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

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

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

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

G

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GOOSEBERRY WINE. When the weather is dry, gather gooseberries about the time they are half ripe. Pick them clean as much as a peck into a convenient vessel, and bruise them with a piece of wood, taking as much care as