Mary Eaton
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families

INTRODUCTION

Nothing is more obvious, than that experience purchased by the sacrifice of independence is bought at too dear a rate. Yet this is the only consolation which remains to many females, while sitting on the ashes of a ruined fortune, and piercing themselves with the recollection of the numerous imprudencies into which they have been led, simply for the want of better information. Not because there is any want of valuable publications, for in the present age they abound; but rather because they contain such a variety of superfluous articles, and are too indiscriminate to become generally useful. A young female, just returned from the hymeneal altar, is ready to exclaim on the first perusal, as the philosopher did who visited the metropolis, 'How many things are here which I do not want!' The volume when purchased is often found to contain what is only or chiefly adapted to those who live in "king's houses," or "who fare sumptuously every day."

Indeed, it has been the failing of most works of this nature, that they have either been too contracted, or too diffuse; detailed what was unnecessary, or treated superficially what was in fact of most consequence to the great bulk of mankind. If it be objected to the present work, that it exhibits nothing new; that the experiments are founded upon the simplest rules of nature; that most of the things have been rehearsed in various forms; it is not necessary to deny or to conceal the fact, every other consideration having been subordinated to one leading object, and that is general utility. It is but justice however to add, that many of the articles are perfectly original, having been extracted from a variety of unpublished manuscripts, obligingly and expressly furnished in aid of the present undertaking. A great number of outlandish articles are intentionally omitted, as well as a farrago of French trifles and French nonsense, in order to render the work truly worthy of the patronage of the genuine English housekeeper.

It may also fairly be presumed, that the superior advantages of the present work will immediately be recognized, not only as comprehending at once the whole theory of Domestic Management, but in a form never before attempted, and which of all others is best adapted to facilitate the acquisition of useful knowledge. The alphabetical arrangement presented in the following sheets, pointing out at once the article necessary to be consulted, prevents the drudgery of going through several pages in order to find it, and supplies by its convenience and universal adaptation, the desideratum so long needed in this species of composition.

Importance of Domestic Habits and Acquirements

Though domestic occupations do not stand so high in the general esteem as they formerly did, there are none of greater importance in social life, and none when neglected that produce a larger portion of human misery. There was a time when ladies knew nothing beyond their own family concerns; but in the present day there are many who know nothing about them. If a young person has been sent to a fashionable boarding-school, it is ten to one, when she returns home, whether she can mend her own stockings, or boil a piece of meat, or do any thing more than preside over the flippant ceremonies of the tea-table. Each extreme ought to be avoided, and care taken to unite in the female character, the cultivation of talents and habits of usefulness. In every department those are entitled to the greatest praise, who best acquit themselves of the duties which their station requires, and this it is that gives true dignity to character. Happily indeed there are still great numbers in every situation, whose example combines in a high degree the ornamental with the useful. Instances may be found of ladies in the higher walks of life, who condescend to examine the accounts of their servants and housekeepers; and by overseeing and wisely directing the expenditure of that part of their husband's income which falls under their own inspection, avoid the inconveniences of embarrassed circumstances. How much more necessary then is domestic knowledge in those whose limited fortunes press on their attention considerations of the strictest economy. There ought to be a material difference in the degree of care which a person of a large and independent estate bestows on money concerns, and that of one in inferior circumstances: yet both may very commendably employ some portion of their time and thoughts on this subject. The custom of the times tends in some measure to abolish the distinctions in rank, the education given to young people being nearly the same in all. But though the leisure of the higher sort may very well be devoted to different accomplishments, the pursuits of those in a middle sphere, if less ornamental, would better secure their own happiness, and that of others connected with them. We sometimes bring up children in a manner calculated rather to fit them for the station we wish, than that which it is likely they will actually possess; and it is in all cases worth the while of parents to consider whether the expectation or hope of raising their offspring above their own situation be well founded. There is no opportunity of attaining a knowledge of family management at school, certainly; and during vacations, all subjects that might interfere with amusement are avoided. The consequence is, when a girl in the higher ranks returns home after completing her education, her introduction to the gay world, and a continued course of pleasures, persuade her at once that she was born to be the ornament of fashionable circles, rather than descend to the management of family concerns, though by that means she might in various ways increase the comfort and satisfaction of her parents. On the other hand, persons of an inferior sphere, and especially in the lower order of middling life, are almost always anxious to give their children such advantages of education as they themselves did not possess. Whether their indulgence be productive of the happiness so kindly aimed at, must be judged by the effects, which are not very favourable if what has been taught has not produced humility in herself, and increased gratitude and respect to her parents. Were a young woman brought to relish home society, and the calm delights of an easy and agreeable occupation, before she entered into the delusive scenes of pleasure, presented by the theatre and other dissipations, it is probable she would soon make a comparison much in favour of the former, especially if restraint did not give to the latter an additional relish.

If our observations were extended to the marriage state, we should find a life of employment to be the source of unnumbered pleasures. To attend to the nursing, and at least the early instruction of children, and rear a healthy progeny in the ways of piety and usefulness; to preside over the family, and regulate the income allotted to its maintenance; to make home the agreeable retreat of a husband, fatigued by intercourse with a bustling world; to be his enlightened companion, and the chosen friend of his heart; these, these are woman's duties, and her highest honour. And when it is thus evident that high intellectual attainments may find room for their exercise in the multifarious occupations of the daughter, the wife, the mother, the mistress of the house; no one can reasonably urge that the female mind is contracted by domestic employ. It is however a great comfort that the duties of life are within the reach of humbler abilities, and that she whose chief aim it is to fulfil them, will very rarely fail to acquit herself well.

Domestic Expenditure

The mistress of a family should always remember, that the welfare and good management of the house depend on the eye of the superior; and consequently that nothing is too trifling for her notice, whereby waste may be avoided. If a lady has never been accustomed while single to think of family management, let her not on that account fear that she cannot attain it. She may consult others who are experienced, and acquaint herself with the necessary quantities of the several articles of family expenditure, in proportion to the number it consists of, together with the value of the articles it may be necessary to procure. A minute account of the annual income, and the times of payment, should be taken in writing; likewise an estimate of the supposed amount of each item of expense. Those who are early accustomed to calculations of this kind, will acquire so accurate a knowledge of what their establishment demands, as will suggest the happy medium between prodigality and parsimony, without in the least subjecting themselves to the charge of meanness.

Few branches of female education are so useful as great readiness at figures, though nothing is more commonly neglected. Accounts should be regularly kept, and not the smallest item be omitted to be entered. If balanced every week, or month at longest, the income and outgoings will easily be ascertained, and their proportions to each other be duly observed. Some people fix on stated sums to be appropriated to each different article, and keep the money separate for that purpose; as house, clothes, pocket, education of children, &c. Whichever way accounts be entered, a certain mode should be adopted, and strictly adhered to. Many women are unfortunately ignorant of the state of their husband's income; and others are only made acquainted with it when some speculative project, or profitable transaction, leads them to make a false estimate of what can be afforded. It too often happens also that both parties, far from consulting each other, squander money in ways that they would even wish to forget: whereas marriage should be a state of mutual and perfect confidence, with a similarity of pursuits, which would secure that happiness it was intended to bestow.

There are so many valuable women who excel as wives, that it is fair to infer there would be few extravagant ones, if they were consulted by their husbands on subjects that concern the mutual interest of both parties. Many families have been reduced to poverty by the want of openness in the man, on the subject of his affairs; and though on these occasions the women are generally blamed, it has afterwards appeared that they never were allowed to make particular enquiries, nor suffered to reason upon what sometimes appeared to them imprudent. Many families have fully as much been indebted to the propriety of female management, for the degree of prosperity they have enjoyed, as to the knowledge and activity of the husband and the father.

Ready money should be paid for all such things as come not into weekly bills, and even for them some sort of check is necessary. The best places for purchasing goods should also be attended to. On some articles a discount of five per cent is allowed in London and other large cities, and those who thus pay are usually best served. Under an idea of buying cheap, many go to new shops; but it is safest to deal with people of established credit, who do not dispose of goods by underselling. To make tradesmen wait for their money is very injurious, besides that a higher price must be paid: and in long bills, articles never bought are often charged. If goods are purchased at ready-money price, and regularly entered, the exact state of the expenditure will be known with ease; for it is delay of payment that occasions so much confusion. A common-place book should always be at hand, in which to enter such hints of useful knowledge, and other observations, as are given by sensible experienced people. Want of attention to what is advised, or supposing things to be too minute to be worth regarding, are the causes why so much ignorance prevails on necessary subjects, among those who are not backward in frivolous ones.

It is very necessary for the mistress of a family to be informed of the price and quality of all articles in common use, and of the best times and places for purchasing them. She should also be acquainted with the comparative prices of provisions, in order that she may be able to substitute those that are most reasonable, when they will answer as well, for others of the same kind, but which are more costly. A false notion of economy leads many to purchase as bargains, what is not wanted, and sometimes never is used. Were this error avoided, more money would remain of course for other purposes. It is not unusual among lower dealers to put off a larger quantity of goods, by assurances that they are advancing in price; and many who supply fancy articles are so successful in persuasion, that purchasers not unfrequently go beyond their original intention, and suffer inconvenience by it. Some things are certainly better for keeping, and should be laid in accordingly; but this applies only to articles in constant consumption. Unvarying rules cannot be given, for people ought to form their conduct on their circumstances. Some ladies charge their account with giving out to a superintending servant such quantities of household articles, as by observation and calculation they know to be sufficient, reserving for their own key the large stock of things usually laid in for extensive families in the country. Should there be more visitors than usual, they can easily account for an increased consumption, and vice versa. Such a degree of judgment will be respectable even in the eye of domestics, if not interested in the ignorance of their employers; and if they are, their services will not compensate the want of honesty.

A bill of parcels and receipt should be required, even if the money be paid at the time of purchase; and to avoid mistakes, let the goods be compared with these when brought home. Though it is very disagreeable to suspect any one's honesty, and perhaps mistakes are often unintentional; yet it is proper to weigh meat and grocery articles when brought in, and compare them with the charge. The butcher should be ordered to send the weight with the meat, and the checks regularly filed and examined. A ticket should be exchanged for every loaf of bread, which when returned will shew the number to be paid for, as tallies may be altered, unless one is kept by each party. Those who are served with brewer's beer, or any other articles not paid for weekly or on delivery, should keep a book for entering the dates: which will not only serve to prevent overcharges, but will show the whole year's consumption at one view. `Poole's complete Housekeeper's Account book,' is very well adapted to this purpose.

An inventory of furniture, linen, and china, should be kept, and the things examined by it twice a year, or oftener if there be a change of servants; into each of whose care the articles are to be entrusted, with a list, the same as is done with plate. Tickets of parchment with the family name, numbered, and specifying what bed it belongs to, should be sewed on each feather bed, bolster, pillow, and blanket. Knives, forks, and house cloths are often deficient: these accidents might be obviated, if an article at the head of every list required the former to be produced whole or broken, and the marked part of the linen, though all the others should be worn out. Glass is another article that requires care, though a tolerable price is given for broken flint-glass. Trifle dishes, butter stands, &c. may be had at a lower price than cut glass, made in moulds, of which there is a great variety that look extremely well, if not placed near the more beautiful articles.

Choice and Treatment of Servants

The regularity and good management of a family will very much depend on the character of the servants who are employed in it, and frequently one of base and dishonest principles will corrupt and ruin all the rest. No orders, however wise or prudent, will be duly carried into effect, unless those who are to execute them are to be depended on. It behoves every mistress therefore to be extremely careful whom she takes into her service; to be very minute in investigating character, and equally cautious and scrupulously just in giving recommendations of others. Were this attended to, many bad people would be incapacitated for doing mischief, by abusing the trust reposed in them. It may fairly be asserted that the robbery, or waste, which is only a milder term for the unfaithfulness of a servant, will be laid to the charge of that master or mistress, who knowing or having well-founded suspicions of such faults, is prevailed upon by false pity, or entreaty, to slide such servant into another place. There are however some who are unfortunately capricious, and often refuse to give a character because they are displeased with the servant leaving; but this is an unpardonable violation of the right of a servant, who having no inheritance, is dependant on her fair name for employment. To refuse countenance to the evil, and to encourage the good servant, are equally due to society at large; and such as are honest, frugal, and attentive to their duties, should be liberally rewarded, which would encourage merit, and stimulate servants to acquit themselves with propriety. The contrary conduct is often visited with a kind of retributive justice in the course of a few years. The extravagant and idle in servitude are ill prepared for the industry and sobriety on which their own future welfare so essentially depends. Their faults, and the attendant punishment come home, when they have children of their own; and sometimes much sooner. They will see their own folly and wickedness perpetuated in their offspring, whom they must not expect to be better than the example and instruction given by themselves. Those who have been faithful and industrious in service, will generally retain those habits in their own families, after they are married; while those who have borne an opposite character are seldom successful in the world, but more frequently reduced to beggary and want.

It is in general a good maxim, to select servants not younger than thirty. Before that age, however comfortable you may endeavour to make them, their want of experience, and the hope of something still better, prevent their being satisfied with their present state. After they have had the benefit of experience, if they are tolerably comfortable, they will endeavour to deserve the smiles of even a moderately kind master or mistress, for fear they may change for the worse. Life may indeed be very fairly divided into the seasons of hope and fear. In youth, we hope every thing may be right: in age, we fear that every thing may be wrong. At any rate it is desirable to engage a good and capable servant, for one of this description eats no more than a bad one. Considering also how much waste is occasioned by provisions being dressed in a slovenly and unskilful manner, and how much a good cook, to whom the conduct of the kitchen is confided, can save by careful management, it is clearly expedient to give better wages for one of this description, than to obtain a cheaper article which in the end will inevitably become more expensive. It is likewise a point of prudence to invite the honesty and industry of domestics, by setting them an example of liberality in this way; nothing is more likely to convince them of the value that is attached to talent and good behaviour, or to bind them to the interest of those whom they are engaged to serve. The office of the cook especially is attended with so many difficulties, so many disgusting and disagreeable circumstances, and even dangers, in order to procure us one of the greatest enjoyments of human life, that it is but justice to reward her attention and services, by rendering her situation every way as comfortable as we can. Those who think, that to protect and encourage virtue is the best preventive to vice, should give their female servants liberal wages. How else can they provide themselves the necessary articles of clothing, and save a little to help themselves in a time of a sickness, when out of place, or amidst the infirmities of age. The want of liberality and of justice in this respect is a principal source of the distress and of the degradation to which multitudes of females are reduced, and who are driven at length to seek an asylum in Foundling Hospitals and Female Penitentiaries.

Good wages however are not all that a faithful servant requires; kind treatment is of far greater consequence. Human nature is the same in all stations. If you can convince your servants that you have a generous and considerate regard for their health and comfort, there is no reason to imagine that they will be insensible to the good they receive. Be careful therefore to impose no commands but what are reasonable, nor reprove but with justice and temper; the best way to ensure which is, not to lecture them till at least one day after the offence has been committed. If they have any particular hardship to endure in service, let them see that you are concerned for the necessity of imposing it. Servants are more likely to be praised into good conduct, than scolded out of bad behaviour. Always commend them when they do right; and to cherish in them the desire of pleasing, it is proper to show them that you are pleased. By such conduct ordinary servants will often be converted into good ones, and there are few so hardened as not to feel gratified when they are kindly and liberally treated. At the same time avoid all approaches to familiarity, which to a proverb is accompanied with contempt, and soon destroys the principle of obedience.

When servants are sick, you are to remember that you are their patron, as well as their master or mistress; not only remit their labour, but give them all the assistance of food and physic, and every comfort in your power. Tender assiduity about an invalid is half a cure; it is a balsam to the mind, which has the most powerful effect on the body; it soothes the sharpest pains, and strengthens beyond the richest cordial. The practice of some persons in sending home poor servants to a miserable cottage, or to a workhouse, in time of illness, hoping for their services if they should happen to recover, while they contribute nothing towards it, is contrary to every principle of justice and humanity. Particular attention ought to be paid to the health of the cook, not only for her own sake, but also because healthiness and cleanliness are essential to the duties of her office, and to the wholesomeness of the dishes prepared by her hand. Besides the deleterious vapours of the charcoal, which soon undermine the health of the heartiest person, the cook has to endure the glare of a scorching fire, and the smoke, so baneful to the complexion and the eyes; so that she is continually surrounded with inevitable dangers, while her most commendable achievements pass not only without reward, but frequently without even thanks. The most consummate cook is seldom noticed by the master, or heard of by the guests, who, while they eagerly devour his dainties, and drink his wine, care very little who dressed the one or sent the other. The same observations apply to the kitchen maid or second cook, who have in large families the hardest place, and are worse paid, verifying the old proverb, 'the more work the less wages.' If there be any thing right, the cook has the praise, when any praise is given: if any thing be wrong, the kitchen maid has the blame. For this humble domestic is expected by the cook to take the entire management of all roasts and boils, fish and vegetables, which together constitute the principal part of an Englishman's dinner. The master or mistress who wishes to enjoy the rare luxury of a table well served in the best stile, should treat the cook as a friend; should watch over her health with peculiar care, and be sure that her taste does not suffer, by her stomach being deranged by bilious attacks. A small proportion of that attention usually bestowed on a favourite horse, or even a dog, would suffice to regulate her animal system. Cleanliness, and a proper ventilation to carry off smoke and steam, should be particularly attended to in the construction of a kitchen. The grand scene of action, the fire-place, should be placed where it may receive plenty of light. Too often the contrary practice has prevailed, and the poor cook is continually basted with her own perspiration; but a good state of health can never be preserved under such circumstances.

Necessity of Order and Regularity

No family can be properly managed, where the strictest order and regularity is not observed. 'A house divided against itself cannot stand;' and if the direction of its affairs be left to accident or chance, it will be equally fatal to its comfort and prosperity. It is the part of a prudent manager to see all that is doing, and to foresee and direct all that should be done. The weakest capacity can perceive what is wrong after it has occurred; but discernment and discretion are necessary to anticipate and prevent confusion and disorder, by a well-regulated system of prompt and vigorous management. If time be wisely economised, and the useful affairs transacted before amusements are allowed, and a regular plan of employment be daily laid down, a great deal may be done without hurry or fatigue. The retrospect would also be most pleasant at the end of the year, to be able to enumerate all the valuable acquirements made, and the just and benevolent actions performed, under the active and energetic management of the mistress of a family. As highly conducive to this end, early and regular hours should be kept in the evening, and an early hour especially for breakfast in the morning. There will then be more time to execute the orders that may be given, which in general should comprise the business of the day; and servants, by doing their work with ease, will be more equal to it, and fewer of them will be necessary. It is worthy of notice, that the general expense will be reduced, and much time saved, if every thing be kept in its proper place, applied to its proper use, and mended, when the nature of the accident will allow, as soon as broken or out of repair. A proper quantity of household articles should always be ready, and more bought in before the others are consumed, to prevent inconvenience, especially in the country. Much trouble and irregularity would be prevented when there is company to dinner, if the servants were required to prepare the table and sideboard in similar order daily. As some preparation is necessary for accidental visitors, care should be taken to have constantly in readiness a few articles suited to such occasions, which if properly managed will be attended with little expense, and much convenience.

Bad habit of keeping Spare Rooms

Though persons of large fortune may support an expensive establishment without inconvenience, it ill becomes those in the middle rank to imitate such an example. Nothing can be more ludicrous than the contrast exhibited between two families of this description; the one living in the dignified splendour, and with the liberal hospitality, that wealth can command; the other in a stile of tinsel show, without the real appropriate distinctions belonging to rank and fortune. They are lavish, but not liberal, often sacrificing independence to support dissipation, and betraying the dearest interests of society for the sake of personal vanity, and gratifying what is significantly termed 'the pride of life.'

The great point for comfort and respectability is, that all the household economy should be uniform, not displaying a parade of show in one thing, and a total want of comfort in another. Besides the contemptible appearance that this must have to every person of good sense, it is often productive of fatal consequences. How common it is, in large towns especially, that for the vanity of having a showy drawing-room to receive company, the family are confined to a close back room, where they have scarcely air or light, the want of which is essentially injurious to health. To keep rooms for show belongs to the higher classes, where the house is sufficiently commodious for the family, and to admit of this also: but in private dwellings, to shut up perhaps the only room that is fit to live in, is to be guilty of a kind of self-destruction; and yet how frequently this consideration escapes persons who are disposed to render their family every comfort, but they have a grate, a carpet, and chairs too fine for every day's use. What a reflection, when nursing a sick child, to think that it may be the victim of a bright grate, and a fine carpet! Or, what is equally afflicting, to see all the children perhaps rickety and diseased from the same cause! Keeping a spare bed for ornament, rather than for use, is often attended with similar consequences. A stranger or a friend is allowed to occupy it once in so many months, and he does it at the peril of his health, and even of his life.

Another bad effect of keeping spare rooms is the seeing more company, and in a more expensive manner, than is compatible with the general convenience of the family, introducing with it an expense in dress, and a dissipation of time, from which it suffers in various ways. Not the least of these is the neglect of parental instruction, which it is attempted to supply by sending the children at an improper age to school; the girls where they had better never go, and the boys where they get but little good, and perhaps are all the worse for mending. Social intercourse is not improved by parade, but quite the contrary; real friends, and the pleasantest kind of acquaintance, those who like to be social, are repulsed by it. The failure therefore is general, involving the loss of nearly all that is valuable in society, by an abortive attempt to become fashionable.

Setting out a Table

The direction of a Table is no inconsiderable part of a lady's concern, as it involves judgment in expenditure, respectability of appearance, the comfort of her husband, and those who partake of their hospitality. It is true that the mode of covering a table, and providing for the guests, is merely a matter of taste, materially different in a variety of instances; yet nothing can be more ruinous of real comfort than the too common custom of making a profusion and a parade, unsuited not only to the circumstances of the host, but to the number of the guests; or more fatal to true hospitality than the multiplicity of dishes which luxury has made fashionable at the tables of the great, the wealthy, and the ostentatious, who are often neither great, nor wealthy, nor wise. Such excessive preparation, instead of being a compliment to the party invited, is nothing better than an indirect offence, conveying a tacit insinuation that it is absolutely necessary to provide such delicacies to bribe the depravity of their palates, when we desire the pleasure of their company, and that society must be purchased on dishonourable terms before it can be enjoyed. When twice as much cooking is undertaken as there are servants, or conveniences in the kitchen to do it properly, dishes must be dressed long before the dinner hour, and stand by spoiling; and why prepare for eight or ten more than is sufficient for twenty or thirty visitors? 'Enough is as good as a feast;' and a prudent provider, avoiding what is extravagant and superfluous, may entertain her friends three times as often, and ten times as well.

Perhaps there are few incidents in which the respectability of a man is more immediately felt, than the style of dinner to which he may accidentally bring home a visitor. And here, it is not the multiplicity of articles, but the choice, the dressing, and the neat appearance of the whole that is principally regarded. Every one is to live as he can afford, and the meal of the tradesman ought not to emulate the entertainments of the higher classes; but if two or three dishes are well served, with the usual sauces, the table linen clean, the small sideboard neatly laid, and all that is necessary be at hand, the expectation of the husband and the friend will be gratified, because no irregularity of domestic arrangement will disturb the social intercourse. The same observation holds good on a larger scale. In all situations of life the entertainment should be no less suited to the station than to the fortune of the entertainer, and to the number and rank of those invited.

The manner of Carving is not only a very necessary branch of information, to enable a lady to do the honours of the table, but makes a considerable difference in the consumption of a family; and though in large parties she is so much assisted as to render this knowledge apparently of less consequence, yet she must at times feel the deficiency; and should not fail to acquaint herself with an attainment, the advantage of which is evident every day. Some people haggle meat so much, as not to be able to help half a dozen persons decently from a large tongue, or a sirloin of beef; and the dish goes away with the appearance of having been gnawed by dogs. Habit alone can make good carvers; but some useful directions on this subject will be found in the following pages, under the article Carving.

Half the trouble of waiting at table may be saved, by giving each guest two plates, two knives and forks, two pieces of bread, a spoon, a wine glass, and a tumbler; and by placing the wines and sauces in the centre of the table, one visitor may help another. If the party is large, the founders of the feast should sit about the middle of the table, instead of at each end. They will then enjoy the pleasure of attending equally to all their friends; and being in some degree relieved from the occupation of carving, will have an opportunity of administering all those little attentions which contribute so much to the comfort of their guests. Dinner tables are seldom sufficiently lighted, or attended; an active waiter will have enough to do to attend upon half a dozen persons. There should be half as many candles as there are guests, and their flame should not be more than eighteen inches above the table. The modern candelabras answer no other purpose than that of giving an appearance of pomp and magnificence, and seem intended to illuminate the ceiling, rather than to shed light upon the plates.

Quality of Provisions to be regarded

The leading consideration about food ought always to be its wholesomeness. Cookery may produce savoury and elegant looking dishes, without their possessing any of the real qualities of food. It is at the same time both a serious and a ludicrous reflection, that it should be thought to do honour to our friends and to ourselves to set out a table where indigestion with all its train of evils, such as fever, rheumatism, gout, and the whole catalogue of human diseases, lie lurking in almost every dish. Yet this is both done, and taken as a compliment. The practice of flavouring custards, for example, with laurel leaves, and adding fruit kernels to the poison of spirituous liquors, though far too common, is attended with imminent danger: for let it be remembered, that the flavour given by laurel essence is the most fatal kind of poison. Children, and delicate grown-up persons, have often died suddenly from this cause, even where the quantity of the deleterious mixture was but small.

How infinitely preferable is a dinner of far less show, where nobody need to be afraid of what they are eating; and such a one will always be genteel and respectable. If a person can give his friend only a leg of mutton, there is nothing of which to be ashamed, provided it is good and well dressed. Nothing can be of greater importance to the mistress of a family, than the preservation of its health; but there is no way of securing this desirable object with any degree of certainty, except her eye watches over every part of the culinary process. The subject of cookery is too generally neglected by mistresses, as something beneath their notice; or if engaged in, it is to contrive a variety of mischievous compositions, both savoury and sweet, to recommend their own ingenuity. Yet it is quite evident that every good housewife ought to be well acquainted with this important branch of domestic management, and to take upon herself at least its entire direction and controul. This is a duty which her husband, children, and domestics, have a right to expect at her hands; and which a solicitude for their health and comfort will induce her to discharge with fidelity. If cookery has been worth studying as a sensual gratification, it is much more so as the means of securing the greatest of human blessings.

A house fitted up with clean good furniture, the kitchen provided with clean wholesome-looking cooking utensils, good fires, in grates that give no anxiety lest a good fire should spoil them, clean good table-linen, the furniture of the table and sideboard good of the kind without ostentation, and a well-dressed plain dinner, bespeak a sound judgment and correct taste in a private family, that place it on a footing of respectability with the first characters in the country. It is only conforming to our sphere, not vainly attempting to be above it, that can command true respect.

==================================================================

Explanation of the Plate.

THE COOK AND HOUSEKEEPER'S COMPLETE AND UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY

Acid, lemon: a good substitute for this expensive article, suitable for soups, fish sauces, and many other purposes, may be made of a dram of lump sugar pounded, and six drops of lemon essence, to three ounces of crystal vinegar. The flavour of the lemon may also be communicated to the vinegar, by an infusion of lemon peel.

ACIDS, to remove stains caused by acids. See Stains.

ACCIDENTS BY FIRE. Much mischief frequently arises from the want of a little presence of mind on such occasions, when it is well known that a small quantity of water speedily and properly applied, would obviate great danger. The moment an alarm of fire is given in a house, some blankets should be wetted in a tub of water, and spread on the floor of the room where the fire is, and the flames beaten out with a wet blanket. Two or three pails of water thus applied, will be more effectual than a larger quantity poured on in the usual way, and at a later period. If a chimney be on fire, the readiest way is to cover the whole front of the fire-place with a wet blanket, or thrust it into the throat of the chimney, or make a complete inclosure with the chimney-board. By whatever means the current of air can be stopped below, the burning soot will be put out as rapidly as a candle is by an extinguisher, and upon the same principle. A quantity of salt thrown into water will increase its power in quenching the flames, and muddy water is better for this purpose than clear water. Children, and especially females, should be informed, that as flame tends upward, it is extremely improper for them to stand upright, in case their clothes take fire; and as the accident generally begins with the lower part of the dress, the flames meeting additional fuel as they rise, become more fatal, and the upper part of the body necessarily sustains the greatest injury. If there be no assistance at hand in a case of this kind, the sufferer should instantly throw herself down, and roll or lie upon her clothes. A carpet, hearth rug, or green baize table cloth, quickly wrapped round the head and body, will be an effectual preservative; but where these are not at hand, the other method may easily be adopted. The most obvious means of preventing the female dress from catching fire, is that of wire fenders of sufficient height to hinder the coals and sparks from flying into the room; and nurseries in particular should never be without them. Destructive fires often happen from the thoughtlessness of persons leaving a poker in the grate, which afterward falls out and rolls on the floor or carpet. This evil may in a great measure be prevented by having a small cross of iron welded on the poker, immediately above the square part, about an inch and a half each way. Then if the poker slip out of the fire, it will probably catch at the edge of the fender; or if not, it cannot endanger the floor, as the hot end of the poker will be kept from it by resting on the cross. In cases of extreme danger, where the fire is raging in the lower part of the house, a Fire Escape is of great importance. But where this article is too expensive, or happens not to be provided, a strong rope should be fastened to something in an upper apartment, having knots or resting places for the hands and feet, that in case of alarm it may be thrown out of the window; or if children and infirm persons were secured by a noose at the end of it, they might be lowered down in safety. No family occupying lofty houses in confined situations ought to be without some contrivance of this sort, and which may be provided at a very trifling expense. Horses are often so intimidated by fire, that they have perished before they could be removed from the spot; but if a bridle or a halter be put upon them, they might be led out of the stable as easily as on common occasions. Or if the harness be thrown over a draught horse, or the saddle placed on the back of a saddle horse, the same object may be accomplished.

ADULTERATIONS in baker's bread may be detected, by mixing it with lemon juice or strong vinegar: if the bread contains chalk, whiting, or any other alkali, it will immediately produce a fermentation. If ashes, alum, bones, or jalap be suspected, slice the crumb of a loaf very thin, set it over the fire with water, and let it boil gently a long time. Take it off, pour the water into a vessel, and let it stand till nearly cold; then pour it gently out, and in the sediment will be seen the ingredients which have been mixed. The alum will be dissolved in the water, and may be extracted from it. If jalap has been used, it will form a thick film on the top, and the heavy ingredients will sink to the bottom. See Beer, Flour, Spirits, Wine.

AGUE. Persons afflicted with the ague ought in the first instance to take an emetic, and a little opening medicine. During the shaking fits, drink plenty of warm gruel, and afterwards take some powder of bark steeped in red wine. Or mix thirty grains of snake root, forty of wormwood, and half an ounce of jesuit's bark powdered, in half a pint of port wine: put the whole into a bottle, and shake it well together. Take one fourth part first in the morning, and another at bed time, when the fit is over, and let the dose be often repeated, to prevent a return of the complaint. If this should not succeed, mix a quarter of an ounce each of finely powdered Peruvian bark, grains of paradise, and long pepper, in a quarter of a pound of treacle. Take a third part of it as soon as the cold fit begins, and wash it down with a glass of brandy. As the cold fit goes off, and the fever approaches, take a second third part, with the like quantity of brandy; and on the following morning fasting, swallow the remainder, with the same quantity of brandy as before. Three doses of this excellent electuary have cured hundreds of persons, and seldom been known to fail. To children under nine years of age, only half the above quantity must be given. Try also the following experiment. When the cold fit is on, take an egg beaten up in a glass of brandy, and go to bed directly. This very simple recipe has proved successful in a number of instances, where more celebrated preparations have failed.

AIR. Few persons are sufficiently aware, that an unwholesome air is the common cause of disease. They generally pay some attention to what they eat and drink, but seldom regard what goes into the lungs, though the latter often proves more fatal than the former. Air vitiated by the different processes of respiration, combustion, and putrefaction, or which is suffered to stagnate, is highly injurious to health, and productive of contagious disorders. Whatever greatly alters its degree of heat or cold, also renders it unwholesome. If too hot, it produces bilious and inflammatory affections: if too cold, it obstructs perspiration, and occasions rheumatism, coughs, and colds, and other diseases of the throat and breast. A damp air disposes the body to agues, intermitting fevers, and dropsies, and should be studiously avoided. Some careful housewives, for the sake of bright and polished stoves, frequently expose the health of the family in an improper manner; but fires should always be made, if in the height of summer, when the weather is wet or cold, to render the air wholesome; and let the fire-irons take care of themselves. No house can be wholesome, unless the air has a free passage through it: dwellings ought therefore to be daily ventilated, by opening the windows and admitting a current of fresh air into every room. Instead of making up beds as soon as people rise out of them, a practice much too common, they ought to be turned down, and exposed to dry fresh air from the open windows. This would expel any noxious vapours, and promote the health of the family. Houses surrounded with high walls, trees, or plantations, are rendered unwholesome. Wood, not only obstructs the free current of air, but sends forth exhalations, which render it damp and unhealthy. Houses situated on low ground, or near lakes and ponds of stagnant water, are the same: the air is charged with putrid exhalations, which produce the most malignant effects. Persons obliged to occupy such situations should live well, and pay the strictest regard to cleanliness. The effluvia arising from church-yards and other burying grounds is very infectious; and parish churches, in which many corpses are interred, become tainted with an atmosphere so corrupt, especially in the spring, when the ground begins to grow warm, that it is one of the principal sources of putrid fevers, which so often prevail at that season of the year. Such places ought to be kept perfectly clean, and frequently ventilated, by opening opposite doors and windows; and no human dwelling should be allowed in the immediate vicinity of a burying ground. – The air of large towns and cities is greatly contaminated, by being repeatedly respired; by the vapours arising from dirty streets, the smoke of chimneys, and the innumerable putrid substances occasioned by the crowd of inhabitants. Persons of a delicate habit should avoid cities as they would the plague; or if this be impracticable, they should go abroad as much as possible, frequently admit fresh air into their rooms, and be careful to keep them very clean. If they can sleep in the country, so much the better, as breathing free air in the night will in some degree make up for the want of it in the day time. Air which stagnates in mines, wells, and cellars, is extremely noxious; it kills nearly as quick as lightning, and ought therefore to be carefully avoided. Accidents occasioned by foul air might often be prevented, by only letting down into such places a lighted candle, and forbearing to enter when it is perceived to go out. The foul air may be expelled by leaving the place open a sufficient time, or pouring into it a quantity of boiling water. Introducing fresh air into confined rooms and places, by means of ventilators, is one of the most important of modern improvements. – Dyers, gilders, plumbers, refiners of metals, and artisans employed over or near a charcoal fire, are exposed to great danger from the vitiated state of the air. To avert the injury to which their lungs are thus exposed, it would be proper to place near them a flat open vessel filled with lime water, and to renew it as often as a variegated film appears on the surface. This powerfully attracts and absorbs the noxious effluvia emitted by the burning charcoal. – But if fresh air be necessary for those in health, much more so for the sick, who often lose their lives for want of it. The notion that sick people require to be kept hot is very common, but no less dangerous, for no medicine is so beneficial to them as fresh air, in ordinary cases, especially if administered with prudence. Doors and windows are not to be opened at random; but the air should be admitted gradually, and chiefly by opening the windows of some other apartment which communicates with the sick room. The air may likewise be purified by wetting a cloth in water impregnated with quick lime, then hanging it in the room till it becomes dry, and removing it as often as it appears necessary. In chronic diseases, especially those of the lungs, where there is no inflammation, a change of air is much to be recommended. Independently of any other circumstance, it has often proved highly beneficial; and such patients have breathed more freely, even though removed to a damp and confined situation. In short, fresh air contains the vitals of health, and must be sought for in every situation, as the only medium of human existence.

ALABASTER. The proper way of cleaning elegant chimney pieces, or other articles made of alabaster, is to reduce some pumice stone to a very fine powder, and mix it up with verjuice. Let it stand two hours, then dip into it a sponge, and rub the alabaster with it: wash it with fresh water and a linen cloth, and dry it with clean linen rags.

ALAMODE BEEF. Choose a piece of thick flank of a fine heifer or ox. Cut some fat bacon into long slices nearly an inch thick, but quite free from yellow. Dip them into vinegar, and then into a seasoning ready prepared, of salt, black pepper, allspice, and a clove, all in fine powder, with parsley, chives, thyme, savoury, and knotted marjoram, shred as small as possible, and well mixed. With a sharp knife make holes deep enough to let in the larding; then rub the beef over with the seasoning, and bind it up tight with a tape. Set it in a well tinned pot over a fire, or rather a stove: three or four onions must be fried brown and put to the beef, with two or three carrots, one turnip, a head or two of celery, and a small quantity of water. Let it simmer gently ten or twelve hours, or till extremely tender, turning the meat twice. Put the gravy into a pan, remove the fat, keep the beef covered, then put them together, and add a glass of port wine. Take off the tape, and serve with vegetables; or strain them off, and cut them into dice for garnish. Onions roasted, and then stewed with the gravy, are a great improvement. A tea-cupful of vinegar should be stewed with the beef. – Another way is to take about eleven pounds of the mouse-buttock, or clod of beef, or a blade bone, or the sticking piece, and cut it into pieces of three or four ounces each. Put two or three ounces of beef drippings, and two large onions, into a large deep stewpan; as soon as it is quite hot, flour the meat, put it into the stewpan, and keep stirring it with a wooden spoon. When it has been on about ten minutes, dredge it with flour, and keep doing so till you have stirred in as much as will thicken it. Then cover it with about a gallon of boiling water, adding it by degrees, and stirring it together. Skim it when it boils, and then put in a dram of ground black pepper, and two drams of allspice. Set the pan by the side of the fire, or at a distance over it, and let it stew very slowly for about three hours. When the meat is sufficiently tender, put it into a tureen, and send it to table with a nice sallad.

ALE, allowing eight bushels of malt to the hogshead, should be brewed in the beginning of March. Pour on at once the whole quantity of hot water, not boiling, and let it infuse three hours close covered. Mash it in the first half hour, and let it stand the remainder of the time. Run it on the hops, half a pound to the bushel, previously infused in water, and boil them with the wort two hours. Cool a pailful after it has boiled, add to it two quarts of yeast, which will prepare it for putting to the rest when ready, the same night or the next day. When tunned, and the beer has done working, cover the bung-hole with paper. If the working requires to be stopped, dry a pound and a half of hops before the fire, put them into the bung-hole, and fasten it up. Ale should stand twelve months in casks, and twelve in bottles, before it be drank; and if well brewed, it will keep and be very fine for eight or ten years. It will however be ready for use in three or four months; and if the vent-peg be never removed, it will have strength and spirit to the very last. But if bottled, great care must be taken to have the bottles perfectly sweet and clean, and the corks of the best quality. If the ale requires to be refined, put two ounces of isinglass shavings to soak in a quart of the liquor, and beat it with a whisk every day till dissolved. Draw off a third part of the cask, and mix the above with it: likewise a quarter of an ounce of pearl ashes, one ounce of salt of tartar calcined, and one ounce of burnt alum powdered. Stir it well, then return the liquor into the cask, and stir it with a clean stick. Stop it up, and in a few days it will be fine. See Beer, Brewing.

ALE POSSET. Beat up the yolks of ten eggs, and the whites of four; then put them into a quart of cream, mixed with a pint of ale. Grate some nutmeg into it, sweeten it with sugar, set it on the fire, and keep it stirring. When it is thick, and before it boils, take it off, and pour it into a china bason. This is called King William's Posset. A very good one may however be made by warming a pint of milk, with a bit of white bread in it, and then warming a pint of ale with a little sugar and nutmeg. When the milk boils, pour it upon the ale; let it stand a few minutes to clear, and it will make a fine cordial.

ALEGAR. Take some good sweet wort before it is hopped, put it into a jar, and a little yeast when it becomes lukewarm, and cover it over. In three or four days it will have done fermenting; set it in the sun, and it will be fit for use in three or four months, or much sooner, if fermented with sour yeast, and mixed with an equal quantity of sour ale.

ALLSPICE, used as an essence, is made of a dram of the oil of pimento, apothecaries' measure, mixed by degrees with two ounces of strong spirits of wine. The tincture, which has a finer flavour than the essence, is made of three ounces of bruised allspice, steeped in a quart of brandy. Shake it occasionally for a fortnight, and then pour off the clear liquor. A few drops of either will be a grateful addition to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine, or in any case where allspice is used.

ALMOND BISCUITS. Blanch a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds, and pound them fine in a mortar, sprinkling them from time to time with a little fine sugar. Then beat them a quarter of an hour with an ounce of flour, the yolks of three eggs, and four ounces of fine sugar, adding afterward the whites of four eggs whipped to a froth. Prepare some paper moulds like boxes, about the length of two fingers square; butter them within, and put in the biscuits, throwing over them equal quantities of flour and powdered sugar. Bake them in a cool oven; and when of a good colour, take them out of the papers. Bitter almond biscuits are made in the same manner, except with this difference; that to every two ounces of bitter almonds must be added an ounce of sweet almonds.

ALMOND CHEESECAKES. Blanch and pound four ounces of almonds, and a few bitter ones, with a spoonful of water. Add four ounces of pounded sugar, a spoonful of cream, and the whites of two eggs well beaten. Mix all as quick as possible, put it into very small pattipans, and bake in a tolerable warm oven, under twenty minutes. Or blanch and pound four ounces of almonds, with a little orange-flower or rose-water; then stir in the yolks of six and the whites of three eggs well beaten, five ounces of butter warmed, the peel of a lemon grated, and a little of the juice, sweetened with fine moist sugar. When well mixed, bake in a delicate paste, in small pans. Another way is, to press the whey from as much curd as will make two dozen small cheesecakes. Then put the curd on the back of a sieve, and with half an ounce of butter rub it through with the back of a spoon; put to it six yolks and three whites of eggs, and a few bitter almonds pounded, with as much sugar as will sweeten the curd. Mix with it the grated rind of a lemon, and a glass of brandy; put a puff-paste into the pans, and ten minutes will bake them.

ALMOND CREAM. Beat in a mortar four ounces of sweet almonds, and a few bitter ones, with a tea-spoonful of water to prevent oiling, both having first been blanched. Put the paste to a quart of cream, and add the juice of three lemons sweetened; beat it with a whisk to a froth, which take off on the shallow part of a sieve, and fill the glasses with some of the liquor and the froth.

ALMOND CUSTARD. Blanch and beat four ounces of almonds fine, with a spoonful of water. Beat a pint of cream with two spoonfuls of rose-water, put them to the yolks of four eggs, and as much sugar as will make it tolerably sweet. Then add the almonds, stir it all over a slow fire till of a proper thickness, without boiling, and pour it into cups.

ALMOND JUMBLES. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of flour, with half a pound of loaf sugar powdered, a quarter of a pound of almonds beat fine with rose-water, the yolks of two eggs, and two spoonfuls of cream. Make them all into a paste, roll it into any shape, and bake on tins. Ice them with a mixture of fine sugar, rose-water, and the white of an egg, beat up together, and lay the icing on with a feather, before the jumbles are put into the oven.

ALMOND PUDDINGS. Beat half a pound of sweet and a few bitter almonds with a spoonful of water; then mix four ounces of butter, four eggs, two spoonfuls of cream, warm with the butter, one of brandy, a little nutmeg and sugar to taste. Butter some cups, half fill them, and bake the puddings. Serve with butter, wine, and sugar. – For baked almond puddings, beat a quarter of a pound of sweet and a few bitter almonds with a little wine, the yolks of six eggs, the peel of two lemons grated, six ounces of butter, nearly a quart of cream, and the juice of one lemon. When well mixed, bake it half an hour, with paste round the dish, and serve it with pudding sauce. Small almond puddings are made of eight ounces of almonds, and a few bitter ones, pounded with a spoonful of water. Then mix four ounces of butter warmed, four yolks and two whites of eggs, sugar to taste, two spoonfuls of cream, and one of brandy. Mix it together well, and bake in little cups buttered.

ALMONDS BURNT. Add three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar to a pound of almonds, picked and cleaned, and a few spoonfuls of water. Set them on the fire, keep them stirring till the sugar is candied, and they are done.

ALMONDS ICED. Make an iceing similar to that for twelfth-night cakes, with fine sifted loaf sugar, orange-flower water, and whisked white of eggs. Having blanched the almonds, roll them well in this iceing, and dry them in a cool oven.

AMBER PUDDING. Put a pound of butter into a saucepan, with three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered. Melt the butter, and mix well with it; then add the yolks of fifteen eggs well beaten, and as much fresh candied orange as will add colour and flavour to it, being first beaten to a fine paste. Line the dish with paste for turning out; and when filled with the above, lay a crust over as you would a pie, and bake it in a slow oven. This makes a fine pudding as good cold as hot.

AMERICAN CAKES, though but little known in this country, form an article of some importance in domestic economy: they are cheap, easily made, and very nutritious. Mix a quarter of a pound of butter with a pound of flour; then, having dissolved and well stirred a quarter of a pound of sugar in half a pint of milk, and made a solution of about half a tea-spoonful of crystal of soda, salt of tartar, or any other purified potash, in half a tea-cupful of cold water, pour them also among the flour; work up the paste to a good consistence, roll it out, and form it into cakes or biscuits. The lightness of these cakes depending much on the expedition with which they are baked, they should be set in a brisk oven.

AMERICAN SPRUCE. In the spring of the year, this valuable extract is obtained from the young shoots and tops of the pine or fir trees; and in autumn, from their cones. These are merely boiled in water, to the consistence of honey or molasses. The bark and softer part of the tops and young shoots, being easily dissolved, make the finest essence; while the cones and bark of larger branches, undergoing only a partial solution, form an inferior article, after being strained from the dregs. Both sorts, when decanted clear off, are put up in casks or bottles, and preserved for making spruce beer.

ANCHOVIES. These delicate fish are preserved in barrels with bay salt, and no other of the finny tribe has so fine a flavour. Choose those which look red and mellow, and the bones moist and oily. They should be high-flavoured, and have a fine smell; but beware of their being mixed with red paint, to improve their colour and appearance. When the liquor dries, pour on them some beef brine, and keep the jar close tied down with paper and leather. Sprats are sometimes sold for anchovies, but by washing them the imposition may be detected. See Sprats.

ANCHOVY ESSENCE. Chop two dozen of anchovies, without the bone, add some of their own liquor strained, and sixteen large spoonfuls of water. Boil them gently till dissolved, which will be in a few minutes; and when cold, strain and bottle the liquor. The essence can generally be bought cheaper than you can make it.

ANCHOVY PASTE. Pound them in a mortar, rub the pulp through a fine sieve, pot it, cover it with clarified butter, and keep it in a cool place. The paste may also be made by rubbing the essence with as much flour as will make a paste; but this is only intended for immediate use, and will not keep. This is sometimes made stiffer and hotter, by the addition of a little flour of mustard, a pickled walnut, spice, or cayenne.

ANCHOVY POWDER. Pound the fish in a mortar, rub them through a sieve, make them into a paste with dried flour, roll it into thin cakes, and dry them in a Dutch oven before a slow fire. To this may be added a small portion of cayenne, grated lemon peel, and citric acid. Pounded to a fine powder, and put into a well-stopped bottle, it will keep for years. It is a very savoury relish, sprinkled on bread and butter for a sandwich.

ANCHOVY SAUCE. Chop one or two anchovies without washing, put them into a saucepan with flour and butter, and a spoonful of water. Stir it over the fire till it boils once or twice. When the anchovies are good, they will soon be dissolved, and distinguished both by their colour and fragrance.

ANCHOVY TOAST. Bone and skin six or eight anchovies, pound them to a mass with an ounce of fine butter till the colour is equal, and then spread it on toast or rusks. Or, cut thin slices of bread, and fry them in clarified butter. Wash three anchovies split, pound them in a mortar with a little fresh butter, rub them through a hair sieve, and spread on the toast when cold. Garnish with parsley or pickles.

ANGELICA TARTS. Take an equal quantity of apples and angelica, pare and peel them, and cut them separately into small pieces. Boil the apples gently in a little water, with fine sugar and lemon peel, till they become a thin syrup: then boil the angelica about ten minutes. Put some paste at the bottom of the pattipans, with alternate layers of apples and angelica: pour in some of the syrup, put on the lid, and bake them carefully.

ANGLING APPARATUS. Fishing rods should be oiled and dried in the sun, to prevent their being worm eaten, and render them tough; and if the joints get swelled and set fast, turn the part over the flame of a candle, and it will soon be set at liberty. Silk or hemp lines dyed in a decoction of oak bark, will render them more durable and capable of resisting the wet; and after they have been used they should be well dried before they are wound up, or they will be liable to rot. To make a cork float, take a good new cork, and pass a small red-hot iron through the centre of it lengthways; then round one end of it with a sharp knife, and reduce the other to a point, resembling a small peg top. The quill which is to pass through it may be secured at the bottom by putting in a little cotton wool and sealing wax, and the upper end is to be fitted with a piece of hazel like a plug, cemented like the other, with a piece of wire on the top formed into an eye, and two small hoops cut from another quill to regulate the line which passes through the float. To render it the more visible, the cork may be coloured with red wax. For fly fishing, either natural or artificial flies may be used, especially such as are found under hollow stones by the river's side, on the trunk of an oak or ash, on hawthorns, and on ant hills. In clear water the angler may use small flies with slender wings, but in muddy water a large fly is better: in a clear day the fly should be light coloured, and in dark water the fly should be dark. The rod and line require to be long; the fly when fastened to the hook should be allowed to float gently on the surface of the water, keeping the line from touching it, and the angler should stand as far as may be from the water's edge with the sun at his back, having a watchful eye and a quick hand. Fish may be intoxicated and taken in the following manner. Take an equal quantity of cocculus indicus, coriander, fenugreek, and cummin seeds, and reduce them to a powder. Make it into a paste with rice flour and water, roll it up into pills as large as peas, and throw them into ponds or rivers which abound with fish. After eating the paste, the fish will rise to the surface of the water almost motionless, and may be taken out by the hand.

ANTIDOTE to opium or laudanum. The deleterious effects of opium, which are so often experienced in the form of laudanum, may in great measure be counteracted by taking a proper quantity of lemon juice immediately afterwards. Four grains of opium, or a hundred drops of laudanum, are often sufficient for a fatal dose; but if an ounce of pure lemon juice, or twice that quantity of good vinegar be added to every grain of opium, or every twenty-five drops of laudanum, it will relieve both the head and the bowels; and the use of vegetable acids cannot be too strongly recommended to those who are under the necessity of taking considerable doses of opiates.

ANTS. Though it does not become us to be prodigal of life in any form, nor wantonly to seek its extinction, yet where any species of animals are found to be really noxious or annoying, the good of man requires that they should be destroyed. Houses are sometimes so infested with ants, that they are not to be endured. In this case, sprinkle the places they frequent with a strong decoction of walnut-tree leaves; or take half a pound of sulphur, and a quarter of a pound of potash, and dissolve them together over the fire. Afterwards beat them to a powder, add some water to it; and when sprinkled, the ants will either die or leave the place. When they are found to traverse garden walls or hot-houses, and to injure the fruit, several holes should be drilled in the ground with an iron crow, close to the side of the wall, and as deep as the soil will admit. The earth being stirred, the insects will begin to move about: the sides of the holes are then to be made smooth, so that the ants may fall in as soon as they approach, and they will be unable to climb upwards. Water being then poured on them, great numbers may easily be destroyed. The same end may be answered by strewing a mixture of quick lime and soot along such places as are much frequented by the ants; or by adding water to it, and pouring it at the roots of trees infested by them. To prevent their descending from a tree which they visit, it is only necessary to mark with a piece of common chalk a circle round its trunk, an inch or two broad, and about two feet from the ground. This experiment should be performed in dry weather, and the ring must be renewed: as soon as the ants arrive at it, not one of them will attempt to cross over. – Ant hills are very injurious in dry pastures, not only by wasting the soil, but yielding a pernicious kind of grass, and impeding the operation of the scythe. The turf of the ant hill should be pared off, the core taken out and scattered at a distance; and when the turf is laid down again, the place should be left lower than the ground around it, that when the wet settles into it, the ants may be prevented from returning to their haunt. The nests may more effectually be destroyed by putting quick lime into them, and pouring on some water; or by putting in some night soil, and closing it up.

APPLE TREES may be preserved from the innumerable insects with which they are annoyed, by painting the stems and branches with a thick wash of lime and water, as soon as the sap begins to rise. This will be found, in the course of the ensuing summer to have removed all the moss and insects, and given to the bark a fresh and green appearance. Other fruit trees may be treated in the same manner, and they will soon become more healthy and vigorous. Trees exposed to cattle, hares and rabbits, may be preserved from these depredators, without the expense of fence or rails, by any of the following experiments. Wash the stems of the trees or plants to a proper height with tanner's liquor, or such as they use for dressing hides. If this does not succeed, make a mixture of night soil, lime and water, and brush it on the stems and branches, two or three times in a year: this will effectually preserve the trees from being barked. A mixture of fresh cow dung and urine has been found to answer the same purpose, and also to destroy the canker, which is so fatal to the growth of trees.

APPLES are best preserved from frost, by throwing over them a linen cloth before the approach of hard weather: woollen will not answer the purpose. In this manner they are kept in Germany and in America, during the severest winters; and it is probable that potatoes might be preserved in the same way. Apples may also be kept till the following summer by putting them into a dry jar, with a few pebbles at the bottom to imbibe the moisture which would otherwise destroy the fruit, and then closing up the jar carefully with a lid, and a little fresh water round the edge.

APPLES DRIED. Put them in a cool oven six or seven times; and when soft enough to bear it, let them be gently flattened by degrees. If the oven be too warm they will waste; and at first it should be very cool. The biffin, the minshul crab, or any tart apples, are the best for drying.

APPLE DUMPLINGS. Pare and slice some apples, line a bason with a thin paste, fill it with the fruit, and close the paste over. Tie a cloth tight over, and boil the dumpling till the fruit is done. Currant and damson puddings are prepared in the same way.

APPLE FOOL. Stew some apples in a stone jar on a stove, or in a saucepan of water over the fire: if the former, a large spoonful of water should be added to the fruit. When reduced to a pulp, peel and press them through a cullendar; boil a sufficient quantity of new milk, and a tea-cupful of raw cream, or an egg instead of the latter, and leave the liquor to cool. Then mix it gradually with the pulp, and sweeten the whole with fine moist sugar.

APPLE FRITTERS. Pare some apples, and cut them into thin slices; put a spoonful of light batter into a frying-pan, then a layer of apples, and another spoonful of batter. Fry them to a light brown, and serve with grated sugar over them.

APPLE JELLY. Prepare twenty golden pippins, boil them quite tender in a pint and a half of spring water, and strain the pulp through a cullendar. To every pint add a pound of fine sugar, with grated orange or lemon peel, and then boil the whole to a jelly. Or, having prepared the apples by boiling and straining them through a coarse sieve, get ready an ounce of isinglass boiled to a jelly in half a pint of water, and mix it with the apple pulp. Add some sugar, a little lemon juice and peel; boil all together, take out the peel, and put the jelly into a dish, to serve at table. – When apple jelly is required for preserving apricots, or any sort of sweetmeats, a different process is observed. Apples are to be pared, quartered and cored, and put into a stewpan, with as much water as will cover them. Boil them to a mash as quick as possible, and add a quantity of water; then boil half an hour more, and run it through a jelly bag. If in summer, codlins are best: in autumn, golden rennets or winter pippins. – Red apples in jelly are a different preparation. These must be pared and cored, and thrown into water; then put them in a preserving pan, and let them coddle with as little water as will only half cover them. Observe that they do not lie too close when first put in; and when the under side is done, turn them. Mix some pounded cochineal with the water, and boil with the fruit. When sufficiently done, take them out on the dish they are to be served in, the stalk downwards. Make a rich jelly of the water with loaf sugar, boiling them with the thin rind and juice of a lemon. When cold, spread the jelly over the apples; cut the lemon peel into narrow strips, and put them across the eye of the apple. The colour should be kept fine from the first, or the fruit will not afterwards gain it; and use as little of the cochineal as will serve, lest the syrup taste bitter.

APPLE MARMALADE. Scald some apples till they come to a pulp; then take an equal weight of sugar in large lumps, just dip them in water, and boil the sugar till it can be well skimmed, and is reduced to a thick syrup. Put it to the pulp, and simmer it on a quick fire a quarter of an hour. Grate a little lemon peel before boiling, but if too much it will be bitter.

APPLE PASTY. Make a hot crust of lard or dripping, roll it out warm, cover it with apples pared and sliced, and a little lemon peel and moist sugar. Wet the edges of the crust, close it up well, make a few holes in the top, and bake it in a moderate oven. Gooseberries may be done in the same way.

APPLE PIE. Pare and core the fruit, after being wiped clean; then boil the cores and parings in a little water, till it tastes well. Strain the liquor, add a little sugar, with a bit of bruised cinnamon, and simmer again. Meantime place the apples in a dish, a paste being put round the edge; when one layer is in, sprinkle half the sugar, and shred lemon peel; squeeze in some of the juice, or a glass of cider, if the apples have lost their spirit. Put in the rest of the apples, the sugar, and the liquor which has been boiled. If the pie be eaten hot, put some butter into it, quince marmalade, orange paste or cloves, to give it a flavour.

APPLE POSTILLA. Bake codlins, or any other sour apples, but without burning them; pulp them through a sieve into a bowl, and beat them for four hours. Sweeten the fruit with honey, and beat it four hours more; the longer it is beaten the better. Pour a thin layer of the mixture on a cloth spread over a tray, and bake it in a slow oven, with bits of wood placed under the tray. If not baked enough on one side, set it again in the oven; and when quite done, turn it. Pour on it a fresh layer of the mixture, and proceed with it in like manner, till the whole is properly baked. Apple postilla is also made by peeling the apples and taking out the cores after they are baked, sweetening with sugar, and beating it up with a wooden spoon till it is all of a froth. Then put it on two trays, and bake it for two hours in an oven moderately hot. After this another layer of the beaten apples is added, and pounded loaf sugar spread over. Sometimes a still finer sort is made, by beating yolks of eggs to a froth, and then mixing it with the apple juice.

APPLE PUDDING. Butter a baking dish, put in the batter, and the apples whole, without being cut or pared, and bake in a quick oven. If the apples be pared, they will mix with the batter while in the oven, and make the pudding soft. Serve it up with sugar and butter. For a superior pudding, grate a pound of pared apples, work it up with six ounces of butter, four eggs, grated lemon peel, a little sugar and brandy. Line the dish with good paste, strew over it bits of candied peel, put in the pudding, and bake it half an hour. A little lemon juice may be added, a spoonful of bread crumbs, or two or three Naples biscuits. Another way is, to pare and quarter four large apples, boil them tender, with the rind of a lemon, in so little water that it may be exhausted in the boiling. Beat the apples fine in a mortar, add the crumb of a small roll, four ounces of melted butter, the yolks of five and the whites of three eggs, the juice of half a lemon, and sugar to taste. Beat all together, and lay it in a dish with paste to turn out, after baking.

APPLE PUFFS. Pare the fruit, and either stew them in a stone jar on a hot hearth, or bake them. When cold, mix the pulp of the apple with sugar and lemon peel shred fine, taking as little as possible of the apple juice. Bake them in thin paste, in a quick oven: if small, a quarter of an hour will be sufficient. Orange or quince marmalade is a great improvement; cinnamon pounded, or orange flower-water, will make an agreeable change.

APPLE SAUCE. Pare, core, and slice some apples; put them in a stone jar, into a saucepan of water, or on a hot hearth. If the latter, put in a spoonful or two of water, to prevent burning. When done, mash them up, put in a piece of butter the size of a nutmeg, and a little brown sugar. Serve it in a sauce tureen, for goose and roast pork.

APPLE TRIFLE. Scald some apples, pass them through a sieve, and make a layer of the pulp at the bottom of a dish; mix the rind of half a lemon grated, and sweeten with sugar. Or mix half a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, and the yolk of an egg. Scald it over the fire, and stir it all the time without boiling; lay it over the apple pulp with a spoon, and put on it a whip prepared the day before.

APPLE WATER. Cut two large apples in slices, and pour a quart of boiling water on them, or on roasted apples. Strain it well, and sweeten it lightly. When cold, it is an agreeable drink in a fever.

APPLE WINE. To every gallon of apple juice, immediately as it comes from the press, add two pounds of lump sugar; boil it as long as any scum rises, then strain it through a sieve, and let it cool. Add some yeast, and stir it well; let it work in the tub for two or three weeks, or till the head begins to flatten; then skim off the head, draw off the liquor clear, and tun it. When made a year, rack it off, and fine it with isinglass. To every eight gallons add half a pint of the best rectified spirits of wine, or a pint of brandy.

APRICOTS DRIED. Pare thin and halve four pounds of apricots, put them in a dish, and strew among them three pounds of fine loaf-sugar powdered. When the sugar melts, set the fruit over a stove to do very gently; as each piece becomes tender, take it out, and put it into a china bowl. When all are done, and the boiling heat a little abated, pour the syrup over them. In a day or two remove the syrup, leaving only a little in each half. In a day or two more turn them, and so continue daily till quite dry, in the sun or in a warm place. Keep the apricots in boxes, with layers of fine paper.

APRICOTS PRESERVED. There are various ways of doing this: one is by steeping them in brandy. Wipe, weigh, and pick the fruit, and have ready a quarter of the weight of loaf sugar in fine powder. Put the fruit into an ice-pot that shuts very close, throw the sugar over it, and then cover the fruit with brandy. Between the top and cover of the pot, fit in a piece of thick writing paper. Set the pot into a saucepan of water, and heat it without boiling, till the brandy be as hot as you can bear your finger in it. Put the fruit into a jar, and pour the brandy on it. When cold, put a bladder over, and tie it down tight. – Apricots may also be preserved in jelly. Pare the fruit very thin, and stone it; weigh an equal quantity of sugar in fine powder, and strew over it. Next day boil very gently till they are clear, remove them into a bowl, and pour in the liquor. The following day, mix it with a quart of codlin liquor, made by boiling and straining, and a pound of fine sugar. Let it boil quickly till it comes to a jelly; put the fruit into it, give it one boil, skim it well, and distribute into small pots. – A beautiful preserve may also be made in the following manner. Having selected the finest ripe apricots, pare them as thin as possible, and weigh them. Lay them in halves on dishes, with the hollow part upwards. Prepare an equal weight of loaf sugar finely pounded, and strew it over them; in the mean time break the stones, and blanch the kernels. When the fruit has lain twelve hours, put it into a preserving pan, with the sugar and juice, and also the kernels. Let it simmer very gently till it becomes clear; then take out the pieces of apricot singly as they are done, put them into small pots, and pour the syrup and kernels over them. The scum must be taken off as it rises, and the pots covered with brandy paper. – Green apricots are preserved in a different way. Lay vine or apricot leaves at the bottom of the pan, then fruit and leaves alternately till full, the upper layer being thick with leaves. Then fill the pan with spring water, and cover it down, that no steam may escape. Set the pan at a distance from the fire, that in four or five hours the fruit may be soft, but not cracked. Make a thin syrup of some of the water, and drain the fruit. When both are cold, put the fruit into the pan, and the syrup to it; keep the pan at a proper distance from the fire till the apricots green, but on no account boil or crack them. Remove the fruit very carefully into a pan with the syrup for two or three days, then pour off as much of it as will be necessary, boil with more sugar to make a rich syrup, and add a little sliced ginger to it. When cold, and the thin syrup has all been drained from the fruit, pour the thick over it. The former will serve to sweeten pies.

APRICOT CHEESE. Weigh an equal quantity of pared fruit and sugar, wet the latter a very little, and let it boil quickly, or the colour will be spoiled. Blanch the kernels and add them to it: twenty or thirty minutes will boil it. Put it in small pots or cups half filled.

APRICOT JAM. When the fruit is nearly ripe, pare and cut some in halves; break the stones, blanch the kernels, and put them to the fruit. Boil the parings in a little water, and strain it: to a pound of fruit add three quarters of a pound of fine sifted sugar, and a glass of the water in which the parings were boiled. Stir it over a brisk fire till it becomes rather stiff: when cold, put apple jelly over the jam, and tie it down with brandy paper.

APRICOT PUDDING. Halve twelve large apricots, and scald them till they are soft. Meanwhile pour on the grated crumbs of a penny loaf a pint of boiling cream; when half cold, add four ounces of sugar, the yolks of four beaten eggs, and a glass of white wine. Pound the apricots in a mortar, with some or all of the kernels; then mix the fruit and other ingredients together, put a paste round a dish, and bake the pudding in half an hour.

AROMATIC VINEGAR. Mix with common vinegar a quantity of powdered chalk or whiting, sufficient to destroy the acidity; and when the white sediment is formed, pour off the insipid liquor. The powder is then to be dried, and some oil of vitriol poured upon it, as long as white acid fumes continue to ascend. This substance forms the essential ingredient, the fumes of which are particularly useful in purifying rooms and places where any contagion is suspected.

ARROW ROOT. This valuable article has often been counterfeited: the American is the best, and may generally be known by its colour and solidity. If genuine, the arrow root is very nourishing, especially for weak bowels. Put into a saucepan half a pint of water, a glass of sherry, or a spoonful of brandy, grated nutmeg, and fine sugar. Boil it up once, then mix it by degrees into a dessert-spoonful of arrow root, previously rubbed smooth with two spoonfuls of cold water. Return the whole into the saucepan, stir and boil it three minutes.

ARSENIC. The fatal effects of mineral poisons are too often experienced, and for want of timely assistance but seldom counteracted. Arsenic and other baleful ingredients, if used for the destruction of vermin, should never be kept with common articles, or laid in the way of children. But if, unfortunately, this deadly poison should by some mistake be taken inwardly, the most effectual remedy will be a table-spoonful of powdered charcoal, mixed with honey, butter, or treacle, and swallowed immediately. Two hours afterwards, take an emetic or an opening draught, to cleanse away the whole from the stomach and bowels. The baneful effects of verdigris, from the use of copper boilers and saucepans, may be counteracted by the same means, if resorted to in time, and no remedy is so likely to become effectual.

ARTICHOKES. Soak them in cold water, wash them well, and boil them gently in plenty of water. If young, they will be ready in half an hour; if otherwise, they will not be done in twice that time. The surest way to know when they are boiled enough is to draw out a leaf, and see whether they be tender; but they cannot be properly boiled without much water, which tends also to preserve their colour. Trim and drain them on a sieve, serve with melted butter, pepper and salt, and small cups.

ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS, if dried, must be well soaked, and stewed in weak gravy. Or they may be boiled in milk, and served with cream sauce, or added to ragouts, French pies, &c. If intended to keep in the winter, the bottoms must be slowly dried, and put into paper bags.

ASPARAGUS. Having carefully scraped the stalks till they appear white, and thrown them into cold water, tie them up in small bundles with tape, and cut the stalks of an equal length. Put them into a stewpan of boiling water a little salted, and take them up as soon as they begin to be tender, or they will lose both their taste and colour. Meanwhile make toasts well browned for the bottom of the dish, moisten them in the asparagus liquor, place them regularly, and pour on some melted butter. Then lay the asparagus on the toasts round the dish, with the heads united at the centre, but pour no butter over them. Serve with melted butter in a sauce tureen, and separate cups, that the company may season with salt and pepper to their taste. – As this vegetable is one of the greatest delicacies which the garden affords, no person should be unacquainted with the means of producing it in constant succession. Toward the end of July, the stalks of the asparagus are to be cut down, and the beds forked up and raked smooth. If the weather be dry, they should be watered with the drain of a dunghill, and left rather hollow in the middle to retain the moisture. In about a fortnight the stalks will begin to appear, and the watering should be continued once a week if the weather be dry. Asparagus may thus be cut till near the end of September, and then by making five or six hot-beds during the winter, a regular succession may be provided for almost every month in the year. To obviate the objection of cutting the same beds twice a year, two or three others may be left uncut in the spring, and additional beds made for the purpose. The seed is cheap, and in most places the dung may be easily procured. There is no need to continue the old beds when they begin to fail; it is better to make new ones, and to force the old roots by applying some rotten dung on the tops of the beds, and to sow seed every year for new plants.

ASSES' MILK, so beneficial in consumptive cases, should be milked into a glass that is kept warm, by being placed in a bason of hot water. The fixed air that it contains sometimes occasions pain in the stomach; at first therefore a tea-spoonful of rum may be taken with it, but should only be put in the moment it is to be swallowed. The genuine milk far surpasses any imitation of it that can be made; but a substitute may be found in the following composition. Boil a quart of water with a quart of new milk, an ounce of white sugar-candy, half an ounce of eringo-root, and half an ounce of conserve of roses, till the quantity be half wasted. As this is an astringent, the doses must be proportioned accordingly, and the mixture is wholesome only while it remains sweet. – Another way. Mix two spoonfuls of boiling water, two of milk, and an egg well beaten. Sweeten with white sugar-candy pounded: this may be taken twice or thrice a day. Or, boil two ounces of hartshorn-shavings, two ounces of pearl barley, two ounces of candied eringo-root, and one dozen of snails that have been bruised, in two quarts of water till reduced to one. Mix with an equal quantity of new milk, when taken, twice a day.

ASTHMA. As this complaint generally attacks aged people, the best mode of relief will be to attend carefully to diet and exercise, which should be light and easy, and to avoid as much as possible an exposure to cold and frosty air. The temperature of the apartment should be equalised to moderate summer's heat by flues and stoves, and frequently ventilated. A dish of the best coffee, newly ground and made very strong, and taken frequently without milk or sugar, has been found highly beneficial. An excellent diet drink may be made of toast and water, with the addition of a little vinegar, or a few grains of nitre. Tar water is strongly recommended, and also the smoking of the dried leaves of stramonium, commonly called the thorn-apple.

ASTRINGENT BOLUS, proper to be taken in female complaints, arising from excessive evacuations. Fifteen grains of powdered alum, and five grains of gum kino, made into a bolus with a little syrup, and given every four or five hours till the discharge abates.

ASTRINGENT MIXTURE, in case of dysentery, may be made of three ounces of cinnamon water, mixed with as much common water, an ounce and a half of spirituous cinnamon-water, and half an ounce of japonic confection. A spoonful or two of this mixture may be taken every four hours, after the necessary evacuations have been allowed, and where the dysentery has not been of long standing, interposing every second or third day a dose of rhubarb.

B

Bacon, though intended to be a cheap article of housekeeping, is often, through mismanagement, rendered one of the most expensive. Generally twice as much is dressed as need be, and of course there is a deal of waste. When sent to table as an accompaniment to boiled poultry or veal, a pound and a half is plenty for a dozen people. Bacon will boil better, and swell more freely, if the rind is taken off before it is dressed; and when excessively salt, it should be soaked an hour or two in warm water. If the bacon be dried, pare off the rusty and smoked part, trim it neatly on the under side, and scrape the rind as clean as possible. Or take it up when sufficiently boiled, scrape the under side, and cut off the rind: grate a crust of bread over it, and place it a few minutes before the fire to brown. Two pounds will require to be boiled gently about an hour and a half, according to its thickness: the hock or gammon being very thick, will take more. See Dried Bacon.

BAKING. This mode of preparing a dinner is undoubtedly one of the cheapest and most convenient, especially for a small family; and the oven is almost the only kitchen which the poor man possesses. Much however depends on the care and ability of the baker: in the country especially, where the baking of dinners is not always considered as a regular article of business, it is rather a hazardous experiment to send a valuable joint to the oven; and more is often wasted and spoiled by the heedless conduct of the parish cook, than would have paid for the boiling or roasting at home. But supposing the oven to be managed with care and judgment, there are many joints which may be baked to great advantage, and will be found but little inferior to roasting. Particularly, legs and loins of pork, legs of mutton, fillets of veal, and other joints, if the meat be fat and good, will be eaten with great satisfaction, when they come from the oven. A sucking pig is also well adapted to the purpose, and is equal to a roasted one, if properly managed. When sent to the baker, it should have its ears and tail covered with buttered paper fastened on, and a bit of butter tied up in a piece of linen to baste the back with, otherwise it will be apt to blister. A goose should be prepared the same as for roasting, placing it on a stand, and taking care to turn it when it is half done. A duck the same. If a buttock of beef is to be baked, it should be well washed, after it has been in salt about a week, and put into a brown earthen pan with a pint of water. Cover the pan tight over with two or three thicknesses of writing paper, and give it four or five hours in a moderate oven. Brown paper should never be used with baked dishes; the pitch and tar which it contains will give the meat a smoky bad taste. Previously to baking a ham, soak it in water an hour, take it out and wipe it, and make a crust sufficient to cover it all over; and if done in a moderate oven, it will cut fuller of gravy, and be of a finer flavour, than a boiled one. Small cod-fish, haddock, and mackarel will bake well, with a dust of flour and some bits of butter put on them. Large eels should be stuffed. Herrings and sprats are to be baked in a brown pan, with vinegar and a little spice, and tied over with paper. These and various other articles may be baked so as to give full satisfaction, if the oven be under judicious management.

BAKED CARP. Clean a large carp, put in a Portuguese stuffing, and sow it up. Brush it all over with the yolk of an egg, throw on plenty of crumbs, and drop on oiled butter to baste with. Place the carp in a deep earthen dish, with a pint of stock, a few sliced onions, some bay leaves, a bunch of herbs, such as basil, thyme, parsley, and both sorts of marjoram; half a pint of port wine, and six anchovies. Cover over the pan, and bake it an hour. Let it be done before it is wanted. Pour the liquor from it, and keep the fish hot while you heat up the liquor with a good piece of butter rolled in flour, a tea-spoonful of mustard, a little cayenne, and a spoonful of soy. Serve it on the dish, garnished with lemon and parsley, and horse-radish, and put the gravy into the sauce tureen.

BAKED CUSTARD. Boil a pint of cream and half a pint of milk with a little mace, cinnamon and lemon peel. When cold, mix the yolks of three eggs, and sweeten the custard. Make the cups or paste nearly full, and bake them ten minutes.

BAKED HERRINGS. Wash and drain, without wiping them; and when drawn, they should not be opened. Season with allspice in fine powder, salt, and a few whole cloves. Lay them in a pan with plenty of black pepper, an onion, and a few bay leaves. Add half vinegar and half small beer, enough to cover them. Put paper over the pan, and bake in a slow oven. If it be wished to make them look red, throw a little saltpetre over them the night before.

BAKED MILK. A very useful article may be made for weakly and consumptive persons in the following manner. Put a gallon of milk into a jar, tie white paper over it, and let it stand all night in the oven when baking is over. Next morning it will be as thick as cream, and may be drank two or three times a day.

BAKED PEARS. Those least fit to eat raw, are often the best for baking. Do not pare them, but wipe and lay them on tin plates, and bake them in a slow oven. When done enough to bear it, flatten them with a silver spoon; and when done through, put them on a dish. They should be baked three or four times, and very gently.

BAKED PIKE. Scale and open it as near the throat as possible, and then put in the following stuffing. Grated bread, herbs, anchovies, oysters, suet, salt, pepper, mace, half a pint of cream, four yolks of eggs; mix all over the fire till it thickens, and then sow it up in the fish. Little bits of butter should be scattered over it, before it is sent to the oven. Serve it with gravy sauce, butter and anchovy. In carving a pike, if the back and belly be slit up, and each slice drawn gently downwards, fewer bones will be given at table.

BAKED SOUP. A cheap and plentiful dish for poor families, or to give away, may be made of a pound of any kind of meat cut in slices, with two onions, two carrots sliced, two ounces of rice, a pint of split peas, or whole ones if previously soaked, seasoned with pepper and salt. Put the whole into an earthen jug or pan, adding a gallon of water: cover it very close, and bake it.

BALM WINE. Boil three pounds of lump sugar in a gallon of water; skim it clean, put in a handful of balm, and boil it ten minutes. Strain it off, cool it, put in some yeast, and let it stand two days. Add the rind and juice of a lemon, and let it stand in the cask six months.

BALSAMIC VINEGAR. One of the best remedies for wounds or bruises is the balsamic or anti-putrid vinegar, which is made in the following manner. Take a handful of sage leaves and flowers, the same of lavender, hyssop, thyme, and savory; two heads of garlic, and a handful of salt. These are to be infused in some of the best white-wine vinegar; and after standing a fortnight or three weeks, it will be fit for use.

BANBURY CAKES. Work a pound of butter into a pound of white-bread dough, the same as for puff paste; roll it out very thin, and cut it into bits of an even form, the size intended for the cakes. Moisten some powder sugar with a little brandy, mix in some clean currants, put a little of it on each bit of paste, close them up, and bake them on a tin. When they are taken out, sift some fine sugar over them.

BARBERRIES, when preserved for tarts, must be picked clean from the stalks, choosing such as are free from stones. To every pound of fruit, weigh three quarters of a pound of lump sugar; put the fruit into a stone jar, and either set it on a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of water, and let them simmer very slowly till soft. Then put them and the sugar into a preserving-pan, and boil them gently fifteen minutes. – To preserve barberries in bunches, prepare some fleaks of white wool, three inches long, and a quarter of an inch wide. Tie the stalks of the fruit on the stick, from within an inch of one end to beyond the other, so as to make them look handsome. Simmer them in some syrup two successive days, covering them each time with it when cold. When they look clear, they are simmered enough. The third day, they should be treated like other candied fruit. See Candied.

BARBERRY DROPS. Cut off the black tops, and roast the fruit before the fire, till it is soft enough to pulp with a silver spoon through a sieve into a china bason. Then set the bason in a saucepan of water, the top of which will just fit it, or on a hot hearth, and stir it till it grows thick. When cold, put to every pint a pound and a half of double refined sugar, pounded and sifted through a lawn sieve, which must be covered with a fine linen, to prevent waste while sifting. Beat the sugar and juice together three hours and a half if a large quantity, but two and a half for less. Then drop it on sheets of white thick paper, the size of drops sold in the shops. Some fruit is not so sour, and then less sugar is necessary. To know when there is enough, mix till well incorporated, and then drop. If it run, there is not enough sugar; and if there be too much, it will be rough. A dry room will suffice to dry them. No metal must touch the juice but the point of a knife, just to take the drop off the end of the wooden spoon, and then as little as possible.

BARLEY BROTH. Wash three quarters of a pound of Scotch barley in a little cold water, put it in a soup pot with a shin or leg of beef, or a knuckle of veal of about ten pounds weight, sawn into four pieces. Cover it with cold water, and set it on the fire; when it boils skim it very clean, and put in two onions. Set it by the side of the fire to simmer very gently about two hours; then skim off all the fat, put in two heads of celery, and a large turnip cut into small squares. Season it with salt, let it boil an hour and a half longer, and it is done. Take out the meat carefully with a slice, cover it up and keep it warm by the fire, and skim the broth well before it is put into the tureen. This dish is much admired in Scotland, where it is regarded, not only as highly nutricious, but as a necessary article of domestic economy: for besides the excellent soup thus obtained, the meat also becomes an agreeable dish, served up with sauce in the following manner. Reserve a quart of the soup, put about an ounce of flour into a stewpan, pour the liquor to it by degrees, stirring it well together till it boils. Add a glass of port wine or mushroom ketchup, and let it gently boil up; strain the sauce through a sieve over the meat, and add to it some capers, minced gherkins, or walnuts. The flavour may be varied or improved, by the addition of a little curry powder, ragout, or any other store sauces.

BARLEY GRUEL. Wash four ounces of pearl barley, boil it in two quarts of water and a stick of cinnamon, till reduced to a quart. Strain and return it into the saucepan with some sugar, and three quarters of a pint of port wine. It may be warmed up, and used as wanted.

BARLEY SUGAR. This well known article of confectionary is made in the following manner. Put some common or clarified syrup into a saucepan with a spout, such as for melting butter, if little is wanted to be made, and boil it till it comes to what is called carimel, carefully taking off whatever scum may arise; and having prepared a marble stone, either with butter or sweet oil, just sufficiently to prevent sticking, pour the syrup gently along the marble, in long sticks of whatever thickness may be desired. While hot, twist it at each end; and let it remain till cold, when it will be fit for immediate use. The rasped rind of lemon, boiled up in the syrup, gives a very agreeable flavour to barley sugar; and indeed the best is commonly so prepared.

BARLEY WATER. Wash a handful of common barley, then simmer it gently in three pints of water, with a bit of lemon peel. Or boil an ounce of pearl barley a few minutes to cleanse it, and then put on it a quart of water. Simmer it an hour: when half done, put into it a piece of fresh lemon peel, and one bit of sugar. If likely to be thick, add a quarter of a pint of water, and a little lemon juice, if approved. This makes a very pleasant drink for a sick person; but the former is less apt to nauseate.

BASIL VINEGAR. Sweet basil is in full perfection about the middle of August, when the fresh green leaves should be gathered, and put into a wide-mouthed bottle. Cover the leaves with vinegar, and let them steep for ten days. If it be wished to have the infusion very strong, strain out the liquor, put in some fresh leaves, and let them steep for ten days more. This is a very agreeable addition to sauces and soups, and to the mixture usually made for salads.

BASILICON. Yellow basilicon is made of equal quantities of bees-wax, white rosin, and frankincense. Melt them together over a slow fire, add the same weight of fresh lard, and strain it off while it is warm. This ointment is used for cleansing and healing wounds and ulcers.

BASKET SALT. This fine and delicate article is chiefly made from the salt springs in Cheshire, and differs from the common brine salt, usually called sea salt, not only in its whiteness and purity, but in the fineness of its grain. Some families entertain prejudices against basket salt, notwithstanding its superior delicacy, from an idea, which does not appear warranted, that pernicious articles are used in its preparation; it may therefore be proper to mention, that by dissolving common salt, again evaporating into dryness, and then reducing it to powder in a mortar, a salt nearly equal to basket salt may be obtained, fine and of a good colour, and well adapted to the use of the table.

BATH BUNS. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of fine flour, with five eggs, and three spoonfuls of thick yeast. Set it before the fire to rise; then add a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, and an ounce of carraway seeds. Mix them well in, roll it out in little cakes, strew on carraway comfits, and bake on tins.

BATTER PUDDING. Rub by degrees three spoonfuls of fine flour extremely smooth, into a pint of milk. Simmer till it thickens, stir it in two ounces of butter, set it to cool, and then add the yolks of three eggs. Flour a wet cloth, or butter a bason, and put the batter into it. Tie it tight, and plunge it into boiling water, the bottom upwards. Boil it an hour and a half, and serve with plain butter. If a little ginger, nutmeg, and lemon peel be added, serve with sweet sauce.

BEAN BREAD. Blanch half a pound of almonds, and put them into water to preserve their colour. Cut the almonds edgeways, wipe them dry, and sprinkle over them half a pound of fine loaf sugar pounded and sifted. Beat up the white of an egg with two spoonfuls of orange-flower water, moisten the almonds with the froth, lay them lightly on wafer paper, and bake them on tins.

BEAN PUDDING. Boil and blanch some old green-beans, beat them in a mortar, with very little pepper and salt, some cream, and the yolk of an egg. A little spinach-juice will give a finer colour, but it is as good without. Boil it an hour, in a bason that will just hold it; pour parsley and butter over, and serve it up with bacon.

BEE HIVES. Common bee hives made of straw are generally preferred, because they are not likely to be overheated by the rays of the sun; they will also keep out the cold better than wood, and are cheaper than any other material. As cleanliness however is of great consequence in the culture of these delicate and industrious insects, the bottom or floor of the hive should be covered with gypsum or plaster of Paris, of which they are very fond; and the outside of their habitation should be overspread with a cement made of two-thirds of cow-dung, and one-third of ashes. This coating will exclude noxious insects, which would otherwise perforate and lodge in the straw; it will also secure the bees from cold and wet, while it exhales an odour which to them is very grateful. The inner part of the hive should be furnished with two thin pieces of oak, or peeled branches of lime tree, placed across each other at right angles, which will greatly facilitate the construction of the combs, and support them when filled with honey. A good bee-hive ought to be so planned as to be capable of enlargement or contraction, according to the number of the swarm; to admit of being opened without disturbing the bees, either for the purpose of cleaning it, of freeing it from noxious insects, or for the admission of a stock of provision for the winter. It should also admit of the produce being removed without injury to the bees, and be internally clean, smooth, and free from flaws. A hive of this description may easily be made of three or four open square boxes, fastened to each other with buttons or wooden pegs, and the joints closed with cement. The whole may be covered with a moveable roof, projecting over the boxes to carry off the rain, and kept firm on the top by a stone being laid upon it. If the swarm be not very numerous, two or three boxes will be sufficient. They should be made of wood an inch thick, that the bees and wax may be less affected by the changes of the atmosphere. This hive is so easily constructed, that it is only necessary to join four boards together in the simplest manner; and a little cement will cover all defects. Within the upper part of the boxes, two bars should be fixed across from one corner to another, to support the combs. At the lower end of each box in front, there must be an aperture, or door, about an inch and an half wide, and as high as is necessary for the bees to pass without obstruction. The lowest is to be left open as a passage for the bees, and the others are to be closed by a piece of wood fitted to the aperture. A hive thus constructed may be enlarged or diminished, according to the number of boxes; and a communication with the internal part can readily be effected by removing the cover.

BEE HOUSE. An apiary or bee house should front the south, in a situation between the extremes of heat and cold. It should stand in a valley, that the bees may with greater ease descend loaded on their return to the hive; and near a dwelling-house, but at a distance from noise and offensive smells; surrounded with a low wall, and in the vicinity of shallow water. If there be no running stream at hand, they ought to be supplied with water in troughs or pans, with small stones laid at the bottom, that the bees may alight upon them and drink. They cannot produce either combs, honey, or food for their maggots, without water; but the neighbourhood of rivers or ponds with high banks ought to be avoided, or the bees will be blown into the water with high winds, and be drowned. Care should also be taken to place the hives in a neighbourhood which abounds with such plants as will supply the bees with food; such as the oak, the pine, the willow, fruit trees, furze, broom, mustard, clover, heath, and thyme, particularly borage, which produces an abundance of farina. The garden in which the bee house stands, should be well furnished with scented plants and flowers, and branchy shrubs, that it may be easy to hive the swarms which may settle on them. See Bees, Hiving, &c.

BEEF. In every sort of provisions, the best of the kind goes the farthest; it cuts out with most advantage, and affords most nourishment. The best way to obtain a good article is to deal with shops of established credit. You may perhaps pay a little more than by purchasing of those who pretend to sell cheap, but you will be more than in proportion better served. To prevent imposition more effectually, however, it is necessary to form our own judgment of the quality and value of the articles to be purchased. If the flesh of ox-beef is young, it will show a fine smooth open grain, be of a good red, and feel tender. The fat should look white rather than yellow, for when that is of a deep colour, the meat is seldom good. Beef fed with oil cakes is generally so, and the flesh is loose and flabby. The grain of cow-beef is closer, and the fat whiter, than that of ox-beef; but the lean is not so bright a red. The grain of bull-beef is closer still, the fat hard and skinny, the lean of a deep red, and a stronger scent. Ox-beef is the reverse; it is also the richest and the largest; but in small families, and to some tastes, heifer-beef as better still, if finely fed. In old meat there is a horny streak in the ribs of beef: the harder that is, the older: and the flesh is not finely flavoured.

BEEF BOUILLI. A term given to boiled beef, which, according to the French fashion, is simmered over a slow fire, for the purpose of extracting a rich soup, while at the same time the meat makes its appearance at table, in possession of a full portion of nutricious succulence. This requires nothing more than to stew the meat very slowly, instead of keeping the pot quickly boiling, and taking up the beef as soon as it is done enough. Meat cooked in this manner, affords much more nourishment than when dressed in the common way, and is easy of digestion in proportion to its tenderness. The leg or shin, or the middle of a brisket of beef, weighing seven or eight pounds, is best adapted for this purpose. Put it into a soup pot or deep stewpan with cold water enough to cover it, and a quart over. Set it on a quick fire to get the scum up, which remove as it rises; then put in two carrots, two turnips, two leeks, or two large onions, two heads of celery, two or three cloves, and a faggot of parsley and sweet herbs. Set the pot by the side of the fire to simmer very gently, till the meat is just tender enough to eat: this will require four or five hours. When the beef is done, take it up carefully with a slice, cover it up, and keep it warm by the fire. Thicken a pint and a half of the beef liquor with three table spoonfuls of flour, season it with pepper, a glass of port wine or mushroom ketchup, or both, and pour it over the beef. Strain the soup through a hair sieve into a clean stewpan, take off the fat, cut the vegetables into small squares, and add them to the soup, the flavour of which may be heightened, by adding a table-spoonful of ketchup.

BEEF BROTH. If intended for sick persons, it is better to add other kinds of meat, which render it more nourishing and better flavoured. Take then two pounds of lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound of scrag of mutton, some sweet herbs, and ten pepper corns, and put the whole into a nice tin saucepan, with five quarts of water. Simmer it to three quarts, clear it from the fat when cold, and add an onion if approved. If there be still any fat remaining, lay a piece of clean blotting or writing paper on the broth when in the bason, and it will take up every particle of the fat.

BEEF CAKES, chiefly intended for a side-dish of dressed meat. Pound some beef that is under done, with a little fat bacon or ham. Season with pepper, salt, a little shalot or garlick; mix them well, and make the whole into small cakes three inches long, and half as wide and thick. Fry them to a light brown, and serve them in good thick gravy.

BEEF CECILS. Mince some beef with crumbs of bread, a quantity of onions, some anchovies, lemon peel, salt, nutmeg, chopped parsley, pepper, and a bit of warmed butter. Mix these over the fire a few minutes: when cool enough, make them into balls of the size and shape of a turkey's egg, with an egg. Sprinkle them with fine crumbs, fry them of a yellow brown, and serve with gravy, as for Beef Olives.

BEEF COLLOPS. Cut thin slices of beef from the rump, or any other tender part, and divide them into pieces three inches long: beat them with the blade of a knife, and flour them. Fry the collops quick in butter two minutes; then lay them into a small stewpan, and cover them with a pint of gravy. Add a bit of butter rubbed in flour, pepper and salt, a little bit of shalot shred very fine, with half a walnut, four small pickled cucumbers, and a tea-spoonful of capers cut small. Be careful that the stew does not boil, and serve in a hot covered dish.

BEEF FRICASSEE. Cut some thin slices of cold roast beef, shred a handful of parsley very small, cut an onion into quarters, and put them all together into a stewpan, with a piece of butter, and some strong broth. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer very gently for a quarter of an hour. Mix into it the yolks of two eggs, a glass of port wine, and a spoonful of vinegar: stir it quick, rub the dish with shalot, and turn the fricassee into it.

BEEF GRAVY. Cover the bottom of a stewpan, clean and well-tinned, with a slice of good ham or lean bacon, four or five pounds of gravy beef cut in pieces, an onion, a carrot, two cloves, and a head of celery. Add a pint of broth or water, cover it close, and simmer it till the liquor is nearly all exhausted. Turn it about, and let it brown slightly and equally all over, but do not suffer it to burn or stick to the pan, for that would spoil the gravy. Then put in three quarts of boiling water; and when it boils up, skim it carefully, and wipe off with a clean cloth what sticks round the edge and inside of the stewpan, that the gravy may be delicately clean and clear. Let it stew gently by the side of the fire for about four hours, till reduced to two quarts of good gravy. Take care to skim it well, strain it through silk or muslin, and set it in a cold place.

BEEF HAMS. Cut the leg of beef like a ham; and for fourteen pounds weight, mix a pound of salt, a pound of brown sugar, an ounce of saltpetre, and an ounce of bay salt. Put it into the meat, turn and baste it every day, and let it lie a month in the pickle. Then take it out, roll it in bran, and smoke it. Afterwards hang it in a dry place, and cut off pieces to boil, or broil it with poached eggs.

BEEF HASH. Cut some thin slices of beef that is underdone, with some of the fat; put it into a small stewpan, with a little onion or shalot, a little water, pepper and salt. Add some of the gravy, a spoonful of vinegar, and of walnut ketchup: if shalot vinegar be used, there will be no need of the onion nor the raw shalot. The hash is only to be simmered till it is hot through, but not boiled: it is owing to the boiling of hashes and stews that they get hard. When the hash is well warmed up, pour it upon sippets of bread previously prepared, and laid in a warm dish.

BEEF HEART. Wash it carefully, stuff it as a hare, and serve with rich gravy and currant-jelly sauce. Hash it with the same, and add a little port wine.

BEEF OLIVES. Take some cold beef that has not been done enough, and cut slices half an inch thick, and four inches square. Lay on them a forcemeat of crumbs of bread, shalot, a little suet or fat, pepper and salt. Roll and fasten them with a small skewer, put them into a stewpan with some gravy made of the beef bones, or the gravy of the meat, and a spoonful or two of water, and stew them till tender. Beef olives may also be made of fresh meat.

BEEF PALATES. Simmer them in water several hours, till they will peel. Then cut the palates into slices, or leave them whole, and stew them in a rich gravy till they become as tender as possible. Season with cayenne, salt and ketchup: if the gravy was drawn clear, add also some butter and flour. If the palates are to be dressed white, boil them in milk, and stew them in a fricassee sauce; adding cream, butter, flour, mushroom powder, and a little pounded mace.

BEEF PASTY. Bone a small rump or part of a sirloin of beef, after hanging several days. Beat it well with a rolling pin; then rub ten pounds of meat with four ounces of sugar, and pour over it a glass of port, and the same of vinegar. Let it lie five days and nights; wash and wipe the meat very dry, and season it high with pepper and salt, nutmeg and Jamaica pepper. Lay it in a dish, and to ten pounds add nearly one pound of butter, spreading it over the meat. Put a crust round the edges, and cover with a thick one, or it will be overdone before the meat is soaked: it must be baked in a slow oven. Set the bones in a pan in the oven, with no more water than will cover them, and one glass of port, a little pepper and salt, in order to provide a little rich gravy to add to the pasty when drawn. It will be found that sugar gives more shortness and a better flavour to meat than salt, too great a quantity of which hardens; and sugar is quite as good a preservative.

BEEF PATTIES. Shred some dressed beef under done, with a little fat; season with salt and pepper, and a little shalot or onion. Make a plain paste, roll it thin, and cut it in shape like an apple puff. Fill it with mince, pinch the edges, and fry them of a nice brown. The paste should be made with a small quantity of butter, egg and milk.

BEEF PIE. Season some cuttings of beef with pepper and salt, put some puff paste round the inside of the dish, and lay in the meat. Add some small potatoes, if approved, fill up the dish with water, and cover it with the paste.

BEEF PUDDING. Roll some fine steaks with fat between, and a very little shred onion. Lay a paste of suet in a bason, put in the rolled steaks, cover the bason with a paste, and pinch the edges to keep in the gravy. Cover with a cloth tied close, and let the pudding boil slowly a considerable time. – If for baking, make a batter of milk, two eggs and flour, or, which is much better, potatoes boiled, and mashed through a cullender. Lay a little of it at the bottom of the dish, then put in the steaks prepared as above, and very well seasoned. Pour the remainder of the batter over them, and bake it.

BEEF SANDERS. Mince some beef small, with onion, pepper and salt, and add a little gravy. Put it into scallop shells or saucers, making them three parts full, and fill them up with potatoes, mashed with a little cream. Put a bit of butter on the top, and brown them in an oven, or before the fire, or with a salamander. Mutton may be made into sanders in the same way.

BEEF SCALLOPS. Mince some beef fine, with onion, pepper and salt, and add a little gravy. Put the mince into scallop shells or saucers three parts full, and fill them up with potatoes, mashed with a little cream. Lay a bit of butter on the tops, and brown them in an oven, or before the fire.

BEEF STEAKS. To have them fine, they should be cut from a rump that has hung a few days. Broil them over a very clear or charcoal fire; put into the dish a little minced shalot, a table-spoonful of ketchup. The steak should be turned often, that the gravy may not be drawn out on either side. This dish requires to be eaten so hot and fresh done, that it is not in perfection if served with any thing else. Pepper and salt should be added when taking it off the fire, and a bit of butter rubbed on at the moment of serving. If accompanied with oyster sauce, strain off the liquor from the oysters, and throw them into cold water to take off the grit, while you simmer the liquor with a bit of mace and lemon peel. Then put in the oysters, stew them a few minutes, add a little cream, and some butter rubbed in a bit of flour. Let them boil up once, and throw the sauce over the steaks at the moment of sending the dish to table.

BEEF STEW. Cut into small pieces four or five pounds of beef, with some hard fat. Put these into a stewpan, with three pints of water, a little salt and pepper, a sprig of sweet herbs, and three cloves. Cover the pan very close, and let it stew four hours over a slow fire. Throw in some carrots and turnips, cut into square pieces; the white part of a leek, with two heads of celery chopped fine; a crust of bread, and two spoonfuls of vinegar. When done, put it into a deep dish, set it over hot water, and cover it close. Skim the gravy, and put in a few pickled mushrooms; thicken it with flour and butter, make it hot, and pour it over the beef.

BEEF TEA. Cut a pound of fleshy beef into thin slices; simmer it with a quart of water twenty minutes, after it has once boiled, and been skimmed. Season it, if approved; but a little salt only is sufficient.

BEEF VINGRETTE. Cut a slice of under-done boiled beef three inches thick, and a little fat. Stew it in half a pint of water, a glass of white wine, a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, and a bay leaf. Season it with three cloves pounded, and pepper, till the liquor is nearly wasted away, turning it once. Serve it up cold. Strain off the gravy, and mix it with a little vinegar for sauce.

BEER. During the present ruinous system of taxation, it is extremely difficult, though highly desirable, to procure a cheap and wholesome beverage, especially for the labouring part of the community, to whom it is as needful as their daily food. Beer that is brewed and drunk at home, is more pure and nutricious than what is generally purchased at an alehouse; and those who cannot afford a better article, may perhaps find it convenient to adopt the following method for obtaining some cheap drink for small families. – To half a bushel of malt, add four pounds of treacle, and three quarters of a pound of hops. This will make twenty-five gallons of wholesome beer, which will be fit for use in a fortnight; but it is not calculated for keeping, especially in warm weather. Beer brewed in this way will not cost one halfpenny a pint. An agreeable table beer may be made ready for drinking in three or four days, consisting of treacle and water, fermented with a little yeast. Boil six or seven gallons of water, pour it on the same quantity of cold water in a cask, and a gallon of treacle. Stir them well together; and when the fermentation is abated, close the bung-hole in the usual way. A little of the outer rind of an orange peel infused into the beer, and taken out as soon as it has imparted a sufficient degree of bitterness, will give it an agreeable flavour, and assist in keeping the beer from turning sour. A little gentian root boiled in the water, either with or without the orange peel, will give a wholesome and pleasant bitter to this beer. A small quantity, by way of experiment, may be made thus. To eight quarts of boiling water, put one ounce of treacle, a quarter of an ounce of ginger, and two bay leaves. Let the whole boil a quarter of an hour; then cool and work it with yeast, the same as other beer. Another way to make a cheap malt liquor is to take a bushel of malt, with as much water and hops as if two bushels of malt were allowed in the common way, and put seven pounds of the coarsest brown sugar into the boiling wort. This makes a very pleasant liquor; is as strong, and will keep as long without turning sour or flat, as if two bushels had been employed. Twenty gallons of good beer may be made from a bushel of malt, and three quarters of a pound of hops, if care be taken to extract all their goodness. For this purpose boil twenty-four gallons of water, and steep the malt in it for three hours: then tie up the hops in a hair cloth, and boil malt, hops, and wort, all together for three quarters of an hour, which will reduce it to about twenty gallons. Strain it off, and set it to work when lukewarm. See Brewing. – As however it does not suit some persons to brew, in any way whatever, it may be necessary to add a few brief remarks on the distinguishing qualities of sound beer, that persons may know what it is they purchase, and how far their health may be affected by it. Wholesome beer then ought to be of a bright colour, and perfectly transparent, neither too high nor too pale. It should have a pleasant and mellow taste, sharp and agreeably bitter, without being hard or sour. It should leave no pungent sensation on the tongue; and if drank in any tolerable quantity, it must neither produce speedy intoxication, nor any of the usual effects of sleep, nausea, headache, or languor; nor should it be retained too long after drinking it, or be too quickly discharged. If beer purchased at the alehouse be suspected of having been adulterated with the infusion of vitriol, for the purpose of adding to its strength, it may be detected by putting in a few nut galls, which will immediately turn it black, if it have been so adulterated; and the beer ought by all means to be rejected, as highly injurious to the constitution, and may be fatal even to life itself.

BEES. A hive of bees may be considered as a populous city, containing thirty thousand inhabitants. This community is in itself a monarchy, composed of a queen, of males which are the drones, and of working bees called neuters. The combs being composed of pure wax, serve as a magazine for their stores, and a nursery for their young. Between the combs there is a space sufficient for two bees to march abreast, and there are also transverse defiles by which they can more easily pass from one comb to another. – The queen bee is distinguishable from the rest by the form of her body. She is much longer, unwieldy, and of a brighter colour, and seldom leaves the parent hive; but when she goes to settle a new colony, all the bees attend her to the place of destination. A hive of bees cannot subsist without a queen, as she produces their numerous progeny; and hence their attachment to her is unalterable. When a queen dies, the bees immediately cease working, consume their honey, fly about at unusual times, and eventually pine away, if not supplied with another sovereign. The death of the queen is proclaimed by a clear and uninterrupted humming, which should be a warning to the owner to provide the bees if possible with another queen, whose presence will restore vigour and exertion; of such importance is a sovereign to the existence and prosperity of this community. It is computed that a pregnant queen bee contains about five thousand eggs, and that she produces from ten to twelve thousand bees in the space of two months. – Drones are smaller than the queen, but larger than the working bees, and when on the wing they make a greater noise. Their office is to impregnate the eggs of the queen after they are deposited in the cells; but when this is effected, as they become useless to the hive, they are destroyed by the working bees and thrown out; and having no sting, they are without the power of resistance. After the season of the encrease of the bees is past, and when they attend to the collection of winter stores, every vestige of the drones is destroyed to make room for the honey. When drones are observed in a hive late in autumn, it is usually a sign that the stock is poor. – Working bees compose the most numerous body of the state. They have the care of the hive, collect the wax and honey, fabricate the wax into combs, feed the young, keep the hive clean, expel all strangers, and employ themselves in promoting the general prosperity. The working bee has two stomachs, one to contain the honey, and another for the crude wax. Among the different kinds of working bees, those are to be preferred which are small, smooth, and shining, and of a gentle disposition. – Considering the rich productions of these little insects, and the valuable purposes to which they may be applied, it is truly astonishing that so important an object in rural economy has been so little attended to by the inhabitants of this country. In Egypt, the cultivation of bees forms a leading object, and their productions constitute a part of its riches. About the end of October, when sustenance cannot be provided for them at home, the inhabitants of Lower Egypt embark their bees on the Nile, and convey them to the distant regions of Upper Egypt, when the inundation is withdrawn, and the flowers are beginning to bud. These insects are thus conducted through the whole extent of that fertile country; and after having gathered all the rich produce of the banks of the Nile, are re-conducted home about the beginning of February. In France also, floating bee-hives are very common. One barge contains from sixty to a hundred hives, which are well defended from the inclemency of the weather. Thus the owners float them gently down the stream, while they gather the honey from the flowers along its banks, and a little bee-house yields the proprietors a considerable income. At other times they convey bees by land, to places where honey and wax may be collected. The hives are fastened to each other by laths placed on a thin packcloth, which is drawn up on each side and tied with packthread several times round their tops. Forty or fifty hives are then laid in a cart, and the owner takes them to distant places where the bees may feed and work. But without this labour the industrious bee might be cultivated to great advantage, and thousands of pounds weight of wax and honey collected, which now are suffered to be wasted on the desert air, or perish unheeded amidst the flowers of the field. – Those whose attention may be directed to the subject by these remarks, and who intend to erect an apiary, should purchase the stocks towards the close of the year, when bees are cheapest; and such only as are full of combs, and well furnished with bees. To ascertain the age of the hives it should be remarked, that the combs of the last year are white, while those of the former year acquire a darkish yellow. Where the combs are black, the hive should be rejected as too old, and liable to the inroads of vermin. In order to obtain the greatest possible advantage from the cultivation of bees, it is necessary to supply them with every convenience for the support of themselves and their young. And though it may be too much trouble to transport them to distant places, in order to provide them with the richest food, and to increase their abundant stores; yet in some instances this plan might in part be adopted with considerable success. It has been seen in Germany, as well as in other parts of the continent, that forty large bee hives have been filled with honey, to the amount of seventy pounds each, in one fortnight, by their being placed near a large field of buck wheat in flower; and as this and various other plants adapted to enrich the hive are to be found in many parts of England, there is no reason why a similar advantage might not be derived from such an experiment. – Besides providing for them the richest food in summer, in order to facilitate their labours, it is equally necessary to attend to their preservation in the winter. To guard against the effects of cold, the bees should be examined during the winter; and if instead of being clustered between the combs, they are found in numbers at the bottom of the hive, they should be carried to a warmer place, where they will soon recover. In very severe seasons, lay on the bottom of an old cask the depth of half a foot of fine earth pressed down hard; place the stool on this with the hive, and cut a hole in the cask opposite to the entrance of the hive, in which fix a piece of reed or hollow elder, and then cover the whole with dry earth. This will preserve a communication with the external air, and at the same time keep out the cold. The bees remaining in a torpid state during the winter, they require but little food; but as every sunny day revives and prompts them to exercise, a small supply is necessary on these occasions. Many hives of bees which are supposed to have died of cold, have in reality perished by famine, especially when a rainy summer prevented them from collecting a sufficient store of provision. Hence the hives should be carefully examined in autumn, and ought then to weigh at least eighteen pounds each. When bees require to be fed, the honey should be diluted with water, and put into an empty comb, split reeds, or upon clear wood, which the bees will suck perfectly dry. But it is a much better way to replenish the weak hives in September, with such a portion of combs filled with honey taken from other hives as may be deemed a sufficient supply. This is done by turning up the weak hive, cutting out the empty combs, and placing full ones in their stead, so secure as not to fall down when the hive is replaced. If this be too troublesome, a plate of honey may be set under the hive, and straws laid across the plate, covered with paper perforated with small holes, through which the bees will suck the honey without difficulty. – These valuable insects are liable to various disorders, both from the food they eat, from foreign enemies, and from one another. If they have fed greedily on the blossoms of the milk thistle or the elm, it will render them incapable of working, and the hive will be stained with filth. The best cure in this case is pounded pomegranate seed, moistened with sweet wine; or raisins mixed with wine or mead, and the infusion of rosemary. When they are infested with vermin, the hive must be cleansed, and perfumed with a branch of pomegranate or the wild fig-tree, which will effectually destroy them. Butterflies sometimes conceal themselves in the hives, and annoy the bees; but these intruders may easily be exterminated by placing lighted candles in deep tin pots between the hives, as they will be attracted by the flame, and so perish. In order to extirpate wasps and hornets preying upon the honey, it is only necessary to expose shallow vessels near the hive with a little water, to which those depredators eagerly repair to quench their thirst, and thus easily drown themselves. To prevent bees of one society from attacking or destroying those of another, which is frequently the case, the following method may be tried. Let a board about an inch thick be laid on the bee bench, and set the hive upon it with its mouth exactly on the edge. The mouth of the hive should also be contracted to about an inch in length, and a semicircular hole made in the board immediately under the mouth of the hive. By this simple method, the bees which come to make the attack will be foiled, and constrained to act with great disadvantage. If this do not succeed, remove the hive to a distant part of the garden, and to a more easterly or colder aspect, which will frequently end the contest. – When bees are to be taken up for the purpose of obtaining the wax and honey, great care should be taken not to destroy the insects; and for this end the following method is recommended. The upper box on the hive, which principally contains the honey, is first to be taken off. The joint should be loosened, the cement scraped off, and then a piece of iron wire to be drawn through the comb so as to divide it. When the upper box is thus separated, its cover is to be taken off and immediately placed on the second box, which is now the highest. Having taken out the contents of the box which has been separated, it is to be placed again on the stand, under the lower box, and its door only is to be left open. If any bees remain in the box when taken away, a little smoke will drive them out, and they will quickly return to their own hive. In this manner a second or a third box of honey may be removed in succession, when the lower part of the hive appears to be full; but care must be taken not to deprive the bees entirely of the stock which they have collected for the winter. In taking up a common straw hive of bees, the best way is to remove it into a darkened room, that it may appear to the bees as if it were late in the evening. Then gently turning the hive bottom upwards, and supporting it in that position, cover it with an empty hive a little raised towards the window, to give the bees sufficient light to guide their ascent. Keep the empty hive steadily supported on the edge of the full hive, and strike the hand round the full hive to frighten the bees, till they have nearly all ascended into the other. The new hive containing the bees must be placed on the stand of the apiary, to receive the absent bees as they return from the fields.

BEET ROOT. This cooling and wholesome vegetable is good boiled, and sliced with a small quantity of onion, or stewed with whole onions in the following manner. Boil the beet tender with the skin on, slice it into a stewpan with a little broth and a spoonful of vinegar. Simmer it till the gravy is tinged with the colour; then put it into a small dish, and make a round of button onions, first boiled tender. Take off the skin just before serving, and let them be quite hot and clear. Or roast three large onions, and peel off the outer skins till they look clear; and serve round them the stewed beet root. The root must not be broken before it is dressed, or it will lose its colour, and look ill. – To preserve beet-root for winter use, they should not be cleared from the earth, but kept in layers of dry sand.

BEETLES. When these insects become troublesome in the house, put some small lumps of quick lime into the chinks or holes of the wall from whence they issue, or scatter it on the ground. Or at night, lay a spoonful of treacle on a piece of wood, and float it in a pan of water: beetles are so fond of syrup, that they will be drowned in attempting to get at it. The common black beetle may also be extirpated by placing a hedgehog in the room, during the summer nights; or by laying a bundle of pea straw near their holes, and afterwards burning it when the beetles have crept into it.

BENTON CAKES. Mix a paste of flour, a little bit of butter, and milk. Roll it as thin as possible, and bake on a backstone over the fire, or on a hot hearth. Another sort of Benton tea-cakes are made like biscuits, by rubbing into a pound of flour six ounces of butter, and three large spoonfuls of yeast. Work up the paste with a sufficient quantity of new milk, make it into biscuits, and prick them with a clean fork. Or melt six or seven ounces of butter, with a sufficient quantity of new milk warmed to make seven pounds of flour into a stiff paste. Roll it thin, and make it into biscuits.

BENTON SAUCE. Grate some horse-radish, or scrape it very fine. Add to it a little made mustard, some pounded white sugar, and four large spoonfuls of vinegar. Serve it up in a saucer: this is good with hot or cold roast beef.

BILLS OF FARE, or list of various articles in season in different months.

January. —Poultry. Game, pheasants, partridges, hares, rabbits, woodcocks, snipes, turkeys, capons, pullets, fowls, chickens, tame pigeons. —Fish. Carp, tench, perch, eels, lampreys, crayfish, cod, soles, flounders, plaice, turbot, skate, thornback, sturgeon, smelts, whitings, crabs, lobsters, prawns, oysters. —Vegetables. Cabbage, savoys, coleworts, sprouts, brocoli, leeks, onions, beet, sorrel, chervil, endive, spinach, celery, garlic, potatoes, parsnips, turnips, shalots, lettuces, cresses, mustard, rape, salsify, herbs dry and green. —Fruit. Apples, pears, nuts, walnuts, medlars, grapes.

February, March. – Meat, fowls and game, as in January, with the addition of ducklings and chickens. —Fish. As the last two months, except that cod is not thought so good, from February to July. —Vegetables. The same as the former months, with the addition of kidney beans. —Fruit. Apples, pears, forced strawberries.

April, May, June. —Meat. Beef, mutton, veal, lamb, venison in June. —Poultry. Pullets, fowls, chickens, ducklings, pigeons, rabbits, leverets. —Fish. Carp, tench, soles, smelts, eels, trout, turbot, lobsters, chub, salmon, herrings, crayfish, mackarel, crabs, prawns, shrimps. —Vegetables. As before, and in May, early potatoes, peas, radishes, kidney beans, carrots, turnips, early cabbages, cauliflowers, asparagus, artichokes, all sorts of forced sallads. —Fruit. In June, strawberries, cherries, melons, green apricots, gooseberries and currants for tarts. In July, cherries, strawberries, pears, melons, gooseberries, currants, apricots, grapes, nectarines, peaches; but most of these are forced.

July, August, September. – Meat as before. —Poultry. Pullets, fowls, chickens, rabbits, pigeons, green geese, leverets, turkey poults, plovers, wheatears, and geese in September. —Fish. Cod, haddock, flounders, plaice, skate, thornback, mullets, pike, carp, eels, shellfish, except oysters; mackarel the first two months, but are not good in August. —Vegetables. Beans, peas, French beans, and various others. —Fruit. In July, strawberries, gooseberries, pineapples, plums, cherries, apricots, raspberries, melons, currants, damsons. In August and September, peaches, plums, filberts, figs, mulberries, cherries, apples, pears, nectarines, grapes, pines, melons, strawberries, medlars, quinces, morella cherries, damsons, and various plums.

October. – Meat as before, and doe-venison. —Poultry. Game, pheasants, fowls, partridges, larks, hares, dotterels, wild ducks, teal, snipes, widgeon, grouse. —Fish. Dories, smelts, pike, perch, holibets, brills, carp, salmon trout, barbel, gudgeons, tench, shellfish. —Vegetables. As in January, French beans, runners, windsor beans. —Fruit. Peaches, pears, figs, bullace, grapes, apples, medlars, damsons, filberts, nuts, walnuts, quinces, services.

November. —Meat. Beef, mutton, veal, pork, house lamb, doe venison, poultry and game. Fish as the last month. —Vegetables. Carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, skirrets, onions, leeks, shalots, cabbage, savoys, colewort, spinach, cardoons, cresses, endive, celery, lettuces, salad, herbs. —Fruit. Pears, apples, nuts, walnuts, bullace, chesnuts, medlars, grapes.

December. —Meat. Beef, mutton, veal, house lamb, pork and venison. —Poultry. Game, turkeys, geese, pullets, pigeons, capons, fowls, chickens, rabbits, hares, snipes, woodcocks, larks, pheasants, partridges, sea-fowls, guinea-fowls, wild ducks, teal, widgeon, dotterels, dunbirds, grouse. —Fish. Turbot, cod, holibets, soles, gurnets, sturgeon, carp, gudgeons, codlings, eels, dories, shellfish. —Vegetables. As in the last month; asparagus forced. —Fruit. As the last, except bullace.

BIRCH WINE. The season for obtaining the liquor from birch trees, is in the latter end of February or the beginning of March, before the leaves shoot out, and as the sap begins to rise. If the time be delayed, the juice will grow too thick to be drawn out. It should be as thin and clear as possible. The method of procuring the juice is by boring holes in the trunk of the tree, and fixing in facets made of elder; but care should be taken not to tap it in too many places at once, for fear of injuring the tree. If the tree is large, it may be bored in five or six places at once, and bottles are to be placed under the apertures to receive the sap. When four or five gallons have been extracted from different trees, cork the bottles very close, and wax them till the wine is to be made, which should be as soon as possible after the sap has been obtained. Boil the sap, and put four pounds of loaf sugar to every gallon, also the rind of a lemon cut thin; then boil it again for nearly an hour, skimming it well all the time. Into a cask that will contain it, put a lighted brimstone match, stop it up till the match is burnt out, and then pour the liquor into it as quickly as possible. When nearly cold, work it with a toast spread with yeast, and let it stand five or six days, stirring it two or three times a-day. Put the bung lightly in till it has done working; then close it down, and let it stand two or three months. The wine may then be bottled, and will be fit for use in about a week. It makes a rich and salutary cordial, and its virtues are much relied on in consumptive and scorbutic cases.

BISCUIT CAKE. One pound of flour, five eggs well beaten and strained, eight ounces of sugar, a little rose or orange flower water. Beat the whole thoroughly, and bake it one hour.

BISCUITS. To make hard biscuits, warm two ounces of butter in as much skimmed milk as will make a pound of flour into a very stiff paste. Beat it with a rolling pin, and work it very smooth. Roll it thin, and cut it into round biscuits. Prick them full of holes with a fork, and about six minutes will bake them. – For plain and very crisp biscuits, make a pound of flour, the yolk of an egg, and some milk, into a very stiff paste. Beat it well, and knead it quite smooth; roll the paste very thin, and cut it into biscuits. Bake them in a slow oven till quite dry and crisp. – To preserve biscuits for a long time sweet and good, no other art is necessary than packing them up in casks well caulked, and carefully lined with tin, so as to exclude the air. The biscuits should be laid as close as possible; and when it is necessary to open the cask, it must be speedily closed again with care. Sea bread may also be preserved on a long voyage, by being put into a bag which has been previously soaked in a quantity of liquid nitre, and dried. This has been found to preserve the biscuits from the fatal effects of the wevil, and other injurious insects, which are destructive to this necessary article of human sustenance.

BITTERS. Bruise an ounce of gentian root, and two drams of cardamom seeds together: add an ounce of lemon peel, and three drams of Seville orange peel. Pour on the ingredients a pint and half of boiling water, and let it stand an hour closely covered: then pour off the clear liquor, and a glass of it taken two or three times a day will be found an excellent bitter for the stomach. – Or slice an ounce of gentian root, and add half a dram of snakes' root bruised, half a dram of saffron, three quarters of a dram of cardamom seeds, and the same of cochineal bruised together, and the peel of three Seville oranges. Steep the ingredients in a pint of brandy fourteen days, shaking them together frequently; then strain the tincture through a piece of muslin, and a tea-spoonful in a glass of wine may be taken two or three times a day.

BLACK BUTTER. Boil a pound of moist sugar with three pounds of gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and cherries, till reduced to half the quantity. Put it into pots covered with brandy paper, and it will be found a pleasant sweetmeat.

BLACK CAPS. Divide and core some fine large apples, put them in a shallow pan, strew white sugar over, and bake them. Boil a glass of wine, the same of water, and sweeten it for sauce. Or, take off a slice from the stalk end of some apples, and core without paring them. Mix with grated lemon, and a few cloves in fine powder, as much sugar as will sweeten them. Stuff the holes as close as possible with this, and turn the flat end down on a stewpan; set them on a very slow fire, with some raisin wine and water. Cover them close, and now and then baste them with the liquor: when done enough, black the tops with a salamander.

BLACK INK. Infuse in a gallon of rain or soft water, a pound of blue galls bruised, and keep it stirring for three weeks. Then add four ounces of green copperas, four ounces of logwood chips, six ounces of gum arabac, and a glass of brandy. – To make ink of a superior quality, and fit for immediate use, prepare the following ingredients. Four ounces of blue galls, two ounces of chipped logwood, two of sulphate of iron, one ounce and a half of gum arabac, half an ounce of sulphate of copper, and half an ounce of brown sugar. Boil the galls and logwood in six pints of spring or distilled water, until nearly three pints of water are evaporated, then strain it through a piece of flannel. Powder the salts in a mortar, dissolve the gum in a little warm water, then mix the whole together, and shake it frequently for two or three days; during which time expose it to the air, and it will become blacker. Decant the liquor into stone bottles well corked, and it will be fit for use directly. Those who wish to avoid the trouble of such a process, will find an excellent substitute in Walkden's Ink Powder ready prepared, with directions how to use it. If a cup of sweet wort be added to two papers of the powder, it will give it the brightness of japan ink.

BLACK LEAD. The best preparation for cleaning cast-iron stoves is made of black lead, mixed with a little common gin, or the dregs of port wine, and laid on the stove with a piece of linen rag. Then with a clean brush, not too hard, and dipped in some dried black lead powder, rub the stove till it comes to a beautiful brightness. This will produce a much finer black varnish on the cast-iron, than either boiling the black lead with small beer and soap, or mixing it with white of egg, as is commonly practised.

BLACK PAPER, for drawing patterns, may easily be made in the following manner. Mix and smooth some lamp-black and sweet oil, with a piece of flannel. Cover a sheet or two of large writing paper with this mixture, then dab the paper dry with a rag of fine linen, and prepare it for future use by putting the black side on another sheet of paper, and fastening the corners together with a small pin. When wanted to draw, lay the pattern on the back of the black paper, and go over it with the point of a steel pencil. The black paper will then leave the impression of the pattern on the under sheet, on which you must now draw it with ink. If you draw patterns on cloth or muslin, do it with a pen dipped in a bit of stone blue, a bit of sugar, and a little water, mixed smooth in a tea cup, in which it will be always ready for use.

BLACK PUDDINGS. The pig's blood must be stirred with a little salt till it is cold. Put a full quart of it to a quart of whole grits, and let it stand all night. Soak the crumb of a quartern loaf in rather more than two quarts of new milk made hot. In the meantime prepare the guts by washing, turning and scraping, with salt and water, and changing the water several times. Chop fine a little winter savoury and thyme, a good quantity of pennyroyal, pepper and salt, a few cloves, some allspice, ginger and nutmeg. Mix these all together, with three pounds of beef suet, and six eggs well beaten and strained. Have ready some hog's fat cut into large bits; and as the skins are filling with the pudding, put in the fat at intervals. Tie up in links only half filled, and boil in a large kettle, pricking them as they swell, or they will burst. When boiled, lay them between clean cloths till cold, and hang them up in the kitchen. When to be used, scald them a few minutes in water; wipe, and put them into a Dutch oven. If there be not skins enough, put the stuffing into basins, and boil it covered with floured cloths. Slice and fry it when used. – Another way is, to soak all night a quart of bruised grits in as much boiling-hot milk as will swell them, and leave half a pint of liquid. Chop a quantity of pennyroyal, savoury and thyme; add salt and pepper, and allspice finely powdered. Mix the above with a quart of the blood, prepared as before directed; clean the skins thoroughly, half fill them with the stuffing, put in as much of the leaf fat of the pig as will make it pretty rich, and boil as before directed. A small quantity of leeks finely shred and well mixed, is a great improvement. – A superior article may be made as follows: boil a quart of half-grits in as much milk as will swell them to the utmost, drain them and add a quart of blood, a pint of rich cream, a pound of suet, some mace, nutmeg, allspice, and four cloves, all in fine powder. And two pounds of hog's leaf cut into dice, two leeks, a handful of parsley, ten leaves of sage, a large handful of pennyroyal, and a sprig of thyme and knotted marjoram, all finely minced; eight eggs well beaten, half a pound of bread crumbs scalded in a pint of milk, with pepper and salt. Soak and clean the skins in several waters, last of all in rose-water, and half fill them with the stuffing. Tie the skins in links, boil and prick them with a clean fork, to prevent their breaking, and cover them with a clean cloth till cold.

BLACKBERRY JAM. Put some red, but not ripe, blackberries into a jar, and cover it up closely. Set the jar in a kettle or deep stewpan of water over the fire, as a water bath; and when it has simmered five or six hours, force the juice through a sieve. To every pint of juice, add two pounds of powdered loaf-sugar, boiling and scumming it in the same manner as for any other jam or jelly. This simple article is said to afford effectual relief in cases of stone or gravel: a tea-spoonful to be taken every night, and repeated in the morning, if necessary. A good jam may also be made of ripe blackberries, in a similar manner; and both, like other jams, should be kept in jars, closely tied over with brandy paper.

BLACKBERRY WINE. Pick and clean a quantity of ripe blackberries; to every quart of fruit, add a quart of cold water which has first been boiled. Bruise them well, and let the whole stand twenty-four hours, stirring it occasionally during that time. Express all the juice and run it through a sieve or jelly bag, on a pound and a half of sugar to each gallon of liquid. Stir it till thoroughly dissolved, put it in a well seasoned barrel, add a little dissolved isinglass, and let it remain open till the next day; then bung it up. This makes a pleasant wine, which may be bottled off in about two months.

BLACKING for shoes is made of four ounces of ivory black, three ounces of the coarsest sugar, a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and a pint of small beer, gradually mixed together cold.

BLACKING BALLS. Portable shoe-blacking, in the form of cakes or balls, is made in the following manner. Take four ounces of mutton suet, one ounce of bees-wax, one of sweet oil, and a dram each of powdered sugar-candy and gum-arabac. Melt them well together over a slow fire; add a spoonful of turpentine, and lamp-black sufficient to give it a good black colour. While hot enough to run, make the composition into a ball, by pouring it into a tin mould; or let it stand till nearly cold, and then it may be moulded into any form by the hand.

BLADE-BONE OF PORK. Cut it from the bacon-hog, with a small quantity of meat upon it, and lay it on the gridiron. When nearly done pepper and salt it. Add a piece of butter, and a tea-spoonful of mustard; and serve it up quickly. This dish is much admired in Somersetshire. A blade-bone of mutton may be dressed in the same way.

BLAMANGE. Boil two ounces of isinglass half an hour, in a pint and half of water, and strain off the cream. Sweeten it, and add some peach water, or a few bitter almonds; let it boil up once, and put it into what forms you please. Be sure to let the blamange settle before you turn it into the forms, or the blacks will remain at the bottom of them, and be on the top of the blamange when taken out of the moulds. If not to be very stiff, a little less isinglass will do. – For Yellow Blamange, pour a pint of boiling water upon an ounce of isinglass, and the peel of one lemon. When cold, sweeten with two ounces of fine sugar: add a quarter of a pint of white wine, the yolks of four eggs, and the juice of one lemon. Stir all together, and let it boil five minutes: strain through a bag, and put into cups.

BLANKETS, if not in constant use, are liable to be moth-eaten. To prevent this, they should be folded and laid under feather beds that are in use, and occasionally shaken. When soiled, they should be washed, not scoured: and well dried before they are laid by, or they will breed moths.

BLEACHING OF STRAW. This is generally done by the fumes of sulphur, in a place enclosed for that purpose: but to render the straw very white, and encrease its flexibility in platting, it should be dipped in a solution of oxygenated muriatic acid, saturated with potash. Oxygenated muriate of lime will also answer the purpose. To repair straw bonnets, they must be carefully ripped to pieces; the plat should be bleached with the above solution, and made up afresh.

BLUE INK. Dissolve an ounce of finely powdered verdigris, and half an ounce of cream of tartar, in three ounces of water. This will make a fine blue writing ink, which has the singular property of giving to an iron nail, immersed in it for twenty-four hours, a beautiful green colour.

BOARDED FLOORS will preserve a beautiful appearance, if treated in the following manner. After washing them very clean with soda and warm water, and a brush, wash them with a large sponge and clean water, observing that no spot be left untouched. Be careful to clean straight up and down, not crossing from board to board: then dry with clean cloths, rubbing hard up and down the same way. The floors should not be often wetted, but very thoroughly when done; and once a week dry-rubbed with hot sand, and a heavy brush, the right way of the boards. If oil or grease have stained the floor, make a strong lye of pearl-ashes and soft water, and add as much unslaked lime as it will take up. Stir it together, and then let it settle a few minutes; bottle it, and stop it close. When used, lower it with a little water, and scour the part with it. If the liquor lie long on the boards, it will extract their colour; it must therefore be done with care and expedition. Stone work may be freed from stains in the same way.

BOCKINGS. Mix three ounces of buck-wheat flour with a tea-cupful of warm milk, and a spoonful of yeast. Let it rise before the fire about an hour; then mix four eggs well beaten, and as much milk as will make the batter the usual thickness for pancakes, and fry them in the same manner.

BOILING. Cleanliness here is of great consequence; and for this purpose all culinary vessels should be made of iron, or of other metals well tinned. The pernicious effects of copper or brass may be perceived by rubbing the hand round the inside of a pot or kettle made of either of those metals, and which has been scoured clean and fit for use; for though it may not discolour the hand, yet it will cause an offensive smell, and must in some degree affect every article which is put into it. If copper or brass be used, they should be well cleaned, and nothing suffered to remain in the vessels longer than is necessary for the purposes of cooking. In small families however, block-tin saucepans and boilers are much to be preferred, as lightest and safest. If proper care be taken of them, and they are well dried after being cleaned, they are also by far the cheapest; the purchase of a new tin saucepan being little more than the expense of tinning a copper one. Care should be taken to have the covers of boiling pots fit close, not only to prevent an unnecessary evaporation of the water, but that the smoke may not insinuate itself under the edge of the lid, and give the meat a bad taste. A trivet or fish drainer placed in the boiler to lay the meat on, and to raise it an inch and a half from the bottom, will prevent that side of it which comes next the bottom from being done too much, and the lower part of the meat will be as delicately done as any other. Instead of a trivet, four skewers stuck into the meat transversely will answer the purpose, or a soup plate whelmed the wrong side upwards. With good management it will take less fire for boiling than for roasting, but it should be kept to a regular pitch, so as to keep the pot gently boiling all the time. If it boils too fast, it will harden the meat, by extracting too much of the gravy; but if it be allowed to simmer only, or to boil gently, it will become rich and tender. The scum must be carefully taken off as soon as the water boils, or it will sink and discolour the meat. The oftener it is scummed, and the cleaner the top of the water is kept, the cleaner will be the meat; and if a little cold water be occasionally thrown in, it will bring up the remainder of the scum to the surface. Neither mixing milk with the water nor wrapping up the meat in a cloth are necessary, if the scum be attentively removed; and the meat will have a more delicate colour, and a finer flavour, if boiled in clear water only. The general rule for boiling is to allow a quarter of an hour to a pound of meat; but if it be boiled gently or simmered only, which is by far the superior way, twenty minutes to the pound will scarcely be found too much. At the same time care must be taken to keep the pot constantly boiling, and not to suffer the meat to remain in after it is done enough, or it will become sodden, and lose its flavour. The quantity of water is regulated by the size of the meat; sufficient to cover it, but not to drown it; and the less water, the more savoury will the meat be, and the better the broth. It is usual to put all kinds of fresh meat into hot water, and salt meat into cold water; but if the meat has been salted only a short time it is better to put it in when the water boils, or it will draw out too much of the gravy. Lamb, veal, and pork require rather more boiling than other meat, to make them wholesome. The hind quarters of most animals require longer time to dress than the fore quarters, and all kinds of provision require more time in frosty weather than in summer. Large joints of beef and mutton are better a little underdone; they make the richer hash; but meat that is fresh slain will remain tough and hard, in whatever way it may be cooked. All meat should be washed clean before it is put into the boiler, but salt meat especially. A ham of twenty pounds will take four hours and a half in boiling, and others in proportion. A dried tongue, after being soaked, will take four hours boiling: a tongue out of pickle, from two hours and a half to three hours, or more if very large: it must be judged by its feeling quite tender. Boiling is in general the most economical mode of cooking, if care be taken to preserve the broth, and apply it to useful purposes.

BOILED BACON. Soak it, and take off the rind before boiling. A pound of bacon boiled without the skin will weigh an ounce heavier than a pound boiled with it. Fat bacon should be put into hot water, and lean into cold water, when it is to be dressed. Young bacon will boil in about three quarters of an hour. Grate some toasted bread over it, and set it near the fire to brown it a little, before it is sent to table.

BOILED BEEF. When the water boils put in the meat, whether beef or mutton, and take off the scum as it rises. If the scum be suffered to sink, it will stick to the meat, and spoil its colour. Turnips, greens, potatoes, or carrots with the beef, and caper sauce with the mutton.

BOILED CUSTARD. Set a pint of cream over a slow fire, adding two ounces of sugar, and the rind of a lemon. Take it off the fire as soon as it begins to simmer; as the cream cools, add by degrees the yolks of eight eggs well beaten, with a spoonful of orange water. Stir it carefully over a slow fire till it almost boils, and strain it quickly through a piece of thin muslin. Put it into cups, and serve it up cold.

BOILED DUCK. Choose a fine fat duck, salt it two days, and boil it slowly in a cloth. Serve it with onion sauce, but melt the butter with milk instead of water.

BOILED EELS. The small ones are best, provided they are bright, and of a good colour. After they are skinned, boil them in a small quantity of water, with a quantity of parsley, which with the liquor should be sent to table with them. Serve chopped parsley and butter for sauce.

BOILED FOWL. For boiling, choose those that are not black-legged. Pick them nicely, singe, wash, and truss them. Flour them, and put them into boiling water: half an hour will be sufficient for one of middling size. Serve with parsley and butter; oyster, lemon, liver, or celery sauce. If for dinner, ham, tongue or bacon is usually served with them, and also greens. – When cooked with rice, stew the fowl very slowly in some clear mutton broth well skimmed, and seasoned with onion, mace, pepper and salt. About half an hour before it is ready, put in a quarter of a pint of rice well washed and soaked. Simmer it till it is quite tender, strain it from the broth, and put the rice on a sieve before the fire. Keep the fowl hot, lay it in the middle of the dish, and the rice round it without the broth. The broth will be nice by itself, but the less liquor the fowl is done with the better. Gravy, or parsley and butter, for sauce.

BOILED HAM. Soak the ham in cold water the night before it is to be dressed, scrape it clean, and put it into the boiler with cold water. Skim the liquor while boiling; let it not boil fast, but simmer only, and add a little cold water occasionally for this purpose. When the ham is done, take it up, pull off the skin carefully, and grate a crust of bread over it so as to cover it tolerably thick. Set it before the fire, or put it into the oven till the bread is crisp; garnish it with carrots, or any thing that is in season. A ham of twenty pounds will require five hours boiling, and others in proportion.

BOILED LEG OF PORK. Salt it eight or ten days; and when it is to be dressed, weigh it. Let it lie half an hour in cold water to make it white: allow a quarter of an hour for every pound, and half an hour over, from the time it boils up. Skim it as soon as it boils, and frequently after. Allow plenty of water, and save some of it for peas-soup. The leg should be small, and of a fine grain; and if boiled in a floured cloth, it will improve the colour and appearance. Serve it with peas-pudding and turnips.

BOILED SALMON. Clean it carefully, boil it gently, and take it out of the water as soon as done. Let the water be warm, if the fish be split: if underdone, it is very unwholesome. Serve with shrimp or anchovy sauce.

BOILED TURBOT. The turbot kettle must be of a proper size, and in good order. Set the fish in cold water sufficient to cover it completely, throw a handful of salt and a glass of vinegar into it, and let it gradually boil. Be very careful that no blacks fall into it; but skim it well, and preserve the beautiful colour of the fish. Serve it garnished with a complete fringe of curled parsley, lemon and horse-radish. The sauce must be the finest lobster, anchovy and butter, and plain butter, served plentifully in separate tureens. – If necessary, turbot will keep two or three days, and be in as high perfection as at first, if lightly rubbed over with salt, and carefully hung in a cold place.

BOILED TURKEY. A turkey will neither boil white nor eat tender, unless it has been killed three or four days. Pick it clean, draw it at the rump, cut off the legs, stick the end of the thighs into the body, and tie them fast. Flour the turkey, put it into the water while cold, let it boil gently half an hour or more, take off the scum, and cover the kettle close. Make the stuffing of grated bread and lemon peel, four ounces of shred suet, a few chopped oysters, two eggs, and a little cream. Fill the craw with stuffing, and make the rest into balls, which are to be boiled and laid round the dish. The stuffing may be made without oysters; or force-meat or sausage may be used, mixed with crumbs of bread and yolks of eggs. Celery sauce or white sauce is very proper.

BOILED VEAL. Dredge it with flour, tie it up in a cloth, and put it in when the water boils. A knuckle requires more boiling in proportion to its weight, than any other joint, to render the gristle soft and tender. Parsley and butter, bacon and greens, are commonly eaten with it.

BOILERS. Copper boilers and saucepans are apt to become leaky, when they have been joined or mended, or from bruises, which sometimes render them unfit for use. In this case a cement of pounded quicklime, mixed with ox's blood, applied fresh to the injured part, will be of great advantage, and very durable. A valuable cement for such purposes may also be made of equal parts of vinegar and milk mixed together so as to produce a curd: the whey is then put to the whites of four or five eggs after they have been well beaten, and the whole reduced to a thick paste by the addition of some quicklime finely sifted. This composition applied to cracks or fissures of any kind, and properly dried, will resist the effects of fire and water.

BOLOGNA SAUSAGES. Cut into small pieces four pounds of lean beef, and add to it a pound of diced suet, with the same quantity of diced bacon. Season with allspice, pepper, bay salt, saltpetre, and a little powder of bay leaves. Mix the whole together, tie the meat up in skins about the thickness of the wrist, dry the sausages in the same manner as tongues, and eat them without boiling.

BOLOGNA SOUP. Bind close with packthread, fifteen pounds of brisket of beef, and put it into a pot with water sufficient to cover it. Then add three large carrots, some good turnips, four onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, and half a white cabbage sliced and fried in butter. The pot must be well scummed before the herbs are put in. It must boil very slowly for five or six hours; and when half boiled, prepare three or four pounds of loin of mutton, with all the fat taken off, and put it into the pot. Flavour the soup with whole pepper, and a head of celery; and to make it of a good colour, draw the gravy from a pound of lean beef over a slow fire, and add a ladleful to the soup, first carefully taking off all the fat. Having cut and dried the crust of a French roll, lay it in a stewpan with a little soup; and after stewing it over a slow fire, place it with a slice in the soup tureen. The beef must be untied, and served up with chopped parsley strewed over it; accompanied also with gravy sauce, a few capers, and some chopped carrots, thickened with the yolk of an egg. Add a little seasoning to the soup.

BOOTS. Persons who travel much, or are often exposed to the weather, must be sensible of the importance of being provided with boots that will resist the wet. The following is a composition for preserving leather, the good effects of which are sufficiently ascertained. One pint of drying oil, two ounces of yellow wax, two ounces of spirit of turpentine, and half an ounce of Burgundy pitch, should be carefully melted together over a slow fire. With this mixture, new shoes and boots are to be rubbed in the sun, or at some distance from the fire, with a sponge or brush. The operation is to be repeated as often as they become dry, and until they are fully saturated. In this manner the leather becomes impervious to the wet: the boots or shoes last much longer than those of common leather, acquire such softness and pliability that they never shrivel or grow hard, and in that state are the most effectual preservation against wet and cold. It is necessary to observe, however, that boots or shoes thus prepared ought not to be worn till they become perfectly dry and flexible: otherwise the leather will be too soft, and the boots unserviceable.

BOOT TOPS. Many of the compositions sold for the purpose of cleaning and restoring the colour of boot tops, are not found to answer, and are often injurious to the leather. A safe and easy preparation is made of a quart of boiled milk, which, when cold, is to be mixed with an ounce of the oil of vitriol, and an ounce of the spirit of salts, shaken well together. An ounce of red lavender is then to be added, and the liquid applied to the leather with a sponge. Or, mix a dram of oxymuriate of potash with two ounces of distilled water; and when the salt is dissolved, add two ounces of muriatic acid. Shake together in another vial, three ounces of rectified spirits of wine, with half an ounce of the essential oil of lemon, and unite the contents of the two vials, keeping the liquid closely corked for use. It is to be applied with a clean sponge, and dried gently; after which the tops may be polished with a proper brush, so as to appear like new leather. This mixture will readily take out grease, or any kind of spots, from leather or parchment.

BOTTLES. The common practice of cleaning glass bottles with shot is highly improper; for if through inattention any of it should remain, when the bottles are again filled with wine or cider, the lead will be dissolved, and the liquor impregnated with its pernicious qualities. A few ounces of potash dissolved in water will answer the purpose much better, and clean a great number of bottles. If any impurity adhere to the sides, a few pieces of blotting paper put into the bottle, and shaken with the water, will very soon remove it. Another way is to roll up some pieces of blotting paper, steep them in soap and water, then put them into bottles or decanters with a little warm water, and shake them well for a few minutes: after this they will only require to be rinsed and dried.

BOTTLING LIQUORS. Here the first thing to be attended to is, to see that the bottles be perfectly clean and dry; if wet, they will spoil the liquor, and make it turn mouldy. Then, though the bottles should be clean and dry, yet if the corks be not new and sound, the liquor will be damaged; for if the air can by any means penetrate, the liquor will grow flat, and never rise. As soon as a cask of liquor begins to grow vapid, and to lose its briskness, while it is on the tap, it should be drawn off immediately into bottles; and in order to quicken it, put a piece of loaf sugar into every bottle, about the size of a walnut. To forward the ripening, wrap the bottles in hay, and set them in a warm place; straw will not answer the purpose. When ale is to be bottled, it will be an improvement to add a little rice, a few raisins, or a tea-spoonful of moist sugar to each bottle. In the summer time, if table beer is bottled as soon as it has done working, it will soon become brisk, and make a very pleasant and refreshing drink.

BOTTLED CURRANTS. See that the bottles be perfectly clean and dry, and let the fruit be gathered quite ripe, and when the weather is dry. The currants should be cut from the large stalks, with the smallest bit of stalk to each, and care taken not to wound the fruit, that none of the moisture may escape. It would be best indeed to cut them under the trees, and let them drop gently into the bottles. Stop up the bottles with cork and rosin, and trench them in the garden with the neck downwards: sticks should be placed opposite to where each sort of fruit begins. Cherries and damsons may be kept in the same way.

BOTTLED GOOSEBERRIES. Pick some smooth gooseberries before they are quite full grown, put them into gooseberry bottles lightly corked, and set them up to their necks in a copper of cold water. Put a little hay round the bottles to prevent their breaking, make a fire under them, and let the heat increase gradually; let them simmer ten minutes, but not boil. Take out the fire, and let them remain in the copper till cold. Then take them out, dry the bottles, rosin down the corks close, and set them in dry saw-dust with their necks downward.

BRAISING. To braise any kind of meat, put it into a stewpan, and cover it with fat bacon. Then add six or eight onions, a bundle of herbs, carrots, celery, any bones or trimmings of meat or fowls, and some stock. The bacon must be covered with white paper, and the lid of the pan must be kept close. Set it on a slow stove; and according to what the meat is, it will require two or three hours. The meat is then to be taken out, the gravy nicely skimmed, and set on to boil very quick till it is thick. The meat is to be kept hot; and if larded, put into the oven for a few minutes. Then put the jelly over it, which is called glazing, and is used for ham, tongue, and various made-dishes. White wine is added to some glazing. The glaze should be of beautiful clear yellow brown, and it is best put on with a nice brush.

BRAISED CHICKENS. Bone them, and fill them with forcemeat. Lay the bones and any other poultry trimmings into a stewpan, and the chickens on them. Put to them a few onions, a handful of herbs, three blades of mace, a pint of stock, and a glass or two of sherry. Cover the chickens with slices of bacon, and then white paper; cover the whole close, and put them on a slow stove for two hours. Then take them up, strain the braise, and skim off the fat carefully: set it on to boil very quick to a glaze, and lay it over the chicken with a brush. Before glazing, put the chicken into an oven for a few minutes, to give it a colour. Serve with a brown fricassee of mushrooms.

BRAISED MUTTON. Take off the chump end of a loin of mutton, cover it with buttered paper, and then with paste, as for venison. Roast it two hours, but let it not be browned. Have ready some French beans boiled, and drained on a sieve; and while you are glazing the mutton, give the beans one heat-up in gravy, and lay them on the dish with the meat over them.

BRAISED VEAL. Lard the best end of a neck of veal with bacon rolled in chopped parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Put it into a tosser, and cover it with water. Add the scrag end of the neck, a little lean bacon or ham, an onion, two carrots, two heads of celery, and a glass of Madeira. Stew it quickly for two hours, or till it is tender, but not too much. Strain off the liquor: mix a little flour and butter in a stewpan till brown, and lay the veal in this, the upperside to the bottom of the pan. Let it be over the fire till it gets coloured: then lay it into the dish, stir some of the liquor in and boil it up, skim it nicely, and squeeze orange and lemon juice into it.

BRANDY CREAM. Boil two dozen of blanched almonds, and pounded bitter almonds, in a little milk. When cold, add to it the yolks of five eggs beating well in cream; sweeten, and put to it two glasses of good brandy. After it is well mixed, pour to it a quart of thin cream; set it over the fire, but not to boil. Stir it one way till it thickens, then pour into cups or low glasses, and when cold it will be ready. A ratafia drop may be added to each cup; and if intended to keep, the cream must be previously scalded.

BRANDY PUDDING. Line a mould with jar-raisins stoned, or dried cherries, then with thin slices of French roll; next to which put ratafias, or macaroons; then the fruit, rolls and cakes in succession, till the mould is full, sprinkling in at times two glasses of brandy. Beat four eggs, add a pint of milk or cream lightly sweetened, half a nutmeg, and the rind of half a lemon finely grated. Let the liquid sink into the solid part; then flour a cloth, tie it tight over, and boil one hour; keep the mould the right side up. Serve with pudding sauce.

BRASS. Culinary vessels made of this metal, are constantly in danger of contracting verdigris. To prevent this, instead of wiping them dry in the usual manner, let them be frequently immersed in water, and they will be preserved safe and clean.

BRAWN. Young brawn is to be preferred, the horny part of which will feel moderately tender, and the flavour will be better; the rind of old brawn will be hard. For Mock Brawn, boil a pair of neat's feet very tender; take the meat off, and have ready a belly-piece of salt pork, which has been in pickle for a week. Boil this almost enough, take out the bones if there be any, and roll the feet and the pork together. Bind it tight together with a strong cloth and coarse tape, boil it quite tender, and hang it up in the cloth till cold. Keep it afterwards in souse till it is wanted.

BREAD. Two very important reasons urge the propriety and necessity of using home-baked bread, in preference to baker's bread, wherever it can be done with tolerable convenience; these are, its superior quality, and its cheapness. A bushel of wheat, weighing sixty pounds, will make sixty-five pounds of household bread, after the bran has been taken out; and if the pollard be separated also, to make a finer article, a bushel of ground wheat will then make fifty-eight pounds of fine white bread, free from any foreign mixture, leaving from ten to fifteen pounds of bran and pollard, which may be applied to useful purposes. The calculation then will be easy, and the difference between purchasing and making bread will be seen at once. A bushel of ground wheat weighing sixty pounds will produce thirteen quartern loaves and a half of fine bread, after the bran and pollard have been taken out; add to the price of the wheat, nine-pence a bushel for grinding, three-pence for yeast, four-pence for salt and the expence of baking; and from this deduct six-pence at least for the value of the bran and pollard, and it gives the price of the quartern loaves made and baked at home. In general it will be found that there is a saving of one third of the expense, if the business be properly conducted. Then the wholesome and nutricious quality of the bread is incomparably superior; there is no addition of alum, ground potatoes, whiting, or any other ingredient to give weight or colour to the bread, as is too often the case with baker's bread; but all is nutricious, sound, and good. But supposing their bread to be equal in quality, there is still a considerable saving in the course of a year, especially in a large family; and if household bread be made instead of fine bread, every bushel of good heavy wheat will produce nearly fifteen quartern loaves. Besides this, rye, and even a little barley mixed with the wheat, will make very good bread, and render it cheaper still. Rye will add a sweetness to the bread, and make it cut firmer, so as to prevent the waste of crumbs, and is unquestionably an article of good economy. The addition of potatoes is by no means to be approved, though so often recommended; any of the grains already mentioned have in them ten times the nutrition of potatoes, and in the end will be found to be much cheaper. Making bread with skim milk, instead of water, where it can be done, is highly advantageous, and will produce a much better article than can be purchased at a baker's shop. – On the subject of making bread, little need be said, as every common maid-servant is or ought to be well acquainted with this necessary part of household work, or she is good for nothing. To make good bread however, the flour should be kept four or five weeks before it is baked. Then put half a bushel of it into a kneading trough, mix with it between four and five quarts of warm water or skim milk, and a pint and a half of good yeast, and stir it well together with the hand till it become tough. Let it rise before the fire, about an hour and a half, or less if it rise fast; then, before it falls, add four quarts more of warm water, and half a pound of salt. Work it well, and cover it with a cloth. Put the fire into the oven; and by the time it is heated, the dough will be ready. Make the loaves about five pounds each, sweep out the oven very clean and quick, and put in the bread; shut it up close, and two hours and a half will bake it. In summer the water should be milk warm, in winter a little more, and in frosty weather as hot as the hand will bear, but not scalding, or the whole will be spoiled. Bread is better baked without tins, which gives to the crust an unnatural degree of hardness. – Those who are under the necessity of purchasing baker's bread, for want of other convenience, may detect the adulteration of alum by macerating a small piece of the crumb of new-baked bread in cold water, sufficient to dissolve it; and the taste of the alum, if it has been used, will acquire a sweet astringency. Or a heated knife may be thrust into a loaf before it has grown cold; and if it be free from that ingredient, scarcely any alteration will be visible on the blade; but, in the contrary case, its surface, after being allowed to cool, will appear slightly covered with an aluminous incrustation.

BREAD CAKE. To make a common bread cake, separate from the dough, when making white bread, as much as is sufficient for a quartern loaf, and knead well into it two ounces of butter, two of Lisbon sugar, and eight of currants. Warm the butter in a tea-cupful of good milk. By adding another ounce of butter or sugar, or an egg or two, the cake may be improved, especially by putting in a tea-cupful of raw cream. It is best to bake it in a pan, rather than as a loaf, the outside being less hard.

BREAD CHEESECAKES. Slice a penny white loaf as thin as possible, pour over it a pint of boiling cream, and let it stand two hours. Beat up eight eggs, half a pound of butter, and a grated nutmeg. Put in half a pound of currants, well washed and dried, and a spoonful of brandy or white wine. Bake them in pattipans, or raised crusts.

BREAD PUDDING. Grate some white bread, pour over some boiling milk, and cover it close. When soaked an hour or two, beat it fine, and mix with it two or three eggs well beaten. Put it into a bason that will just hold it, tie a floured cloth over it, and put it into boiling water. Send it up with melted butter poured over: it may be eaten with salt or sugar. Prunes, or French plums, make a fine pudding instead of raisins, either with suet or bread pudding. – Another and richer. Pour half a pint of scalding milk, on half a pint of bread crumbs, and cover it up for an hour. Beat up four eggs, and when strained, add to the bread, with a tea-spoonful of flour, an ounce of butter, two ounces of sugar, half a pound of currants, an ounce of almonds beaten with orange-flower water, half an ounce of orange, of lemon, and of citron. Butter a bason that will exactly hold it, flour the cloth, tie it tight over, and boil the pudding an hour.

BREAD SAUCE. Boil a large onion quartered, with some black pepper and milk, till the onion is quite a pap. Pour the milk on white stale-bread grated, and cover it. In an hour put it into a saucepan, with a good piece of butter mixed with a little flour: boil the whole up together, and serve with it.

BREAD SOUP. Boil some pieces of bread crust in a quart of water, with a small piece of butter. Beat it with a spoon, and keep it boiling till the bread and water be well mixed: then season it with a little salt.

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING. Spread some butter on slices of bread, and lay them in a dish, with currants between each layer. To make it rich, add some sliced citron, orange, or lemon. Pour over an unboiled custard of milk, two or three eggs, a few corns of pimento, and a very little ratifia, two hours at least before it is to be baked, and lade it over to soak the bread. A paste round the edge makes all puddings look better, but it is not necessary.

BREAD AND RICE PUDDING. Boil a quarter of a pound of rice in some milk till it is quite soft, put it into a bason, and let it stand till the next day. Soak some sliced bread in cold milk, drain it off, mash it fine, and mix it with the rice. Beat up two eggs with it, add a little salt, and boil it an hour.

BREAKFAST CAKES. Take a pound and a half of flour, four ounces of butter, a spoonful of yeast, and half a pint of warm milk. Rub the butter into the flour, and mix the eggs, yeast, and milk together. Put the liquid into the middle of the flour, and let it stand to rise for two hours. Make it into cakes, let them stand to rise again, and wash them over with skimmed milk before they are put into the oven.

BREAST OF LAMB. Cut off the chine-bone from the breast, and set it on to stew with a pint of gravy. When the bones would draw out, put it on the gridiron to grill; and then lay it in a dish on cucumbers nicely stewed.

BREAST OF MUTTON. Pare off the superfluous fat, and roast and serve the meat with stewed cucumbers; or to eat cold, covered with chopped parsley. Or half-boil, and then grill it before the fire: cover it with bread crumbs and herbs, and serve with caper sauce. Or if boned, take away a good deal of the fat, and cover it with bread, herbs, and seasoning. Then roll and boil it; serve with chopped walnuts, or capers and butter.

BREAST OF VEAL. Before roasting it, take off the two ends to fry and stew, if the joint be large, or roast the whole together, and pour butter over it. If any be left, cut it into regular pieces, put them into a stewpan, and pour some broth over it. If no broth, a little water will do: add a bunch of herbs, a blade or two of mace, some pepper, and an anchovy. Stew till the meat be tender, thicken with flour and butter, and add a little ketchup. Serve the sweetbread whole upon it, which may either be stewed or parboiled, and then covered with crumbs, herbs, pepper and salt, and browned in a Dutch oven. The whole breast may be stewed in the same way, after cutting off the two ends. A boiled breast of veal, smothered with onion sauce, is also an excellent dish, if not old nor too fat.

BRENTFORD ROLLS. Mix with two pounds of flour, a little salt, two ounces of sifted sugar, four ounces of butter, and two eggs beaten with two spoonfuls of yeast, and about a pint of milk. Knead the dough well, and set it to rise before the fire. Make twelve rolls, butter tin plates, and set them before the fire to rise, till they become of a proper size, and bake them half an hour.

PATENT BREWING MACHINE.

BREWING. The practice of brewing malt liquor is but seldom adopted by private families in large towns and cities, owing probably to a want of conveniences for the purpose, and an aversion to the labour and trouble which it might occasion. But if the disagreeable filthiness attending the process in large public breweries were duly considered, together with the generally pernicious quality of the beer offered to sale, as well as the additional expense incurred by this mode of procuring it, no one who regards economy, or the health and comfort of his family, would be without home-brewed beer, so long as there were any means left of obtaining it. Beer as strong of malt and hops, when all the foreign ingredients are extracted, may be manufactured at home at less than one third of what it could cost at a public brewery, besides the satisfaction of drinking, what is known to be wholesome, and free from any deleterious mixture. Twelve shillings for malt and hops will provide a kilderkin of beer far superior to one that could be purchased under license for a pound, while the yeast and the grains are sufficient to repay all the labour and expense of brewing. On every account, therefore, it is desirable that the practice of domestic brewing were universally adopted. The health and comfort of the community would be increased; and by a larger consumption of malt, the growth of barley would be extended, and agriculture proportionably benefited. In order to this however, the enormous duty upon malt requires to be diminished or repealed. The farmer, unable to make three shillings a bushel of his barley, is suffering severely under this grinding taxation, as well as the consumer, who is compelled to pay a duty of four shillings and six-pence for every bushel that is converted into malt. – The best seasons of the year for brewing are March and October, the weather in those months being generally free from the extremes of heat and cold, which are alike injurious to the process of fermentation. If this is not in all cases practicable, means should be used to cool the place where the liquor is set for working in the summer, and of warming it in the winter: otherwise the beer will be likely to turn sour or muddy. The beer which is brewed in March should not be tapped till October, nor that brewed in October till the following March; taking this precaution, that families of an equal number all the year round, will drink at least a third more in summer than in winter. – The most suitable water for brewing is soft river water, which having had the rays of the sun and the influence of the air upon it, will more easily penetrate and extract the virtues of the malt. Hard water possesses an astringent quality, which prevents the goodness of the malt from being freely communicated to the liquor. If two parcels of beer be brewed in all respects the same, except in the quality of the water, it will be found that the beer brewed with soft river water will exceed the other in strength above five degrees, in the course of twelve months' keeping. Where water is naturally of a hard quality, it may in some measure be softened by exposing it to the action of the sun and air, and infusing in it some pieces of soft chalk. Throwing into it a quantity of bran while it is boiling, and before it is poured on the malt, will likewise have a good effect. – Previous to commencing the process of brewing, it will be necessary to ascertain the quantity of malt and hops, which of course will be regulated by the demands of the family, the convenience of cellerage, and other circumstances. Supposing two or three sorts of liquor be required, six bushels of malt, and about three quarters of a pound of hops to each bushel, will make half a hogshead of ale, half a hogshead of table beer, and the same of small beer; or about nine gallons of each to the bushel. But if in a smaller brewing, only two sorts are required, or the whole be blended into one, then eighteen gallons of wholesome beverage may be produced at something less than three farthings a pint. – Having thus adjusted the proportion of malt and hops to the quantity of beer to be brewed, the next thing will be to heat water sufficient for the purpose. Meanwhile see that the brewing utensils be properly cleaned and scalded, and the pen-staff in the mash tub well fixed. Then put a quantity of boiling water into the mash-tub, in which it must stand till the greater part of the steam is gone off, or you can see your own shadow in it. It will then be necessary that one person should pour the malt gently in, while another is carefully stirring it. A little malt should be reserved to strew over the mash in order to prevent evaporation, and then the tub may be covered over with sacks. If it be not sufficient to contain the whole at once, the mashing must be repeated, observing that the larger the quantity that is mashed at once, the longer it will require to stand before it is drawn off. The mash of ale must be allowed to steep three hours, table beer one hour, and small beer half an hour afterwards. By this mode of proceeding, the boilings will regularly succeed each other, which will greatly expedite the business. In the course of mashing, be careful to stir it thoroughly from the bottom, especially round the basket, that there may be no adhesion, in any part of the mash. Previous to running it off, be prepared with a pail to catch the first flush, as that is generally thick, and return it to the mash two or three times, till it run clear and fine. By this time the copper should be boiling, and a convenient tub placed close to the mash-tub. Put into it half the quantity of boiling water intended for drawing off the best wort; after which the copper must be filled up again, and proper attention paid to the fire. Meanwhile, keep slopping and wetting the mash with the hot water out of the tub, in moderate quantities, every eight or ten minutes, till all the water is added to the mash. Then let off the remaining quantity, which will be boiling hot, and this will finish the process for strong beer. Boil up the copper as quick as possible for the second mash, whether intended for strong or small beer. Empty the boiling water into the tub by the side of the mash, as in the former instance, and renew the process. Great care is required in boiling the wort after it is drawn off, and the hops must be put in with the first boiling. In filling the copper with the wort, leave sufficient room for boiling, that there may be no waste in boiling over, and make a good fire under it. Quick boiling is a part of the business that requires particular attention, and great caution must be observed when the liquor begins to swell in waves in the copper. The furnace door must be opened, and the fire damped or regulated to suit the boiling of the wort. In order to ascertain the proper time for boiling the liquor, lade out some of it; and if a working be discovered, and the hops are sinking, the wort is boiled enough. Long and slow boiling injures and wastes the liquor. As soon as it is sufficiently boiled, run the liquor through a cloth or fine sieve into some coolers, to free it from the hops, and to get a proper quantity cooled immediately to set it to work. If the brewhouse be not sufficiently airy to cool a quantity soon, the liquor must be emptied into shallow tubs, and placed in a passage where there is a thorough draught of air, but where it is not exposed to rain or wet. The remainder in the copper may then be let into the first cooler, taking care to attend to the hops, and to make a clear passage through the strainer. The hops must be returned into the copper, after having run off four or five pailfuls of the liquor for the first cooling, and then it must be set to work in the following manner. Take four quarts of yeast, and divide half of it into small wooden bowls or basons, adding to it an equal quantity of wort nearly cold. As soon as it ferments to the top of the basons, put it into two pails; and when that works to the top, distribute it into two wide open tubs. Fill them half full with cool wort, and cover them over, till it comes to a fine white head. This will be accomplished in about three hours, and then both quantities may be put together into the working tub, with the addition of as much wort as is sufficiently cooled. If the weather be mild and open, it cannot be worked too cold. If the brewing be performed in frosty weather, the brewhouse must be kept warm; but hot wort must never be added to keep the liquor to a blood heat. Attention also must be paid to the quality of the yeast, or it may spoil all the beer. If it has been taken from foxed beer, or such as has been heated by ill management in the working, it will be likely to communicate the same bad quality. If the yeast be flat, and that which is fresh and lively cannot be procured, put to it a pint of warm sweetwort of the first letting off, when it is about half the degree of milk-warm. Shake the vessel that contains it, and it will soon gather strength, and be fit for use. – Tunning is the last and most simple operation in the business of brewing. The casks being well prepared, perfectly sweet and dry, and placed on the stand ready to receive the liquor, first skim off the top yeast, then fill the casks quite full, bung them down, and leave an aperture for the yeast to work through. If the casks stand on one end, the better way is to make a hole with a tap-borer near the summit of the stave, at the same distance from the top as the lower tap-hole is from the bottom. This prevents the slovenliness of working the beer over the head of the barrel; and the opening being much smaller than the bung-hole, the beer by being confined will sooner set itself into a convulsive motion, and work itself fine, provided proper attention be paid to filling up the casks five or six times a day. – Another method of brewing, rather more simple but not more excellent than the above, may be adopted by those whose conveniences are more limited. For table beer, allow three bushels of malt to thirty-nine gallons of water, and a pound and a half of hops. Pour a third part of the hot water upon the malt, cover it up warm half an hour, then stir up the mash, and let it stand two hours and a half more. Set it to drain off gently; when dry, add half the remaining water, mash, and let it stand half an hour. Run that into another tub, and pour the rest of the water on the malt; stir it well, cover it up, and let it infuse a full hour. Run that off and mix all together. Put the hops into a little hot water to open the pores, then put the hops and water into the tub, run the wort upon them, and boil them together for an hour. Strain the liquor through a coarse sieve, and set it to cool. If the whole be not cool enough that day to add to it the yeast, a pail or two of wort may be prepared, and a quart of yeast added to it over night. Before tunning, all the wort should be put together, and thoroughly mixed. When it has done working, paste a piece of paper on the bung-hole, and after three days it may be fastened close. In less than a month the beer will be fit for use. See Ale, Malt, Beer.

BREWING UTENSILS. The most desirable object in the process of brewing is the fixing of the copper, so as to make the fire come directly under the bottom of it. Many coppers are injured, and rendered unserviceable, for want of proper attention to this particular. The method adopted by the most experienced bricklayers is to divide the heat of the fire by a stop; and if the door and the draft be in a direct line, the stop must be erected from the middle of each outline of the grating, and parallel with the centre sides of the copper. The stop is nothing more than a thin wall in the centre of the right and left sides of the copper, ascending half way to the top of it; on the top of which must be left a small cavity, four or five inches square, for a draft of that half part of the fire which is next to the copper door, to pass through, and then the building must close all round to the finishing at the top. By this method of fixing the copper, the heat will communicate from the outward part of the fire round the outward half of the copper through the cavity; as also will the furthest part of the fire, which contracts a conjunction of the whole, and causes the flame to slide gently and equally all round the bottom of the copper. Considerable advantages result from this position of the copper. If the draught under it were suffered at once to ascend, without being thus divided, the hops would be scorched in the boiling, and liable to stick to the sides, which would considerably injure the flavour of the liquor, unless kept continually stirring. It will also save the consumption of fuel, and preserve the copper much longer than any other method, as there will be no difficulty in boiling half a copper full at a time without doing it any injury. – The next article of consideration in this case is the Mash-tub. This should be proportioned to the size of the copper, and the quantity of beer intended to be brewed. The grains should not be kept in the tub any longer than the day after brewing, as in hot weather especially the grains begin to turn sour as soon as they are cold; and if there be any sour scent in the brewhouse at the time the liquor is tunned, it will be apt to injure the flavour of the beer. – Tubs and Coolers require to be kept perfectly sweet and clean, and should not be used for any other purpose. In small houses, where many vessels are cumbersome and inconvenient, it is too common to use the same tubs for both washing and brewing; but this ought not to be done where it can be avoided; and where it is unavoidable, the utmost care is necessary to give them a double washing, scouring, and scalding. Coolers also require considerable care, or by the slightest taint they will soon contract a disagreeable flavour. This often proceeds from wet having infused itself into the wood, it being apt to lodge in the crevices of old vessels, and even infect them to such a degree, that it cannot be removed, even after several washings and scaldings. One cause incidental to this evil is, using the brewhouse for the purposes of washing, which ought never to be permitted, where any other convenience can be had; for nothing can be more injurious than the remains of dirty suds, left in vessels intended for brewing only. Nor should water be suffered to stand too long in the coolers, as it will soak into them, and soon turn putrid, when the stench will enter the wood, and render them almost incurable. More beer is spoiled for want of attention to these niceties than can well be imagined, and the real cause is seldom known or suspected; but in some families, after all the care that is taken in the manufacture of the article, the beer is never palatable or wholesome. – Barrels should be well cleaned with boiling water; and if the bung-hole will admit, they should be scrubbed inside with a hard brush. If they have acquired a musty scent, take out the heads, and let them be well scrubbed with sand and fuller's earth. Then put in the head again, and scald it well; throw in a piece of unslaked lime, and close up the bung. When the cask has stood some time, rinse it well with cold water, and it will then be fit for use. New casks likewise require attention, for they are apt to give the liquor a bad taste, if they be not well scalded and seasoned several days successively before they are used; and old casks are apt to grow musty, if they stand any time out of use. To prevent this, a cork should be put into every one of them as soon as the cock or fosset is taken out; the vent and the bung-hole must also be well closed. The best way to season new casks is to boil two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, and pour it in hot; then stop it up close, and let it stand two days. When the cask is washed and dried, it will be fit for use.

BREWING MACHINE. Where a family usually consume ten gallons of beer, or upwards, in a week, there is a Brewing Machine lately invented, which will be found singularly convenient and advantageous, and comparatively of little expense. The use of it in brewing curtails the labour, shortens the time in which the operation may be performed, greatly diminishes the quantity of fuel, and may be placed within very narrow limits, in the house of any tradesman in the most crowded city. Eighteen gallons of good beer may be brewed with this machine in the course of six hours, or a larger quantity with a machine of proportionate dimensions, in the same space of time. The process is so simple, that it may be comprehended by any person of ordinary capacity, and once seeing the operation performed will be sufficient. In the common mode of brewing, the principal difficulty consists in ascertaining the degrees of heat necessary to the production of good beer, without the use of a thermometer; but in the use of this machine, this difficulty is completely obviated. – The machine complete is represented by figure A; and B, C, D, E, F, represent its several parts. B is the bottom, made of strong sheet-iron, standing upon three legs. The hollow part of it contains the fire, put in at a door, the latch of which appears in front. The tube which projects upwards, is a stove pipe to carry off the smoke; and the circular pan that is seen between the legs, is a receptacle for the ashes or cinders that fall down through the grate above. C is a sheet-iron vessel, tinned on the inside, the bottom of which fits into the top of B; and the cock in C is to let off the wort, as will be seen hereafter. D is the lid of this vessel. E is made of sheet-iron, tinned inside and out, and full of holes to act as a strainer. It is to hold the malt first, and the hops afterwards; it goes into C, as may be seen in figure A. In the middle of E is a round space, F, made of the same metal, and rising up from the bottom, having itself no bottom. It has holes in it all the way up, like the outer surface of E. – In preparing for brewing, the machine is put together as in A, except placing on the lid. The first thing is to put the malt, coarsely ground, into E, and no part into F, or into the circular space between C and E; otherwise E cannot act as a strainer, when the liquor is drawn off; and in this consists its principal use. Having put in the malt, then add the water which of course flows into any part of the vessel C. Stir the malt well with a stick, or with something that will separate it completely, so that no adhesion may be formed by the flour of the malt. This is very apt to be the case in the common mode of brewing, when water is poured hot upon the malt; but here the water is applied in a cold state, so that there is little trouble in separating the malt completely in the water. If the small machine be used, which is adapted to a bushel of malt, and the beer is to be fully equal in strength to London porter, then eighteen gallons to the bushel may be considered as the general estimate; and for this purpose the first mash is to receive twelve gallons of cold soft water, which will produce nine gallons of wort. Having stirred the malt very carefully, light the fire under it, and get the liquor quickly to 170 or 180 degrees of heat. This may be ascertained by lifting off the lid, and dipping the thermometer from time to time into the centre F, and keeping it there a minute to give the quicksilver time to rise. While the mash is coming to this heat, stir the malt well three or four times. When the liquor has acquired its proper heat, put out the fire, and cover the whole of the machine with sacks, or something that will exclude the external air. In this state the mash remains for two hours: the cock is then turned, and nine gallons of wort will be drained off. Put the wort into a tub of some sort, and keep it warm. Then put into the machine twelve gallons more of water, rekindle the fire, and bring the heat to 170 degrees as soon as possible; when this is done, extinguish the fire, and let the mash now stand an hour. Draw off the second wort; and if only one sort of beer is wanted, add it to the first quantity. Now take out the grains, lift out E, clean it well, and also the inside of C. Replace E, put the hops into it, and the whole of the wort into the machine. Cover it with the lid, light the fire a third time, and bring the liquor to a boil as soon as possible. Let it boil a full hour with the lid off, and boil briskly all the time. The use of the centre F will now appear; for the machine being nearly full to the brim, the bubbling takes place in the centre F only, where there are no hops. There is a great boiling over in this centre, but the liquor sent up falls into E, and so there is no boiling over of C. When the full hour of brisk boiling has expired, put out the fire, draw off the liquor, leaving the hops of course in E. The liquor is now to go into shallow coolers; and when the heat is reduced to 70 degrees, take out about a gallon of the liquor, and mix it with half a pint of good yeast. Distribute it equally among the different parcels of wort, afterwards mix the whole together, and leave the liquor till it comes down to about sixty degrees of heat. The next removal is into the tun-tub, in which capacity C, without the addition of E, will serve very well. While the liquor is cooling, remove the spent hops from E, the stove pipe from B, the ash-receiver from the bottom. The machine remaining now as a tun-tub, draw off the liquor as soon as it is down to 60 degrees; or take it out of the coolers, pour it into the tun-tub, and put on the lid. If the weather be very cold, or the tun-tub be in a cold place, cover it with something to keep it warm. Here the fermentation takes place, sometimes sooner and sometimes later; but it generally shows itself by a head beginning to rise in about eight or ten hours; and at the end of eight and forty hours the head assumes a brownish appearance, and is covered with yeast instead of froth. The beer is then to be tunned into well-seasoned casks, sweet and sound, or all the expense and labour will be lost. The cask being fixed on the stand in the cellar, and the beer ready, skim off the yeast, and keep it in a deep earthen vessel. Draw off the beer into a pail, and with the help of a wooden funnel fill the cask quite full. The beer will now begin to ferment again, and must be allowed to discharge itself from the bung-hole. When the working has ceased, the cask is again filled up with the surplus beer; and a handful of fresh hops being added, the bung is finally closed down. If the whole process has been properly attended to, such a cask of beer will be clear in a week; and as soon as clear it may be tapped. Small beer may be tapped in less time. On a larger scale, or with casks of a smaller size, two sorts may be made, ale and small beer, taking the first wort for the former, and the second for the latter. – The advantages attending the Patent Machine are very obvious; for though the process appears to be minute, it is easily conducted, and but little time is required for the purpose. In the common method of brewing, the water must be carried from the copper to the mash-tub, while the machine serves for both purposes at once. With the common utensils the process is necessarily much slower, and the fuel consumed is nearly ten times as much; but the great convenience of all is the little room required and the place of brewing. In the common way there is wanted a copper fixed in brick-work, and for a family of any considerable size a brewhouse is indispensable. On the contrary, the machine is set up opposite any fire place, and the pipe enters the chimney, or is put into the fire place. There is no boiling over, no slopping about; and the operation may be performed upon a boarded floor, as well as upon a brick or stone floor. If there be no fire place in the room, the pipe can be projected through an opening in the window, or through the outside of any sort of building, not liable to suffer from the heat of the pipe. Even a garden walk, a court, or open field will answer the purpose, provided there be no rain, and the mash-tub be kept sufficiently warm. When the brewing is finished, the machine should be well scalded, rubbed dry, and kept in a dry place. The two coolers, G G, placed on different casks, have no necessary connection with the machine. They are made of wood or cast-iron, of a size to fit one within another to save room. The Patent Machine is sold by Messrs. Needham and Co. 202, Piccadilly, London. The price of one for brewing a bushel of malt is £8, for two bushels £13, for three £18, for four £24, for five £30, and for six £33. If the article be thought expensive, a few neighbouring families might unite in the purchase, and the money would very soon be more than saved in the economy of brewing.

BRIDE CAKE. Mix together a pound of dried flour, two drams of powdered mace, and a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf sugar. Add a quarter of a pint of cream, and half a pound of melted butter; a quarter of a pint of yeast, five eggs, with half of the whites beaten up with the yolks, and a gill of rose water. Having warmed the butter and cream, mix them together, and set the whole to rise before the fire. Pick and clean half a pound of currants, put them in warm and well dried.

BRIGHT BARS of polished stoves, may be restored to their proper lustre, by rubbing them well with some of the following mixture on a piece of broad-cloth. Boil slowly one pound of soft soap in two quarts of water, till reduced to one. Of this jelly take three or four spoonfuls, and mix it to a consistence with the addition of emery. When the black is removed, wipe them clean, and polish with glass, not sand-paper.

BRISKET OF BEEF, if intended to be stewed, should have that part of it put into a stewpot which has the hard fat upon it, with a small quantity of water. Let it boil up, and skim it well; then add carrots, turnips, onions, celery, and a few pepper corns. Stew it till it is quite tender; then take out the fat bones, and remove all the fat from the soup. Either serve that and the meat in a tureen, or the soup alone, and the meat on a dish, garnished with vegetables. The following sauce with the beef, will be found to be very excellent. – Take half a pint of the soup, and mix it with a spoonful of ketchup, a glass of port wine, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a little flour and salt, and a bit of butter. Boil all together a few minutes, and pour it round the meat. Chop capers, walnuts, red cabbage, pickled cucumbers, and chives or parsley, small, and place them in separate heaps over it.

BROAD BEANS. Boil them tender, with a bunch of parsley, which must afterwards be chopped and put into melted butter, to serve with them. Bacon or pickled pork is usually boiled with the beans, but the meat will be of a better colour, if boiled separately.

BROCOLI. To dress brocoli, cut the heads with short stalks, and pare off the tough skin. Tie the small shoots into bunches, and boil them a shorter time than the heads. A little salt should be put into the water. Serve them up with or without toast.

BROILING. Cleanliness is extremely necessary in this mode of cookery; and for this purpose the gridiron, which is too frequently neglected, ought to be carefully attended to, keeping it perfectly clean between the bars, and bright on the top. When hot, wipe it well with a linen cloth; and before using it, rub the bars with mutton suet, to prevent the meat being marked by the gridiron. The bars should be made with a small gutter in them to carry off the gravy into a trough in front, to prevent the fat from dropping into the fire and making a smoke, which will spoil the flavour of the meat. Upright gridirons are therefore the best, as they can be set before the fire, without fear of smoke, and the gravy is preserved in the trough under them. A brisk and clear fire is also indispensable, that the bars of the gridiron may all be hot through before any thing be laid upon them, yet not so as to burn the meat, but to give it that colour and flavour which constitute the perfection of this mode of cooking. Never hasten any thing that is broiling, lest it be smoked and spoiled; but the moment it is done, send it up as hot as possible.

BROILED COD. Cut the fish in thick slices, dry and flour it well; rub the gridiron with chalk, set it on a clear fire, and lay on the slices of cod. Keep them high from the fire, turn them often, till they are quite done, and of a fine brown. Take them up carefully without breaking, and serve with lobster or shrimp sauce.

BROILED EELS. Skin and clean a large eel, cut it in pieces and broil it slowly over a good fire. Dust it well with dried parsley, and serve it up with melted butter.

BROILED FOWL. Cut a large fowl into four quarters, put them on a bird-spit, and tie that on another spit, and half roast. Or half roast the whole fowl, and finish it on the gridiron, which will make it less dry than if wholly broiled. Another way is to split the fowl down the back, pepper, salt, and broil it, and serve with mushroom sauce.

BROILED HERRINGS. Flour them first, broil them of a good colour, and serve with plain butter for sauce.

BROILED PIGEONS. After cleaning, split the backs, pepper and salt them, and broil them very nicely. Pour over them either stewed or pickled mushrooms in melted butter, and serve them up as hot as possible.

BROILED SALMON. Cut slices an inch thick, and season with pepper and salt. Lay each slice in half a sheet of white paper, well buttered; twist the ends of the paper, and broil the slices over a slow fire six or eight minutes. Serve them in the paper, with anchovy sauce.

BROKEN CHINA. To repair any article of this description, beat some lime into the finest powder, and sift it through muslin. Tie some of it into a thin muslin, put on the edges of the broken china some white of an egg, and dust on a little lime as quickly as possible; but be careful to unite the broken parts very exactly.

BROTH. A very nourishing kind of broth for weakly persons may be made as follows. Boil two pounds of loin of mutton, with a large handful of chervil, in two quarts of water, till reduced to one. Any other herb or roots may be added. Remove part of the fat, and take half a pint three or four times a day. If a broth is wanted to be made quickly, take a bone or two of a neck or loin of mutton, pare off the fat and the skin, set it on the fire in a small tin saucepan that has a cover, with three quarters of a pint of water, the meat being first beaten, and cut in thin bits. Put in a bit of thyme and parsley, and if approved, a slice of onion. Let it boil very quick, skim it nicely; take off the cover, if likely to be too weak; otherwise keep it covered. Half an hour is sufficient for the whole process.

BROWN GRAVY. Cover the bottom of a stewpan with lean veal an inch thick, overlay it with slices of undressed gammon, two or three onions, two or three bay leaves, some sweet herbs, two blades of mace, and three cloves. Cover the stewpan, and set it over a slow fire; but when the juices come out, let the fire be a little quicker. When the meat is of a fine brown, fill the pan with good beef-broth, boil and skim it, then simmer it an hour. Add a little water, thickened with flour; boil it half an hour, and strain it. Gravy thus made will keep a week.

BROWN BREAD ICE. Grate some brown bread as fine as possible, soak a small proportion in cream two or three hours, sweeten and ice it.

BROWN BREAD PUDDING. Half a pound of stale brown bread grated, half a pound of currants, ditto of shred suet, sugar and nutmeg. Mix it up with four eggs, a spoonful of brandy, and twice as much cream. Boil it in a cloth or bason of proper size three or four hours.

BROWNING. Powder four ounces of double-refined sugar, put it into a very nice iron fryingpan, with one ounce of fresh butter. Mix it well over a clear fire; and when it begins to froth, hold it up higher: when of a very fine dark brown, pour in a small quantity of a pint of port, and the whole by very slow degrees, stirring it all the time. Put to the above half an ounce of Jamaica, and the same of black pepper, six cloves of shalots peeled, three blades of mace bruised, three spoonfuls of mushroom and the same of walnut ketchup, some salt, and the finely-pared rind of a lemon. Boil gently fifteen minutes, pour it into a bason till cold, take off the scum, and bottle it for use. This article is intended to colour and flavour made-up dishes.

BRUISES. When the contusion is slight, fomentations of warm vinegar and water, frequently applied, will generally relieve it. Cataplasms of fresh cow-dung applied to bruises, occasioned by violent blows or falls, will seldom fail to have a good effect. Nothing however is more certainly efficacious than a porter plaster immediately applied to the part affected. Boil some porter in an earthen vessel over a slow fire till it be well thickened; and when cold spread it on a piece of leather to form the intended plaster.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK. Boil, chop and fry some cabbage, with a little butter, pepper and salt. Lay on it slices of underdone beef, lightly fried.

BUGS. Dip a sponge or brush into a strong solution of vitriol, and rub it on the bedstead, or in the places where these vermin harbour, and it will destroy both them and their nits. If the bugs appear after once using it, the application must be repeated, and some of the liquid poured into the joints and holes of the bedstead and headboard. Beds that have much woodwork require to be taken down and well examined, before they can be thoroughly cleared of these vermin, and the mixture should be rubbed into all the joints and crevices with a painter's brush. It should also be applied to the walls of the room to insure success; and if mixed with a little lime, it will produce a lively yellow. The boiling of any kind of woodwork or household furniture in an iron cauldron, with a solution of vitriol, will prevent the breeding of bugs, and preserve it from rottenness and decay. Sulphur made into a paste, or arsenic dissolved in water, and applied in the same manner, will also be found an effectual remedy for the bugs. But if these do not completely succeed, take half a pint of the highest rectified spirits of wine, and half a pint of spirits of turpentine; dissolve in this mixture half an ounce of camphor, and shake them well together. Dust the bed or the furniture, dip a sponge or brush into the mixture, wet them all over, and pour some of the liquid into the holes and crevices. If any should afterwards appear, wet the lacings of the bed, the foldings of the curtains near the rings, and other parts where it is at all likely the bugs may nestle and breed, and it will not fail to destroy them. The smell of this mixture is not unwholesome, and may be applied to the finest damask bed without any fear of soiling it. It should be well shaked together, but never used by candle-light, for fear of its taking fire.

BULLACE CHEESE. To every quart of full ripe bullace, add a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered. Put them into a pot, and bake them in a moderate oven till they are soft. Rub them through a hair sieve; to every pound of pulp add half a pound of loaf sugar powdered, and in the meantime keep it stirring. Pour the pulp into preserving pots, tie brandy paper over; and keep them in a dry place. When it has stood a few months, it will cut out very bright and fine.

BUNS. To make a good plain bun, that may be eaten with or without toasting and butter, rub four ounces of butter into two pounds of flour, four ounces of sugar, a nutmeg, a few Jamaica peppers, and a dessert-spoonful of caraways. Put a spoonful or two of cream into a cup of yeast, and as much good milk as will make the above into a light paste. Set it to rise by the fire till the oven be ready, and bake the buns quickly on tins. – To make some of a richer sort, mix one pound and a half of dried flour with half a pound of sugar. Melt eighteen ounces of butter in a little warm water, add six spoonfuls of rose-water, and knead the above into a light dough, with half a pint of yeast. Then mix in five ounces of caraway comfits, and put some on them.

BURNS. In slight cases, the juice of onions, a little ink or brandy rubbed immediately on the part affected, will prevent blisters. The juice of burdock, mixed with an equal quantity of olive oil, will make a good ointment for the purpose, and the fresh leaves of that plant may also be applied as a kind of plaster. Houseleek used by itself, or mixed with cream, will afford quick relief in external inflammations. A little spirit of turpentine, or linseed oil, mixed with lime water, if kept constantly to the part will remove the pain. But warm vinegar and water, frequently applied with a woollen cloth, is most to be depended on in these cases.

BURNT CREAM. Boil a pint of cream with a stick of cinnamon, and some lemon peel. Take it off the fire, and pour it very slowly into the yolks of four eggs, stirring it till half cold. Sweeten it, take out the spice, and pour it into a dish. When cold, strew over it some white pounded sugar, and brown it with a salamander. Or, make a rich custard without sugar, and boil in it some lemon peel. When cold, sift over it plenty of white sugar, and brown the top with a salamander.

BUTTER. No one article of family consumption is of greater consequence than butter of a superior quality, and no one requires more care and management. It possesses various degrees of goodness, according to the food on which the cows are pastured, and the manner in which the dairy is conducted; but its sweetness is not affected by the cream being turned, of which it is made. When cows are in turnips, or eat cabbages, the taste is strong and disagreeable; and to remedy this, the following methods have been tried with advantage. When the milk is strained into the pans, put to every six gallons one gallon of boiling water. Or dissolve one ounce of nitre in a pint of spring water, and put a quarter of a pint to every fifteen gallons of milk. Or, in churning, keep back a quarter of a pint of sour cream, and put it into a well-scalded pot, into which the next cream is to be gathered. Stir that well, and do so with every fresh addition. – To make Butter, skim the milk in the summer, when the sun has not heated the dairy. At that season it should stand for butter twenty-four hours without skimming, and forty-eight in winter. Deposit the cream-pot in a very cold cellar, unless the dairy itself is sufficiently cold. If you cannot churn daily, shift the cream into scalded fresh pots; but never omit churning twice a week. If possible, place the churn in a thorough air; and if not a barrel one, set it in a tub of water two feet deep, which will give firmness to the butter. When the butter is come, pour off the buttermilk, and put the butter into a fresh scalded pan, or tubs, which have afterwards been in cold water. Pour water on it, and let it lie to acquire some hardness before it is worked; then change the water, and beat it with flat boards so perfectly, that not the least taste of buttermilk remain, and that the water which must be often changed, shall be quite clear. Then work some salt into it, weigh, and make it into forms; throw them into cold water, in an earthen pan with a cover. Nice cool butter will then be had in the hottest weather. It requires more working in hot than in cold weather; but care should be taken at all times not to leave a particle of buttermilk, or a sour taste, as is too often done. – To preserve Butter, take two parts of the best common salt, one part of fine loaf-sugar, and one of saltpetre; beat them well together. To sixteen ounces of butter, thoroughly cleansed from the milk, add one ounce of this mixture: work it well, and pot down the butter when it becomes firm and cold. Butter thus preserved is the better for keeping, and should not be used under a month. This article should be kept from the air, and is best in pots of well-glazed ware, that will hold from ten to fourteen pounds each. Put some salt on the top; and when that is turned to brine, if not enough to cover the butter entirely, add some strong salt and water. It then requires only to be covered from the dust, and will be good for winter use. – In purchasing Butter at market, recollect that if fresh, it ought to smell like a nosegay, and be of an equal colour throughout. If sour in smell, it has not been sufficiently washed: if veiny and open, it is probably mixed with stale butter, or some of an inferior quality. To ascertain the quality of salt butter, put a knife into it, and smell it when drawn out: if there is any thing rancid or unpleasant, the butter is bad. Salt butter being made at different times, the layers in casks will greatly vary; and it is not easy to ascertain its quality, except by unhooping the cask, and trying it between the staves.

BUTTER DISH. Roll butter in different forms, like a cake or a pine, and mark it with a tea-spoon. Or roll it in crimping rollers, work it through a cullender, or scoop it with a tea-spoon; mix it with grated beef, tongue, or anchovies. Garnish with a wreath of curled parsley, and it will serve as a little dish.

BUTTERMILK, if made of sweet cream, is a delicious and very wholesome article of food. Those who can relish sour buttermilk, will find it still more light, and it is reckoned very beneficial in consumptive cases. If not very sour, it is also as good as cream to eat with fruit; but it should be sweetened with white sugar, and mixed with a very little milk. It does equally well for cakes and rice puddings, and of course it is economical to churn before the cream is too stale for any thing but to feed pigs. – The celebrated Dr. Boerhaäve recommended the frequent use of sweet buttermilk in all consumptive cases, and that it should form the whole of the patient's drink, while biscuits and rusks, with ripe and dried fruits of various kinds, should chiefly be depended on as articles of food. For this purpose take the milk from the cow into a small churn; in about ten minutes begin churning, and continue till the flakes of butter swim about pretty thick, and the milk is discharged of all the oily particles, and appears thin and blue. Strain it through a sieve, and let the patient drink it as frequently as possible.

BUTTERMILK PUDDING. Warm three quarts of new milk, turn it with a quart of buttermilk, and drain the curd through a sieve. When dry pound in a marble mortar, with nearly half a pound of sugar, a lemon boiled tender, the crumb of a roll grated, a nutmeg grated, six bitter almonds, four ounces of warm butter, a tea-cupful of good cream, the yolks of five and whites of three eggs, a glass of sweet wine and a glass of brandy. When well incorporated, bake in small cups or bowls well buttered. If the bottom be not brown, use a salamander; but serve as quick as possible, and with pudding sauce.

BUTTERED CRABS. Pick out the inside when boiled, beat it up in a little gravy, with wine, pepper, salt, nutmeg, a few crumbs of bread, a piece of butter rolled in a little flour, and some vinegar or lemon juice. Serve it up hot.

BUTTERED EGGS. Beat four or five eggs, yolk and white together; put a quarter of a pound of butter in a bason, and then put that into boiling water. Stir it till melted, then put that butter and the eggs into a saucepan; keep a bason in your hand, just hold the saucepan in the other over a slow part of the fire, shaking it one way, as it begins to warm. Pour it into the bason and back again, then hold it over the fire, stirring it constantly in the saucepan, and pouring it into the bason, more perfectly to mix the egg and butter, until they shall be hot without boiling. Serve on toasted bread, or in a bason, to eat with salt fish or red herrings.

BUTTERED LOAF. Take three quarts of new milk, and add as much rennet as is sufficient to turn it; then break the curd, and drain off all the whey through a clean cloth. Pound it in a stone mortar, add the white of one and the yolks of six eggs, a good handful of grated bread, half as much of fine flour, and a little salt. Mix them well together with the hand, divide the whole into four round loaves, and place them upon white paper. After they are well buttered, varnish them all over with a feather, dipped in the yolk of an egg stirred up with a little beer. Set the loaves in a quick oven three quarters of an hour; while baking, take half a pound of new butter, add to it four spoonfuls of water, half a nutmeg grated, and sugar sufficient to sweeten it. Stir them together over the fire till they boil; when sufficiently thickened, draw the loaves from the oven, open their tops, pour in the butter and sugar, and send them up with sugar strewed over them.

BUTTERED LOBSTERS. Pick out the meat, cut and warm it, with a little weak brown gravy, nutmeg, salt, pepper, butter, and a little flour. If done white, a little white gravy and cream.

BUTTERED ORANGES. Grate off a little of the outside rind of four Seville oranges, and cut a round hole at the blunt end opposite the stalk, large enough to take out the pulp and seeds and juice. Then pick the seeds and skin from the pulp, rub the oranges with a little salt, and lay them in water for a short time. The bits cut out are to be saved. Boil the fruit in fresh water till they are tender, shifting the water to take out the bitterness. In the meantime make a thin syrup with fine sugar, put the oranges into it, and boil them up. As the quantity of syrup need not be enough to cover them, turn them round, that each part may partake of the syrup, and let them remain in it hot till they are wanted. About half an hour before serving, put some sugar to the pulp, and set it over the fire; mix it well, and let it boil. Then add a spoonful of white wine for every orange, give it a boil, put in a bit of fresh butter, and stir it over the fire to thicken. Fill the oranges with it, and serve them with some of the syrup in the dish, with the bits on the top.

BUTTERED ORANGE-JUICE. Mix the juice of seven Seville oranges with four spoonfuls of rose-water, and add the yolks of eight and the whites of four eggs well beaten. Strain the liquor on half a pound of sugar pounded, stir it over a gentle fire; and when it begins to thicken, add a piece of butter the size of a small walnut. Keep it over the fire a few minutes longer, then pour it into a flat dish, and serve it to eat cold. If no silver saucepan for the purpose, do it in a china bason in a saucepan of boiling water, the top of which will just receive the bason.

BUTTERED PRAWNS. Take them out of the husk; warm them with a little good gravy, a bit of butter and flour, a taste of nutmeg, pepper and salt. Simmer them together a minute or two, and serve with sippets; or with cream sauce, instead of brown. Shrimps are done in the same manner.

BUTTERED RICE. Wash and pick some rice, drain, and set it on the fire, with new milk sufficient to make it swell. When tender, pour off the milk, and add a bit of butter, a little sugar and pounded cinnamon. Shake and keep it from burning on the fire, and serve it up as a sweet dish.

C

Cabbage. Wash and pick it carefully, and if very large, quarter it. Put it into a saucepan with plenty of boiling-water, and a large spoonful of salt; if any scum rises, take it off, and boil it till the stalk is tender. Keep the vegetable well covered with water all the time of boiling, and see that no smoke or dirt arises from stirring the fire. With careful management the cabbage will look as beautiful when dressed, as it did when growing. The flavour of an old cabbage may be much improved, by taking it up when half done, and putting it directly into another saucepan of fresh boiling water. When taken up, drain it in a cullender. It may be chopped and warmed with a piece of butter, pepper and salt, or sent to table whole with melted butter. Savoys and greens in general are dressed in the same way.

CAKES. In making and baking cakes the following particulars should be attended to. The currants should be nicely picked and washed, dried in a cloth, and set before the fire. If damp, they will make cakes or puddings heavy. Before they are added, a dust of dry flour should be scattered among them, and then shaken together, which will make the cake or pudding lighter. Eggs should be beaten a long time, whites and yolks apart, and always strained. Sugar should be rubbed to a powder on a clean board, and sifted through a fine hair or lawn sieve. Lemon peel requires to be pared very thin, and with a little sugar beaten to a paste in a marble mortar. It should then be mixed with a little wine or cream, so as to divide easily among the other ingredients. After all the articles are put into the pan, they should be long and thoroughly beaten, as the lightness of the cake depends much on their being well incorporated. Both black and white plumb cakes, being made with yeast, require less butter and eggs, and eat equally light and rich. If the leaven be only of flour, milk and water, and yeast, it becomes more tough, and is less easily divided, than if the butter be first put with those ingredients, and the dough afterwards set to rise by the fire. The heat of the oven is of great importance for cakes, especially large ones. If not pretty quick, the batter will not rise; and if too quick, put some white paper over the cake to prevent its being burnt. If not long enough lighted to have a body of heat, or it is become slack, the cake will be heavy. To know when it is soaked, take a broad-bladed knife that is very bright, and thrust it into the centre; draw it out instantly, and if the paste in any degree adheres, return the cake to the oven, and close it up. If the heat is sufficient to raise but not to soak the baking, a little fresh fuel should be introduced, after taking out the cakes and keeping them hot, and then returning them to the oven as quickly as possible. Particular care however should be taken to prevent this inconvenience, when large cakes are to be baked.

CAKE TRIFLE. Bake a rice cake in a mould; and when cold, cut it round with a sharp knife, about two inches from the edge, taking care not to perforate the bottom. Put in a thick custard, and some spoonfuls of raspberry jam; and then put on a high whip.

CALF'S FEET BROTH. Boil two feet in three quarts of water till reduced to half the quantity; strain it, and set it by. When to be used, take off the fat, put a large tea-cupful of the jelly into a saucepan, with half a glass of sweet wine, a little sugar and nutmeg, and heat it up till it be ready to boil. Then take a little of it, and beat it by degrees to the yolk of an egg, adding a bit of butter the size of a nutmeg; stir it all together, but do not let it boil. Grate a little fresh lemon peel into it. – Another way is to boil two calves' feet with two ounces of veal, and two of beef, the bottom of a penny loaf, two or three blades of mace, half a nutmeg, and a little salt, in three quarts of water, till reduced to half the quantity. Then strain it, and take off the fat.

CALF'S FEET JELLY. Boil two feet, well cleaned, in five pints of water till they are broken, and the water half wasted. Strain it, take off the fat when cold, and remove the jelly from the sediment. Put it into a saucepan, with sugar, raisin wine, lemon juice and lemon peel. When the flavour is rich, add the whites of five eggs well beaten, and their shells broken. Set the saucepan on the fire, but do not stir the jelly after it begins to warm. Let it boil twenty minutes after it rises to a head, then pour it through a flannel bag, first dipping the jelly bag in hot water to prevent waste, and squeezing it quite dry. Run the jelly repeatedly through the bag, until it is quite clear, and then put it into glasses or forms. The following method will greatly facilitate the clearing of the jelly. When the mixture has boiled twenty minutes, throw in a tea-cupful of cold water; let it boil five minutes longer, then take the saucepan off the fire covered close, and keep it half an hour. It will afterwards be so clear as to need only once running through the bag, and much waste will be prevented. – Another way to make jelly is to take three calf's feet, or two cow-heels, that have been only scalded, and boil them in four quarts of water, till it be half wasted. Remove the jelly from the fat and sediment, mix with it the juice of a Seville orange and twelve lemons, the peels of three ditto, the whites and shells of twelve eggs, brown sugar to taste, nearly a pint of raisin wine, one ounce of coriander seed, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, a bit of cinnamon, and six cloves, all bruised and previously mixed together. The jelly should boil fifteen minutes without stirring, and then be cleared through a flannel bag. Take a little of the jelly while running, mix it with a tea-cupful of water in which a piece of beet root has been boiled, and run it through the bag when all the rest is run out. The other jelly being cooled on a plate, this will serve to garnish it. Jelly made in this way will have a fine high colour and flavour. But in all cases, to produce good jelly, the feet should only be scalded to take off the hair. Those who sell them ready prepared generally boil them too long, and they become in consequence less nutricious. If scalded only, the liquor will require greater care in removing the fat; but the jelly will be far stronger, and of course allow more water. Jelly is equally good if made of cow-heels nicely cleaned, and will be much stronger than what is made from calf's feet.

CALF'S FEET PUDDING. Boil four feet quite tender, pick off the meat, and chop it fine. Add some grated bread, a pound of chopped suet, half a pint of milk, six eggs, a pound of currants, four ounces of citron, two ounces of candied peel, a grated nutmeg, and a glass of brandy. Butter the cloth and flour it, tie it close, and boil it three hours.

CALF'S HEAD BOILED. Clean it carefully and soak it in water, that it may look very nice, and take out the brains for sauce. Wash them well, tie them up in a cloth, with a little sage and parsley; put them into the pot at the same time with the head, and scum the water while boiling. A large head will take two hours, and when the part which joined the neck becomes tender it is done. Take up the brains and chop them with the sage and parsley, and an egg boiled hard. Put them into a saucepan with a bit of butter, pepper and salt, and warm them up. Peel the tongue, lay it in the middle of the dish, with the brain sauce round it. Strew over the head some grated bread and chopped parsley, and brown it by the fire in a separate dish, adding bacon, pickled pork, and greens.

CALF'S HEAD COLLARED. Scald the skin off a fine head, clean it nicely, and take out the brains. Boil it tender enough to remove the bones, and season it high with mace, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Put a layer of chopped parsley, then a quantity of thick slices of fine ham, or a beautiful coloured tongue skinned, and then the yolks of six nice yellow eggs stuck here and there about. Roll the head quite close, and tie it up tight, placing a cloth under the tape, as for other collars. Boil it, and then lay a weight upon it.

CALF'S HEAD FRICASSEED. Clean and half-boil part of a head; cut the meat into small bits, and put it into a tosser, with a little gravy made of the bones, some of the water it was boiled in, a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, and a blade of mace. The cockscombs of young cockrels may be boiled tender, and then blanched, or a sweetbread will do as well. Season the gravy with a little pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Rub down some flour and butter, and give all a boil together. Then take out herbs and onion, and add a small cup of cream, but do not boil it in. Serve with small bits of bacon rolled up and forcemeat balls.

CALF'S HEAD HASHED. When half boiled, cut off the meat in slices, half an inch thick, and two or three inches long. Brown some butter, flour, and sliced onion; and throw in the slices with some good gravy, truffles and morels. Give it one boil, skim it well and set it in a moderate heat to simmer till very tender. Season at first with pepper, salt, and cayenne; and ten minutes before serving, throw in some shred parsley, and a very small bit of taragon and knotted marjoram cut as fine as possible. Send it up with forcemeat balls, and bits of bacon rolled round, adding the squeeze of a lemon. – Another way is to boil the head almost enough, and take the meat of the best side neatly off the bone with a sharp knife. Lay this into a small dish, wash it over with the yolks of two eggs, and cover it with crumbs, a few herbs nicely shred, a little pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg all mixed together first. Set the dish before the fire, and turn it now and then, that all parts of the head may be equally brown. In the mean time slice the remainder of the head, peel the tongue and slice it. Put a pint of good gravy into a pan with an onion, and a small bunch of herbs, consisting of parsley, basil, savoury, taragon, knotted marjoram, and a little thyme. Add a small quantity of salt and cayenne, a few truffles and morels, and two spoonfuls of ketchup. Then beat up half the brains, put it to the rest with a little butter and flour, and simmer the whole together. Beat the other part of the brains with shred lemon peel, a little nutmeg and mace, some shred parsley and an egg. Then fry it in small cakes of a beautiful yellow brown. Dip some oysters into the yolk of an egg, and do the same; and also some relishing forcemeat balls, made as for mock turtle. Garnish with these, and small bits of bacon just made hot before the fire.

CALF'S HEAD PIE. Stew a knuckle of veal till fit for eating, with two onions, a few isinglass shavings, a bunch of herbs, a blade of mace, and a few peppercorns, in three pints of water. Keep the broth for the pie. Take off a bit of the meat for the balls, and let the other be eaten; but simmer the bones in the broth till it is very good. Half boil the head, and cut it into square bits; put a layer of ham at the bottom, then some head, first fat and then lean, with balls and hard eggs cut in half, and so on till the dish be full; but great care must be taken not to place the pieces close, or the pie will be too solid, and there will be no space for the jelly. The meat must be first seasoned pretty well with pepper and salt, and a scrape or two of nutmeg. Put a little water and gravy into the dish, cover it with a tolerably thick crust, and bake it in a slow oven. When done, fill it up with gravy, and do not cut it till quite cold. Use a very sharp knife for this purpose, first cutting out a large piece, and going down to the bottom of the dish: thinner slices may afterwards be cut. The different colours, and the clear jelly, will have a beautiful marbled appearance. A small pie may be made to eat hot, and will have a good appearance, if seasoned high with oysters, mushrooms, truffles and morels. The cold pie will keep several days, and slices of it will make a handsome side-dish. If the isinglass jelly be not found stiff enough, a calf's foot or a cow heel may be used instead. To vary the colour, pickled tongue may be cut in, instead of ham.

CALF'S HEAD ROASTED. Wash the head perfectly clean, stew it with oysters, tie it together and spit it, baste it well with butter and flour rubbed smooth. Stew together some of the oyster liquor, gravy, butter and salt, with a few sprigs of marjoram and savoury, adding a little claret, and pour the sauce over the dish.

CALF'S HEAD SOUP. After the head has been thoroughly cleaned, put it into a stewpan with a proper quantity of water, an onion, some sweet herbs, mace and cloves, and a little pearl barley. Boil it quite tender, put in some stewed celery, and season it with pepper. Pour the soup into a dish, place the head in the middle, and send it hot to table.

CALF'S HEAD STEWED. Wash and soak it for an hour, bone it, take out the brains, the tongue and the eyes. Make a forcemeat with two pounds of beef suet, as much lean veal, two anchovies boned and washed, the peel of a lemon, some grated nutmeg, and a little thyme. Chop them up together with some grated bread, and mix in the yolks of four eggs. Make part of this forcemeat into fifteen or twenty balls; boil five eggs hard, some oysters washed clean, and half a pint of fresh mushrooms, and mix with the rest of the forcemeat. Stuff that part of the head where the bones were taken out, tie it up carefully with packthread, put it into two quarts of gravy or good broth, with a blade of mace, cover it close, and stew it very slowly for two hours. While the head is doing, beat up the brains with some lemon-thyme and parsley chopped very fine, some grated nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg mixed with it. Fry half the brains in dripping, in little cakes, and fry the balls. When the head is done, keep it warm with the brain-cakes and balls; strain off the liquor in which the head was stewed, add to it some stewed truffles and morels, and a few pickled mushrooms. Put in the other half of the brains chopped, boil them up together, and let them simmer a few minutes. Lay the head into a hot dish, pour the liquor over it, and place the balls and the brain-cakes round it. For a small family, half the head will be sufficient. A lamb's head may be done in the same way.

CALF'S HEART. Chop fine some suet, parsley, sweet marjoram and a boiled egg. Add some grated bread, lemon peel, pepper, salt and mustard. Mix them together in a paste, and stuff the heart with it, after it has been well washed and cleaned. If done carefully, it is better baked than roasted. Serve it up quite hot, with gravy and melted butter.

CALF'S KIDNEY. Chop veal kidney, and some of the fat; likewise a little leek or onion, pepper, and salt. Roll the kidney up with an egg into balls, and fry it. – A calf's heart should be stuffed and roasted as a beef's heart; or sliced and made into a pudding, the same as for a steak or kidney pudding.

CALF'S LIVER. There are several ways of making this into a good dish. One is to broil it, after it has been seasoned with pepper and salt. Then rub a bit of cold butter over, and serve it up hot and hot. – If the liver is to be roasted, first wash and wipe it, then cut a long hole in it, and stuff it with crumbs of bread, chopped anchovy, herbs, fat bacon, onion, salt, pepper, a bit of butter, and an egg. Sew up the liver, lard or wrap it in a veal caul, and put it to the fire. Serve it with good brown gravy, and currant jelly. – If the liver and lights are to be dressed together, half boil an equal quantity of each; then cut them in a middling-sized mince, add a spoonful or two of the water that boiled it, a bit of butter, flour, salt and pepper. Simmer them together ten minutes, and serve the dish up hot.

CALF'S SWEETBREADS. These should be half boiled, and then stewed in white gravy. Add cream, flour, butter, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Or do them in brown sauce seasoned. Or parboil, and then cover them with crumbs, herbs, and seasoning, and brown them in a Dutch oven. Serve with butter, and mushroom ketchup, or gravy.

CALVES. The general method of rearing calves consumes so much of the milk of the dairy, that it is highly necessary to adopt other means, or the calves must be sold to the butcher while they are young. A composition called linseed milk, made of linseed oil-cake powdered, and gradually mixed with skim-milk sweetened with treacle, has been tried with considerable effect. It must be made nearly as warm as new milk when taken from the cow. Hay tea mixed with linseed and boiled to a jelly, has likewise been tried with success. A species of water gruel, made in the following manner, is strongly recommended. Put a handful or two of oatmeal into some boiling water, and after it has thickened a little, leave it to cool till it is lukewarm; mix with it two or three pints of skim-milk, and give it to the calf to drink. At first it may be necessary to make the calf drink by presenting the fingers to it; but it will soon learn to drink of itself, and will grow much faster than by any other method. According to the old custom, a calf intended to be reared is allowed to suck for six or eight weeks; and if the cow give only a moderate quantity of milk, the value of it will amount to the price of the calf in half that time. By the method now recommended, only a little oatmeal or ground barley is consumed, and a small quantity of skim-milk. The calf is also more healthy and strong, and less subject to disease. Small whisps of hay should be placed round them on cleft sticks, to induce the calves to eat; and when they are weaned, they should be turned into short sweet grass; for if hay and water only are used, they are liable to swellings and the rot. The fatting of calves being an object of great importance, a greater variety of food is now provided for this purpose than formerly, and great improvements have been made in this part of rural economy. Grains, potatoes, malt dust, pollard, and turnips now constitute their common aliment. But in order to make them fine and fat, they must be kept as clean as possible, with fresh litter every day. Bleeding them twice before they are slaughtered, improves the beauty and whiteness of the flesh, but it may be doubted whether the meat is equally good and nutricious. If calves be taken with the scouring, which often happens in a few days after being cast, make a medicine of powdered chalk and wheat meal, wrought into a ball with some gin; and it will afford relief. The shoote is another distemper to which they are liable, and is attended with a violent cholic and the loathing of food. The general remedy in this case is milk, well mulled with eggs; or eggs and flour mixed with oil, melted butter, linseed or anniseed. To prevent the sickness which commonly attends calves about Michaelmas time, take newly-churned butter, without salt, and form it into a cup the size of an egg; into this cup put three or four cloves of bruised garlic, and fill it up with tar. Having put the cup down the calf's throat, pour into its nostrils half a spoonful of the spirit of turpentine, rub a little tar upon its nose, and keep it within doors for an hour. Calves ought to be housed a night before this medicine is given.

CALICO FURNITURE. When curtains or bed furniture of this description are to be taken down for the summer, shake off the loose dust, and lightly brush them with a small long-haired furniture brush. Wipe them afterwards very closely with clean flannels, and rub them with dry bread. If properly done, the curtains will look nearly as well as at first, and if the colour be not very light, they will not require washing for years. Fold them up in large parcels, and put them by carefully. While the furniture remains up, it should be preserved as much as possible from the sun and air, which injure delicate colours; and the dust may be blown off with bellows. Curtains may thus be kept clean, even to use with the linings after they have been washed or newly dipped.

CAMP VINEGAR. Slice a large head of garlic, and put it into a wide-mouthed bottle, with half an ounce of cayenne, two tea-spoonfuls of soy, two of walnut ketchup, four anchovies chopped, a pint of vinegar, and enough cochineal to give it the colour of lavender drops. Let it stand six weeks; then strain it off quite clear, and keep it in small bottles sealed up.

CAMPHOR JULEP. Dissolve a quarter of an ounce of camphor in half a pint of brandy. It may thus be kept fit for use; and a tea-spoonful taken in a wine glass of cold water will be found an agreeable dose. – Another way. To a quarter of an ounce of camphor, add a quart of boiling water, and a quart of cold. Let it stand six hours, and strain it off for use.

CAMPHOR OINTMENT. Put half an ounce of camphor into an ounce of the oil of almonds, mixed with an ounce of spermaceti. Scrape fine into it half an ounce of white wax, and melt it over some hot water.

CAMPHORATED OIL. Beat an ounce of camphor in a mortar, with two ounces of Florence oil, till the camphor is entirely dissolved. This liniment is highly useful in rheumatism, spasms, and other cases of extreme pain.

CANARIES. Those who wish to breed this species of birds, should provide them a large cage, with two boxes to build in. Early in April put a cock and hen together; and whilst they are pairing, feed them with soft meat, or a little grated bread, scalded rapeseed and an egg mixed together. At the same time a small net of fine hay, wool, cotton, and hair should be suspended in one corner of the cage, so that the birds may pull it out as they want it to build with. Tame canaries will sometimes breed three or four times in a year, and produce their young about a fortnight after they begin to sit. When hatched, they should be left to the care of the old ones, to nurse them up till they can fly and feed themselves; during which time they should be supplied with fresh victuals every day, accompanied now and then with cabbage, lettuce, and chick-weed with seeds upon it. When the young canaries can feed themselves, they should be taken from the old ones, and put into another cage. Boil a little rapeseed, bruise and mix it with as much grated bread, mace seed, and the yolk of an egg boiled hard; and supply them with a small quantity every day, that it may not become stale or sour. Besides this, give them a little scalded rapeseed, and a little rape and canary seed by itself. This diet may be continued till they have done moulting, or renewed at any time when they appear unhealthy, and afterwards they may be fed in the usual manner.

CANCER. It is asserted by a French practitioner, that this cruel disorder may be cured in three days, by the following simple application, without any surgical operation whatever. Knead a piece of dough about the size of a pullet's egg, with the same quantity of hog's lard, the older the better; and when they are thoroughly blended, so as to form a kind of salve, spread it on a piece of white leather, and apply it to the part affected. This, if it do no good, is perfectly harmless. – A plaster for an eating cancer may be made as follows. File up some old brass, and mix a spoonful of it with mutton suet. Lay the plaster on the cancer, and let it remain till the cure is effected. Several persons have derived great benefit from this application, and it has seldom been known to fail.

CANDIED ANGELICA. Cut angelica into pieces three inches long, boil it tender, peel and boil it again till it is green; dry it in a cloth, and add its weight in sugar. Sift some fine sugar over, and let them remain in a pan two days; then boil the stalks clear and green, and let them drain in a cullender. Beat another pound of sugar and strew over them, lay them on plates, and dry them well in an oven.

CANDIED FRUIT. Take the preserve out of the syrup, lay it into a new sieve, and dip it suddenly into hot water, to take off the syrup that hangs about it. Put it on a napkin before the fire to drain, and then do another layer in the sieve. Sift the fruit all over with double refined sugar previously prepared, till it is quite white. Set it on the shallow end of sieves in a lightly-warm oven, and turn it two or three times: it must not be cold till dry. Watch it carefully, and it will be beautiful.

CANDIED PEEL. Take out the pulps of lemons or oranges, soak the rinds six days in salt and water, and afterwards boil them tender in spring water. Drain them on a sieve, make a thin syrup of loaf sugar and water, and boil the peels in it till the syrup begins to candy about them. Then take out the peels, grate fine sugar over them, drain them on a sieve, and dry them before the fire.

CANDLES. Those made in cold weather are best; and if put in a cool place, they will improve by keeping; but when they begin to sweat and turn rancid, the tallow loses its strength, and the candles are spoiled. A stock for winter use should be provided in autumn, and for summer, early in the spring. The best candle-wicks are made of fine cotton; the coarser yarn consumes faster, and burns less steady. Mould candles burn the clearest, but dips afford the best light, their wicks being proportionally larger.

CAPER SAUCE. Add a table-spoonful of capers to twice the quantity of vinegar, mince one third of the capers very fine, and divide the others in half. Put them into a quarter of a pint of melted butter, or good thickened gravy, and stir them the same way as the melted butter, to prevent their oiling. The juice of half a Seville orange or lemon may be added. An excellent substitute for capers may be made of pickled green peas, nastursions, or gherkins, chopped into a similar size, and boiled with melted butter. When capers are kept for use, they should be covered with fresh scalded vinegar, tied down close to exclude the air, and to make them soft.

CAPILLAIRE. Take fourteen pounds of good moist sugar, three of coarse sugar, and six eggs beaten in well with the shells, boil them together in three quarts of water, and skim it carefully. Then add a quarter of a pint of orange-flower water, strain it off, and put it into bottles. When cold, mix a spoonful or two of this syrup in a little warm or cold water.

CARACHEE. Mix with a pint of vinegar, two table-spoonfuls of Indian soy, two of walnut pickle, two cloves of garlic, one tea-spoonful of cayenne, one of lemon pickle, and two of sauce royal.

CARMEL COVER. Dissolve eight ounces of double refined sugar in three or four spoonfuls of water, and as many drops of lemon juice. Put it into a copper skillet; when it begins to thicken, dip the handle of a spoon in it, and put that into a pint bason of water. Squeeze the sugar from the spoon into it, and so on till all the sugar is extracted. Take a bit out of the water, and if it snaps and is brittle when cold, it is done enough. But let it be only three parts cold, then pour the water from the sugar, and having a copper form oiled well, run the sugar on it, in the manner of a maze, and when cold it may be put on the dish it is intended to cover. If on trial the sugar is not brittle, pour off the water, return it into the skillet, and boil it again. It should look thick like treacle, but of a light gold colour. This makes an elegant cover for sweetmeats.

CARP. This excellent fish will live some time out of water, and may therefore get wasted: it is best to kill them as soon as caught, to prevent this. Carp should either be boiled or stewed. Scale and draw it, and save the blood. Set on water in a stewpan, with a little Chili vinegar, salt, and horse-radish. When it boils, put in the carp, and boil it gently for twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the fish. Stew the blood with half a pint of port wine, some good gravy, a sliced onion, a little whole pepper, a blade of mace, and a nutmeg grated. Thicken the sauce with butter rolled in flour, season it with pepper and salt, essence of anchovy, and mushroom ketchup. Serve up the fish with the sauce poured over it, adding a little lemon juice. Carp are also very nice plain boiled, with common fish sauce.

CARPETS. In order to keep them clean, they should not frequently be swept with a whisk brush, as it wears them fast; not more than once a week, and at other times with sprinkled tea-leaves, and a hair brush. Fine carpets should be done gently on the knees, with a soft clothes' brush. When a carpet requires more cleaning, take it up and beat it well, then lay it down and brush it on both sides with a hand-brush. Turn it the right side upwards, and scour it clean with ox-gall and soap and water, and dry it with linen cloths. Lay it on the grass, or hang it up to dry thoroughly.

CARRAWAY CAKE. Dry two pounds of good flour, add ten spoonfuls of yeast, and twelve of cream. Wash the salt out of a pound of butter, and rub it into the flour; beat up eight eggs with half the whites, and mix it with the composition already prepared. Work it into a light paste, set it before the fire to rise, incorporate a pound of carraway comfits, and an hour will bake it.

CARRIER SAUCE. Chop six shalots fine, and boil them up with a gill of gravy, a spoonful of vinegar, some pepper and salt. This is used for mutton, and served in a boat.

CARROLE OF RICE. Wash and pick some rice quite clean, boil it five minutes in water, strain and put it into a stewpan, with a bit of butter, a good slice of ham, and an onion. Stew it over a very gentle fire till tender; have ready a mould lined with very thin slices of bacon, mix the yolks of two or three eggs with the rice, and then line the bacon with it about half an inch thick. Put into it a ragout of chicken, rabbit, veal, or of any thing else. Fill up the mould, and cover it close with rice. Bake it in a quick oven an hour, turn it over, and send it to table in a good gravy, or curry sauce.

CARROTS. This root requires a good deal of boiling. When young, wipe off the skin after they are boiled; when old, scrape them first, and boil them with salt meat. Carrots and parsnips should be kept in layers of dry sand for winter use, and not be wholly cleared from the earth. They should be placed separately, with their necks upward, and be drawn out regularly as they stand, without disturbing the middle or the sides.

CARROT PUDDING. Boil a large carrot tender; then bruise it in a marble mortar, and mix with it a spoonful of biscuit powder, or three or four little sweet biscuits without seeds, four yolks and two whites of eggs, a pint of cream either raw or scalded, a little ratifia, a large spoonful of orange or rose-water, a quarter of a nutmeg, and two ounces of sugar. Bake it in a shallow dish lined with paste; turn it out, and dust a little fine sugar over it.

CARROT SOUP. Put some beef bones into a saucepan, with four quarts of the liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, two large onions, a turnip, pepper and salt, and boil them together for three hours. Have ready six large carrots scraped and sliced; strain the soup on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair sieve or coarse cloth, with a wooden spoon; but pulp only the red part of the carrot, and not the yellow. The soup should be made the day before, and afterwards boiled with the pulp, to the thickness of peas-soup, with the addition of a little cayenne.

CARVING. In nothing does ceremony more frequently triumph over comfort, than in the administration of 'the honours of the table.' Every one is sufficiently aware that a dinner, to be eaten in perfection, should be taken the very moment it is sent hot to table; yet few persons seem to understand, that he is the best carver who fills the plates of the greatest numbers of guests in the least portion of time, provided it be done with ease and elegance. In a mere family circle, where all cannot and ought not to be choosers, it is far better to fill the plates and send them round, rather than ask each individual what particular part they would prefer; and if in a larger company a similar plan were introduced, it would be attended with many advantages. A dexterous carver, would help half a dozen people in less time than is often wasted in making civil faces to a single guest. He will also cut fair, and observe an equitable distribution of the dainties he is serving out. It would save much time, if poultry, especially large turkeys and geese, were sent to table ready cut up. When a lady presides, the carving knife should be light, of a middling size, and of a fine edge. Strength is less required than address, in the manner of using, it; and to facilitate this, the butcher should be ordered to divide the joints of the bones, especially of the neck, breast, and loin of mutton, lamb, and veal; which may then be easily cut into thin slices attached to the adjoining bones. If the whole of the meat belonging to each bone should be too thick, a small slice may be taken off between every two bones. The more fleshy joints, as fillet of veal, leg or saddle of mutton and beef, are to be helped in thin slices, neatly cut and smooth; observing to let the knife pass down to the bone in the mutton and beef joints. The dish should not be too far off the carver, as it gives an awkward appearance, and makes the task more difficult. In helping fish, take care not to break the flakes; which in cod and very fresh salmon are large, and contribute much to the beauty of its appearance. A fish knife, not being sharp, divides it best on this account. Help a part of the roe, milt or liver, to each person. The heads of carp, part of those of cod and salmon, sounds of cod, and fins of turbot, are likewise esteemed niceties, and are to be attended to accordingly. In cutting up any wild fowl, duck, goose, or turkey, for a large party, if you cut the slices down from pinion to pinion, without making wings, there will be more prime pieces. But that the reader may derive the full advantage of these remarks, we shall descend to particulars, and illustrate the subject with a variety of interesting Plates, which will show at the same time the manner in which game and poultry should be trussed and dished. – Cod's head. Fish in general requires very little carving, the fleshy parts being those principally esteemed. A cod's head and shoulders, when in season, and properly boiled, is a very genteel and handsome dish. When cut, it should be done with a fish trowel, and the parts about the backbone on the shoulders are the firmest and the best. Take off a piece quite down to the bone, in the direction a, b, c, d, putting in the spoon at a, c, and with each slice of fish give a piece of the sound, which lies underneath the backbone and lines it, the meat of which is thin, and a little darker coloured than the body of the fish itself. This may be got by passing a knife or spoon underneath, in the direction of d, f. About the head are many delicate parts, and a great deal of the jelly kind. The jelly part lies about the jaw, bones, and the firm parts within the head. Some are fond of the palate, and others the tongue, which likewise may be got by putting a spoon into the mouth. – Edge bone of Beef. Cut off a slice an inch thick all the length from a to b, in the figure opposite, and then help. The soft fat which resembles marrow, lies at the back of the bone, below c; the firm fat must be cut in horizontal slices at the edge of the meat d. It is proper to ask which is preferred, as tastes differ. The skewer that keeps the meat properly together when boiling is here shewn at a. This should be drawn out before it is served up; or, if it is necessary to leave the skewer in, put a silver one. – Sirloin of Beef may be begun either at the end, or by cutting into the middle. It is usual to enquire whether the outside or the inside is preferred. For the outside, the slice should be cut down to the bones; and the same with every following helping. Slice the inside likewise, and give with each piece some of the soft fat. The inside done as follows eats excellently. Have ready some shalot vinegar boiling hot: mince the meat large, and a good deal of the fat; sprinkle it with salt, and pour the shalot vinegar and the gravy on it. Help with a spoon, as quickly as possible, on hot plates. – Round or buttock of Beef is cut in the same way as fillet of veal, in the next article. It should be kept even all over. When helping the fat, observe not to hack it, but cut it smooth. A deep slice should be cut off the beef before you begin to help, as directed above for the edge-bone. – Fillet of Veal. In an ox, this part is round of beef. Ask whether the brown outside be liked, otherwise help the next slice. The bone is taken out, and the meat tied close, before dressing, which makes the fillet very solid. It should be cut thin, and very smooth. A stuffing is put into the flap, which completely covers it; you must cut deep into this, and help a thin slice, as likewise of fat. From carelessness in not covering the latter with paper, it is sometimes dried up, to the great disappointment of the carver. – Breast of Veal. One part, called the brisket, is thick and gristly; put the knife about four inches from the edge of this, and cut through it, which will separate the ribs from the brisket. – Calf's Head has a great deal of meat upon it, if properly managed. Cut slices from a to b, letting the knife go close to the bone. In the fleshy part, at the neck end c, there lies the throat sweetbread, which you should help a slice of from c to d with the other part. Many like the eye, which must be cut out with the point of a knife, and divided in two. If the jaw-bone be taken off, there will be found some fine lean. Under the head is the palate, which is reckoned a nicety; the lady of the house should be acquainted with all things that are thought so, that she may distribute them among her guests. – Shoulder of Mutton. This is a very good joint, and by many preferred to the leg; it being very full of gravy, if properly roasted, and produces many nice bits. The figure represents it as laid in the dish with its back uppermost. When it is first cut, it should be in the hollow part of it, in the direction of a, b, and the knife should be passed deep to the bone. The prime part of the fat lies on the outer edge, and is to be cut out in thin slices in the direction e. If many are at table, and the hollow part cut in the line a, b, is eaten, some very good and delicate slices may be cut out on each side the ridge of the blade-bone, in the direction c, d. The line between these two dotted lines, is that in the direction of which the edge or ridge of the blade-bone lies, and cannot be cut across. – Leg of Mutton. A leg of wether mutton, which is the best flavoured, may be known by a round lump of fat at the edge of the broadest part, as at a. The best part is in the midway, at b, between the knuckle and further end. Begin to help there, by cutting thin deep slices to c. If the outside is not fat enough, help some from the side of the broad end in slices from e to f. This part is most juicy; but many prefer the knuckle, which in fine mutton will be very tender though dry. There are very fine slices on the back of the leg: turn it up, and cut the broad end, not in the direction you did the other side, but longways. To cut out the cramp bone, take hold of the shank with your left hand, and cut down to the thigh bone at d; then pass the knife under the cramp bone in the direction, d, g. – Fore quarter of Lamb. Separate the shoulder from the scoven, which is the breast and ribs, by passing the knife under in the direction of a, b, c, d; keeping it towards you horizontally, to prevent cutting the meat too much off the bones. If grass lamb, the shoulder being large, put it into another dish. Squeeze the juice of half a Seville orange or lemon on the other part, and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Then separate the gristly part from the ribs in the line e, c; and help either from that or from the ribs, as may be chosen. – Haunch of Venison. Cut down to the bone in the line a, b, c, to let out the gravy. Then turn the broad end of the haunch toward you, put in the knife at b, and cut as deep as you can to the end of the haunch d; then help in thin slices, observing to give some fat to each person. There is more fat, which is a favourite part, on the left side of c and d than on the other: and those who help must take care to proportion it, as likewise the gravy, according to the number of the company. – Haunch of Mutton is the leg and part of the loin, cut so as to resemble a haunch of venison, and is to be helped at table in the same manner. – Saddle of Mutton. Cut long thin slices from the tail to the end, beginning close to the back bone. If a large joint, the slice may be divided. Cut some fat from the sides. – Ham may be cut three ways. The common method is, to begin in the middle, by long slices from a to b, from the centre through the thick fat. This brings to the prime at first, which is likewise accomplished by cutting a small round hole on the top of the ham, as at c, and with a sharp knife enlarging that by cutting successive thin circles: this preserves the gravy, and keeps the meat moist. The last and most saving way is, to begin at the hock end, which many are most fond of, and proceed onwards. Ham that is used for pies, &c. should be cut from the under side, first taking off a thick slice. – Sucking Pig. The cook usually divides the body before it is sent to table, and garnishes the dish with the jaws and ears. The first thing is, to separate a shoulder from the carcase on one side, and then the leg, according to the direction given by the dotted line a, b, c. The ribs are then to be divided into about two helpings, and an ear or jaw presented with them, and plenty of sauce. The joints may either be divided into two each, or pieces may be cut from them. The ribs are reckoned the finest part, but some people prefer the neck end, between the shoulders. – Goose. Cut off the apron in the circular line a, b, c, and pour into the body a glass of port wine, and a large tea-spoonful of mustard, first mixed at the sideboard. Turn the neck end of the goose towards you, and cut the whole breast in long slices from one wing to another; but only remove them as you help each person, unless the company is so large as to require the legs likewise. This way gives more prime bits than by making wings. Take off the leg, by putting the fork into the small end of the bone, pressing it to the body; and having passed the knife at d, turn the leg back, and if a young bird, it will easily separate. To take off the wing, put your fork into the small end of the pinion, and press it close to the body; then put in the knife at d, and divide the joint, taking it down in the direction d, e. Nothing but practice will enable people to hit the joint dexterously. When the leg and wing of one side are done, go on to the other; but it is not often necessary to cut up the whole goose, unless the company be very large. There are two side bones by the wing, which may be cut off; as likewise the back and lower side bones: but the best pieces are the breast and the thighs, after being divided from the drum-sticks. – Hare. The best way of cutting it up is, to put the point of the knife under the shoulder at a, and so cut all the way down to the rump, on one side of the back-bone, in the line a, b. Do the same on the other side, so that the whole hare will be divided into three parts. Cut the back into four, which with the legs is the part most esteemed. The shoulder must be cut off in a circular line, as c, d, a. Lay the pieces neatly on the dish as you cut them; and then help the company, giving some pudding and gravy to every person. This way can only be practised when the hare is young. If old, do not divide it down, which will require a strong arm: but put the knife between the leg and back, and give it a little turn inwards at the joint; which you must endeavour to hit, and not to break by force. When both legs are taken off, there is a fine collop on each side the back; then divide the back into as many pieces as you please, and take of the shoulders, which are by many preferred, and are called the sportman's pieces. When every one is helped, cut off the head; put your knife between the upper and lower jaw, and divide them, which will enable you to lay the upper one flat on your plate; then put the point of the knife into the centre, and cut the head into two. The ears and brains may be helped then to those who like them. – Carve Rabbits as directed the latter way for hare; cutting the back into two pieces, which with the legs are the prime. – A Fowl. The legs of a boiled fowl are bent inwards, and tucked into the belly; but before it is served, the skewers are to be removed. Lay the fowl on your plate; and place the joints, as cut off, on the dish. Take the wing off in the direction of a to b, in the annexed engraving, only dividing the joint with your knife; and then with your fork lift up the pinion, and draw the wing towards the legs, and the muscles will separate in a more complete form than if cut. Slip the knife between the leg and body, and cut to the bone; then with the fork turn the leg back, and the joint will give way if the bird is not old. When the four quarters are thus removed, take off the merrythought from a, and the neck bones; these last by putting in the knife at c, and pressing it under the long broad part of the bone in the line c, b. Then lift it up, and break it off from the part that sticks to the breast. The next thing is, to divide the breast from the carcase, by cutting through the tender ribs close to the breast, quite down to the tail. Then lay the back upwards, put your knife into the bone half-way from the neck to the rump, and on raising the lower end it will separate readily. Turn the rump from you, and very neatly take off the two sidebones, and the whole will be done. As each part is taken off, it should be turned neatly on the dish, and care should be taken that what is left goes properly from table. The breast and wings are looked upon as the best parts, but the legs are most juicy in young fowls. After all, more advantage will be gained by observing those who carve well, and a little practice, than by any written directions whatever. – A Pheasant. The bird in the annexed engraving is as trussed for the spit, with its head under one of its wings. When the skewers are taken out, and the bird served, the following is the way to carve it. Fix a fork in the centre of the breast; slice it down in the line a, b; take off the leg on one side in the dotted line b, d; then cut off the wing on the same side in the line c, d. Separate the leg and wing on the other side, and then cut off the slices of breast you divided before. Be careful how you take off the wings; for if you should cut too near the neck, as at g, you will hit on the neck-bone, from which the wing must be separated. Cut off the merrythought in the line f, g, by passing the knife under it towards the neck. Cut the other parts as in a fowl. The breast, wings, and merrythought, are the most esteemed; but the leg has a higher flavour. – Partridge. The partridge is here represented as just taken from the spit; but before it is served up, the skewers must be withdrawn. It is cut up in the same manner as a fowl. The wings must be taken off in the line a, b, and the merrythought in the line c, d. The prime parts of a partridge are the wings, breast, and merrythought; but the bird being small, the two latter are not often divided. The wing is considered as the best, and the tip of it reckoned the most delicate morsel of the whole. – Pigeons. Cut them in half, either from top to bottom or across. The lower part is generally thought the best; but the fairest way is to cut from the neck to a, rather than from c to b, by a, which is the most fashionable. The figure represents the back of the pigeon; and the direction of the knife is in the line c, b, by a, if done the last way.

CASKS. New casks are apt to give beer a bad taste, if not well scalded and seasoned before they are used. Boil therefore two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, pour it hot into the cask, stop it close, and let it stand two days. Then wash it clean, and dry it fit for use. Old casks are apt to grow musty, if allowed to stand by neglected; they should therefore be closely stopped as soon as emptied. When tainted, put in some lime, fill up with water, and let them stand a day or two. If this be not sufficient, the head must be taken out, the inside well scoured, and the head replaced.

CATERPILLARS. These noxious insects, sustained by leaves and fruit, have been known in all ages and nations for their depredations on the vegetable world. In August and September they destroy cabbages and turnips in great abundance, and commit their ravages in fields and gardens whenever the easterly winds prevail. Various means have been devised for their destruction, and any of the following which may happen to be the most convenient, may be employed with very good effect. Mix and heat three quarts of water and one quart of vinegar, put in a full pound of soot, and stir it with a whisk till the whole is incorporated. Sprinkle the plants with this preparation, every morning and evening, by dipping in a brush and shedding it over them; and in a few days all the cankers will disappear. Or sow with hemp all the borders where cabbages are planted, so as to enclose them, and not one of these vermin will approach. When gooseberry or currant bushes are attacked, a very simple expedient will suffice. Put pieces of woollen rags in every bush, the caterpillars will take refuge in them during the night, and in the morning quantities of them may thus be taken and destroyed. If this do not succeed, dissolve an ounce of alum in a quart of tobacco liquor; and as soon as the leaves of the plants or bushes appear in the least corroded, sprinkle on the mixture with a brush. If any eggs be deposited, they never come forward after this application; and if changed into worms they will sicken and die, and fall off. Nothing is more effectual than to dust the leaves of plants with sulphur put into a piece of muslin, or thrown upon them with a dredging box: this not only destroys the insects, but materially promotes the health of the plants. When caterpillars attack fruit trees, they may be destroyed by a strong decoction of equal quantities of rue, wormwood, and tobacco, sprinkled on the leaves and branches while the fruit is ripening. Or take a chafing-dish of burning charcoal, place it under the branches of the bush or tree, and throw on it a little brimstone. The vapour of the sulphur, and the suffocating fume arising from the charcoal, will not only destroy all the insects, but prevent the plants from being infested with them any more that season. Black cankers, which commit great devastation among turnips, are best destroyed by turning a quantity of ducks into the field infested by them. Every fourth year these cankers become flies, when they deposit their eggs on the ground, and thus produce maggots. The flies on their first appearance settle on the trees, especially the oak, elm, and maple: in this state they should be shaken down on packsheets, and destroyed. If this were done before they begin to deposit their eggs on the ground, the ravages of the canker would in a great measure be prevented.

CAUDLE. Make a fine smooth gruel of half grits, strain it after being well boiled, and stir it at times till quite cold. When to be used, add sugar, wine, lemon peel and nutmeg. A spoonful of brandy may be added, and a little lemon juice if approved. Another way is to boil up half a pint of fine gruel, with a bit of butter the size of a large nutmeg, a spoonful of brandy, the same of white wine, one of capillaire, a bit of lemon peel and nutmeg. – Another. Beat up the yolk of an egg with sugar, mix it with a large spoonful of cold water, a glass of wine, and nutmeg. Mix it by degrees with a pint of fine gruel, not thick, but while it is boiling hot. This caudle is very agreeable and nourishing. Some add a glass of beer and sugar, or a tea-spoonful of brandy. – A caudle for the sick and lying-in is made as follows. Set three quarts of water on the fire, mix smooth as much oatmeal as will thicken the whole, with a pint of cold water; and when the water boils pour in the thickening, and add twenty peppercorns in fine powder. Boil it up to a tolerable thickness; then add sugar, half a pint of good table beer, and a glass of gin, all heated up together.

CAULIFLOWERS. Choose those that are close and white, cut off the green leaves, and see that there be no caterpillars about the stalk. Soak them an hour in cold water, then boil them in milk and water, and take care to skim the saucepan, that not the least foulness may fall on the flower. The vegetable should be served very white, and not boiled too much. – Cauliflower dressed in white sauce should be half boiled, and cut into handsome pieces. Then lay them in a stewpan with a little broth, a bit of mace, a little salt, and a dust of white pepper. Simmer them together half an hour; then add a little cream, butter, and flour. Simmer a few minutes longer, and serve them up. – To dress a cauliflower with parmesan, boil the vegetable, drain it on a sieve, and cut the stalk so that the flower will stand upright about two inches above the dish. Put it into a stewpan with a little white sauce, and in a few minutes it will be done enough. Then dish it with the sauce round, put parmesan grated over it, and brown it with a salamander.

CAULIFLOWERS RAGOUT. Pick and wash the cauliflowers very clean, stew them in brown gravy till they are tender, and season with pepper and salt. Put them in a dish, pour gravy on them, boil some sprigs of cauliflower white, and lay round.

CAYENNE. Those who are fond of this spice had better make it themselves of English capsicums or chillies, for there is no other way of being sure that it is genuine. Pepper of a much finer flavour may be obtained in this way, without half the heat of the foreign article, which is frequently adulterated and coloured with red lead. Capsicums and chillies are ripe and in good condition, during the months of September and October. The flavour of the chillies is superior to that of the capsicums, and will be good in proportion as they are dried as soon as possible, taken care that they be not burnt. Take away the stalks, put the pods into a cullender, and set them twelve hours before the fire to dry. Then put them into a mortar, with one fourth their weight of salt; pound and rub them till they are as fine as possible, and put the powder into a well-stopped bottle. A hundred large chillies will produce about two ounces of cayenne. When foreign cayenne is pounded, it is mixed with a considerable portion of salt, to prevent its injuring the eyes: but English chillies may be pounded in a deep mortar without any danger, and afterwards passed through a fine sieve.

CELERY SAUCE. Cut small half a dozen heads of clean white celery, with two sliced onions. Put them into a stewpan, with a small piece of butter, and sweat them over a slow fire till quite tender. Add two spoonfuls of flour, half a pint of broth, salt and pepper, and a little cream or milk. Boil it a quarter of an hour, and pass it through a fine hair sieve with the back of a spoon. When celery is not in season, a quarter of a dram of celery seed, or a little of the essence, will impregnate half a pint of sauce with all the flavour of the vegetable. This sauce is intended for boiled turkey, veal, or fowls.

CELERY SOUP. Split half a dozen heads of celery into slips about two inches long, wash them well, drain them on a hair sieve, and put them into a soup pot, with three quarts of clear gravy. Stew it very gently by the side of the fire, about an hour, till the celery is tender. If any scum arise, take it off, and season with a little salt. When celery cannot be procured, half a dram of the seed, pounded fine, will give a flavour to the soup, if put in a quarter of an hour before it is done. A little of the essence of the celery will answer the same purpose.

CELLARS. Beer and ale that have been well brewed, are often injured or spoiled in the keeping, for want of paying proper attention to the state of the cellar. It is necessary however to exclude as much as possible all external air from these depositaries, as the state of the surrounding atmosphere has a most material influence upon the liquor, even after it has been made a considerable time. If the cellar is liable to damps in the winter, it will tend to chill the liquor, and make it turn flat; or if exposed to the heat of summer, it will be sure to turn sour. The great object therefore is to have a cellar that is both cool and dry. Dorchester beer, generally in high esteem, owes much of its fineness to this circumstance. The soil in that county being very chalky, of a close texture and free from damps, the cellars are always cool and dry, and the liquors are found to keep in the best possible manner. The Nottingham ale derives much of its celebrity also from the peculiar construction of the cellars, which are generally excavated out of a rock of sand-stone to a considerable depth, of a circular or conical form, with benches formed all round in the same way, and on these the barrels are placed in regular succession.

CERATE. Half a pound of white wax, half a pound of calumine stone finely powdered, and a pint and a half of olive oil, will make an excellent cerate. Let the calumine be rubbed smooth with some of the oil, and added to the rest of the oil and wax, which should be previously melted together. Stir them together till they are quite cold.

CHARDOONS. To dress chardoons, cut them into pieces of six inches long, and tie them in a bunch. Boil them tender, then flour and fry them with a piece of butter, and when brown serve them up. Or tie them in bundles, and serve them on toast as boiled asparagus, with butter poured over. Another way is to boil them, and then heat them up in fricassee sauce. Or boil in salt and water, dry them, dip them into butter, fry, and serve them up with melted butter. Or having boiled, stew, and toss them up with white or brown gravy. Add a little cayenne, ketchup, and salt, and thicken with a bit of butter and flour.

CHARLOTTE. Rub a baking-dish thick with butter, and line the bottom and sides with very thin slices of white bread. Put in layers of apples thinly sliced, strewing sugar between, and bits of butter, till the dish is full. In the mean time, soak in warm milk as many thin slices of bread as will cover the whole; over which lay a plate, and a weight to keep the bread close on the apples. To a middling sized dish use half a pound of butter in the whole, and bake slowly for three hours.

CHEAP SOUP. Much nutricious food might be provided for the poor and necessitous, at a very trifling expence, by only adopting a plan of frugality, and gathering up the fragments, that nothing be lost. Save the liquor in which every piece of meat, ham, or tongue has been boiled, however salt; for it is easy to use only a part of it, and to add a little fresh water. Then, by the addition of more vegetables, the bones of meat used in the family, the pieces of meat that come from table on the plates, and rice, Scotch barley, or oatmeal, there will be some gallons of useful soup saved. The bits of meat should only be warmed in the soup, and remain whole; the bones and sinewy parts should be boiled till they yield their nourishment. If the fragments are ready to put into the boiler as soon as the meat is served, it will save lighting the fire, and a second cooking. Take turnips, carrots, leeks, potatoes, leaves of lettuce, or any sort of vegetable that is at hand; cut them small, and throw in with the thick part of peas, after they have been pulped for soup, and grits, or coarse oatmeal, which have been used for gruel. Should the soup be poor of meat, the long boiling of the bones, and different vegetables, will afford better nourishment than the laborious poor can generally obtain; especially as they are rarely tolerable cooks, and have not fuel to do justice to what they buy. In almost every family there is some superfluity; and if it be prepared with cleanliness and care, the benefit will be very great to the receiver, and the satisfaction no less to the giver. The cook or servant should never be allowed to wash away as useless, the peas or grits of which soup or gruel have been made, broken potatoes, the green heads of celery, the necks and feet of fowls, and particularly the shanks of mutton; all of which are capable of adding flavour and richness to the soup. The bones, heads, and fins of fish, containing a portion of isinglass, may also be very usefully applied, by stewing them in the water in which the fish is boiled, and adding it to the soup, with the gravy that is left in the dish. If strained, it considerably improves the meat soup, particularly for the sick; and when such are to be supplied, the milder parts of the spare bones and meat should be used, with very little of the liquor of the salt meats. If a soup be wanted for the weakly and infirm, put two cow heels and a breast of mutton into a large pan, with four ounces of rice, one onion, twenty corns of Jamaica pepper, and twenty black, a turnip, and carrot, and four gallons of water. Cover it with white paper, and bake it six hours.

CHEESE. This well-known article of domestic consumption, is prepared from curdled milk, cleared from the whey. It differs very much in quality and flavour, according to the pasture in which the cows feed, and the manner in which the article itself is made. The same land rarely produces very fine butter, and remarkably fine cheese; yet with proper management, it may give one pretty good, where the other excels in quality. Cheese made on the same land, from new milk, skimmed or mixed milk, will differ greatly, not only in richness, but also in taste. Valuable cheese may be made from a tolerable pasture, by taking the whole of two meals of milk, and proportioning the thickness of the vat to the quantity, rather than having a wide and flat one, as the former will produce the mellowest cheese. The addition of a pound of fresh-made butter of a good quality, will cause the cheese made on poor land to be of a very different quality from that usually produced by it. A few cheeses thus made, when the weather is not extremely hot, and when the cows are in full feed, are well adapted to the use of the parlour. Cheese for common family use may very well be produced by two meals of skim, and one of new milk; or on good land, by the skim milk only. The principal ingredient in making cheese is the rennet, maw, or inner part of a calf's stomach, which is cleaned, salted, and hung up in paper bags to dry. The night before it is used, it is washed and soaked in a little water. When the milk is ready, being put into a large tub, warm a part of it to the degree of new milk; but if made too hot, the cheese will be tough. Pour in as much rennet as will curdle the milk, and then cover it over. Let it stand till completely turned; then strike the curd down several times with the skimming dish, and let it separate, still keeping it covered. There are two modes of breaking the curd, and there will be a difference in the taste of the cheese, according as either is observed. One is to gather it with the hands very gently towards the side of the tub, letting the whey pass through the fingers till it is cleared; and lading it off as it collects. The other is, to get the whey from it by early breaking the curd. The last method deprives it of many of its oily particles, and is therefore less proper. In pursuing the process, put the vat on a ladder over the tub, and fill it with curd by means of the skimmer. Press the curd close with the hand, add more as it sinks, and finally leave it two inches above the edge. Before the vat is filled, the cheesecloth must be laid at the bottom; and when full, drawn smooth over on all sides. In salting the cheese, two modes may be adopted; either by mixing it in the curd while in the tub, after the whey is out, or by putting it in the vat, and crumbling the curd all to pieces with it, after the first squeezing with the hand has dried it. These different methods prevail in the different parts of the country. Put a board under and over the vat, and place it in the press: in two hours turn it out, and put in a fresh cheesecloth. Press it again for eight or nine hours, salt it all over, and turn it again in the vat. Let it stand in the press fourteen or sixteen hours, observing to put the cheeses last made undermost. Before putting them the last time into the vat, pare the edges if they do not look smooth. The vat should have holes at the sides, and at the bottom, to let all the whey pass through. Put on clean boards, and change and scald them. When cheese is made, care must be taken to preserve it sound and good. For this purpose wash it occasionally in warm whey, wipe it once a month, and keep it on a rack. If wanted to ripen soon, a damp cellar will bring it forward. When a whole cheese is cut, the inside of the larger quantity should be spread with butter, and the outside wiped, to preserve it. To keep those in daily use moist, let a clean cloth be wrung out from cold water, and wrapt round them when carried from the table. Dry cheese may be used to advantage to grate for serving with macaroni or eating without; and any thing tending to prevent waste, is of some consequence in a system of domestic economy. To preserve cheeses from decay, lay them in an airy situation, and cover them with dried leaves of the yellow star of Bethlehem. The tender branches of the common birch, will prevent the ravages of mites. If cheese get hard, and lose its flavour, pour some sweet wine over four ounces of pearlash, till the liquor ceases to ferment. Filter the solution, dip into it some clean linen cloths, cover the cheese with them, and put in a cool dry place. Turn the cheese every day, repeat the application for some weeks, and the cheese will recover its former flavour and goodness.

CHEESECAKES. Strain the whey from the curd of two quarts of milk; when rather dry, crumble it through a coarse sieve. With six ounces of fresh butter, mix one ounce of blanched almonds pounded, a little orange-flower water, half a glass of raisin wine, a grated biscuit, four ounces of currants, some nutmeg and cinnamon in fine powder. Beat them up together with three eggs, and half a pint of cream, till quite light: then fill the pattipans three parts full. – To make a plainer sort of cheesecakes, turn three quarts of milk to curd; break it and drain off the whey. When quite dry, break it in a pan, with two ounces of butter, till perfectly smooth. Add a pint and a half of thin cream or good milk, a little sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and three ounces of currants. – Another way is to mix the curd of three quarts of milk, a pound of currants, twelve ounces of Lisbon sugar, a quarter of an ounce of cinnamon, the same of nutmeg, the peel of one lemon chopped as fine as possible, the yolks of eight and the whites of six eggs, a pint of scalded cream and a glass of brandy. Put a light thin puff paste in the pattipans, and three parts fill them.

CHEESE PUFFS. Strain some cheese curd from the whey, and beat half a pint of it fine in a mortar, with a spoonful and a half of flour, three eggs, but only one white. Add a spoonful of orange-flower water, a quarter of a nutmeg, and sugar to make it pretty sweet. Lay a little of this paste, in small round cakes, on a tin plate. If the oven be hot, a quarter of an hour will bake them. Serve the puffs with pudding sauce.

CHERRY BRANDY. Stone ten pounds of black cherries, bruise the stones in a mortar, and put them to a gallon of the best brandy. Let it stand a month close covered, pour it clear from the sediment, and bottle it. Morella cherries managed in this way will make a fine rich cordial.

CHERRY JAM. To twelve pounds of ripe fruit, Kentish or duke cherries, weigh one pound of sugar. Break the stones of part, and blanch them; then put them to the fruit and sugar, and boil all gently till the jam comes clear from the pan. Pour it into china plates to come up dry to the table, and keep it in boxes with white paper between.

CHERRY PIE. This should have a mixture of other fruit; currants or raspberries, or both. Currant pie is also best with raspberries.

CHERRY WINE. Mash some ripe cherries, and press them through a hair sieve. Allow three pounds of lump sugar to two quarts of juice, stir them together till the sugar is dissolved, and fill a small barrel with the liquor. Add a little brandy, close down the bung when it has done hissing, let it stand six months and bottle it off.

CHERRIES IN BRANDY. Weigh some fine morellas, cut off half the stalk, prick them with a new needle, and drop them into a jar or wide-mouth bottle. Pound three quarters of the weight of sugar or white candy, and strew over; fill the bottle up with brandy, and tie a bladder over.

CHERVIL SAUCE. The flavour of this fine herb, so long a favourite with the French cook, is a strong concentration of the combined taste of parsley and fennel, but more aromatic and agreeable than either, and makes an excellent sauce for boiled poultry or fish. Wash the chervil, and pick it very clean; put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water, boil the chervil about ten minutes, drain it on a sieve, and mince it very fine. Put it into a sauce boat, mix with it by degrees some good melted butter, and send it up in the boat.

CHESHIRE CHEESE. In preparing this article, the evening's milk is not touched till the next morning, when the cream is taken off and warmed in a pan, heated with boiling water; one third part of the milk is heated in a similar manner. The cows being milked early in the morning, the new milk, and that of the preceding night thus prepared, are poured into a large tub along with the cream. A piece of rennet kept in lukewarm water since the preceding evening, is put into the tub in order to curdle the milk, and the curd is coloured by an infusion of marigolds or carrots being rubbed into it. It is then stirred together, covered up warm, and allowed to stand about half an hour till it is coagulated; when it is first turned over with a bowl to separate the whey from the curds, and broken soon after into small pieces. When it has stood some time, the whey is taken out, and a weight laid at the bottom of the tub to press out the remainder. As soon as it becomes more solid, it is cut into slices, and turned over several times to extract all the whey, and again pressed with weights. Being taken out of the tub, it is broken very small, salted, and put into a cheese vat. It is then strongly pressed and weighted, and wooden skewers are placed round the cheese, which are frequently drawn out. It is then shifted out of the vat with a cloth placed at the bottom; and being turned it is put into the vat again. The upper part is next broken by the hand down to the middle, salted, pressed, weighted, and skewered as before, till all the whey is extracted. The cheese is then reversed into another vat, likewise warmed with a cloth under it, and a tin hoop put round the upper part of the cheese. These operations take up the greater part of the forenoon; the pressing of the cheese requires about eight hours more, as it must be twice turned in the vat, round which thin wire skewers are passed, and shifted occasionally. The next morning it ought to be turned and pressed again; and on the following day the outside is salted, and a cloth binder tied round it. The outsides are sometimes rubbed with butter, in order to give them a coat; and being turned and cleaned every day, they are left to dry two or three weeks.

CHICKENS. Fowls are chiefly considered as an article of luxury, and are generally sold at a high price; yet the rearing of them is seldom productive of much pecuniary advantage. They are liable to innumerable accidents in their early stages, which require incessant watchfulness and care; and if the grain on which they feed is to be purchased, the labour and expence are scarcely requited by the price they bear in the market. The Irish peasantry are in the habit of rearing a great number of fowls, by substituting the offal of potatoes instead of grain; but the flesh is neither so firm nor so good as that of chickens raised in England. It is much to be desired therefore, that encouragement could be given to the cottagers of this country for rearing a larger quantity of poultry, by means less expensive than the present, in order that the market might be supplied on better terms with an article of food so fine and delicate, and in such general respect. Various artificial means have been used for brooding chickens, in order to increase their number, and to bring them forward at an earlier season, but none of them have been found to answer, though in Egypt immense quantities are raised every year by the heat of ovens, bringing the eggs to a state of maturity. A well-fed hen is supposed to lay about two hundred eggs in a year; but as she does not sit more than once or twice in that time, it is but a small quantity of chickens that can be hatched in the usual way, and it would be highly desirable if some other expedient could be devised. – The most expeditious way of fattening chickens is to mix a quantity of rice flour sufficient for present use, with milk and a little coarse sugar, and stir it over the fire till it comes to a thick paste. Feed the chickens with it while it is warm by putting as much into their coops as they can eat; and if a little beer be given them to drink, it will fatten them very soon. A mixture of oatmeal and treacle made into crumbs is also good food for chickens; and they are so fond of it, that they will grow and fatten much faster than in the common way. Poultry in general should be fed in coops, and kept very clean. Their common food is barley meal mixed with water: this should not be put in troughs, but laid upon a board, which should be washed clean every time fresh food is put upon it. The common complaint of fowls, called the pip, is chiefly occasioned by foul and heated water being given them. No water should be allowed, more than is mixed up with their food; but they should often be provided with some clean gravel in their coop. – The method of fattening poultry for the London market, is liable to great objection. They are put into a dark place, and crammed with a paste made of barley meal, mutton suet, treacle or coarse sugar, mixed with milk, which makes them ripe in about a fortnight; but if kept longer, the fever that is induced by this continual state of repletion, renders them red and unsaleable, and frequently kills them. Air and exercise are as indispensable to the health of poultry as to other animals; and without it, the fat will be all accumulated in the cellular membrane, instead of being dispersed throughout the system. A barn-door fowl is preferable to any other, only that it cannot be fatted in so short a time.

CHICKEN BROTH. Having boiled a chicken for panada, take off the skin and the rump, and put it into the water it was boiled in. Add one blade of mace, a slice of onion, and ten corns of white pepper. Simmer it till the broth be of a pleasant flavour, adding a little water if necessary. Beat a quarter of an ounce of sweet almonds with a tea-spoonful of water till it is quite fine, boil it in the broth, and strain it. When cold, remove the fat.

CHICKEN CURRIE. Cut up the chicken raw, slice onions, and fry both in butter with great care, of a fine light brown; or if chickens that have been dressed are used, fry only the onions. Having cut the joints into two or three pieces each, lay them in a stewpan, with veal or mutton gravy, and a clove or two of garlic. Simmer till the chicken is quite tender. Half an hour before serving it up, rub smooth a spoonful or two of currie powder, a spoonful of flour, and an ounce of butter; and add this to the stew, with four large spoonfuls of cream, and a little salt. Squeeze in a small lemon, when the dish is going to table. – A more easy way to make currie is to cut up a chicken or young rabbit; if chicken, take off the skin. Roll each piece in a mixture of a large spoonful of flour, and half an ounce of currie powder. Slice two or three onions, and fry them in butter, of a light brown; then add the meat, and fry all together till the meat begin to brown. Put all into a stewpan, cover it with boiling water, and simmer very gently two or three hours. If too thick, add more water half an hour before serving. If the meat has been dressed before, a little broth will be better than water, but the currie is richer when made of fresh meat. Slices of underdone veal, turkey, or rabbit, will make excellent currie. A dish of rice boiled dry should be served with it.

CHICKEN PANADA. Boil a chicken in a quart of water, till about three parts ready. Take off the skin, cut off the white meat when cold, and pound it to a paste in a marble mortar, with a little of the liquor it was boiled in. Season it with a little salt, a grate of nutmeg, and the least bit of lemon peel. Boil it gently for a few minutes till it be tolerably thick, but so it may be drank. The flesh of a chicken thus reduced to a small compass, will be found very nourishing.

CHICKEN PIE. Cut up two young fowls, season them with white pepper, salt, a little mace, nutmeg, and cayenne, all finely powdered. Put alternately in layers the chicken, slices of ham, or fresh gammon of bacon, forcemeat balls, and eggs boiled hard. If baked in a dish, add a little water, but none if in a raised crust. Prepare some veal gravy from the knuckle or scrag, with some shank-bones of mutton, seasoned with herbs, onions, mace, and white pepper, to be poured into the pie when it returns from the oven. If it is to be eaten hot, truffles, morels, and mushrooms may be added; but not if it is to be eaten cold. If baked in a raised crust, the gravy must be nicely strained, and then put in cold as jelly. To make the jelly clear, give it a boil with the whites of two eggs, after taking away the meat, and then run it through a fine lawn sieve. – Rabbits, if young and fleshy, will make as good a pie. Their legs should be cut short, and their breast-bones must not go in, but will help to make the gravy.

CHICKEN SAUCE. An anchovy or two boned and chopped, some parsley and onion chopped, and mixed together, with pepper, oil, vinegar, mustard, walnut or mushroom ketchup, will make a good sauce for cold chicken, veal, or partridge.

CHILI VINEGAR. Slice fifty English chilies, fresh and of a good colour, and infuse them in a pint of the best vinegar. In a fortnight, this will give a much finer flavour than can be obtained from foreign cayenne, and impart an agreeable relish to fish sauce.

CHIMNEY PIECES. To blacken the fronts of stone chimney-pieces, mix oil varnish with lamp black that has been sifted, and a little spirit of turpentine to thin it to the consistence of paint. Wash the stone very clean with soap and water, and sponge it with clear water. When perfectly dry, brush it over twice with this colour, leaving it to dry between the times, and it will look extremely well.

CHINA. Broken china may be repaired with cement, made of equal parts of glue, the white of an egg, and white-lead mixed together. The juice of garlic, bruised in a stone mortar, is also a fine cement for broken glass or china; and if carefully applied, will leave no mark behind it. Isinglass glue, mixed with a little finely sifted chalk, will answer the same purpose, if the articles be not required to endure heat or moisture.

CHINA CHILO. Mince a pint-basonful of undressed neck or leg of mutton, with some of the fat. Put into a stewpan closely covered, two onions, a lettuce, a pint of green peas, a tea-spoonful of salt, the same quantity of pepper, four spoonfuls of water, and two or three ounces of clarified butter. Simmer them together two hours, add a little cayenne if approved, and serve in the middle of a dish of boiled dry rice.

CHINE OF BACON. One that has been salted and dried requires to be soaked several hours in cold water, and scraped clean. Then take a handful of beech, half as much parsley, a few sprigs of thyme, and a little sage, finely chopped together. Make some holes in the chine with the point of a knife, fill them with the herbs, skewer the meat up in a cloth, and boil it slowly about three hours. A dried pig's face is cooked in the same manner, adding a little salt, pepper, and bread crumbs to the stuffing.

CHOCOLATE. Those who use much of this article, will find the following mode of preparing it both useful and economical. Cut a cake of chocolate into very small pieces, and put a pint of water into the pot; when it boils, put in the chocolate. Mill it off the fire till quite melted, then on a gentle fire till it boil; pour it into a bason, and it will keep in a cool place eight or ten days or more. When wanted, put a spoonful or two into some milk; boil it with sugar, and mill it well. If not made too thick, this will form a very good breakfast or supper.

CHOCOLATE CREAM. Scrape into one quart of thick cream, an ounce of the best chocolate, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Boil and mill it: when quite smooth, take it off the fire, and leave it to be cold. Then add the whites of nine eggs; whisk it, and take up the froth on sieves, as other creams are done. Serve up the froth in glasses, to rise above some of the cream.

CHOLIC. Young children are often afflicted with griping pains in the bowels; and if attended with costiveness, it will be necessary to give them very small doses of manna and rhubarb every half hour, till they produce the desired effect. When the stools are green, a few drams of magnesia, with one or two of rhubarb, according to the age of the patient, may be given with advantage; but the greatest benefit will be derived from clysters made of milk, oil and sugar, or a solution of white soap and water. A poultice of bread, milk and oil, may likewise be applied to the lower part of the belly, and frequently renewed with a little warm milk to give it a proper consistence. The cholic in adults arises from a variety of causes, not easily distinguished except by professional persons; and therefore it is absolutely necessary to abstain from all violent remedies, or it may be attended with fatal consequences. Nothing can be applied with safety but emollient clysters and fomentations, and to drink copiously of camomile tea, or any other diluting liquor, till the spasms be relieved, and the nature of the disease more clearly understood. Persons who are subject to the bilious cholic in particular, should abstain from acrid, watery and oily food, especially butter, fat meat, and hot liquors: and pursue a calm and temperate course of life.

CHOPPED HANDS. Wash in common water, and then in rose water, a quarter of a pound of hog's lard not salted; mix with it the yolks of two new laid eggs, and a large spoonful of honey. Add as much fine oatmeal, or almond paste, as will work it into a paste; and by frequently rubbing it on the hands, it will keep them smooth, and prevent their being chopped.

CHOPPED LIPS. Put into a new tin saucepan, a quarter of an ounce of benjamin, storax, and spermaceti, two pennyworth of alkanet root, a large juicy apple chopped, a bunch of black grapes bruised, a quarter of a pound of unsalted butter, and two ounces of bees wax. Simmer them together till all be dissolved, and strain it through a linen. When cold melt it again, and pour it into small pots or boxes, or make it into cakes on the bottoms of tea-cups.

CHUMP OF VEAL. To dress it à-la-daube, cut off the chump end of the loin, take out the edge bone, stuff the hollow with good forcemeat, tie it up tight, and lay it in a stewpan with the bone that was taken out, a little faggot of herbs, an anchovy, two blades of mace, a few white peppercorns, and a pint of good veal broth. Cover the veal with slices of fat bacon, and lay a sheet of white paper over it. Cover the pan close, simmer it two hours, then take out the bacon, and glaze the veal. Serve it on mushrooms, with sorrel sauce, or any other that may be preferred.

CHURNING. In order to prepare for this important operation, the milk when drawn from the cow, and carefully strained through a cloth or hair sieve, should be put into flat wooden trays about three inches deep, and perfectly clean and cool. The trays are then to be placed on shelves, till the cream be completely separated; when it is to be nicely taken off with a skimming dish, without lifting or stirring the milk. The cream is then deposited in a separate vessel, till a proper quantity is collected for churning. In hot weather, the milk should stand only twenty-four hours, and be skimmed early in the morning before the dairy becomes warm, or in the evening after sun-set. In winter the milk may remain unskimmed for six and thirty or even eight and forty hours. The cream should be preserved in a deep pan during the summer, and placed in the coolest part of the dairy, or in a cellar where free air is admitted. The cream which rises first to the surface is richer in quality, and larger in quantity, than what rises afterwards. Thick milk produces a smaller proportion of cream than that which is thinner, though the former is of a richer quality: if therefore the thick milk be diluted with water, it will afford more cream, but its quality will be inferior. Milk carried about in pails, and partly cooled before it be strained and poured into the trays, never throws up such good and plentiful cream, as if it had been put into proper vessels immediately after it came from the cow. Those who have not an opportunity of churning every other day, should shift the cream daily into clean pans, in order to keep it cool; but the churning should take place regularly twice a week in hot weather, and in the morning before sun-rise, taking care to fix the churn in a free circulation of air. In the winter time, the churn must not be set so near the fire as to heat the wood, as by this means the butter will acquire a strong rancid flavour. Cleanliness being of the utmost importance, the common plunge-churn is preferable to any other; but if a barrel-churn be requisite in a large dairy, it must be kept thoroughly clean with salt and water. If a plunge-churn be used, it may be set in a tub of cold water during the time of churning, which will harden the butter in a considerable degree. The motion of the churn should be regular, and performed by one person, or the butter will in winter go back; and if the agitation be violent and irregular, the butter will ferment in summer, and acquire a disagreeable flavour. The operation of churning may be much facilitated by adding a table-spoonful or two of distilled vinegar to a gallon of cream, but not till after the latter has undergone considerable agitation. In many parts of England, butter is artificially coloured in winter, though it adds nothing to its goodness. The juice of carrots is expressed through a sieve, and mixed with the cream when it enters the churn, to give it the appearance of May butter. Very little salt is used in the best Epping butter; but a certain proportion of acid, either natural or artificial, must be used in the cream, in order to secure a successful churning. Some keep a small quantity of the old cream for that purpose; some use a little rennet, and others a few tea-spoonfuls of lemon juice. It has been ascertained however, by a variety of experiments, that it is more profitable to churn the cream, than to churn the whole milk, as is practised in some parts of the country. Cream butter is also the richest of the two, though it will not keep sweet so long.

CIDER. Particular caution is requisite in bottling this useful beverage, in order to its being well preserved. To secure the bottles from bursting, the liquor must be thoroughly fine before it be racked off. If one bottle break, it will be necessary to open the remainder, and cork them up again. Weak cider is more apt to burst the bottles, than that of a better quality. Good corks, soaked in hot water, will be more safe and pliant; and by laying the bottles so that the liquor may always keep the corks wet and swelled, will tend much to its preservation. For this purpose the ground is preferable to a frame, and a layer of sawdust better than the bare floor; but the most proper situation would be a stream of running water. In order to ripen bottled liquors, they are sometimes exposed to moderate warmth, or the rays of the sun, which in a few days will bring them to maturity.

CIDER CUP. To make a cooling drink, mix together a quart of cider, a glass of white wine, one of brandy, one of capillaire, the juice of a lemon, a bit of the peel pared thin, a sprig of borage or balm, a piece of toasted bread, and nutmeg grated on the top.

CINNAMON CAKES. Whisk together in a pan six eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of rose water. Add a pound of fine sugar sifted, a desert-spoonful of pounded cinnamon, and flour sufficient to make it into a paste. Roll it out, cut it into cakes, and bake them on writing paper.

CITRON PUDDING. Boil some Windsor beans quite soft, take off the skins, and beat a quarter of a pound of them into a paste. Then add as much butter, four eggs well beaten, with some sugar and brandy. Put a puff-paste in the dish, lay some slices of citron on it, pour in the pudding, garnish with bits of citron round the edge of the dish, and bake it in a moderate oven.

CLARIFIED BROTH. Put broth or gravy into a clean stewpan, break the white and shell of an egg, beat them together and add them to the broth. Stir it with a whisk; and when it has boiled a few minutes, strain it through a tammis or a napkin.

CLARIFIED BUTTER. To make clarified butter for potted things, put some butter into a sauceboat, and set it over the fire in a stewpan that has a little water in it. When the butter is dissolved, the milky parts will sink to the bottom, and care must be taken not to pour them over things to be potted.

CLARIFIED DRIPPING. Mutton fat taken from the meat before it is roasted, or any kind of dripping, may be sliced and boiled a few minutes; and when it is cold, it will come off in a cake. This will make good crust for any sort of meat pie, and may be made finer by boiling it three or four times.

CLARIFIED SUGAR. Break in large lumps as much loaf sugar as is required, and dissolve it in a bowl, allowing a pound of sugar to half a pint of water. Set it over the fire, and add the white of an egg well whipt. Let it boil up; and when ready to run over, pour in a little cold water to give it a check. But when it rises the second time, take it off the fire, and set it by in a pan a quarter of an hour. The foulness will sink to the bottom, and leave a black scum on the top, which must be taken off gently with a skimmer. Then pour the syrup very quickly from the sediment, and set it by for sweetmeats.

CLARIFIED SYRUP. Break two pounds of double-refined sugar, and put it into a stewpan that is well tinned, with a pint of cold spring water. When the sugar is dissolved, set it over a moderate fire. Beat up half the white of an egg, put it to the sugar before it gets warm, and stir it well together. As soon as it boils take off the scum, and keep it boiling till it is perfectly clear. Run it through a clean napkin, put it into a close stopped bottle, and it will keep for months, as an elegant article on the sideboard for sweetening.

CLARY WINE. Boil fifteen gallons of water, with forty-five pounds of sugar, and skim it clean. When cool put a little to a quarter of a pint of yeast, and so by degrees add a little more. In the course of an hour put the smaller to the larger quantity, pour the liquor on clary flowers, picked in the dry: the quantity for the above is twelve quarts. If there be not a sufficient quantity ready to put in at once, more may be added by degrees, keeping an account of each quart. When the liquor ceases to hiss, and the flowers are all in, stop it up for four months. Rack it off, empty the barrel of the dregs, and add a gallon of the best brandy. Return the liquor to the cask, close it up for six or eight weeks, and then bottle it off.

CLEANLINESS. Nothing is more conducive to health than cleanliness, and the want of it is a fault which admits of no excuse. It is so agreeable to our nature, that we cannot help approving it in others, even if we do not practise it ourselves. It is an ornament to the highest as well as to the lowest station, and cannot be dispensed with in either: it ought to be cultivated everywhere, especially in populous towns and cities. Frequent washing not only improves the appearance, but promotes perspiration, by removing every impediment on the skin, while at the same time it braces the body, and enlivens the spirits. Washing the feet and legs in lukewarm water, after being exposed to cold and wet, would prevent the ill effects which proceed from these causes, and greatly contribute to health. Diseases of the skin, a very numerous class, are chiefly owing to the want of cleanliness, as well as the various kinds of vermin which infest the human body; and all these might be prevented by a due regard to our own persons. One common cause of putrid and malignant fevers is the want of cleanliness. They usually begin among the inhabitants of close and dirty houses, who breathe unwholesome air, take little exercise, and wear dirty clothes. There the infection is generally hatched, and spreads its desolation far and wide. If dirty people cannot be removed as a common nuisance, they ought at least to be avoided as infectious, and all who regard their own health should keep at a distance from their habitations. Infectious diseases are often communicated by tainted air: every thing therefore which gives a noxious exhalation, or tends to spread infection, should be carefully avoided. In great towns no filth of any kind should be suffered to remain in the streets, and great pains should be taken to keep every dwelling clean both within and without. No dunghills or filth of any kind should be allowed to remain near them. When an infection breaks out, cleanliness is the most likely means to prevent its spreading to other places, or its returning again afterwards. It will lodge a long time in dirty clothes, and be liable to break out again; and therefore the bedding and clothing of the sick ought to be carefully washed, and fumigated with brimstone. Infectious diseases are not only prevented, but even cured by cleanliness; while the slightest disorders, where it is neglected, are often changed into the most malignant. Yet it has so happened, that the same mistaken care which prevents the least admission of fresh air to the sick, has introduced the idea also of keeping them dirty; than which nothing can be more injurious to the afflicted, or more repugnant to common sense. In a room too, where cleanliness is neglected, a person in perfect health has a greater chance to become sick, than a sick person has to get well. It is also of great consequence, that cleanliness should be strictly regarded by those especially who are employed in preparing food; such as butchers, bakers, brewers, dairy maids, and cooks; as negligence in any of these may prove injurious to the public health. Good housekeepers will keep a careful eye on these things, and every person of reflection will see the necessity of cultivating general cleanliness as of great importance to the wellbeing of society.

CLEAR BROTH. To make a broth that will keep long, put the mouse round of beef into a deep pan, with a knuckle bone of veal, and a few shanks of mutton. Cover it close with a dish or coarse crust, and bake with as much water as will cover it, till the beef is done enough for eating. When cold, cover it close, and keep it in a cool place. When to be used, give it any flavour most approved.

CLEAR GRAVY. Slice some beef thin, broil a part of it over a very clear quick fire, just enough to give a colour to the gravy, but not to dress it. Put that and the raw beef into a very nicely tinned stewpan, with two onions, a clove or two, whole black pepper, berries of allspice, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Cover it with hot water, give it one boil, and skim it well two or three times. Then cover it, and simmer till it be quite strong.

CLOTHING. Those who regard their health should be careful to adapt their clothing to the state of the climate, and the season of the year. Whatever be the influence of custom, there is no reason why our clothing should be such as would suit an inhabitant of the torrid or the frigid zones, but of the state of the air around us, and of the country in which we live. Apparel may be warm enough for one season of the year, which is by no means sufficient for another; we ought therefore neither to put off our winter garments too soon, nor wear our summer ones too long. Every change of this sort requires to be made cautiously, and by degrees. In general, all clothes should be light and easy, and in no instance ought health and comfort to be sacrificed to pride and vanity. In the early part of life it is not necessary to wear many clothes: but in the decline of life, when many diseases proceed from a defect of perspiration, plenty of warm clothing is required. Attention should also be paid to the constitution, in this as well as in other cases. Some persons can endure either cold or heat better than others, and may therefore be less mindful of their clothing: the great object is to wear just so many garments as is sufficient to keep the body warm, and no more. Shoes in particular should be easy to the foot, and all tight bandages on every part of the body carefully avoided.

CLOUTED CREAM. String four blades of mace on a thread, put them to a gill of new milk, and six spoonfuls of rose water. Simmer a few minutes, then by degrees strain the liquor to the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Stir the whole into a quart of rich cream, and set it over the fire; keep it stirring till hot, but not boiling; pour it into a deep dish, and let it stand twenty-four hours. Serve it in a cream dish, to eat with fruits. Some prefer it without any flavour but that of cream; in which case use a quart of new milk and the cream, or do it as the Devonshire scalded cream. When done enough, a round mark will appear on the surface of the cream, the size of the bottom of the pan, which is called the ring; and when that is seen, remove the pan from the fire.

CLYSTER. A common clyster is made of plain gruel strained, and a table-spoonful of oil or salt. A pint is sufficient for a grown person.

COCK CHAFFERS. This species of the beetle, sometimes called the May bug, is a formidable enemy to the husbandman, and has been found to swarm in such numbers, as to devour every kind of vegetable production. The insect is first generated in the earth, from the eggs deposited by the fly in its perfect state. In about three months, the insects contained in these eggs break the shell, and crawl forth in the shape of a grub or maggot, which feeds upon the roots of vegetables, and continues in this state of secret annoyance for more than three years, gradually growing to the size of an acorn. It is the thick white maggot with a red head, so frequently found in turning up the soil. At the end of the fourth year, they emerge from the earth, and may be seen in great numbers in the mild evenings of May. The willow seems to be their favourite food; on this they hang in clusters, and seldom quit it till they have completely devoured its foliage. The most effectual way to destroy them, is to beat them off with poles, and then to collect and burn them. The smoke of burning heath, fern, or other weeds, will prevent their incursions in gardens, or expel them if they have entered.

COCK ROACHES. These insects, consisting of various species, penetrate into chests and drawers, and do considerable injury to linen, books, and other articles. They seldom appear till night, when they infest beds, and bite very severely, leaving an unpleasant smell. The best remedy is to fill an earthen dish with small beer, sweetened with coarse sugar, and set in the place infested. Lay a board against the pan, to form a kind of ladder, and the insects will ascend and fall into the liquor.

COCKLE KETCHUP. Open the cockles, scald them in their own liquor, and add a little water, if there be not enough; but it is better to have a sufficient quantity of cockles, than to dilute it with water. Strain the liquor through a cloth, and season it with savoury spices. If for brown sauce, add port, anchovies, and garlic: a bit of burnt sugar will heighten the colouring. If for white sauce, omit these, and put in a glass of sherry, some lemon juice and peel, mace, nutmeg, and white pepper.

COD FISH. In season from the beginning of December till the end of April. To be quite good, the fish should be thick at the neck, the flesh white and firm, the gills very red, and the eyes bright and fresh. When flabby, they are not good. The cod is generally boiled whole; but a large head and shoulders contain all that is relishing, the thinner parts being overdone and tasteless before the thick are ready. But the whole fish may often be purchased more reasonably; and the lower half, if sprinkled and hung up, will be in high perfection one or two days. Or it may be made salter, and served with egg sauce, potatoes, and parsnips. Small cod is usually very cheap. If boiled fresh, it is watery; but eats well if salted and hung up for a day, to give it firmness. Then it should be stuffed and boiled, or it is equally good broiled.

COD'S HEAD. The head and shoulders of the cod will eat much finer by having a little salt rubbed down the bone, and along the thick part, even if eaten the same day. Tie it up, put it on the fire in cold water sufficient to cover it, and throw a handful of salt into it. Great care must be taken to serve it up without the smallest speck of black, or scum. Garnish with plenty of double parsley, lemon, horse radish, and the milt, roe and liver, and fried smelts, if approved. If with smelts, no water must be suffered to hang about the fish, or the beauty and flavour of the smelts will be lost. Serve with plenty of oyster or shrimp sauce, anchovy and butter.

COD PIE. Take a piece of the middle of a small cod, and salt it well one night. Wash it the next day, season with pepper and salt, mixed with a very little nutmeg. Lay the meat in a dish, with the addition of a little good broth of any kind, and some bits of butter on it. Cover the dish with a crust, and bake it. When done, make a sauce of a spoonful of broth, a quarter of a pint of cream, a little flour and butter, and a dust of grated lemon and nutmeg. Give it one boil, and pour it into the pie. Oysters may be added, but parsley will do instead. Mackarel may be done in the same way, but must not be salted till they are used.

COD SOUNDS BOILED. Soak them in warm water half an hour, then scrape and clean them. If to be dressed white, boil them in milk and water. When tender, serve them up in a napkin, with egg sauce. The salt must not be much soaked out, unless for fricassee.

COD SOUNDS BROILED. Scald them in hot water, rub well with salt, pull off the dirty skin, and simmer them till tender. Then take them out, flour, and broil them. While this is doing, season a little brown gravy with pepper, salt, a tea-spoonful of soy, and a little mustard. Give it a boil with a little flour and butter, and pour it over the sounds.

COD SOUNDS RAGOUT. Having scalded, cleaned, and rubbed them well with salt, stew them in white gravy seasoned. Before they are served, add a little cream, butter and flour, gently boiling up. A bit of lemon peel, nutmeg, and the least pounded mace, will give it a good flavour.

COD SOUNDS LIKE CHICKENS. Carefully wash three large sounds, boil them in milk and water, but not too tender. When cold, put a forcemeat of chopped oysters, crumbs of bread, a bit of butter, nutmeg, pepper, salt, and the yolks of two eggs. Spread it thin over the sounds, roll up each in the form of a chicken, and skewer it. Then lard them as chickens, dust a little flour over, and roast them slowly in a tin oven. When done enough, pour over them a fine oyster sauce, and place them on the table as a side or corner dish.

CODLINS. This fruit may be kept for several months, if gathered of a middling size at midsummer, and treated in the following manner. Put them into an earthen pan, pour boiling water over them, and cover the pan with cabbage leaves. Keep them by the fire till ready to peel, but do not peel them; then pour off the water, and leave them cold. Place the codlins in a stone jar with a smallish mouth, and pour on the water that scalded them. Cover the pot with bladder wetted and tied very close, and then over it coarse paper tied again. The fruit is best kept in small jars, such as will be used at once when opened.

CODLIN CREAM. Pare and core twenty good codlins; beat them in a mortar with a pint of cream, and strain it into a dish. Put to it sugar, bread crumbs, and a glass of wine; and stir it well.

CODLIN TART. Scald the fruit, and take off the skin. Put a little of the liquor on the bottom of a dish, lay in the apples whole, and strew them over with Lisbon or fine sugar. When cold, put a paste round the edges, and over the fruit. Moisten the crust with the white of an egg, and strew some fine sugar over it; or cut the lid in quarters, without touching the paste on the edge of the dish. Remove the lid when cold, pour in a good custard, and sift it over with sugar. Another way is to line the bottom of a shallow dish with paste, lay in the scalded fruit, sweeten it, and lay little twists of paste over in bars.

COFFEE. Put two ounces of fresh-ground coffee, of the best quality, into a coffee pot, and pour eight coffee cups of boiling water on it. Let it boil six minutes, and return it; then put in two or three chips of isinglass, and pour on it one large spoonful of boiling water. Boil it five minutes more, and set the pot by the fire for ten minutes to keep it hot: the coffee will then be of a beautiful clearness. Fine cream should always be served with coffee, and either pounded sugar-candy, or fine Lisbon sugar. If for foreigners, or those who like it very strong, make only eight dishes from three ounces. If not fresh roasted, lay it before the fire until perfectly hot and dry; or put the smallest bit of fresh butter into a preserving pan, and when hot, throw the coffee into it, and toss it about until it be freshened, but let it be quite cold before it is ground. – But as coffee possesses a raw and astringent quality, which often disagrees with weak stomachs, and by being drank too warm is as frequently rendered unwholesome, the following is recommended as an improved method of preparing it. To an ounce of coffee, add a tea-spoonful of the best flour of mustard, to correct its acidity, and improve its fragrance; and in order to render it truly fine and wholesome, it should be made the evening before it is wanted. Let an ounce of fresh-ground coffee be put into a clean coffee pot well tinned, pour upon it a full pint of boiling water, set it on the fire, and after it has well boiled, let it stand by to settle. Next morning pour off the clear liquor, add to it a pint of new milk, warm it over the fire, and sweeten it to taste. Coffee made in this way, will be found particularly suitable to persons of a weak and delicate habit. – A substitute for foreign coffee may be prepared from the acorns of the oak, by shelling and dividing the kernels, drying and roasting them gradually in a close vessel, and keeping them constantly stirring. Grind it like other coffee, and either use it alone, or mix with it a small quantity of foreign coffee. The seeds of the flower de luce, or common waterflag, being roasted in the same manner as coffee, very much resembles it in colour and flavour. Coffee made of these seeds is extremely wholesome, in the proportion of an ounce to a pint of boiling water.

COFFEE CAKES. Melt some fresh butter in a pint of thin cream, and work up with it four pounds of dried flour. Add a pound of sugar, a pint of yeast, and half an ounce of carraways. Stir them all together, set it before the fire to rise, roll the paste out thin, cut it into small cakes, and bake them on buttered paper.

COFFEE CREAM. Boil a calf's foot in water till reduced to a pint of jelly, clear of sediment and fat. Make a tea-cupful of strong fresh coffee, clear it perfectly bright with isinglass, and pour it to the jelly. Add a pint of very good cream, sweeten it with fine Lisbon sugar, boil it up once, and pour it into the dish. This article is much admired, but the jelly must not be stiff, and the coffee must be fresh.

COFFEE MILK. Boil a dessert-spoonful of ground coffee, in nearly a pint of milk, a quarter of an hour. Then put in a shaving or two of isinglass to clear it; let it boil a few minutes, and set it on the side of the fire to grow fine. This makes a very fine breakfast; it should be sweetened with real Lisbon sugar of a good quality.

COLD CAUDLE. Boil a quart of spring water; when cold, add the yolk of an egg, the juice of a small lemon, six spoonfuls of sweet wine, sugar to taste, and syrup of lemons one ounce.

COLD FISH. Soles, cod, whitings, or smelts may be cut into bits, and put into scallop shells, with cold oyster, lobster, or shrimp sauce. Having added some bread crumbs, they may be put into a Dutch oven, and browned like scalloped oysters.

COLD MEAT. If it be a little underdone, the best way to warm it up is to sprinkle over a little salt, and put it into a Dutch oven at some distance before a gentle fire, that it may warm gradually. Watch it carefully, and keep turning it till it is quite hot and brown, and serve it up with gravy. This is preferable to hashing, as it will retain more of its original flavour. Roast beef or mutton, of course, are best for this purpose.

COLD SALLAD. Boil an egg quite hard, put the yolk into a sallad dish, mash it with a spoonful of water, then add a little of the best sallad oil or melted butter, a tea-spoonful of ready-made mustard, and some vinegar. Cut the sallad small and mix it together, adding celery, radishes, or other sallad herbs with it. Onions may be served in a saucer, rather than mixed in the bowl. An anchovy may be washed, cut small, and mixed with it; also a bit of beet root, and the white of an egg. Celery may be prepared in the same way.

COLDS. For a bad cold take a large tea-cupful of linseed, two pennyworth of stick liquorice, and a quarter of a pound of sun raisins. Put them into two quarts of water, and let it simmer over a slow fire till reduced one half. Then add a quarter of a pound of sugar-candy pounded, a table-spoonful of rum, and the same of lemon juice or vinegar. The rum and lemon juice are better added when the mixture is taken, or they are apt to grow flat. Take half a pint just warm at bed time.

COLLARED BEEF. Choose the thin end of the flank of fine mellow beef, but not too fat: lay it into a dish with salt and saltpetre, turn and rub it every day for a week, and keep it cool. Then take out every bone and gristle, remove the skin of the inside part, and cover it thick with the following seasoning cut small; a large handful of parsley, the same of sage, some thyme, marjoram and pennyroyal, pepper, salt, and allspice. Roll the meat up as tight as possible, and bind it round with a cloth and tape; then boil it gently for seven or eight hours. Put the beef under a good weight while hot, without undoing it: the shape will then be oval. Part of a breast of veal rolled in with the beef, looks and eats very well.

COLLARED EEL. Bone a large eel, but do not skin it. Mix up pepper, salt, mace, allspice, and a clove or two, in the finest powder, and rub over the whole inside: roll it tight, and bind it with a coarse tape. Boil it in salt and water till done enough, then add vinegar, and when cold keep the collar in pickle. Serve it either whole or in slices. Chopped parsley, sage, a little thyme, knotted marjoram, and savoury, mixed with the spices, greatly improve the taste.

COLLARED MACKAREL. Do them the same as eels, omitting the herbs.

COLLARED MUTTON. Take out the bones and gristle of a breast of mutton, lay the meat flat, and rub it over with egg. Mix some grated bread, pounded cloves and mace, pepper, salt, and lemon peel, and strew over it. Two or three anchovies, washed and boned, may be added. Roll the meat up hard, bind it with tape and boil it; or if skewered, it may either be roasted or baked.

COLLARED PORK. Bone a breast of pork, and season it with thyme, parsley and sage. Roll it hard, tie it up in a cloth, and boil it. Press it well, take it out of the cloth when cold, and keep it in the liquor it was boiled in.

COLLARED PORK'S HEAD. Clean it well, take out the brains, rub it with a handful of salt, and two ounces of saltpetre. Let it lie a fortnight in brine, then wash it, and boil it till the bones will easily come out. Lay it in a dish, take off the skin carefully, take out the bones, and peel the tongue. Mix a handful of sage, a little thyme, and four shalots chopped fine. Put the meat to it, and chop it into pieces about an inch square. Put a thin cloth into an earthen pot, lay in the meat, cover the cloth over, and press it down. Set the pot in the liquor again, boil it nearly an hour longer, then take it out, place a weight on the cover within side, and let it remain all night. Take it out, strip off the cloth, and eat the collar with mustard and vinegar.

COLLARED SALMON. Split such part of the fish as may be sufficient to make a handsome roll, wash and wipe it; and having mixed salt, white pepper, pounded mace, and Jamaica pepper, in quantity to season it very high, rub it inside and out well. Then roll it tight and bandage it, put as much water and one third vinegar as will cover it, adding bay leaves, salt, and both sorts of pepper. Cover it close, and simmer till it is done enough. Drain and boil the liquor, put it on when cold, and serve with fennel. It is an elegant dish, and extremely good.

COLLARED VEAL. Bone the breast and beat it, rub it with egg, and strew over it a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt, minced parsley, sweet marjoram, lemon peel, crumbs of bread, and an anchovy. Roll it up tight in a cloth, and boil it two hours and a half in salt and water. Hang it up, or press it: make a pickle for it of the liquor it was boiled in, and half the quantity of vinegar.

COLLEGE PUDDINGS. Grate the crumb of a two-penny loaf, shred eight ounces of suet, and mix with eight ounces of currants, one of citron mixed fine, one of orange, a handful of sugar, half a nutmeg, three eggs beaten, yolk and white separately. Mix and make into the size and shape of a goose-egg. Put half a pound of butter into a fryingpan; and when melted and quite hot, stew them gently in it over a stove; turn them two or three times, till they are of a fine light brown. Mix a glass of brandy with the batter, and serve with pudding sauce.

COLOURING FOR JELLIES. For a beautiful Red, take fifteen grains of cochineal in the finest powder, and a dram and a half of cream of tartar. Boil them in half a pint of water very slowly for half an hour, adding a bit of alum the size of a pea; or use beet root sliced, and some liquor poured over. For White, use cream; or almonds finely powdered, with a spoonful of water. For Yellow, yolks of eggs, or a little saffron steeped in the liquor and squeezed. For Green, spinach or beet leaves bruised and pressed, and the juice boiled to take off the rawness. Any of these will do to stain jellies, ices, or cakes.

COLOURING FOR SOUPS. Put four ounces of lump sugar, a gill of water, and half an ounce of fine butter into a small tosser, and set it over a gentle fire. Stir it with a wooden spoon, till of a light brown. Then add half a pint of water; let it boil and skim it well. When cold, bottle and cork it close. Add to either soup or gravy as much of this as will give it a proper colour.

COMMON CAKE. Mix three quarters of a pound of flour with half a pound of butter, four ounces of sugar, four eggs, half an ounce of carraways, and a glass of raisin wine. Beat it well, and bake it in a quick oven. – A better sort of common cake may be made of half a pound of butter, rubbed into two pounds of dried flour; then add three spoonfuls of yeast that is not bitter, and work it to a paste. Let it rise an hour and a half; then mix in the yolks and whites of four eggs beaten separately, a pound of Lisbon sugar, about a pint of milk to make it of a proper thickness, a glass of sweet wine, the rind of a lemon, and a tea-spoonful of powdered ginger. A pound of currants, or some carraways may be added, and let the whole be well beaten together.

COMMON PLANTS. The virtues of a great number of ordinary plants and weeds being but little understood, they are generally deemed useless; but they have properties nevertheless which might be rendered useful, if carefully and judiciously applied. The young shoots and leaves of chick-weed, for example, may be boiled and eaten like spinach, are equally wholesome, and can scarcely be distinguished from it. The juice expressed from the stem and leaves of goose-grass, taken to the amount of four ounces, night and morning for several weeks, is very efficacious in scorbutic complaints, and other cutaneous eruptions. The smell of garlic is an infallible remedy against the vapours, faintings, and other hysteric affections. The common poppy is an antidote to the stings of venomous insects, and a remedy for inflammation of the eyes: it also cures the pleurisy, and spitting of blood. Sage taken in any form tends to cleanse and enrich the blood: it makes a good cordial, and is highly useful in cases of nervous debility. It is often given in fevers with a view to promote perspiration, and with the addition of a little lemon juice it makes a grateful and cooling beverage.

COOL TANKARD. Put into a quart of mild ale a glass of white wine, one of brandy, one of capillaire, the juice of a lemon, and a little piece of the rind. Add a sprig of borage or balm, a bit of toasted bread, and nutmeg grated on the top.

COPPER. Many serious accidents have been occasioned by the use of copper in kitchen requisites. The eating of fruit especially that has been prepared in a copper stewpan, where some of the oxide was insensibly imbibed, has been known to produce death; or if coffee grounds are suffered to remain long in a copper coffee-pot, and afterwards mixed with fresh coffee, for the sake of economy, the effects will be highly injurious, if not fatal. The best antidote in such cases, when they unhappily occur, is to take immediately a large spoonful of powdered charcoal, mixed with honey, butter, or treacle; and within two hours afterwards, an emetic or a cathartic to expel the poison.

COPPERS. In domestic economy, the necessity of keeping copper vessels always clean, is generally acknowledged; but it may not perhaps be so generally known, that fat and oily substances, and vegetable acids, do not attack copper while hot; and therefore, that if no liquor were suffered to remain and grow cold in copper vessels, they might be used for every culinary purpose with perfect safety. The object is to clean and dry the vessels well before they turn cold.

COPYING LETTERS. Dissolve a little sugar in the ink, and write with it as usual. When a copy is required, moisten a piece of unsized paper lightly with a sponge, and apply it to the writing; then smooth the wet paper over with a warm iron, such as is used in a laundry, and the copy is immediately produced without the use of a machine.

COPYING PRINTS. Moisten a piece of paper with a solution of soap and alum, lay it on the print or picture, and pass it under a rolling press. Another method is to have a small frame in the form of a basin stand, enclosing a square of glass on the pot, on which the print is laid with the paper upon it; and then placing a candle under the glass, the print may be traced with a pencil, or pen and ink. Impressions may also be transferred by mixing a little vermillion with linseed oil so as to make it fluid; then with a pen dipped in it, trace every line of the print accurately. Turn the print with its face downwards on a sheet of white paper, wet the back of the print, lay another sheet upon it, and press it till the red lines are completely transferred.

CORKS. Economy in corks is very unwise: in order to save a mere trifle in the purchase, there is a danger of losing some valuable article which it is intended to preserve. None but velvet taper corks should be used for liquors that are to be kept for any length of time; and when a bottle of ketchup or of anchovy is opened, the cork should be thrown away, and a new one put in that will fit it very tight. If a cork is forced down even with the mouth of the bottle, it is too small, and should be drawn, that a larger one may be put in.

CORK CEMENT. Liquors and preserves, intended to be kept a long time, are often spoiled by the clumsy and ineffectual manner in which they are fastened down. Bottles therefore should be secured with the following cement, spread upon the cork after it is cut level with the top of the bottle. Melt in an earthen or iron pot half a pound of black rosin, half a pound of sealing wax, and a quarter of a pound of bees wax. When it froths up, and before all is melted and likely to boil over, stir it with a tallow candle, which will settle the froth till all is melted and fit for use.

CORNS. Apply to warts and corns, a piece of soft brown paper moistened with saliva, and a few dressings will remove them. A convenient plaster may also be made of an ounce of pitch, half an ounce of galbanum dissolved in vinegar, one scruple of ammoniac, and a dram and a half of diachylon mixed together.

COSTIVENESS. From whatever cause it may arise, frequent exercise in the open air, and abstinence from heating liquors, will be found very beneficial. To those who are afflicted with this complaint, it is particularly recommended that they should visit the customary retreat every morning at a stated hour, that nature may in this respect, by perseverance, acquire a habit of regularity. In obstinate cases, three drams of carbon may be taken two or three times a day, mixed with three ounces of lenitive electuary, and two drams of carbonate of soda, as circumstances may require. Half an ounce of Epsom salts, dissolved in a tumbler or two of cold water, and drank at intervals, will have a very salutary effect.

COTTENHAM CHEESE. Though this is so much noted for its superior flavour and delicacy, it does not appear to be owing to any particular management of the dairy, but rather to the fragrance of the herbage on which the cows feed in that part of the country.

COUGHS. The extract of malt will be found an excellent remedy for coughs or colds. Pour as much hot water over half a bushel of pale ground malt as will just cover it; the water must not be boiling. In forty-eight hours drain off the liquor entirely, but without squeezing the grains. Put the former into a large sweetmeat pan, or saucepan, that there may be room to boil as quick as possible, without boiling over. When it begins to thicken, stir it constantly, till it becomes as thick as treacle. Take a dessert-spoonful of it three times a day. – Another remedy for a bad cough may be prepared as follows. Mix together a pint of simple mint water, two table-spoonfuls of sallad oil, two tea-spoonfuls of hartshorns, sweetened with sugar, and take two large spoonfuls of the mixture two or three times a day.

COURT PLAISTER. Dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in an ounce of water, and boil it till the water is nearly all consumed; then add gradually a dram of Friar's balsam, and stir them well together. Dip a brush in the hot mixture, and spread it on a piece of clean silk.

COWS. In the management of cows intended for the dairy, a warm stable or cowhouse is of great importance. Cows kept at pasture will require from one to two acres of land each to keep them during the summer months; but if housed, the produce of one fourth part will be sufficient. Their dung, which would otherwise be wasted on the ground by the action of the sun and weather, is hereby easily preserved, and given to the soil where it is most wanted, and in the best condition. The treading on the grass and pasture, which diminishes its value, is prevented; the expence of division-fences is avoided, and the time and trouble of driving them about is all saved. They are also kept more cool, are less tormented by flies than if pastured, acquire good coats and full flesh, though they consume a much smaller quantity of food. They are in all respects more profitably kept in the house, than out of doors; but they must be regularly and gradually trained to it, or they will not thrive. Cows should always be kept clean, laid dry, and have plenty of good water to drink. They should never be suffered to drink at stagnant pools, or where there are frogs, spawn, or filth of any kind; or from common sewers or ponds that receive the drainings of stables, or such kind of places; all which are exceedingly improper. One of the most effectual means of rendering their milk sweet and wholesome, as well as increasing its quantity, is to let them drink freely of water in which the most fragrant kind of clover or lucern has been steeped: and if they are curried in the same manner as horses, they will not only receive pleasure from it, but give their milk more freely. In Holland, where the greatest attention is paid to all kinds of domestic animals, the haunches of dairy cows are washed morning and evening with warm water previous to milking, and after calving are clothed with sacking. The floors of their cowhouses are paved with brick, with a descent in the middle, where a gutter carries off the drain, and the place is kept perfectly clean with a broom and pails of water. The filthy state in which cows are confined in the vicinity of London, and other large cities, and the manner in which they are literally crammed, not with wholesome food, but with such things as are calculated to produce an abundance of milk, cannot be too severely reprobated as injurious to the public health. It is also notorious, that vessels of hot and cold water are always kept in these cowhouses for the accommodation of mercenary retailers, who purchase a quantity of milk at a low price, and then mix it with such a proportion of water as they think necessary to reduce it to a proper standard; when it is hawked about at an exorbitant price. The milk is not pure in its original state, and being afterwards adulterated, it is scarcely fit for any purpose in a family. The first object in the article of food, is wholesomeness; and grass growing spontaneously on good meadow-land is in general deemed most proper for cows intended to supply the dairy. The quantity of milk produced by those which feed on sainfoin is however nearly double to that of any other provender: it is also richer in quality, and will yield a larger quantity of cream: of course the butter will be better coloured and flavoured than any other. Turnips and carrots form an excellent article, and cannot be too strongly recommended, especially as a winter food; but they should be cleaned and cut; and parsnips, with the tops taken off will produce abundance of milk, of a superior quality; and cows will eat them freely though they are improper for horses. Of all vegetable productions, perhaps the cabbage is the most exuberant for this purpose, and ought by all means to be encouraged. The drum-headed cabbage, and the hardy variety of a deep green colour with purple veins, and of the same size with the drum-head, are particularly useful in the feeding of cows, and afford an increase of milk far superior to that produced by turnips. They are also excellent for the fattening of cattle, which they will do six weeks sooner than any other vegetables, though the cabbage plant is generally supposed to impart a disagreeable flavour to butter and cheese made from the milk of cows fed upon it, yet this may easily be prevented by putting a gallon of boiling water to six gallons of milk, when it is standing in the trays; or by dissolving an ounce of saltpetre in a quart of spring water, and mixing about a quarter of a pint of it with ten or twelve gallons of milk as it comes from the cow. By breaking off the loose leaves, and giving only the sound part to the cows, this disagreeable quality may also be avoided, as other cattle will eat the leaves without injury. When a cow has been milked for several years, and begins to grow old, the most advantageous way is to make her dry. To effect this, bruise six ounces of white rosin, and dissolve it in a quart of water. The cow having been housed, should then be bled and milked; and after the mixture has been administered, she should be turned into good grass. She is no longer to be milked, but fattened on rich vegetables. Cows intended for breeding, should be carefully selected from those which give plenty of milk. During three months previously to calving, if in the spring, they should be turned into sweet grass; or if it happen in the winter, they ought to be well fed with the best hay. The day and night after they have calved, they should be kept in the house, and lukewarm water only allowed for their drink. They may be turned out the next day, if the weather be warm, but regularly taken in for three or four successive nights; or if the weather be damp and cold, it is better to girt them round with sacking, or keep them wholly within. Cows thus housed should be kept in every night, till the morning cold is dissipated, and a draught of warm water given them previously to their going to the field. If the udder of a milking cow becomes hard and painful, it should be fomented with warm water and rubbed with a gentle hand. Or if the teats are sore, they should be soaked in warm water twice a day; and either be dressed with soft ointment, or done with spirits and water. If the former, great cleanliness is necessary: the milk at these times is best given to the pigs. Or if a cow be injured by a blow or wound, the part affected should be suppled several times a day with fresh butter; or a salve prepared of one ounce of Castile soap dissolved in a pint and a half of fresh milk over a slow fire, stirring it constantly, to form a complete mixture. But if the wound should turn to an obstinate ulcer, take Castile soap, gum ammoniac, gum galbanum, and extract of hemlock, each one ounce; form them into eight boluses, and administer one of them every morning and evening. To prevent cows from sucking their own milk, as some of them are apt to do, rub the teats frequently with strong rancid cheese, which will prove an effectual remedy.

COW HEELS. These are very nutricious, and may be variously dressed. The common way is to boil, and serve them in a napkin, with melted butter, mustard, and a large spoonful of vinegar. Or broil them very tender, and serve them as a brown fricassee. The liquor will do to make jelly sweet or relishing and likewise to give richness to soups or gravies. Another way is to cut them into four parts, to dip them into an egg, and then dredge and fry them. They may be garnished with fried onions, and served with sauce as above. Or they may be baked as for mock turtle.

COWSLIP MEAD. Put thirty pounds of honey into fifteen gallons of water, and boil till one gallon is wasted; skim it, and take it off the fire. Have a dozen and a half of lemons ready quartered, pour a gallon of the liquor boiling hot upon them, and the remainder into a tub, with seven pecks of cowslip pips. Let them remain there all night; then put the liquor and the lemons to eight spoonfuls of new yeast, and a handful of sweet-briar. Stir all well together, and let it work for three or four days; then strain and tun it into a cask. Let it stand six months, and bottle it for keeping.

COWSLIP WINE. To every gallon of water, weigh three pounds of lump sugar; boil them together half an hour, and take off the scum as it rises. When sufficiently cool, put to it a crust of toasted bread dipped in thick yeast, and let the liquor ferment in the tub thirty six hours. Then put into the cask intended for keeping it, the peel of two and the rind of one lemon, for every gallon of liquor; also the peel and the rind of one Seville orange, and one gallon of cowslip pips. Pour the liquor upon them, stir it carefully every day for a week, and for every five gallons put in a bottle of brandy. Let the cask be close stopped, and stand only six weeks before it be bottled off.

CRABS. The heaviest are best, and those of a middling size the sweetest. If light they are watery: when in perfection the joints of the legs are stiff, and the body has a very agreeable smell. The eyes look dead and loose when stale. The female crab is generally preferred: the colour is much brighter, the claws are shorter, and the apron in front is much broader. To dress a hot crab, pick out the meat, and clear the shell from the head. Put the meat into the shell again, with a little nutmeg, salt, pepper, a bit of butter, crumbs of bread, and three spoonfuls of vinegar. Then set the crab before the fire, or brown the meat with a salamander. It should be served on a dry toast. – To dress a cold crab, empty the shell, mix the flesh with a small quantity of oil, vinegar, salt, white pepper and cayenne. Return the mixture, and serve it up in the shell.

CRACKNELS. Mix with a quart of flour, half a nutmeg grated, the yolks of four eggs beaten, and four spoonfuls of rose water. Make the whole into a stiff paste, with cold water. Then roll in a pound of butter, and make the paste into the shape of cracknels. Boil them in a kettle of water till they swim, and then put them into cold water. When hardened, lay them out to dry, and bake them on tin plates.

CRACKNUTS. Mix eight ounces of fine flour, with eight ounces of sugar, and melt four ounces of butter in two spoonfuls of raisin wine. With four eggs beaten and strained, make the whole into a paste, and add carraway seed. Roll the paste out as thin as paper, cut it into shapes with the top of a glass, wash them with the white of an egg, and dust them over with fine sugar.

CRAMP. Persons subject to this complaint, being generally attacked in the night, should have a board fixed at the bottom of the bed, against which the foot should be strongly pressed when the pain commences. This will seldom fail to afford relief. When it is more obstinate, a brick should be heated, wrapped in a flannel bag at the bottom of the bed, and the foot placed against it. The brick will continue warm, and prevent a return of the complaint. No remedy however is more safe or more certain than that of rubbing the affected part, to restore a free circulation. If the cramp attack the stomach or bowels, it is attended with considerable danger: medicine may relieve but cannot cure. All hot and stimulating liquors must be carefully avoided, and a tea-cupful of lukewarm gruel or camomile tea should be frequently given, with ten or fifteen drops of deliquidated salt of tartar in each.

CRANBERRIES. If for puddings and pies, they require a good deal of sugar. If stewed in a jar, it is the same: but in this way they eat well with bread, and are very wholesome. If pressed and strained, after being stewed, they yield a fine juice, which makes an excellent drink in a fever.

CRANBERRY GRUEL. Mash a tea-cupful of cranberries in a cup of water, and boil a large spoonful of oatmeal in two quarts of water. Then put in the jam, with a little sugar and lemon peel; boil it half an hour, and strain it off. Add a glass of brandy or sweet wine.

CRANBERRY JELLY. Make a very strong isinglass jelly. When cold, mix it with a double quantity of cranberry juice, pressed and strained. Sweeten it with fine loaf sugar, boil it up, and strain it into a shape. – To make cranberry and rice jelly, boil and press the fruit, strain the juice, and by degrees mix it into as much ground rice as will, when boiled, thicken to a jelly. Boil it gently, keep it stirring, and sweeten it. Put it in a bason or form, and serve it up with milk or cream.

CRAY FISH. Make a savoury fish-jelly, and put some into the bottom of a deep small dish. When cold, lay the cray-fish with their back downwards, and pour more jelly over them. Turn them out when cold, and it will make a beautiful dish. Prawns may be done in the same way.

CREAM. Rich cream for tea or coffee is prepared in the following manner. Put some new milk into an earthen pan, heat it over the fire, and set it by till the next day. In order to preserve it a day or two longer, it must be scalded, sweetened with lump sugar, and set in a cool place. If half a pint of fresh cream be boiled in an earthen pot with half a pound of sugar, and corked up close in phials when cold, it will keep for several weeks, and be fit for the tea-table.

CREAM FOR PIES. Boil a pint of new milk ten minutes, with a bit of lemon peel, a laurel leaf, four cloves, and a little sugar. Mix the yolks of six eggs and half a tea-spoonful of flour, strain the milk to them, and set it over a slow fire. Stir it to a consistence, but do not let it curdle: when cold it may be spread over any kind of fruit pies.

CREAM FOR WHEY BUTTER. Set the whey one day and night, and skim it till a sufficient quantity is obtained. Then boil it, and pour it into a pan or two of cold water. As the cream rises, skim it till no more comes, and then churn it. Where new-milk cheese is made daily, whey butter for common and present use may be made to advantage.

CREAM CHEESE. To make this article, put into a pan five quarts of strippings, that is, the last of the milk, with two spoonfuls of rennet. When the curd is come, strike it down two or three times with the skimming dish just to break it. Let it stand two hours, then spread a cheese cloth on a sieve, lay the curd on it, and let the whey drain. Break the curd a little with the hand, and put it into a vat with a two-pound weight upon it. Let it stand twelve hours, take it out, and bind a fillet round. Turn it every day till dry, from one board to another; cover them with nettles or clean dock-leaves, and lay them between two pewter plates to ripen. If the weather be warm, the cheese will be ready in three weeks. – Another way. Prepare a kettle of boiling water, put five quarts of new milk into a pan, five pints of cold water, and five of hot. When of a proper heat, put in as much rennet as will bring it in twenty minutes, likewise a bit of sugar. When the curd is come, strike the skimmer three or four times down, and leave it on the curd. In an hour or two lade it into the vat without touching it; put a two-pound weight on it when the whey has run from it, and the vat is full. – To make another sort of cream cheese, put as much salt to three pints of raw cream as will season it. Stir it well, lay a cheese cloth several times folded at the bottom of a sieve, and pour the curd upon it. When it hardens, cover it with nettles on a pewter plate. – What is called Rush Cream Cheese is made as follows. To a quart of fresh cream put a pint of new milk, warm enough to give the cream a proper degree of warmth; then add a little sugar and rennet. Set it near the fire till the curd comes; fill a vat made in the form of a brick, of wheat straw or rushes sewed together. Have ready a square of straw or rushes sewed flat, to rest the vat on, and another to cover it; the vat being open at top and bottom. Next day take it out, change it often in order to ripen, and lay a half pound weight upon it. – Another way. Take a pint of very thick sour cream from the top of the pan for gathering butter, lay a napkin on two plates, and pour half into each. Let them stand twelve hours, then put them on a fresh wet napkin in one plate, and cover with the same. Repeat this every twelve hours, till the cheese begins to look dry. Then ripen it with nut leaves, and it will be ready in ten days. Fresh nettles, or two pewter plates, will ripen cream cheese very well.

CREAM PUDDING. Slice the crumb of a penny loaf into a quart of cream, scald it over the fire, and break it with a spoon. Add to it six eggs, with three of the whites only, half a pound of fine raisins, a quarter of a pound of sugar, a little rose water and nutmeg. Beat it all up together, stir in a little marrow if approved, and bake it in a dish with paste.

CREAMS. To make an excellent cream, boil half a pint of cream and half a pint of milk with two bay leaves, a bit of lemon peel, a few almonds beaten to paste, with a drop of water, a little sugar, orange flower water, and a tea-spoonful of flour rubbed down with a little cold milk. When the cream is cold, add a little lemon juice, and serve it up in cups or lemonade glasses. – For a superior article, whip up three quarters of a pint of very rich cream to a strong froth, with some finely-scraped lemon peel, a squeeze of the juice, half a glass of sweet wine, and sugar to make it pleasant, but not too sweet. Lay it on a sieve or in a form, next day put it on a dish, and ornament it with very light puff paste biscuits, made in tin shapes the length of a finger, and about two thick. Fine sugar may be sifted over, or it may be glazed with a little isinglass. Macaroons may be used to line the edges of the dish.

CRESS VINEGAR. Dry and pound half an ounce of the seed of garden cresses, pour upon it a quart of the best vinegar, and let it steep ten days, shaking it up every day. Being strongly flavoured with the cresses, it is suitable for salads and cold meat. Celery vinegar is made in the same manner.

CRICKETS. The fume of charcoal will drive them away: or a little white arsenic mixed with a roasted apple, and put into the holes and cracks where the crickets are, will effectually destroy them. Scotch snuff dusted upon the holes where they come out, will also have the same effect.

CRIMP COD. Boil a handful of salt in a gallon of pump water, and skim it clean. Cut a fresh cod into slices an inch thick, and boil it briskly in the brine a few minutes; take the slices out very carefully, and lay them on a fish plate to drain. Dry and flour them, and lay them at a distance upon a clear fire to broil. Serve with lobster or shrimp sauce.

CRIMP SALMON. When the salmon is scaled and cleaned, take off the head and tail, and cut the body through into large slices. Throw them into a pan of pump water, sprinkle on a handful of bay salt, stir it about, and then take out the fish. Set on a deep stewpan, boil the head and tail whole, put in some salt, but no vinegar. When they have boiled ten minutes, skim the water clean, and put in the slices. When boiled enough, lay the head and tail in the dish, and the slices round; or either part may be dressed separately.

CRISP PARSLEY. Pick and wash some young parsley, shake it in a dry cloth to drain the water from it, spread it on a sheet of white paper, in a Dutch oven before the fire, and turn it frequently until it is quite crisp. This is a much better way of preparing it than by frying, which is seldom well done; and it will serve as a neat garnish for fish or lamb chops.

CROSS BUNS. Warm before the fire two pounds and a half of fine flour; add half a pound of sifted loaf sugar, some coriander seeds, cinnamon and mace finely pounded. Melt half a pound of butter in half a pint of milk; after it has cooled, stir in three table-spoonfuls of thick yeast, and a little salt. Work the whole into a paste, make it into buns, and cut a cross on the top. Put them on a tin to rise before the fire, brush them over with warm milk, and bake in a moderate oven.

CROWS. These birds are extremely useful to the farmer, in devouring multitudes of locusts, caterpillars, and other insects, which are highly injurious to the crops; but at certain seasons they have become so numerous, and committed such depredations on the corn fields, that an act of parliament has been passed for their destruction. The most successful method is to prepare a kind of table between the branches of a large tree, with some carrion and other meat, till the crows are accustomed to resort to the place for food. Afterwards the meat may be poisoned; and the birds still feeding on it, will be destroyed. The drug called nux vomica is best adapted to the purpose.

CRUMPETS. Warm before the fire two pounds of fine flour, with a little salt, and mix it with warm milk and water till it becomes stiff. Work up three eggs with three spoonfuls of thick yeast, and a cupful of warm milk and water; put it to the batter, and beat them well together in a large bowl, with as much milk and water as will make the batter thick. Set it before the fire to rise, and cover it close. Set on the fryingpan, rub it over with a bit of butter tied up in muslin, and pour in as much batter at a time as is sufficient for one crumpet. Let it bake slowly till it comes to a pale yellow; and when cold, the crumpets may be toasted and buttered.

CUCUMBERS. The best way of cultivating this delicious vegetable is as follows. When the plants have been raised on a moderate hot bed, without forcing them too much, they should be set in the open ground against a south wall in the latter end of May, and trained upon the wall like a fruit tree. When they have run up about five feet, they will send forth blossoms, and the fruit will soon appear. Cucumbers of the slender prickly sort are to be preferred, and they should not be watered too much while growing, as it will injure the fruit. The flesh of cucumbers raised in this way, will be thicker and firmer, and the flavour more delicious, than those planted in the usual manner, where the runners are suffered to trail upon the ground. Melons may also be treated in the same manner, and the quality of both will be greatly improved. – When cucumbers are to be prepared for the table, pare and score them in several rows, that they may appear as if slightly chopped. Add some young onions, pepper and salt, a glass of white wine, the juice of a lemon, and some vinegar. Or cut them in thin slices, with pepper, salt, vinegar, and sliced onions. Or send them to table whole, with a sliced onion in a saucer.

CUCUMBER KETCHUP. Pare some large old cucumbers, cut them in slices, and mash them; add some salt, and let them stand till the next day. Drain off the liquor, boil it with lemon peel, mace, cloves, horse-radish, shalots, white pepper, and ginger. Strain it; and when cold put it into bottles, with the mace, cloves and peppercorns, but not the rest. A little of this ketchup will give an agreeable taste to almost any kind of gravy sauce.

CUCUMBER VINEGAR. Pare and slice fifteen large cucumbers, and put them into a stone jar, with three pints of vinegar, four large onions sliced, two or three shalots, a little garlic, two large spoonfuls of salt, three tea-spoonfuls of pepper, and half a tea-spoonful of cayenne. Keep the vinegar in small bottles, to add to sallad, or to eat with meat.

CULLIS. To make cullis for ragouts, cut in pieces two pounds of lean veal, and two ounces of ham. Add two cloves, a little nutmeg and mace, some parsley roots, two carrots sliced, some shalots, and two bay leaves. Put them into an earthen jar on a hot hearth, or in a kettle of boiling water. Cover them close, let them simmer for half an hour, observing that they do not burn; then put in beef broth, stew it, and strain it off.

CUMBERLAND PUDDING. To make what is called the Duke of Cumberland's pudding, mix six ounces of grated bread, the same quantity of currants well cleaned and picked, the same of beef suet finely shred, the same of chopped apples, and also of lump sugar. Add six eggs, half a grated nutmeg, a dust of salt, and the rind of a lemon minced as fine as possible; also a large spoonful each of citron, orange, and lemon cut thin. Mix them thoroughly together, put the whole into a basin, cover it close with a floured cloth, and boil it three hours. Serve it with pudding sauce, add the juice of half a lemon, boiled together.

CURD PUDDING. Rub the curd of two gallons of milk well drained through a sieve. Mix it with six eggs, a little cream, two spoonfuls of orange-flower water, half a nutmeg, flour and crumbs of bread each three spoonfuls, currants and raisins half a pound of each. Boil the pudding an hour in a thick well-floured cloth.

CURD PUFFS. Turn two quarts of milk to curd, press the whey from it, rub it through a sieve, and mix four ounces of butter, the crumb of a penny loaf, two spoonfuls of cream, half a nutmeg, a little sugar, and two spoonfuls of white wine. Butter some small cups or pattipans, and fill them three parts. Orange-flower water is an improvement. Bake the puffs with care, and serve with sweet sauce in a boat.

CURD STAR. Set on the fire a quart of new milk, with two or three blades of mace; and when ready to boil, put to it the yolks and whites of nine eggs well beaten, and as much salt as will lie upon a six-pence. Let it boil till the whey is clear; then drain it in a thin cloth, or hair sieve. Season it with sugar, and a little cinnamon, rose water, orange-flower water, or white wine. Put it into a star form, and let it stand some hours before it be turned into a dish: then pour round it some thick cream or custard.

CURDS AND CREAM. Put three or four pints of milk into a pan a little warm, and then add rennet or gallina. When the curd is come, lade it with a saucer into an earthen shape perforated, of any form you please. Fill it up as the whey drains off, without breaking or pressing the curd. If turned only two hours before wanted, it is very light; but those who like it harder may have it so, by making it earlier, and squeezing it. Cream, milk, or a whip of cream, sugar, wine, and lemon, may be put into the dish, or into a glass bowl, to serve with the curd. – Another way is to warm four quarts of new milk, and add a pint or more of buttermilk strained, according to its sourness. Keep the pan covered till the curd be sufficiently firm to cut, three or four times across with a saucer, as the whey leaves it. Put it into a shape, and fill up until it be solid enough to take the form. Serve with plain cream, or mixed with sugar, wine and lemon.

CURDS AND WHEY. According to the Italian method, a more delicate and tender curd is made without the use of common rennet. Take a number of the rough coats that line the gizzards of turkeys and fowls, clean them from the pebbles they contain, rub them well with salt, and hang them up to dry. When to be used, break off some bits of the skin, and pour on some boiling water. In eight or nine hours the liquor may be used as other rennet.

CURING BUTTER. It is well known, that butter as it is generally cured, does not keep for any length of time, without spoiling or becoming rancid. The butter with which London is supplied, may be seen at every cheesemonger's in the greatest variety of colour and quality; and it is too often the case, that even the worst butter is compounded with better sorts, in order to procure a sale. These practices ought to be discountenanced, and no butter permitted to be sold but such as is of the best quality when fresh, and well cured when salted, as there is hardly any article more capable of exciting disgust than bad butter. To remedy this evil, the following process is recommended, in preparing butter for the firkin. Reduce separately to fine powder in a dry mortar, two pounds of the whitest common salt, one pound of saltpetre, and one pound of lump sugar. Sift these ingredients one upon another, on two sheets of paper joined together, and then mix them well with the hands, or with a spatula. Preserve the whole in a covered jar, placed in a dry situation. When required to be used, one ounce of this composition is to be proportioned to every pound of butter, and the whole is to be well worked into the mass. The butter may then be put into pots or casks in the usual way. The above method is practised in many parts of Scotland, and is found to preserve the butter much better than by using common salt alone. Any housekeeper can make the experiment, by proportioning the ingredients to the quantity of butter; and the difference between the two will readily be perceived. Butter cured with this mixture appears of a rich marrowy consistency and fine colour, and never acquires a brittle hardness, nor tastes salt, as the other is apt to do. It should be allowed to stand three weeks or a month before it is used, and will keep for two or three years, without sustaining the slightest injury. Butter made in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or in glazed earthenware pans, which glaze is principally composed of lead, is too apt to be contaminated by particles of that deleterious metal. It is better therefore to use tinned vessels for mixing the preservative with the butter, and to pack it either in wooden casks, or in jars of the Vauxhall ware, which being vitrified throughout, require no inside glazing.

CURING HAMS. When hams are to be cured, they should hang a day or two; then sprinkle them with a little salt, and drain them another day. Pound an ounce and a half of saltpetre, the same quantity of bay salt, half an ounce of sal-prunelle, and a pound of the coarsest sugar. Mix these well, and rub them into each ham every day for four days, and turn it. If a small one, turn it every day for three weeks: if a large one, a week longer, but it should not be rubbed after four days. Before it is dried, drain and cover it with bran, and smoke it ten days. – Or choose the leg of a hog that is fat and well fed, and hang it up a day or two. If large, put to it a pound of bay salt, four ounces of saltpetre, a pound of the coarsest sugar, and a handful of common salt, all in fine powder, and rub the mixture well into the ham. Lay the rind downwards, and cover the fleshy part with the salts. Baste it frequently with the pickle, and turn it every day for a month. Drain and throw bran over it, then hang it in a chimney where wood is burnt, and turn it now and then for ten days. – Another way is, to hang up the ham, and sprinkle it with salt, and then to rub it daily with the following mixture. Half a pound of common salt, the same of bay salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and two ounces of black pepper, incorporated with a pound and a half of treacle. Turn it twice a day in the pickle for three weeks; then lay it into a pail of water for one night, wipe it quite dry, and smoke it two or three weeks. – To give hams a high flavour, let them hang three days, when the weather will permit. Mix an ounce of saltpetre with a quarter of a pound of bay salt, the same quantity of common salt, and also of coarse sugar, and a quart of strong beer. Boil them together, pour the liquor immediately upon the ham, and turn it twice a day in the pickle for three weeks. An ounce of black pepper, and the same quantity of allspice, in fine powder, added to the above will give a still higher flavour. Wipe and cover it with bran, smoke it three or four weeks; and if there be a strong fire, it should be sewed up in a coarse wrapper. – To give a ham a still higher flavour, sprinkle it with salt, after it has hung two or three days, and let it drain. Make a pickle of a quart of strong beer, half a pound of treacle, an ounce of coriander seed, two ounces of juniper berries, an ounce of pepper, the same quantity of allspice, an ounce of saltpetre, half an ounce of sal-prunelle, a handful of common salt, and a head of shalot, all pounded or cut fine. Boil these together for a few minutes, and pour them over the ham. This quantity is sufficient for a ham of ten pounds. Rub and turn it every day for a fortnight; then sew it up in a thin linen bag, and smoke it three weeks. Drain it from the pickle, and rub it in bran, before drying. In all cases it is best to lay on a sufficient quantity of salt at first, than to add more afterwards, for this will make the ham salt and hard. When it has lain in pickle a few days, it would be advantageous to boil and skim the brine, and pour it on again when cold. Bacon, pig's face, and other articles may be treated in the same manner.

CURRANT CREAM. Strip and bruise some ripe currants, strain them through a fine sieve, and sweeten the juice with refined sugar. Beat up equal quantities of juice and cream, and as the froth rises put it into glasses.

CURRANT FRITTERS. Thicken half a pint of ale with flour, and add some currants. Beat it up quick, make the lard boil in the frying-pan, and put in a large spoonful of the batter at a time, which is sufficient for one fritter.

CURRANT GRUEL. Make a pint of water gruel, strain and boil it with a table-spoonful of clean currants till they are quite plump. Add a little nutmeg and sugar, and a glass of sweet wine. This gruel is proper for children, or persons of a costive habit.

CURRANT JAM. Whether it be made of black, red, or white currants, let the fruit be very ripe. Pick it clean from the stalks, and bruise it. To every pound put three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar, stir it well, and boil it half an hour.

CURRANT JELLY. Strip the fruit, whether red or black, and put them into a stone jar, to boil on a hot hearth, or over the fire in a saucepan of water. Strain off the liquor, and to every pint add a pound of loaf sugar in large lumps. Put the whole into a china or stone jar, till nearly dissolved; then put it into a preserving pan, and skim it while simmering on the fire. When it will turn to jelly on a plate, keep it in small jars or glasses.

CURRANT PIE. Put a paste round the dish, fill it with fruit and good moist sugar, add a little water, and cover it with paste. Place a tea-cup in the dish, bottom upwards, to prevent the juice from boiling over. Baked currants are better mixed with raspberries or damsons.

CURRANT SAUCE. To make the old sauce for venison, boil an ounce of dried currants in half a pint of water a few minutes. Then add a small tea-cupful of bread crumbs, six cloves, a glass of port wine, and a bit of butter. Stir it till the whole is smooth.

CURRANT SHRUB. Strip some white currants, and prepare them in a jar as for jelly. Strain the juice, of which put two quarts to one gallon of rum, and two pounds of lump sugar. Strain the whole through a jelly bag.

CURRANT WINE. To every three pints of fruit, carefully picked and bruised, add one quart of water. In twenty-four hours strain the liquor, and put to every quart a pound of good Lisbon sugar. If for white currants use lump sugar. It is best to put the whole into a large pan; and when in three or four days the scum rises, take that off before the liquor be put into the barrel. Those who make from their own gardens, may not have fruit sufficient to fill the barrel at once; but the wine will not be hurt by being made in the pan at different times, in the above proportions, and added as the fruit ripens; but it must be gathered in dry weather, and an account taken of what is put in each time. – Another way. Put five quarts of currants, and a pint of raspberries, to every two gallons of water. Let them soak all night, then squeeze and break them well. Next day rub them well on a fine wire sieve, till all the juice is obtained, and wash the skins again with some of the liquor. To every gallon put four pounds of good Lisbon sugar, tun it immediately, lay the bung lightly on, and leave it to ferment itself. In two or three days put a bottle of brandy to every four gallons, bung it close, but leave the vent peg out a few days. Keep it three years in the cask, and it will be a fine agreeable wine; four years would make it still better. – Black Currant Wine is made as follows. To every three quarts of juice add the same quantity of water, and to every three quarts of the liquor put three pounds of good moist sugar. Tun it into a cask, reserving a little for filling up. Set the cask in a warm dry room, and the liquor will ferment of itself. When the fermentation is over, take off the scum, and fill up with the reserved liquor, allowing three bottles of brandy to forty quarts of wine. Bung it close for nine months, then bottle it; drain the thick part through a jelly bag, till that also be clear and fit for bottling. The wine should then be kept ten or twelve months.

CURRIES. Cut fowls or rabbits into joints; veal, lamb or sweetbreads into small pieces. Put four ounces of butter into a stewpan; when melted, put in the meat, and two sliced onions. Stew them to a nice brown, add half a pint of broth, and let it simmer twenty minutes. Mix smooth in a basin one table-spoonful of currie powder, one of flour, and a tea-spoonful of salt, with a little cold water. Put the paste into the stewpan, shake it well about till it boils, and let it simmer twenty minutes longer. Just before it is dished up, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and add a good table-spoonful of melted butter.

CURRIE BALLS. Take some bread crumbs, the yolk of an egg boiled hard, and a bit of fresh butter about half the size; beat them together in a mortar, season with a little currie powder, roll the paste into small balls, and boil them two or three minutes. These will serve for mock turtle, veal, poultry, and made dishes.

CURRIE OF COD. This should be made of sliced cod, that has either been crimped, or sprinkled with salt for a day, to make it firm. Fry it of a fine brown with onions, and stew it with a good white gravy, a little currie powder, a bit of butter and flour, three or four spoonfuls of rich cream, salt, and cayenne, if the powder be not hot enough.

CURRIE OF LOBSTERS. Take them from the shells, lay them into a pan with a small piece of mace, three or four spoonfuls of veal gravy, and four of cream. Rub smooth one or two tea-spoonfuls of currie powder, a tea-spoonful of flour, and an ounce of butter. Simmer them together an hour, squeeze in half a lemon, and add a little salt. Currie of prawns is made in the same way.

CURRIE POWDER. Dry and reduce the following articles to a fine powder. Three ounces of coriander seed, three ounces of turmeric, one ounce of black pepper, and one of ginger; half an ounce of lesser cardamoms, and a quarter of an ounce each of cinnamon, cummin seed, and cayenne. Thoroughly pound and mix them together, and keep it in a well-stopped bottle.

CURRIE SAUCE. Stir a small quantity of currie powder in some gravy, melted butter, or onion sauce. This must be done by degrees, according to the taste, taking care not to put in too much of the currie powder.

CURRIE SOUP. Cut four pounds of a breast of veal into small pieces, put the trimmings into a stewpan with two quarts of water, twelve peppercorns, and the same of allspice. When it boils, skim it clean; and after boiling an hour and a half, strain it off. While it is boiling, fry the bits of veal in butter, with four onions. When they are done, add the broth to them, and put it on the fire. Let it simmer half an hour, then mix two spoonfuls of currie powder, and the same of flour, with a little cold water and a tea-spoonful of salt, and add these to the soup. Simmer it gently till the veal is quite tender, and it is ready. Or bone a couple of fowls or rabbits, and stew them in the same manner. Instead of black pepper and allspice, a bruised shalot may be added, with some mace and ginger.

CUSTARDS. To make a cheap and excellent custard, boil three pints of new milk with a bit of lemon peel, a bit of cinnamon, two or three bay leaves, and sweeten it. Meanwhile rub down smooth a large spoonful of rice flour in a cup of cold milk, and mix with it the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Take a basin of the boiling milk and mix with the cold, then pour it to the boiling, stirring it one way till it begin to thicken, and is just going to boil up; then pour it into a pan, stir it some time, add a large spoonful of peach water, two spoonfuls of brandy, or a little ratafia. Marbles boiled in custard, or any thing likely to burn, will prevent it from catching if shaked about in the saucepan. – To make a richer custard, boil a pint of milk with lemon peel and cinnamon. Mix a pint of cream, and the yolks of five eggs well beaten. When the milk tastes of the seasoning, sweeten it enough for the whole; pour into the cream, stirring it well; then give the custard a simmer, till it come to a proper thickness. Stir it wholly one way, season it as above, but do not let it boil. If the custard is to be very rich, add a quart of cream to the eggs instead of milk.

CUSTARD PASTE. Six ounces of butter, three spoonfuls of cream, the yolks of two eggs, and half a pound of flour, are to be mixed well together. Let it stand a quarter of an hour, work it well, and roll it out thin.

CUSTARD PUDDING. Mix by degrees a pint of good milk with a large spoonful of flour, the yolks of five eggs, some orange-flower water, and a little pounded cinnamon. Butter a bason that will just hold it, pour in the batter, and tie a floured cloth over. Put it in when the water boils, turn it about a few minutes to prevent the egg settling on one side, and half an hour will boil it. Put currant jelly over the pudding, and serve it with sweet sauce.

CUTLETS MAINTENON. Cut slices of veal three quarters of an inch thick, beat them with a rolling-pin, and wet them on both sides with egg. Dip them into a seasoning of bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, knotted marjoram, pepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg. Then put them into white papers folded over, and broil them. Have ready some melted butter in a boat, with a little mushroom ketchup. – Another way is to fry the cutlets, after they have been prepared as above. Dredge a little flour into the pan, and add a piece of butter; brown it, pour in a little boiling water, and boil it quick. Season with pepper, salt, and ketchup, and pour over them. – Or, prepare as before, and dress the cutlets in a Dutch oven. Pour over them melted butter and mushrooms. Neck steaks especially are good broiled, after being seasoned with pepper and salt; and in this way they do not require any herbs.

CUTTING GLASS. If glass be held in one hand under water, and a pair of scissors in the other, it may be cut like brown paper; or if a red hot tobacco pipe be brought in contact with the edge of the glass, and afterwards traced on any part of it, the crack will follow the edge of the pipe.

CUTTING OF TEETH. Great care is required in feeding young children during the time of teething. They often cry as if disgusted with food, when it is chiefly owing to the pain occasioned by the edge of a silver or metal spoon pressing on their tender gums. The spoon ought to be of ivory, bone, or wood, with the edges round and smooth, and care should be taken to keep it sweet and clean. At this period a moderate looseness, and a copious flow of saliva, are favourable symptoms. With a view to promote the latter, the child should be suffered to gnaw such substances as tend to mollify the gums, and by their pressure to facilitate the appearance of the teeth. A piece of liquorice or marshmallow root will be serviceable, or the gums may be softened and relaxed by rubbing them with honey or sweet oil.

D

Dairy. In a publication intended for general usefulness, the management of the dairy, the source of so many comforts, demands some attention, in addition to the information conveyed under various other articles, connected with this interesting part of female economy. A dairy house then ought to be so situated that the windows or lattices may front the north, and it should at all times be kept perfectly cool and clean. Lattices are preferable to glazed lights, as they admit a free circulation of air; and if too much wind draws in, oiled paper may be pasted over the lattice, or a frame constructed so as to slide backwards and forwards at pleasure. Dairies cannot be kept too cool in the summer: they ought therefore to be erected, if possible, near a spring of running water. If a pump can be fixed in the place, or a stream of water conveyed through it, it will tend to preserve a continual freshness and purity of the air. The floor should be neatly paved with red brick, or smooth stone, and laid with a proper descent, so that no water may stagnate: it should be well washed every day, and all the utensils kept with the strictest regard to cleanliness. Neither the cheese, rennet, or cheesepress, must be suffered to contract any taint; nor should the churns be scalded in the dairy, as the steam arising from the hot water tends greatly to injure the milk. The utensils of the dairy should all be made of wood: lead, copper, and brass are poisonous, and cast iron gives a disagreeable taste to the productions of the dairy. Milk leads in particular should be utterly abolished, and well-glazed earthen pans used in their stead. Sour milk has a corroding tendency, and the well known effects of the poison of lead are, bodily debility, palsy, and death. The best of all milk vessels are flat wooden trays about three inches deep, and wide enough to contain a full gallon of milk. These may be kept perfectly clean with good care, and washing and scalding them well with salt and water. As soon as the operation of churning is performed, the butter should be washed immediately in several waters, till thoroughly cleansed from the milk, which should be forced out with a flat wooden ladle, or skimming dish, provided with a short handle. This should be quickly performed, with as little working of the butter as possible; for if it be too much beaten and turned, it will become tough and gluey, which greatly debases its quality. To beat it up with the hand is an indelicate practice, as the butter cannot fail to imbibe the animal effluvia: a warm hand especially will soften it, and make it appear greasy. If the heat of the weather should render it too soft to receive the impression of the mould, it may be put into small vessels, and allowed to swim in a trough of cold water, provided the butter do not come in contact with the water, which would diminish some of its best qualities. A little common salt must be worked up in the butter at the time of making it, and care must be taken not to handle it too much. Meat hung in a dairy will taint the air, and spoil the milk. – See Butter, Cheese, Churning, &c.

DAMP BEDS. Of all other means of taking cold, damp beds are the most dangerous, and persons who keep them in their houses are guilty of a species of murder, though it unfortunately happens that no housewife is willing to acknowledge that her beds were ever damp. There is however no other effectual way of preventing the dreadful effects so often experienced in this way, than by keeping the beds in constant use, or causing them frequently to be slept in till they are wanted by a stranger. In inns, where the beds are used almost every night, nothing more is necessary than to keep the rooms well aired, and the linen quite dry. If a bed be suspected of dampness, introduce a glass goblet between the sheets with its bottom upwards, immediately after the warming pan is taken out. After a few minutes, if any moisture adheres to the inside of the glass, it is a certain sign that the bed is damp: but if only a slight steam appears, all is safe. If a goblet be not at hand, a looking glass will answer the purpose. The safest way in all such cases is to take off the sheets, and sleep between the blankets.

DAMP HOUSES. Nothing is more common than for persons to hazard their lives by inhabiting a dwelling almost as soon as the plasterer or the painter has performed his work, and yet this ought to be guarded against with the utmost care. The custom of sitting in a room lately washed, and before it is thoroughly dried, is also highly injurious to health. Colds occasioned by these means often bring on asthmas and incurable consumptions.

DAMP WALLS. When a house has undergone repairs, the walls are apt to become damp, as well as when it has been new built. To prevent the ill effects, powder some glass fine, mix it with slacked lime, dry the mixture well in an iron pot, and pass it through a flour sieve. Then boil some tar with a little grease for a quarter of an hour, and make a cement of the whole together. Care must be taken to prevent any moisture from mixing with the cement, which must be used as soon as made. Lay it on the damp part of the wall like common plaster about a foot square at a time, or it will quickly become too hard for use: if the wall be very wet, a second coating will be required. Common hair mortar may then be laid on, with the addition of a little Paris plaster, which will prevent the walls in future from becoming damp.

DAMSON CHEESE. Pick the damsons clean, bake them slowly, till they may be rubbed through a cullender, leaving nothing but the skins and stones. Boil the pulp and juice three hours over a slow fire, with some moist sugar, and keep it stirring to prevent burning. Blanch the kernels, and mix them with the jam a few minutes before it be taken off the fire. Put it into cups, tie it down with writing paper dipped in brandy, and the cheese will keep several years, if kept in a dry place.

DAMSON PUDDING. Line a bason with tolerably thin paste, fill with the fruit, and cover the paste over it. Tie a cloth tight over, and boil till the fruit is done enough.

DAMSON WINE. Take a considerable quantity of damsons and common plums inclining to ripeness; slit them in halves, so that the stones may be taken out, then mash them gently, and add a little water and honey. Add to every gallon of the pulp a gallon of spring water, with a few bay leaves and cloves: boil the mixture, and add as much sugar as will sweeten it, skim off the froth, and let it cool. Now press the fruit, squeezing out the liquid part; strain all through a fine cloth, and put the water and juice together in a cask. Having allowed the whole to stand and ferment for three or four days, fine it with white sugar, flour, and whites of eggs. Draw it off into bottles, then cork it well: in twelve days it will be ripe, and will taste like weak port, having a flavour of canary.

DAMSONS PRESERVED. To keep damsons for winter pies, put them in small stone jars, or wide-mouthed bottles; set them up to their necks in a boiler of cold water, and scald them. Next day, when perfectly cold, fill up the bottles with spring water, and close them down. – Another way is to boil one third as much sugar as fruit over a slow fire, till the juice adheres to the fruit, and forms a jam. Keep it in small jars in a dry place. If too sweet, mix with it some of the fruit done without sugar. – Or choose some pots of equal size top and bottom, sufficient to hold eight or nine pounds each. Put in the fruit about a quarter up, strew in a quarter of the sugar, then another quantity of fruit, and so on till all of both are in. The proportion of sugar is to be three pounds to nine pounds of fruit. Set the jars in the oven, and bake the fruit quite through. When cold, put a piece of clean-scraped stick into the middle of the jar, and let the upper part stand above the top. Cover the fruit with writing paper, and pour melted mutton-suet over, full half an inch thick. Keep the jars in a cool dry place, and use the suet as a cover, which may be drawn up by the stick, if a forked branch be left to prevent its slipping out.

DAVENPORT FOWLS. Hang up young fowls for a night. Take the liver, hearts, and tenderest parts of the gizzards, and shred them small, with half a handful of young clary, an anchovy to each fowl, an onion, and the yolks of four eggs boiled hard, seasoning the whole with pepper, salt, and mace. Stuff the fowls with this mixture, and sew up the vents and necks quite close, that the water may not get in. Boil them in salt and water till almost done; then drain them, and put them into a stewpan with butter enough to brown them. Serve them with fine melted butter, and a spoonful of ketchup of either sort, in the dish.

DEBILITY. A general relaxation of the nervous system is the source of numerous disorders, and requires a treatment as various as the causes on which it depends. In general, gentle heat possesses both stimulating and strengthening properties, and this is best communicated by a warm bath, which instead of relaxing will invigorate the whole frame. Diet must also be attended to; and weakly persons should be careful to eat light and nourishing food, and plenty of nutricious vegetables. New laid eggs, soup, strong meat-broth, and shell-fish are also very nourishing. Clothing should be accommodated to the climate and changes of weather, so as to preserve as much as possible a middle temperature between cold and heat. Invalids of this description require longer and less disturbed rest than persons in perfect health and vigour; labour and exercise adapted to their habits and strength, a clean but not too soft bed, an airy and capacious apartment, and particularly a calm and composed mind, which last possesses a most powerful influence in preserving health and life, for without tranquility, all other means will be ineffectual.

DERBYSHIRE BREAD. Rub four ounces of butter into four pounds of flour, add four eggs well beaten, a pint of milk, and a large spoonful of yeast. Mix them into a paste, make it into rolls, and let them stand half an hour to rise before the fire. Put them into the oven, dip them in milk the next day, and then let them stand by the fire in a Dutch oven about twenty minutes. The rolls will then be very good, and keep a fortnight.

DEVONSHIRE JUNKET. Put warm milk into a bowl, and turn it with rennet. Then without breaking the curd, put on the top some scalded cream, sugar and cinnamon.

DIET BREAD. Beat nine eggs, and add their weight in sifted sugar, and half as much flour. Mix them well together, grate in the rind of a lemon, and bake it in a hoop.

DIET DRINK. Infuse in five gallons of small beer, twelve ounces of red dock-roots, the pith taken out; three ounces of chicary roots, two handfuls of sage, balm, brooklime, and dandelion; two ounces of senna, two of rhubarb, four ounces of red saunders, and a few parsley and carraway seeds. Or boil a pound of the fine raspings of guaiacum, with six gallons of sweetwort, till reduced to five; and when it is set to work, put in the above ingredients. If a little salt of wormwood be taken with it, this diet drink will act as a diuretic, as well as a purgative.

DINNERS. The first course for large dinner parties, generally consists of various soups, fish dressed many ways, turtle, mock turtle, boiled meats and stewed: tongue, ham, bacon, chawls of bacon, boiled turkey and fowls: rump, sirloin, and ribs of beef roasted: leg, saddle, and other roast mutton: roast fillet, loin, neck, breast, and shoulder of veal: leg of lamb, loin, fore-quarter, chine, lamb's head and mince: mutton stuffed and roasted, steaks variously prepared, ragouts and fricassees: meat pies raised, and in dishes: patties of meat, fish, and fowl: stewed pigeons, venison, leg of pork, chine, loin, spare-rib, rabbits, hare, puddings, boiled and baked: vegetables, boiled and stewed: calf's head different ways, pig's feet and ears different ways. – Dishes for the second course, birds, and game of all sorts: shell-fish, cold and potted: collared and potted fish, pickled ditto, potted birds, ribs of lamb roasted, brawn, vegetables, stewed or in sauce: French beans, peas, asparagus, cauliflower, fricassee, pickled oysters, spinach, and artichoke bottoms: stewed celery, sea kale, fruit tarts, preserved-fruit tarts, pippins stewed, cheesecakes, various sorts: a collection of sweet dishes, creams, jellies, mince pies, and all the finer sorts of puddings: omlet, macaroni, oysters in scallops, stewed or pickled. – For removes of soup and fish, one or two joints of meat or fowl are served; and for one small course, the article suited to the second must make a part. Where vegetables, fowls, or any other meat are twice dressed, they add to the appearance of the table the first time; and three sweet articles may form the second appearance, without greater expence. In some houses, one dish at a time is sent up with the vegetables, or sauces proper to it, and this in succession hot and hot. In others, a course of soups and fish: then meats and boiled fowls, turkey, &c. Made dishes and game follow; and lastly, sweet dishes; but these are not the common modes. It ought also to be remarked, that cooks in general do not think of sending up such articles as are in the house, unless ordered; though by so doing, the addition of something collared or pickled, some fritters, fried patties, or quick-made dumplings, would be useful when there happen to be accidental visitors: and at all times it is proper to improve the appearance of the table rather than let things spoil below, by which an unnecessary expence is incurred. – Any of the following articles may be served as a relish, with the cheese, after dinner. Baked or pickled fish done high, Dutch pickled herrings: sardinias, which eat like anchovy, but are larger: anchovies, potted char, ditto lampreys: potted birds made high, caviare and sippets of toast: salad, radishes, French pie, cold butter, potted cheese, anchovy toast.

DISTRESS FOR RENT. In these days of general complaint and general distress, when so many families and individuals are suffering from the extortions of tax-gatherers, and the severity of landlords, it is proper that householders and occupiers of land should be furnished with a little information on the subject of their legal rights and liabilities, in order to guard against injustice, or the fatal consequences of illegal proceedings. It must therefore be observed, that rent is recoverable by action of debt at common law; but the general remedy is distress, by taking the goods and chattels out of the possession of the tenant, to procure satisfaction for rent. A distress for rent therefore must be made for nonpayment, or rent in arrears, and cannot be made on the day in which the rent becomes due. Neither can distress be made after the rent has been tendered; or if it be tendered while the distress is making, the landlord must deliver up the distress. Any goods or effects that are damaged by the proceedings of the landlord, must be made good by him. – When distress is levied, it should be for the whole of the rent in arrears; not a part at one time and the remainder at another, if there was at first a sufficiency; but if the landlord should mistake the value of the things, he may make a second distress to supply the deficiency. He must be careful to demand neither more nor less than is due; he must also shew the certainty of the rent, and when it was due; otherwise the demand will not be good, nor can he obtain a remedy. – A landlord may distrain whatever he finds on the premises, whether it be the property of his tenant or not, except such things as are for the maintenance and benefit of trade; such as working tools and implements, sacks of corn, or meal in a mill. Neither fixtures in a house nor provisions can be distrained, nor any other article which cannot be restored in as good a state as when it was taken; but wearing apparel may be distrained when they are not in use. Money out of a bag cannot be distrained, because it cannot be known again; but money sealed up in a bag may. A horse in a cart cannot be distrained, without also taking the cart; and if a man be in the cart, these cannot be taken. A horse bringing goods to market, goods brought to market to be sold, goods for exportation on a wharf or in a warehouse, goods in the hands of a factor, goods delivered to a carrier to be conveyed for hire, wool in a neighbour's barn, are all considered as goods in the hands of a third person, and cannot therefore be distrained by a landlord for rent. But goods left at an inn or other place of conveyance, a chaise or horse standing in a stable, though the property of a third person, may be distrained for rent. A distress must not be made after dark, nor on the Sabbath day. – Where a landlord means to distrain for rent, it is not necessary to demand his rent first, unless the tenant is on the premises on the day of payment, and ready to pay it. But if goods are distrained, and no cause given for so doing, the owner may rescue them, if not impounded. Distraining part of the goods for rent in arrear, in the name of the whole goods, will be deemed a lawful seizure. But if distress and sale be made for rent when it can be proved that no rent is due or in arrear, the person so injured may recover double the value of such goods distrained, with full costs of suit. If goods be impounded, though they have been distrained without a cause, a tenant cannot touch them, because they are then in the hands of the law; but if not impounded or taken away, he is at liberty to rescue them. – If distress be made for rent, and the goods are not replevied within five days after the distress is made, and notice left on the premises stating the cause of such distress, the person distraining may have the goods appraised by two persons, sworn by the constable of the place for that purpose, and may after such appraisement sell them to the best advantage. The rent may then be taken, including all expences, and the overplus left in the hands of the constable for the owner's use. If a landlord commit an unlawful act or any other irregularity, in making distress for rent which is justly due, the distress itself will not on that account be deemed unlawful; but full damages may be demanded by the injured party, with full costs of suit; either in an action of trespass, or on the case. But if full recompense be tendered to the tenant for such trespass before the action is commenced, he is bound to accept it, or the action will be discharged. – If a tenant clandestinely remove his goods, to prevent the landlord from distraining them for rent, he may seize the goods within thirty days, wherever they shall be found; and if not actually sold previous to the seizure, he may dispose of them in order to recover his rent. Any tenant or assistant removing goods to prevent a distress, is liable to double the value of the goods, which the landlord may recover by action at law. If under the value of fifty pounds, complaint may be made in writing to two neighbouring magistrates, who will enforce the payment by distress, or commit the offenders to the house of correction for six months. If any person after the distress is made, shall presume to remove the goods distrained, or take them away from the person distraining, the party aggrieved may sue for the injury, and recover treble costs and damages against the offender. – A landlord may not break a lock, nor open a gate; but if the outer door of the house be open he may enter, and break open the inner doors. But where goods are fraudulently removed, and locked up to prevent their being seized, the landlord may break open every place where they are and seize them. If in a dwelling house, an oath must first be made before a magistrate, that is was suspected the goods were lodged there. The most eligible way is to remove the goods immediately, and to give the tenant notice where they are removed to; but it is usual to leave them under the protection of a person on the premises for five whole days, after which it is lawful to sell them. In making the distress, it is necessary to give the bailiff a written order for that purpose, which the landlord may do himself without any stamp, only specifying the person's name, place of abode, and rent in arrears for which the goods and chattels are to be seized. After this an inventory is to be made of the articles, a copy of which is to be given to the tenant, accompanied with a notice that unless the arrears of rent and charges of distress be paid, or the goods replevied at the expiration of five days from the day of distress, the said goods will be appraised and sold according to law. If the landlord chooses to indulge the tenant with a longer time to raise the money, a memorandum must be taken of the tenant, stating that possession is lengthened at his request, or the landlord will be liable to an action for exceeding the time of his original notice. – See Tenants.

DOUBLE RENT. If a tenant has received a written notice, and he refuse to quit, after such notice has been regularly served, and will not give possession at the time required, he is liable to pay at the rate of double the annual value of the land or tenement so detained, for so long time as the same are detained in his possession, and the payment may be recovered by action of debt. Or if the tenant shall give notice of his intention to quit the premises, and do not deliver up possession according to such notice, he is liable to the payment of double rent, as in the other case. – The following is the form of a notice to a tenant to quit, or to pay double rent. 'Mr. A. B. I hereby give you notice to deliver up possession and quit, on or before next Michaelmas day, the house and premises which you now hold of me, situate in the parish of in the county of and in default of your compliance therewith, I do and will insist on your paying me for the same, the yearly rent of being double the annual rent, for such time as you shall detain the key, and keep possession, over the said notice. Witness my hand this day of 182. C. D. Landlord of the said premises.

Witness E. F.' —

If, after notice of double rent be expired, a single rent is accepted, such acceptance will prevent the penalty, until notice is again given, and the time expired.

DOWN. This valuable part of goose coating, which contributes so much to the comfort and even the luxury of life, comes to maturity when it begins to fall off of itself; and if removed too soon, it is liable to be attacked by worms. Lean geese furnish more than those that are fat, and the down is more valuable. Neither the feathers nor the down of geese which have been dead some time are fit for use: they generally smell bad, and become matted. None but what is plucked from living geese, or which have just been killed, ought to be exhibited for sale; and in this case the down should be plucked soon, or before the geese are entirely cold.

DRAUGHT FOR A COUGH. Beat a fresh-laid egg, and mix it with a quarter of a pint of new milk warmed, but do not heat it after the egg is put in. Add a large spoonful of capillaire, the same of rose water, and a little nutmeg scraped. Take it the first and last thing, and it will be found a fine soft draught for those who are weakly, or have a cold. – Another remedy. Take a handful of horehound, a handful of rue, a handful of hyssop, and the same quantity of ground ivy and of tormentil, with a small quantity of long plantain, pennyroyal, and five finger. Boil them in four quarts of water till reduced to two quarts. Strain it off, then add two pounds of loaf sugar; simmer it a little, add a quart of brandy and bottle it for use. A wine glassful of this to be taken occasionally.

DRIED BACON. When two flitches are to be cured, divide the hog, cut off the hams, and take out the chine. It is common to remove the spare-ribs, but the bacon will be preserved better from being rusty, if they are left in. Salt the bacon six days, then drain it from that first pickle: mix a proper quantity of salt with half a pound of bay-salt, three ounces of saltpetre, and a pound of coarse sugar, to each hog. Rub the salts well in, and turn it every day for a month. Drain and smoke it for a few days, or dry it with bran or flour, and hang it in the kitchen, or on a rack suspended from the ceiling. – Good bacon may be known, if you are going to purchase it, by the rind being thin, the fat firm, and of a red tinge, the lean tender, of a good colour, and adhering to the bone. If there are yellow streaks in it, it is going, if not already rusty.

DRIED CHERRIES. Stone six pounds of Kentish cherries, and put them into a preserving pan with two pounds of loaf sugar pounded and strewed among them. Simmer them till they begin to shrivel, then strain them from the juice, lay them on a hot hearth or in an oven, when either is cool enough to dry without baking them. The same syrup will do another six pounds of fruit. – To dry cherries without sugar, stone, and set them over the fire in a preserving pan. Simmer them in their own liquor, and shake them in the pan. Put them by in common china dishes: next day give them another scald, and when cold put them on sieves to dry, in an oven moderately warm. Twice heating, an hour each time, will be sufficient. Place them in a box, with a paper between each layer. – A superior way of preserving cherries is to allow one pound of double-refined sugar to every five pounds of fruit, after they are stoned; then to put both into a preserving pan with very little water, till they are scalding hot. Take the fruit out immediately and dry them; return them into the pan again, strewing the sugar between each layer of cherries. Let it stand to melt, then set the pan on the fire, and make it scalding hot as before; take it off, and repeat this thrice with the sugar. Drain them from the syrup, and lay them singly to dry on dishes, in the sun or on a stove. When dry, put them into a sieve, dip it into a pan of cold water, and draw it instantly out again, and pour them on a fine soft cloth; dry them, and set them once more in the sun, or on a stove. Keep them in a box, with layers of white paper, in a dry place. This is the best way to give plumpness to the fruit, as well as colour and flavour.

DRIED HADDOCK. Choose them of two or three pounds weight; take out the gills, eyes, and entrails, and remove the blood from the backbone. Wipe them dry, and put some salt into the bodies and sockets. Lay them on a board for a night, then hang them up in a dry place, and after three or four days they will be fit to eat. Skin and rub them with egg, and strew crumbs over them. Lay them before the fire, baste with butter till they are quite brown, and serve with egg sauce. – Whitings, if large, are excellent in this way; and where there is no regular supply of fish, it will be found a great convenience.

DRIED SALMON. Cut the fish down, take out the inside and roe. After scaling it, rub it with common salt, and let it hang twenty-four hours to drain. Pound three or four ounces of saltpetre, according to the size of the fish, two ounces of bay salt, and two ounces of coarse sugar. Mix them well, rub it into the salmon, and lay it on a large dish for two days; then rub it with common salt, wipe it well after draining, and in twenty-four hours more it will be fit to dry. Hang it either in a wood chimney, or in a dry place, keeping it open with two small sticks. – Dried salmon is broiled in paper, and only just warmed through. Egg sauce and mashed potatoes may be eaten with it; or it may be boiled, especially the part next the head. An excellent dish of dried salmon may also be made in the following manner. Prepare some eggs boiled hard and chopped large, pull off some flakes of the fish, and put them both into half a pint of thin cream, with two or three ounces of butter rubbed in a tea-spoonful of flour. Skim and stir it till boiling hot, make a wall of mashed potatoes round the inner edge of a dish, and pour the above into it.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «Литрес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на Литрес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.