23 chapters
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23 chapters
EDITOR’S NOTE
EDITOR’S NOTE
MRS. CHARLES ROUNDELL is responsible for the chapters dealing with the Pickling of Meat, Preserves, Refreshments at a Garden-Party, and Food for Invalids; as well as for certain recipes scattered through the book. These are distinguished by the initials “J. R.”...
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BUTTER AND CREAM
BUTTER AND CREAM
AS a volume of the present series will be devoted to the subject of The Dairy, which is too large a subject to be treated usefully in a single chapter, I shall here merely record such facts and formulæ as may be of help to those who have a general knowledge of dairy work, and also offer a little advice of a practical kind to those who have to deal with dairying on the smallest scale. A larder or store-room should never be used for the storage of milk, as the conditions required are somewhat diff
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CHEESE
CHEESE
IT is quite impossible here to give more than the merest outline of the steps taken in preparing the various sorts of cheese manufactured in this country. The processes will, moreover, be more fully described in a future volume of this series. Meanwhile, the reader may be advised to study the three pamphlets issued by the Royal Agricultural Society dealing with the practices of making Cheddar, Cheshire, and Stilton cheeses respectively. A brief summary may, however, be useful to those who can su
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PICKLING MEAT
PICKLING MEAT
IN pickling or salting meat, it is better to let the fresh joint first hang for two or three days untouched. This will make the meat more tender. Before salting it, be careful to remove every pipe or kernel in the meat, and fill up all holes with salt. Do not attempt to pickle meat in very cold frosty weather, or in warm damp weather. It is a good plan to sprinkle the meat with water and then to hang it up for a few hours before salting it: this cleanses it from any blood, and makes the flavour
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FISH
FISH
TO smoke Fish. —Having opened and cleaned the fish, place them in salt and saltpetre, eight parts to one, and leave them over the night. Then wipe them, and hang them in a row, by a stout wire passed through their eyes, over a sawdust fire for about twenty-four hours. To salt Fish. —Having opened and cleaned the fish, place them in strong brine for twenty hours. Drain them and place them in jars, with layers of salt between the several layers of fish. Securely cover the jars until the fish are w
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EGGS
EGGS
TO preserve Eggs. —Gather them quite fresh, thoroughly clean them, and place them in a covered vessel containing a 10 per cent. solution of sodium silicate (soluble glass). Eggs thus treated keep perfectly fresh for six months, or even longer....
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PICKLING VEGETABLES
PICKLING VEGETABLES
FOR pickling, the fruit, or leaves, or bulbs should be in perfect condition and thoroughly cleaned. Strong vinegar of good quality should be used, and the spices should be fresh and good. The mixing and heating of the vinegar is best performed in unglazed stoneware vessels; if these are unavailable, enamelled iron pans should be used. Pickling consists in preserving fruits or other vegetable products in spiced vinegar, the details of the process differing slightly according to the product to be
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CONDIMENTS AND SAUCES
CONDIMENTS AND SAUCES
MUSTARD. —The simplicity of its manufacture probably accounts for our persistence in serving in our mustard-pots the never-varying paste of mustard and water. Yet the infinite variety of flavours which may be introduced into our table mustards should sufficiently reward us for the little trouble entailed in mixing them. As all these made mustards contain spices or herbs which lose much of their aroma by exposure to the air, they should be put into jars and securely corked directly they are made.
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PRESERVES
PRESERVES
IT is easy to make good jam at home if a few simple rules are followed. Excellent jams can, it is true, be bought, but they are generally too sweet, a large proportion of sugar being used in order to make the jam keep for a considerable time. Rule 1. —Use only fresh fruit which has been gathered in dry weather. 2. Allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to one pound of all fruit, except stone fruit. Stone fruit requires an extra quarter of a pound of sugar. Break the sugar small, but do not pou
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THE STORING OF FRUIT AND HERBS
THE STORING OF FRUIT AND HERBS
A STORE-ROOM for apples and pears should be cool, though frost-proof, slightly moist, and well ventilated, though free from draughts. Adjacent apples should not be in contact with each other. If very choice, it is wise to wrap each apple in tissue paper. The fruit should be hand-picked, and placed in the store-room when quite dry, and any specimens that show signs of rottenness should be removed directly they are recognized. Messrs. Bunyard, of Maidstone, have built some fruit-houses which admi
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THE BOTTLING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
THE BOTTLING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
THE value of fruits bottled whole in such a way that they retain their natural form as well as their natural flavour is becoming more and more recognized, and fortunately science has kept space with the spread of this recognition, so that it is a perfectly simple matter for the owner of the smallest garden to bottle his fruit at the most trifling cost and trouble. The methods adopted have for their object the destruction of the germs present in the fruit, through whose activity fermentation and
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THE DRYING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
THE DRYING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
BY means of an evaporator, or drier, a number of fruit and vegetables may be preserved by the removal of the moisture which they contain. Quite cheap evaporators are now to be obtained, such as the Quorn , of Messrs. Lumley, of the Minories, London. As the makers of the various evaporating appliances supply full instructions for their use, it is not necessary here to give more than the briefest summary of the treatment to be adopted in drying one or two typical fruits and vegetables. The method
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HOME-BREWED BEER
HOME-BREWED BEER
“Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale.” “It illuminateth the face, warmeth the blood, and maketh it course from the inwards to the parts extreme.” “A quart of ale is a dish for a king.” “Sir, I have now in my cellar ten tun of the best ale in Staffordshire; ’tis smooth as oil, sweet as milk, clear as amber, and strong as brandy; and will be just fourteen years old the fifth day of next March, old style.” ONE of the finest pamphlets ever issued in this country is William Cobbett’s “Cottage E
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CIDER
CIDER
THE processes of cider-making are discussed and explained by the present writer in Thomas’s “Book of the Apple,” one of the volumes in the series of “Handbooks of Practical Gardening.” The following short summary must here suffice. The apples, properly selected and properly ripened by being thinly piled on boards or straw in an airy, sunny place, should be torn and crushed in a cider mill, and the juice pressed out by means of a screw-press. This crude juice should then be carefully strained thr
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WINE-MAKING
WINE-MAKING
“ It should be clear like the tears of a penitent, so that a man may see distinctly to the bottom of the glass; its colour should represent the greenness of a buffalo’s horn; when drunk it should descend impetuously like thunder; sweet-tasted as an almond; creeping like a squirrel; leaping like a roebuck; strong like the building of a Cistercian monastery; glittering like a spark of fire; subtle like the logic of the schools of Paris; and delicate as fine silk. “ Often the blind piper would pay
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THE DISTILLING OF WATERS AND CORDIALS
THE DISTILLING OF WATERS AND CORDIALS
THERE is no occupation that comes nearer to the work of gods than this occupation of distilling. By the application of fire, the purest of the elements, we separate from gross, substantial bodies those subtle essences which alone gave them distinction and charm. The distiller can but smile at the impotence of those who are unable to conceive the possibility of a post-physical human existence, for, day by day, as he stands before his stills, he sees the miracle performed whereby the spiritual, th
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SOME OTHER CORDIALS AND BITTERS.
SOME OTHER CORDIALS AND BITTERS.
“ There is no nation yet known in either hemisphere where the people of all conditions are more in want of some cordial to keep up their spirits than in this of ours. ”— Swift. THE following recipes are for the making of cordials by simple mixing without distillation. Nearly all require straining, and some may require to be filtered through filter-paper. To make Angostura Bitters. —Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon and a half of water,
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DRINKS—OLD AND NEW
DRINKS—OLD AND NEW
“ Life isn’t all beer and skittles—but beer and skittles, or something better of the same sort, must form a good part of every Englishman’s education. ”— Tom Hughes. TO make Ale Cup. —Digest for a few hours (preferably for a few days) a quarter of an ounce each of cinnamon and allspice and a couple of cloves in a tea-cupful of sherry, and strain through muslin. Add to this infusion four bottles of ginger beer and a quart of ale. Cool on ice, and serve in tankards. To make Badminton. —Mix in a ju
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HINTS FOR REFRESHMENTS AT A GARDEN-PARTY OR PICNIC
HINTS FOR REFRESHMENTS AT A GARDEN-PARTY OR PICNIC
IT may be useful to give a general idea of the quantities required in providing for a party of, say, eighty guests. Five gallons of tea, allowing five ounces of good tea to each gallon. Six gallons of coffee, half to be served hot with milk, and half to be served iced, allowing eight ounces of coffee to each gallon. Three gallons of claret-cup, allowing for each gallon four bottles of claret and four bottles of soda-water. Twelve quarts of water-ice; six quarts to be of lemon ice and six of stra
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ICE CREAMS
ICE CREAMS
VERY good small refrigerators may now be bought, and are very useful both for the manufacture of ice and of ice creams, as well as for freezing puddings or cooling drinks. The following recipes are for a few of the more popular ice creams. To make Strawberry Ice Cream. —To three-quarters of a pound of strawberries add half a pound of sugar (or a pound of strawberry jam may be used instead of fruit and sugar), and rub through a hair sieve. Add a pint of rich cream, and very little cochineal. Well
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FOOD FOR INVALIDS
FOOD FOR INVALIDS
IT may not be out of place to give a few well-tried recipes for the benefit of invalids. Beef-tea. —Procure beef which has been freshly killed. Take one pound of beef free from the least particle of fat, gristle, sinew, or skin. Mince it with a knife, not with a machine. Put the beef into one pint of cold water, and stir for ten minutes. Bring it to the boil, and boil it for half an hour, never ceasing to stir it. Strain, and add a dust of salt only. Serve with strips of dry toast, and salt in a
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PERFUMES
PERFUMES
To make Sweet-Jar or Pot-Pourri. —Take six pounds of bay-salt, beaten fine, twenty-four sweet-bay leaves, torn into strips, a handful of myrtle leaves, of the red part of clove carnations, of syringa or orange-blossom separated from the green calyx, of violets picked from their stalks, six handfuls of lavender blossoms, a handful of sweet verbena leaves, of thyme, of balm, of sweet marjoram, and of rosemary. Dry all these on a sheet spread in a sunny room. Then put them all into a large china ja
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SOME MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES
SOME MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES
FURNITURE Polish. —Mix together one pint of linseed oil, half a pint of vinegar, and two table-spoonfuls of turpentine. Rub it well in with a flannel, and then thoroughly polish with a duster. Never leave the furniture sticky, but rub it till it is quite bright and clean. The best polish for oak is made by melting a pound of beeswax in a pint of turpentine. It must be used when it is of the consistency of dripping. If a polished table or tray has been marked by a hot dish, cover the place with b
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