Green Fox-Grape Jelly.

Fill a kettle with grapes, and let them boil with a pint of water till the skins burst, mash and strain them, put a pound of sugar to a pint of juice, and let it boil half and hour. Ripe fox-grapes may be made into very nice jelly in the same way, and is very good to drink in sickness, mixed with water.

Pears.

Pare and core the fruit, but leave the stems on; put them in a syrup of a pound of sugar, and a half a pint of water to a pound of pears, with some green ginger or lemon peel; boil the syrup half an hour after they are done.

Ripe Fox-Grape Jam.

To two quarts of grapes, allow three pounds of brown sugar, and a pint of water; have the grapes picked over and washed; put them all together and let them boil more than an hour; take them up on shallow dishes, and pick out as many seeds as you can with a spoon. This makes a good common preserve when other fruits are scarce; they are also very good for pies.

Currant Jelly.

Pick the leaves from the currants and fill your kettle with them; put a tea-cup of water to keep them from sticking; cover them with a plate and let them boil slowly half an hour; take them out, and strain them through a flannel bag; to every pint of juice put a pound of loaf-sugar; let it boil till it is a thick jelly, which will be in about fifteen minutes, and put it in tumblers or jars.

Lemon Butter or French Honey.

Take half a pound of butter, melt it in an earthen dish and squeeze in the juice of six lemons; beat twelve eggs with two pounds of brown sugar, stir it in with the rind of two lemons grated, mix it all together, and let it boil twenty minutes, when it will be about the consistency of honey; the flavor is agreeable, and it may be eaten on bread, or as a sauce for boiled pudding.

Currant Syrup.

Prepare the currants as for jelly; to every pint of juice put a pint of water and a pound of sugar; let it boil half an hour and skim it well; if the flavor of the raspberry is preferred, it may be added in the proportion of one pint of it to four of currant juice. It is a very pleasant drink mixed with water in warm weather.

Quince Jelly.

Wash and wipe the quinces; cut them in small pieces, and take out the seeds carefully; have your kettle cleaned and half full of water; throw the quinces and seeds in till you get it full; cover them over and let them boil till very soft; mash them well and strain them; to every pint of juice put a pound of sugar; clean the kettle again, pour in the juice and sugar, and let it boil till it forms a jelly; it should be put into tea-cups, if you want to turn it out whole, with brandy papers on top, and pasted over. It is a nice jelly to use with whips or trifle.

Apple Jelly.

Pare and quarter a preserving kettle full of pippin apples; cover them with water, and lay a plate close over them; let them boil until perfectly soft, taking the plate off to skim them; spread a coarse thin cloth over a large bowl; pour the apples on the cloth, and let the juice run through, without squeezing; hold the towel by the corners, and move it gently; take three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar to a pint of the juice, and boil it fast, skimming it, until it becomes jelly, which will be in from ten to fifteen minutes, pour it in tumblers or glass jars, and when quite cold, paste them over. This will keep a year. Red streak apples make a fine red jelly, boiled with the skins on them. If you have currant or grape jelly that has candied, they can be restored by making some apple syrup, and mixing it hot; it will not require any more sugar—about one-third apple juice; let it boil a few minutes. Very sweet preserves that have candied can be improved by this process.

Apple Marmalade.

Apples make a very good marmalade when other fruits are scarce, and can be done at any time through the fall, or winter, pare the apples, cut them up, and put them to boil, with some water and green ginger scraped, and tied up in a bag, after they have boiled an hour, take out the ginger, and put in half a pound of sugar to one of fruit, let it cook an hour longer.

Peach Marmalade.

Take soft yellow peaches, pare them, and cut them in quarters, give them their weight in sugar, put the peaches in the preserving kettle with a pint of water, without the sugar, and let them boil till they are well cooked, covered over with a plate, when done, mash them in the kettle till very fine, and stir in the sugar, let them cook slowly an hour, or they may be finished in a stone jar in the oven, or set in a stove boiler, and the water kept boiling all the time, they are not then so likely to burn as when finished over the fire, they will do with less sugar, if they are dried in the sun two days previous to preserving.

Another Way.

Pare and quarter the peaches, and to eight pounds of peaches, allow five pounds of sugar, put them on, sugar and peaches at once, mixing them through, let them stew slowly until a syrup forms, when they may cook pretty fast for several hours, without once stirring, then take them up, and mash them well, if the marmalade is not thick enough, spread it on dishes, and dry in your oven after the bread is taken out. Quinces and apples may be done in the same way.

Quince Marmalade.

Pare the quinces and cut them up fine, put the parings and cores to boil, then strain them, put in the quinces, and let them boil till soft-when mash them fine, and put in three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, let them cook gently for two hours, and take them up in pint bowls; when cold, put brandy papers on the top of each, and paste them over, they will turn out whole to put on table.

Marmalade of Mixed Fruits.

Pare equal quantities of peaches, apples, pears and quinces, cut them fine, and put them to boil with a pint of water to six pounds of fruit, let them cook thoroughly, but do not let them burn, take them out, and mash them well, clean the kettle, and put them back, with half their weight in sugar, let them cook very slowly for two hours.

Lemon Marmalade.

Soak the peel of lemons that have been left after making lemonade, changing the water twice a day for three days, to extract the bitter, boil them till soft, then mash and put in enough sugar to make it pleasant to the taste; stew it a short time after the sugar is put in; put it in a bowl, and when cold, cut it in slices for the table; it will keep several weeks.

To Conserve Pears.

Have the nicest pears you can get, pare them, and leave on the stems; take half a pound of loaf-sugar to a pound of pears; put them in the kettle together, with water enough to moisten the sugar; if the pears are very juicy, they will not need any; cover them over with a plate, and let them boil very gently for two hours; take them out on dishes, and boil the syrup to jelly, and put it away by itself; set the pears in the sun, or in a moderately heated oven; when quite dry, sprinkle them with loaf-sugar, and put them away in glass jars.

Peaches in Cider.

Scald and wipe the peaches; cut them from the stone, and dry them in the sun two days; boil a gallon of sweet cider half away; put in the peaches, and let them stew slowly till done; they will keep without any sugar, but you can put some in, if you wish them sweeter.

Pears can be kept in the same way.

Peaches, &c. in Brandy.

Take fresh yellow peaches, or large clingstones, pour boiling water on them, and wipe off the down; make a syrup of half a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and boil and skim it; put in the peaches, and let them cook for fifteen minutes; take them up without any syrup, and cool them on dishes; boil the syrup down to half, and put an equal quantity of peach or French brandy, pour this over the peaches after they are in jars.

Plums or cherries may be done in the same way.

Grapes in Brandy.

Put some close bunches of grapes, not too ripe, in a jar, and prick each one with a needle, strew over them half their weight in pounded rock candy, and fill up the jar with brandy.

To Conserve Peaches.

Take the yellow peaches, pare them, and cut them from the stone in one piece, to six pounds of peaches have two pounds of sugar, make a syrup of three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and a little water, put them in, and let them stay till they are quite clear, then take them up carefully on a dish, and set them in the sun to dry, pound the sugar fine, and strew over them, turning them over to let each part have some, do not put much on at a time, and if any syrup is made, remove them to fresh dishes, when they are sufficiently dry, lay them lightly in a jar, with a little sugar between each layer.

If the peaches are sweet clings, three pounds of sugar to twelve of peaches will be enough, if you dry them a day in the sun before they are stewed.

Sauce of Cherries, or Damsons.

Allow half a pound of brown sugar to every pound of fruit, and to each seven pounds a pint of molasses, and one of strong vinegar, let them cook slowly, so as not to break the skins, take them up in a jar, put in a few cloves, let the syrup boil longer, and pour it over.

Frosted Fruit.

Take large ripe cherries, apricots, plums or grapes; if cherries, cut off half of the stem; have in one dish some white of an egg beaten, and in another some powdered loaf-sugar; take the fruit, one at a time, and roll them first in the egg, and then in the sugar; lay them on a sheet of white paper in a sieve, and set it on the top of a stove or near a fire till the icing is hard.

Grapes for Pies.

After the first frost, pick the wild grapes, and put them in a jar, free from stems; fill it with boiling molasses, and tie it up close; set it on a hot hearth, or on the top of a stove, in a pan of water, for several days. These are very useful to make common pies in the winter.

Green Tomatoes for Pies.

Pick the green tomatoes before they are much frosted; scald them and take off the skins; put them in your kettle and let them boil for half an hour; cut them up, and put in a pound of sugar to three pounds of tomatoes, and let them cook for half an hour longer; season them with the juice and peel of a lemon, and put them away in jars. They make very good pies in the winter, and resemble gooseberries.

Conserve of Roses.

Gather the leaves of the damask rose, while they are fresh; spread a pound of loaf-sugar on your cake-board, and roll in about half a pound of rose leaves, or as many as will work into it, have your kettle cleaned, and stew them in it very gently for about half an hour; put it in tumblers to use when you have a cough. It is very good for children that are threatened with the croup; you should have some by the side of the bed to use at night.

To keep Damsons for Pies.

To every twelve pounds of damsons take seven pounds of brown sugar; put them together in a stone jar, a layer of fruit and a layer of sugar; tie it up close, and set it in a heated oven; let it stay till it is cold, and continue to set it in, after every baking, for several weeks; or you can cook them on the top of a stove, in a pan of hot water.

Dried Cherries, &c.

Dried cherries should be kept in a jar, with sugar sprinkled among them; they are very useful in sickness; a tea-cupful of cherries, with a quart of boiling water poured on them, and left to draw for half an hour, with sweetening, makes a very agreeable drink when you cannot get lemonade.

When stewed for pies you should allow them plenty of water, and not put in the sugar till they are nearly done.

Boiling water poured on dried apples also makes a good drink in sickness.

Apple Butter.

With Remarks on the Use of Earthen Vessels

Have your kettle well cleaned, and fill it early in the morning with cider made of sound apples, and just from the press; let it boil half away, which may be done by three o'clock in the afternoon; have pared and cut enough good apples to fill the kettle; put them in a clean tub, and pour the boiling cider over; then scour the kettle and put in the apples and cider, let them boil briskly till the apples sink to the bottom; slacken the fire and let them stew, like preserves, till ten o'clock at night. Some dried quinces stewed in cider and put in are an improvement. Season with orange peel, cinnamon or cloves, just before it is done; if you like it sweeter, you can put in some sugar an hour before it is done. If any thing occur that you cannot finish it in a day, pour it in a tub, and finish it the next day; when it is done put it in stone jars. Any thing acid should not be put in earthen vessels, as the glazing is poisonous. This way of making apple butter requires but little stirring; you must keep a constant watch that it does not burn.

Pears and peaches may be done in the same way, and if they are sweet, will not require sugar.

Another Way.

It is important to have a large copper or bell-metal kettle, into which put the cider as soon as it comes from the press; put it over a brisk fire, and boil it half away; then put the cider from the kettle into clean stone jars, (warm the jars to prevent the danger of breaking them;) have your apples pared and cut over night, as many as would fill your kettle twice; have the kettle well cleaned, and in the morning put in half the cider, and fill the kettle nearly full of apples, and put it over a brisk fire; when they begin to boil up, stir them down, which may be done two or three times, before you put in your stick to stir constantly; then put in the rest of the apples and cider, as fast as the kettle will take them, and boil it four hours after the last apples are put in, stirring it all the time; you should have for the purpose a stick made of hickory wood, somewhat like a common hoe, with holes in it.

Candied Preserves, &c.

If your preserves candy, set the jars in hot water for half an hour; if they are in glass jars put them in something else, as glass cracks easily, when exposed to heat. Preserves made with white Havana sugar are not so liable to candy as others. Common preserves are improved, and are more certain to keep well, by being placed on flat dishes and set in a brick-oven after the bread is taken out: they may remain two or more hours without injury. When preserves are about to boil over, you should have a common fan at hand and fan them, which will sometimes answer instead of taking them from the fire.

Cider Marmalade.

Boil two gallons of sweet cider down to one gallon; have ready two gallons of apples, pared and cut; pour the cider out of the kettle, and clean it; then put in the apples, and pour the cider in, and two or three pounds of sugar; if it will not hold all conveniently, add at intervals; let them stew four hours; do not stir till they are nearly done—stirring makes fruit stick to the kettle and burn; if you stir once you must keep on. This is a pleasant sauce for dinner, or eaten with bread and butter at tea, and will keep in a cool place through the winter.

Tomato Figs.

Take six pounds of sugar, to one peck (or sixteen pounds) of ripe tomatoes—the pear-shaped look best; put them over the fire (without peeling) in your preserving kettle, their own juice being sufficient without the addition of water; boil them until the sugar penetrates and they are clarified. They are then taken out, spread on dishes, flattened and dried in the sun, or in a brick-oven after the bread is taken out. A small quantity of the syrup should be occasionally sprinkled over them whilst drying; after which, pack them down in jars, sprinkling each layer with powdered sugar. The syrup is afterwards concentrated and bottled for use. They retain surprisingly their flavor, which is agreeable and somewhat similar to the best figs. Ordinary brown sugar may be used, a large portion of which is retained in syrup.

Molasses Candy or Taffy.

Put a quart of good molasses (not sugar house) in a dutch-oven or iron pot, having previously greased it with butter; let it boil very fast, stirring it all the time for fifteen minutes; then put in a tea-cup of sugar and let it boil fifteen minutes longer, stirring all the time; take a little out on a plate, and when it is brittle, pour it while hot into tin plates rubbed with butter; put it in a cold place and break it up when you want it for use; never put taffy in china or earthen plates, as they would probably be broken in taking it out. Some think it an improvement to add the kernels of black walnuts, nicely picked—put them in just as you take up the taffy and give it one stir; a tea-cup of kernels to a pint of molasses is a good proportion.

Walnut Cheese.

Take a pint of nice kernels and pound them in a mortar with two tea-cups of brown sugar, and a table-spoonful of water; put it in cups or small bowls and it will turn out like other cheese. It is a favorite refreshment with some country children.



CORDIALS, WINES, VINEGAR, PICKLES, &c.

Peach Cordial.

Put a gallon of peach brandy into a wide-mouthed vessel, and five pounds of fine flavored peaches, cut from the stone; boil five pints of water with two pounds of loaf-sugar and a pound of peaches, till it is a clear and rich syrup; pour this boiling hot on the brandy and stir it well; put in two dozen peach kernels, blanched and pounded, and a little mace; let it stand three weeks covered tight—at the end of which time, bottle it for use. It is a nice seasoning for cake.

Quince Cordial.

Grate the quinces and strain them; to every quart of juice, put a pound of loaf-sugar and a pint of spirits; boil, strain and bottle it.

Cherry Cordial.

Mash and strain the cherries, boil the juice, and to a gallon, put two pounds of sugar, and half a pint of spirits; the sugar should be boiled in it; skim and strain; when cold, bottle it.

Lemon Brandy.

Have a bottle three-quarters full of brandy; when you use lemons for other purposes, pare off the yellow skin very thin, cut it small and drop it in the bottle, till you get it full. Be careful not to put in any of the tough white part, as that will give it a bitter taste; cork the bottle and keep it to season cakes and puddings.

Rose Brandy.

Fill a large bottle with damask rose leaves, picked while they are fresh; fill the bottle with brandy, or good spirits of any kind; cork it tightly and set it away for use. It will bear filling up several times.

Blackberry Cordial.

Mash and strain the blackberries; put the juice on to boil in a brass or bell-metal kettle; skim it well, and to each gallon of juice put three pounds of sugar and a quart of spirits; bruise some cloves and put in. This is valuable as a medicine for children in summer.

Rose Water.

Gather the damask rose leaves; have a tin pan that will fit under your warming-pan; wring a thin towel out of water, spread it over the pan, and put rose leaves on this about two inches thick; put another wet towel on top of the leaves, and three or four thicknesses of paper on it; put hot embers in the warming-pan, and set it on top of the paper, propped up so as not to fall; when you renew the coals, sprinkle the towel that is at the top of the rose leaves; when all the strength is out of the leaves, they will be in a cake; dry this, and put it in your drawers to scent the clothes; put another set of leaves in, sprinkle the towels, and so till you have used up all your rose leaves. Rose water is a very nice seasoning for cake or pudding; it should be kept corked tightly.

Cologne.

Put into a bottle half an ounce of oil of lavender, one drachm of oil of rosemary, two of essence of lemon, two of essence of bergamot, forty drops of oil of cinnamon, and a little musk, if you like it; pour on it three pints of best alcohol.

Blackberry Wine.

Gather the fruit when fully ripe, but before the sun has had time to dry the juice; put it in a tub and pour in clear cold water enough to cover it; mash it to a pulp with a wooden masher; strain it through a linen bag or towel; a deal of juice will remain in the pulp, which in order to get you must add some sugar to it, and boil it in your preserving kettle, when you may strain again, and will have little left but seeds; to every gallon of the liquor, add three pounds of good brown sugar; pour it in a keg, (which should stand in a cellar, or cool dry place:) let it stand two or three weeks, with the bung laid loosely on; as the froth works out fill it up, (with some of the liquor kept out for the purpose.) French brandy in the proportion of a quart to five gallons, is an improvement. At the end of three or four weeks, it may be closely bunged and put away in a safe dry closet, where it should remain undisturbed for a year, when it may be racked off, bottled and sealed over.

Gooseberry Wine.

Put three pounds of lump sugar in a gallon of water; boil and skim it; when it is nearly cold, pour in it four quarts of ripe gooseberries, that have been well mashed, and let it stand two days, stirring it frequently; steep half an ounce of isinglass in a pint of brandy for two days, and beat it with the whites of four eggs till they froth, and put it in the wine; stir it up, and strain it through a flannel bag into a cask or jug; fasten it so as to exclude the air; let it stand six months, and bottle it for use; put two or three raisins in each bottle, and cork it up.

Currant Wine.

Pick and mash the currants, either with your hands or a clean block, in a tub; strain them, and to one gallon of juice, put two gallons of water; and to each gallon of the mixture, put three pounds of sugar; stir it until the sugar is dissolved, then put it in a clean cask that has never been used for beer or cider; put it in a cellar or cool place, and let it work out at the bung for several weeks; have a gallon of it saved in a jug to fill up with, as it works out. When it is done working, bung it up.

You may rack it off towards spring, or it will not hurt it to stand a year.

If you want a barrel of wine, you must have eight gallons of currant juice, sixteen of water, and seventy-two pounds of sugar; put in a quart of brandy after it has done working; if you can get a clean brandy barrel to put it in, it is better than a new one.

Another Way.

Mash well together equal quantities of currants and water, strain the juice and to every gallon add three pounds of best brown sugar; fill the cask two-thirds full, bung it tight and put clay over; by this means the air is excluded while the process of fermentation is going on; the cask should be iron-bound; rack it off and bottle or put in demijohns the next spring after making.

Elderberry Wine, &c.

To each gallon of berries, put one of water; mash them in a tub, and leave them two days, stirring them frequently; then strain them, and to each gallon of juice put three pounds of brown sugar, and to every five gallons, two ounces of bruised ginger, and one of cloves, which tie up in a bag, and boil in the wine for an hour, and put it in a cask; when it is nearly cold, put in two spoonsful of lively yeast; let it ferment two days, and put in a pint of spirits with the bag of spice, and close it up. This is excellent as a medicine for delicate or elderly persons.

Fill a bottle with elderberries, with a dozen cloves, and fill it up with spirits. It is good to give children that have the summer disease; mix a tea-spoonful of it with sugar and water for a child, or a table-spoonful for a grown person.

Ginger Wine.

Boil nine quarts of water with six pounds of lump sugar, the rinds of three lemons very thinly pared, and two ounces of face ginger pounded; when it has boiled half an hour, skim it, and pour it on the juice of two lemons: when nearly cold, add two spoonsful of yeast; put a pound of raisins in the cask, with a half a pint of brandy, and half an ounce of shaved isinglass; strain it in the cask, and stop it tight; bottle it in six or seven weeks.

Raspberry Wine.

Pick over the raspberries, and to every quart put a quart of water; bruise them, and let them stand two days; strain off the liquor, and to every gallon put three pounds of lump sugar; stir it till the sugar is dissolved, and put it in a clean barrel, or keg; at the end of two months, bottle it, and put a spoonful of brandy, or a glass of wine in each bottle.

Raspberry Vinegar, and its uses.

Put two pounds of raspberries in a large bowl, and pour on them two quarts of white-wine vinegar; the next day, strain the liquor on two pounds of fresh raspberries; let this stand a day, and strain it into a stone jar; to each pint of the liquor put a pound of loaf sugar; stir till it is dissolved, and put the jar in a sauce-pan of water, which keep boiling for an hour; skim it, and bottle it when cold. This is used not only as a refreshing drink, mixed with water, but is said to be of use in complaints of the chest. No glazed or metal vessels should be used in making it.

Spruce Beer.

Boil some spruce boughs with some wheat bran, till it tastes sufficiently of the spruce; bruise some allspice, and put in; strain it, and put two quarts of molasses to half a barrel; when it is nearly cold, put in half a pint of yeast; after it has worked sufficiently, bung up the barrel.

To Make Two Gallons of Beer.

Put two pounds of brown sugar in a jug, with a heaped spoonful of ginger, and a pint of strong hop tea; pour in a gallon and a half of warm water, and a tea-cup of yeast; leave out the cork a day—then fasten it up, and set it in a cool place; or if you bottle it, put two or three raisins in each bottle.

Harvest Beer.

To make fifteen gallons of beer, put into a keg three pints of yeast, three pints of molasses, and two gallons of cold water; mix it well, and let it stand a few minutes; then take three quarts of molasses, and three gallons of boiling water, with one ounce of ginger; mix them well, and pour into the keg, and fill it up with cold water.

A decoction of the root of sassafras is good to put in beer.

Porter Beer.

A pleasant drink in summer is to take one bottle of porter, five bottles of water, and a pint of molasses, or a pound of sugar; make a spoonful of ginger into a tea, and mix all well together; have seven clean bottles, with two or three raisins in each; fill them, cork them tight, and lay them on their sides on the cellar floor.

Molasses Beer.

Take five pints of molasses, half a pint of yeast, two spoonsful of pounded ginger, and one of allspice; put these into a clean half-barrel, and pour on it two gallons of boiling water; shake it till a fermentation is produced; then fill it up with warm water, and let it work with the bung out, a day, when it will be fit for use; remove it to a cold place, or bottle it. This is a very good drink for laboring people in warm weather.

To Make Cider.

To make cider that will keep sweet for a length of time, requires particular attention to all the points. All the works and utensils in use must be perfectly clean, so that nothing acid shall come in contact with the pulp or liquor while pressing. The casks should be cleaned in the following manner:

After washing each barrel clean, put in a lump of unslaked lime, and pour in a gallon of boiling water; bung it up, and roll the barrel several times a day, letting it lay with the bung down; in the evening, empty out the lime-water, and wash the barrel clean in several waters; after the water is drained out, burn a brimstone match in it, made of a piece of coarse muslin one inch broad, and four long, dipped in melted brimstone; light one end of the match, and put it in; put the bung on slightly, so as to hold the other end, and allow air sufficient to make it burn; when the rag has burned out, drive in the bung to keep in the sulphuric gas, which, if allowed time, will condense on the sides.

The apples should be kept under cover, and secured from rain. After they have laid to mellow for two or three weeks, select those that are sound; break off the stems and leaves; have the trough perfectly clean, and after they are ground, keep them from the sun and rain for twenty-four hours; then press them, and fill into the casks; the first running is always the best; each cask that is filled should be numbered, so as to know the quality; and after they are all filled, draw off and mix them, the weak with the strong; keep the casks filled up with cider while they are fermenting; when the fermentation is subsiding, there will be a thin white scum rise slowly: when this is all off, lay on the bung lightly; rack it off in a few days in barrels, in which brimstone has been used, and bung it tight; rack it off again in March, and keep the bungs in tight.

To Make Vinegar.

You may always have good vinegar for pickling, and other purposes, by taking a little pains. Get a tight whiskey barrel, if it is clean you need not rinse it, and put into it ten gallons of the best vinegar you can procure, with one quart of whiskey and one quart of molasses; every day for a week, add a gallon of good cider that has not been watered, and shake the barrel each time; let it stand in this state two weeks, shaking the barrel frequently. After this, you may put in a gallon of cider occasionally, with any that has been left at table, or the settlings of decanters or bottles that have had wine in, but do not put in any water. It will make much sooner in the garret or a warm place, but if the barrel is fixed early in the summer, you will have plenty to pickle with in the fall; taste it so as not to add cider too fast. Have a phial with a string attached to it that you can put in at the bung. You should have a barrel of good hard cider before you begin to make vinegar. If you are in want of vinegar, fill a jug from the barrel, and set it in the hot sun, where it will turn sour much quicker. It is a good plan to keep a jug in a closet, where you can empty all the slops of cider and wine; and when you get it full, empty it in the barrel.

After the pickling is done, you can put as much hard cider in the barrel, a gallon at a time, as you have taken out, with a little molasses, and half a pint of whiskey; if you put too much of the latter it will prevent it from getting sour, but a little gives strength to the cider, and the molasses increases the acidity, and helps to color it. If you should have any juice of cherries, currants, or blackberries, put it in, or if you can get cheap sour raisins, they will be an improvement to the flavor of the vinegar; a tea-cup of burnt sugar will give it a good color.

Vinegar made in this way will keep pickles good for several years. If the cider has not sufficient strength it will take longer to make.

To Pickle Mangoes.

Pick your musk-melons at a proper age, before they get too hard; make a slit in the sides and take out the seeds with a tea-spoon; boil a pickle of ground alum salt, that will bear an egg, and let the melons lay in this a week; then make a new pickle, and let them lay in it another week; then wash them, and scald them in weak vinegar, or sour cider, with cabbage leaves around the kettle; put them in a jar, and put the vinegar and leaves in with them; leave them two days, then wipe them carefully, and to two dozen mangoes, have an ounce of mace, one of cloves, some nasturtions, small onions, scraped horse-radish, and mustard seed sufficient to fill them; fill up the inside of each one, and tie them round with strings. Put them in your kettle with strong vinegar, and let them scald a few minutes; then put them in a wide-mouthed jar, and pour the vinegar over; have them covered close, and they will keep good for several years. Large green tomatoes make good mangoes, previously salted and drained, when fill them as other mangoes.

For Pickling Mangoes with Oil and Vinegar.

Cut a square piece out to remove the inside; lay them in salt and water nine or ten days, and afterwards green them as any other pickle. For stuffing, take two ounces of garlic, dried and pulverized, two ounces of horse-radish, prepared as the garlic, two ounces of nutmegs, two ounces of cloves, two ounces of mace, two ounces of whole mustard seed. When the mangoes are large, put a small cucumber, and two beans in each. Wipe each mango perfectly dry before the stuffing is put in; sew each up, and tie twine around it; then put them in a pot, and pour the pot two-thirds full of sharp vinegar; pour sweet oil on the top till covered. The ingredients must be mixed with sweet oil. The spices, &c. mentioned, are sufficient for a dozen mangoes.

Cucumbers.

Gather the cucumbers while they are small, lay them in a jar with salt enough to make a pickle; pour in a little water, and if there is not salt enough to cover them, in a few days put in more. At the end of two weeks put them in a kettle, with cabbage leaves around and through them; fill it up with weak vinegar, and let them scald three hours; put all in a jar for three days, then take out the cucumbers, pour out the vinegar and leaves; put them back in the jar, with some cloves, peppers, horse-radish and mustard; boil some strong vinegar and pour over them.

Small Cucumbers.

Wash small cucumbers from two to four inches long; put a gallon of very strong vinegar in a large jar, with mustard seed, scraped horse-radish, and celery seed, a small portion of each, and a tea-cupful of salt; put the cucumbers in the jar; tie them close. Martina's may be pickled in the same way, or in the old way of pickling cucumbers.

To Pickle Cherries or Peaches.

If peaches, wipe them well with a coarse towel; if cherries, cut the stems half off, but do not stone them; put them in jars, and to every half gallon of vinegar it takes to cover them, put a pound of sugar, and cloves and cinnamon to taste; boil and skim it well, and when nearly cool pour it over the fruit; for three successive days pour off the vinegar, and boil and pour it on again.

Peaches.

Pick out sound clingstone peaches; lay them in salt and water for a day, then wipe them on a coarse cloth: boil up some strong vinegar, with a little ginger, whole pepper and mustard seed; put the peaches in a jar and pour this over.

White Walnuts.

Take full grown white walnuts, or butter-nuts, before the shells get so hard that a pin will not run through easily; put them in a jar; boil a pickle of ground alum salt that will bear an egg, skim it, and when it gets cold; pour it on the walnuts; let them lay in this ten days; then make another pickle as strong as the first, and leave them in it ten days longer; then scrape each one carefully, until you get all the rough skin off, wipe them with a very coarse cloth, and let them soak in cold water two days; boil them in weak vinegar, and let them lay in this a week; boil enough good vinegar to cover them; mix together scraped horse-radish, mustard seed, cloves, red pepper, onions and garlic; put a layer of the walnuts in a jar, and sprinkle the spice over; pour the boiling vinegar over the top.

English Walnuts.

Gather them when nearly full grown, but not too hard; pour boiling salt and water on them; let them be covered with it nine days, changing it every third day; then take them out on dishes, and put them in the sun to blacken, turning them over; then put them in a jar and strew over them pepper, cloves, garlic, mustard seed and scraped horse-radish; cover them with cold strong vinegar and tie them up.

Black Walnuts.

Gather the walnuts while you can run a pin through them; boil them in an iron pot three hours, to soften the shell; put them in a tub of cold water, hull and wash them, and put them in your jars; pour salt and water over them, and change it every day for a week; at the end of that time scald them in weak vinegar; let them stand in this three days, then pour it off, and for half a bushel of hulled walnuts, have quarter of a pound of cloves, a tea-cup of mustard seed, two spoonsful of black pepper, a pint of scraped horse-radish, two pods of red pepper, some sliced onions and garlic; put these in the jars with the walnuts, and fill them up with strong cold vinegar.

Pickled walnuts will keep for six or seven years, and are as good at the last as the first.

Virginia Yellow Pickles.

To two gallons of vinegar, put one pound of ginger, quarter of a pound of black pepper, two ounces of red pepper, two of cloves, a tea-cup of celery seed, a pint of horse-radish, a pint of mustard seed, a few onions or garlic, and three ounces of turmeric to turn them yellow. The above ingredients should be mixed together in a jar, and set in the sun by the first of July, tied up close, with a block over each jar to keep out the rain. Put whatever you intend to pickle in salt and water for two or three days; then pour boiling salt and water on them; wash them and drop them in the jars of vinegar.

You can pickle any thing in this way but walnuts. The same pickle, by adding more vinegar to it, will do for two years; if the jars are set by a fire, a much less time will do to take the strength out of the spices; the turmeric should be tied up in a bag.

Tomatoes.

Scald and peel a peck of ripe tomatoes; lay them on dishes, and strew salt thickly over them; let them stand for twenty-four hours, occasionally pouring off the liquor that the salt extracts; then drain them on a sifter, and gently squeeze them, as it is this juice that weakens the vinegar and makes the pickles spoil; take a large jar, put in a layer of tomatoes, then a layer of sliced onions, mustard seed, cloves and white pepper, or whole black pepper; (you may if you like, break two pods of red pepper and put in each jar.) When the jar is full, pour very strong vinegar over, and in a few days they will be ready for use, and will keep all winter. They retain much of the tomato flavor, and should be kept in a cool place.

Another Way.

Take small round tomatoes when they are not too ripe; stick them with a needle in several places, to keep the skin from bursting, and let them lay a week in salt and water; then wash them and put them in a jar with some cloves, pepper and small onions; cover them with strong cold vinegar, and tie up the jar.

Pepper Mangoes.

Take fully grown green peppers, cut a slit in the side of each and take out the seeds; make a strong brine and lay them in it for three days; then soak them in clear water a day and night; pack them in a jar, and pour boiling vinegar over them with a piece of alum; let them stay in this three days, when boil the vinegar again, and pour over them; when they are green, stuff them with chopped cabbage, mustard seed, cloves, horse-radish, pepper, and a small onion in each; tie them up, put them in a jar; boil fresh vinegar and pour over.

Observe always to have the kettle you boil vinegar in well cleaned; never put pickles in common earthen-ware, as the glazing is poisonous.

Onions.

Peel small white onions and pour boiling milk and water over them; when cold, put them in a jar, and make a pickle of strong vinegar, a little mace, ginger, white mustard seed, and horse-radish; boil it and pour over them.

If you want them to be white, do not put in black pepper or cloves.

Mushrooms.

Take the small round mushrooms that are pale pink underneath, with white tops, and peel easily; put them in a jar with a little mace, white mustard seed and salt; cover them with cold vinegar, and tie them close. If you put in black pepper or cloves, it will turn them dark.

Nasturtions.

Have some strong vinegar in a jar with a little salt, and as you gather the nasturtions, put them in, and keep the jar tied close.

Cherries.

Take sound morel cherries with the stems on, and put them in a jar; boil spices in strong vinegar, and pour over them hot. Damsons may be done in the same way. A little sugar improves the pickle.

Cabbage.

Take firm heads of purple cabbage, quarter them, sprinkle them with salt, and let them lay three or four days, when shave them fine, drain off the salt and put them in a jar, boil enough vinegar to cover them, with horse radish, pepper and cloves, when nearly cold pour it on the cabbage, and put in a little cochineal tied up in a bag, it will he fit for use in a week.

Another Way.

Cut hard cabbage fine as for slaw, sprinkle salt through it, and let it lay under a moderate pressure for twelve hours, then drain well through a colander, slice a dozen raw onions, have a large jar in readiness, put in a layer of cabbage, strew in some of the onions, a few cloves, a tea-cupful of mustard seed, some whole black pepper, cut six half ripe red pepper pods, and sprinkle in; add a little more salt, boil vinegar and pour on sufficient to cover the mixture.

Cut Cucumbers.

Slice large cucumbers lengthwise—do not pare them—then cut them half an inch thick; if you have small ones, slice them across, put them in a large jar, and sprinkle them well with salt, after standing a day or two, pour off the liquid the salt has extracted, drain them, and wash the jar, and put the cucumbers in alternately, with sliced onions, mustard seed, white pepper, whole black pepper and a few cloves, pour over them strong vinegar, and tie close, keep them in a cool place, but do not allow them to freeze in severe weather, as freezing spoils the flavor of pickles. When pickles do not keep well, pour off the vinegar, and put more on, but if the vinegar is of the best quality, there is little fear of this. Putting alcohol on over paper, will prevent their moulding.

Cucumber Catsup.

Take full grown cucumbers, pare them, and cut out the lines of white pith, which are on three sides; cut them in slices about half an inch thick; to six cucumbers, put one onion, sliced fine; then sprinkle them with salt, placing the fruit in layers, with salt between;—next morning, press the liquor from them; put them in small jars, and fill up with strong vinegar, seasoned with pepper, mustard seed, and salt, if necessary. The small jars are recommended—as the cucumbers do not keep well after they have been exposed to the air.

Tomato Catsup.

Take a peck of ripe tomatoes, wash and cut out the stems, but do not peel them; put them over the fire in your bell-metal kettle, cover them, and let them boil till soft enough to mash, when pour them in a colander placed over a pan; drain them and throw away the liquid; then mash and strain the tomatoes, a few at a time, through a ball sifter: this is rather a tedious process; but, as the waste liquor has been previously drained off, the catsup will require but about twenty minutes boiling; throw in the spices before you take it up, fine pepper and salt, mustard, and a few whole cloves, and sliced onions, if you like their flavor; allow a tea-cup of strong vinegar to each bottle of catsup; part of which may be put in with the spices, and the rest in each bottle on top of the catsup, before you cork and seal them.

Walnut Catsup.

Gather the walnuts, as for pickling and put them in salt and water for ten days, then pound them in a mortar, and to every dozen walnuts put a quart of strong vinegar, and stir it every day for a week, then strain it through a bag, and to every quart of liquor put a tea-spoonful of pounded mace, the same of cloves, and a few pieces of garlic or onion, boil it twenty minutes, and when cold, bottle it. White or black walnuts are as good for catsup as the English walnut, and will keep good for several years.

Green Tomato Catsup.

After the tomatoes have ceased to ripen, slice and put them in a jar, with salt scattered through them, let them stand two days, then drain them in a colander, put them in the jars they are to remain in, strewing sliced onions, cloves, whole pepper, mustard seed, and one or two red pepper pods through them, boil vinegar enough to cover them and pour over, tie them close and put a plate on each jar.

Mushroom Catsup.

Take the largest mushrooms, those that are beginning to turn dark, cut off the roots, put them in a stone jar, with some salt, mash them and cover the jar, let them stand two days, stirring them several times a day, then strain and boil the liquor, to every quart of which, put a tea-spoonful of whole pepper and the same of cloves, and mustard seed, and a little ginger, when cold, bottle it, leaving room in each bottle for a tea-cupful of strong vinegar, and a table-spoonful of brandy; cork them up and seal them over. Tomato Sauce.

Scald and peel a peck of ripe tomatoes; cut them in slices and lay them on a large dish; cover well with salt each layer; the next morning put the tomatoes in a colander or on a sifter, and drain off all the liquid; then mash them with a wooden masher, and to each quart, put a pint of strong vinegar, two table-spoonsful of white mustard seed, a dozen cloves, a dozen grains of black pepper, an onion sliced and chopped, a table-spoonful of salt; if mashed fine you can pour it out of wide-mouthed bottles; put a table-spoonful of spirits in each bottle at the top; cork tight, and seal. If you prefer putting the sauce in small stone jars, put spirits on paper at the top of each. Spiced Peaches.

Take nine pounds of good ripe peaches, rub them with a course towel, and halve them; put four pounds of sugar and a pint of good vinegar in your preserving kettle, with cloves, cinnamon and mace; when the syrup is formed, throw in the peaches, a few at a time, so as to keep them as whole as may be; when clear, take them out and put in more; boil the syrup till quite rich, and then pour it over the peaches. Cherries may be done in the same way. Mushroom Sauce.

Gather large mushrooms, that have not turned dark, peel them and cut off the stems; put them in a pan and strew salt over each layer; when all are in, mash them well; then put them in a jar, put a plate on the top, and set it in a pot of cold water; let it heat gradually, and boil for fifteen or twenty minutes; to each quart of the pulp put three tea-cupsful of strong vinegar, two tea-spoonsful of powdered mace, or one of cloves, two of white mustard seed, one of black pepper; put it in jars or wide-mouthed bottles, with a spoonful of alcohol at the top of each, and secure it from the air. This is by some preferred to the catsup.



TO CURE BACON, BEEF, PORK, SAUSAGE, &c.

To Cure Bacon.

To one thousand weight of pork, put one bushel of fine salt, one pound and a half of saltpetre rolled fine and mixed with the salt; rub this on the meat and pack it away in a tight hogshead; let it lay for six weeks, then hang it up and smoke it with hickory wood, every day for two weeks, and afterwards two or three times a week for a month; then take it down and rub it all over with hickory ashes, which is an effectual remedy against the fly or skipper. When the weather is unusually warm at the time of salting your pork, more care is requisite to preserve it from taint. When it is cut up, if it seems warm, lay it on boards, or on the bare ground, till it is sufficiently cool for salting; examine the meat tubs or casks frequently, and if there is an appearance of mould, strew salt over; if the weather has been very warm after packing, and on examining, you should find evidence of its spoiling, lose no time in unpacking the meat; for a hogshead of hams and shoulders that are in this state, have six pounds of brown sugar, three pounds of salaeratus, mixed with half a bushel of salt; rub each piece with this, and as you pack it in the hogshead, (which should be well washed and cleaned,) sprinkle a little coarse salt over each layer of pork, and also on the bottom of the hogshead. I have known this plan to save a large quantity of pork, that would have been unfit for use, if it had not been discovered and attended to in time. Some persons use crushed charcoal to purify their meat. Shoulders are more easily affected than hams, and if the weather is warm the ribs should be cut out of the shoulders. Jowls also require particular care; black pepper, about a pound to a hogshead, sprinkled on the meat before it is hung up to smoke, is valuable as a preventive where flies are troublesome; have a large pepper-box kept for the purpose, and dust every part that is exposed; pepper is also good to put on beef before it is hung up to dry; wash it off before cooking, and it does not injure the flavor.

To Pickle Pork.

Take out all the ribs, and cut it in pieces of about three pounds each; pack it in a tight barrel, and salt it well with coarse salt; boil a very strong pickle made of coarse salt, and when it is cold pour it over the meat, and put a weight on the top; if you wish pork to keep, do not put saltpetre in, as it injures the flavor.

To Cure Hams and Shoulders.

To cure five hundred weight of hams and shoulders, take fifteen quarts of common salt, one pound and a half of saltpetre rolled fine, half a pound of red pepper pods chopped fine, and four quarts of molasses; mix them all together and rub the meat well, pack it down, cover it close, and let it remain six weeks, then hang it up and smoke it with green hickory wood for three weeks. If there is a damp spell of weather, it is best to make a fire in your meat-house occasionally through the summer, to keep the meat from moulding.

To Make a Pickle for Chines.

Rub the chines with fine salt, and pack them in a tight barrel, make a pickle of coarse salt, strong enough to bear an egg, boil and skim it, and when nearly cold pour it on, let there be enough to cover them, and put a weight on the top. Chines are good smoked. It is best to make a separate pickle for the heads; wash and scrape them, cut off the ears and noses, and take out the eyes. The jowls may be packed and smoked with the bacon. Sausage Meat, &c. Separate the tender parts of the meat from the rough and bony pieces, and chop each sort separately, to twenty-two pounds of meat have half a pound of salt, three heaped table-spoonsful of sage, three of pepper, and two of thyme. If you have a box large enough to hold this quantity, sprinkle it over the meat before it is chopped, and it will be thoroughly mixed by the time it is done. It is best to have a small piece fried to taste, and if it is not seasoned right, it can be altered; you should have some pieces of fat, chopped in with the meat. The sage and thyme should be carefully dried, but not heated too much, neither should it be hung up too near the fire, as it would spoil the flavor, rub it through a wire sifter, and if that should not make it fine enough, pound it in a mortar or grind it in your pepper mill. The pepper should be ground and ready some days before it is needed, as the pork season in the country is (while it lasts) one of the busiest in the year, every thing should be prepared beforehand that you possibly can. It is a good plan to have plenty of bread and pies baked, and a quantity of apples stewed, vegetables washed and ready to cook, so that every member of the family, that is able, may devote herself to the work of putting away the meat which is of so much importance for the coming year, while some are cutting up the fat to render into lard, others may be employed in assorting the sausage meat, and cutting it into small pieces for the chopping machine, by trimming off every part that can be spared. You can have one hundred pounds of sausage from twelve hundred weight of pork, and since the introduction of sausage choppers, a great deal more sausage is made, than formerly, by the old method. Clean a few of the maws, and soak them in salt and water, and fill them with sausage meat, sew them close, let them lay in pickle for two weeks then hang them up, and when your meat is smoked, let them have a few days smoke. In this way sausage will keep all summer, and is very nice when boiled slowly for several hours, and eaten cold. The best fat to chop in with sausage is taken from the chines or back bones. To keep sausage for present use, put it in small stone pans, and pour melted lard over the top; for later in the season, make muslin bags that will hold about three pounds, with a loop sewed on to hang them up by; fill them with meat, tie them tight, and hang them in a cool airy place; they will keep in this way till August, when you want to fry them, rip part of the seam, cut out as many slices as you want, tie up the bag and hang it up again. If you have a large quantity, a sausage chopper is a great convenience. Liver Sausage Take four livers, with the lights and hearts, have two heads cleaned, and boil them with any scraps, or skinny pieces you have, skim the pot, take out the livers when they are done, and let the heads boil longer, when they are done, pick out the bones, and chop all together, season with sage, thyme, sweet marjoram, salt and pepper, put it in pans, and fry it as sausage. Bologna Sausage Chop ten pounds of beef, with two pounds and a half of the fat of fresh pork, pound one ounce of mace, and one of cloves, and mix in, let it stand a day, then stuff it in large skins, let them lay in brine ten days, then hang them up to smoke a few days, they can be put in the same brine with beef or tongues. Hogs' Head Cheese Take off the ears and noses of four heads, and pick out the eyes, and lay them in salt and water all night, then wash and put them on to boil, take out the bones carefully, chop and season them well, and pack it in bowls, they will turn out whole, and may be eaten cold with vinegar, or fried as sausage.

Pigs' Feet.

Pigs' feet should be well cleaned by dipping them in scalding water, and scraping off the hairs, leave them in weak salt and water two days, changing it each day; if you wish to boil them for souse, they are now ready, but if the weather is cold they will keep in this a month. They should be kept in a cold place, and if they are frozen there is no danger of their spoiling, but if there comes on a thaw, change the salt and water, soak them in fresh water all night before you boil them. In this way they are good to eat with pepper and vinegar while hot, or may be dipped in batter and fried after they are cold.

To make Souse.

Boil the feet till the bones come out easily, and pick out all the large bones, pack them in a stone pan with pepper and salt, and cover it with vinegar, they may be eaten cold, or dipped in flour and fried. Another way is to pick out all the bones, season them with salt, pepper and sage, and warm them up as you want to use them.

Pigs' feet, after being boiled, are very nice stewed as terrapins, make the gravy with butter and water, they are nourishing food for delicate persons.

Vessels for salting meat should be cleaned well after the meat is hung up, and set on boards in the cellar, if they do not smell sweet, they should be washed and soaked before meat is packed in them again. You should see that the hoops are sound, and have covers made to fit them. If taken care of in this way, they will last a number of years.

Scrapple.

Take eight pounds of scraps of pork, that will not do for sausage, boil it in four gallons of water, when tender, chop it fine, strain the liquor and pour it back into the pot, put in the meat, season it with sage, summer savory, salt and pepper to taste; stir in a quart of corn meal; after simmering a few minutes, thicken it with buckwheat flour very thick, it requires very little cooking after it is thickened, but must be stirred constantly.

Dried Beef.

An experienced housekeeper has furnished the following method for curing and drying beef, which will keep good for two years, without being injured by must or fly, and is much admired. Have the rounds divided, leaving a piece of the sinew to hang up by, lay the pieces in a tub of cold water for an hour, then rub each piece of beef that will weigh fifteen or twenty pounds, with a handful of brown sugar and a table-spoonful of saltpetre, pulverized, and a pint of fine salt, sprinkle fine salt in the bottom of a clean tight barrel, and lay the pieces in, strewing a little coarse salt between each piece; let it lay two days, then make the brine in a clean tub, with cold water and ground alum salt—stir it well, it must be strong enough to bear an egg half up, put in half a pound of best brown sugar and a table-spoonful of saltpetre to each gallon of the salt and water, pour it over the beef; put a clean large stone on the top of the meat to keep it under the pickle, (which is very important,) put a cover on the barrel; examine it occasionally to see that the pickle does not leak,—and if it should need more, add of the same strength; let it stand six weeks, then hang it up in the smoke house, and after it has drained, smoke it moderately for ten days, it should then hang in a dry place, before cooking, let it soak for twenty four hours; a piece that weighs fifteen or twenty pounds should boil two hours—one half the size, one hour, and a small piece should soak six or twelve hours, according to size. Beef cured in this way will make a nice relish, when thinly sliced and eaten cold, for breakfast or tea, or put between slices of bread and butter for lunch, it will keep for several weeks,—and persons of delicate stomachs can sometimes relish a thin slice, eaten cold, when they cannot retain hot or rich food.

This receipt will answer for all parts of the beef, to be boiled for the dinner table through the summer.

To Cure Beef.

Make a pickle of six quarts of salt, six gallons of water, half a pound of saltpetre, and three of sugar, or half a gallon of molasses, pack the beef in a barrel, with fine and coarse salt mixed, when the pickle is cold, pour it over, and put a weight on the top, let it stay two weeks, when you can hang it up and smoke it, to boil through the summer, or boil the pickle over again, and leave it in till you want to use it; this is for two hundred pounds.

A New Method of Curing Beef.

Take six gallons of water, nine pounds of salt, (fine and coarse mixed,) three pounds of sugar, one quart of molasses, three ounces of saltpetre, and one ounce of pearl ash or salaeratus, boil and skim it well, and let it stand till entirely cold, when pour it on beef that has been sprinkled with salt for several days. You can boil of this beef from the brine all winter, or hang it up, and smoke it with your bacon.

To Cure a Dozen Tongues.

Soak the tongues an hour in a tub of cold water to extract the blood, and cut off most of the root, mix together a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, finely powdered, one pound of brown sugar, and a pint of salt, rub the tongues with this, and put them in a tight barrel; then make a pickle that will bear an egg, which pour over them, turn them every three days, and let them stay in the pickle two weeks, then smoke them two days, and hang them up in a dry place; boil and skim the pickle that the tongues have been in, and it will do for a round of beef.

Pickle for Two Rounds of Beef.

Cut the rounds in a suitable shape for drying, mix together two pints of salt, one of molasses, or a pound of sugar, and half a pound of saltpetre, rub them with this, and pack them in a tight vessel, make a pickle that will bear an egg, and pour it over, put a weight on the top, and let it lay for ten days, when take it out, and smoke it two days, hang it up in a dry place, it will be fit to slice and broil in a week, or cut it very thin, and stew or fry it with butter and cream. Legs of mutton may be salted as rounds of beef, and will resemble venison, when dried and chipped.

In preparing pickle for any kind of meat, observe that one gallon of water will hold, in solution, a quart of salt and two ounces of saltpetre.

To Corn Beef, Pork or Mutton.

Rub the meat well with salt, and pack it in a tub. If the weather is warm, it will require a good deal of salt, but no saltpetre.

To Restore Meat that has been kept too long.

When meat has been kept too long in summer, it may be improved by putting it in sour milk for several hours, or washing it in vinegar is good, some hours before it is cooked, you must wash it well in cold water several times, if it lays all night in sour milk, or salt and vinegar, it should be put in soak early in the morning in cold water. In very hot weather, when you have fresh meat, fowls, or fish left at dinner, sprinkle them with strong vinegar, salt and pepper, warm this up the next day, either as a fry or stew, the vinegar will evaporate, and not injure the taste. Cold rock fish is good, seasoned with salt, pepper and vinegar, to use as a relish for breakfast or tea.

To Keep Meat Fresh.

Where persons live a distance from market, and have no fresh meat but what they kill, it is important to know how to keep it fresh. In winter, if it is hung up in an out-house, it will keep very well for six weeks, or more, when it has once frozen, it is safe till a thaw comes on, when rub it with salt. In the summer, if you have an ice-house, you can keep it without trouble. If rubbed with salt, and pinned in a cloth, it will keep in the cellar two days, or by lowering it down your well, attached to a rope, and changing the cloth every other day, it will keep good a week in hot weather.

To Put up Herring and Shad.

Those that put up their own fish should be careful to have the barrels tight and well cleaned, if the pickle leaks from them, they are liable to spoil. Scale the fish and wash them, as it will save much time, when you prepare them for cooking, take out the gills, but leave on the heads of herrings.

The heads should be taken off the shad, and split them down the back, put a layer of fish, then a layer of ground alum salt,—and after they are packed, put on a weight to keep them down. If herring are well cured, they will be good at the end of two years.

To Put up Herring, According to the Harford Mode.

First put the herring into the brine left from curing bacon, or, if you have none of that description, make a brine that will bear an egg, and let them remain in it thirty or forty hours; then, if for pickled herring, change them into new brine, which must also bear an egg, and head them up to keep. If for red herring, hang them up, and smoke them thoroughly. A little saltpetre, added to the brine, is an improvement. It is better to take out the roe.



BUTTER, CHEESE, COFFEE, TEA, &c.

Butter.

It is of the first importance that every thing connected with milk and butter should be kept clean; if the milk acquires an unpleasant taste, it communicates it to the butter. Tin pans are best to keep milk in, and they should be painted on the outside to keep them from rusting when they are put in water.

In summer, milk should be kept as cool as possible; before it is strained, the pans and strainer should be rinsed with cold water, and the milk not covered until it is cold, as soon as the cream rises sufficiently, it should be skimmed, and put in a large tin bucket with a lid that fits down tight, and stirred every day. Butter will be spoiled by neglecting to stir the cream, a yellow scum will form on it, which gives it an unpleasant taste. And if you leave a pan of milk till the cream is covered with spots of mould, you had better throw it away than put it in, as it will spoil the taste of a whole churning.

If you have no way of keeping your cream cool in hot weather, it ought to be churned twice a week, the earlier in the morning the better. Always put cold water in your churn the night before you use it, and change it in the morning just before you put in the cream. When the butter is gathering, take off the lid of the churn to let the heated air escape, and move it gently, have your butter ladle and pan scalded and cooled, take out the butter and work it till all the milk is out, scrape some lumps of salt, and work in, cover it up, and set away in a cool place till the next morning, when work it again.

If you have neither an ice, or spring house, a box by the side of the pump, with a cover over it, is very convenient to put cream and butter down the well, put them in tin kettles with covers to fit tight, and fasten them to strong tarred ropes twenty feet long. The air of a well will keep butter sweet for several weeks in the hottest weather. It is best to have one kettle or basket to put the butter in that is used at the table, it should be deep enough to hold five or six plates, each covered with a saucer. It can be kept in this way as firm and sweet as in an ice house. You can have a separate kettle to put a large lump of butter in for seasoning vegetables. If you print butter for home use, it is not necessary to weigh it, make it out in little lumps that will weigh about half a pound, scald the print and ladle, and put them in cold water, as you print each lump, lay it on a dish.

In winter it is more difficult to have good butter, as much depends on the food of the cows, the milk should be kept in a cellar, where it will not freeze, if you have a safe to keep it in, it need not be covered. Cream takes much longer to rise in winter, after it has stood two days, to put it on the top of a moderately heated stove will assist it, when it is hot, set it away to skim the next day, when the cream will be thick and rich, and churns easier.

If the weather is very cold, and the cream has been chilled, have a large pot of water over the fire, set in the bucket when it is near boiling heat, and keep stirring till it is milk warm, have the churn scalded and put it in, by churning steadily, it will come as quick as in summer, one good working answers very well for butter in winter, always scald the churn before you put in the cream in cold weather.

To put up Butter for Winter.

Work it well, and salt it rather more than for table use, and pack it in stone pans or jars, with a thin cloth on the top, and salt on it an inch thick, keep it in a cool place, and if it is sweet when made, it will keep good till spring. It should be tied up with paper to exclude the air.

To Cure Butter that will keep for a Length of Time.

Reduce separately to a fine powder two pounds of the best fine salt, one pound of loaf sugar and half a pound of saltpetre. Sift these ingredients one above another, on a large sized sheet of paper, then mix them well together, keep this mixture covered up close in a nice jar, and placed in a dry closet.

When your butter is worked and salted in the usual way, and ready to put in the jars, use one ounce of this composition to every pound of butter, work it well into the mass.

Butter cured in this way, (it is said) will keep good for several years. I have never kept it longer than from the fall until late in the spring, it was then very sweet and good.

It will not do to use for a month, because earlier, the salts will not be sufficiently blended with it. It should be kept in wooden vessels, or nice stone jars. Earthen-ware jars are not suitable for butter, as during the decomposition of the salts, they corrode the glazing; and the butter becomes rancid and unhealthy.

A friend of mine, and a lady of much experience, remarked on reading the above—"This is an admirable receipt, and by attention to its directions, butter may be packed away with success even in the summer months. Thus in cities during warm weather butter is often cheap, a house-keeper may then purchase her winter supply.

"Select that which is sweetest and most firm, begin by putting a layer of the prints in the bottom of a stone pot, press the butter down close, so that no cavities for the admission of air may remain, then strew more of the mixture over it, proceed in this manner until the vessel is filled, when put on the top a small muslin bag filled with salt, and tie the jar up close. It is very important to keep the butter in a cool place."

A great deal depends on the butter being well worked. Persons that have large dairies should always have a machine to work it. A large churning may be more effectually cleared of the butter-milk in a few minutes, than in the old way in an hour. By doing it quickly, it does not get soft and oily in hot weather.

A Pickle for Butter.

To three gallons of water, add four and a half pounds of good brown sugar, one and a half ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of salaeratus; put them into an iron pot, and let them come to a boil; take off the scum; when cold it is ready for use; the butter should be salted in the usual way, and well worked; then made into rolls of two or three pounds each; have little bags of coarse muslin, tie each roll in a bag and put them in a large stone jar or clean firkin; when the pickle is entirely cold, pour it over, and put a plate on the top, with a weight on it to keep the butter under; tie it up close and keep it in a cold place; when a roll is wanted, take it out of the bag, and slice it off for table use. It should be put on little plates, and each covered with a saucer, to exclude the air. If the butter is good when put up in the fall, it will keep till you can get grass butter, in the spring. The jars for this purpose should not have been previously used for pickles.

Cheese.

Persons living in the country sometimes have more milk than they can use, of which cheese may be made. Put four gallons of new milk in a clean tub that is kept for the purpose; skim your night's milk, and put two gallons of it over the fire; when it is near boiling, put it in the tub with the new milk, and the rest of the night's milk; it should be rather more than milk warm, if it is too warm the cheese will have a strong taste. The day before you make cheese, put a piece of rennet three inches square in a tea-cup of water, and stir it in the milk; cover the tub and let it stand in a warm place; when the curd begins to form, cut it in squares with a long wooden knife, and spread a thin towel over it. When the whey comes through the cloth, you can dip it off with a saucer, then put a thin towel in the cheese vat, put in the curd, spread the cloth over the top, put on the lid, and press it moderately about half an hour; then put it back in the tub and salt it to your taste; mix it well, and if you want it very rich put in a quarter of a pound of butter; it is always better to skim the night's milk and put in butter, as the cream is apt to press out.

Have a clean cloth in the vat, put in the curd, close it over and put on the cover; if you have no cheese press, a heavy stone will answer the purpose; press it very gently at first, to keep the richness from running out. The next morning draw it out by the cloth, wash and wipe the vat, put in a clean cloth, and turn in the cheese upside down; do this morning and evening for two days; when you take out the cheese, and put it on a clean board; set it where the mice and flies will not get at it; rub it every morning with a little butter, and turn it three times a day; dust it over with cayenne pepper if you cannot keep it from the flies, and if it should crack, plaster on a piece of white paper with butter; it is fit for use in two weeks.

Cheese made in this way has a rich, mild taste, and most persons are fond of it. If you get eight gallons of milk a day, you may make cheese twice a week, and still have butter for the family. You should keep four thin cloths on purpose for cheese.

Pennsylvania Cream Cheese.

The cheese called by this name is not in reality made of cream. Take three gallons of milk, warm from the cow, and strain it into a tub, have a piece of rennet two inches square, soaked in half a pint of water for several hours, drain off the water, and stir it in; when it is sufficiently turned, cut the curd, spread a thin linen cloth over the top, and as the whey rises, dip it off with a saucer, put the curd as whole as possible into a cheese-hoop about the size of a dinner plate, first spreading a wet cloth inside, then fold the cloth smoothly over the top, put a weight on the top heavy enough to make the whey drain out gradually. In six or seven hours it will be ready to take out of the press, when rub it over with fine salt, set it in a dry dark place, change it from one plate to another twice a day, and it will be fit for use in less than a week.

To Prepare Rennet for making Whey or Cheese.

When the rennet is taken from the calf, wash it, lay it on a plate well covered with salt, put more on in two days, keep it in a cold place, in three or four days it will do to stretch on sticks, hang it up in a dry cool place, with as much salt as will stick to it, when quite dry, put it in a paper bag and hang it up, a piece two inches square soaked in two table-spoonsful of water will make a cold custard, the same piece salted and dried will do several times.

Cottage Cheese or Smearcase.

The best plan of making this dish, is to set the tin pan of clabber on a hot stove, or in a pot of water that is boiling over the fire. When the whey has risen sufficiently, pour it through a colander, and put the curd or cheese away in a cold place, and just before going to table, season it with salt and pepper to your taste, and pour some sweet cream over it.

Roasting Coffee.

Pick out the stones and black grains from the coffee, and if it is green, let it dry in an oven, or on a stove, then roast it till it is a light-brown, be careful that it does not burn, as a few burnt grains will spoil the flavor of the whole.

White coffee need not be dried before roasting, and will do in less time. Two pounds is a good quantity to roast for a small family. The whites of one or two eggs, well beaten, and stirred in the coffee when half cold, and well mixed through it, are sufficient to clear two pounds, and is the most economical way of using eggs. It will answer either for summer or winter. Some persons save egg shells for clearing coffee. Many persons use coffee roasters,—but some old experienced housekeepers think that the fine flavor flies off more than when done in a dutch-oven, and constantly stirred.

If you are careful, it can be done very well in the dripping-pan of a stove. Let the coffee get quite cold, and put it away either in a canister or tight box, and keep it in a dry place. Coffee may be roasted in a dripping-pan in a brick oven. After the bread is taken out, there will be heat sufficient, put about two pounds in a pan, stir it a few times—it will roast gradually, and if not sufficiently brown, finish in a stove or before the fire. If you have a large family, by using several pans, six pounds of coffee can thus be roasted, and but little time spent on it.

Boiling Coffee.

A large tea-cupful of unground coffee will be sufficient for six persons, unless they take it very strong, (which is injurious to health,) grind it, and put it in the tin pot, with half a tea-cup of cold water, and the white of half an egg; shake it till it is mixed, then pour boiling water on it, and let it stand close to the fire, and just come to a boil, stir it, and do not let it boil over, let it keep at boiling heat five or ten minutes; then take it from the fire, and put in half a tea-cup of water to settle it, let it stand five minutes, and pour it off,—if you wish it particularly nice, strain it through a thin linen cloth, kept for the purpose, keep it by the fire till it goes to table. If you boil coffee too long, the aromatic flavor flies off.

Tea, &c.

Always be sure that the kettle is boiling when you make tea, or the flavor will not be so good, scald the pot, and allow a tea-spoonful for each person. Let green tea draw by the fire from two to five minutes. Black tea should draw ten minutes, and is much more suitable for delicate persons than green. Persons with weak nerves should never drink strong tea and coffee. I have known instances of persons being afflicted with violent attacks of nervous head-ache, that were cured by giving up the use of tea and coffee altogether, and their general health was also improved by it. Before pouring out tea, it should be stirred with a spoon that the strength of each cup may be alike.

Milk is the best drink for children, but if that cannot be had, sweetened water, with a little milk, will do.

A New Mode of Preparing Chocolate.

Have a pound of chocolate pulverized, and put in a jar, with the same quantity of rice flour, and an ounce of arrow-root, put on coals a quart of milk, when it boils, stir in a heaped table-spoonful of the above preparation, (dissolved in a tea-cup of water,) keep stirring it until it boils again, when pour it out, drink it with sugar and cream to your taste.

This is called by some "Rac-a-haut" chocolate, and is very nice for delicate persons, as well as those in health.



LARD, TALLOW, SOAP AND CANDLES.

Rendering Lard.

The leaf lard should be rendered by itself, as it does not take so long as that with the skin on. Cut it up fine and put it in a clean pot with half a pint of water, stir it frequently and let it boil fast at first, when the cracklings are light-brown and float on the top, it is nearly done, and should cook slowly, when done, strain it into your vessels with a thin cloth put over a colander. If you put lard in stone or earthen jars, it should be cooled first, as there is danger of their cracking, white oak firkins with iron hoops, and covers to fit tight, are good to keep lard, and if taken care of will last for twenty years.

The fat that has the skin on should be cut very fine, taking the skin off first. It takes longer to boil than leaf lard, and there is more danger of burning, put a pint of water in the pot.

The skins should be boiled alone, and will do for soap-fat after the lard is out of them.

Soak the inside fat all night in salt and water; wash it in the morning, and put it to boil without any water in the pot. It is not so nice as other lard, and should be strained by itself. It does very well for frying. Lard keeps well in large tin vessels with tight covers and is not apt to mould.

Rendering Tallow.

Cut the tallow fine, and put it to boil in a large pot with a quart of water; stir it frequently and keep it boiling moderately for six hours; when the cracklings begin to turn brown, it should boil very slowly till done.

Put a little water in the bottom of your dutch-ovens or tin pans, and strain it in with a cloth over the colander, or the settlings will run through and hurt the looks of your candles.

Soap.

It requires some care and experience to have good soap; but when you once get beforehand, it is easy to keep up the supply if the ashes are good. The leystand should be made of cedar or pine boards, in the shape of a mill-hopper, and have holes bored in the bottom for the ley to run through; have four posts planted in the ground to support it; let it be high enough for a small tub to set under.

If you cannot have it under a shed, there should be a tight cover of boards to protect it from the rain. Put some sticks in the bottom of the leystand, and some straw, and pack in a bushel of ashes, then half a peck of lime, and when it is half full of ashes, put in two buckets of water, and another when you get near the top; pack it well, and put on some more water; then cover it over; pour on hot water three times a day for several days. When you are ready to make soap, have a large pot of water, which must be kept boiling, and put it on as fast as it will bear, save the strongest ley by itself, (if the ley will float an egg, it will answer,) have your soap-fat laying in strong ley through the winter, put a gallon of this in a large pot, and put to it a gallon of the strongest ley; let it boil an hour, stirring it often, then put in two gallons more of strong ley, when this has boiled, put in weak ley till the pot is full, let it boil an hour or two slowly, and be careful that it does not go over, cool some on a plate, and if thick, it is done, but if not, boil it longer. Put it away in a tight barrel, and prepare to make more soap, if you have two large pots both of them can be kept going at the same time. Several barrels of soap can be made from one ley stand. A large oil cask is good to keep soap in. If a barrel leaks, set it under a spout in a rain, or fill it with water. It is of the greatest importance to keep the soap-fat in strong ley. Have an oil barrel in the cellar, half full of strong ley, and put in cracklings, bacon skins, pot skimmings, beef bones, or any scraps, when eaten by ley it will take but little boiling. It is much the easiest and safest way, where there are children, to make the soap without boiling. Put four gallons of soap-fat that has been eaten with ley, in a barrel with eight gallons of strong ley, stir it two or three times a day, for a week or two, then fill it up with weaker ley, you may have several barrels making at a time, so as always to have some for use, it takes some time to make it in this way. But if you are careful, and once get ahead, you need not boil the soap unless you prefer it so, if your ley is not strong, dissolve potash in hot water and add to strengthen it.

Hard Soap.

Have fifteen pounds of clean fat to twenty gallons of clear strong ley; let it boil until thick, when put in half a peck of coarse salt; if it does not curdle in two hours, put in more salt till it does, then pour it out in a tub to cool till the next day, when put on your pot with some weak ley, cut the soap out of the tub and boil it in this an hour, then put it in the tub, let it get cold, cut it in squares and put it on a board to dry. Unless you have plenty of ashes and soap-fat, it is much cheaper to buy hard soap than to make it. If you have but a barrel full of ashes you can make a barrel of soap, bore a hole in the bottom of a barrel, put a few sticks across, when half full of ashes put in a quart of lime and some water; keep the hole plugged up till you are ready to make the soap.

You can have a barrel of ashes put in the cellar in winter to use for washing and scrubbing, keep a tub under it to hold the ley as it drops.

Potash Soap.

Persons living in cities frequently have grease that would do to make soap, but are at a loss for ley, in consequence of burning coal instead of wood. Twelve pounds of pure grease of any kind, put with ten pounds of potash in an oil barrel, and filled with water, makes good thick soap, and is much cheaper than buying hard soap. It should be stirred frequently, and if the ingredients are put together in warm weather, and the barrel stands where it can be exposed to the heat of the sun, without danger of getting rain in it, it will be fit for use in a few weeks without the aid of fire, if you wish to make soap immediately put three pounds of potash, four of grease, and about ten gallons of water in a large iron pot, boil it over the fire, and it will make good thick soap in a few hours, it need only boil long enough to dissolve the potash, which is sometimes in very hard lumps. If you use the crumbled potash, you must put rather more of it, as it is not so strong, and a little lump of quick lime will make it turn quicker.

Another Receipt.

Two days before you wish to commence your soap, pour about two gallons of boiling water on ten or twelve pounds of potash, to dissolve it, then put it in an iron pot or kettle, with ten gallons of rain water, hang it over the fire, and when it has dissolved, pour twelve pounds of grease, which has been purified by boiling in water, (or weak ley,) into a well hooped barrel, (an oil barrel from which one head has been taken, and the bung well fastened, is best,) then pour the water in which the potash was dissolved over the grease in the barrel, and stir it for half an hour; afterwards fill up the barrel with cold soft water, and stir it every day for two weeks. If at the end of that time, the fat swims on the top, beat a pound or two more of potash fine, throw it in the barrel, stir it well, and the soap will be finished.

Labor-saving Soap.

Take two pounds salt soda, two pounds yellow bar soap, ten quarts of water. Cut the soap in thin slices, and boil all together two hours, and strain it through a cloth, let it cool and it is fit for use. Put the clothes in soak the night before you wash, and to every pail of water in which you boil them, add one pound of the soap. They will need no rubbing, merely rinse them out, and they will be perfectly clean and white. This soap can be made for two cents per pound.

Ley and Soda Preparation for Washing Clothes.

To sixteen gallons of water, put one gallon of lime water; twelve ounces of soft soap, or if hard soap it must be first melted, and four ounces of soda, put them together in your wash kettle, and when nearly boiling, put in the clothes, being careful to have them as much of a kind as possible, they should be wet first with common water, boil one hour, then wash, scald and blue as usual. The limestone should remain in the water at least four days before it is used, and be about of the strength of lime-water for drinking, and the same stone will do for several times if good. The ley will do for boiling a second set of clothes by adding a little more, and afterwards for towels and coarse things. Prints and flannels must not be boiled.

Volatile Soap, And Directions for Washing Clothes.

Cut up three pounds of country bard soap into three pints of strong ley; simmer it over the fire until the soap is dissolved, and add to it three ounces of pearl-ash, pour it into a stone jar, and stir in half a pint of spirits of turpentine, and a gill of spirits of hartshorn, cover the jar tight, and tie a cloth over it.

To use the soap, have a tub half full of water as hot as you can bear your hands in, assort the clothes, and, beginning with the cleanest of them, rub a small quantity of the soap on the soiled parts of each article, and immerse them in the water one by one, until it will cover no more, let them soak for fifteen or twenty minutes, then stir them well for a few minutes, and boil them for half an hour in eight or ten gallons of water, to which a table-spoonful of the soap has been added, rinse them, using blue water where it is required as usual, and they are ready for drying. After the white clothes are finished, the same waters will answer for the colored ones, adding hot water and more soap. By the use of this soap, most of the rubbing can be dispensed with, and it is not injurious to the texture of the clothes. It has been proved that the clothes washed in this way are more durable than with the common soaps, and the rubbing required in connection with them.

It is particularly recommended for washing flannels, and calicoes. The above quantity is sufficient for a family of four or five persons for a month, varying slightly as the clothes are more or less soiled. Its cheapness recommends it to all housekeepers.

Candles.

Weigh the tallow, then you can judge how many candles you can make, six and eight candles to the pound do very well for working and reading by, ten to the pound does to use in the kitchen or to carry about the house. Put the wicks on the rods the day before you expect to make candles, and dip them in a little melted tallow, you can then straighten them out. Have a large pot nearly half full of hot water, melt the tallow in another pot and fill it up, and keep more tallow at the fire to fill in as it is used out, put coals under the pot to keep it at a proper heat. Have poles set on stools about a foot apart, to support the rods, dip the rods in the pot, alternately, until they are as large as you wish them. Wax makes candles burn longer, but turns them yellow. The best way is, to put in two pounds of wax, when you first begin to dip, and it will be used up before they are dipped the last time, when they are done, cut off the ends and put them in boxes. Most good managers in the country make enough candles at a time to last a year. If you have not enough tallow to dip candles, you can mould some mutton tallow is very good for this purpose.



MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS.

Clear Starching.

Wash your muslins nicely; rub hard soap on them, and pour boiling water on, let them lay in this half an hour, or if they are very yellow, boil them in water that has a little blue, in a bell metal kettle, let them dry in the sun, boil your starch half an hour, as it will be clearer, and the things will take less clapping, rub the starch over the muslin until it is well covered, then clap it a few times, afterwards stretch out the muslin and hold it to the fire until it smokes, then stretch, clap, and shake it until the piece is dry enough to iron. When you begin to starch, have a pile of plates near, and as fast as the things are ready to iron, fold them up, and put them between the plates to keep moist. It is a good plan to have a board about three feet long and a foot wide, with a piece of blanket tacked on round the edges, to iron your collars and handkerchiefs on.

There is an art in doing up muslins, which will take but little time when once it is acquired. The same directions answer for clear starching crape, (which must first be bleached as flannels are done,) and add some drop lake to the blue coloring. In cold weather, to rub your hands over with a little clean tallow prevents them from chapping, and will not alter the appearance of the muslin.

To make Corn Starch.

Gather the corn when it is a proper age for table use; have a large tin grater, and grate the corn into a clean vessel, into which drop the cobs as you grate them until the vessel is about half full, rub the cobs and squeeze them dry as possible, and put them into another vessel of clean water, rub and squeeze them again the third rinsing will take all the starch out, let it settle, and then pour all the starch together and strain it through a coarse cloth, and then through a flannel, and let it settle until the next morning, when you will find a thick yellow substance under the water, covering the pure white article in the bottom of the vessel, remove the yellow substance and pour clean water on the starch and stir it up, as soon as it settles thoroughly again, pour off the water and put the starch on dishes, and set it in the sun to dry. When you want to use it, moisten it with cold water and pour boiling water on, till it is the right consistency for use. It requires no boiling.

Potato Starch.

Pare the potatoes and scrape or grate them in a pan of water, when this is done stir them well, and let them stand a few minutes to settle, pour off the water and the pulp from the top; pour water on the starch that has settled, and stir it up, let it settle again, when it will be nice and white, and may be put on plates to dry in the sun, after which it may be put away in a box or paper bags. It maybe used immediately. Stir it in boiling water as other starch, but boil it much less. It is said that potato starch will injure muslins when left to lay by for some time, it is used in some preparations of confectionary, and answers the same purpose as Poland starch.

To make Common Starch.

Mix a pint of wheat flour with cold water, till it is the consistence of batter, stir it into a gallon of boiling water, let it boil a few minutes, when strain it and mix in the blue—when it is ready to thin for white clothes. Some put a small piece of tallow in the starch as it boils—it makes it clearer.

Washing Calicoes, &c.

Calicoes may be kept from fading by washing them in the suds after white clothes, if it requires more soap, stir it in the water, as putting it on the garment will fade it, have the water moderately warm, and put in a handful of salt, when all the dirt is out, rinse them in clean water, starch, and hang them to dry on the wrong side, where they will get the air but not the sun. Alum is good to set colors. If you want to wash a calico dress, which you know will fade, make a corn mush, and as it boils, pour off half, which use as soap in washing the dress, and with the other half, (which should be boiled well,) starch it, and hang it out immediately. In washing bed quilts, to prevent fading, spread them on the clean grass wrong side up, this prevents the colors running into each other.

For chintz or lawn dresses have very nice starch, and clap it into them, after they are hung on the line, they iron much better this way, and look almost like new, sometimes to wash the cuffs and lower part carefully, and press it all over, will do without washing the whole dress. For ironing the skirt have a narrow ironing board, covered with a piece of blanket, to slip inside the dress.

Table Cloths, &c.

When two or three spots get on a table cloth, dip a towel in clean water and rub them off, and dry the cloth before it is put away, this saves washing, and if done carefully it will look like a clean cloth. If table cloths are stained with fruit, pour boiling water on the spots before soap is put on, when it is so deep that this will not take it out, apply lemon juice and salt, dry it in the sun, and put it on several times. You should always have cup-plates, as the marks of a coffee-cup spoils the appearance of a cloth, and the stain is hard to get out. When table cloths and towels get yellow, soak them in sour milk several days. Unbleached table cloths are very good to save washing in winter, and can be laid by in summer, care should be taken to hang them to dry in the shade, as that will keep them from bleaching. New table cloths do not require any starch, but those that are partly worn look better for a little, every thing washes easier that has starch in. Nice table cloths, and all fine things, after being sprinkled and folded, should be tightly rolled up in towels, and ironed till perfectly dry, they will then retain their gloss. Large table cloths should be brushed clean from crumbs, and folded without shaking, as that tumbles them; those in daily use should be put under a press—a heavy book is suitable, or a board may be made for the purpose; they will keep in credit much longer than when laid in a drawer. It is well to put a common muslin cloth under a damask one on the table, as it improves the appearance.