=LEMON ICE=
One quart of milk. One tumblerful of sugar. Mix the two, and half freeze in an ice cream freezer. Then add the juice and pulp of four large lemons; stir thoroughly, and freeze firm. This is the simplest and cheapest of frozen preparations, and for use in the country, where materials are hard to come by, it is invaluable.
=APPLE SAUCE=
Pare, core, and quarter enough Baldwin or greening apples to fill a small stoneware jar. Add three quarters of a pint of sugar and a quarter of a pint of water; cover tightly. Set this in the oven of the range as soon as the last meal of the day--dinner or supper, as it may be--is served, and let it remain till breakfast next morning. The long, slow cooking gives the apples a deep red color and a flavor quite different from other preparations.
=STEWED PEARS=
p.r.i.c.k hard baking pears with a fork in half a dozen places, and with them fill a small stoneware jar. Add half a pint of sugar, half a pint of water, and a heaping teaspoonful of mola.s.ses. Cover tightly, and bake all night as directed above.
=CRANBERRY JELLY=
Stew four quarts of cranberries in a porcelain kettle with water enough to float them, till they are thoroughly soft and broken. Rub them through a coa.r.s.e sieve. Allow to each pint of the marmalade-like mixture resulting a pound of sugar. Put the fruit on the fire till it boils hard. Stir in the sugar, and as soon as it jellies, which will be in a few minutes, remove from the fire and pour into gla.s.ses. The advantage of this preparation of cranberries is that it keeps perfectly for six weeks or two months, losing nothing in quality or flavor during the time.
=HARTFORD ELECTION CAKE=
4-1/2 pounds of flour.
2-1/2 pounds of sugar.
2-1/4 pounds of b.u.t.ter.
1/2 ounce of nutmeg.
1/2 pound of sliced citron.
1/2 ounce of mace.
A cupful of brandy and sherry mixed.
2 pounds of raisins.
4 eggs.
At noon, or early in the afternoon, begin making this cake. Cream the b.u.t.ter and sugar, add a quart of lukewarm milk, half of the flour, and either a half pint of brewer"s yeast or a cake and a half of compressed yeast. Beat the mixture well, cover the pan with a thick towel, and set it in a warm place to rise.
At night, when it is very light, add the flour, spices, and eggs. Set the pan in a moderately warm place for a second rising. Early next morning add the fruit, the wine, the grated peel of a lemon, and half a teaspoonful of extract of rose. Pour into pans lined with b.u.t.tered paper. Let them stand an hour or until light. This receipt makes seven loaves, which require to bake from an hour to an hour and a half, according to oven.
A half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water, and stirred into the batter just before it is put into the pans, is an improvement.
=INSTANTANEOUS FROSTING=
To the white of an unbeaten egg add a cupful and a quarter of pulverized sugar, and stir until smooth. Add three drops of rose-water, ten of vanilla, and the juice of half a lemon. It will at once become very white, and will harden in five or six minutes.
CHAPTER IX
PART I
DISTINCTIVELY SOUTHERN DISHES
[Sidenote: The Cornmeal.]
[Sidenote: The Hoe.]
The dishes in which the South excel, and which may be called distinctive to that section, are those made of cornmeal, of gumbo or okra, and those seasoned with sa.s.safras powder or twigs. The cornmeal used in the South is white and coa.r.s.e-grained (it is called there water-ground), and gives quite a different result from that which is finer in grain and yellow in color, which is usually sold at the North. The hoe used for baking corn-cakes is an article made for the purpose, and not the garden implement usually a.s.sociated with the name.
=PONE=
Sift a quart of white cornmeal, add a teaspoonful of salt; pour on enough cold water to make a mixture which will squeeze easily through the fingers. Work it to a soft dough. Mold it into oblong cakes an inch thick at the ends, and a little thicker in the center. Slap them down on the pan, and press them a little. These cakes, they say, must show the marks of the fingers. The pan must be hot, and sprinkled with the bran sifted from the meal. Bake in a hot oven for about twenty minutes.
=HOE-CAKE No. 1=
Make the same mixture as for pone. Spread it on the greased hoe, or a griddle, making a round cake one quarter inch thick. Bake it on the top of the range, turning and baking it brown on both sides.
=HOE-CAKE No. 2=
Use for these cakes, if possible, coa.r.s.e water-ground white meal. Add to a quart of meal a teaspoonful of salt; pour over it enough boiling water to make it a soft dough; add also a little milk to make it brown better.
Let it stand an hour or longer, then work it together with the hand.
Form it into little cakes an inch thick, and bake on a greased griddle till browned on both sides. Serve very hot. They are split and spread with b.u.t.ter when eaten.
=KENTUCKY CORN DODGERS=
Mix a teaspoonful of salt with a cupful of white cornmeal. Scald it with just enough boiling water to dampen it; then add enough cold milk to enable you to mold it. Stir it well together, and form it into cakes three quarters of an inch thick in the middle and oblong in shape. Use a tablespoonful of dough for each cake. Bake them on a greased pan in a hot oven for twenty-five minutes.
=MARYLAND BEATEN BISCUIT=
Add a teaspoonful of salt and tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter to a quart of flour. Rub them together, then add a cupful of milk, and, if necessary, a little water, making a stiff dough. Place the dough on a firm table or block, and beat it with a mallet or rolling-pin for fully half an hour, or until it becomes brittle. Spread it half an inch thick; cut it into small circles, and p.r.i.c.k each one with a fork. Bake them in a hot oven about twenty minutes.
=SOFT CORN-BREAD=
Mix a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter with two cupfuls of hot boiled hominy or of rice; add two or three well-beaten eggs, and then add slowly two cupfuls of milk, and lastly a cupful of white cornmeal and a dash of salt. Turn the mixture, which should be of the consistency of pancake batter, into a deep dish, and bake about an hour. Serve it with a spoon from the same dish in which it is baked.
=SOUTHERN WAY OF COOKING RICE=
Wash the rice thoroughly through several waters, using the hand. Put it into a saucepan with a pint of water and a half teaspoonful of salt to each cupful of rice. Let it boil covered until the water has boiled away; then draw it to the side of the range, open the cover a little, and let it steam until thoroughly dry. Do not touch the rice while it is cooking. This receipt is furnished by a Southern negro cook.
=GUMBO FILe=