Ethel M. Dell - "Charles Rex"

Jean Ingelow - "Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume I."

Clarence Squareman - "My Book of Indoor Games"

Alfred Biese - "The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and"

Donald Finkel, 79, Poet of Free-Ranging Styles, Is Dead
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Donald Finkel, a noted American poet whose work teemed with curious juxtapositions, which in their unorthodoxy helped illuminate the function of poetry itself, died on Nov. 15 at his home in St. Louis. He was 79. The cause was complications of Alzheimers

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The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) written by Mrs. F.L. Gillette

M >> Mrs. F.L. Gillette >> The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887)




The best mushrooms grow on uplands or in high open fields, where the
air is pure.


TRUFFLES.

The truffle belongs to the family of the mushrooms; they are used
principally in this country as a condiment for boned turkey and
chicken, scrambled eggs, fillets of beef, game and fish. When mixed in
due proportion, they add a peculiar zest and flavor to sauces that
cannot be found in any other plant in the vegetable kingdom.


ITALIAN STYLE OF DRESSING TRUFFLES.

Ten truffles, a quarter of a pint of salad oil, pepper and salt to
taste, one tablespoonful of minced parsley, a very little finely
minced garlic, two blades of pounded mace, one tablespoonful of lemon
juice.

After cleansing and brushing the truffles, cut them into thin slices
and put them in a baking-dish, on a seasoning of oil or butter,
pepper, salt, parsley, garlic and mace in the above proportion. Bake
them for nearly an hour, and just before serving add the lemon juice
and send them to the table very hot.


TRUFFLES AU NATUREL.

Select some fine truffles; cleanse them by washing them in several
waters with a brush until not a particle of sand or grit remains on
them; wrap each truffle in buttered paper and bake in a hot oven for
quite an hour; take off the paper; wipe the truffles and serve them in
a hot napkin.




MACARONI.


MACARONI A LA ITALIENNE.

Divide a quarter of a pound of macaroni into four-inch pieces. Simmer
fifteen minutes in plenty of boiling water, salted. Drain. Put the
macaroni into a saucepan and turn over it a strong soup stock, enough
to prevent burning. Strew over it an ounce of grated cheese; when the
cheese is melted, dish. Put alternate layers of macaroni and cheese,
then turn over the soup stock and bake half an hour.


MACARONI AND CHEESE.

Break half a pound of macaroni into pieces an inch or two long; cook
it in boiling water, enough to cover it well; put in a good
teaspoonful of salt; let it boil about twenty minutes. Drain it well
and then put a layer in the bottom of a well-buttered pudding-dish;
upon this some grated cheese and small pieces of butter, a bit of
salt, then more macaroni, and so on, filling the dish; sprinkle the
top layer with a thick layer of cracker crumbs. Pour over the whole a
teacupful of cream or milk. Set it in the oven and bake half an hour.
It should be nicely browned on top. Serve in the same dish in which it
was baked with a clean napkin pinned around it.


TIMBALE OF MACARONI.

Break in very short lengths small macaroni (vermicelli, spaghetti,
tagliarini). Let it be rather overdone; dress it with butter and
grated cheese; then work into it one or two eggs, according to
quantity. Butter and bread crumb a plain mold, and when the macaroni
is nearly cold fill the mold with it, pressing it well down and
leaving a hollow in the centre, into which place a well-flavored mince
of meat, poultry or game; then fill up the mold with more macaroni,
pressed well down. Bake in a moderately heated oven, turn out and
serve.


MACARONI A LA CREME.

Boil one-quarter of a pound of macaroni in plenty of hot water,
salted, until tender; put half a pint of milk in a double boiler, and
when it boils stir into it a mixture of two tablespoonfuls of butter
and one of flour. Add two tablespoonfuls of cream, a little white and
cayenne pepper; salt to taste, and from one-quarter to one-half a
pound of grated cheese, according to taste. Drain and dish the
macaroni; pour the boiling sauce over it and serve immediately.


MACARONI AND TOMATO SAUCE.

Divide half a pound of macaroni into four-inch pieces, put it into
boiling salted water enough to cover it; boil from fifteen to twenty
minutes then drain; arrange it neatly on a hot dish and pour tomato
sauce over it, and serve immediately while hot. See SAUCES for tomato
sauce.

[Illustration]




BUTTER AND CHEESE


TO MAKE BUTTER.

Thoroughly scald the churn, then cool well with ice or spring water.
Now pour in the thick cream; churn fast at first, then, as the butter
forms, more slowly; always with perfect regularity; in warm weather,
pour a little cold water into the churn, should the butter form
slowly; in the winter, if the cream is too cold, add a little warm
water to bring it to the proper temperature. When the butter has
"come", rinse the sides of the churn down with cold water and take the
butter up with a perforated dasher or a wooden ladle, turning it
dexterously just below the surface of the buttermilk to catch every
stray bit; have ready some very cold water in a deep wooden tray; and
into this plunge the dasher when you draw it from the churn; the
butter will float off, leaving the dasher free. When you have
collected all the butter, gather behind a wooden butter ladle and
drain off the water, squeezing and pressing the butter with the ladle;
then pour on more cold water and work the butter with the ladle to get
the milk out, drain off the water, sprinkle salt over the butter--a
tablespoonful to a pound; work it in a little and set in a cool place
for an hour to harden, then work and knead it until not another drop
of water exudes, and the butter is perfectly smooth, and close in
texture and polish; then with the ladle make up into rolls, little
balls, stamped pats, etc.

The churn, dasher, tray and ladle should be well scalded before using,
so that the butter will not stick to them, and then cooled with very
cold water.

When you skim cream into your cream jar, stir it well into what is
already there, so that it may all sour alike; and no _fresh cream
should be put with it_ within twelve hours before churning, or the
butter will not come quickly; and perhaps, not at all.

Butter is indispensable in almost all culinary preparations. Good
fresh butter, used in moderation, is easily digested; it is softening,
nutritious and fattening, and is far more easily digested than any
other of the oleaginous substances sometimes used in its place.


TO MAKE BUTTER QUICKLY.

Immediately after the cow is milked, strain the milk into clean pans,
and set it over a moderate fire until it is scalding hot; do not let
it boil; then set it aside; when it is cold, skim off the cream; the
milk will still be fit for any ordinary use; when you have enough
cream put it into a clean earthen basin; beat it with a wooden spoon
until the butter is made, which will not be long; then take it from
the milk and work it with a little cold water, until it is free from
milk; then drain off the water, put a small tablespoonful of fine salt
to each pound of butter and work it in. A small teaspoonful of fine
white sugar, worked in with the salt, will be found an
improvement--sugar is a great preservative. Make the butter in a roll;
cover it with a bit of muslin and keep it in a cool place. A reliable
recipe.


A BRINE TO PRESERVE BUTTER.

First work your butter into small rolls, wrapping each one carefully
in a clean muslin cloth, tying them up with a string. Make a brine,
say three gallons, having it strong enough of salt to bear up an egg;
add half a teacupful of pure, white sugar, and one tablespoonful of
saltpetre; boil the brine, and when cold strain it carefully. Pour it
over the rolls so as to more than cover them, as this excludes the
air. Place a weight over all to keep the rolls under the surface.


PUTTING UP BUTTER TO KEEP.

Take of the best pure common salt two quarts, one ounce of white sugar
and one of saltpetre; pulverize them together completely. Work the
butter well, then thoroughly work in an ounce of this mixture to every
pound of butter. The butter is to be made into half-pound rolls, and
put into the following brine--to three gallons of brine strong enough
to bear an egg, add a quarter of a pound of white sugar.

_Orange Co., N. Y. Style_


CURDS AND CREAM.

One gallon of milk will make a moderate dish. Put one spoonful of
prepared rennet to each quart of milk, and when you find that it has
become curd, tie it loosely in a thin cloth and hang it to drain; do
not wring or press the cloth; when drained, put the curd into a mug
and set in cool water, which must be frequently changed (a
refrigerator saves this trouble). When you dish it, if there is whey
in the mug, lie it gently out without pressing the curd; lay it on a
deep dish, and pour fresh cream over it; have powdered loaf-sugar to
eat with it; also hand the nutmeg grater.

Prepared rennet can be had at almost any druggist's, and at a
reasonable price.


NEW JERSEY CREAM CHEESE.

First scald the quantity of milk desired; let it cool a little, then
add the rennet; the directions for quantity are given on the packages
of "Prepared Rennet." When the curd is formed, take it out on a ladle
without breaking it; lay it on a thin cloth held by two persons; dash
a ladleful of water over each ladleful of curd, to separate the curd;
hang it up to drain the water off, and then put it under a light press
for one hour; cut the curd with a thread into small pieces; lay a
cloth between each two, and press for an hour; take them out, rub them
with fine salt, let them lie on a board for an hour, and wash them in
cold water; let them lie to drain, and in a day or two the skin will
look dry; put some sweet grass under and over them, and they will soon
ripen.


COTTAGE CHEESE.

Put a pan of sour or loppered milk on the stove or range where it is
not too hot; let it scald until the whey rises to the top (be careful
that it does not boil, or the curd will become hard and tough). Place
a clean doth or towel over a sieve and pour this whey and curd into
it, living it covered to drain two or three hours; then put it into a
dish and chop it fine with a spoon, adding a teaspoonful of salt, a
tablespoonful of butter and enough sweet cream to make the cheese the
consistency of putty. With your hands make it into little balls
flattened. Keep it in a cool place. Many like it made rather thin with
cream, serving it in a deep dish. You may make this cheese of sweet
milk by forming the curd with prepared rennet.


SLIP.

Slip is bonny-clabber without its acidity, and so delicate is its
flavor that many persons like it just as well as ice cream. It is
prepared thus:--Make a quart of milk moderately warm; then stir into
it one large spoonful of the preparation called rennet; set it by, and
when cool again it will be as stiff as jelly. It should be made only a
few hours before it is to be used, or it will be tough and watery; in
summer set the dish on ice after it has jellied. It must be served
with powdered sugar, nutmeg and cream.


CHEESE FONDU.

Melt an ounce of butter and whisk into it a pint of boiled milk.
Dissolve two tablespoonfuls of flour in a gill of cold milk, add it to
the boiled milk and let it cool. Beat the yolks of four eggs with a
heaping teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper and five
ounces of grated cheese. Whip the whites of the eggs and add them,
pour the mixture into a deep tin lined with buttered paper, and allow
for the rising, say four inches. Bake twenty minutes and serve the
moment it leaves the oven.


CHEESE SOUFFLE.

Melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan; mix smoothly with it one ounce
of flour, a pinch of salt and cayenne and a quarter of a pint of milk;
simmer the mixture gently over the fire, stirring it all the time,
till it is as thick as melted butter, stir into it about three ounces
of finely-grated parmesan, or any good cheese. Turn it into a basin
and mix with it the yolks of two well-beaten eggs. Whisk three whites
to a solid froth, and just before the souffle is baked put them into
it, and pour the mixture into a small round tin. It should be only
half filled, as the fondu will rise very high. Pin a napkin around the
dish in which it is baked, and serve the moment it is baked. It would
be well to have a metal cover strongly heated. Time twenty minutes.
Sufficient for six persons.


SCALLOPED CHEESE.

Any person who is fond of cheese could not fail to favor this recipe.

Take three slices of bread well-buttered, first cutting off the brown
outside crust. Grate fine a quarter of a pound of any kind of good
cheese; lay the bread in layers in a buttered baking-dish, sprinkle
over it the grated cheese, some salt and pepper to taste. Mix four
well-beaten eggs with three cups of milk; pour it over the bread and
cheese. Bake it in a hot oven as you would cook a bread pudding. This
makes an ample dish for four people.


PASTRY RAMAKINS.

Take the remains or odd pieces of any light puff paste left from pies
or tarts; gather up the pieces of paste, roll it out evenly, and
sprinkle it with grated cheese of a nice flavor. Fold the paste in
three, roll it out again, and sprinkle more cheese over; fold the
paste, roll it out, and with a paste-cutter shape it in any way that
may be desired. Bake the ramakins in a brisk oven from ten to fifteen
minutes; dish them on a hot napkin and serve quickly. The appearance
of this dish may be very much improved by brushing the ramakins over
with yolk of egg before they are placed in the oven. Where expense is
not objected to, parmesan is the best kind of cheese to use for making
this dish.

Very nice with a cup of coffee for a lunch.


CAYENNE CHEESE STRAWS.

A quarter of a pound of flour, two ounces butter, two ounces grated
parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and a few grains of cayenne pepper.
Mix into a paste with the yolk of an egg. Roll out to the thickness of
a silver quarter, about four or five inches long; cut into strips
about a third of an inch wide, twist them as you would a paper spill
and lay them on a baking-sheet slightly floured. Bake in a moderate
oven until crisp, but they must not be the least brown. If put away in
a tin these straws will keep a long time. Serve cold, piled tastefully
on a glass dish. You can make the straws of remnants of puff pastry,
rolling in the grated cheese.


CHEESE CREAM TOAST.

Stale bread may be served as follows: Toast the slices and cover them
slightly with grated cheese; make a cream for ten slices out of a pint
of milk and two tablespoonfuls of plain flour. The milk should be
boiling, and the flour mixed in a little cold water before stirring
in. When the cream is nicely cooked, season with salt and butter; set
the toast and cheese in the oven for three or four minutes and then
pour the cream over them.


WELSH RAREBIT.

Grate three ounces of dry cheese and mix it with the yolks of two
eggs, put four ounces of grated bread and three of butter; beat the
whole together in a mortar with a dessertspoonful of made mustard, a
little salt and some pepper; toast some slices of bread, cut off the
outside crust, cut it in shapes and spread the paste thick upon them,
and put them in the oven, let them become hot and slightly browned,
serve hot as possible.




EGGS AND OMELETS.


There are so many ways of cooking and dressing eggs, that it seems
unnecessary for the ordinary family to use those that are not the most
practical.

To ascertain the freshness of an egg, hold it between your thumb and
forefinger in a horizontal position, with a strong light in front of
you. The fresh egg will have a clear appearance, both upper and lower
sides being the same. The stale egg will have a clear appearance at
the lower side, while the upper side will exhibit a dark or cloudy
appearance.

Another test is to put them in a pan of cold water; those that are the
first to sink are the freshest; the stale will rise and float on top;
or, if the large end turns up in the water, they are not fresh. The
best time for preserving eggs is from July to September.


TO PRESERVE EGGS.

There are several recipes for preserving eggs and we give first one
which we know to be effectual, keeping them fresh from August until
Spring. Take a piece of quick-lime as large as a good-sized lemon and
two teacupfuls of salt; put it into a large vessel and slack it with a
gallon of boiling water. It will boil and bubble until thick as cream;
when it is cold, pour off the top, which will be perfectly clear.
Drain off this liquor, and pour it over your eggs; see that the liquor
more than covers them. A stone jar is the most convenient--one that
holds about six quarts.

Another manner of preserving eggs is to pack them in a jar with layers
of salt between, the large end of the egg downward, with a thick layer
of salt at the top; cover tightly and set in a cool place.

Some put them in a wire basket or a piece of mosquito net and dip them
in boiling water half a minute; then pack in sawdust. Still another
manner is to dissolve a cheap article of gum arabic, about as thin as
muscilage, and brush over each egg with it; then pack in powdered
charcoal; set in a cool, dark place.

Eggs can be kept for some time by smearing the shells with butter or
lard; then packed in plenty of bran or sawdust, the eggs not allowed
to touch one another; or coat the eggs with melted paraffine.


BOILED EGGS.

Eggs for boiling cannot be too fresh, or boiled too soon after they
are laid; but rather a longer time should be allowed for boiling a
new-laid egg than for one that is three or four days old. Have ready a
saucepan of boiling water; put the eggs into it gently with a spoon,
letting the spoon touch the bottom of the saucepan before it is
withdrawn, that the egg may not fall and consequently crack. For those
who like eggs lightly boiled, three minutes will be found sufficient;
three and three-quarters to four minutes will be ample time to set the
white nicely; and if liked hard, six or seven minutes will not be
found too long. Should the eggs be unusually large, as those of black
Spanish fowls sometimes are, allow an extra half minute for them. Eggs
for salad should be boiled for ten or fifteen minutes, and should be
placed in a basin of cold water for a few minutes to shrink the meat
from the shell; they should then be rolled on the table with the hand
and the shell will peel off easily.


SOFT BOILED EGGS.

When properly cooked eggs are done evenly through, like any other
food. This result may be obtained by putting the eggs into a dish with
a cover, or a tin pail, and then pouring upon them _boiling_
water--two quarts or more to a dozen of eggs--and cover and set them
away where they will keep _hot_ and _not_ boil for ten to twelve
minutes. The heat of the water cooks the eggs slowly, evenly and
sufficiently, leaving the centre or yolk harder than the white, and
the egg tastes as much richer and nicer as a fresh egg is nicer than a
stale egg.


SCALLOPED EGGS.

Hard-boil twelve eggs; slice them thin in rings; in the bottom of a
large well-buttered baking-dish place a layer of grated bread crumbs,
then one of eggs; cover with bits of butter and sprinkle with pepper
and salt. Continue thus to blend these ingredients until the dish is
full; be sure, though, that the crumbs cover the eggs upon top. Over
the whole pour a large teacupful of sweet cream or milk and brown
nicely in a moderately heated oven.


SHIRRED EGGS.

Set into the oven until quite hot a common white dish large enough to
hold the number of eggs to be cooked, allowing plenty of room for
each. Melt in it a small piece of butter, and breaking the eggs
carefully in a saucer, one at a time, slip them into the hot dish;
sprinkle over them a small quantity of pepper and salt and allow them
to cook four or five minutes. Adding a tablespoonful of cream for
every two eggs, when the eggs are first slipped in, is a great
improvement.

This is far more delicate than fried eggs.

Or prepare the eggs the same and set them in a steamer over boiling
water.

They are usually served in hotels baked in individual dishes, about
two in a dish, and in the same dish they were baked in.


SCRAMBLED EGGS.

Put a tablespoonful of butter into a hot frying pan; tip around so
that it will touch all sides of the pan. Having ready half a dozen
eggs broken in a dish, salted and peppered, turn them (without
beating) into the hot butter; stir them one way briskly for five or
six minutes or until they are mixed. Be careful that they do not get
too hard. Turn over toast or dish up without.


POACHED OR DROPPED EGGS.

Have one quart of _boiling_ water and one tablespoonful of salt in a
frying pan. Break the eggs, one by one, into a saucer, and slide
carefully into the salted water. Dash with a spoon a little water over
the egg, to keep the top white.

The beauty of a poached egg is for the yolk to be seen blushing
through the white, which should only be just sufficiently hardened to
form a transparent veil for the egg.

Cook until the white is firm, and lift out with a griddle cake turner
and place on toasted bread. Serve immediately.

A tablespoonful of vinegar put into the water keeps the eggs from
spreading.

Open gem rings are nice placed in the water and an egg dropped into
each ring.


FRIED EGGS.

Break the eggs, one at a time, into a saucer, and then slide them
carefully off into a frying pan of lard and butter mixed, dipping over
the eggs the hot grease in spoonfuls, or turn them over, frying both
sides without breaking them. They require about three minutes'
cooking.

Eggs can be fried round like balls, by dropping one at a time into a
quantity of hot lard, the same as for fried cakes, first stirring the
hot lard with a stick until it runs round like a whirlpool; this will
make the eggs look like balls. Take out with a skimmer. Eggs can be
poached the same in boiling water.


EGGS AUX FINES HERBES.

Roll an ounce of butter in a good teaspoonful of flour; season with
pepper, salt and nutmeg; put it into a coffeecupful of fresh milk,
together with two teaspoonfuls of chopped parsley; stir and simmer it
for fifteen minutes, add a teacupful of thick cream. Hard-boil five
eggs and halve them; arrange them in a dish with the ends upwards,
pour the sauce over them, and decorate with little heaps of fried
bread crumbs round the margin of the dish.


POACHED EGGS A LA CREME.

Put a quart of hot water, a tablespoonful of vinegar and a teaspoonful
of salt into a frying pan, and break each egg separately into a
saucer; slip the egg carefully into the hot water, simmer three or
four minutes until the white is set, then with a skimmer lift them out
into a hot dish. Empty the pan of its contents, put in half a cup of
cream, or rich milk; if milk, a large spoonful of butter; pepper and
salt to taste, thicken with a very little cornstarch; let it boil up
once, and turn it over the dish of poached eggs. It can be served on
toast or without.

It is a better plan to warm the cream in butter in a separate dish,
that the eggs may not have to stand.


EGGS IN CASES.

Make little paper cases of buttered writing paper; put a small piece
of butter in each, and a little chopped parsley or onion, pepper and
salt. Place the cases upon a gridiron over a moderate fire of bright
coals, and when the butter melts, break a fresh egg into each case.
Strew in upon them a few seasoned bread crumbs, and when nearly done,
glaze the tops with a hot shovel. Serve in the paper cases.


MINCED EGGS.

Chop up four or five hard-boiled eggs; do not mince them too fine. Put
over the fire in a suitable dish a cupful of milk, a tablespoonful of
butter, salt and pepper, and some savory chopped small. When this
comes to a boil stir into it a tablespoonful of flour, dissolved in a
little cold milk. When it cooks thick like cream put in the minced
eggs. Stir it gently around and around for a few moments and serve,
garnished with sippets of toast. Any particular flavor may be given to
this dish, such as that of mushrooms, truffles, catsup, essence of
shrimps, etc., or some shred anchovy may be added to the mince.


MIXED EGGS AND BACON.

Take a nice rasher of mild bacon; cut it into squares no larger than
dice; fry it quickly until nicely browned; but on no account burn it.
Break half a dozen eggs into a basin, strain and season them with
pepper, add them to the bacon, stir the whole about and, when
sufficiently firm, turn it out into a dish. Decorate with hot pickles.


MIXED EGGS GENERALLY--SAVORY OR SWEET.

Much the same method is followed in mixed eggs generally, whatever may
be added to them; really it is nothing more than an omelet which is
stirred about in the pan while it is being dressed, instead of being
allowed to set as a pancake. Chopped tongue, oysters, shrimps,
sardines, dried salmon, anchovies, herbs, may be used.


COLD EGGS FOR A PICNIC.

This novel way of preparing cold egg for the lunch-basket fully repays
one for the extra time required. Boil hard several eggs, halve them
lengthwise; remove the yolks and chop them fine with cold chicken,
lamb, veal or any tender, roasted meat; or with bread soaked in milk
and any salad, as parsley, onion, celery, the bread being half of the
whole; or with grated cheese, a little olive oil, drawn butter,
flavored. Fill the cavity in the egg with either of these mixtures, or
any similar preparation. Press the halves together, roll twice in
beaten egg and bread crumbs, and dip into boiling lard. When the color
rises delicately, drain them and they are ready for use.


OMELETS.

In making an omelet, care should be taken that the omelet pan is hot
and dry. To insure this, put a small quantity of lard or suet into a
clean frying pan, let it simmer a few minutes, then remove it; wipe
the pan dry with a towel, and then put in a tablespoonful of butter.
The smoothness of the pan is most essential, as the least particle of
roughness will cause the omelet to stick. As a general rule, a small
omelet can be made more successfully than a large one, it being much
better to make two small ones of four eggs each, than to try double
the number of eggs in one omelet and fail. Allow one egg to a person
in making an omelet and one tablespoonful of milk; this makes an
omelet more puffy and tender than one made without milk. Many prefer
them without milk.