Lydia Maria Gurney

“ When boiling, stir in the dry flour, into which you have put the salt and soda. Stir until smooth and thick. When nearly cool, add three eggs, one at a time. Drop on a buttered pan and bake twenty minutes in a hot oven. This will make twelve cakes. When they are cold, make a slit in the side with a sharp knife, and fill with whipped cream or the following mixture:
One pint of milk, one egg, two-thirds of a cupful of sugar, one large spoonful of flour. Beat the egg, sugar, flour, and a little salt together till smooth and stir into the boiling milk. Flavor with lemon. ”

“ Beat together the yolks of the eggs, sugar, butter, and the juice and rind of half a lemon. Stir all together and bake until it rises, about an hour and a half. When nearly cold, spread the top with jelly, and then the white of the eggs, beaten stiff. Brown in the oven. To be eaten cold.
Poor Man’s Rice Pudding
Bake slowly for three hours; the success lies in the baking. If baked right it will be creamy on top. ”

“ Dissolve the yeast in a half-cupful of cold water. Scald the milk and, when nearly cold, add the yeast, half the sugar, and flour enough to make a thin batter; let it rise to twice its bulk. When light and foamy, add the rest of the ingredients; sprinkle a little flour over the currants, stir the soda into the flour, using flour enough to make stiff dough. ”

“ When preserving peaches or quinces, wipe them very clean before paring, and save the skins for marmalade. Cook in water enough to cover well and, when tender, press through a colander. Measure, and add the same amount of sugar. Boil half an hour, or until it thickens. Put into tumblers and cover with paraffine. This is nice for school sandwiches, or for filling for Washington pie or queen’s pudding.
To Can Peaches
Be sure to have the jars perfectly clean and warm. Glass covers are always preferable. Make a syrup of the sugar and water. ”

“ Put the fish into a piece of cheese-cloth, let cold water run over it, and squeeze dry. Mix ingredients all together. Take a little flour in the hand and roll half a tablespoonful of the mixture between the palms, to the size of a small peach. Fry in deep fat.
To Boil a Lobster
Have a large kettle on the fire with plenty of boiling water, deep enough to cover the lobster well. Put into this one cupful of salt, if you cannot get the sea-water. When the water is galloping, put in the lobster, head foremost, and keep it under water. ”

“ Fry the salt pork, with the onion, in the bottom of a kettle, skim from the fat, and pour in about a quart of water. Slice the potatoes thin, after they have been washed and pared. Make alternate layers of fish and potatoes, seasoning each layer with pepper and salt. Cook until both are tender. Then put in the split crackers, which have been soaked in milk or water, as for clam chowder. Cook for ten minutes. Pour in a quart of milk, add a small piece of butter and serve hot. ”

“ When the boiled dinner has been taken up, put these beans into the liquor in which the dinner was cooked. Boil one hour. Wet three tablespoonfuls of flour with water, and stir in while boiling, to thicken. Serve hot, adding a little milk, if you like. ”

“ Boil the sugar and water together, skim, then put into the syrup citron and lemon. Boil until it looks rich and transparent. Skim out the fruit into jars or tumblers, boil down the syrup for ten or fifteen minutes, and pour over the fruit. If jars are used, fill to the brim and seal while hot. ”

“ Serve hot, with butter.
Quick Graham Bread
Stir soda into the molasses, add sour milk and salt; add all to the meal, beating well. Sweet milk will do with a little less soda. Bake thirty minutes, or according to heat of the oven. A moderate oven is best.
Graham Bread (raised over night)
Mix flour and meal together and rub in lard, sugar and salt. Add yeast cake which has been dissolved in one-half cup of cold water. Mix with warm water at night. Set in a warm place to rise. In the morning stir and let rise to twice its bulk. Knead and put in baking pans. ”

“ Stir the sugar, flour and grated chocolate into the molasses and milk. When hot add the butter. Boil until it strings. Pour into buttered tin. When nearly cold mark into squares.
Molasses Candy
Put the molasses, vinegar and butter into a saucepan. Boil until it strings when dropped from a spoon, or until it is brittle when dropped into cold water. Stir the soda in briskly and pour into a buttered tin. When nearly cold, pull until nearly white. ”

“ Fill the jar with the boiling syrup, being careful always to cant the jar as you pour it in. If you do this, the jar will never crack, as it is likely to do if held perfectly straight or upright. Always run around the inside of the jar with a silver knife, and you will have no trouble in keeping fruit. Seal while hot. The peaches may be canned whole, if preferred.
Pickled Peaches
Boil the ingredients together for ten minutes before putting in the peaches. Cook as many peaches in this as possible, and have juice enough to fill up the jars. Tie the spices in a piece of cheese-cloth. ”

“ This way of boiling eggs, though so simple, is going out of fashion, unfortunately, as it makes a wonderful difference in the appearance of the egg when broken open, and above all, in its digestibility. Eggs should never be boiled in any other way for invalids. ”

“ Shell the nuts and put into boiling water. When they have stood for fifteen or twenty minutes, the skin will slip off easily. When dry, mix a half-teaspoonful of olive oil or butter, and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, with a cupful of nut meats. Spread on a tin pan, and place in a hot oven. Bake fifteen or twenty minutes. Watch closely and stir several times, as they burn quickly. ”

“ Remove from the fire, and add soda, butter and ginger. When cooled a little, stir in the flour until thick enough to roll, then roll thin as a postage-stamp. Cut with a cooky-cutter, and bake in a hot oven, being careful not to burn. ”

“ Salt will curdle new milk, so when making gravies, or puddings, put your salt into the flour, or with eggs and sugar, to add when the milk boils. Use a double boiler for milk gravies and gruels.
=To Soften Boots and Shoes=
Rub them with kerosene. Shoes will last longer, if rubbed over with drippings from roast lamb. Old-fashioned people always used mutton tallow on children's shoes.
=A Way to Cook Chops=
Pork or lamb chops are very nice, if baked in a hot oven. Turn them as they brown. It saves the smoke in the room. ”

“ Put them on the stove, in an agate dish, salt and cover with milk. Let them cook fifteen or twenty minutes, then thicken with one tablespoonful of flour, stirred with half a cupful of water; put in the butter and serve hot. ”

“ L.M. GURNEY. INTRODUCTION The Things Mother Used To Make consist of old fashioned recipes, which have been for the most part handed down by word of mouth from one generation to another, extending over a period of nearly one hundred years. The author, a New England woman, has during her life tested out in her own kitchen the greater part of these recipes, which represent the best cookery of those times. ”