J. Mclaren Cobban - "Master of His Fate"

Various - "Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XII, No. 29. August, 1873."

George Saintsbury - "Political Pamphlets"

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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)





CORNSTARCH MERINGUE.

Heat a quart of milk until it boils, add four heaping teaspoonfuls of
cornstarch which has previously been dissolved in a little cold milk.
Stir constantly while boiling for fifteen minutes. Remove from the
fire, and gradually add while hot the yolks of five eggs, beaten
together with three-fourths of a cupful of sugar, and flavored with
lemon, vanilla or bitter almond. Bake this mixture for fifteen minutes
in a well-buttered pudding-dish or until it begins to "set."

Make a meringue of the whites of five eggs, whipped stiff with a half
cupful of jelly, and spread evenly over the custard, without removing
the same farther than the edge of the oven.

Use currant jelly if vanilla is used in the custard, crab apple for
bitter almond and strawberry for lemon. Cover and bake for five
minutes, after which take off the lid and brown the meringue a very
little. Sift powdered sugar thickly over the top. To be eaten cold.


WASHINGTON PIE.

This recipe is the same as "Boston Cream Pie" (adding half an ounce of
butter), which may be found under the head of PASTRY, PIES AND TARTS.
In summer time, it is a good plan to bake the pie the day before
wanted; then when cool, wrap around it a paper and place it in the ice
box so to have it get _very cold_; then serve it with a dish of fresh
strawberries or raspberries. A delicious dessert.


CREAM PIE.

Make two cakes as for Washington pie, then take one cup of sweet cream
and three tablespoonfuls of white sugar. Beat with egg-beater or fork
till it is stiff enough to put on without running off and flavor with
vanilla. If you beat it after it is stiff it will come to butter. Put
between the cakes and on top.


DESSERT PUFFS.

Puffs for dessert are delicate and nice; take one pint of milk and
cream each, the whites of four eggs beaten to a stiff froth, one
heaping cupful of sifted flour, one scant cupful of powdered sugar,
add a little grated lemon peel and a little salt; beat these all
together till very light, bake in gem-pans, sift pulverized sugar over
them and eat with sauce flavored with lemon.


PEACH CAKE FOR DESSERT.

Bake three sheets of sponge cake, as for jelly cake; cut nice ripe
peaches in thin slices, or chop them; prepare cream by whipping,
sweetening and adding flavor of vanilla, if desired; put layers of
peaches between the sheets of cake; pour cream over each layer and
over the top. To be eaten soon after it is prepared.


FRUIT SHORT-CAKES.

For the recipes of strawberry, peach and other fruit short-cakes, look
under the head of BISCUITS, ROLLS AND MUFFINS. They all make a very
delicious dessert when served with a pitcher of fresh sweet cream,
when obtainable.


SALTED OR ROASTED ALMONDS.

Blanch half a pound of almonds. Put with them a tablespoonful of
melted butter and one of salt. Stir them till well mixed, then spread
them over a baking-pan and bake fifteen minutes, or till crisp,
stirring often. They must be bright yellow-brown when done. They are a
fashionable appetizer and should be placed in ornamental dishes at the
beginning of dinner, and are used by some in place of olives, which,
however, should also be on the table, or some fine pickles may take
their place.


ROAST CHESTNUTS.

Peel the raw chestnuts and scald them to remove the inner skin; put
them in a frying pan with a little butter and toss them about a few
moments; add a sprinkle of salt and a suspicion of cayenne. Serve them
after the cheese.

Peanuts may be blanched and roasted the same.


AFTER-DINNER CROUTONS.

These crispy _croutons_ answer as a substitute for hard-water crackers
and are also relished by most people.

Cut sandwich bread into slices one-quarter of an inch thick; cut each
slice into four small triangles; dry them in the oven slowly until
they assume a delicate brownish tint, then serve either hot or cold. A
nice way to serve them is to spread a paste of part butter and part
rich creamy cheese, to which may be added a very little minced
parsley.


ORANGE FLOAT.

To make orange float, take one quart of water, the juice and pulp of
two lemons, one coffeecupful of sugar. When boiling hot, add four
tablespoonfuls of cornstarch. Let it boil fifteen minutes, stirring
all the time. When cold, pour it over four or five oranges that have
been sliced into a glass dish and over the top spread the beaten
whites of three eggs, sweetened and flavored with vanilla. A nice
dessert.


LEMON TOAST.

This dessert can be made very conveniently without much preparation.

Take the yolks of six eggs, beat them well and add three cupfuls of
sweet milk; take baker's bread, not too stale, and cut into slices;
dip them into the milk and eggs and lay the slices into a spider, with
sufficient melted butter, hot, to fry a delicate brown. Take the
whites of the six eggs and beat them to a froth, adding a large cupful
of white sugar; add the juice of two lemons, heating well and adding
two cupfuls of boiling water. Serve over the toast as a sauce and you
will find it a very delicious dish.


SWEET OMELET. No. 1.

One tablespoonful of butter, two of sugar, one cupful of milk, four
eggs. Let the milk come to a boil. Beat the flour and butter together;
add to them gradually the boiling milk and cook eight minutes;
stirring often; beat the sugar and the yolks of the eggs together; add
to the cooked mixture and set away to cool. When cool, beat the whites
of the eggs to a stiff froth and add to the mixture. Bake in a
buttered pudding-dish for twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve
_immediately_ with creamy sauce.


SWEET OMELET. No. 2.

Four eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, a pinch of salt, half a
teaspoonful of vanilla extract, one cupful of whipped cream. Beat the
whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and gradually beat the flavoring
and sugar into them. When well beaten add the yolks and, lastly, the
whipped cream. Have a dish holding about one quart slightly buttered.
Pour the mixture into this and bake just twelve minutes. Serve the
moment it is taken from the oven.


SALAD OF MIXED FRUITS.

Put in the centre of a dish a pineapple properly pared, cored and
sliced, yet retaining as near as practicable its original shape. Peel,
quarter and remove the seeds from four sweet oranges; arrange them in
a border around the pineapple. Select four fine bananas, peel and cut
into slices lengthwise; arrange these zigzag-fence fashion around the
border of the dish. In the V-shaped spaces around the dish put tiny
mounds of grapes of mixed colors. When complete, the dish should look
very appetizing. To half a pint of clear sugar syrup add half an ounce
of good brandy, pour over the fruit and serve.


ORANGE COCOANUT SALAD.

Peel and slice a dozen oranges, grate a cocoanut and slice a
pineapple. Put alternate layers of each until the dish is full. Then
pour over them sweetened wine. Served with small cakes.

When oranges are served whole, they should be peeled and prettily
arranged in a fruit dish. A small knife is best for this purpose.
Break the skin from the stem into six or eight even parts, peel each
section down half way, and tuck the point in next to the orange.


CRYSTALLIZED FRUIT.

Pick out the finest of any kind of fruit, leave on their stalks, beat
the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, lay the fruit in the beaten
egg with the stalks upward, drain them and beat the part that drips
off again; select them out, one by one and dip them into a cup of
finely powdered sugar; cover a pan with a sheet of fine paper, place
the fruit inside of it, and put it in an oven that is cooling; when
the icing on the fruit becomes firm, pile them on a dish and set them
in a cool place. For this purpose, oranges or lemons should be
carefully pared, and all the white inner skin removed that is
possible, to prevent bitterness; then cut either in thin horizontal
slices if lemons, or in quarters if oranges. For cherries,
strawberries, currants, etc., choose the largest and finest, leaving
stems out. Peaches should be pared and cut in halves and sweet juicy
pears may be treated in the same way, or look nicely when pared,
leaving on the stems and iced. Pineapples should be cut in thin slices
and these again divided into quarters.


PEACHES AND CREAM.

Pare and slice the peaches just before sending to table. Cover the
glass dish containing them to exclude the air as much as possible, as
they soon change color. Do not sugar them in the dish--they then
become preserves, not fresh fruit. Pass the powdered sugar and cream
with them.


SNOW PYRAMID.

Beat to a stiff foam the whites of half a dozen eggs, add a small
teacupful of currant jelly and whip all together again. Fill half full
of cream as many saucers as you have guests, dropping in the centre of
each saucer a tablespoonful of the beaten eggs and jelly in the shape
of a pyramid.


JELLY FRITTERS.

Make a batter of three eggs, a pint of milk and a pint bowl of wheat
flour or more, beat it light; put a tablespoonful of lard or beef fat
in a frying or omelet pan, add a saltspoonful of salt, making it
boiling hot, put in the batter by the large spoonful, not too close;
when one side is a delicate brown, turn the other; when done, take
them on to a dish with a d'oyley over it; put a dessertspoonful of
firm jelly or jam on each and serve. A very nice dessert.


STEWED APPLES. No. 1.

Take a dozen green tart apples, core and slice them, put into a
saucepan with just enough water to cover them, cover the saucepan
closely, and stew the apples until they are tender and clear; then
take them out, put them into a deep dish and cover them; add to the
juice in the saucepan a cupful of loaf sugar for every twelve apples,
and boil it half an hour, adding to the syrup a pinch of mace and a
dozen whole cloves just ten minutes before taking from the fire; pour
scalding hot over the apples and set them in a cold place; eat ice
cold with cream or boiled custard.


STEWED APPLES. No. 2.

Apples cooked in the following way look very pretty on a tea-table and
are appreciated by the palate. Select firm round greenings, pare
neatly and cut in halves; place in a shallow stewpan with sufficient
boiling water to cover them and a cup of sugar to every six apples.
Each half should cook on the bottom of the pan and be removed from the
others so as not to injure its shape. Stew slowly until the pieces are
very tender; remove to a glass dish carefully, boil the syrup a half
hour longer, pour it over the apples and eat cold. A few pieces of
lemon boiled in the syrup add to the flavor.


BAKED PEARS.

Pare and core the pears without dividing; place them in a pan and fill
up the orifice with brown sugar; add a little water and let them bake
until perfectly tender. Nice with sweet cream or boiled custard.


STEWED PEARS.

Stewed pears with a thick syrup make a fine dessert dish accompanied
with cake.

Peel and cut them in halves, leaving the stems on and scoop out the
cores. Put them into a saucepan, placing them close together, with the
stems uppermost. Pour over sufficient water, a cup of sugar, a few
whole cloves and some sticks of cinnamon, a tablespoonful of lemon
juice. Cover the stewpan closely, to stew gently till the fruit is
done, which will depend on the quality of the fruit. Then take out the
fruit carefully and arrange it on a dish for serving. Boil down the
syrup until quite thick; strain it and allow it to cool enough to set
it; then pour it over the fruit.

The juice could be colored by a few drops of liquid cochineal, or a
few slices of beets, while boiling. A teaspoonful of brandy adds much
to the flavor. Serve with cream or boiled custard.


BAKED QUINCES.

Take ripe quinces, pare and quarter them, cut out the seeds; then stew
them in clear water until a straw will pierce them; put into a baking
dish with half a cupful of loaf sugar to every eight quinces; pour
over them the liquor in which they were boiled, cover closely and bake
in the oven one hour; then take out the quinces and put them into a
covered dish; return the syrup to the saucepan and boil twenty
minutes; then pour over the quinces and set them away to cool.


GOOSEBERRY FOOL.

Stew a quart of ripe gooseberries in just enough water to cover them;
when soft, rub them through a colander to remove the skins and seeds;
while hot stir into them a tablespoonful of melted butter and a cupful
of sugar. Beat the yolks of three eggs and add that; whip all together
until light. Fill a large glass fruit dish and spread on the top the
beaten whites mixed with three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Apples or any
tart fruit is nice made in this manner.


MERINGUES OR KISSES.

A coffeecupful of fine white sugar, the whites of six eggs; whisk the
whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and with a wooden spoon stir in
_quickly_ the pounded sugar; and have some boards put in the oven
thick enough to prevent the bottom of the meringues from acquiring too
much color. Cut some strips of paper about two inches wide; place this
paper on the board and drop a tablespoonful at a time of the mixture
on the paper, taking care to let all the meringues be the same size.
In dropping it from the spoon, give the mixture the form of an egg and
keep the meringues about two inches apart from each other on the
paper. Strew over them some sifted sugar and bake in a moderate oven
for half an hour. As soon as they begin to color, remove them from the
oven; take each slip of paper by the two ends and turn it gently on
the table and with a small spoon take out the soft part of each
meringue. Spread some clean paper on the board, turn the meringues
upside down and put them into the oven to harden and brown on the
other side. When required for table, fill them with whipped cream,
flavored with liquor or vanilla and sweeten with pounded sugar. Join
two of the meringues together and pile them high in the dish. To vary
their appearance, finely chopped almonds or currants may be strewn
over them before the sugar is sprinkled over; and they may be
garnished with any bright-colored preserve. Great expedition is
necessary in making this sweet dish, as, if the meringues are not put
into the oven as soon as the sugar and eggs are mixed, the former
melts and the mixture would run on the paper instead of keeping its
egg-shape. The sweeter the meringues are made the crisper will they
be; but if there is not sufficient sugar mixed with them, they will
most likely be tough. They are sometimes colored with cochineal; and
if kept well-covered in a dry place, will remain good for a month or
six weeks.


JELLY KISSES.

Kisses, to be served for dessert at a large dinner, with other
suitable confectionery, may be varied in this way: Having made the
kisses, heap them in the shape of half an egg, placed upon stiff
letter paper lining the bottom of a thick baking pan; put them in a
moderate oven until the outside is a little hardened; then take one
off carefully, take out the soft inside with the handle of a spoon,
and put it back with the mixture, to make more; then lay the shell
down. Take another and prepare it likewise; fill the shells with
currant jelly or jam; join two together, cementing them with some of
the mixture; so continue until you have enough. Make kisses, cocoanut
drops, and such like, the day before they are wanted.

This recipe will make a fair-sized cake basket full. It adds much to
their beauty when served up to tint half of them pale pink, then unite
white and pink. Serve on a high glass dish.


COCOANUT MACAROONS.

Make a "kiss" mixture, add to it the white meat, grated, and finish as
directed for KISSES.


ALMOND MACAROONS.

Half a pound of sweet almonds, a coffeecupful of white sugar, the
whites of two eggs; blanch the almonds and pound them to a paste; add
to them the sugar and the beaten whites of eggs; work the whole
together with the back of a spoon, then roll the mixture in your hands
in balls about the size of a nutmeg, dust sugar over the top, lay them
on a sheet of paper at least an inch apart. Bake in a cool oven a
light brown.


CHOCOLATE MACAROONS.

Put three ounces of plain chocolate in a pan and melt on a slow fire;
then work it to a thick paste with one pound of powdered sugar and the
whites of three eggs; roll the mixture down to the thickness of about
one-quarter of an inch; cut it in small, round pieces with a
paste-cutter, either plain or scalloped; butter a pan slightly, and
dust it with flour and sugar in equal quantities; place in it the
pieces of paste or mixture, and bake in a hot but not too quick oven.


LEMON JELLY. No. 1.

Wash and prepare four calf's feet, place them in four quarts of water,
and let them simmer gently five hours. At the expiration of this time
take them out and pour the liquid into a vessel to cool; there should
be nearly a quart. When cold, remove every particle of fat, replace
the jelly into the preserving-kettle, and add one pound of loaf sugar,
the rind and juice of two lemons; when the sugar has dissolved, beat
two eggs with their shells in one gill of water, which pour into the
kettle and boil five minutes, or until perfectly clear; then add one
gill of Madeira wine and strain through a flannel bag into any form
you like.


LEMON JELLY. No. 2.

To a package of gelatine add a pint of cold water, the juice of four
lemons and the rind of one; let it stand one hour, then add one pint
of boiling water, a pinch of cinnamon, three cups of sugar; let it all
come to a boil; strain through a napkin into molds, set away to get
cold. Nice poured over sliced bananas and oranges.


WINE JELLY.

One package of gelatine, one cupful of cold water soaked together two
hours; add to this three cupfuls of sugar, the juice of three lemons
and the grated rind of one. Now pour over this a quart of boiling
water and stir until dissolved, then add a pint of sherry wine. Strain
through a napkin, turn into molds dipped in cold water and place in
the ice box for several hours.

One good way to mold this jelly is to pour some of it into the mold,
harden it a little, put in a layer of strawberries or raspberries, or
any fresh fruit in season, pour in jelly to set them; after they have
set, another layer of jelly, then another of berries, and so fill each
mold, alternating with jelly and berries.


CIDER JELLY.

This can be made the same, by substituting clear, sweet cider in place
of the wine.


ORANGE JELLY.

Orange jelly is a great delicacy and not expensive. To make a large
dish, get six oranges, two lemons, a two-ounce package of gelatine.
Put the gelatine to soak in a pint of water, squeeze the orange juice
into a bowl, also the lemon juice, and grate one of the lemon skins in
with it. Put about two cupfuls of sugar with the gelatine, then stir
in the orange juice, and pour over all three pints of boiling water,
stirring constantly. When the gelatine is entirely dissolved, strain
through a napkin into molds or bowls wet with cold water, and set
aside to harden. In three or four hours it will be ready for use and
will last several days.


VARIEGATED JELLY.

After dividing a box of Cox's gelatine into halves, put each half into
a bowl with half a cupful of cold water. Put three-quarters of an
ounce or six sheets of pink gelatine into a third bowl containing
three-fourths of a cupful of cold water. Cover the bowls to keep out
the dust and set them away for two hours. At the end of that time, add
a pint of boiling water, a cupful of sugar, half a pint of wine, and
the juice of lemon to the pink gelatine, and, after stirring till the
gelatine is dissolved, strain the liquid through a napkin. Treat one
of the other portions of the gelatine in the same way. Beat together
the yolks of four eggs and half a cupful of sugar, and, after adding
this mixture to the third portion of gelatine, stir the new mixture
into a pint and a third of boiling milk, contained in a double boiler.
Stir on the fire for three minutes, then strain through a fine sieve,
and flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Place in a deep pan
two molds, each holding about three pints, and surround them with ice
and water. Pour into these molds, in equal parts, the wine jelly
which was made with the clear gelatine, and set it away to harden.
When it has become set, pour in the pink gelatine, which should have
been set away in a place not cold enough to make it harden. After it
has been transferred and has become hard, pour into the molds the
mixture of eggs, sugar and gelatine, which should be in a liquid
state. Set the molds in an ice chest for three or four hours. At
serving time, dip them into tepid water to loosen the contents, and
gently turn the jelly out upon flat dishes.

The clear jelly may be made first and poured into molds, then the pink
jelly and finally the egg jelly.


STRAWBERRY JELLY.

Strawberries, pounded sugar; to every pint of juice allow half a
package of Cox's gelatine.

Pick the strawberries, put them into a pan, squeeze them well with a
wooden spoon, add sufficient pounded sugar to sweeten them nicely, and
let them remain for one hour that the juice may be extracted; then add
half a pint of water to every pint of juice. Strain the strawberry
juice and water through a napkin; measure it and to every pint allow
half a package of Cox's gelatine dissolved in a teacupful of water.
Mix this with the juice, put the jelly into a mold and set the mold on
ice. A little lemon juice added to the strawberry juice improves the
flavor of the jelly, if the fruit is very ripe; but it must be well
strained before it is put with the other ingredients, or it will make
the jelly muddy. Delicious and beautiful.


RECIPE FOR CHEESE CUSTARD.

For three persons, two ounces of grated parmesan cheese; the whites of
three eggs beaten to a stiff froth, a little pepper, salt and cayenne,
a little milk or cream to mix; bake for a quarter of an hour.




ICE CREAM AND ICES


ICE-CREAM.

One pint of milk, the yolks of two eggs, six ounces of sugar and one
tablespoonful of cornstarch. Scald but do not boil. Then put the
whites of the two eggs into a pint of cream; whip it. Mix the milk and
cream, flavor and freeze. One teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon is
generally sufficient.

The quantity, of course, can be increased to any amount desired, so
long as the relative proportions of the different ingredients are
observed.


PURE ICE-CREAM.

Genuine ice-cream is made of the pure sweet cream in this proportion:
Two quarts of cream, one pound of sugar; beat up, flavor and freeze.

For family use, select one of the new patent freezers, as being more
rapid and less laborious for small quantities than the old style
turned entirely by hand. All conditions being perfect, those with
crank and revolving dashers effect freezing in eight to fifteen
minutes.


FRUIT ICE-CREAM.

_Ingredients._--To every pint of fruit juice allow one pint of cream;
sugar to taste.

Let the fruit be well ripened; pick it off the stalks and put it into
a large earthen pan. Stir it about with a wooden spoon, breaking it
until it is well mashed; then, with the back of the spoon, rub it
through a hair-sieve. Sweeten it nicely with pounded sugar; whip the
cream for a few minutes, add it to the fruit, and whisk the whole
again for another five minutes. Put the mixture into the freezer and
freeze. Raspberry, strawberry, currant, and all fruit ice-creams are
made in the same manner. A little powdered sugar sprinkled over the
fruit before it is mashed assists to extract the juice. In winter,
when fresh fruit is not obtainable, a little jam may be substituted
for it; it should be melted and worked through a sieve before being
added to the whipped cream; and if the color should not be good, a
little prepared cochineal may be put in to improve its appearance. In
making berry flavoring for ice-cream, the milk should never be heated;
the juice of the berries added to _cold_ cream, or fresh rich milk,
mixed with _cold_ cream, the juice put in just before freezing, or
when partly frozen.


CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM. No. 1. (Very fine.)

Add four ounces of grated chocolate to a cupful of sweet milk, then
mix it thoroughly to a quart of thick sweet cream; no flavoring is
required but vanilla. Sweeten with a cupful of sugar; beat again and
freeze.


CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM. No. 2.

Beat two eggs very light and cream them with two cupfuls of sugar.
Scald a pint of milk and turn on by degrees, mixing well with the
sugar and eggs. Stir in this half a cupful of grated chocolate; return
to the fire and heat until it thickens, stirring briskly; take off and
set aside to cool. When thoroughly cold, freeze.


COCOANUT ICE-CREAM.

One quart of cream, one pint of milk, three eggs, one cupful and a
half of sugar and one of prepared cocoanut, the rind and juice of a
lemon. Beat together the eggs and grated lemon rind and put with the
milk in the double boiler. Stir until the mixture begins to thicken.
Add the cocoanut and put away to cool. When cool add the sugar, lemon
juice and cream. Freeze.


CUSTARD ICE-CREAM.

Sweeten one quart of cream or rich milk with half a pound of sugar and
flavor to taste; put it over the fire in a farina-kettle; as soon as
it begins to boil, stir into it a tablespoonful of cornstarch or rice
flour which has been previously mixed smooth with a little milk; after
it has boiled a few minutes, take it off the fire and stir in very
gradually six eggs which have been beaten until thick; when quite
cold, freeze it as ice-cream.