The Healthy Life Cook Book

by

Florence Daniel

Second Edition

1915



A DELICIOUS PORRIDGE CAN BE MADE BY MIXING

ROBINSON'S "PATENT" GROATS "IN POWDER FORM"

::AND::

ROBINSON'S "PATENT" BARLEY "IN POWDER FORM"

IN EQUAL PROPORTIONS AND PREPARING IN THE USUAL WAY.



Preface

This little book has been compiled by special and repeated request. Otherwise, I should have hesitated to add to the already existing number of vegetarian cookery books. It is not addressed to the professional cook, but to those who find themselves, as I did, confronted with the necessity of manufacturing economical vegetarian dishes without any previous experience of cooking. An experienced cook will doubtless find many of the detailed instructions superfluous.

The original idea was to compile a cookery book for those vegetarians who are non-users of milk and eggs. But as this would have curtailed the book's usefulness, especially to vegetarian beginners, the project was abandoned. At the same time, non-users of milk and eggs will find that their interests have been especially considered in very many of the recipes.

All the recipes have been well tested. Many of them I evolved myself after repeated experiments. Others I obtained from friends. But all of them are used in my own little household. So that if any reader experiences difficulty in obtaining the expected results, if she will write to me, at 3, Tudor Street, London, E.C., and enclose a stamped envelope for reply, I shall be glad to give any assistance in my power.

I desire to record my gratitude here to the friends who have sent me recipes; to the graduate of the Victoria School of Cookery, who assisted me with much good advice; to Cassell's large Dictionary of Cookery, from which I gathered many useful hints; to the Herald of Health, which first published recipes for the Agar-agar Jellies and Wallace Cheese; and to E. and B. May's Cookery Book, from whence emanates the idea of jam without sugar. Lastly, I would thank Mrs. Hume, of "Loughtonhurst," Bournemouth, with whom I have spent several pleasant holidays, and who kindly placed her menus at my disposal.

FLORENCE DANIEL.



Preface to Second Edition

This little cookery book was originally published for that "straiter" sect of food-reformers who abstain from the use of salt, yeast, etc. But, owing to repeated requests from ordinary vegetarians, who find the book useful, I am now including recipes for yeast bread, cheese dishes, nutmeat dishes, etc. I have put all these in the chapter entitled "Extra Recipes." To go to the opposite extreme there is a short chapter for "unfired feeders." Other new recipes have also been added.

The note re Salads has been borrowed from E.J. Saxon, and the Vegetable Stew in Casserole Cookery from R. & M. Goring, in The Healthy Life.

FLORENCE DANIEL.



Everyday Fitness

You want food you can eat every day, knowing that it is bringing you nearer and nearer to real Fitness, the Fitness which lasts all day, and survives even Sunday or a Summer Holiday.

'P.R.' Foods are Everyday Foods. They take the place of white bread, and white flour biscuits, of expensive dairy butter, of sloppy indigestible porridge, and so on. They are the Foods which keep you fit all the time—you, and your husband, and the children. They are made along absolutely scientific lines in a factory which is probably unique throughout the world. They are the standard of pure food production. Their daily use is the Direct Route to Fitness All the Time.

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Or we can send you our Special Trial Parcel, comprising all the principal 'P.R.' Products, carriage paid (in U.K.) for *5/-*.

The Wallace 'P.R.' Foods Co., Ltd., 81, Tottenham Lane. Hornsey. London, N.

* * * * *

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'P.R.' COFFEE*

Choicest hill-grown berries, the pick of the world's finest plantations, roasted by Electric Heat. Result: superb favour and freedom from ill effects. Ideal for dyspeptics. Strongly recommended by the Author of this Book. 1-lb. post paid 2/2, or

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* * * * *



Contents

I. UNFERMENTED BREAD

II. SOUPS

III. SAVOURY DISHES (AND NUT COOKERY)

IV. CASSEROLE COOKERY

V. CURRIES

VI. VEGETABLES

VII. GRAVIES AND SAUCES

VIII. EGG COOKERY

IX. PASTRY, SWEET PUDDINGS, JELLIES, &c.

X. CAKES AND BISCUITS

XI. JAM, MARMALADE, ETC.

XII. SALADS, BEVERAGES, ETC.

XIII. EXTRA RECIPES

XIV. UNFIRED FOOD

XV. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, AND UTENSILS

XVI. MENUS, ETC.

INDEX

* * * * *

_HEALTHY LIFE BOOKLETS

Bound in Art Vellum. 1 s. net each._

1. THE LEAGUE AGAINST HEALTH. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.

2. FOOD REMEDIES. By Florence Daniel.

3. INSTEAD OF DRUGS. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.

4. THE HEALTHY LIFE COOK BOOK. By Florence Daniel.

5. NATURE VERSUS MEDICINE. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.

6. DISTILLED WATER. By Florence Daniel.

7. CONSUMPTION DOOMED. By Dr. Paul Carton.

8. NO PLANT DISEASE. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.

9. RHEUMATISM AND ALLIED AILMENTS. By Dr. H. Valentine Knaggs.

10. RIGHT DIET FOR CHILDREN. By Edgar J. Saxon.

11. SOME POPULAR FOOD STUFFS EXPOSED. By Dr. Paul Carton.

12. UNFIRED FOOD IN PRACTICE. By Stanley Gibbon.

13. THE TRUTH ABOUT SUGAR. By Dr. H. Valentine Knaggs.

14. HOW THE MIND HEALS AND WHY. By Florence Daniel.

15. OSTEOPATHY. By Florence Daniel.

16. A NEW SUGGESTION TREATMENT. By Dr. Stenson Hooker

17. HEALTH THROUGH BREATHING. By Olgar Lazarus.

18. WHAT TO EAT AND HOW MUCH. By Florence Daniel.

Nos. 14, 15 and 18 are in preparation.

LONDON: C. W. DANIEL, LTD., Graham House, Tudor Street, E.C.

* * * * *



I.—UNFERMENTED BREAD.

1. COLD WATER BREAD.

1-1/4 lb. fine wholemeal flour to 3/4 pint water.

Put the meal into a basin, add the water gradually, and mix with a clean, cool hand. (Bread, pastry, etc., mixed with a spoon, especially of metal, will not be so light as that mixed with a light cool hand.) Knead lightly for 20 minutes. (A little more flour may be required while kneading, as some brands of meal do not absorb so much water as others, but do not add more than is absolutely necessary to prevent the fingers sticking.) Put the dough on to a floured board and divide into four round loaves. Prick with a fork on top.

The colder the water used, the lighter the bread, and if the mixing be done by an open window so much the better, for unfermented bread is air-raised. Distilled or clean boiled rain-water makes the lightest bread. But it should be poured backwards and forwards from one jug to another several times, in order to aerate it.

Another method of mixing is the following:—Put the water into the basin first and stir the meal quickly into it with a spatula or wooden spoon. When it gets too stiff to be stirred, add the rest of the meal. Knead for two minutes, and shape into loaves as above.

BAKING.—Bake on the bare oven shelf, floored. If possible have a few holes bored in the shelf. This is not absolutely necessary, but any tinker or ironmonger will perforate your shelf for a few pence. Better still are wire shelves, like sieves. (This does not apply to gas ovens.)

Start with a hot oven, but not too hot. To test, sprinkle a teaspoonful of flour in a patty pan, and put in the oven for five minutes. At the end of that time, if the flour is a light golden-brown colour, the oven is right. Now put in the bread and keep the heat of the oven well up for half an hour. At the end of this time turn the loaves. Now bake for another hour, but do not make up the fire again. Let the oven get slightly cooler. The same result may perhaps be obtained by moving to a cooler shelf. It all depends on the oven. But always start with a hot oven, and after the first half hour let the oven get cooler.

Always remember, that the larger the loaves the slower must be the baking, otherwise they will be overdone on the outside and underdone in the middle.

Do not open the oven door oftener than absolutely necessary.

If a gas oven is used the bread must be baked on a baking sheet placed on a sand tin. A sand tin is the ordinary square or oblong baking tin, generally supplied with gas stoves, filled with silver sand. A baking sheet is simply a piece of sheet-iron, a size smaller than the oven shelves, so that the heat may pass up and round it. Any ironmonger will cut one to size for a few pence. Do not forget to place a vessel of water (hot) in the bottom of the oven. This is always necessary in a gas oven when baking bread, cakes or pastry.

It must not be forgotten that ovens are like children they need understanding. The temperature of the kitchen and the oven's nearness to a window or door will often make a difference of five or ten minutes in the time needed for baking. One gas oven that I knew never baked well in winter unless a screen was put before it to keep away draughts!

ROLLS.—If you desire to get your bread more quickly it is only a question of making smaller loaves. Little rolls may be cut out with a large egg-cup or small pastry cutter, and these take any time from twenty minutes to half an hour.

2. EGG BREAD.

9 ozs. fine wholemeal, 1 egg, a bare 1/2 pint milk and water, butter size of walnut.

Put butter in a qr. qtn. tin (a small square-cornered tin price 6-1/2d. at most ironmongers) and let it remain in hot oven until it boils. Well whisk egg, and add to it the milk and water. Sift into this liquid the wholemeal, stirring all the time. Pour this batter into the hot buttered tin. Bake in a very hot oven for 50 minutes, then move to a cooler part for another 50 minutes. When done, turn out and stand on end to cool.

3. GEM BREAD.

Put into a basin a pint of cold water, and beat it for a few minutes in order to aerate it as much as possible. Stir gently, but quickly, into this as much fine wholemeal as will make a batter the consistency of thick cream. It should just drop off the spoon. Drop this batter into very hot greased gem pans. Bake for half an hour in a hot oven. When done, stand on end to cool. They may appear to be a little hard on first taking out of the oven, but when cool they should be soft, light and spongy. When properly made, the uninitiated generally refuse to believe that they do not contain eggs or baking-powder.

There are proper gem pans, made of cast iron (from 1s.) for baking this bread, and the best results are obtained by using them. But with a favourable oven I have got pretty good results from the ordinary baking-tins with depressions, the kind used for baking small cakes. But these are a thinner make and apt to produce a tough crust.

4. HOT WATER ROLLS.

This bread has a very sweet taste. It is made by stirring boiling water into any quantity of meal required, sufficient to form a stiff paste. Then take out of the basin on to a board and knead quickly with as much more flour as is needed to make it workable. Cut it into small rolls with a large egg-cup or small vegetable cutter. The quicker this is done the better, in order to retain the heat of the water. Bake from 20 to 30 minutes.

5. OATCAKE.

Mix medium oatmeal to a stiff paste with cold water. Add enough fine oatmeal to make a dough. Roll out very thinly. Bake in sheets, or cut into biscuits with a tumbler or biscuit cutter. Bake on the bare oven shelf, sprinkled with fine oatmeal, until a very pale brown. Flour may be used in place of the fine oatmeal, as the latter often has a bitter taste that many people object to. The cause of this bitterness is staleness, but it is not so noticeable in the coarse or medium oatmeal. Freshly ground oatmeal is quite sweet.

6. RAISIN LOAF.

1 lb. fine wholemeal, 6 oz. raisins, 2 oz. Mapleton's nutter, water.

Well wash the raisins, but do not stone them or the loaf will be heavy. If the stones are disliked, seedless raisins, or even sultanas, may be used, but the large raisins give rather better results. Rub the nutter into the flour, add the raisins, which should be well dried after washing, and mix with enough water to form a dough which almost, but not quite drops from the spoon. Put into a greased tin, which should be very hot, and bake in a hot oven at first. At the end of twenty minutes to half an hour the loaf should be slightly browned. Then move to a cooler shelf, and bake until done. Test with a knife as for ordinary cakes.

For this loaf a small, deep, square-cornered tin is required (price 6-1/2d.), the same as for the egg loaf. 3 ozs. fresh dairy butter may be used in place of the 2 ozs. nutter.

7. SHORTENED BREAD.

Into 1 lb. wholemeal flour rub 4 ozs. nutter or 5 ozs. butter. Mix to a stiff dough with cold water. Knead lightly but well. Shape into small buns about 1 inch thick. Bake for an hour in a moderate oven.



II.—SOUPS.

Soups are of three kinds—clear soups, thick soups, and purees. A clear soup is made by boiling fruit or vegetables (celery, for example) until all the nourishment is extracted, and then straining off the clear liquid. A little sago or macaroni is generally added and cooked in this. When carrots and turnips are used, a few small pieces are cut into dice or fancy shapes, cooked separately, and added to the strained soup. Thick soups always include some farinaceous ingredients for thickening (flour, pea-flour, potato, etc.). Purees are thick soups composed of any vegetable or vegetables boiled and rubbed through a sieve. This is done, a little at a time, with a wooden spoon. A little of the hot liquor is added to the vegetable from time to time to assist it through.

1. BARLEY BROTH.

1 carrot, 1 turnip, 4 leeks or 3 small onions, 4 sprigs parsley, 4 sticks celery, 1 tea-cup pearl barley, 3 qts. water. (The celery may be omitted if desired, or, when in season, 1 tea-cup green peas may be substituted.)

Scrub clean (but do not peel) the carrot and turnip. Wash celery, parsley, and barley. Shred all the vegetables finely; put in saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil and slowly simmer for 5 hours. Add the chopped parsley and serve.

2. CREAM OF BARLEY SOUP.

Make barley broth as in No. 1. Then strain it through a wire strainer. Squeeze it well, so as to get the soup as thick as possible, but do not rub the barley through. Skin 1/2 lb. tomatoes, break in halves, and cook to a pulp very gently in a closed saucepan (don't add water). Add to the barley soup, boil up once, and serve.

In cases of illness, especially where the patient is suffering from intestinal trouble, after preparing as above, strain through a fine muslin. It should also be prepared with distilled, or clean boiled rain-water.

3. CLEAR CELERY SOUP.

1 head celery, 2 tablespoons sago, 2 qts. water.

Wash the celery, chop into small pieces, and stew in the water for 2 hours. Strain. Wash the sago, add it to the clear liquid, and cook for 1 hour.

For those who prefer a thick soup, pea-flour may be added. Allow 1 level tablespoon to each pint of soup. Mix with a little cold water, and add to the boiling soup. One or two onions may also be cooked with the celery, if liked.

4. CHESTNUT SOUP.

1 lb. chestnuts, 1-1/2 oz. nutter or butter, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon wholemeal flour, 1-1/2 pints water.

First put on the chestnuts (without shelling or pricking) in cold water, and boil for an hour. Then remove shells and put the nuts in an enamelled saucepan with the fat. Fry for 10 minutes. Add the flour gradually, stirring all the time, then add the water. Cook gently for half an hour. Lastly, add the parsley, boil up, and serve.

It is rather nicer if the flour is omitted, the necessary thickness being obtained by rubbing the soup through a sieve before adding the parsley. Those who do not object to milk may use 1 pint milk and 1 pint water in place of the 1-1/2 pints water.

5. FRUIT SOUP.

Fruit soups are used extensively abroad, although not much heard of in England. But they might be taken at breakfast with advantage by those vegetarians who have given up the use of tea, coffee and cocoa, and object to, or dislike, milk. The recipe given here is for apple soup, but pears, plums, etc., may be cooked in exactly the same way.

1 lb. apples, 1 qt. water, sugar and flavouring, 1 tablespoon sago.

Wash the apples and cut into quarters, but do not peel or core. Put into a saucepan with the water and sugar and flavouring to taste. When sweet, ripe apples can be obtained, people with natural tastes will prefer no addition of any kind. Otherwise, a little cinnamon, cloves, or the yellow part of lemon rind may be added. Stew until the apples are soft. Strain through a sieve, rubbing the apple pulp through, but leaving cores, etc., behind. Wash the sago, add to the strained soup, and boil gently for 1 hour. Stir now and then, as the sago is apt to stick to the pan.

6. HARICOT BEAN SOUP.

2 heaped breakfast-cups beans, 2 qts. water, 3 tablespoons chopped parsley or 1/2 lb. tomatoes, nut or dairy butter size of walnut, 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

For this soup use the small white or brown haricots. Soak overnight in 1 qt. of the water. In the morning add the rest of the water, and boil until soft. It may then be rubbed through a sieve, but this is not imperative. Add the chopped parsley, the lemon juice, and the butter. Boil up and serve. If tomato pulp is preferred for flavouring instead of parsley, skin the tomatoes and cook slowly to pulp (without water) before adding.

7. LENTIL SOUP.

4 breakfast-cups lentils, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 2 onions, 4 qts. water, 4 sticks celery, 2 teaspoons herb powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 oz. butter.

Either the red, Egyptian lentils, or the green German lentils may be used for this soup. If the latter, soak overnight. Stew the lentils very gently in the water for 2 hours, taking off any scum that rises. Well wash the vegetables, slice them, and add to the soup. Stew for 2 hours more. Then rub through a sieve, or not, as preferred. Add the lemon juice, herb powder, and butter (nut or dairy), and serve.

8. MACARONI SOUP.

1/2 lb. small macaroni, 2 qts. water or vegetable stock, 3/4 lb. onions or 1 lb. tomatoes.

Break the macaroni into small pieces and add to the stock when nearly boiling. Cook with the lid off the saucepan until the macaroni is swollen and very tender. (This will take about an hour.) If onions are used for flavouring, steam separately until tender, and add to soup just before serving. If tomatoes are used, skin and cook slowly to pulp (without water) before adding. If the vegetable stock is already strong and well-flavoured, no addition of any kind will be needed.

9. PEA SOUP.

Use split peas, soak overnight, and prepare according to recipe given for lentil soup.

10. POTATO SOUP.

Peel thinly 2 lbs. potatoes. (A floury kind should be used for this soup.) Cut into small pieces, and put into a saucepan with enough water to cover them. Add three large onions (sliced), unless tomatoes are preferred for flavouring. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the potatoes are cooked to a mash. Rub through a sieve or beat with a fork. Now add 3/4 pint water or 1 pint milk, and a little nutmeg if liked. Boil up and serve.

If the milk is omitted, the juice and pulp of two or three tomatoes may be added, and the onions may be left out also.

11. P.R. SOUP.

1 head celery, 4 large tomatoes, 4 qts. water, 4 large English onions, 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley.

This soup figures often in the diet sheet of the Physical Regenerationists for gouty and rheumatic patients, but in addition to being a valuable medicine on account of its salts, it is the most delicious clear soup that I know of. To make: chop the ingredients to dice, cover closely, and simmer until the quantity of liquid is reduced to one half.

12. P.R. BEEF TEA SUBSTITUTE.

1/4 pint pearl barley, 1/4 pint red lentils, 2 qts. cold bran water, flavouring.

To make the bran water, boil 1 measure of bran with 4 measures of water for not less than 30 minutes. Simmer together the barley, lentils, and bran water for 3 hours. To flavour, put 4 ozs. butter or 3 ozs. nutter into a pan with 1 lb. sliced onions. Shake over fire until brown, but do not let them burn or the flavour of the soup will be spoilt. Add these to the stock at the end of the first hour. Any other vegetable liked may be chopped to dice and added.

Tomato may be substituted for the onion if preferred and no fat used. Strain through a hair sieve, and serve the clear liquid after boiling up.

13. SAGO SOUP.

6 ozs. sago, 2 qts. stock, juice of 1 lemon.

Wash the sago and soak it for 1 hour. Put it in a saucepan with the lemon juice and stock, and stew for 1 hour.

14. TOMATO SOUP.

1 qt. water or white stock, 1 lb. tomatoes.

Slice the tomatoes, and simmer very gently in the water until tender. Rub through a sieve. Boil up and serve.

15. VEGETABLE STOCK.

To 4 qts. water allow 1 pint lentils, or rather less than 1 pint haricots. In addition allow 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 onion, and 1/4 head of celery. Clean apple peelings and cores, and any fresh vegetable cuttings may also be added with advantage. For white stock, use the white haricot beans, rice, or macaroni in place of lentils or brown haricots. Soak the pulse overnight, and simmer with the vegetables for 4 hours. Any stock not used should be emptied out of the stock pot, and boiled up afresh each day.



III.—SAVOURY DISHES.

The recipes following are intended to be used as substitutes for meat, fish, etc.

The body needs for its sustenance water, mineral salts, [Footnote: I allude to mineral salts as found in the vegetable kingdom, not to the manufactured salts, like the ordinary table salt, etc., which are simply poisons when taken as food.] fats and oils, carbo-hydrates (starch and sugar), and proteids (the flesh and muscle-forming elements). All vegetable foods (in their natural state) contain all these elements, and, at a pinch, human life might be supported on any one of them. I say "at a pinch" because if the nuts, cereals and pulses were ruled out of the dietary, it would, for most people, be deficient in fat and proteid. Wholewheat, according to a physiologist whose work is one of the standard books on the subject, is a perfectly-proportioned, complete food. Hence it is possible to live entirely on good bread and water.

Nuts are the best substitute for flesh meat. Next in order come the pulses. After these come wholewheat and unpolished rice. Both nuts and pulses contain, like flesh meat, a large quantity of proteid in a concentrated form. No one needs more than 1/4 lb. per day, at most, of either. (Eggs, of course, are a good meat substitute, so far as the percentage of proteid is concerned.)

1. ALMONDS, ROASTED.

Take any quantity of shelled almonds and blanch by pouring boiling water on them. The skins can then be easily removed. Lay the blanched almonds on a tin, and bake to a pale yellow colour. On no account let them brown, as this develops irritating properties. To be eaten with vegetable stews and pies. (That is, with any stew or pie which contains neither nuts nor pulse.)

2. CHESTNUTS, BOILED.

An excellent dish for children and persons with weak digestive powers. The chestnuts need not be peeled or pricked, but merely well covered with cold water and brought to the boil, after which they should boil for a good half hour. Drain off the water and serve hot. They may also be boiled, peeled, mashed and eaten with hot milk.

3. CHESTNUT SAVOURY.

Boil for 15 minutes. Shell. Fry in a very little nut fat for 10 minutes. Barely cover with water, and stew gently until tender. When done, add some chopped parsley and thicken with chestnut flour or fine wholemeal. For those who prefer it, milk and dairy butter may be substituted for the water and nut fat.

4. CHESTNUT PIE.

1 lb. chestnuts, 1/2 lb. tomatoes, short crust.

Boil the chestnuts for half an hour. Shell. Skin the tomatoes and cut in slices. Well grease a small pie-dish, put in the chestnuts and tomatoes in alternate layers. Cover with short crust (pastry recipe No. 3) and bake until a pale brown. Serve with parsley, tomato, or white sauce.

5. CHESTNUT RISSOLES.

1 lb. chestnuts, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, cornflour and water or 1 egg.

Boil the chestnuts for half an hour. Shell, and well mash with a fork. Add the parsley. Dissolve 1 tablespoon cornflour in 1 tablespoon water. Use as much of this as required to moisten the chestnut, and mix it to a stiff paste. Shape into firm, round, rather flat rissoles, roll in white flour, and fry in deep oil or fat to a golden brown colour. Serve with parsley or tomato sauce.

For those who take eggs, the rissoles may be moistened and bound with a beaten egg instead of the cornflour and water. They may also be rolled in egg and bread-crumbs after flouring.

6. HARICOT BEANS, BOILED.

1/2 pint beans, 1 oz. butter, water, 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

The small white or brown haricots should be used for this dish. Wash well, and soak overnight in the water. In the morning put in a saucepan in the same water and bring to the boil. Simmer slowly for 3 hours. When done they mash readily and look floury. Drain off any water not absorbed. Add the butter and lemon juice, and shake over the fire until hot. Serve with parsley or white sauce.

7. HARICOT RISSOLES.

1/2 pint haricots, 1 oz. butter, 1 medium onion, water, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon mixed herbs, or 1 tablespoon chopped parsley.

Cook the haricots as in preceding recipe. Mash well with a fork, add the onion finely grated, and the parsley or herbs. (This may be omitted if preferred.) Form into firm, round, rather flat rissoles. Roll in white flour. Fry in deep oil or fat to a golden brown colour. Serve with tomato sauce, brown gravy, or parsley sauce.

8. LENTILS, STEWED.

1 cup lentils, 1-1/2 cups water, butter (size of walnut), 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

Use either the red Egyptian, or the green German lentils. Wash well in several waters, drain, and put to soak overnight in the water. Use this same water for cooking. Cook very slowly until the lentils are soft and dry. They should just absorb the quantity of water given. (If cooked too quickly it may be necessary to add a little more.) A little thyme or herb powder may be cooked with the lentils, if liked. When done, drain off any superfluous water, add the butter and the lemon juice, shake over the fire until hot. Serve with baked potatoes and tomato sauce.

9. LENTIL PASTE.

1/2 pint red lentils, 1/2 pint bread-crumbs, 2 ozs. butter or 1-1/2 oz. nutter, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/2 a nutmeg.

Well wash the lentils and place on the fire with just enough water to cover them. Simmer gently until quite soft. Add the butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, and bread-crumbs. Stir well, heat to boiling point, and cook for 10 minutes. Put in jars, and when cold pour some melted butter or nutter on the top. Tomato juice may be used in place of the lemon juice if preferred.

10. LENTIL AND LEEK PIE.

2 cups lentils, 12 small leeks, 4 cups water, short crust.

Put the lentils, water, and leeks, finely shredded, into a covered jar or basin. Bake in a slow oven until done. Put into a greased pie-dish and cover with short crust. (If lentils are very dry, add a little more water.) Bake. Serve with boiled potatoes, brown gravy, and any vegetable in season, except spinach or artichokes.

11. LENTIL RISSOLES.

1 teacup red lentils, 2 teacups bread-crumbs, or 1 teacup kornules, cornflour or egg, 1-1/2 teacups water, 4 medium-sized onions, 1 grated lemon rind, 2 teaspoons mixed herbs.

Cook the lentils slowly in a saucepan with the water until they are soft and dry. Steam the onions. If Kornules are used, add as much boiling water to them as they will only just absorb. If bread-crumbs are used, do not moisten them. Add the grated yellow part of the lemon rind and the herbs. Mix all the ingredients well together and slightly moisten with rather less than a tablespoonful of water in which is dissolved a teaspoonful of raw cornflour. This is important, as it takes the place of egg for binding purposes. Shape into round, flat rissoles, roll in white flour, and fry in boiling oil or fat until a golden-brown colour.

A beaten egg may be used for binding in place of the cornflour, and the rissoles may be dipped in egg and rolled in breadcrumbs before frying. Serve hot with brown gravy or tomato sauce. Or cold with salad.

12. MACARONI AND TOMATO.

1/4 lb. macaroni, 1 oz. butter, 1/2 lb. tomatoes, parsley.

Use the best quality of macaroni. The smaller kinds are the most convenient as they cook more quickly. Spargetti is a favourite kind with most cooks. Break the macaroni into small pieces and drop it into fast boiling water. Cook with the lid off until quite tender. Be particular about this, as underdone macaroni is not a pleasant dish. (With a little practise the cook will be able to calculate how much water is needed for it all to be absorbed by the time the macaroni is done.) When done, drain well, add the butter, and shake over the fire until hot.

While the macaroni is cooking, skin the tomatoes, break in halves, and put into a tightly-covered saucepan. (Do not add water.) Set at the side of the stove to cook very slowly. They should never boil. When reduced to pulp they are done.

Pile the macaroni in the middle of a rather deep dish, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Pour the tomato round and serve.

13. MUSHROOM AND TOMATO.

Many food reformers consider mushrooms to be unwholesome, and indeed, in the ordinary way, they are best left alone. But if they can be obtained quite fresh, and are not the forced, highly-manured kinds, I do not think they are injurious. But the very large variety, commonly called horse mushrooms, should not be eaten.

Peel and stalk the mushrooms. Examine them carefully for maggots. Fry in just enough nutter to prevent them sticking to the pan. Cook until quite tender. Pile on a warm, deep dish. Slice the tomatoes and fry in the same pan, taking care not to add more nutter than is absolutely necessary. When tender, arrange the tomato slices round and on the mushrooms. Pour a tablespoonful or more, according to the amount cooked, of hot water into the pan. Stir well and boil up. Pour the gravy formed over the mushrooms, and serve.

14. NUT COOKERY.

For nut-cookery, a nut mill or food chopper of some kind is necessary. A tiny food chopper, which can be regulated to chop finely or coarsely as required, may be bought for 3s. at most food-reform stores. It also has an attachment which macerates the nuts so as to produce "nut butter." The larger size at 5s. is the more convenient for ordinary use. If only one machine can be afforded, the food chopper should be the one chosen, as it can also be used for vegetables, breadcrumbs, etc. The nut-mill proper flakes the nuts, it will not macerate them, and is useful for nuts only. But flaked nuts are a welcome and pretty addition to fruit salads, stewed fruits, etc.

If the nuts to be milled or ground clog the machine, put them in a warm oven until they just begin to change colour. Then let them cool, and they will be found crisp and easy to work. But avoid doing this if possible, as it dries up the valuable nut oil.

15. NUT ROAST.

2 breakfast cups bread-crumbs, 2 medium Spanish onions, or 2 tomatoes, 2 breakfast cups ground nuts, nutter.

Any shelled nuts may be used for this roast. Some prefer one kind only; others like them mixed. Almonds, pine-kernels, new Brazil nuts, and new walnuts are nice alone. Old hazel nuts and walnuts are nicer mixed with pine-kernels. A good mixture is one consisting of equal quantities of blanched almonds, walnuts, hazel nuts, and pine-kernels; where strict economy is a consideration, peanuts may be used. Put a few of each kind alternately into the food chopper and grind until you have enough to fill two cups. Mix with the same quantity breadcrumbs. Grate the onions, discard all tough pieces, using the soft pulp and juice only with which to mix the nuts and crumbs to a very stiff paste. If onions are disliked, skin and mash two tomatoes for the same purpose. Or one onion and one tomato may be used.

Well grease a pie-dish, fill it with the mixture, spread a few pieces of nutter (or butter) on the top, and bake until brown.

Another method.—For those who use eggs, the mixing may be done with a well-beaten egg. The mixture may also be formed into an oblong roast, greased, and baked on a tin. Serve with brown gravy or tomato sauce.

16. NUT RISSOLES.

Make a stiff mixture as for nut roast, add a tablespoonful savoury herbs if liked. Form into small, flat rissoles, roll them in white flour, and fry in deep fat or oil. Serve hot with gravy, or cold with salad.

17. NUT PASTE.

A nourishing paste for sandwiches is made by macerating pine-kernels with the "nut butter" attachment of the food chopper, and flavouring with a little fresh tomato juice. This must be used the same day as made as it will not keep.

Another method.—Put equal quantities of pea-nuts and pine-kernels into a warm oven until the latter just begin to colour. The skins of the pea-nuts will now be found to rub easily off. Put the mixed nuts through the macerator and mix to a stiff paste with some tomato juice. Put in a saucepan and heat to boiling point. Pour melted butter over top. This may be kept until the next day, but no longer.

18. NUT AND LENTIL ROAST AND RISSOLES.

Proceed as for nut roast or rissoles, but use cold stewed lentils (see recipe) in the place of bread-crumbs.

19. PINE KERNELS, ROASTED.

Put on a tin in a warm oven, bake until a very pale golden colour. On no account brown. Serve with vegetable stew.

20. RICE, BOILED.

1 cup unpolished rice, 3 cups water.

Put the rice on in cold water, and bring it gradually to the boil. Boil hard for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Draw it to the side of the stove, where it is comparatively cool, or, if a gas stove is used, put the saucepan on an asbestos mat and turn the gas as low as possible. The water should now gradually steam away, leaving the rice dry and well cooked. Serve plain or with curry.

21. RICE, SAVOURY.

Cook rice as in foregoing recipe. Fry a small, finely-chopped onion in very little fat. Add this to the cooked rice with butter the size of a walnut, and a pinch of savoury herbs. Shake over the fire until hot. Serve with peeled baked potatoes and baked tomatoes.

22. RICE AND EGG FRITTERS.

Mix any quantity of cold boiled rice with some chopped parsley and well-beaten egg. Beat the mixture well, form into small fritters, roll in egg and bread-crumbs or white flour, and fry to a golden brown. Serve with egg sauce.

23. TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE.

Grease a pie-dish. Put in it 2 or 3 small firm tomatoes, or some small peeled mushrooms. Make a batter as for Yorkshire pudding and pour over. Bake until golden brown.

24. VEGETABLE MARROW, STUFFED.

1 medium marrow, 2 ozs. butter or 1-1/2 oz. nutter, 1 dessertspoon sage, 2 medium onions, 4 tablespoons bread-crumbs, 1 tablespoon milk or water.

Chop the onion small and mix with the bread-crumbs, sage, and milk or water. Peel the marrow and scoop out the pith and pips. (Cut it in halves to do this, or, better still, if possible cut off one end and scoop out inside with a long knife.) Tie the two halves together with clean string. Stuff the marrow and bake for 40 minutes on a well-greased tin. Lay some of the nutter on top and baste frequently until done. It should brown well. Serve with brown gravy or white sauce.

25. VEGETABLE MARROW AND NUT ROAST.

Make a paste as for nut roast (see recipe). Peel marrow, scoop out the inside, and stuff. Bake from 40 minutes to an hour in a hot oven. Baste frequently.

26. VEGETARIAN IRISH STEW.

1 lb. tomatoes, 7 small Spanish onions, 8 medium potatoes, 1 oz. nutter or butter, 2 small carrots or parsnips, or 1 cup fresh green peas.

A saucepan with a close-fitting lid, and, if a gas stove is used, an asbestos mat (price 3-1/2d. at any ironmongers) is needed for this stew. Skin the tomatoes, peel and quarter the onions, and put them into the saucepan with the nutter and shut down the lid tightly. If a gas or oil flame is used, turn it as low as possible. Put the asbestos mat over this and stand the saucepan upon it. At the end of 1 hour the onions should be gently stewing in a sea of juice. Add the potatoes now (peeled and cut in halves). Also the peas, if in season. Cook for another hour. If carrot or parsnip is the extra vegetable used, cut into quarters and put in with the onions. When done, the onions are quite soft, and the potatoes, etc., just as if they had been cooked in a steamer.

Note that the onions and tomatoes must be actually stewing when the potatoes are put in, as the latter cook in the steam arising from the former. Consequently, they should be laid on top of the onions, etc., not mixed with them. If cooked on the kitchen range, a little longer time may be needed, according to the state of the fire. Never try to cook quickly, or the juice will dry up and burn. The slow heat is the most important point.

27. VEGETABLE PIE.

Cook the vegetables according to recipe for vegetable stew. When cold put in a pie-dish (gravy and all) and cover with short crust. Bake for half an hour. If preferred, the vegetables may be covered with cold mashed potatoes in place of pie-crust. Top with a few small pieces of nutter, and bake until brown.

28. VEGETABLE STEW.

1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 potato, 1 parsnip, 2 Jerusalem artichokes, 2 onions, 2 tomatoes, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, nutter size of small walnut.

Scrub and scrape the carrot, turnip, parsnip and artichokes. Peel the potato and onions. Shred the onions and put them into a stew-pan with the nutter. Shake over the fire, and fry until brown, but do not burn or the flavour of the stew will be completely spoilt. Cut the carrot and parsnip and potato into quarters, the artichokes into halves, and put into the stew-pan with the onions. Barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and stew very gently until tender. Skin the tomatoes, break in halves, and cook slowly to a pulp in a separate pan. Add these, with the lemon juice, to the stew, and slightly thicken with a little wholemeal flour just before serving.



IV.—CASSEROLE COOKERY.

Casserole is the French word for stew-pan. But "Casserole Cookery" is a phrase used to denote cookery in earthenware pots. It commends itself especially to food-reformers, as the slow cookery renders the food more digestible, and the earthenware pots are easier to keep clean than the ordinary saucepan. The food is served up in the pot in which it is cooked, this being simply placed on a dish. A large pudding-basin covered with a plate may be used in default of anything better. A clean white serviette is generally pinned round this before it comes to table. Various attractive-looking brown crocks are sold for the purpose. But anyone who possesses the old-fashioned "beef-tea" jar needs nothing else. It is important to ensure that a new casserole does not crack the first time of using. To do this put the casserole into a large, clean saucepan, or pail, full of clean cold water. Put over a fire or gas ring, and bring slowly to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes and then stand aside to cool. Do not take the casserole out until the water is cold.

1. FRENCH SOUP.

2 carrots, 1 turnip, 1 leek, 1 stick celery, 1/2 cabbage, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves, 6 peppercorns, 3 qts. water.

Scrape and cut up carrots and turnip. Slice the leek, and cut celery into dice. Shred the cabbage. Put into the jar with the water, and place in a moderate oven, or on the top of a closed range. If it is necessary to use a gas ring, turn very low and stand jar on an asbestos mat. Bring to the boil slowly and then simmer for 2-1/2 hours.

2. HOT POT.

1 lb. potatoes, 2 carrots, 1 large onion, 1 turnip, 1/4 lb. mushrooms or 1/2 lb. tomatoes, 1 pint stock or water.

Wash, peel, and slice thickly the potatoes. Wash and scrape and slice the carrots and turnip. Skin the tomatoes or mushrooms. Put in the jar in alternate layers. Moisten with the stock or water. Cook as directed in recipe 1 for 1-1/2 hours after it first begins to simmer.

3. STEWED APPLES.

Take hard, red apples. Wash, but do not peel or core. Put in jar with cold water to reach half way up the apples. Cover closely and put in moderate oven for 2 hours after it begins to simmer. At end of 1 hour, add sugar to taste.

4. VEGETABLE STEW.

1-1/2 lbs. (when prepared and cut up) of mixed seasonable vegetables, including, whenever possible, tomatoes, celery and spinach; one tablespoonful of water.

Cut up the moist, juicy vegetables such as celery, spinach, onions and tomatoes, place them with the water in a casserole, put lid on and slowly cook for about one hour until enough juice is extracted to safely add the rest of the cut-up vegetables. The whole should now be placed in a slightly greater heat and simmered until the last added vegetables are quite tender. The mixture should be stirred occasionally with a wooden spoon.



V.—CURRIES.

I do not recommend the use of curries. Many food-reformers eschew them altogether. But they are sometimes useful for the entertainment of meat-eating friends, or to tide over the attack of meat-craving which sometimes besets the vegetarian beginner. Of course there are curries and curries. Cheap curry powders are very much hotter than those of a better quality. When buying curry powder it is best to go to a high-class grocer and get the smallest possible tin of the best he keeps. It will last for years. Those who prefer to make their own curry powder may try Dr. Kitchener's recipe as follows:—

1. CURRY POWDER.

3 ozs. coriander seed, 2-1/2 ozs. tumeric, 1 oz. black pepper, 1/2 oz. lesser cardamoms, 1/4 oz. cinnamon, 1/4 oz. cumin seed.

Put the ingredients into a cool oven and let them remain there all night. Next day pound them thoroughly in a marble mortar, and rub through a sieve. Put the powder into a well-corked bottle.

A spice machine may be used instead of the mortar, but in that case the tumeric should be obtained ready powdered, as it is so hard that it is apt to break the machine. The various ingredients are generally only to be obtained from a large wholesale druggist.

2. EGG CURRY.

1 large onion, 1 dessertspoon curry powder, 1 oz. butter or nutter, 3 hard-boiled eggs, 1 dessertspoon tomato pulp, 1 teacup water.

Shred the onion, put it in the stew-pan with the butter, sprinkle the curry powder over, and fry gently until quite brown. Shell the eggs and cut them in halves. Add the eggs, the tomato pulp, and the water. Stir well, and simmer until the liquid is reduced to one-half. This will take about 15 minutes. Serve with plain boiled unpolished rice.

3. GERMAN LENTIL CURRY.

Use the ingredients given, and proceed exactly the same as for egg curry. But in place of eggs, take 1 breakfastcup of cold cooked German lentils (see recipe for cooking lentils). Use also 2 teacups water in place of the 1, and only 3/4 oz. butter or nutter.

4. VEGETABLE CURRY.

Use the ingredients given and proceed the same as for German lentil curry, using any cold steamed vegetables in season. The best curry, according to an Indian authority, is one made of potatoes, artichokes, carrots, pumpkin and tomatoes.

Note.—A writer in Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery says:—"A spoonful of cocoanut kernel dried and powdered gives a delicious flavour to a curry, as does also acid apple."



VI.—VEGETABLES.

Never eat boiled vegetables. No one ever hears of a flesh-eater boiling his staple article of diet and throwing away the liquor. On the contrary, when he does indulge in boiled meat, the liquor is regarded as a valuable asset, and is used as a basis for soup. But his meat is generally conservatively cooked—that is, it is baked, roasted, or grilled, so that the juices are retained. If he has to choose between throwing away the meat or the water in which it has been boiled, he keeps the liquor—witness "beef-tea." For some unknown reason he does not often treat his vegetables in the same way, and suffers thereby the loss of much valuable food material.

The vegetarian—being avowedly a thinker and a pioneer—would, it might be imagined, treat what is now one of his staple articles of diet at least as carefully as the out-of-date flesh-eater. But no! For the most part, his vegetables are boiled, and when the best part of the food constituents and all the flavour have been extracted, he dines off a mass of indigestible fibre—mere waste matter—and allows the "broth" to be thrown down the sink, with the consequence that many vegetarians are pale, flabby individuals who succumb to the slightest strain, and suffer from chronic dyspepsia.

The remedy is simple. Treat vegetables as you used to treat meat. Bake or stew them in their own juice. (See recipe for Vegetarian Irish Stew.) At the least, steam them. A little of the valuable vegetable salts are lost in the steaming, but not much. Better still, use a double boilerette. A very little water is put into the inner pan and soon becomes steam, so that by the time the vegetable is cooked it has all disappeared.

No exact time can be given for cooking vegetables, as this varies with age and freshness. The younger—always supposing it has just come to maturity—and fresher the vegetable, the quicker it cooks.

It should not be forgotten that orthodox cooks put all green and root vegetables, except potatoes, to cook in boiling water. This rule should not be neglected when steaming vegetables—the water should be fast boiling.

I will conclude with a few remarks about preparing greens, cauliflowers, etc. The general practice is to soak them in cold salted water with the idea of drawing out and killing any insects. But this often results in killing the insects, especially if much salt is used, before "drawing them out." A better plan is to put the trimmed cabbage or cauliflower head downwards into warm water for about half an hour. As I trim Brussels sprouts I throw them into a pan of warm water, and the insects crawl out and sink to the bottom of the pan. It is astonishing how many one finds at the bottom of a pan of warm water in which sprouts are soaked.

1. ARTICHOKE, JERUSALEM.

Steam until tender, or bake with a small piece of nutter on each artichoke until brown. Serve with tomato or white sauce.

2. ASPARAGUS.

Tie in a bundle and stand in a deep saucepan with the stalks in water, so that the shoots are steamed. Serve with melted butter or white sauce.

3. BEETROOT.

Bake or steam. It will take from 2 to 4 hours, according to size.

4. BROAD BEANS.

Steam until tender, but do not spoil by overcooking. Serve with parsley sauce.

5. BROCCOLI.

This is a rather coarser variety of cauliflower. Cook in the same way as the latter.

6. BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

These should be steamed for not more than 20 minutes. They are generally spoiled by overcooking. Serve plain or with onion sauce.

7. CABBAGE.

Steam. Put in vegetable dish, chop well, and add a small piece of butter.

8. CARROT.

Steam until tender. Serve whole or mashed with butter.

9. CAULIFLOWER.

Steam. This may be done in a large saucepan if a steamer is not available. Support the cauliflower on a pudding basin or meat stand—anything which will raise it just above the level of the water. Serve with white sauce or tomato sauce.

10. CELERY.

Stew. Choose a small head of celery, not a large, coarse head which will be tough. Well wash and cut into about 8 pieces. (Keep any large coarse sticks, if such are unavoidably present, for soup.) Put in stew-pan and barely cover with water. Simmer until tender. Lift out on to hot dish. Thicken the liquor with a little wholemeal flour, add a small piece of butter pour this sauce over celery, and serve.

11. CELERIAC.

This is a large, hard white root, somewhat resembling a turnip in appearance, with a slight celery flavour. It is generally only stocked by "high-class" greengrocers. It costs from 1-1/2d. to 3d., according to size. It is nicest cut in slices and fried in fat or oil until a golden brown.

12. CUCUMBER.

Although not generally cooked, this is very good steamed, and served with white sauce.

13. GREEN PEAS.

Do not spoil these by overcooking. Steam in a double boilerette, if possible. About 20 minutes is long enough.

14. LEEKS.

Cut off green leaves rather close to the white part. Wash well. Steam about 30 minutes. Serve with white sauce.

15. NETTLES.

The young tops of nettles in early spring are delicious. Later they are not so palatable. Pick the nettles in gloves. Grasp them firmly, and wash well. Put a small piece of butter or nutter with a little pounded thyme into the saucepan with the nettles. Press well down and cook very slowly. A very little water may be added if desired, but if the cooking is done slowly, this will not be needed. When quite tender, dish up on a layer of bread-crumbs, taking care to lose none of the juice. This dish somewhat resembles spinach, which should be cooked in the same fashion, but without the butter and thyme.

16. ONIONS.

If onions are peeled in the open air they will not affect the eyes. Only the Spanish onions are pleasant as a vegetable. The English onion is too strong for most people.

Steam medium-sized onions from 45 mins. to 1 hour. Serve with white sauce, flavoured with a very little mace or nutmeg, if liked. For baked onions, first steam for 30 minutes and then bake for 30 minutes. Put nutter or butter on each onion. Cook until brown. Onions for frying should be sliced and floured. Fry for 5 or 6 minutes in very little fat. This is best done in a covered stew-pan. Drain on kitchen paper.

17. PARSNIPS.

Steam. Cold steamed parsnips are nice fried. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.

18. POTATOES.

Scrub well and steam, either with or without peeling. If peeled, this should be done very thinly, as the greater part of the valuable potash salts lie just under the skin.

BAKED.—Moderate-sized potatoes take from 45 to 60 minutes. If peeled before baking, cut in halves and put on a greased tin with a little nut-fat or butter on each.

CHIPS.—Cut into long chips and try in deep oil or fat. A frying-basket and stew-pan are the most convenient utensils, but they take a great deal of fat. A frying-pan and egg-slice will answer the same purpose for small quantities.

Success depends upon getting the fat the right temperature. It must be remembered that fat and oil do not bubble when they boil. They bubble just before boiling. As soon as they become quite still they boil. A very faint blue smoke now arises. When the fat actually smokes, it is burning and spoilt.

If the chips are put in wet, or before the fat boils, they will be sodden and spoilt. A tiny piece of bread may be first put in to test. If this "fizzles" well, the fat is ready.

When the chips are golden brown, lift them out with a slice and lay them on paper to drain. Then put in vegetable dish and serve quickly. They are spoilt if allowed to cool.

MASHED.—Old potatoes are best mashed after steaming. They should be well beaten with a fork, and a little butter and milk, or nut-butter added.

SAUTE.—Take cold steamed potatoes and cut into slices. Melt a small piece of fat or butter in a pan, and, when hot, put in potatoes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Shake over fire until brown.

TO USE COLD POTATOES.—Chop in small pieces. Melt a very little fat in a pan. Put in potatoes, and as they get warm mash with a fork, and press down hard on the pan. Do not stir. At the end of 20 minutes the under side should be brown. Turn out in a roll and serve.

19. BUBBLE AND SQUEAK.

Mix cold mashed potatoes with any kind of cold green vegetable. Heat in a frying-pan with a little butter or fat.

20. RADISHES.

These are generally eaten raw, but are nice steamed.

21. SEA KALE.

Steam, and serve with white sauce.

22. SCARLET RUNNERS AND FRENCH BEANS.

String, slice thinly, and steam.

23. SPINACH.

See Nettles.

24. SWEDES.

These are delicious steamed and mashed with butter.

25. TOMATOES.

These are generally grilled, fried or baked. To fry, cut in slices and flour. Use only just enough fat. Bake with or without fat. Medium-sized tomatoes take about 30 mins.

STUFFED.—Cut a slice off the top like a lid. Scoop out the pulp and mix to a stiff paste with bread-crumbs, a little finely-chopped onion, and a pinch of savoury herbs. Fill tomatoes with the mixture, put on the lids, and bake in a tin with a little water at the bottom.

26. TURNIP.

Steam and serve plain, or mash with butter.

27. VEGETABLE MARROW.

Steam without peeling if they are very young. Otherwise, peel.



VII.—GRAVIES AND SAUCES.

1. BROWN GRAVY.

Fry a chopped onion in a very little nutter until a dark brown. (Do not burn, or the flavour of the gravy will be spoilt.) Drain off the fat and add 1/2 pint water. Boil until the water is brown. Strain. Return to saucepan and add flavouring to taste. A teaspoon of lemon juice and a tomato, skinned and cooked to pulp, are good additions. Or any vegetable stock may be used instead of the water.

THICK.—If thick gravy be desired, mix a dessertspoonful wholemeal flour with a little cold water. Add the boiling stock to this. Return to saucepan and boil for 3 minutes. Add a small piece of butter just before serving.

Another method.—Add a little "browning" (see recipe) to any vegetable stock. Thicken.

2. EGG SAUCE.

Make a white sauce (see recipe). Boil an egg for 20 minutes, shell, chop finely, and add to the sauce.

3. PARSLEY SAUCE.

Make a white sauce (see recipe). But if the use of milk be objected to, make the sauce of water and wholemeal flour. Allow 1 tablespoon finely-chopped parsley to each 1/2 pint of sauce. Add to the sauce, and boil up. Add a small piece of butter or nut-butter just before serving.

4. SWEET LEMON SAUCE.

2 ozs. lump sugar, 1 large lemon.

Rub the lemon rind well with the sugar. Put the sugar into a saucepan with as much water as it will just absorb. Boil to a clear syrup. Add the lemon juice. Make hot, but do not boil.

5. TOMATO SAUCE.

Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, allow to stand for 1 minute, after which the skins may be easily removed. Break the tomatoes (do not cut) and put into a closely-covered saucepan. Put on one side of the range, or an asbestos mat over a very low gas ring, and allow to cook slowly to pulp. Serve.

This simple recipe makes the most delicious sauce for those who appreciate the undiluted flavour of the tomato. But a good sauce may be made by allowing 1 teacup water or carrot stock to each teacup of pulp, boiling up and thickening with wholemeal flour. A little butter may be added just before serving.

6. WHITE SAUCE.

Allow 1 level dessertspoon cornflour to 1/2 pint milk. Mix the cornflour with a very little cold water in a basin. Pour the boiling milk into this, stirring all the time. Return to saucepan and boil 5 minutes. Add a small piece of butter just before serving.

7. BROWNING, FOR GRAVIES AND SAUCES.

Put 2 ozs. lump sugar in saucepan with as much water as it will just absorb. Boil to a clear syrup, and then simmer very gently, stirring all the time, until it is a very dark brown, almost black. It must not burn or the flavour will be spoilt. Then add a pint of water, boil for a few minutes. Put into a tightly-corked bottle and use as required.



VIII.—EGG COOKERY.

Many vegetarians discard the use of eggs and milk for principle's sake, but the majority still find them necessary as a half-way house. But no eggs at all are infinitely to be preferred to any but real new-laid eggs. The commercial "cooking-egg" is an unwholesome abomination.

1. BOILED EGGS FOR INVALIDS.

Put the egg on in cold water. As soon as it boils take the saucepan off the fire and stand on one side for 5 minutes. At the end of this time the egg will be found to be very lightly, but thoroughly, cooked.

2. BUTTERED EGGS.

3 eggs, 1 tablespoon milk, 1/2 oz. fresh butter.

Beat up the eggs and add the milk. Melt the butter in a small stew-pan. When hot, pour in the eggs and stir until they begin to set. Have ready some buttered toast. Pile on eggs and serve.

3. EGG ON TOMATO.

1 egg, 2 medium tomatoes, butter.

Skin the tomatoes. Break into halves and put them, with a very small piece of butter, into a small stew-pan. Close tightly, and cook slowly until reduced to a pulp. Break the egg into a cup and slide gently on to the tomato. Put on the stew-pan lid. The egg will poach in the steam arising from the tomato.

4. DEVILLED EGGS.

Boil eggs for 20 minutes. Remove shells. Cut in halves and take out the yolks. Well mash yolks with a very little fresh butter, melted, and curry powder to taste. Stuff the whites with the mixture, join halves together, and arrange in a dish of watercress.

5. SCRAMBLED EGG AND TOMATO.

Skin the tomatoes and cook to pulp as in the preceding recipe. Beat the egg and stir it in to the hot tomato. Cook until just beginning to set.

6. OMELET, PLAIN.

Whisk the egg or eggs lightly to a froth. Put enough butter in the frying-pan to just cover when melted. When this is hot, pour the eggs into it, and stir gently with a wooden spoon until it begins to set. Fold over and serve.

7. SAVOURY OMELET.

2 eggs, 2 tablespoons milk, 1/2 teaspoon finely-chopped parsley or mixed herbs, 1/2 a very small onion (finely minced), 1 teaspoon fresh butter.

Put butter in the omelet pan. Beat the eggs to a fine froth, stir in the milk and parsley, and pour into the hot pan. Stir quickly to prevent sticking. As soon as it sets, fold over and serve.

8. SWEET OMELET.

Proceed as in recipe for Savoury Omelet, but substitute a dessertspoon castor sugar for the onion and parsley. When set, put warm jam in the middle. Fold over and serve.

9. SOUFFLE OMELET.

2 eggs, 1 dessertspoon castor sugar, grated yellow part of rind of 1/2 lemon, butter.

Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs. Beat the yolks and add sugar and lemon. Whisk the whites to a stiff froth. Mix very gently with the yolks. Pour into hot buttered pan. Fold over and serve when set. Put jam in middle or not, as preferred.



IX.—PASTRY, SWEET PUDDINGS, &c.

1. PASTRY.

Pastry should usually be made with a very fine wholemeal flour, such as the "Nu-Era." There are times, however, when concessions to guests, etc., demand the use of white flour. In such an event, use a good brand of household flour. The more refined the kind, the less nutriment it contains. Never add baking-powders of any kind.

The secret of making good pastry lies in lightly mixing with a cool hand. If a spoon must be used, let it be a wooden one. Roll in one direction only, away from the person. If you must give a backward roll, let it be only once. Above all, roll lightly and little. The quicker the pastry is made the better.

2. PUFF PASTE.

1/2 lb. fresh-butter or 6 ozs. Mapleton's nutter, 1 yolk of egg or 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 lb. flour.

If butter is used, wrap it in a clean cloth and squeeze well to get rid of water. Beat the yolk of egg slightly. Put the flour on the paste board in a heap. Make a hole in the centre and put in the yolk of egg or lemon juice, and about 1 tablespoon of water. The amount of water will vary slightly according to the kind of flour, and less will be required if egg is used instead of lemon juice, but add enough to make a rather stiff paste. Mix lightly with the fingers and knead until the paste is nice and workable. But do it quickly!

Next, roll out the paste to about 1/4 inch thickness. Put all the butter or nutter in the centre of this paste and wrap it up neatly therein. Stand in a cool place for 15 minutes. Next, roll it out once, and fold it over, roll it out again and fold it over. Do this lightly. Put it away again for 15 minutes. Repeat this seven times! (I do not think many food-reformers will have the time or inclination to repeat the above performance often. Speaking for myself, I have only done it once. But as no instructions about pastry are supposed to be complete without a recipe for puff-paste, I include it.) It is now ready for use.

Do not forget to keep the board and pin well floured, or the pastry will stick. If wholemeal flour is used, it is well to have white flour for the board and pin. See also that the nutter is the same consistency as ordinary butter when kept in a medium temperature. If too hard, it must be cut up and slightly warmed. If oily, it must be cooled by standing tin in very cold water.

3. SHORT CRUST.

1/2 lb. flour, 3 ozs. nutter or butter.

Rub the nutter or butter lightly into the flour. Add enough cold water to make a fairly stiff paste. Roll it out to a 1/4 inch thickness. It is now ready for use.

4. APPLE CHARLOTTE.

Apples, castor sugar, grated lemon rind, butter or nutter, bread-crumbs or Granose flakes.

Bread-crumbs make the more substantial, granose flakes the more dainty, charlotte. Use juicy apples. "Mealy" apples make a bad charlotte. If they must be used, a tablespoon or more, according to size, of water must be poured over the charlotte. Peel, core, and slice apples. Grease a pie-dish. Put in a thin layer of crumbs. On this dot a few small pieces nutter. Over this put a generous layer of chopped apple. Sprinkle with sugar and grated lemon rind. Repeat the process until the dish is full. Top with crumbs. Bake from 20 minutes to half an hour. When done, turn out on to dish, being careful not to break. Sprinkle a little castor sugar over. Serve hot or cold. Boiled custard may be served with it.

5. APPLE DUMPLINGS.

Peel and core some good cooking apples, but keep them whole. If you have no apple-corer, take out as much of the core as possible with a pointed knife-blade. Fill the hole with sugar and a clove. Make short paste and cut into squares. Fold neatly round and over apple. Bake from 30 to 45 minutes. If preferred boiled, tie each dumpling loosely in a cloth, put into boiling water and cook from 45 minutes to 1 hour.

6. APPLE AND TAPIOCA.

1/4 pint tapioca, 1 lb. apples, 1 pint water, sugar, lemon peel.

Soak the tapioca in the water overnight. Peel and core the apples, cut into quarters, stew, and put in a pie-dish. Sprinkle with sugar to taste, and the grated yellow part of a fresh lemon rind. Mix in the soaked tapioca and water. Bake about 1 hour. Serve cold, with or without boiled custard.

7. BATTER PUDDING.

2 eggs, 1 teacup flour, milk.

Well whisk the eggs. Sprinkle in the flour a spoonful at a time. Stir gently. When the batter becomes too thick to stir, thin it with a little milk. Then add more flour until it is again too thick, and again thin with the milk. Proceed in this way until all the flour is added, and then add sufficient milk to bring the batter to the consistency of rather thick cream. Have ready a very hot greased tin, pour in and bake in a hot oven until golden brown. By mixing in the way indicated above, a batter perfectly free from lumps is easily obtained.

8. BOMBAY PUDDING.

Cook a heaped tablespoon of semolina in 1/2 pint of milk to a stiff paste. Spread it on a plate to cool. (Smooth it neatly with a knife). When quite cold, cut it into four. Dip in a beaten egg and fry brown. Serve hot with lemon sauce. This may also be served as a savoury dish with parsley sauce. The quantity given above is sufficient for two people.

9. BREAD AND FRUIT PUDDING.

Line a pudding-basin with slices of bread from which the crust has been removed. Take care to fit the slices together as closely and neatly as possible. Stew any juicy fruit in season with sugar to taste. Do not add water. (Blackcurrants or raspberries and redcurrants are best for this dish.) When done, fill up the basin with the boiling fruit. Top with slices of bread fitted well in. Leave until cold. Turn out and serve.

10. BLANC MANGE, AGAR-AGAR.

1/4 oz. prepared agar-agar, 1-1/2 pints milk, sugar, flavouring.

Soak a vanilla pod, cinnamon stick, or strip of fresh lemon rind in the cold milk until flavoured to taste. Add sugar to taste. Put in a saucepan with the agar-agar, and simmer until dissolved (about 30 minutes). Pour through a hot strainer into wet mould. Turn out when cold.

11. CHOCOLATE JELLY.

1/4 oz. prepared agar-agar, 2 sticks chocolate, 1-1/2 pints milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, vanilla flavouring.

Soak a vanilla pod in the cold milk for 2 hours. Soak the agar-agar in cold water for half an hour. Squeeze water out and pull to pieces. Put it into saucepan with 1 gill milk and 1/2 gill water. Stand on one side of stove and let simmer very gently until quite dissolved. Meanwhile, dissolve chocolate in rest of milk, adding the sugar. Pour the agar-agar into the boiling chocolate through a hot strainer. This is necessary as there is generally a little tough scum on the liquid. (If put through a cold strainer, the agar-agar will set as it goes through.) When jelly is quite cold, turn out and serve.

12. CORNFLOUR SHAPE.

Stew some juicy plums or apples slowly to a pulp with sugar to taste. If apples are used, add cloves or a little grated lemon rind for flavouring. To every pint of fruit pulp allow a level tablespoon of cornflour. Dissolve the cornflour in a little cold water and stir into the boiling apple. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring all the time. Pour into a wet mould. Turn out and serve when cold.

13. CUSTARD, BOILED.

1 pint milk, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon castor sugar, flavouring.

Put some thin strips of the yellow part of a lemon rind, or a vanilla pod, in the cold milk. Allow to stand 1 hour or more. Then take out the peel, add the sugar, and put over the fire in a double saucepan, if possible. Bring to the boil. Beat the eggs. Take the milk off the fire, let it stop boiling, and pour it slowly into the eggs, beating all the time. Put back into the saucepan over a slow fire and stir until the mixture thickens (about 20 minutes).

14. CUSTARD, HOGAN.

1 qt. milk, 8 eggs, 12 lumps sugar, 1 large tablespoon cornflour.

Flavour milk as in Boiled Custard. Put nearly all the milk and all the sugar into a 3-pint jug and stand in a saucepan of boiling water. While this is heating beat the eggs in one basin, and mix the cornflour with the remainder of the milk in another. Add the eggs to hot milk, stirring all the time, and finally add the cornflour. Stir until the mixture thickens (about 20 minutes).

15. DATE PUDDING.

This recipe is inserted especially for those who object to the use of manufactured sugar.

1/2 lb. "Ixion" plain wholemeal biscuits, 1/2 lb. dates, 2 ozs. nutter, 1 heaped tablespoon wholemeal flour, grated rind of 2 lemons, water.

Grind the biscuits to flour in the food-chopper. Wash, stone, and chop the dates. Grate off the yellow part of the lemon rinds. Rub the nutter into the biscuit-powder. Add dates, lemon peel, and flour. Mix with enough water to make a paste stiff enough for the spoon to just stand up in alone. Be very particular about this, as the tendency is to add rather too little than too much water, owing to the biscuit-powder absorbing it more slowly. Put into a greased pudding-basin or mould. Steam or boil for 5 hours. "Ixion Kornules" may be used instead of the biscuits, if preferred. They save the labour of grinding, but they need soaking for an hour in cold water before using. Well squeeze, add the other ingredients, and moisten with the water squeezed from the kornules.

Another method.—Use the recipe for Plum Pudding, leaving out all the dried fruit, almonds and sugar, substituting in their place 1 lb. dates or figs.

16. FIG PUDDING.

Use the recipe for Date Pudding, substituting for the dates washed chopped figs.

17. JAM ROLL, BOILED.

Make a short crust, roll out, spread with home-made jam, roll up, carefully fastening ends, and tie loosely in a floured pudding-cloth. Put into fast-boiling water and boil for 1 hour.

18. JAM ROLL, BAKED.

Mix the paste for the crust just a little stiffer than for the boiled pudding. Spread with jam and roll up. Bake on a greased tin for half-an-hour.

19. MILK PUDDINGS.

Nearly every housewife makes milk puddings, but only one in a hundred can make them properly. When cooked, the grains should be quite soft and encased with a rich thick cream. Failure to produce this result simply indicates that the pudding has been cooked too quickly, or that the proportion of grain to milk is too large.

Allow 2 level tablespoons, not a grain more, of cereal (rice, sago, semolina, tapioca) and 1 level tablespoon sugar to every pint of milk. Put in a pie-dish with a vanilla pod or some strips of lemon rind, and stand for an hour in a warm place, on the hob for example. Then take out the pod or peel and put into a fairly hot oven. As soon as the pudding boils, stir it well, and move to a cooler part of the oven. It should now cook very slowly for 2 hours.

20. JELLY, ORANGE.

7 juicy oranges, 1 lemon, 6 ozs. lump sugar, water, 1/4 oz. prepared agar-agar.

Rub the skins of the oranges and lemons well with some of the lumps of sugar, and squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemon. Soak the agar-agar in cold water for half an hour and then thoroughly squeeze. Warm in 1 gill of water until dissolved. Put the fruit juice, agar-agar, and enough water to make the liquid up to 1-1/2 pints, into a saucepan. Bring to the boil.

Pour through a hot strainer into a wet mould. Turn out when cold. If difficult to turn out, stand the mould in a basin of warm water for 2 or 3 seconds.

21. JELLY, RASPBERRY & CURRANT.

1 lb. raspberries, 1/2 lb. currants, 6 ozs. sugar, 1/4 oz. prepared agar-agar, 3/4 pint water.

Soak agar-agar as for Orange Jelly. Cook fruit with 1/2 pint water until well done. Strain through muslin. Warm the agar-agar until dissolved in 1 gill of water. Put the fruit juice, sugar, and agar-agar into a saucepan. If liquid measures less than 1-1/2 pints, add enough water to make up quantity. Bring to the boil, pour through a hot strainer into wet mould. Turn out when cold and serve.

22. MINCEMEAT.

1/2 lb. raisins, 1/2 lb. sultanas, 1/2 lb. currants, 1/2 lb. castor sugar, 1/4 lb. nutter, 1/2 a nutmeg, grated rind of 2 lemons, 1-1/2 lb. apples.

Well wash all the dried fruit in warm water, and allow to dry thoroughly before using. Stone the raisins, pick the sultanas, and rub the currants in a cloth to remove stalks. Wash and core the apples, but do not peel them. Put all the fruit and apple through a fine food-chopper. Add the sugar, grated lemon rind, and nutmeg. Lastly, melt the nutter and add. Stir the mixture well, put it into clean jars, and tie down with parchment covers until needed for mince pies.

23. NUT PASTRY.

Flake brazil nuts or pine-kernels in a nut mill, or chop very finely by hand. Do not put them through the food-chopper, as this pulps them together, and the pudding will be heavy. Allow 1 heaped cup of flaked nuts to 2 level cups of flour. Mix to a paste with cold water. Roll out very lightly. Cover with chopped apple and sugar, or apples and sultanas, or jam. Roll up. Tie loosely in a floured pudding-cloth. Put into fast-boiling water and boil for 1 hour.

24. PLAIN PUDDING.

1 lb. flour, 3 ozs. nutter, a full 1/2 pint water.

Rub the nutter very lightly into the flour, or chop like suet and mix in. Add the water gradually, and mix well. Put into a pudding-basin, and boil or steam for 3 hours. Turn out and serve with golden syrup, lemon sauce or jam.

25. PLUM PUDDING, CHRISTMAS.

1/2 lb. raisins, 1/2 lb. sultanas, 1/2 lb. currants, 1/2 lb. cane sugar, 1/2 lb. flour, 1/4 lb. sweet almonds, 1/4 lb. grated carrot, 1/4 lb. grated apple, 1/4 lb. nutter, grated rind of 2 lemons, 1/2 a nutmeg.

Well wash the raisins, sultanas and currants in hot water. Don't imagine that this will deprive them of their goodness. The latter is all inside the skin. What comes off from the outside is dirt, and a mixture of syrup and water through which they have been passed to improve their appearance. Rub the currants in a cloth to get off the stalks, pick the stalks from the sultanas, and stone the raisins. Put the currants and sultanas in a basin, just barely cover them with water, cover them with a plate, and put into a warm oven—until they have fully swollen, when the water should be all absorbed. (Currants treated in this way will not disagree with the most delicate child. They are abominations if not so treated.) Rub the nutter into the flour, or chop it as you would suet. Blanch the almonds by steeping them in boiling water for a few minutes: the skins may then be easily removed; chop very finely, or put through a mincer. Wash, core, and mince (but do not peel) the apples. Grate off the yellow part of the lemon rind. Mince or grate the carrots.

Mix together the flour, nutter, sugar, lemon rind, almonds and nutmeg. Then add the raisins, sultanas and currants. Lastly, add the grated carrot and apple, taking care not to lose any of the juice. Don't add any other moisture. If the directions have been exactly followed, it will be moist enough. Put it into pudding-basins or tin moulds greased with nutter, and boil or steam for 8 hours.

26. RAILWAY PUDDING.

2 eggs, 1 oz. butter, 3 ozs. flour, 2 ozs. castor sugar, 2 tablespoons milk.

Beat the butter and sugar to a cream. Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. Beat the yolks, and add to sugar and butter. Add the flour, and lastly, stir in the whites, whisked to a froth, very gently. Have ready a hot, greased tin, pour in the mixture quickly, and bake in a very hot oven from 6 to 8 minutes. Warm some jam in a small saucepan. Slip the pudding out of the tin on to a paper sprinkled with castor sugar. Spread with jam quickly and roll up. Serve hot or cold.

27. SAGO SHAPE.

5 ozs. small sago, sugar to taste, 1-1/2 pints water, or water and fruit juice.

Wash the sago. Soak it for 4 hours. Strain off the water. Add to the strainings enough water or the juice from stewed fruit to make 1-1/2 pints liquid. Sweeten if necessary, but if the juice from stewed fruit is used it will probably be sweet enough. This dish is spoiled if made too sweet. Put the sago and 1-1/2 pints liquid into a saucepan and stew for 20 minutes. Now add the stewed fruit which you deprived of its juice, stir well, pour into a wet mould, and serve cold. Made with water only, and flavoured with a very little sugar and lemon peel, it may be served with stewed fruit.

28. SUMMER PUDDING.

Put a layer of sponge cake at the bottom of a glass dish. Cut up a tinned pine-apple (get the pine-apple chunks if possible) and fill dish, first pouring a little of the juice over the cake. Melt a very little agar-agar in the rest of the juice. (Allow half the 1/4 oz. to a pint of juice.) Pour over the mixture. Serve when cold.

29. TREACLE PUDDING.

Line a pudding-basin with short crust. Mix together in another basin some good cane golden syrup, enough bread-crumbs to thicken it, and some grated lemon rind. Put a layer of this mixture at the bottom of the pudding-basin, cover with a layer of pastry, follow with a layer of the mixture, and so on, until the basin is full. Top with a layer of pastry, tie on a floured pudding-cloth, and boil or steam for 3 hours.

30. TRIFLE, SIMPLE.

Put a layer of sponge cake at the bottom of a glass dish. Better still, use sections of good home-made jam sandwich. Pour hot boiled custard on to this until the cake is barely covered. Blanch some sweet almonds, and cut into strips. Stick these into the top of the cake until it somewhat resembles the back of a hedgehog! Serve when cold.



X.—CAKES AND BISCUITS.

Cakes need a hot oven for the first half-hour.

If possible, they should not be moved from one shelf to another, but the oven should be cooled gradually by opening the ventilators or lowering the gas. A moderate oven is needed to finish the cooking.

All fruit cakes (unless weighing less than 1 lb.) need to be baked from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The larger the cake the slower should be the baking.

The cake tins should be lined with greased paper.

If a gas oven is used, stand the cake tin on a sand tin (see Cold Water Bread).

If the cake becomes sufficiently brown on top before it is cooked through, cover with a greased paper to prevent burning.

To test if done, dip a clean knife into hot water. Thrust it gently down the centre of cake. If done, the knife will come out clean and bright.

1. CAKE MIXTURE.

1/4 lb. butter, 1/4 lb. castor sugar, 6 ozs. flour, 2 eggs.

Half butter and half nutter gives just as good results and is more economical.

Beat together the butter and sugar to a cream. Whisk the eggs to a stiff froth and add. Stir in the flour gently. Mix well. Add a little milk if mixture is too stiff. This makes a Madeira Cake.

For other varieties, mix with the flour 1 dessertspoon caraway seeds for Seed Cake; 2 tablespoons desiccated cocoanut for Cocoanut Cake; 6 ozs. candied cherries chopped in halves for Cherry Cake; 6 ozs. sultanas and the grated rind of 1 lemon for Sultana Cake; the grated yellow part of 2 lemon rinds for Lemon Cake.

2. SMALL CAKES.

Take 2 small eggs and half quantities of the ingredients given for the cake mixture. Add the grated rind of half a lemon for flavouring. Grease a tin for small cakes with 9 depressions. Put a spoonful of the mixture in each depression. Bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven.

3. COCOANUT BISCUITS.

1/2 lb. desiccated cocoanut, 1/4 lb. sugar, 2 small eggs.

Proceed as for Macaroons, but make the cakes smaller. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour.

4. "CORN WINE AND OIL" CAKES.

1 lb. wholemeal flour, 3/4 lb. raisins, 4 tablespoons walnut oil, 1/4 pint water.

This recipe was especially concocted for non-users of milk and eggs. Stir the oil well into the flour. Add the washed and stoned raisins (or seedless raisins, or sultanas). Mix to a dough with the water. Divide dough into two portions. Roll out, form into rounds, and cut each round into 6 small scones. Bake in a hot oven for half an hour.

5. CURRANT SANDWICH.

8 ozs. butter, 1 lb. flour, 1/4 lb. cane sugar, currants.

Mix flour and sugar, and rub in the butter. Mix with water to plastic dough. Divide dough into two cakes, 1 inch in thickness. Cover one evenly with currants, lay the other on top, and roll out to the thickness of one-third of an inch. Cut into sections, and bake in a hot oven for about 30 minutes.

6. APPLE SANDWICH.

Make a short crust (see recipe). Well grease some shallow jam sandwich tins. Roll out the paste very thin and line with it the tins. Peel, core, and finely chop some good, juicy apples. Spread well all over the paste. Sprinkle with castor sugar and grated lemon rind. Cover with another layer of thin paste. Bake for about 20 minutes in a hot oven. When done, take carefully out of the tin to cool. Cut into wedges, sprinkle with castor sugar, and pile on a plate.

7. FANCY BISCUITS.

8 ozs. flour, 4 ozs. butter, or 3 ozs. butter and 1 egg, 4 ozs. cane sugar, flavouring.

Flavouring may consist of lemon rind, desiccated cocoanut, cooked currants, carraway seed, mace, ginger, etc. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add flavouring and flour. Mix with the beaten egg, if used; it not, treat like the Lemon Short Cake. Roll out, cut into shapes, and bake about 10 minutes.

8. GINGER NUTS.

1/2 lb. nutter, 1/2 lb. sugar, 1 pint molasses or golden syrup, 1/2 oz. ground cloves and all-spice mixed, 2 tablespoons cinnamon, flour to form dough.

Beat the nutter and sugar together; add the molasses, spice, etc., and just enough flour to form a plastic dough. Knead well, roll out, cut into small biscuits, and bake on oiled or floured tins in a very moderate oven.

9. JAM SANDWICH.

Mix ingredients and prepare 2 jam sandwich tins as for Sponge Cake (see recipe). Pour mixture in tins and bake for about 10 minutes in a hot oven. Take out, spread one round with warmed jam, place the other on top, and cut when cold.

10. LEMON SHORT CAKE.

1 lb. flour, 7 ozs. nutter, 1/4 lb. sugar, rind of 1 lemon.

Mix together nutter and sugar, add grated lemon rind, work in flour, and knead well. Press into sheets about 1/2 in. thick. Prick all over. Bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes.

An easy way of baking for the inexpert cook who may find it difficult to avoid breaking the sheets, is to well grease a shallow jam-sandwich tin, sprinkle it well with castor sugar, as for sponge cakes, and press the short cake into it, well smoothing the top with a knife, and, lastly, pricking it.

II. MACAROONS. 5 ozs. sweet almonds, 5 ozs. castor sugar, 2 eggs.

Blanch the almonds and flake them in a nut mill. Whisk the eggs to a stiff froth adding the sugar a teaspoonful at a time. Add the almonds, and stir lightly. Drop the mixture, a dessertspoon at a time, on to well-oiled paper, or, better still, rice-paper. Shape with a knife into small cakes and put the half of a blanched almond into the centre of each. Bake in a moderate oven.

12. SPONGE CAKE.

Take the weight of two eggs in castor sugar and flour.

For a richer cake take the weight of two eggs in sugar and the weight of one only in flour.

Well grease the cake-tin, and sprinkle with castor sugar until thoroughly covered, and shake out any that remains loose.

Well whisk the eggs with a coiled wire beater. They must be quite stiff when done. Add the sugar, a teaspoon at a time, while whisking. Or separate the yolks and whites, beating the yolks and sugar together and whisking the whites on a plate with a knife before adding to the yolks. Lastly, dredge in the flour. Stir lightly, but do not beat, or the eggs will go down. Pour mixture into tin, and bake about one hour in a moderate oven.

13. SULTANA SCONES.

1 oz. cane sugar, 3 ozs. nutter, 1 lb. flour, 1/4 lb. sultanas, a short 1/2 pint water.

Mix the flour and sugar; rub in the nutter; add sultanas; make it into a dough with the water; roll out about 1/2 in. thick; form into scones; bake in a moderate oven.

14. SUSSEX CAKE.

1 lb. flour, 6 ozs. nutter, 1/4 lb. sultanas, 1/4 lb. castor sugar, grated lemon rind.

This cake is included especially for the non-users of milk and eggs. Of course it does not turn out quite like the orthodox cake; some people might even call it "puddeny," but it is not by any means unlike the substantial household cake if the directions are minutely followed and the baking well done. But if any attempt is made to make it rich, disaster follows, and it becomes as heavy as the proverbial lead. Made as follows, however, I am told it is quite common in some country places:—Beat the nutter and sugar to a cream. Upon the amount of air incorporated during this beating depends the lightness of the cake. Beat the flour into the creamed nutter. Now add enough water to make cake of a consistency to not quite drop off the spoon. Put the mixture into a greased hot qr. qtn. tin. Put in a very hot oven until nicely brown. This will take from 20 minutes to half an hour. Cover top with greased paper, and allow oven to get slightly cooler. The baking will take from 1-1/2 to 2 hours.



XI.—JAM, MARMALADE, &c.

Jam simply consists of fresh fruit boiled with a half to two-thirds its weight of white cane sugar until the mixture jellies.

Nearly every housekeeper has her own recipe for jam. One that I know of uses a whole pound of sugar to a pound of fruit and boils it for nearly two hours. The result is a very stiff, sweet jam, much more like shop jam than home-made jam. Its only recommendation is that it will keep for an unlimited time. Some recipes include water. But unless distilled water can be procured, it is better not to dilute the fruit. The only advantage gained is an increase of bulk. The jam may be made just as liquid by using rather less sugar in proportion to the fruit. A delicious jam is made by allowing 1/2 lb. sugar to every pound of fruit and cooking for half an hour from the time it first begins to boil. But unless this is poured immediately into clean, hot, dry jars, and tied down very tightly with parchment covers, it will not keep. Nevertheless, too much sugar spoils the flavour of the fruit, and too long boiling spoils the quality of the sugar. A copper or thick enamelled iron pan is needed.

The best recipe for ordinary use allows 3/4 lb. sugar to each pound fruit. Put the fruit in the pan with a little of the sugar, and when this boils, add the rest. Boil rather quickly for an hour. Keep well skimmed. Pour into hot, dry jars, and cover.

1. FRUIT NUT FILLING.

For small, open tarts, the following mixture is a good substitute for the lemon curd that goes to make cheese cakes. Peel, core and quarter some juicy apples. Put in a double saucepan (or covered jar) with some strips of lemon peel (yellow part only) and cane sugar to taste. Cook slowly to a pulp and, when cold, remove the lemon rind. Grate finely, or mill some Brazil nuts. Mix apple pulp and ground nut together in such proportions as to make a mixture of the consistency of stiff jam. Fill tarts with mixture and sprinkle top with ground nut. It must be used the same day as made.

2. JAM WITHOUT SUGAR.

To every pound of fresh fruit allow 1/2 lb. dates. Wash the fruit, put it in the preserving pan, and heat slowly, stirring well to draw out the juice. Wash and stone the dates. Add to the fruit, and simmer very gently for 45 minutes. Put immediately into clean, hot, dry jars, and tie on parchment covers at once.