Meatball

“ Put on the bones and stuffing in a quart of water, and stew down to one pint. Meantime, chop the chicken meat fine; mix with one-fourth as much fine crumbs, wet with yesterday’s gravy; add the gizzards, boiled and minced, and the boiled livers pounded; season to taste; bind all with beaten egg; make into balls, and dip into a batter made of three-quarters of a cup of milk, two eggs, about one scant cup of prepared flour, or just enough to make rather thin batter, salted to taste. Fry, as you dip each roulette, in hot lard, or dripping; drain off the fat, and pile them upon a dish. ”

“ Game ought to be fried and roasted; boiled game is never as savory.
Butter, bacon and cream are the best fats in which to fry game. Sweet-sour victuals are best to serve with game as: Red cabbage, apple sauce, currant jelly and Cumberland sauce.
No. 1—ROAST SADDLE OF VENISON.
Quantity for 6–10 Persons.
1 saddle of venison Salt 1 pinch of pepper Bacon for larding 1 pt of sour cream, good measure 1 tsp. of lemon juice 11⁄2 tbsps. of flour 1⁄2 cupful water 1⁄2 lb. of butter Preparation: The deer, fawn or doe must hang in its skin a few days before it is cooked. The neck is cut off. ”

“ With few exceptions game depends almost entirely for the fine flavour and the tenderness of its flesh, on the time which it is allowed to hang before it is cooked, and it is never good when very fresh; but it does not follow that it should be sent to table in a really offensive state.”
Game, Hashed. Ingredients.—The remains of cold game, one onion stuck with three cloves, a few whole peppers, a strip of lemon peel, salt to taste, thickening of butter and flour, one glass of port wine, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, one tablespoonful of ketchup, and one pint of water or weak stock. ”

“ Then we melted a can of butter, added pepper and salt to it, and rolled a handful of the minced meat in the butter and moulded it with the hands into a ball about as large as a baseball. We made a couple of hundred of such balls and froze them, and they kept perfectly. [Pg 20] When all the boiling was done we put in the hocks of the animals and boiled down the liquor into five pounds of the thickest, richest meat-extract jelly, adding the marrow from the bones. ”

“ It is more difficult to hazard a ball, though so many, than in our table, by reason the bound is made so exactly even, and the edges not stuffed; the balls are also bigger, and they for the most part use the sharp and small end of the billiard stick, which is shod with brass, or silver. The entertainment was exceedingly civil; but, besides a good olio, the dishes were trifling, hashed and condited after their way, not at all fit for an English stomach, which is for solid meat. There was yet good fowls, but roasted to coal, nor were the sweetmeats good. ”

“ As a rule, ball—suppers with the exception of the soup, which should be white or clear—are cold ones, consisting of mayonnaises, game, poultry, pies, pasties, galantines, salads, creams, jellies and other sweets, with plenty of fresh fruit according to the season of the year. They may be served at a buffet or at a table, or tables, where every one can sit down, but the viands are the same, and it is an essential thing that a ball supper should be prettily and daintily laid. ”

“ The most energetic, lively and exciting method of playing a game of ball can mark a professional club contest without its being disgraced by a single act of rowdyism—such as that of spiking or willfully colliding with a base runner; bellowing like a wild bull at the pitcher, as in the so-called coaching of 1893 and 1894; or that of "kicking" against the decisions of the umpire to hide faulty captaincy or blundering fielding. ”

“ But if base-ball is neither sprung from rounders nor taken bodily from another English game, what is its origin? I believe it to be a fruit of the inventive genius of the American boy. Like our system of government, it is an American evolution, and while, like that, it has doubtless been affected by foreign associations, it is none the less distinctively our own. Place in the hands of youth a ball and bat, and they will invent games of ball, and that these will be affected by other familiar games and in many respects resemble them, goes without saving. ”

“ He strikes and misses. The umpire calls “one strike.” You relax. Again the pitcher delivers the ball. Again the muscles become tense. The umpire says “one ball” and again you sink back in your seat in perfect repose. By this time the pitcher is again ready. The third time the ball is sent toward the batter like a white streak. Somehow you feel he is going to hit it this time. As before, your muscles become tense. You hear a crack of wood against leather. You raise yourself up in your seat. It’s a foul fly back of the plate. You see the catcher throw off his mask and run up for the ball. ”

“ Thick batters are like cream. Still thicker batters, which may be poured in a continuous stream, are called pour batters. Any batter is a pour batter until it is made so stiff that it breaks or drops in the pouring, when it is called a drop batter. It will remain a batter until too stiff to be beaten, when it becomes a dough.
Doughs, like batters, are of varying degrees of thickness, ranging from those just stiff enough to be handled to those which may be rolled thin as paper. Generally speaking, one full measure of flour to one scant measure of liquid makes a pour batter. ”

“ ONE OR TWO OLD CAT is a modification of town-ball, and was played by our great grandfathers while in camp during the Revolution. It is a good game for three or four boys, not less than three, as there must be a pitcher, a catcher, and a batter. Any goal can be decided on in advance, but usually the striker, after making a hit, runs and touches the pitcher's base. If he gets back without being it, or stung by the thrown ball, he can keep on, each run counting one. If the ball is struck at and caught, the striker is out, and the catcher goes to the bat. ”

“ We have seen Base Ball steadily growing from its notable beginning before the war, accompanying our soldiers in the field, spreading like wildfire through the West, until now it is known and loved and practiced in every city and town within the borders of the United States. ”

“ To sit back of the catcher and see the balls come sailing over the plate, one will wonder why they are not hit out of creation, and when some player, who has allowed a couple of balls to pass directly over the plate without making the least attempt to hit at them, finally lets go at one that he could scarcely reach with a wagon tongue, much less with a 36- inch bat, the spectator is likely to question the fellow's sanity. It is amusing to sit in a base-ball crowd and hear the remarks. ”

“ The revision of the rules has always been entrusted to the professional experts, and their edicts are obeyed by at least a million of players, all the way down to the barefooted tots who whang a three-cent ball with a barrel stave and wrangle over 'the foul-strike rule.' The vast army of amateurs must, therefore, look to the leagues for every change or improvement in the game, and in this way the professional element dominates the Base Ball of eighty millions of Americans. ”

“ The choice of innings shall be given to the Captain of the Home Club, who shall also be the sole judge of the fitness of the ground for beginning a game after rain.
THE DELIVERY OF THE BALL—FAIR AND UNFAIR BALLS. RULE 30. A Fair Ball is a ball delivered by the Pitcher while standing wholly within the lines of his position, and facing the batsman, the ball, so delivered to pass over the home base, not lower than the batsman's knee, nor higher than his shoulder. ”

“ When a ball is found to exceed the proper size, it should be divided and given at twice, as much injury has been done by giving balls too large, especially when they have become dry and hard, or been wrapped in thick paper. In making balls, the dry ingredients should be finely powdered and well mixed, and the liquid for forming them should be adapted to the nature of the other ingredients. When a ball contains any acrid, or very powerful ingredient, such as sublimate or arsenic, flour and paste may be employed for mixing it up, and a small bran mash should be given a little before or after it. ”

“ Now, quite plainly, the essential idea underlying all games played with a ball, whether a club, stick, mallet, bat or cue be added or no, is that some interference should take place with the enemy's action, some thwarting of his purpose or intent. In Rugby football, to take a case, where no mallet is used, it is permissible to seize an opponent by the whiskers and sling him over your right shoulder, afterwards stamping a few times on his head or his stomach. ”

“ Or can you wonder that the yelp should percolate the gloam,
With Larry waiting anxiously to bring the runners home?
The pitcher whirls and cuts one loose—a brawny gent is he—
And, like a cannon shot, it shoots above the batsman’s knee;
He swings—and lo! from every throat of that excited crowd
There comes a shriek of fiendish joy—protracted long and loud.
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The greatest laugh of all crowns a scrappy game of ball
When a foul-tip cracks the umpire on the knee.
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The fans arise and yelp in glee, while hats are thrown in air ”

“ Many have a beef steak well cooked, with stale bread and vegetables that are well done, always excluding potatoes, and they are able to play right through the game without feeling in any way fatigued. The plainer the food the better. All players are better if they leave alone intoxicants. ”

“ Thus it will be seen that Base Ball has its patriotic side—thanks to the soldiers and sailors of the Civil War—and this, together with its distinctive American character and spirit and its peculiar adaptability to the American temperament, have caused it to go on from year to year, gaining in power and popularity, until to-day it is the leading field sport of the world. ”

“ It was a revolution in the world of professional sport. Base Ball is the only game which suits the mighty populace and yet is wholly free from ties to bind it to the gambling and the liquor-selling element, whose aim it is to victimize that populace. ”

“ Base Ball is the topic of universal conversation, and keeping the percentage of the several clubs is making us a nation of mathematicians. On the streets, in the alleys, in business offices, in public resorts, in private houses, at morning, noon and night, young and old, rich and poor, are discussing Base Ball and arguing in favor of their particular favorites. The boy or girl of 15 who does not know the batting record of every member of the local league is looked on with pity. ”

“ Have ready some force-meat balls made of minced veal-suet, grated bread-crumbs, grated lemon-peel, and shred sweet-marjoram,—adding beaten yolk of egg to bind the other ingredients together. Put in the force-meat balls, and stew it slowly a quarter of an hour longer, adding some bits of butter rolled in flour to enrich the gravy. ”

“ If he dodged the ball, he kept on running till the den was reached. Some of the players became proficient in ducking, dodging and side-stepping, and others learned to throw the ball with the accuracy of a rifle bullet. No matter how many players were on a side, each and every one had to be put out. And if the last one made three successive home runs, he 'brought in his side,' and the outfielders, pitcher and catcher had to do their work all over again. The boy who could bring in his side was a hero. No victorious general was ever prouder or more lauded. ”

“ Of course I am half Irish and that must be taken into account when I say that next to baseball it is the greatest game in the world for exercising both body and brain. Played at its best it is a splendid swift panorama of rippling muscles, dancing feet, sparkling eyes, and racing thoughts. You can actually, by the player’s intent, eye, tell how he is going to smash that ball, which will come two strokes later, into the middle of next week. ”

“ For the balls, chop lean veal fine, with a little salt pork, add the brains, and season it with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, sweet herbs or curry powder, make it up into balls about the size of half an egg, boil part in the soup, and fry the remainder, and put them in a dish by themselves. ”

“ Without going further into a consideration that might be greatly prolonged, I reassert my belief that our national game is a home production. In the field of out-door sports the American boy is easily capable of devising his own amusements, and until some proof is adduced that base-ball is not his invention I protest against this systematic effort to rob him of his dues. ”

“ At eleven or twelve he is to dine on forcemeat balls, made of two parts chicken, one part mutton, and one part bacon, with a little pie or broth with sippets. Sometimes, instead of force-meat balls, he may have the leg of a fowl, which, if he likes it, will be enough for him, with a little bread soaked in broth, or he may have a mouthful of mutton with chicken broth. It will be well, says the courtly doctor, that the gentleman himself should be consulted occasionally as to whether he preferred the fowl or the sausages, or roast or boiled food. ”

“ TOWN BALL This game, before being imported from England, long, long ago, was called "Rounders." In this game the bat and ball are both different from those used in baseball. There are corners instead of bases, and there is a "giver" instead of a pitcher. The fielders may be of any number, but they are not known by distinctive names.
The greatest freedom is permitted in the choice of ball. It may be of hollow rubber, or it may be of the good, old-fashioned, home-made sort. ”