“ The cook may now easily slide the fish on the gridiron, put it again on the fire and brown the other side, putting the tin sheet back on top of it. Every thing should be covered while being broiled. When done, lay it on a dish and pour over it melted butter in which has been stirred pepper, salt, and minced parsley. If devilled fish is desired, add to this dressing, one tablespoonful pepper vinegar, one of celery vinegar, one of walnut catsup, one of made mustard, one wine-glassful of acid fruit jelly. In making sauces for fish, never use the water in which the fish has been boiled. ”

“ There is no reason why the poor man should not have as well prepared and palatable food as the wealthy, for, by care and pains, the finest bread may be made of the simplest materials, and surely the loving hands of the poor man's wife and daughter will take as much pains to make his bread nice and light as hirelings will do for the wealthy. The mistake generally made by persons in restricted circumstances is to make too great a use of soda bread, which is not only less wholesome, but is more expensive than light bread or beaten biscuit, as it requires more ingredients. ”

“ Chicken should never be cooked the same day it is killed. Wash well with cold water, then pour boiling water over it and into the cavity. Rub the latter with salt and pepper, and fill with a dressing made of bread soaked in water and squeezed out, a tablespoonful butter, a little salt, pepper and parsley.
Rub the chicken well with butter. Sprinkle pepper and salt over it and dredge with flour. Lay it into a pan with a slice of pork or bacon and a pint of water. Let it simmer slowly two hours, basting and dredging frequently. Turn the chicken so each part may be equally browned. ”

“ It is well to have two egg-beaters, one for the yolks and the other for the whites. Eggs well beaten ought to be as stiff as batter. Cool the dishes that you are to use in beating eggs. In summer, keep the eggs on ice before using them, and 305 always try to make the cake before breakfast, or as early in the morning as possible.
Some of the best housewives think it advisable to cream the butter and flour together, and add the sugar to the yolks when these are whipped to a stiff froth, as it produces yellow specks when you add the sugar sooner. The whites must always be added last. ”

“ Some persons think it best to add the salt after the steak is done, though many good housekeepers salt and pepper the steak before broiling it. Beefsteak should be cooked rare; it is a great mistake to cook it till hard and indigestible.
The parts most suitable for soup are the head, neck, shank, and all the unsightly parts. After the bones are broken and the meat boiled from them, the liquor is used for soup, while the meat, picked or cut to pieces, will make an excellent stew seasoned with potatoes, turnips, sweet herbs, one tablespoonful of butter and the same of meat flavoring. ”

“ As jelly is considered more wholesome when not colored by any foreign substance, no directions will be given in the subsequent pages for coloring it. The palest amber jelly, clear and sparkling, flavored only by the grated rind and juice of a lemon 418 and pale Madeira or sherry wine, is not only the most beautiful, but the most palatable jelly that can be made. ”

“ Season the gravy with minced onion, parsley and thyme, add a little salt and pepper and a tablespoonful of the meat flavoring of which a receipt was given in the general directions about meat. Serve the gravy in a sauce-tureen, so that each person may choose whether to eat the beef with gravy or with the juice that escapes from the meat while it is being carved. The latter mixed with grated horseradish is preferred to gravy by some persons. 137
Every portion of the beef, from head to feet, is useful and delicious when properly prepared. ”

“ It will not harden well if the boiling stops, even for a few moments. To preserve the true color and flavor of fruit in jellies or jams, boil well before adding the sugar; in this way the water contained in all fruit juices is evaporated. Heat the sugar before adding it. In making grape jelly, pick the grapes from their stems, wash them, put them over the fire in a vessel containing a little water, to keep them from burning. Stew a few moments; mash gently with a silver spoon, strain, and to every pint of juice, allow one pound of white sugar. ”

“ Wash the fish, rub it with salt and pepper, and lay it on a dish, or hang it up till ready to cook. Never keep it lying in water, either in preparing it for cooking, or in trying to keep it till the next day.
In boiling fish, put it in boiling water, and simmer very slowly. It will require an hour to boil a large fish, and about twenty minutes for a small one. Every housekeeper should have a fish-kettle for fish.
Be careful to have boiling-hot lard in the frying-pan when you go to fry fish. ”

“ Through a long life it has been her good fortune to be a frequent visitor, and often the intimate guest and kinswoman, at many of these homes; and she has sought, by the opportunities thus afforded, and guided by her own extensive experience as a housekeeper, to gather and select from these numerous sources those things which seemed to her best and most useful to the practical housewife, and which, carefully observed, would bring the art within reach of all who have the ambition to acquire it. ”

“ Drain the liquor from the oysters and throw them into some hot vinegar on the fire; let them remain until they are plump, not cooked. Then put them at once into clear cold water; this gives them a nice plump look and they will not then shrink and look small. Drain the water from them and set them away in a cool place, and prepare your dressing. Mash the yolks as fine as you can and rub into it the salt, pepper, and mustard, then rub the oil in, a few drops at a time. When it is all smooth, add the beaten egg, and then the vinegar, a spoonful at a time. ”

“ In roasting or boiling, use but little salt at first, as it hardens meat to do otherwise. In roasting, baste frequently, to prevent the meat from hardening on the outside, and try to preserve the juices. If possible, roast the meat on a spit before a large, open fire, after using salt, pepper, butter or lard, and dredging with flour. Where an open fire-place cannot be obtained, however, the meat may be well roasted in a stove or range. Mutton, pork, shote and veal should be well done, but beef should be cooked rare. ”

“ Boil the eggs hard, mash the yolks, put in the seasoning with a little vinegar.
Chop up the whites of the eggs, the pickle, chicken, cabbage and celery—then mix. If liked, add a little olive oil.—Mrs. O. B.
Chicken Salad.
Boil a chicken; while warm, mince it, taking out the bones. Put it in a stewpan with boiling water. Then stir together until smooth, one quarter of a pound butter, one teaspoonful flour and yolk of one raw egg; all of which add to the chicken one half at a time, stirring all well together.
Season with salt and pepper. ”

“ Have prepared slips of bacon, giblets, onion, water, pepper, salt, and a little clove or mace, if you like. Put in the ducks and let them stew gently but constantly for two hours. Then add the juice of green grapes or of a lemon, or else a little lemon pickle. Flour the ducks each time you turn them, and thicken with butter rolled in flour.—Mrs. Col. W.
SALADS.
In making salads, be careful to add the vinegar last. Where oil cannot be obtained, fresh butter, drawn or melted, is an excellent substitute and is indeed preferred to oil by some persons, epicureans to the contrary notwithstanding. ”

“ If she shall thus succeed in disseminating a knowledge of the practice of the most admirable system of domestic art known in our country; if she shall succeed in lightening the labors of the housewife by placing in her reach a guide which will be found always trusty and reliable; if she shall thus make her tasks lighter and home-life sweeter; if she shall succeed in contributing something to the health of American children by instructing their mothers in the art of preparing light and wholesome and palatable food ”

“ When they are served, butter them again. If you like, serve each bird on a piece of toast, and pour over them a sauce of red wine, mushroom catsup, salt, cayenne pepper, and celery.
MEATS.
All meats are better in winter for being kept several weeks, and it is well, in summer, to keep them as long as you can without 115 danger of their being tainted. If it is not in your power to keep meat in an ice-house, in summer, keep it in a cool dark cellar, wrapped around with wet cloths, on top of which lay boughs of elderberry. ”

“ Garnish the pudding with sifted white sugar, and with candied or preserved orange or lemon peel.
In boiling a pudding, cold water should never be added. Keep a kettle of hot water to replenish the water in the pot as it boils away. As soon as the pudding is done, remove it from the boiling water. A decrease in heat whilst cooking, makes boiled pudding sodden, and makes baked pudding fall. The best sauce for a boiled pudding is cold sauce made of the frothed whites of eggs, butter, sugar, nutmeg, and a little French brandy, while for a baked pudding, a rich, boiled wine sauce is best. ”

“ It is far better to watch their symptoms for yourself than to question them. Examine for yourself if their feet are warm, and endeavor to discover their condition and their wants, as far as possible, without questions. ”

“ Take any number of eggs you wish, beat the whites and yolks separately and as light as possible. Stir into the yolks, while beating, a tablespoonful of sugar to each egg. Then pour on the yolks and sugar a small wine-glassful of wine, flavored with a little vanilla, to each egg. On that pour a wine-glassful of rich milk or cream to each egg. Beat the whites as if for cake, then beat in enough sugar to make them smooth and stiff. Stir this into the eggnog for twenty minutes, and grate nutmeg on the top.—Mrs. ”

“ While cooking, beat ten eggs very light; add a spoonful at a time to the batter, beating all the time, till well mixed. Add salt to your taste. Have a small oven full of nice lard, boiling hot. Put not quite a spoonful of batter to each fritter. Take them out before they turn dark and put them in a colander to drain the lard off of them.—Mrs. Dr. E.
Fritters (made with yeast) .
One quart flour, three tablespoonfuls yeast, five eggs, one pint milk. Beat into a tolerably stiff batter. Stir a cupful of boiled rice into the batter, a short time before baking. ”

“ Beat the whites of three eggs to a strong froth; weigh one pound of the best "A" sugar, put it in a tin can with three wine-glasses of water. Let it boil slowly, till it begins to rope, or rather, when a little of it will cool on a plate, 362 like it would begin to candy. Then pour the boiling sugar gradually to the white of egg; beat it well till it begins to thicken and to cool somewhat, then beat into the icing two tablespoonfuls of powdered cinnamon, and ice over the little cakes, using a stiff feather for the purpose. ”

“ The patient should never be kept waiting for food, medicine, bath, or any other requisite. Every arrangement should be made beforehand to supply his or her needs in good time. Crushed ice and other needful things should be kept always at hand, so the patient may have them at any moment without delay. Especially on the approach of night, try to provide everything needed during the night, such as ice, mustard, hot water, kindling wood, a large piece of soapstone for the feet, as this is more cleanly and retains heat better than other things used for the purpose. ”

“ Take cold fowl or fresh meat of any kind, with slices of fat ham; chop together very fine, add one-half as much stale bread grated, salt and pepper, grated nutmeg, one tablespoonful catsup, one teaspoonful made mustard, and lump of butter size of an egg. Mix well together till it resembles sausage meat; mould them into cakes, dip into well beaten yolk of an egg, cover thickly with grated bread. ”

“ Underdone pork, shoat, or pig, is both unpalatable and unwholesome. Remove the pan, rub over with the butter and baste often. When of a fine brown, cover the edges of a large dish with a deep fringe of curled parsley; first sift over the pig powdered cracker, then place it, kneeling, in the green bed. Place in its mouth an orange or a red apple; and, if eaten hot, serve with the gravy in a tureen or sauce-boat. It is much nicer cold ”

“ An old turkey has rough and red legs, and if a gobbler, long spurs, while young turkeys have black legs, and if gobblers, small spurs. The fatter they are and the broader their breasts, the better. When dressed, the skin should be a yellowish white, and, if tender, you may easily rip it with a pin. If, when you bend back the wings, the sinews give and crack, this is another test of the turkey being young, and the same test will apply to other fowls. The bill and feet of an old goose are red and hairy. A young goose has pen feathers and its flesh is whiter than that of an old one. ”

“ Help each person to a large ladleful, being careful not to break it. Eat with powdered sugar, nutmeg and cream.—Mrs. S. T.
Float.
To a common-sized glass bowl of cream, sweetened with loaf sugar and flavored with wine, take the whites of six eggs, three large tablespoonfuls sugar, and three of fruit jelly. Do not beat the eggs to a froth, but put in the jelly and sugar and beat all together.—Mrs. T.
Apple Float.
Mash a quart cooked or coddled apples smooth through a sieve; sweeten with six tablespoonfuls sugar, and flavor with nutmeg. ”

“ Put all together in a tub of salt and water; let them soak all night; take them out next morning, put them in a kettle with two slices of fat pork. Let all boil until done, then take it up and let it cool a little and grind it in a sausage mill, and while grinding, skim some of the grease off of the kettle and pour it into the mill. After it is ground, season with black pepper, salt, and onions chopped fine, to suit the taste.
If it is not rich enough, boil more middling or pork and mix with the meat ”

“ It is a great mistake to set aside rancid or indifferent butter for cake-making. The butter used for the purpose should be good and fresh.
Always use granulated sugar or else powdered loaf or cut sugar; as pulverized sugar is apt to have plaster of Paris or other foreign elements in it. Never use brown or even clarified sugar in cake-making, unless it be for gingerbread.
Do not attempt to make cake without fresh eggs. Cream of tartar, soda and yeast powders are poor substitutes for these. ”