liver into strips half an inch wide and four inches long.
Heat two tablespoonfuls of butter—or dripping—in a frying-pan and fry
a sliced onion in it. Strain out the onion. Have ready the liver,
peppered and salted and rolled in flour. Put this into the fat and
cook, turning once. Take up the liver and keep hot over boiling water.
Stir into the fat left in the pan two tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce,
one teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet, and a heaping teaspoonful of
browned flour wet to a paste in cold water. Add salt and paprika to
taste, boil up once, put in two tablespoonfuls of sherry and pour over
the liver.

There is no nicer way of cooking liver for breakfast.

Mince of liver

Chop, very fine, one pound of calf’s liver. Put one tablespoonful of
butter in a saucepan, add the liver with two tablespoonfuls of chopped
bacon; cover and cook gently for one hour. When nearly done add a
half-teaspoonful of salt, a quarter-teaspoonful of pepper, and two
tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Serve on a platter upon buttered toast.

CHICKEN

Fried chicken

Joint a tender chicken as for fricassee. Dip each piece in beaten egg,
then roll in salted cracker dust until thoroughly coated. Set aside for
an hour before frying in boiling cottolene or other fat to a golden
brown. Be sure to fry long enough for the thickest pieces of chicken to
be cooked all the way through.

Virginia fried chicken

Prepare the chicken as directed in the last recipe. Fry half a pound
of bacon, sliced thin. When crisp, but not burned, strain off the fat
and return to the pan. Keep the bacon hot while you fry the chicken
(prepared with egg and cracker dust) in the fat, turning twice. Should
there not be fat enough, add dripping or cottolene or other fat. When
done, arrange upon a hot dish and garnish with the bacon.

Fried chicken with cream gravy

(A Maryland dish.)

After dishing the chicken cooked as in foregoing recipe, strain the fat
again, stir in a lump of butter rolled in flour that has been slightly
browned, and, when it bubbles, a small cup of hot cream or milk to
which a pinch of soda has been added. Stir for two minutes to prevent
scorching, add a tablespoonful of minced parsley and pour over the
chicken.

Broiled chicken

Use none but undeniably young chickens for broiling. Clean well and
split down the back. Lay for an hour in a marinade of salad oil and
lemon juice, if there is any doubt on this point.

If certain of your subject, wash over with butter and lay upon a
greased and heated gridiron, breast uppermost. The fire should be red
and strong. Broil about ten minutes to the pound, lifting when it
begins to drip and turning four times to insure thorough cooking. When
dished it should be sprinkled with pepper and salt and well buttered.

SOME WAYS OF COOKING COLD CHICKEN

Chicken fritters

Cook a heaping tablespoonful of flour in one tablespoonful of hot
butter and one cup of chicken stock, added gradually. Season with
celery salt and pepper and pour half of this sauce into a small,
shallow, buttered pan. Chop one cupful of cold chicken quite fine,
season and spread it evenly over the top of the sauce after it has
thickened. Cover with the remainder of the sauce, place on ice, and
when very cold and hard cut into rounds or squares. Dip them quickly
into batter and fry in deep, hot cottolene or other fat, or in
clarified chicken dripping.

These should be prepared over night. The fritters will keep their shape
if left a long time before the paste is cut up.

Chicken omelet

Beat four eggs very light, season with salt and pour into a greased
frying-pan. Have ready a cupful of minced chicken (heated) and a pint
of hot white sauce in which a tablespoonful of minced parsley has been
stirred. When the omelet is “set” and ready to be removed from the pan,
sprinkle over it the minced chicken, fold it over and transfer to a hot
platter. Pour the white sauce about the omelet.

Chicken mince on the half-shell

Cut fine sweet peppers in half lengthwise; remove core and seeds,
taking care not to touch the sides of the peppers, and soak for an hour
in cold water slightly salted.

Mince fine the cold meat of a chicken and add it to one-fourth as much
fine crumbs as you have chicken; moisten with gravy or sauce; fill the
peppers, sprinkle fine crumbs over the top, dot with bits of butter,
bake half an hour covered, then brown.

Creamed chicken

Make a white roux of two tablespoonfuls of butter and half as much
flour; when it bubbles add a cupful of cold chicken cut into dice, a
teaspoonful of onion juice, salt and pepper to taste and enough stock
to keep all from burning. Cook for ten minutes before stirring in two
hard-boiled eggs chopped fine and a cup of rich milk heated with a
pinch of soda stirred in.

Imitation terrapin

Proceed as directed in last recipe, adding at the last, the juice of
half a lemon and a glass of sherry. Boil up and serve at once.

Turkey croquettes

Mince enough cold roast turkey to make two cupfuls, season with salt,
pepper and a half pint of oyster liquor. Put into a saucepan and
make scalding hot. Thicken a cupful of hot milk with a tablespoonful
of white roux, stir it into the turkey mince, and when the boiling
point is reached remove it from the fire. When cold and stiff form
into croquettes, crumb these and set on the ice for two hours before
frying to a golden brown in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat, or in
clarified chicken drippings, if you have it.

Turkey scallops

Mince remnants of cold turkey rather coarsely and mix with it one-third
as much stuffing or bread crumbs. Moisten with gravy, oyster liquor
or stock, season well; fill scallop shells or _pâté_ pans with the
mixture, cover with fine crumbs, with dots of butter over all and bake
in a quick oven.

Stewed calf-brains

Heat a great spoonful of butter in the frying-pan and when hot, stir
in a tablespoonful of flour. Add a gill of cream with salt and pepper,
chopped parsley and a teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet. Put a pinch of
soda into the cream. When heated, put in the brains, which have been
previously blanched and cut into large dice. Cook ten minutes, stirring
constantly, and serve hot.

Brain fritters

Blanch the brains by boiling them in salted water for ten minutes.
Throw into ice-cold water and leave there for half an hour. When cold,
mash to a paste with a wooden spoon. Stir into them two eggs, beaten
light, a tablespoonful of melted butter, a half-teaspoonful of salt
and enough flour to make a fritter batter. Beat hard for three minutes
and drop this mixture into deep, boiling cottolene or other fat. When
golden brown in color, drain free of grease in a hot colander. Serve
very hot.

[Illustration: LAMB CHOPS

CROQUETTES

CHICKEN SCALLOP

ENTREES]

Fried brains

Blanch as above directed, leave in cold water until firm, and wipe dry.
Slice into pieces of uniform size; pepper and salt, roll in beaten egg,
then in fine crumbs. Do this over night. In the morning roll again in
egg and cracker-dust; leave on the ice for half an hour and fry quickly
in hot cottolene or other fat. Drain free from fat and serve hot. Pass
thin slices of crisp toast with them.

Broiled veal chops

Trim neatly and broil over a clear fire, turning several times. Allow
ten minutes to the pound. Transfer to a hot dish and cover with a
mixture of butter, lemon juice and minced parsley. Cover and set in a
hot oven for a few minutes before serving.

Fried veal chops or cutlets

Dip in egg, then in cracker crumbs, and set on ice until morning.
Repeat the process, leave on ice for half an hour and fry in deep, hot
cottolene or other fat. Drain, dish and send to table with tomato sauce.

Veal cutlets and bacon

Chop raw lean veal fine, season well with celery salt and pepper, and
with your hands mold into oval shape. Roll in egg and fine crumbs and
leave on ice all night. In the morning fry thin slices of bacon, remove
them to a hot dish and fry the cutlets slowly in the fat left in the
pan. Drain, arrange on a platter and lay the bacon about them. Pass
tomato sauce with them.

Lamb chops

Trim off the fat, broil carefully and arrange them around a mound of
mashed potatoes. Garnish with a garland of parsley laid about the base
of the mound.

Barbecued lambs’ tongues

Open a can of lambs’ tongues and spread on a platter. Sprinkle with
salt, pepper and a little onion juice. Lay in a sauce made by stirring
together three tablespoonfuls of salad oil and one of vinegar. Let them
stand in this mixture over night. In the morning heat a little butter
in the frying-pan, lay the tongues in this and _sauté_, turning often.

Mince of mutton

Chop the meat fine, removing bits of fat and gristle. Season with salt,
pepper and a little onion juice. (It is always better to grate, than
to slice onions for seasoning.) Mix with the minced meat one-fifth
of its bulk of fine bread crumbs wet with the gravy and work in the
beaten yolk of a raw egg to “bind” the mixture. Mold into flat cakes,
dip these into a beaten raw egg, then in cracker crumbs and set in a
cold place over night. Fry quickly, as you would doughnuts, in deep
cottolene or other fat (never in lard) made very hot. Take up as soon
as they are done, drain off every drop of fat and lay upon rounds of
lightly browned toast in a heated dish. Garnish with sprigs of parsley.

Minced mutton and tomato toast

Make three cups of good well-seasoned tomato sauce, thickened with a
heaping teaspoonful of flour rubbed into one of butter. Keep hot in a
double boiler set at the side of the range.

Toast slices of bread, butter them, spread on a platter and put a
tablespoonful of tomato sauce on each. Into the remainder of the tomato
sauce turn two cupfuls of minced mutton, put the saucepan over the
fire, stir until the meat is thoroughly heated, season to taste and
pour upon the toast.

BREAKFAST GAME

Broiled rabbit

Have your butcher skin and clean the rabbit, remove the head and open
it from end to end on the under side. Wipe it inside and out with a
damp cloth and lay it open on a greased gridiron. Cut gashes across
the back that the heat may penetrate to the thickest part. Broil over
a clear fire, turning often. It should cook for about twenty minutes.
Transfer to a hot dish, rub with butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper
and serve.

Barbecued rabbit

Cook precisely as in the last recipe and keep hot on a platter while
you make a sauce of two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, two of melted
butter, a dash of salt and a teaspoonful of French mustard. Pour this
sauce over the hot rabbit and send to table. This is a delicious and
savory dish.

Smothered rabbits

Skin and clean a pair of rabbits; lay in a covered roaster; pour a
cup of boiling water over them and cook, covered, until tender. Baste
five or six times with a mixture of butter and water mixed with a
teaspoonful of onion juice. When the rabbits are done transfer to a
platter and keep hot, while you thicken the gravy in the pan with a
tablespoonful of browned flour rubbed up with one of butter. Cook one
minute, add two teaspoonfuls of vinegar, a saltspoonful of paprika and
a generous teaspoonful of made mustard. Boil up once, pour over the
rabbits and leave, covered, over hot water five minutes before serving.

Venison steak

Grease your gridiron thoroughly before laying your steak upon it.
Broil the steak, turning frequently over the fire of clear coals. As
it is better rare, do not cook the venison too long. When done lay the
meat upon a hot platter, put upon it several spoonfuls of butter and a
little currant jelly, cover and set in the oven long enough to melt the
butter and to soften the jelly, then send immediately to the table.

Broiled quails and woodcock

Clean and split down the back. Wash carefully and dry inside and out
with a clean cloth. Leave on ice half an hour and broil over a clear
hot fire. Dish, pepper and salt, put a piece of butter upon, and lay
under each bird a round of delicate toast.

Small birds

Can be cooked in the same way.

Breakfast stew of squirrels

Clean and joint a pair of large gray squirrels; lay in vinegar and
water for an hour; wipe dry and brown them slightly in pork fat in
which a sliced onion has been fried. Pack the squirrels in a pot, pour
over them the fat and onion from the frying-pan and a cup of weak
stock. Cover closely and simmer until tender. Season with pepper,
celery salt and kitchen bouquet; thicken with browned flour rubbed
to a paste with butter, boil up and serve. Stew the squirrels tender
overnight, seasoning and thickening the gravy when you warm them up in
the morning.

BREAKFAST VEGETABLES

Stewed potatoes

Pare the potatoes and cut into small dice. Cook tender in boiling
water, salted. When clear, but not broken, turn off the water and cover
with hot milk into which you have stirred a lump of butter rolled in
flour. Simmer for ten minutes, add a tablespoonful of finely-minced
parsley, boil up once and serve.

Hashed potatoes, browned (No. 1)

Cook as in last recipe, but when ready for the milk turn the stewed
potatoes into a buttered pudding dish, cover with the milk, butter and
flour and bake, covered, half an hour. Then uncover and brown.

This dish is particularly good if a little onion juice and about a
tablespoonful of minced celery be mixed with the potatoes just before
they are put into the bake-dish. The dice should be _very_ small.

Hashed potatoes, creamed and browned (No. 2)

Cut a dozen cold boiled potatoes into very small dice. Thicken a cupful
of hot milk with a tablespoonful of flour, rubbed into one of butter.
Season to taste and stir the potato dice into this sauce. Stir for just
a minute; turn into a greased baking-dish and brown in a good oven.

Lyonnaise potatoes

Cut a dozen cold boiled potatoes into dice of uniform size. Shred
two onions _very_ thin and put them into a frying-pan with two
tablespoonfuls of butter. Fry the onion to a light brown; add the
potatoes and fry until delicately colored, stirring frequently. Strew
with chopped parsley and serve.

Potato croquettes

Into a pint of hot mashed potatoes stir a tablespoonful of butter, a
beaten egg, salt and pepper and enough cream to make the potatoes of
the proper consistency to be formed into croquettes. Roll in egg and
cracker crumbs and set in the ice-box for an hour before frying in deep
cottolene or other fat to a light brown. Drain in a hot colander.

Potato omelet

Beat two cupfuls of mashed potatoes to a cream with milk, salt and
pepper and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Beat three eggs light
and whip them into the potato mixture. Have a buttered frying-pan
heated, turn the omelet into this and cook until set; turn out upon a
hot platter.

Chopped potatoes sautés

Chop cold boiled potatoes evenly and rather coarsely. Put a
tablespoonful of butter or of good dripping into a frying-pan and when
hot stir the potato-dice into it, tossing and shaking until they are
smoking hot. Pepper and salt and dish.

An equal quantity of sweet potato dice mixed with the white will make
the dish still better.

Potatoes fried whole

Boil potatoes of uniform size until just done. Sprinkle with salt. When
cold roll in beaten egg and cracker crumbs and set in a cold place for
an hour. Fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat, or in dripping to
a golden brown.

Fried green peppers

Slice green peppers crosswise and remove the seeds and tough, white
membrane. Melt a little butter in the frying-pan and fry the sliced
peppers in this. They are an appetizing accompaniment to fried fish.

Stuffed peppers

Mince enough cold chicken to make a cupful and stir into it two
tablespoonfuls of minced ham and one of melted butter. Season to taste.
Cut the stems from green peppers so that they will stand upright.
Cut off the tops of the peppers, remove the seeds and membrane and
fill with the minced chicken and ham. Stand the peppers on end in a
baking-pan, pour about them a cup of chicken stock and bake half an
hour.

German potato pancakes

Six large raw potatoes grated fine; three eggs; a scant teaspoonful
of soda; salt to taste. Mix as pancake dough and fry in plenty of
cottolene or other fat previously heated gradually to a boil.

Fried eggplant

Cut the eggplant into slices nearly three-quarters of an inch thick,
peel these and lay them in a bowl of cold, salted water, putting a
plate on them to keep them under the surface of the liquid. At the end
of an hour remove the vegetables from the water and wipe dry on a clean
cloth. Dip each slice in beaten egg, then in cracker crumbs and lay on
a platter. Set in the ice-box for an hour and fry to a golden brown in
deep boiling cottolene or other fat. Drain in a colander lined with
tissue paper and pile on a folded napkin on a hot platter.

Broiled eggplant

Cut the eggplant in slices half an inch thick, peel and leave for an
hour in cold, salted water, as in the preceding recipe. Wipe the
slices dry and lay in a bath of five tablespoonfuls of salad oil and
two teaspoonfuls of vinegar. At the end of fifteen minutes remove
the eggplant, drain in a colander, sprinkle each slice with salt and
pepper, lay on a gridiron and broil over a clear fire. Cook for five
minutes on one side before turning the broiler. Serve very hot.

Fried ripe tomatoes

Cut firm tomatoes into thick slices, but do not peel them. Sprinkle
each slice with salt, dip into a beaten egg and then in fine cracker
dust. Set in a cold place for an hour and fry in boiling cottolene or
other fat, or in butter.

Broiled ripe tomatoes (No. 1)

Cut large, firm tomatoes into half-inch slices, sprinkle with salt
and pepper and dip in fine bread crumbs. Put into a greased broiler
and broil over a clear fire until heated thoroughly. Spread with soft
butter and serve at once.

Broiled tomatoes (No. 2)

Wash and wipe ripe tomatoes. With a very sharp knife cut them in half
and lay, skin side down, upon a buttered broiler. Cook over a clear
fire until done; arrange squares of toast on a hot platter and lay the
broiled tomatoes on this toast—half a tomato to each slice. Handle
carefully that they may not break. Sprinkle with pepper and salt and
pour melted butter over all.

Grilled tomatoes

Cut large, firm tomatoes into thick slices. Do not peel. Rub an oyster
broiler lightly with butter, lay on it the slices of tomato and broil
over a clear fire. Have ready a sauce made by working a teaspoonful,
each, of minced parsley and of lemon juice into two tablespoonfuls of
butter. Sprinkle the tomatoes with pepper and salt, put the sauce on
them, let them stand covered in the open oven or plate-warmer for a
couple of minutes, or until the butter is melted, and serve.

Tomatoes and bacon

Prepare tomatoes as in the preceding recipe, omitting the sauce. Keep
them hot while you broil or fry thin slices of bacon to a delicate
crisp. Arrange the tomatoes on a dish, lay a slice or two of the bacon
on each piece of the tomato and serve. This is an excellent breakfast
dish.

If for any reason it is not convenient to broil the tomatoes, they may
be fried in butter or in olive oil, drained dry and served in the same
fashion.

Broiled green tomatoes

Cut the unpeeled tomatoes into half-inch slices and lay in sweet oil
for five minutes. Transfer the slices carefully to a fine wire broiler
and cook to a delicate brown. When done, sprinkle with salt and pepper,
lay on slices of crisp toast and pour a white sauce over and around all.

Fried green tomatoes

Wipe green tomatoes with a damp cloth, cut them into slices half an
inch thick, dip in beaten egg and cracker crumbs, set in the ice-chest
for half an hour and then fry in butter to a delicate brown. Drain from
grease and serve on a hot platter.

Broiled mushrooms

Peel, lay upon a buttered broiler and cook over clear coals, allowing
three minutes to each side of the mushrooms. Transfer to thin slices of
crustless toast, put a bit of butter and a dash of salt and paprika on
each mushroom and set in an oven just long enough to melt the butter.

Fried mushrooms

Melt a great spoonful of butter in an agate frying-pan. Peel the
mushrooms and cut off their stems, scraping these last. Lay the
mushrooms with their scraped stalks in the frying-pan and cook, turning
often, until done. Serve very hot.

Green pepper toast

Slice bread thin, cut off the crusts and toast on both sides to a
delicate brown, then butter and keep hot in the oven. Heat a cup of
beef stock in the saucepan. Rub together a tablespoonful of butter and
the same quantity of browned flour and stir it into the beef stock.
When you have a very thick brown sauce add salt to taste and a half
cupful of green peppers which have been seeded, freed from the tough
white core and minced very fine. Stir to a paste, remove from the fire
and spread upon the slices of hot toast. Set in the oven long enough to
become very hot and crisp, and serve.

Fried hominy

Warm three cups of cold boiled hominy by setting the vessel containing
it in an outer vessel of boiling water. When hot, add a saltspoonful of
salt and a tablespoonful of melted butter, beat the hominy smooth and
turn into small muffin-tins to get cold and to form. When very stiff,
turn the forms over, roll each in beaten egg and cracker dust and set
all in a cold place for an hour. Fry in deep, boiling cottolene or
other fat.

Block potatoes

(Contributed)

Cut raw potatoes in cubes. Wipe them dry and fry in deep fat until a
light brown. Salt, drain on brown paper and serve hot.

FAMILIAR TALK

WITH MARTHA IN HER KITCHEN

(Time—The cook’s “afternoon out.”)

It is the Christian duty of every housemother in this comfort-loving
land to provide a commodious, well-appointed kitchen and laundry, where
daily household work is done, and clean, airy, comfortable chambers for
workers, where they may take rest in sleep when that work is over. I
should fail in observance of the Golden Rule if I were to oblige them
to work where I could not work, or to sleep where slumber would be an
impossibility to me.

My own preference for a kitchen floor-covering is really good linoleum
of conventional design and light in color, therefore cheerful in
effect. Many housewives insist upon oiled hardwood or painted floors.
Not one cook in twenty takes proper care of an oiled floor, and paint
soon wears off. It is economical to buy a prime quality of linoleum,
and to lay the same pattern on kitchen, laundry and hall. When it wears
out in one room it can be replaced from another. Inlaid linoleum will
last for years.

Thick, strong rugs should be laid before the range and by the tables,
one under the table at which the servants eat. Linoleum is cold to the
feet, and one takes cold readily when over-heated.

I read, last year, that kitchen tables are now, as “a taking novelty,”
covered with zinc. Over a score of years ago I covered what may be
called the work-tables in my kitchen with this useful metal, tacking it
neatly under the edges, lest a loose point might tear hands or clothes.
I have kept it up ever since. The tabletops are cleaned easily; they
never “take” grease or stain of any kind, and they outwear wood by many
years.

Another invaluable invention which I wish I could place in every
kitchen is a sheet-iron hood and asbestos curtain, fitted to the top of
the recess enclosing the range. It works so easily upon pulleys that a
little finger could pull it down. When raised, it is entirely out of
the cook’s way; when down, it shuts in the range like an impervious
screen. Sliding doors in the center allow one to look into pots and
kettles simmering behind it, when oversight is advisable. If left
closed, it will lower the temperature of the kitchen twenty degrees
within two hours. It cost twenty dollars when new, twelve years ago. If
I could not get another, twelve hundred dollars would not buy it.

I long ago discarded the old-fashioned tin and iron cooking utensils in
favor of agate-nickel-steel ware, which is as easily washed as crockery
bowls and plates; is light and neat in appearance; never rusts, and
is altogether satisfactory. All of my kettles have covers, and we use
covered roasters—another boon to housewives—for cooking meats. They
keep in flavor and juices, and lessen the labor of basting.

Always have a rocking-chair convenient into which the cook can drop
for rest between the times of active duty, and one apiece for maids in
the laundry. For yourself, follow the rule I laid down imperatively a
quarter-century ago in COMMON SENSE IN THE HOUSEHOLD—“Never stand at
your work when you can sit.” A chair suited in height to the mixing
table will save you many an ache in the feet, back and head.

Do not allow servants to jumble their table crockery, etc., up with
pots, saucepans, kettles, colanders and the like. There is no reason
why the dresser or closet in which the kitchen tableware is kept should
not be as daintily arranged as the dining-room buffet. It should hold
no commerce with the pot closet.

The servants’ chambers must be furnished with iron bedsteads, good
mattresses, plenty of clean blankets and white spreads. The “honeycomb”
spreads are absurdly cheap and easily washed. The rest of the
appointments of the dormitories need not be elaborate. If they are neat
and comfortable the occupants are more likely to try and make them
attractive. When one pins up a crucifix over her bed, her mother’s or
sister’s photograph against the wall, or even a colored lithograph of a
patent medicine—notice it pleasantly. It means that she is catching
the home feeling. Muslin curtains cost next to nothing. Hang them up
at her window; give her a pretty cover for her bureau-top and a plain
one for her washstand, and plenty of towels. The Golden Rule works well
here—where does it not?

[Illustration: RANGE-SCREEN PARTLY RAISED]

I read a little story many, many years ago—before you were born, I
think—a slight, commonplace affair, that has furnished two generations
of busy housewives with a hard-worked _mot de famille_.

Excuse the foreign phrase! We have none in English that exactly
translates it. “Household word” comes nearer to it than anything else,
without quite covering it.

The tale was of a fidgety housekeeper of the sort stigmatized in the
rough parlance of the sensible vulgar as “nasty particular.” A friend,
calling upon her soon after breakfast, found her fairly beside herself
with worry because guests she had expected at noon had telegraphed
that they would be with her at eleven o’clock that morning. Distracted
Martha “could never in the world be ready for them. There was so much
to do that she did not know what to take hold of first. It was enough
to drive a woman out of her senses,” etc., etc., etc.

“But what have you to do?”

“Do! Do! Do! Why—everything!”

The visitor drew off her gloves.

“I will stay and help you. Shan’t I get the spare room ready?”

A gesture of disdain.