Green gages and damsons maybe preserved according to this receipt.

PLUMS FOR COMMON USE.

Take fine ripe plums, and cut them in half. Extract all the stones, and spread out the plums on large dishes. Set the dishes on the sunny roof of a porch or shed, and let the plums have the full benefit of the sun for three or four days, taking them in, as soon as it is off, or if the sky becomes cloudy. This will half dry them. Then pack them closely in stone jars with a thick layer of the best brown sugar between every layer of plums; putting plenty of sugar at the bottom and top of the jars. Cover them closely, and set them away in a dry place.

If they have been properly managed, they will keep a year; and are very good for pies and other purposes, in the winter and spring.

Peaches may be prepared for keeping in the same manner.

EGG PLUMS WHOLE.

Take large egg plums that are not quite ripe, and prick them all over with a small silver fork. Leave on the stems. To three pounds of plums allow three pounds and a half of loaf-sugar, broken small or powdered. Put the plums and sugar into a preserving kettle, and pour in one half pint of clear hard water. Hang the kettle over a moderate fire, and boil and skim it, As soon as the skin begins to crack or shrivel, take out the plums one at a time, (leaving the syrup on the fire,) and spread them on large dishes to cool. Place them in the open air, and as soon as they are cool enough to be touched with your fingers, smooth the skin down where it is broken or ruffled, When quite cold, return them to the syrup, (which in the mean time must have been kept slowly simmering,) and boil the plums again till they are quite clear, but not till they break. Put them warm into large glass or queen's-ware jars, and pour the syrup over them.

TO PRESERVE PEARS.

Take large fine juicy pears that are not perfectly ripe, and pare them smoothly and thin; leaving on the stems, but cutting out the black top at the blossom end of the fruit. As you pare them, lay them in a pan of cold water. Make a thin syrup, allowing a quart of water to a pound of loaf-sugar. Simmer the pears in it for about half an hour. Then pat them into a tureen, and let them lie in the syrup for two days, There must be syrup enough to cover them well. After two days, drain the syrup front the pears, and add to it more sugar, in the proportion of a pound to each pint of the thin syrup. Stir in a very little beaten white of egg, (not more than one white to three or four pounds of sugar,) add some fresh lemon-peel pared thin, and set the syrup over a brisk fire. Boil it for ten minutes and skim it well. Then add sufficient lemon-juice to flavour it; and put in the pears. Simmer them in the strong syrup till they are quite transparent. Then take them out, spread them to cool, and stick a clove in the blossom end of each. Put them into glass jars; and having kept the syrup warm over the fire while the pears were tooling, pour it over them.

If you wish to have them red, add a little powdered cochineal to the strong syrup when you put in your pears.

BAKED PEARS.

The best for baking are the large late ones, commonly called pound pears. Pare them, cut them in half, and take out the cores. Lay them in a deep white dish, with a thin slip of fresh lemon-peel in the place from which each core was taken. Sprinkle them with sugar, and strew some whole cloves or some powdered cinnamon-among them. Pour into the dish some port wine. To a dozen large pears you may allow half a pound of sugar, and a pint of wine. Cover the dish, with a large sheet of brown paper tied on; set it in a moderate oven, and let them bake till tender all through which you may ascertain by sticking a broom twig through them. They will he done in about an hour, or they may probably require more time; but you must not let them remain long enough in the oven, to break or fall to pieces. When cool, put them up in a stone jar. In cold weather they will keep a week.

To bake smaller pears, pare them, but leave on the stems, and do not core them. Put them into a deep dish with fresh lemon, or orange-peel; throw on them some brown sugar or molasses; pour in at the bottom a little water to keep them from burning; and bake them till tender throughout.

TO PRESERVE GOOSEBERRIES.

The best way of preserving gooseberries is with jelly. They should be full grown but green. Take six quarts of gooseberries, and select three quarts of the largest and finest to preserve whole, reserving the others for the jelly. Put the whole ones into a pan with sufficient water to cover them, and simmer them slowly till they begin to be tender; but do not keep them on the fire till they are likely to burst. Take them out carefully with a perforated skimmer to drain the warm water from them, and lay them directly in a pan of cold water. Put those that you intend for the jelly into a stew-pan, allowing to each quart of gooseberries half a pint of water. Boil them fast till they go all to pieces, and stir and mash them with a spoon. Then put them into a jelly-bag that has been first dipped in hot water, and squeeze through it all the juice. Measure the juice, and to each pint allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar. Break up the sugar, and put it into a preserving kettle; pour the juice over it, and let it stand to melt, stirring it frequently. When it has all dissolved, set it over the fire, put the gooseberries into it, and let them boil twenty minutes, or till they are quite clear, and till the jelly is thick and congeals in the spoon when you hold it in the air. If the gooseberries seem likely to break, take them out carefully, and let the jelly boil by itself till it is finished. When all is done, put up the gooseberries and the jelly together in glass jars.

Strawberries, raspberries, grapes, currants or any small fruit may in a similar manner be preserved in jelly.

TO STEW GOOSEBERRIES.

Top and tail them. Pour some boiling water on the gooseberries, cover them up, and let them set about half an hour, or till the skin is quite tender, but not till it bursts, as that will make the juice run out into the water. Then pour off the water, and mix with the gooseberries an equal quantity of sugar. Put them into a porcelain stew-pan or skillet, and set it on hot coals, or on a charcoal furnace. In a few minutes you may begin to mash them against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let them stew about half an hour, stirring them frequently. They must be quite cold before they are used for any thing.

GOOSEBERRY FOOL.

Having stewed two quarts of gooseberries in the above manner, stir them as soon as they are cold into a quart of rich boiling milk. Grate in a nutmeg, and covering the pan, let the gooseberries simmer in the milk for five minutes. Then stir in the beaten yolks of two or three eggs, and immediately remove it from the fire. Keep on the cover a few minutes longer; then turn out the mixture into a deep dish or a glass bowl, and set it away to get cold, before it goes to table. Eat it with sponge-cake. It will probably require additional sugar.

Gooseberries prepared in this manner make a very good pudding, with the addition of a little grated bread. Use both whites and yolks of the eggs. Stir the mixture well, and bake it in a deep dish. Eat it cold, with sugar grated over it.

TO BOTTLE GOOSEBERRIES.

For this purpose the gooseberries must be large and full grown, but quite green. Top and tail them, and put them into wide-mouthed bottles as far up as the beginning of the neck. Cover the bottom of a large boiler or kettle with saw-dust or straw. Stand the bottles of gooseberries (slightly corked) upright in the boiler, and pour round them cold water to each, as far up as the fruit. Put a brisk fire under the boiler, and when the water boils up, instantly take out the bottles and fill them up to the mouth with boiling water, which you must have ready in a tea-kettle. Cork them again slightly, and when quite cold put in the corks very tight and seal them. Lay the bottles on their sides in a box of dry sand, and turn them every day for four or five weeks. If properly managed, the gooseberries will keep a year, and may be used at any time, by stewing them with sugar.

You may bottle damsons in the same manner; also grapes.

PRESERVED RASPBERRIES.

Take a quantity of ripe raspberries, and set aside the half, selecting for that purpose the largest and firmest. Then put the remainder into your preserving pan, mash them, and set them over the fire. As soon as they have come to a boil, take them out, let them cool, and then squeeze them through a bag.

While they are cooling, prepare your sugar, which must be fine loaf. Allow a pound of sugar to every quart of whole raspberries. Having washed the kettle clean, put the sugar into it, allowing half a pint of cold water to two pounds of sugar. When it has melted in the water, put it on the fire, and boil it till the scum ceases to rise, and it is a thick syrup; taking care to skim it well. Then put in the whole raspberries, and boil them rapidly a few minutes, but not long enough to cause them to burst. Take them out with a skimmer full of holes, and spread them on a large dish to cool. Then mix with the syrup the juice of those you boiled first, and let it boil about ten or fifteen minutes. Lastly, put in the whole fruit, and give it one more boil, seeing that it does not break.

Put it warm into glass jars or tumblers, and when quite cold cover it closely with paper dipped in brandy, tying another paper tightly over it.

Strawberries may be done in the same manner; blackberries also.

RASPBERRY JAM.

Take fine raspberries that are perfectly ripe. Weigh them, and to each pound of fruit allow three quarters of a pound of fine loaf-sugar. Mash the raspberries, and break up the sugar. Then mix them together, and put them into a preserving kettle over a good fire. Stir them frequently and skim them. The jam will be done in half an hour. Put it warm into glasses, and lay on the top a white paper cut exactly to fit the inside, and dipped in brandy. Then tie on another cover of very thick white paper.

Make blackberry jam in the same manner.

TO PRESERVE CRANBERRIES.

The cranberries must be large and ripe. Wash them, and to six quarts of cranberries allow nine pounds of the best brown sugar. Take three quarts of the cranberries, and put them into a stew-pan with a pint and a half of water. Cover the pan, and boil or stew them, till they are all to pieces. Then squeeze the juice through a jelly-bag. Put the sugar into a preserving kettle, pour the cranberry juice over it and let it stand till it is all melted, stirring it up frequently. Then place the kettle over the fire, and put in the remaining three quarts of whole cranberries. Let them boil till they are tender, clear, and of a bright colour, skimming them frequently. When done, put them, warm into jars with the syrup, which should be like a thick jelly.

RED CURRANT JELLY.

The currants should be perfectly ripe and gathered on a dry day. Strip them from the stalks, and put them into a stone jar. Cover the jar, and set it up to the neck in a kettle of boiling water. Keep the water boiling round the jar till the currants are all broken, stirring them up occasionally. Then put them into a jelly-bag, and squeeze out all the juice. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a quarter of the best loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a porcelain kettle, pour the juice over it, and stir it frequently till it is all melted. Then set the kettle over a moderate fire, and let it boil twenty minutes, or till you find that the jelly congeals in the spoon when, you hold it in the air; skim it carefully all the time. When the jelly is done, pour it warm into tumblers, and cover each with two rounds of white tissue paper, cut to fit exactly the inside of the glass.

Jelly of gooseberries, plums, raspberries, strawberries, barberries, blackberries, grapes, and other small fruit may all be made in this manner.

WHITE CURRANT JELLY.

The currants should be quite ripe, and gathered on a dry day. Having stripped them from the stalks, put them into a close stone jar, and set it in a kettle of boiling water. As soon as the currants begin to break, take them out and strain them through a linen cloth. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a quarter of the best double refined loaf-sugar; break it small, and put it into a porcelain preserving pan with barely sufficient water to melt it; not quite half a pint to a pound and a quarter of sugar; it must be either clear spring water or river water filtered. Stir up the sugar while it is dissolving, and when all is melted, put it over a brisk fire, and boil and skim it till clear and thick. When the scum ceases to rise, put in the white currant juice and boil it fast for ten minutes. Then put it warm into tumblers, and when it is cold, cover it with double white tissue paper.

In making this jelly, use only a silver spoon, and carefully observe all the above precautions, that it may be transparent and delicate. If it is not quite clear and bright when done boiling, you may run it again through a jelly-bag.

White raspberry jelly may be prepared in the same manner. A very nice sweetmeat is made of white raspberries preserved whole, by putting them in white currant jelly during the ten minutes that you are boiling the juice with the syrup. You may also preserve red raspberries whole, by boiling them in red currant jelly.

BLACK CURRANT JELLY.

Take large ripe black currants; strip them from the stalks, and mash them with the back of a ladle. Then put them into a preserving kettle with a tumbler of water to each quart of currants; cover it closely, set it over a moderate fire, and when the currants have come to a boil, take them out, and squeeze them through a jelly-bag. To each pint of juice you may allow about a pound of loaf-sugar, and (having washed the preserving kettle perfectly clean) put in the sugar with the juice; stir them together till well mixed and dissolved, and then boil it not longer than ten minutes; as the juice of black currants being very thick will come to a jelly very soon, and if boiled too long will be tough and ropy.

Black currant jelly is excellent for sore throats; and if eaten freely on the first symptoms of the disease, will frequently check, it without any other remedy. It would be well for all families to keep it in the house.

GRAPE JELLY.

Take ripe juicy grapes, pick them from the steins; put them into a large earthen pan, and mash them with the back of a wooden ladle, or with a potato beetle. Put them into a kettle, (without any water,) cover them, closely, and let them boil for a quarter of an hour; stirring them up occasionally from the bottom. Then squeeze them through a jelly-bag, and to each pint of juice allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the grape juice; then put it over a quick fire in a preserving kettle, and boil and skim it twenty minutes. When it is a clear thick jelly, take it off, put it warm into tumblers, and cover them with double tissue paper cut to fit the inside.

In the same manner you may make an excellent jelly for common use, of ripe fox grapes and the best brown sugar; mixing with the sugar before it goes on the fire, a little beaten white of egg; allowing two whites to three pounds of sugar.

GRAPES.

Take some large close bunches of fine grapes, (they must not be too ripe,) and allow to each bunch a quarter of a pound of bruised sugar candy. Put the grapes and the sugar candy into large jars, (about two-thirds full,) and fill them up with French brandy. Tie them up closely, and keep them in a dry place. Morella cherries may be done in the same manner.

Foreign grapes are kept in bunches, laid lightly in earthen jars of dry saw-dust.

TO KEEP WILD GRAPES.

Gather the small black wild grapes late in the season, after they have been ripened by a frost. Pick them from the stems, and put them into stone jars, (two-thirds full,) with layers of brown sugar, and fill them up with cold molasses. They will keep all winter; and they make good common pies. If they incline to ferment in the jars, give them a bail with additional sugar.

TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES.

Strawberries for preserving should be large and ripe. They will keep best if gathered in dry weather, when there has been no rain for at least two days. Having hulled, or topped and tailed them all, select the largest and firmest, and spread them out separately on flat dishes; having first weighed them, and allowed to each pound of strawberries a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Sift half the sugar over them. Then take the inferior strawberries that were left, and those that, are over ripe; mix with them an equal quantity of powdered sugar, and mash them. Put them into a basin covered with a plate, and set them over the fire in a pan of boiling water, till they become a thick juice; then strain it through a bag and mix with it the other half of the sugar that you have allotted to the strawberries, which are to be done whole. Put it into a porcelain kettle, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise; then put in the whole strawberries with the sugar in which they have been lying, and all the juice that may have exuded from them. Set them over the fire in the syrup, just long enough to heat them a little; and in a few minutes take them out, one by one, with a tea-spoon, and spread them on dishes to cool; not allowing them to touch each other. Then take off what scum may arise from the additional sugar. Repeat this several times, taking out the strawberries and cooling them till they become quite clear. They must not be allowed to boil; and if they seem likely to break, they should be instantly and finally taken from the fire. When quite cold, put them with the syrup into tumblers, or into white queen's-ware pots. If intended to keep a long time it will be well to put at the top a layer of apple jelly.

TO PRESERVE CHERRIES.

Take large ripe morella cherries; weigh them, and to each pound allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Stone the cherries, (opening them with a sharp quill,) and save the juice that comes from them in the process. As you stone them, throw them into a large pan or tureen, and strew about half the sugar over them, and let them lie in it an hour or two after they are all stoned. Then put them into a preserving kettle with the remainder of the sugar, and boil and skim them till the fruit is clear and the syrup thick.

CHERRIES PRESERVED WHOLE.

The large carnation cherries are the best for this purpose. They should be quite ripe. Prick every one in several places with a needle, and leave on the stalks cut short. To each pound of cherries allow a pound and a quarter of the best loaf-sugar. Spread them on large dishes, and strew over them a thick layer of the sugar powdered fine; about a quarter of a pound of sugar to each pound of cherries. Or you may put them into a large tureen, and disperse the sugar among them, cover them, and let them set all night. In the morning get some ripe red currants; pick them, from the stalks, and squeeze them through a linen cloth till you have just sufficient juice to moisten the remaining sugar, which you must have ready in a preserving kettle. When the sugar has melted in the currant juice, put it over the fire, and when it has been well boiled and skimmed, put in the cherries and simmer them half an hour, or till they are so clear that you can see the stones through them. Then take them up one at a time, and spread them out to cool. Taste one, and if the sugar does not seem, to have sufficiently penetrated it, return them to the syrup and boil them a little longer, but do not allow them to break. If you are willing to take the trouble, you may put them out to cool three or four times while simmering. This will make them more transparent, and prevent them from bursting.

CHERRY JELLY.

Take fine juicy red cherries, and stone them. Save half the stones, crack them, and extract the kernels. Put the cherries and the kernels into a preserving kettle over a slow fire, and let them boil gently in their juice for half an hour. Then transfer them to a jelly-bag, and squeeze out the juice. Measure it, and to each pint allow a pound of fine loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the juice, and then boil and skim it for twenty or thirty minutes. Put it up in tumblers covered with tissue paper.

CHERRY JAM.

To each pound of cherries allow three quarters of a pound of the best brown sugar. Stone them, and as you do so throw the sugar gradually into the pan with them. Cover them and let them set all night. Next day, boil them slowly till the cherries and sugar form a thick smooth mass. Put it up in queen's-ware jars.

TO DRY CHERRIES.

Choose the finest and largest red cherries for this purpose. Store them, and spread them on large dishes in the sun, till they become quite dry, taking them in as soon as the sun is off, or if the sky becomes cloudy. Put them up in stone jars, strewing among them some of the best brown sugar.

The common practice of drying cherries with the stones in, (to save trouble,) renders them so inconvenient to eat, that they are of little use, when done in that manner.

With the stones extracted, dried cherries will be found very good for common pies.

BARBERRY JELLY.

Take ripe barberries, and having stripped them from the stalks, mash them, and boil them in their juice for a quarter of an hour. Then squeeze them through a bag: allow to each pint of juice, a pound of loaf-sugar; and having melted the sugar in the juice, boil them together twenty or twenty-five minutes, skimming carefully. Put it up in tumblers with tissue paper.

FROSTED FRUIT.

Take large ripe cherries, plums, apricots, or grapes, and cut off half the stalk. Have ready in one dish some beaten white of egg, and in another some fine loaf-sugar, powdered and sifted. Dip the fruit first into the white of egg, and then roll it one by one in the powdered sugar. Lay a sheet of white paper on the bottom of a reversed sieve, set it on a stove or in some other warm place, and spread the fruit on the paper till the icing is hardened.

PEACH LEATHER.

To six pounds of ripe peaches, (pared and quartered,) allow three pounds of the best brown sugar. Mix them together, and put them, into a preserving kettle, with barely water enough to keep them from burning. Pound and mash them a while with a wooden beetle. Then boil and skim them for three hours or more, stirring them nearly all the time. When done, spread them thinly on large dishes, and set them in the sun for three or four days; Finish the drying by loosening the peach leather on the dishes, and setting them in the oven after the bread is taken out, letting them remain till the oven is cold. Roll up the peach leather and put it away in a box.

Apple leather may be made in the same manner.

RHUBARB JAM.

Peel the rhubarb stalks and cut them into small square pieces. Then weigh them, and to each pound allow three quarters of a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Put the sugar and the rhubarb into a large, deep, white pan, in alternate layers, the top layer to be of sugar—cover it, and let it stand all night. In the morning, put it into a preserving kettle, and boil it slowly till the whole is dissolved into a thick mass, stirring it frequently, and skimming it before every stirring. Put it warm into glass jars, and tie it up with brandy paper.



PASTRY, PUDDINGS, ETC

THE BEST PLAIN PASTE.

All paste should be made in a very cool place, as heat renders it heavy. It is far more difficult to get it light in summer than in winter. A marble slab is much better to roll it on than a paste-board. It will be improved in lightness by washing the butter in very cold water, and squeezing and pressing out all the salt, as salt is injurious to paste. In New York and in the Eastern states, it is customary, in the dairies, to put more salt in what is called fresh butter, than in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. This butter, therefore, should always undergo the process of washing and squeezing before it is used for pastry or cakes. None but the very best butter should be taken for those purposes; as any unpleasant taste is always increased by baking. Potted butter never makes good paste. As pastry is by no means an article of absolute necessity, it is better not to have it at all, than to make it badly, and of inferior ingredients; few things being more unwholesome than hard, heavy dough. The flour for paste should always be superfine.

You may bake paste in deep dishes or in soup plates. For shells that are to be baked empty, and afterwards filled with stewed fruit or sweetmeats, deep plates of block tin with broad edges are best. If you use patty-pans, the more flat they are the better. Paste always rises higher and is more perfectly light and flaky, when unconfined at the sides while baking. That it may be easily taken out, the dishes or tins should be well buttered.

To make a nice plain paste,—sift three pints of superfine flour, by rubbing it through a sieve into a deep pan. Divide a pound of fresh butter into four quarters. Cut up one quarter into the flour, and rub it fine with your hands. Mix in, gradually, as much cold water as will make a tolerably stiff dough, and then knead it slightly. Use as little water as possible or the paste will be tough. Sprinkle a little flour on your paste-board, lay the lump of dough upon it, and knead it a very short time. Flour it, and roll it out into a very thin sheet, always rolling from you. Flour your rolling-pin to prevent its sticking. Take a second quarter of the butter, and with your thumb, spread it all over the sheet of paste. If your hand is warm, use a knife instead of your thumb; for if the butter oils, the paste will be heavy. When you have put on the layer of butter, sprinkle it with a very little flour, and with your hands roll up the paste as you would a sheet of paper. Then flatten it with a rolling-pin, and roll it out a second time into a thin sheet. Cover it with another layer of butter, as before, and again roll it up into a scroll. Flatten it again, put on the last layer of butter, flour it slightly, and again roll up the sheet. Then cut the scroll into as many pieces as you want sheets for your dishes or patty-pans. Roll out each piece almost an inch thick. Flour your dishes, lay the paste lightly on them, notch the edges, and bake it a light brown. The oven must be moderate. If it is too hot, the paste will bake before it has risen sufficiently. If too cold, it will scarcely rise at all, and will be white and clammy. When you begin to make paste in this manner, do not quit it till it is ready for the oven. It must always be baked in a close oven where no air can reach it.

The best rolling-pins, are those that are straight, and as thick at the ends as in the middle. They should be held by the handles, and the longer the handles the more convenient. The common rolling-pins that decrease in size towards the ends, are much less effective, and more tedious, as they can roll so little at a time; the extremities not pressing on the dough at all.

All, pastry is best when fresh. After the first day it loses much of its lightness, and is therefore more unwholesome.

COMMON PIE CRUST.

Sift two quarts of superfine flour into a pan. Divide one pound of fresh butter into two equal parts, and cut up one half in the flour, rubbing it fine. Mix it with a very little cold water, and make it into a round lump. Knead it a little. Then flour your paste-board, and roll the dough out into a large thin sheet. Spread it all over with the remainder of the butter. Flour it, fold it up, and roll it out again. Then fold it again, or roll it into a scroll. Cut it into as many pieces as you want sheets of paste, and roll each not quite an inch thick. Butter your pie-dish.

This paste will do for family use, when covered pies are wanted. Also for apple dumplings, pot-pies, &c.; though all boiled paste is best when made of suet instead of butter. Short cakes may be made of this, cut out with the edge of a tumbler. It should always be eaten fresh.

SUET PASTE.

Having removed the skirt and stringy fibres from a pound of beef suet, chop it as fine as possible. Sift two quarts of flour into a deep pan, and rub into it one half of the suet. Make, it into a round lump of dough, with cold water, and then knead it a little. Lay the dough on your paste-board, roll it out very thin, and cover it with the remaining half of the suet. Flour it, roll it out thin again, and then roll it into a scroll. Cut it into as many pieces as you want sheets of paste, and roll them out half an inch thick.

Suet paste should always be boiled. It is good for plain puddings that are made of apples, gooseberries, blackberries or other fruit; and for dumplings. If you use it for pot-pie, roll it the last time rather thicker than if wanted for any other purpose. If properly made, it will be light and flaky, and the suet imperceptible. If the suet is minced very fine, and thoroughly incorporated with the flour, not the slightest lump will appear when the paste comes to table.

The suet must not be melted before it is used; but merely minced as fine as possible and mixed cold with the flour.

If for dumplings to eat with boiled mutton, the dough must be rolled out thick, and cut out of the size you want them, with a tin, or with the edge of a cup or tumbler.

DRIPPING PASTE.

To a pound of fresh beef-dripping, that has been nicely clarified, allow two pounds and a quarter of flour. Put the flour into a large pan, and mix the dripping with it, rubbing it into the flour with your hands till it is thoroughly incorporated. Then make it into a stiff dough with a little cold water, and roll it out twice. This may be used for common meat pies.

LARD PASTE.

Lard for paste should never be used without an equal quantity of butter. Take half a pound of nice lard, and half a pound of fresh butter; rub them together into two pounds and a quarter of flour, and mix it with a little cold water to a stiff dough. Roll it out twice. Use it for common pies. Lard should always be kept in tin.

POTATO PASTE.

To two quarts of flour, allow fourteen good sized potatoes. Boil the potatoes till they are thoroughly done throughout. Then peel, and mash them very fine. Rub them through a cullender.

Having sifted the flour into a pan, add the potatoes gradually; rubbing them well into the flour with your hands. Mix in sufficient cold water to make a stiff dough. Roll it out evenly, and you may use it for apple dumplings, boiled apple pudding, beef-steak pudding, &c.

Potato paste must be sent to table quite hot; as soon as it cools it becomes tough and heavy. It is unfit for baking; and even when boiled is less light than suet paste.

FINE PUFF PASTE.

To every pound of the best fresh butter allow a pound or a quart of superfine flour. Sift the flour into a deep pan, and then sift on a plate some additional flour to use for sprinkling and rolling. Wash the butter through two cold waters; squeezing out all the salt, and whatever milk may remain in it; and then make it up with your hands into a round lump, and put it in ice till you are ready to use it. Then divide the butter into four equal parts. Cut up one of the quarters into the pan of flour; and divide the remaining three quarters into six pieces, [Footnote: Or into nine; and roll it in that number of times.] cutting each quarter in half. Mix with a knife the flour and butter that is in the pan, adding by degrees a very little cold water till you have made it into a lump of stiff dough. Then sprinkle some flour on the paste-board, (you should have a marble slab,) take the dough from the pan by lifting it out with the knife, lay it on the board, and flouring your rolling-pin, roll out the paste into a large thin sheet. Then with the knife, put all over it, at equal distances, one of the six pieces of butter divided into small bits. Fold up the sheet of paste, flour it, roll it out again, and add in the same manner another of the portions of butter. Repeat this process till the butter is all in. Then fold it once more, lay it on a plate, and set it in a cool place till you are ready to use it. Then divide it into as many pieces as you want sheets of paste; roll out each sheet, and put them into buttered plates or patty-pans. In using the rolling-pin, observe always to roll from you. Bake the paste in a moderate oven, but rather quick than slow. No air must be admitted to it while baking.

The edges of paste should always be notched before it goes into the oven. For this purpose, use a sharp penknife, dipping it frequently in flour as it becomes sticky. The notches should be even and regular. If you do them imperfectly at first, they cannot be mended by sticking on additional bits of paste; as, when baked, every patch will be doubly conspicuous. There are various ways of notching; one of the neatest is to fold over one corner of each notch; or you may arrange the notches to stand upright and lie flat, alternately, all round the edge. They should be made small and regular. You may form the edge into leaves with the little tin cutters made for the purpose.

If the above directions for puff paste are carefully followed, and if it is not spoiled in baking, it will rise to a great thickness and appear in flakes or leaves according to the number of times you have put in the butter.

It should be eaten the day it is baked.

SWEET PASTE.

Sift a pound and a quarter of the finest flour, and three ounces of powdered loaf-sugar into a deep dish. Cut up in it ten ounces of the best fresh butter and rub it fine with your hands. Make a hole in the middle, pour in the yolks of two beaten eggs, and mix them with the flour, &c. Then wet the whole to a stiff paste with half a pint of rich milk. Knead it well, and roll it out.

This paste is intended for tarts of the finest sweetmeats. If used as shells they should be baked empty, and filled when cool. If made into covered tarts they may be iced all over, in the manner of cakes, with beaten white of egg and powdered loaf-sugar. To make puffs of it, roll it out and cut it into round pieces with the edge of a large tumbler, or with a tin cutter. Lay the sweetmeat on one half of the paste, fold the other over it in the form of a half-moon, and unite the edges by notching them together. Bake them in a brisk oven, and when cool, send them to table handsomely arranged, several on a dish.

Sweet paste is rarely used except for very handsome entertainments. You may add some rose water in mixing it.

SHELLS.

Shells of paste are made of one sheet each, rolled out in a circular form, and spread over the bottom, sides, and edges of buttered dishes or patty-pans, and baked empty; to be filled, when cool, with stewed fruit, (which for this purpose should be always cold,) or with sweetmeats. They should be made either of fine puff paste, or of the best plain paste, or of sweet paste. They are generally rolled out rather thick, and will require about half an hour to bake. The oven should be rather quick, and of equal heat throughout; if hotter in one part than in another, the paste will draw to one side, and be warped and disfigured. The shells should be baked of a light brown. When cool, they must be taken out of the dishes on which they were baked, and transferred to plates and filled with the fruit.

Shells of puff paste will rise best if baked on flat patty-pans, or tin plates. When they are cool, pile the sweetmeats on them in a heap.

The thicker and higher the paste rises, and the more it flakes in layers or leaves, the finer it is considered.

Baking paste as empty shells, prevents it from being moist or clammy at the bottom.

Tarts are small shells with fruit in them.

PIES.

Pies may be made with any sort of paste. It is a fault to roll it out too thin; for if it has not sufficient substance, it will, when baked, be dry and tasteless. For a pie, divide the paste into two sheets; spread one of them over the bottom and sides of a deep dish well buttered. Next put in the fruit or other ingredients, (heaping it higher in the centre,) and then place the other sheet of paste on the top as a lid or cover; pressing the edges closely down, and afterwards crimping or notching them with a sharp small knife.

In making pies of juicy fruit, it is well to put on the centre of the under crust a common tea-cup, laying the fruit round it and over it. The juice will collect under the cup, and not be liable to run out from between the edges. There should be plenty of sugar strewed among the fruit as you put it into the pie.

Preserves should never be put into covered pies. The proper way is to lay them in baked shells.

All pies are best the day they are baked. If kept twenty-four hours the paste falls and becomes comparatively hard, heavy, and unwholesome. If the fruit is not ripe, it should be stewed with sugar, and then allowed to get cold before it is put into the pie. If put in warm it will make the paste heavy. With fruit pies always have a sugar dish on the table, in case they should not be found sweet enough.

STANDING PIES.

Cut up half a pound of butter, and put it into a sauce-pan with three quarters of a pint of water; cover it, and set it on hot coals. Have ready in a pan two pounds of sifted flour; make a hole in the middle of it, pour in the melted butter as soon as it boils, and then with a spoon gradually mix in the flour. When it is well mixed, knead it with your hands into a stiff dough. Sprinkle your paste-board with flour, lay the dough upon it, and continue to knead it with your hands till it no longer sticks to them, and is quite light. Then let it stand an hour to cool. Cut off pieces for the bottom and top; roll them out thick, and roll out a long piece for the sides or walls of the pie, which you must fix on the bottom so as to stand up all round; cement them together with white of egg, pinching and closing them firmly. Then put in the ingredients of your pie, (which should be venison, game, or poultry,) and lay on the lid or top crust, pinching the edges closely together. You may ornament the sides and top with leaves or flowers of paste, shaped with a tin cutter, and notch or scollop the edges handsomely. Before you set it in the oven glaze it all over with white of egg. Bake it four hours. These pies are always eaten cold, and in winter will keep two or three weeks, if the air is carefully excluded from them; and they may be carried to a considerable distance.

A PYRAMID OF TARTS.

Roll out a sufficient quantity of the best puff paste, or sugar paste; and with oval or circular cutters, cut it out into seven or eight pieces of different sizes; stamping the middle of each with the cutter you intend using for the next. Bake them all separately, and when they are cool, place them on a dish in a pyramid, (gradually diminishing in size,) the largest piece at the bottom, and the smallest at the top. Take various preserved fruits, and lay some of the largest on the lower piece of paste; on the next place fruit that is rather smaller; and so on till you finish at the top with the smallest sweetmeats you have. The upper one may be not so large as a half-dollar, containing only a single raspberry or strawberry.

Notch all the edges handsomely. You may ornament the top or pinnacle of the pyramid with a sprig of orange blossom or myrtle.

APPLE AND OTHER PIES.

Take fine juicy acid apples; pare, core, and cut them into small pieces. Have ready a deep dish that has been lined with paste. Fill it with the apples; strewing among them layers of brown sugar, and adding the rind of a lemon pared thin, and also the juice squeezed in, or some essence of lemon. Put on another sheet of paste as a lid; close the edges well, and notch them. Bake the pie in a moderate oven, about three quarters of an hour. Eat it with cream and sugar, or with cold boiled custard.

If the pie is made of early green apples, they should first be stewed with a very little water and plenty of brown sugar.

What are called sweet apples are entirely unfit for cooking, as they become tough and tasteless; and it is almost impossible to get them sufficiently done.

When you put stewed apples into baked shells, grate nutmeg over the top. You may cover them with cream whipped to a stiff froth, and heaped on them.

Cranberries and gooseberries should be stewed with sugar before they are put into paste. Peaches should be cut in half or quartered, and the stones taken out. The stones of cherries and plums should also be extracted.

Raspberries or strawberries, mixed with cream and white sugar, may he put raw into baked shells.

RHUBARB TARTS.

Take the young green stalks of the rhubarb plant, or spring fruit as it is called in England; and having peeled off the thin skin, cut the stalks into small pieces about an inch long, and put them into a sauce-pan with plenty of brown sugar, and its own juice. Cover it, and let it stew slowly till it is soft enough to mash to a marmalade. Then set it away to cool. Have ready some fresh baked shells; fill them with the stewed rhubarb, and grate white sugar over the top.

For covered pies, cut the rhubarb very small; mix a great deal of sugar with it, and put it in raw. Bake the pies about three quarters of an hour.

MINCE PIES.

These pies are always made with covers, and should be eaten warm. If baked the day before, heat them on the stove or before the fire.

Mince-meat made early in the winter, and packed closely in stone jars, will keep till spring, if it has a sufficiency of spice and liquor. Whenever you take out any for use, pour some additional brandy into the jar before you cover it again, and add some more sugar. No mince-meat, however, will keep well unless all the ingredients are of the best quality. The meat should always be boiled the day before you want to chop it.

GOOD MINCE-MEAT.

Take a bullock's heart and boil it, or two pounds of the lean of fresh beef. When it is quite cold, chop it very fine. Chop three pounds of beef suet (first removing the skin and strings) and six pounds of large juicy apples that have been pared and cored. Then, stone six pounds of the best raisins, (or take sultana raisins that are without stones,) and chop them also. Wash and dry three pounds of currants. Mix all together; adding to them the grated peel and the juice of two or three large oranges, two table-spoonfuls of powdered cinnamon, two powdered nutmegs, and three dozen powdered cloves, a tea-spoonful of beaten mace, one pound of fine brown sugar, one quart of Madeira wine, one pint of French brandy, and half a pound of citron cut into large slips. Having thoroughly mixed the whole, put it into a stone jar, and tie it up with brandy paper.

THE BEST MINCE-MEAT,

Take a large fresh tongue, rub it with a mixture, in equal proportions, of salt, brown sugar, and powdered cloves. Cover it, and let it lie two days, or at least twenty-four hours. Then boil it two hours, and when, it is cold, skin it, and mince it very fine. Chop also three pounds of beef suet, six pounds of sultana raisins, and six pounds of the best pippin apples that have been previously pared and cored. Add three pounds of currants, picked, washed and dried; two large table-spoonfuls of powdered cinnamon; the juice and grated rinds of four large lemons; one pound of sweet almonds, one ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and pounded in a mortar with half a pint of rose water; also four powdered nutmegs; two dozen beaten cloves; and a dozen blades of mace powdered. Add a pound of powdered white sugar, and a pound of citron cut into slips. Mix all together, and moisten it with a quart of Madeira, and a pint of brandy. Put it up closely in a stone jar with brandy paper; and when you take any out, add some more sugar and brandy.

Bake this mince-meat in puff paste.

You may reserve the citron to put in when you make the pies. Do not cut the slips too small, or the taste will be almost imperceptible.

VERY PLAIN MINCE-MEAT.

Take a piece of fresh beef, consisting of about two pounds of lean, and one pound of fat. Boil it, and when it is quite cold, chop it fine. Or you may substitute cold roast beef. Pare and core some fine juicy apples, cut them in pieces, weigh three pounds, and chop them. Stone four pounds of raisins, and chop them also. Add a large table-spoonful of powdered cloves, and the same quantity of powdered cinnamon. Also a pound of brown sugar. Mix all thoroughly, moistening it with a quart of bottled or sweet cider. You may add the grated peel and the juice of an orange.

Bake it in good common paste.

This mince-meat will do very well for children or for family use, but is too plain to be set before a guest. Neither will it keep so long as that which is richer and more highly seasoned. It is best to make no more of it at once than you have immediate occasion for.

MINCE-MEAT FOR LENT.

Boil a dozen eggs quite hard, and chop the yolks very fine. Chop also a dozen pippins, and two pounds of sultana raisins. Add two pounds of currants, a pound of sugar, a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a tea-spoonful of beaten mace, three powdered nutmegs, the juice and grated peel of three large lemons, and half a pound of citron cut in large strips. Mix these ingredients thoroughly, and moisten the whole with a pint of white wine, half a pint of rose-water, and half a pint of brandy. Bake it in very nice paste.

These mince pies may be eaten by persons who refrain from meat in Lent.

ORANGE PUDDING.

Grate the yellow part of the rind, and squeeze the juice of two large, smooth, deep-coloured oranges. Stir together to a cream, half a pound of butter, and half a pound of powdered white sugar, and add a wine-glass of mixed wine and brandy. Beat very light six eggs, and stir them gradually into the mixture. Put it into a buttered dish with a broad edge, round which lay a border of puff-paste neatly notched. Bake it half an hour, and when cool grate white sugar over it.

You may add to the mixture a Naples biscuit, or two finger biscuits, grated.

LEMON PUDDING.

May be made precisely in the same manner as the above; substituting lemons for oranges.

QUINCE PUDDING.

Take six large ripe quinces; pare them, and cut out all the blemishes. Then scrape them to a pulp, and mix the pulp with half a pint of cream, and half a pound of powdered sugar, stirring them together very hard. Beat the yolks of seven eggs, (omitting all the whites except two,) and stir them gradually into the mixture, adding two wine glasses of rose water. Stir the whole well together, and bake it in a buttered dish three quarters of an hour Grate sugar over it when cold.

If you cannot obtain cream, you may substitute a quarter of a pound of fresh butter stirred with the sugar and quince. A baked apple pudding may be made in the same manner.

ALMOND PUDDING.

Take half a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and three ounces of shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels. Scald and peel them; throwing them, as they are peeled, into cold water. Then pound them one at a time in a marble mortar, adding to each a few drops of rose water; otherwise they will be heavy and oily. Mix the sweet and bitter almonds together by pounding them alternately; and as you do them, take them out and lay them on a plate. They must each be beaten to a fine smooth paste, free from the smallest lumps. It is best to prepare them the day before you make the pudding.

Stir to a cream half a pound of fresh butter and half a pound of powdered white sugar; and by degrees pour into it a glass of mixed wine and brandy. Beat to a stiff froth, the whites only, of twelve eggs, (you may reserve the yolks for custards or other purposes,) and stir alternately into the butter and sugar the pounded almonds and the beaten white of egg. When the whole is well mixed, put it into a buttered dish and lay puff paste round the edge. Bake it about half an hour, and when cold grate sugar over it.

ANOTHER ALMOND PUDDING.

Blanch three quarters of a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and three ounces of shelled bitter almonds, and beat them in a mortar to a fine paste; mixing them well, and adding by degrees a tea-cup full, or more, of rose water. Boil in a pint of rich milk, a few sticks of cinnamon broken up, and a few blades of mace. When the milk has come to a boil, take it off the fire, strain it into a pan, and soak in it five stale rusks cut into slices. They must soak till quite dissolved. Stir to a cream three quarters of a pound of fresh butter, mixed with the same quantity of powdered loaf-sugar. Beat ten eggs very light, yolks and whites together, and then stir alternately into the butter and sugar, the rusk, eggs, and almonds. Set it on a stove or a chafing dish, and stir the whole together till very smooth and thick. Put it into a buttered dish and bake it three quarters of an hour. It must be eaten cool or cold.

COCOA-NUT PUDDING.

Having opened a cocoa-nut, pare off the brown skin from the pieces, and wash them all in cold water. Then weigh three quarters of a pound, and grate it into a dish. Cut up half a pound of butter into half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar, and stir them together to a cream; add to them a glass of wine and rose water mixed. Beat the whites only, of twelve eggs, till they stand alone on the rods; and then stir the grated cocoa-nut and the beaten white of egg alternately into the butter and sugar; giving the whole a hard stirring at the last. Put the mixture into a buttered dish, lay puff paste round the flat edge, and bake it half an hour in a moderate oven. When cool, grate powdered sugar over it.

ANOTHER COCOA-NUT PUDDING.

Peel and cut up the cocoa-nut, and wash, and wipe the pieces. Weigh one pound, and grate it fine. Then, mix with it three stale rusks or small sponge-cakes, grated also. Stir together till very light half a pound of butter and half a pound of powdered white sugar, and add a glass of white wine. Beat six whole eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the butter and sugar in turn with the grated cocoa-nut. Having stirred the whole very hard at the last, put it into a buttered dish and bake it half an hour.

PUMPKIN PUDDING.

Take a pint of pumpkin that has been stewed soft, and pressed through a cullender. Melt in half a pint of warm milk, a quarter of a pound of butter, and the same quantity of sugar, stirring them well together. If you can conveniently procure a pint of rich cream it will be better than the milk and butter. Beat eight eggs very light, and add them gradually to the other ingredients, alternately with the pumpkin. Then stir in a wine glass of rose water and two glasses of wine mixed together; a large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed, and a grated nutmeg. Having stirred the whole very hard, put it into a buttered dish and bake it three quarters of an hour.

A SQUASH PUDDING.

Pare, cut in pieces, and stew in a very little water, a yellow winter squash. When it is quite soft, drain it dry, and mash it in a cullender. Then put it into a pan, and mix with it a quarter of a pound of butter. Prepare two pounded crackers, or an equal quantity of grated stale bread. Stir gradually a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar into a quart of rich milk, and add by degrees, the squash, and the powdered biscuit. Beat nine eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the mixture. Add a glass of white wine, a glass of brandy, a glass of rose water, and a table-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon powdered. Stir the whole very hard, till all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Bake it three quarters of an hour in a buttered dish; and when cold, grate white sugar over it.

YAM PUDDING.

Take one pound of roasted yam, and rub it through a cullender. Mix with it half a pound of white sugar, a pint of cream or half a pound of butter, a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a grated nutmeg, and a wine glass of rose water, and one of wine. Set it away to get cold. Then beat six eggs very light. Stir them into the mixture. Put it into a buttered dish and bake it half an hour. Grate sugar over it when cold.

CHESTNUT PUDDING,

May be made in the above manner.

POTATO PUDDING.

Boil a pound of fine potatoes, peel them, mash them, and rub them through a cullender. Stir together to a cream, three quarters of a pound of sugar and the same quantity of butter. Add to them gradually, a wine glass of rose water, a glass of wine, and a glass of brandy; a tea-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon, a grated nutmeg, and the juice and grated peel of a large lemon. Then beat six eggs very light, and add them by degrees to the mixture, alternately with the potato. Bake it three quarters of an hour in a buttered dish.

SWEET POTATO PUDDING.

Take half a pound of sweet potatoes, wash them, and put them into a pot with a very little water, barely enough to keep them from burning. Let them simmer slowly for about half an hour; they must be only parboiled, otherwise they will be soft, and may make the pudding heavy. When they are half done, take them out, peel them, and when cold, grate them. Stir together to a cream, half a pound of butter and a quarter of a pound and two ounces of powdered sugar, add a grated nutmeg, a large tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, and half a tea-spoonful of beaten mace. Also the juice and grated peel of a lemon, a wine glass of rose water, a glass of wine, and a glass of brandy. Stir these ingredients well together. Beat eight eggs very light, and stir them into the mixture in turn with the sweet potato, a little at a time of each. Having stirred the whole very hard at the last, put it into a buttered dish and bake it three quarters of an hour.

CARROT PUDDING.

May be made in the above manner.

GREEN CORN PUDDING.

Take twelve ears of green corn, as it is called, (that is, Indian corn when full grown, but before it begins to harden and turn yellow,) and grate it. Have ready a quart of rich milk, and stir into it by degrees a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Beat four eggs till quite light; and then stir them into the milk, &c. alternately with the grated corn, a little of each at a time. Put the mixture into a large buttered dish, and bake it four hours. It may be eaten either warm or cold, For sauce, beat together butter and white sugar in equal proportions, mixed with grated nutmeg.

To make this pudding—you may, if more convenient, boil the corn and cut it from the cob; but let it get quite cold before you stir it into the milk. If the corn has been previously boiled, the pudding will require but two hours to bake.

SAGO PUDDING.

Pick, wash, and dry half a pound of currants; and prepare a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon; a half tea-spoonful of powdered mace; and a beaten nutmeg. Have ready six table-spoonfuls of sago, picked clean, and soaked for two hours in cold water. Boil the sago in a quart of milk till quite soft. Then stir alternately into the milk, a quarter of a pound of butter, and six ounces of powdered sugar, and set it away to cool. Bent eight eggs, and when they are quite light, stir them gradually into the milk, sago, &c. Add the spice, and lastly the currants; having dredged them well with flour to prevent their sinking. Stir the whole very hard, put it into a buttered dish, and bake it three quarters of an hour. Eat it cold.

ARROW ROOT PUDDING.

Take four tea-cups full of arrow root, and dissolve it in a pint of cold milk. Then boil another pint of milk with some broken cinnamon, and a few bitter almonds or peach-leaves. When done, strain it hot over the dissolved arrow root; stir it to a thick smooth batter, and set it away to get cold. Next, beat six eggs very light, and stir them into the batter, alternately with a quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar. Add a grated nutmeg and some fresh lemon-peel grated. Put the mixture into a buttered dish, and bake it an hour. When cold, cut some slices of preserved quince or peach, and arrange them handsomely all over the top of the pudding; or ornament it with strawberries, or raspberries preserved whole.

GROUND RICE PUDDING.

Mix a quarter of a pound of ground rice with a pint of cold milk, till it is a smooth batter and free from lumps. Boil three pints of milk; and when it has boiled, stir in gradually the rice batter, alternately with a quarter of a pound of butter. Keep it over the fire, stirring all the time, till the whole is well mixed, and has boiled hard. Then take it off, add a quarter of a pound of white sugar; stir it well, and set it away to cool. Beat eight eggs very light and stir them into the mixture when it is quite cold. Then strain it through a sieve, (this will make it more light and delicate,) add a grated nutmeg, and a large tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Stir in the juice and the grated peel of a lemon, or a small tea-spoonful of essence of lemon. Put it into a deep dish or dishes, and bake it an hour. As soon as it comes out of the oven, lay slips of citron over the top; and when cold, strew powdered sugar on it.

A RICE PLUM PUDDING.

Take three jills of whole rice; wash it, and boil it in a pint of milk. When it is soft, mix in a quarter of a pound of butter, and set it aside to cool; and when it is quite cold, stir it into another pint of milk. Prepare a pound and a half of raisins or currants; if currants, wash and dry them; if raisins, seed them and cut them in half. Dredge them well with flour, to prevent their sinking; and prepare also a powdered nutmeg; a table-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon powdered; a wine glass of rose water; and a wine glass of brandy or white wine. Beat six eggs very light, and stir them into the mixture, alternately with a quarter of a pound of sugar. Then add by degrees the spice and the liquor, and lastly, stir in, a few at a time, the raisins or currants. Put the pudding into a buttered dish and bake it an hour and a half. Send it to table cool.

You may make this pudding of ground rice, using but half a pint instead of three jills.

A PLAIN RICE PUDDING.

Pick and wash a pint of rice, and boil it soft. Then drain off the water, and let the rice dry and get cold. Afterwards mix with it two ounces of butter, and four ounces of sugar, and stir it into a quart of rich milk. Beat four or five eggs very light, and add them gradually to the mixture. Stir in at the last a table-spoonful of mixed nutmeg and cinnamon. Bake it an hour in a deep dish.

A FARMER'S RICE PUDDING.

This pudding is made without eggs. Wash half a pint of rice through two cold waters, and drain it well. Stir it raw into a quart of rich milk, or of cream and milk mixed; adding a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, and a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Put it into a deep pan, and bake it two hours or more. When done, the rice will be perfectly soft, which you may ascertain by dipping a tea-spoon into the edge of the pudding and taking out a little to try. Eat it cold.

RICE MILK.

Pick and wash half a pint of rice, and boil it in a quart of water till it is quite soft. Then drain it, and mix it with a quart of rich milk. You may add half a pound of whole raisins. Set it over hot coals, and stir it frequently till it boils. When it boils hard, stir in alternately two beaten eggs, and four large table-spoonfuls of brown sugar. Let it continue boiling five minutes longer; then take it off, and send it to table hot. If you put in raisins you must let it boil till they are quite soft.

A BOILED RICE PUDDING.

Mix a quarter of a pound of ground rice with a pint of milk, and simmer it over hot coals; stirring it all the time to prevent its being lumpy, or burning at the bottom. When it is thick and smooth, take it off, and pour it into an earthen pan. Mix a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a quarter of a pound of butter with half a pint of cream or very rich milk, and stir it into the rice; adding a powdered nutmeg, and the grated rind of two lemons, or half a tea-spoonful of strong oil of lemon. Beat the yolks of six eggs with the whites of two only. When the eggs are quite light, mix them gradually with the other ingredients, and stir the whole very hard. Butter a large bowl, or a pudding mould. Put in the mixture; tying a cloth tightly over the top, (so that no water can get in,) and boil it two hours. When done, turn it out into a dish. Send it to table warm, and eat it with sweetened cream, flavoured with a glass of brandy or white wine and a grated nutmeg.

A MARLBOROUGH PUDDING.

Pare, core and quarter six large ripe pippin apples. Stew them in half a pint of water. When they are soft but not broken, take them out, drain them through a sieve, and mash them to a paste with the back of a spoon. Mix with them six large table-spoonfuls of sugar and a quarter of a pound of butter, and set them away to get cold. Grate two milk biscuits or email sponge cakes, or an equal quantity of stale bread, and grate also the yellow peel, and squeeze the juice of a large lemon. Beat six eggs light, and when the apple is cold stir them gradually into it, adding the grated biscuit and the lemon. Stir in a wine glass of rose water and a grated nutmeg. Put the mixture into a buttered dish or dishes; lay round the edge a border of puff paste, and bake it three quarters of art hour. When cold, grate white sugar over the top, and ornament it with slips of citron handsomely arranged.

ALMOND CHEESE CAKE.

This though usually called a cheese cake, is in fact a pudding.

Cut a piece of rennet about two inches square, wash off the salt in cold water, and wipe it dry. Put it into a tea-cup, pour on it sufficient lukewarm water to cover it, and let it soak all night, or at least several hours. Take a quart of milk, which must be made warm, but not boiling. Stir the rennet-water into it. Cover it, and set it in a warm place. When the curd has become quite firm, and the whey looks greenish, drain off the whey, and set the curd in a cool place. While the milk is turning, prepare the other ingredients. Wash and dry half a pound of currants, and dredge them well with flour. Blanch three ounces of sweet and one ounce of bitter almonds, by scalding and peeling them. Then cool them in cold water, wiping them dry before you put them into the mortar. If you cannot procure bitter almonds, peach kernels may be substituted. Beat them, one at a time, in the mortar to a smooth paste, pouring in with every one a few drops of rose water to prevent their being oily, dull-coloured, and heavy. If you put a sufficiency of rose water, the pounded almond paste will be light, creamy, and perfectly white. Mix, as you do them, the sweet and bitter almonds together. Then beat the yolks of eight eggs, and when light, mix them gradually with the curd. Add five table-spoonfuls of cream, and a tea-spoonful of mixed spice. Lastly, stir in, by degrees, the pounded almonds, and the currants alternately. Stir the whole mixture very hard. Bake it in buttered dishes, laying puff paste round the edges. If accurately made, it will be found delicious. It must be put in the oven immediately.

COMMON CHEESE CAKE.

Boil a quart of rich milk. Beat eight eggs, put them to the milk, and let the milk and eggs boil together till they become a curd. Then drain it through a very clean sieve, till all the whey is out. Put the curd into a deep dish, and mix with it half a pound of butter, working them well together. When it is cold, add to it the beaten yolks of four eggs, and four large table-spoonfuls of powdered white sugar; also a grated nutmeg. Lastly, stir in, by degrees, half a pound of currants that have been previously picked, washed, dried, and dredged with flour. Lay. puff paste round the rim of the dish, and bake the cheese cake half an hour. Send it to table cold.

PRUNE PUDDING.

Scald a pound of prunes; cover them, and let them swell in the hot water till they are soft. Then drain them, and extract the stones; spread the prunes on a large dish, and dredge them with flour. Take one jill or eight large fable-spoonfuls from a quart of rich milk, and stir into it, gradually, eight spoonfuls of sifted flour. Mix it to a smooth batter, pressing out all the lumps with the back of the spoon. Beat six eggs very light, and stir them, by degrees, into the remainder of the milk, alternately with the batter that you have just mixed. Then add the prunes one at a time, stirring the whole very hard. Tie the pudding in a cloth that has been previously dipped in boiling water and then dredged with flour. Leave room for it to swell, but secure it firmly, so that no water can get in. Put it into a pot of boiling water, and boil it two hours. Send it to table hot, (not taking it out of the pot till a moment before it is wanted,) and eat it with cream sauce; or with butter, sugar, and nutmeg beaten together, and served up in a little tureen. A similar pudding may be made with whole raisins.

EVE'S PUDDING.

Pare, core, and quarter six large pippins, and chop them very fine. Grate stale bread till you have six ounces of crumbs, and roll fine six ounces of brown sugar. Pick, wash, and dry six ounces of currants, and sprinkle them with flour. Mix all these ingredients together in a large pan, adding six ounces of butter cut small, and two table-spoonfuls of flour. Beat six eggs very light, and moisten the mixture with them. Add a grated nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Stir the whole very well together. Have ready a pot of boiling water. Dip your pudding cloth into it, shake it out, and dredge it with flour. Then put in the mixture, and tie it very firmly; leaving space for the pudding to swell, and stopping up the tying place with a paste of wetted flour. Boil it three hours; keeping at the fire a kettle of boiling water, to replenish the pot, that the pudding may be always well covered. Send it to table hot, and eat it with sweetened cream flavoured with wine and nutmeg.

CINDERELLAS OR GERMAN PUFFS.

Sift eight table-spoonfuls of the finest flour. Cut up in a quart of rich milk, half a pound of fresh butter, and set it on the stove, or near the fire, till it has melted. Beat eight eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk and butter, alternately with the flour. Add a powdered nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Mix the whole very well to a fine smooth batter, in which there must be no lumps. Butter some large common tea-cups, and divide the mixture among them till they are half full or a little more. Set them immediately in a quick oven, and bake them about a quarter of an hour. When done, turn them out into a dish and grate white sugar over them. Serve them up hot, with a sauce of sweetened cream flavoured with wine and nutmeg; or you may eat them with molasses and butter; or with sugar and wine. Send them round whole, for they will fall almost as soon as cut.

A BOILED BREAD PUDDING.

Boil a quart of rich milk. While it is boiling, take a small loaf of baker's bread, such as is sold for five or six cents. It may be either fresh or stale. Pare off all the crust, and cut up the crumb into very small pieces. You should have baker's bread if you can procure it, as home-made bread may not make the pudding light enough. Put the bread into a pan; and when the milk boils, pour it scalding hot over the bread. Cover the pan closely, and let it steep in the hot steam for about three quarters of an hour. Then remove the cover, and allow the bread and milk to cool. In the mean time, beat four eggs till they are thick and smooth. Then beat into them a table-spoonful and a half of fine wheat flour. Next beat the egg and flour into the bread and milk, and continue to beat hard till the mixture is as light as possible; for on this the success of the pudding chiefly depends.

Have ready over the fire a pot of boiling water. Dip your pudding-cloth into it, and shake it out. Spread out the cloth in a deep dish or pan, and dredge it well with flour. Pour in the mixture, and tie up the cloth, leaving room for it to swell. Tie the string firmly and plaster up the opening (if there is any) with flour moistened with water. If any water gets into it the pudding will be spoiled.

See that the water boils when you put in the pudding, and keep it boiling hard. If the pot wants replenishing, do it with boiling water from a kettle. Should you put in cold water to supply the place of that which has boiled away, the pudding will chill, and become hard and heavy. Boil it an hour and a half.

Turn it out of the bag the minute before you send it to table. Eat it with wine sauce, or with sugar and butter, or molasses.

It will be much improved by adding to the mixture half a pound of whole raisins, well floured to prevent their sinking. Sultana raisins are best, as they have no seeds.

If these directions are exactly followed, this will be found a remarkably good and wholesome plain pudding.

For all boiled puddings, a square pudding-cloth which can be opened out, is much better than a bag. It should be very thick.

A BAKED BREAD PUDDING.

Take a stale five cent loaf of bread; cut off all the crust, and grate or rub the crumb as fine as possible. Boil a quart of rich milk, and pour it hot over the bread; then stir in a quarter of a pound of butter, and the same quantity of sugar, a glass of wine and brandy mixed, or a glass of rose water. Or you may omit the liquor and substitute the grated peel of a large lemon. Add a table-spoonful of raised cinnamon and nutmeg powdered. Stir the whole very well, cover it, and set it away for half an hour. Then let it cool. Beat seven or eight eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the mixture after it is cold. Then butter a deep dish, and bake the pudding an hour. Send it to table cool.

A BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.

Cut some slices of bread and butter moderately thick, omitting the crust; stale bread is best. Butter a deep dish, and cover the bottom with slices of the buttered bread. Have ready a pound of currants, picked, washed and dried. Spread one third of them thickly over the bread and butter, and strew on some brown sugar. Then put another layer of bread and butter, and cover it also with currants and sugar. Finish with a third layer of each, and pour over the whole four eggs, beaten very light and mixed with a pint of milk, and a wine glass of rose water. Bake the pudding an hour, and grate nutmeg over it when done. Eat it warm, but not hot.

You may substitute for the currants, raisins seeded, and cut in half.

This pudding may be made also with layers of stewed gooseberries instead of the currants, or with pippin apples pared, cored and minced fine.

A SUET PUDDING.

Mince very finely as much beef suet as will make two large table-spoonfuls. Grate two handfuls of bread-crumbs; boil a quart of milk and pour it hot on the bread. Cover it, and set it aside to steep for half an hour; then put it to cool. Beat eight eggs very light; stir the suet, and three table-spoonfuls of floor alternately into the bread and milk, and add, by degrees, the eggs. Lastly, stir in a table-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and cinnamon mixed, and a glass of mixed wine and brandy. Pour it into a bag that has been dipped in hot water and floured; tie it firmly, put it into a pot of boiling water, and boil it two hours. Do not take it up till immediately before it is wanted, and send it to table hot.

Eat it with wine sauce, or with molasses.

A CUSTARD PUDDING.

Take five table-spoonfuls out of a quart of cream or rich milk, and mix them with two large spoonfuls of fine flour. Set the rest of the milk to boil, flavouring it with half a dozen peach leaves, or with bitter almonds broken up. When it has boiled hard, take it off, strain it, and stir in the cold milk and flour. Set it away to cool, and beat very light ten yolks and four whites of eggs; add them to the milk, and stir in, at the last, a glass of brandy, or white wine, a powdered nutmeg, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Butter a large bowl or mould; pour in the mixture; tie a cloth tightly over it; put it into a pot of boiling water, and boil it two hours, replenishing the pot with hot water from a tea-kettle. When the pudding is done, let it get cool before you turn it out. Eat it with butter and sugar stirred together to a cream, and flavoured with lemon.

FLOUR HASTY PUDDING.

Tie together half a dozen peach leaves, put them into a quart of milk, and set it on the fire to boil. When it has come to a hard boil, take out the leaves, but let the pot remain boiling on the fire. Then with a large wooden spoon in one hand, and some wheat flour in the other, thicken and stir it till it is about the consistence of a boiled custard. Afterwards throw in, one at a time, a dozen small bits of butter rolled in a thick coat of flour. You may enrich it by stirring in a beaten egg or two, a few minutes before you take it from the fire. When done, pour it into a deep dish, and strew brown sugar thickly over the top. Eat it warm.

INDIAN MUSH.

Have ready on the fire a pot of boiling water. Stir into it by degrees (a handful at a time) sufficient Indian meal to make it very thick, and then add a very small portion of salt. You must keep the pot boiling on the fire all the time you are throwing in the meal; and between every handful, stir very hard with the mush-stick, (a round stick flattened at one end,) that the mush may not be lumpy. After it is sufficiently thick, keep it boiling for an hour longer, stirring it occasionally. Then cover the pot, and hang it higher up the chimney, so as to simmer slowly or keep hot for another hour. The goodness of mush depends greatly on its being long and thoroughly boiled. If sufficiency cooked, it is wholesome and nutritious, but exactly the reverse, if made in haste. It is not too long to have it altogether three of four hours over the fire; on the contrary it will be much the better for it.

Eat it warm; either with milk, or cover your plate with mush, make a hole in the middle, put some butter in the hole and fill it up with molasses.

Cold mush that has been left, may be cut into slices and fried in butter.

Burgoo is made precisely in the same manner as mush, but with oatmeal instead of Indian.

A BAKED INDIAN PUDDING.

Cut up a quarter of a pound of butter in a pint of molasses, and warm them together till the butter is melted. Boil a quart of milk; and while scalding hot, pour it slowly over a pint of sifted Indian meal, and stir in the molasses and butter. Cover it, and let it steep for an hour. Then take off the cover, and set the mixture to cool. When it is cold, beat six eggs, and stir them gradually into it; add a table-spoonful of mixed cinnamon and nutmeg; and the grated peel of a lemon. Stir the whole very hard; put it into a buttered dish, and bake it two hours. Serve it up hot, and eat it with wine sauce, or with butter and molasses.

A BOILED INDIAN PUDDING.

Chop very fine a quarter of a pound of beef suet, and mix it with a pint of sifted Indian meal. Boil a quart of milk with some pieces of cinnamon broken up; strain it, and while it is hot, stir in gradually the meal and suet; add half a pint of molasses. Cover the mixture and set it away for an hour; then put it to cool. Beat six eggs, and stir them gradually into the mixture when it is cold; add a grated nutmeg, and the grated peel of a lemon. Tie the pudding in a cloth that has been dipped in hot water and floured; and leave plenty of room for it to swell. Secure it well at the tying place lest the water should get in, which will infallibly spoil it. Put it into a pot of boiling water, (which must be replenished as it boils away,) and boil it four hours at least; but five or six will be better. To have an Indian pudding very good, it should be mixed the night before, (all except the eggs,) and put on to boil early in the morning. Do not take it out of the pot till immediately before it is wanted. Eat it with wine sauce, or with molasses and butter.

INDIAN PUDDING WITHOUT EGGS.

Boil some cinnamon in a quart of milk, and then strain it. While the milk is hot, stir into it a pint of molasses, and then add by degrees a quart or more of Indian meal so as to make a thick batter. It will be much improved by the grated peel and juice of a large lemon or orange. Tie it very securely in a thick cloth, leaving room for it to swell, and pasting up the tying-place with a lump of flour and water. Put it into a pot of boiling water, (having ready a kettle to fill it up as it boils away,) hang it over a good fire, and keep it boiling hard for four or five hours. Eat it warm with molasses and butter.

This is a very economical, and not an unpalatable pudding; and may be found convenient when it is difficult to obtain eggs.

A BAKED PLUM PUDDING.

Grate all the crumb of a stale six cent loaf; boil a quart of rich milk, and pour it boiling hot over the grated bread; cover it, and let it steep for an hour; then set it out to cool. In the mean time prepare half a pound of currants, picked, washed, and dried; half a pound of raisins, stoned and cut in half; and a quarter of a pound of citron cut in large slips; also, two nutmegs beaten to a powder; and a table-spoonful of mace and cinnamon powdered and mixed together. Crush with a rolling-pin half a pound of sugar, and cut up half a pound of butter. When the bread and milk is uncovered to cool, mix with it the butter, sugar, spice and citron; adding a glass of brandy, and a glass of white wine. Beat eight eggs very light, and when the milk is quite cold, stir them gradually into the mixture. Then add, by degrees, the raisins and currants, (which must be previously dredged with flour) and stir the whole very hard. Put it into a buttered dish, and bake it two hours. Send it to table warm, and eat it with wine sauce, or with wine and sugar only.

In making this pudding, you may substitute for the butter, half a pound of beef suet minced as fine as possible. It will be found best to prepare the ingredients the day before, covering them closely and putting them away.

A BOILED PLUM PUDDING.

Grate the crumb of a twelve cent loaf of bread, and boil a quart of rich milk with a small bunch of peach leaves in it, then strain it and set it out to cool. Pick, wash and dry a pound of currants, and stone and cut in half a pound of raisins; strew over them three large table-spoonfuls of flour. Roll fine a pound of brown sugar, and mince as fine as possible three quarters of a pound of beef suet. Prepare two beaten nutmegs, and a large table-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon; also the grated peel and the juice of two large lemons or oranges. Beat ten eggs very light, and (when it is cold) stir them gradually into the milk, alternately with the suet and grated bread.

Add, by degrees, the sugar, fruit, and spice, with a large glass of brandy, and one of white wine. Mix the whole very well, and stir it hard. Then put it into a thick cloth that has been scalded and floured; leave room for it to swell, and tie it very firmly, pasting the tying-place with a small lump of moistened flour. Put the pudding into a large pot of boiling water, and boil it steadily five hours, replenishing the pot occasionally from a boiling kettle. Turn the pudding frequently in the pot. Prepare half a pound of citron cut in slips, and half a pound of almonds blanched and split in half lengthways. Stick the almonds and the citron all over the outside of the pudding as soon as you take it out of the cloth. Send it to table hot, and eat it with wine sauce, or with cold wine and sugar.

If there is enough of the pudding left, it may be cut in slices, and fried in butter next day.

All the ingredients of this plum pudding (except the eggs) should be prepared the day before, otherwise it cannot be made in time to allow of its being sufficiently boiled.

We have known of a very rich plum pudding being mixed in England and sent to America in a covered bowl; it arrived perfectly good after a month's voyage, the season being winter.

A BAKED APPLE PUDDING.

Take nine large pippin apples; pare and core them whole. Set them in the bottom of a large deep dish, and pour round them a very little water, just enough to keep them from burning. Put them into an oven, and let them bake about half an hour. In the mean time, mix three table-spoonfuls of flour with a quart of milk, a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, and a tea-spoonful of mixed spice. Beat seven eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk. Then take out the dish of apples, (which by this time should be half baked,) and fill up the holes from whence you extracted the cores, with brown sugar; pressing down into each a slice of fresh lemon. Pour the batter round the apples; put the dish again into the oven, and let it bake another half hour; but not long enough for the apples to fall to pieces; as they should, when done, be soft throughout, but quite whole. Send it to table warm.

This is sometimes called a Bird's Nest Pudding.

It will be much improved by previously boiling in the milk a small handful of peach leaves. Let it get cold before you stir in the eggs.

BOILED APPLE PUDDING.

Pare, core, and quarter as many fine juicy apples as will weigh two pounds when done. Strew among them a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, and add a grated nutmeg, and the juice and yellow peel of a large lemon. Prepare a paste of suet and flour, in the proportion of a pound of chopped suet to two pounds of flour. Roll it out of moderate thickness; lay the apples in the centre, and close the paste nicely over them in the form of a large dumpling; tie it in a cloth and boil it three hours. Send it to table hot, and eat with it cream sauce, or with butter and sugar.

Any fruit pudding may be made in a similar manner.

AN EASTERN PUDDING.

Make a paste of a pound of flour and half a pound of minced suet; and roll it out thin into a square or oblong sheet; trim off the edges so as to make it an even shape. Spread thickly over it some marmalade, or cold stewed fruit, (which must be made very sweet,) either apple, peach, plum, gooseberry or cranberry. Roll up the paste, with the fruit spread on it, into a scroll. Secure each end by putting on nicely a thin round piece rolled out from the trimmings that you cut off the edges of the sheet. Put the pudding into a cloth, and boil it at least three hours. Serve it up hot, and eat it with cream sauce, or with butter and sugar.

APPLE DUMPLINGS.

Take large fine juicy apples. Pare them, and extract the cores without dividing the apple. Fill each hole with brown sugar, and some chips of lemon peel. Also squeeze in some lemon juice. Or you may fill the cavities with raspberry jam, or with any sort of marmalade. Have ready a paste, made in the proportion of a pound of suet, chopped as fine as possible, to two pounds and a half of sifted flour, well mixed, and wetted with as little water as possible. Roll out the paste to a moderate thickness, and cut it into circular pieces, allowing two pieces to each dumpling. Lay your apple on one piece, and put another piece on the top, closing the paste round the sides with your fingers, so as to cover the apple entirely. This is a better way than gathering up the paste at one end, as the dumpling is less liable to burst. Boil each dumpling in a small coarse cloth, which has first been dipped in hot water. There should always be a set of cloths kept for the purpose. Tie them tightly, leaving a small space for the dumpling to swell. Plaster a little flour on the inside of each tying place to prevent the water from getting in. Have ready a pot of boiling water. Put in the dumplings and boil them from three quarters to an hour. Send them to table hot in a covered dish. Do not take them up till a moment before they are wanted.

Eat them with cream and sugar, or with butter and sugar.

You may make the paste with butter instead of suet, allowing a pound of butter to two pounds and a quarter of flour. But when paste is to be boiled, suet will make it much lighter and finer than butter.

Apple dumplings may be made in a very plain manner with potato paste, and boiled without cloths, dredging the outside of each dumpling with flour. They should boil about three quarters of an hour when without cloths.

The apples for dumplings should always be whole, (except the cores;) for if quartered, the pieces will separate in boiling and break through the crust. The apples should never be sweet ones.

RICE DUMPLINGS.

Pick and wash a pound of rice, and boil it gently in two quarts of water till it becomes dry; keeping the pot well covered, and not stirring it. Then take it off the fire, and spread it out to cool on the bottom, of an inverted sieve; loosening the grains lightly with a fork, that all the moisture may evaporate. Pare a dozen pippins or other, large juicy apples, and scoop out the core. Then fill up the cavity with marmalade, or with lemon and sugar. Cover every apple all over with a thick coating of the boiled rice. Tie up each in a separate, cloth, [Footnote: Your pudding and dumpling cloths should be squares of coarse thick linen, hemmed, and with tape strings sewed to them. After using, they should be washed, dried, and ironed; and kept in one of the kitchen drawers, that they may be always ready when wanted.] and put them into a pot of cold water. They will require about an hour and a quarter after they begin to boil; perhaps longer.

Turn them out on a large dish, and be careful in doing so not to break the dumplings. Eat them with cream sauce, or with wine sauce, or with butter, sugar, and nutmeg beaten together.

PIGEON DUMPLINGS OR PUDDINGS.

Take four pigeons and stuff them with chopped oysters, seasoned with pepper, salt, mace, and nutmeg. Score the breasts, and loosen all the joints with a sharp knife, as if you were going to carve them for eating; but do not cut them quite apart. Make a sufficient quantity of nice suet paste, allowing a pound of suet to two pounds of flour; roll it out thick, and divide it into four. Lay one pigeon on each sheet of the paste with the back downwards, and put at the lower part of the breast a piece of butter rolled in flour. Close the paste over the pigeon in the form of a dumpling or small pudding; pouring in at the last a very little cold water to add to the gravy. Tie each dumpling in a cloth, put them into a pot of hot water, and boil them two hours. Send them to table with made gravy in a boat.

Partridges or quails may be cooked in this manner; also chickens, which must be accompanied by egg sauce. These dumplings or puddings will be found very good.

FINE SUET DUMPLINGS.

Grate the crumb of a stale six cent loaf, and mix it with nearly as much beef suet, chopped as fine as possible. Add a grated nutmeg, and two large table-spoonfuls of sugar. Beat four eggs with four table-spoonfuls of white wine or brandy. Mix all well together to a stiff paste. Flour your hands, and make up the mixture into balls or dumplings about the size of turkey eggs. Have ready a pot of boiling water. Put the dumplings into cloths, and let them boil about half an hour. Serve them hot, and eat them with wine sauce.

PLAIN SUET DUMPLINGS.

Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, and add a salt-spoon of salt. Mince very fine one pound of beef suet, and rub it into the flour. Make it into a stiff dough with a little cold water. Then roll it out an inch thick or rather more. Cut it into dumplings with the edge of a tumbler. Put them into a pot of boiling water, and let them boil an hour and a half. Send them to table hot, to eat with boiled loin of mutton, or with molasses after the meat is removed.

INDIAN DUMPLINGS.

Take a pint of milk, and four eggs well beaten. Stir them together, and add a salt-spoon of salt. Then mix in as much sifted Indian meal as will make a stiff dough. Flour your hands; divide the dough into equal portions, and make it into balls about the size of a goose egg. Flatten each with the rolling-pin, tie them in cloths, and put them into a pot of boiling water. They will boil in a short time. Take care not to let them go to pieces by keeping them too long in the pot.

Serve them up hot, and eat them with corned pork, or with bacon. Or you may eat them with molasses and butter after the meat is removed.

If to be eaten without meat, you may mix in the dough a quarter of a pound of finely chopped suet.

LIVER DUMPLINGS.

Take a calf's liver, and chop it very fine. Mix with it half a pound of beef suet chopped line also; half a pound of flour; two minced onions; a handful of bread-crumbs; a table-spoonful of chopped parsley and sweet marjoram mixed; a few blades of mace and a few cloves powdered; and a little pepper and salt. Mix all well together. Wet the mixture with six eggs well beaten, and make it up into dumplings, with your hands well floured. Have ready a large pot of boiling water. Drop the dumplings into it with a ladle, and let them boil an hour. Have ready bread-crumbs browned in butter to poor over them before they go to table.

HAM DUMPLINGS.

Chop some cold ham, the fat and lean in equal proportions. Season it with pepper and minced sage. Make a crust, allowing half a pound of chopped suet; or half a pound of butter to a pound of flour. Roll it out thick, and divide it into equal portions. Put some minced ham into each, and close up the crust. Have ready a pot of boiling water, and put in the dumplings. Boil them about three quarters of an hour.

LIGHT DUMPLINGS.

Mix together as much grated bread, butter and beaten egg (seasoned with powdered cinnamon) as will make a stiff paste. Stir it well. Make the mixture into round dumplings, with your hands well floured. Tie up each in a separate cloth, and boil them a short time,—about fifteen minutes. Eat them with wine sauce, or with molasses and butter.

PLAIN FRITTERS.

Beat seven eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a quart of milk; add, by degrees, three quarters of a pound, or a pint and a half of sifted flour. Beat the whole very hard. Have ready in a frying-pan over the fire, a large quantity of lard. When the lard has come to a hard boil, begin to put in the fritters; allowing for each about a jill of batter, or half a large tea-cup full. They do not require turning, and will be done in a few minutes. Fry as many at a time as the pan will hold. Send them to table hot, and eat them with powdered cinnamon, sugar, and white wine. Let fresh hot ones be sent in as they are wanted; they chill and become heavy immediately.

Begin to fry the fritters as soon as the batter is mixed, as it will fall by setting. Near a pound and a half of lard will be required for the above quantity of fritters.

APPLE FRITTERS.

Pave, core, and parboil (in a very little water) some large juicy pippins. When half done, take them out, drain them, and mince them very fine. Make a batter according to the preceding receipt; adding some lemon juice and grated lemon-peel. Stir into the batter a sufficient quantity of the minced apple to make it very thick. Then fry the fritters in hot lard as before directed. Eat them with nutmeg and sugar.

PLAIN PANCAKES.

Sift half a pound or a pint of flour. Beat seven eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a quart of rich milk. Then add by degrees the flour, so as to make a thin batter. Mix it very smooth, pressing out all the lumps with the back of a spoon. Set the frying-pan over the fire, and when it is hot, grease it with a spoonful of lard. Then put in a ladle full of the batter, and fry it of a light brown, turning it with care to prevent its breaking. Make each pancake large enough to cover the bottom of a dessert plate; greasing the pan every time. Send them to table hot, accompanied by powdered sugar and nutmeg mixed in a small glass bowl. Have wine with them also.

SWEETMEAT PANCAKES.

Take a large red beet-root that has been boiled tender; cut it up and pound it in a mortar till you have sufficient juice for colouring the pancakes. Then make a batter as in the preceding receipt, and stir into it at the last enough of the beet juice to give it a fine pink colour. Or instead of the beet juice, you may use a little cochineal dissolved in a very small quantity of brandy. Fry the pancakes in a pan greased with lard or fresh butter; and as fast as they are done, spread thickly over them raspberry jam or any sort of marmalade. Then roll them up nicely, and trim off the ends. Lay them, side by side, on a large dish, and strew powdered sugar over them. Send them to table hot, and eat them with sweetened cream.

PLAIN CUSTARDS.

Tie together six or eight peach leaves, and boil them in a quart of milk with a large stick of cinnamon broken up. If you cannot procure peach leaves, substitute a handful of peach-kernels or bitter almonds, or a vanilla bean split in pieces. When it has boiled hard, strain the milk and set it away to cool. Beat very light eight eggs, and stir them by degrees into the milk when it is quite cold, (if warm, the eggs will curdle it, and cause whey at the bottom,) and add gradually a quarter of a pound of sugar. Fill your cups with it; set them in a Dutch-oven, and pour round them boiling water sufficient to reach nearly to the tops of the cups. Put hot coals under the oven and on the lid, (which must be previously heated by standing it up before a hot fire,) and bake the custards about twenty minutes. Send them to table cold, with nutmeg grated over each. Or you may bake the whole in one large dish.

SOFT CUSTARDS.

Are made in the above manner, except that to a quart of milk you must have twelve yolks of eggs, and no whites. You may devote to this purpose the yolks that are left when you have used the whites for cocoa-nut or almond puddings, or for lady cake or maccaroons.

BOILED CUSTARDS.

Beat eight eggs very light, omitting the whites of four. Mix them gradually with a quart of cold milk and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Put the mixture into a sauce-pan with a bunch of peach leaves, or a handful of broken up peach-kernels or bitter almonds; the yellow peel of a. lemon, and a handful of broken cinnamon; or you may boil in it a vanilla bean. Set it on hot coals, and simmer it slowly, stirring it all the time. As soon as it comes to a boil, take it immediately off the fire, or it will curdle and be lumpy. Then strain it; add eight or ten drops of oil of lemon, and put it into glass cups. You may lay in the bottom of each cup a maccaroon soaked in wine. Grate nutmeg over the top, and send it to table cold. Eat it with tarts or sweetmeats.

RICE CUSTARD.

Boil some rice in milk till it is quite dry; then put it into small tea-cups, (pressing it down hard,) and when it is cold and has taken the shape of the cups, turn it out into a deep dish, and pour a boiled custard round it. Lay on the top of each lump of rice a piece of preserved quince or peach, or a piece of fruit jelly. In boiling the rice, you may mix with, it raisins or currants; if so, omit the sweetmeats on the top.

Another way of boiling custard is to put the mixture into a pitches, set it in a vessel of boiling water, place it on hot coals or in a stove, and let it boil slowly, stirring it all the time.

SNOWBALL CUSTARD.

Make a boiled custard as in the preceding receipts; and when it is done and quite cold, put it into a deep glass dish. Beat to a stiff froth the four whites of eggs that have been omitted in the custard, adding eight or ten drops of oil of lemon. Drop the froth in balls on the top of the dish of custard, heaping and forming them with a spoon into a regular size and shape. Do not let them touch each other. You may lay a fresh, rose leaf on the top of every one.

APPLE CUSTARD.

Pare, core, and quarter a dozen large juicy pippins. Strew among them the yellow peel of a large lemon pared very thin; and stew them till tender, in a very small portion of water. When done, mash them smooth with the back of a spoon; (you must have a pint and a half of the stewed apple;) mix a quarter of a pound of sugar with them, and set them away till cold. Beat six eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a quart of rich milk, alternately with the stewed apple. Put the mixture into cups, or into a deep dish, and bake it about twenty minutes. Send it to table cold, with nutmeg grated over the top.