The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families
TekstFOOD FOR BIRDS. An excellent food for linnets, canaries, and other singing birds, may be prepared in the following manner. Knead together one pound of split peas ground to flour, half a pound each of coarse sugar and fine grated bread, two ounces of unsalted butter, and the yolks of two eggs. Brown the paste gently in a fryingpan, and when cold mix with it two ounces of mace seed, and two pounds of bruised hemp seed, separated from the husk. This paste given to birds in small quantities will preserve them in health, and prompt them to sing every month in the year.
FORCEMEAT. This article, whether in the form of stuffing balls, or for patties, makes a considerable part of good cooking, by the flavour it imparts to whatsoever dish it may be added. Yet at many tables, where every thing else is well done, it is common to find very bad stuffing. Exact rules for the quantity cannot easily be given; but the following observations may be useful, and habit will soon give knowledge in mixing it to the taste. The selection of ingredients should of course be made, according to what they are wanted for, observing that of the most pungent, the smallest quantity should be used. No one flavour should greatly preponderate; yet if several dishes be served the same day, there should be a marked variety in the taste of the forcemeat, as well as of the gravies. It should be consistent enough to cut with a knife, but neither dry nor heavy. The following are the articles of which forcemeat may be made, without giving it any striking flavour. Cold fowl or veal, scraped ham, fat bacon, beef suet, crumbs of bread, salt, white pepper, parsley, nutmeg, yolk and white of eggs well beaten to bind the mixture. To these, any of the following may be added, to vary the taste, and give it a higher relish. Oysters, anchovy, taragon, savoury, pennyroyal, knotted marjoram, thyme, basil, yolks of hard eggs, cayenne, garlic, shalot, chives, Jamaica pepper in fine powder, or two or three cloves.
FORCEMEAT BALLS. To make fine forcemeat balls for fish soups, or stewed fish, beat together the flesh and soft parts of a lobster, half an anchovy, a large piece of boiled celery, the yolk of a hard egg, a little cayenne, mace, salt, and white pepper. Add two table-spoonfuls of bread crumbs, one of oyster liquor, two ounces of warmed butter, and two eggs well beaten. Make the whole into balls, and fry them in butter, of a fine brown.
FORCEMEAT FOR FOWLS. Shred a little ham or gammon, some cold veal or fowl, beef suet, parsley, a small quantity of onion, and a very little lemon peel. Add salt, nutmeg, or pounded mace, bread crumbs, and either white pepper or cayenne. Pound it all together in a mortar, and bind it with one or two eggs beaten and strained. The same stuffing will do for meat, or for patties. For fowls, it is usually put between the skin and the flesh.
FORCEMEAT FOR GOOSE. Chop very fine about two ounces of onion, and an ounce of green sage. Add four ounces of bread crumbs, the yolk and white of an egg, a little pepper and salt; and if approved, a minced apple. This will do for either goose or duck stuffing.
FORCEMEAT FOR HARE. Chop up the liver, with an anchovy, some fat bacon, a little suet, some sweet herbs, and an onion. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, crumbs of bread, and an egg to bind all together.
FORCEMEAT FOR SAVOURY PIES. The same as for fowls, only substituting fat or bacon, instead of suet. If the pie be of rabbit or fowls, the livers mixed with fat and lean pork, instead of bacon, will make an excellent stuffing. The seasoning is to be the same as for fowls or meat.
FORCEMEAT FOR TURKEY. The same stuffing will do for boiled or roast turkey as for veal, or to make it more relishing, add a little grated ham or tongue, an anchovy, or the soft part of a dozen oysters. Pork sausage meat is sometimes used to stuff turkies or fowls, or fried, and sent up as garnish.
FORCEMEAT FOR TURTLE. A pound of fine fresh suet, one ounce of cold veal or chicken, chopped fine; crumbs of bread, a little shalot or onion, white pepper, salt, nutmeg, mace, pennyroyal, parsley, and lemon thyme, finely shred. Beat as many fresh eggs, yolks and whites separately, as will make the above ingredients into a moist paste. Roll it into small balls, and boil them in fresh lard, putting them in just as it boils up. When of a light brown take them out, and drain them before the fire. If the suet be moist or stale, a great many more eggs will be necessary. Balls made in this way are remarkably light; but being greasy, some people prefer them with less suet and eggs.
FORCEMEAT FOR VEAL. Scrape two ounces of undressed lean veal, free from skin and sinews; two ounces of beef or veal suet, and two of bread crumbs. Chop fine two drams of parsley, one of lemon peel, one of sweet herbs, one of onion, and add half a dram of mace or allspice reduced to a fine powder. Pound all together in a mortar, break into it the yolk and white of an egg, rub it all up well together, and season it with a little pepper and salt. This may be made more savoury, by the addition of cold boiled tongue, anchovy, shalot, cayenne, or curry powder.
FOREHAND OF PORK. Cut out the bone, sprinkle the inside with salt, pepper, and dried sage. Roll the pork tight, and tie it up; warm a little butter to baste it, and then flour it. Roast it by a hanging jack, and about two hours will do it.
FOREQUARTER OF LAMB. Roast it either whole, or in separate parts. If left to be cold, chopped parsley should be sprinkled over it. The neck and breast together are called a scoven.
FOWLS. In purchasing fowls for dressing, it is necessary to see that they are fresh and good. If a cock bird is young, his spurs will be short; but be careful to observe that they have not been cut or pared, which is a trick too often practised. If fresh, the vent will be close and dark. Pullets are best just before they begin to lay, and yet are full of egg. If hens are old, their combs and legs will be rough: if young, they will be smooth. A good capon has a thick belly and a large rump: there is a particular fat at his breast, and the comb is very pale. Black-legged fowls being moist, are best for roasting.
FRECKLES. The cosmetics generally recommended for improving the skin and bloom of the face are highly pernicious, and ought by no means to be employed. Temperance in diet and exercise, with frequent washing and bathing, are the best means of preserving a healthful countenance. But those who desire to soften and improve the skin, may use an infusion of horseradish in milk, or the expressed juice of houseleek mixed with cream, which will be useful and inoffensive. Freckles on the face, or small discolourations on other parts of the skin, are constitutional in some cases; and in others, they are occasioned by the action of the sun upon the part, and frequent exposures to the morning air. For dispersing them, take four ounces of lemon juice, one dram of powdered borax, and two drams of sugar: mix them together, and let them stand a few days in a glass bottle till the liquid is fit for use, and then rub it on the face. But for chaps and flaws in the skin, occasioned by cold, rub on a little plain unscented pomatum at bed-time, and let it remain till morning. Or, which is much better, anoint the face with honey water, made to the consistence of cream, which will form a kind of varnish on the skin, and protect it from the effects of cold.
FRENCH BEANS. String, and cut them into four parts; if smaller, they look so much the better. Lay them in salt and water; and when the water boils, put them in with some salt. As soon as they are done, serve them immediately, to preserve their colour. Or when half done, drain off the water, and add two spoonfuls of broth strained. In finishing them, put in a little cream, with flour and butter.
FRENCH BREAD. With a quarter of a peck of fine flour, mix the yolks of three and the whites of two eggs, beaten and strained; a little salt, half a pint of good yeast that is not bitter, and as much lukewarm milk as will work it into a thin light dough. Stir it about, but do not knead it. Divide the dough into three parts, put them into wooden dishes, set them to rise, then turn them out into the oven, which must be quick, and rasp the bread when done.
FRENCH DUMPLINGS. Grate a penny loaf, add half a pound of currants, three quarters of a pound of beef suet finely shred, and half a grated nutmeg. Beat up the yolks of three eggs with three spoonfuls of cream, as much white wine, and a little sugar. Mix all together, work it up into a paste, make it into dumplings of a convenient size, and tie them up in cloths. Put them into boiling water, and let them boil three quarters of an hour.
FRENCH PIE. Lay a puff paste round the edge of the dish, and put in either slices of veal, rabbits or chickens jointed; with forcemeat balls, sweetbreads cut in pieces, artichoke bottoms, and a few truffles.
FRENCH PORRIDGE. Stir together some oatmeal and water, and pour off the latter. Put fresh in, stir it well, and let it stand till the next day. Strain it through a fine sieve, and boil the water, which must be small in quantity, adding some milk while it is doing. With the addition of toast, this is much in request abroad, for the breakfast of weakly persons.
FRENCH PUDDING. Grate six ounces of brown bread, and shred half a pound of suet. Add four eggs well beaten, half a pound of currants picked and washed, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a little nutmeg. Mix all together, tie the pudding up close in a cloth, and boil it two hours. Serve it up with a sauce of melted butter, a little sugar and sweet wine.
FRENCH ROLLS. Rub one ounce of butter into a pound of flour; mix one egg beaten, a little yeast that is not bitter, and as much milk as will make the dough tolerably stiff. Beat it well, but do not knead it: let it rise, and bake it on tins.
FRENCH SALAD. Mince up three anchovies, a shalot, and some parsley. Put them into a bowl with two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, and a little salt and mustard. When well mixed, add by degrees some cold roast or boiled meat in very thin slices: put in a few at a time, not exceeding two or three inches long. Shake them in the seasoning, and then put more: cover the bowl close, and let the salad be prepared three hours before it is to be eaten. Garnish with parsley, and a few slices of the fat.
FRICANDEAU OF BEEF. Take a nice piece of lean beef; lard it with bacon seasoned with pepper, salt, cloves, mace, and allspice. Put it into a stewpan with a pint of broth, a glass of white wine, a bundle of parsley, all sorts of sweet herbs, a clove of garlic, a shalot or two, four cloves, pepper and salt. When the meat is become tender, cover it close. Skim the sauce well, strain it, set it on the fire, and let it boil till reduced to a glaze. Glaze the larded side with this, and serve the meat on sorrel sauce.
FRICANDEAU OF VEAL. Cut a large piece from the fat side of the leg, about nine inches long and half as thick and broad. Beat it with the rolling pin, take off the skin, and trim the rough edges. Lard the top and sides, cover it with fat bacon, and then with white paper. Lay it into a stewpan with any pieces of undressed veal or mutton, four onions, a sliced carrot, a faggot of sweet herbs, four blades of mace, four bay leaves, a pint of good veal or mutton broth, and four or five ounces of lean ham or gammon. Cover the pan close, and let it stew slowly for three hours; then take up the meat, remove all the fat from the gravy, and boil it quick to a glaze. Keep the fricandeau quite hot, and then glaze it. Serve it with the remainder of the glaze in the dish, and sorrel sauce in a tureen. – The following is a cheaper way of making a good fricandeau of veal. With a sharp knife cut the lean part of a large neck from the best end, scooping it from the bones a hand's length, and prepare it in the manner above directed. Three or four bones only will be necessary, and they will make the gravy; but if the prime part of the leg is cut off, it spoils the whole. – Another way is to take two large round sweetbreads, and prepare them like veal. Make a rich gravy with truffles, morels, mushrooms, and artichoke bottoms, and serve it round.
FRICASSEE OF CHICKENS. Boil rather more than half, in a small quantity of water, and let them cool. Cut them up, simmer in a little gravy made of the liquor they were boiled in, adding a bit of veal or mutton, onion, mace, lemon peel, white pepper, and a bunch of sweet herbs. When quite tender, keep them hot, while the following sauce is prepared. Strain off the liquor, return it into the saucepan with a little salt, a scrape of nutmeg, and a little flour and butter. Give it one boil, and when ready to serve, beat up the yolk of an egg, add half a pint of cream, and stir them over the fire, but do not let it boil. It will be quite as good however without the egg. Without the addition of any other meat, the gravy may be made of the trimmings of the fowls, such as the necks, feet, small wing bones, gizzards, and livers.
FRICASSEE OF RABBITS. Skin them, cut them in pieces, soak in warm water, and clean them. Then stew them in a little fresh water, with a bit of lemon peel, a little white wine, an anchovy, an onion, two cloves, and a sprig of sweet herbs. When tender take them out, strain off the liquor, put a very little of it into a quarter of a pint of thick cream, with a piece of butter, and a little flour. Keep it constantly stirring till the butter is melted; then put in the rabbit, with a little grated lemon peel, mace, and lemon juice. Shake all together over the fire, and make it quite hot. If more agreeable, pickled mushrooms may be used instead of lemon. – To make a brown fricassee, prepare the rabbits as above, and fry them in butter to a nice brown. Put some gravy or beef broth into the pan, shake in some flour, and keep it stirring over the fire. Add some ketchup, a very little shalot chopped, salt, cayenne, and lemon juice, or pickled mushrooms. Boil it up, put in the rabbit, and shake it round till it is quite hot.
FRYING. This is often a very convenient and expeditious mode of cooking; but though one of the most common, it is as commonly performed in a very imperfect manner, and meets with less attention than the comfort of a good meal requires. A fryingpan should be about four inches deep, with a perfectly flat and thick bottom, and perpendicular sides. When used it should be half filled with fat, for good frying is in fact, boiling in fat. To make sure that the pan is quite clean, rub a little fat over it, then make it warm, and wipe it out with a clean cloth. Great care must be taken in frying, never to use any oil, butter, lard, or drippings, but what is quite clean, fresh, and free from salt. Any thing dirty spoils the appearance, any thing bad tasted or stale spoils the flavour, and salt prevents its browning. Fine olive oil is the most delicate for frying, but it is very expensive, and bad oil spoils every thing that is dressed with it. For general purposes, and especially for fish, clean fresh lard is not near so expensive as oil or clarified butter, and does almost as well, except for collops and cutlets. Butter often burns before any one is aware, and what is fried with it will get a dark and dirty appearance. Dripping, if nicely clean and fresh, is almost as good as any thing: if not clean, it may easily be clarified. Whatever fat be used, let it remain in the pan a few minutes after frying, and then pour it through a sieve into a clean bason. If not burnt, it will be found much better than it was at first; but the fat in which fish has been fried, will not serve any other purpose. To fry fish, parsley, potatoes, or any thing that is watery, the fire must be very clear, and the fat quite hot, which will be the case when it has done hissing. Fish will neither be firm nor crisp, nor of a good colour, unless the fat be of a proper heat. To determine this, throw a little bit of bread into the pan: if it fries crisp, the fat is ready: if it burns the bread, it is too hot. Whatever is fried before the fat is hot enough, will be pale and sodden, and offend the palate and the stomach, as well as the eye. The fat also must be thoroughly drained from the fry, especially from such things as are dressed in bread crumbs, or the flavour will be impaired. The dryness of fish depends much upon its having been fried in fat of a due degree of heat, they are then crisp and dry in a few minutes after being taken out of the pan: when they are not, lay them on a soft cloth before the fire, and turn them till they are dry.
FRIED CARP. Scale, draw, and wash them clean; dry them in flour, and fry them in hog's lard to a light brown. Fry some toast, cut three-corner ways, with the roes; lay the fish on a coarse cloth to drain, and serve them up with butter, anchovy sauce, and the juice of a lemon. Garnish with the bread, roe, and lemon.
FRIED EELS. There is a greater difference in the goodness of eels than of any other fish. The true silver-eel, so called from the bright colour of the belly, is caught in the Thames. The Dutch eels sold at Billingsgate are very bad; those taken in great floods are generally good, but in ponds they have usually a strong rank flavour. Except the middle of summer, they are always in season. If small, they should be curled round and fried, being first dipped into eggs and crumbs of bread.
FRIED EGGS. Boil six eggs for three minutes, put them in cold water, and take off the shells, without breaking the whites. Wrap the eggs up in a puff paste, smear them over with egg, and grate some bread over them. Put into a stewpan a sufficient quantity of lard or butter to swim the eggs; and when the lard is hot, put in the eggs, and fry them of a good colour. Lay them on a cloth to drain.
FRIED HERBS. Clean and drain a good quantity of spinach leaves, two large handfuls of parsley, and a handful of green onions. Chop the parsley and onions, and sprinkle them among the spinach. Stew them together with a little salt, and a bit of butter the size of a walnut. Shake the pan when it begins to grow warm, and let it lie closely covered over a slow stove till done enough. It is served with slices of broiled calves' liver, small rashers of bacon, and fried eggs. The latter on the herbs, and the other in a separate dish. This is the mode of dressing herbs in Staffordshire.
FRIED MACKAREL. Stuff the fish with grated bread, minced parsley and lemon peel, pepper and salt, nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg, all mixed together. Serve with anchovy and fennel sauce. Or split the fish open, cut off their heads, season and hang them up four or five hours, and then broil them. Make the sauce of fennel and parsley chopped fine, and mixed with melted butter.
FRIED OYSTERS. To prepare a garnish for boiled fish, make a batter of flour, milk, and eggs. Season it a very little, dip the oysters into the batter, and fry them of a fine yellow brown. A little nutmeg should be put into the seasoning, and a few crumbs of bread into the flour.
FRIED PARSLEY. Pick some young parsley very clean, and put it into a fryingpan with a bit of butter. Stir it with a knife till it becomes crisp, and use it for garnishing. Or rub the picked parsley in a cloth to clean it, and set it before the fire in a Dutch oven till it is crisp. This is better than fried parsley, and may be rubbed on steaks, calf's liver, or any other dish of the kind.
FRIED PATTIES. Mince a bit of cold veal, and six oysters; mix them with a few crumbs of bread, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and a very small bit of lemon peel. Add the liquor of the oysters, warm all together in a tosser, but it must not boil, and then let it grow cold. Prepare a good puff-paste, roll it thin, and cut it into round or square pieces. Put some of the mixture between two of them, twist the edges to keep in the gravy, and fry them of a fine brown. If baked, it becomes a fashionable dish. All patties should be washed over with egg before they are baked.
FRIED POTATOES. Slice them thin, and fry them in butter till they are brown; then lay them in a dish, and pour melted butter over them. Potatoes may likewise be fried in butter, and served up with powder sugar strewed over them. Any kind of fruit may be fried in the same manner, and all batter should be fried in hog's lard.
FRIED RABBIT. Cut it into joints, and fry it in butter of a nice brown. Send it to table with fried or dried parsley, and gravy or liver sauce.
FRIED SMELTS. Wipe them clean, take away the gills, rub them over with a feather dipped in egg, and strew on some grated bread. Fry them in hog's lard over a clear fire, and put them in when the fat is boiling hot. When they are of a fine brown, take them out and drain off the fat. Garnish with fried parsley and lemon.
FRIED SOLES. Divide two or three soles from the backbone, and take off the head, fins, and tail. Sprinkle the inside with salt, roll them up tight from the tail and upwards, and fasten with small skewers. Small fish do not answer, but if large or of a tolerable size, put half a fish in each roll. Dip them into yolks of eggs, and cover them with crumbs. Egg them over again, and then put more crumbs. Fry them of a beautiful colour in lard, or in clarified butter. Or dip the soles in egg, and cover them with fine crumbs of bread. Set on a fryingpan of the proper size, and put into it a good quantity of fresh lard or dripping. Let it boil, and immediately put the fish into it, and do them of a fine brown. Soles that have been fried, eat good cold with oil, vinegar, salt and mustard.
FRIED TENCH. Scale and clean the fish well, dry and lay them before the fire, dust them with flour, and fry them in dripping or hog's lard. Serve with crisped parsley, and plain butter. Perch, trout, and grayling may be done the same.
FRIED TURBOT. Cut a small turbot across in ribs, dry and flour it, put it into a fryingpan, and cover it with boiling lard. Fry it brown, and drain it. Clean the pan, put in a little wine, an anchovy, salt, nutmeg, and a little ginger. Put in the fish, and stew it till the liquor is half wasted. Then take it out, put in some butter rolled in flour, with a minced lemon, and simmer them to a proper thickness. Rub a hot dish with a piece of shalot, lay the turbot in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.
FRIED VENISON. Cut the meat into slices, fry it of a bright brown, and keep it hot before the fire. Make gravy of the bones, add a little butter rolled in flour, stir it in the pan till it is thick and brown, and put in some port and lemon juice. Warm the venison in it, put in the dish, and pour the sauce over it. Send up currant jelly in a glass.
FRITTERS. Make them of pancake batter, dropped in small quantities into the pan: or put apple into batter, pared and sliced, and fry some of it with each slice. Currants, or very thinly-sliced lemon, make an agreeable change. Fritters for company should be served on a folded napkin in the dish. Any sort of sweetmeat, or ripe fruit, may be made into fritters.
FRONTINIAC. Boil twelve pounds of loaf sugar, and six pounds of raisins cut small, in six gallons of water. When the liquor is almost cold, put in half a peck of elder flowers; and the next day six spoonfuls of the syrup of lemons, and four of yeast. Let it stand two days, put it into a barrel that will just hold it, and bottle it after it has stood about two months.
FROST AND BLIGHTS. When a fruit tree is in full blossom, the best way to preserve it from frost and blights is to twine a rope upon its branches, and bring the end of it into a pail of water. If a light frost happen in the night, the tree will not be affected by it; but an ice will be formed on the surface of the water, in which the end of the rope is immersed. This experiment may easily be tried on wall fruit, and has been found to answer. If trees be infected with an easterly blight, the best way is to fumigate them with brimstone strewed on burning charcoal: this will effectually destroy the insects, and preserve the fruit. Afterwards it will be proper to dash them with water, or wash the branches with a woollen cloth, and clear them of all glutinous matter and excrescences of every kind, which would harbour the insects; but the washing should be performed in the early part of a warm day, that the moisture may be exhaled before the cold of the evening approaches.
FROSTED POTATOES. If soaked three hours in cold water, before they are to be prepared as food, changing the water every hour, these valuable roots will recover their salubrious quality and flavour. While in cold water, they must stand where a sufficiency of artificial heat may prevent freezing. If much frozen, allow a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre to every peck of potatoes, and dissolve it in the water. But if so much penetrated by the frost as to render them unfit for culinary purposes, they may be made into starch, and will yield a large quantity of flour for that purpose.
FROTH FOR CREAMS. Sweeten half a pound of the pulp of damsons, or any other scalded fruit. Put to it the whites of four eggs beaten, and beat up the pulp with them till it will stand up, and take any form. It should be rough, to imitate a rock, or the billows of the ocean. This froth looks and eats well, and may be laid on cream, custard, or trifle, with a spoon.
FRUIT. The method of preserving any kind of fruit all the year, is to put them carefully into a wide-mouthed glass vessel, closed down with oiled paper. The glasses are to be placed in a box filled with a mixture of four pounds of dry sand, two pounds of bole-armeniac, and one pound of saltpetre, so that the fruit may be completely covered. The fruit should be gathered by the hand before it be thoroughly ripe, and the box kept in a dry place.
FRUIT BISCUITS. To the pulp of any scalded fruit, put an equal weight of sugar sifted, and beat it two hours. Then make it into little white-paper forms, dry them in a cool oven, and turn them the next day. They may be put into boxes in the course of two or three days.
FRUIT FOR CHILDREN. To prepare fruit for children, far more wholesome than in puddings or pies, put some sliced apples, plums or gooseberries, into a stone jar, and sprinkle among them a sufficient quantity of fine moist sugar. Set the jar on a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of boiling water, and let it remain till the fruit is well done. Slices of bread, or boiled rice, may either be stewed with the fruit, or added when eaten.
FRUIT PASTE. Put any kind of fruit into a preserving pan, stir it till it will mash quite soft, and strain it. To one pint of juice, add a pound and a half of fine sugar; dissolve the sugar in water, and boil it till the water is dried up. Then mix it with the juice, boil it once, pour it into plates, and dry it in a stove. When wanted for use, cut it in strips, and make paste knots for garnishing.
FRUIT PUDDINGS. Make up a thick batter of milk and eggs, with a little flour and salt; put in any kind of fruit, and either bake or boil it. Apples should be pared and quartered, gooseberries and currants should be picked and cleaned, before they are put into the batter. Or make a thick paste, roll it out, and line a bason with it, after it has been rubbed with a little butter. Then fill it with fruit, put on a lid, tie it up close in a cloth, and boil it for two hours. The pudding will be lighter, if only made in a bason, then turned out into a pudding cloth, and boiled in plenty of water.
FRUIT STAINS. If stains of fruit or wine have been long in the linen, rub the part on each side with yellow soap. Then lay on a thick mixture of starch in cold water, rub it well in, and expose the linen to the sun and air till the stain comes out. If not removed in three or four days, rub off the mixture, and renew the process. When dry, it may be sprinkled with a little water. – Many other stains may be taken out by only dipping the linen into sour buttermilk, and drying it in a hot sun. Then wash it in cold water and dry it, two or three times a day.
FRUIT FOR TARTS. To preserve fruit for family desserts, whether cherries, plums, or apples, gather them when ripe, and put them in small jars that will hold about a pound. Strew over each jar six ounces of fine pounded sugar, and cover each with two bladders, separately tied down. Set the jars in a large stewpan of water up to the neck, and let it boil three hours gently. Keep these and all other sorts of fruit free from damp.
FRUIT TREES. When they have the appearance of being old or worn out, and are covered with moss and insects, they may be revived and made fruitful by dressing them well with a brush, dipped in a solution of strong fresh lime. The outer rind, with all its incumbrance, will then fall off; a new and clean one will be formed, and the trees put on a healthy appearance.
FRUITS IN JELLY. Put half a pint of calf's foot jelly into a bowl; when stiff, lay in three peaches, and a bunch of grapes with the stalk upwards. Cover over with vine leaves, and fill up the bowl with jelly. Let it stand till the next day, and then set it to the brim in hot water. When it gives way from the bowl, turn the jelly out carefully, and send it to table. Any kind of fruit may be treated in the same way.
FUEL. Coals constitute a principal article of domestic convenience, especially during the severity of winter. At that season they often become very scarce, and are sold at an extravagant price. To remedy this evil in some measure, take two-thirds of soft clay, free from stones, and work it into three or four bushels of small coals previously sifted: form this composition into balls or cakes, about three or four inches thick, and let them be thoroughly dried. When the fire burns clear, place four or five of these cakes in the front of the grate, where they will soon become red, and yield a clear and strong heat till they are totally consumed. The expense of a ton of this composition is but trifling, when compared with that of a chaldron of coals, as it may be prepared at one-fourth of the cost, and will be of greater service than a chaldron and a half of the latter. Coal dust worked up with horse dung, cow dung, saw dust, tanner's waste, or any other combustible matter that is not too expensive, will also be found a saving in the article of fuel. Nearly a third of the coals consumed in large towns and cities might be saved, if the coal ashes were preserved, instead of being thrown into the dust bins, and afterwards mixed with an equal quantity of small coal, moistened with water. This mixture thrown behind the fire, with a few round coals in front, would save the trouble of sifting the ashes, and make a cheerful and pleasant fire. – The Best Mode of lighting a Fire. – Fill the grate with fresh coals quite up to the upper bar but one; then lay on the wood in the usual manner, rather collected in a mass than scattered. Over the wood place the cinders of the preceding day, piled up as high as the grate will admit, and placed loosely in rather large fragments, in order that the draft may be free: a bit or two of fresh coal may be added to the cinders when once they are lighted, but no small coal must be thrown on at first. When all is prepared, light the wood, when the cinders in a short time being thoroughly ignited, the gas rising from the coals below, which will now be affected by the heat, will take fire as it passes through them, leaving a very small portion of smoke to go up the chimney. One of the advantages of this mode of lighting a fire is, that small coal is better suited to the purpose than large, except a few pieces in front to keep the small from falling out of the grate. A fire lighted in this way will burn all day, without any thing being done to it. When apparently quite out, on being stirred, you have in a few minutes a glowing fire. When the upper part begins to cake, it must be stirred, but the lower must not be touched.