FOOD FOR BIRDS. An excellent food for linnets, canaries, and other singing birds, may be prepared in the following manner. Knead together one pound of split peas ground to flour, half a pound each of coarse sugar and fine grated bread, two ounces of unsalted butter, and the yolks of two eggs. Brown the paste gently in a fryingpan, and when cold mix with it two ounces of mace seed, and two pounds of bruised hemp seed, separated from the husk. This paste given to birds in small quantities will preserve them in health, and prompt them to sing every month in the year.
FORCEMEAT. This article, whether in the form of stuffing balls, or for patties, makes a considerable part of good cooking, by the flavour it imparts to whatsoever dish it may be added. Yet at many tables, where every thing else is well done, it is common to find very bad stuffing. Exact rules for the quantity cannot easily be given; but the following observations may be useful, and habit will soon give knowledge in mixing it to the taste. The selection of ingredients should of course be made, according to what they are wanted for, observing that of the most pungent, the smallest quantity should be used. No one flavour should greatly preponderate; yet if several dishes be served the same day, there should be a marked variety in the taste of the forcemeat, as well as of the gravies. It should be consistent enough to cut with a knife, but neither dry nor heavy. The following are the articles of which forcemeat may be made, without giving it any striking flavour. Cold fowl or veal, scraped ham, fat bacon, beef suet, crumbs of bread, salt, white pepper, parsley, nutmeg, yolk and white of eggs well beaten to bind the mixture. To these, any of the following may be added, to vary the taste, and give it a higher relish. Oysters, anchovy,taragon, savoury, pennyroyal, knotted marjoram, thyme, basil, yolks of hard eggs, cayenne, garlic, shalot, chives, Jamaica pepper in fine powder, or two or three cloves.
FORCEMEAT BALLS. To make fine forcemeat balls for fish soups, or stewed fish, beat together the flesh and soft parts of a lobster, half an anchovy, a large piece of boiled celery, the yolk of a hard egg, a little cayenne, mace, salt, and white pepper. Add two table-spoonfuls of bread crumbs, one of oyster liquor, two ounces of warmed butter, and two eggs well beaten. Make the whole into balls, and fry them in butter, of a fine brown.
FORCEMEAT FOR FOWLS. Shred a little ham or gammon, some cold veal or fowl, beef suet, parsley, a small quantity of onion, and a very little lemon peel. Add salt, nutmeg, or pounded mace, bread crumbs, and either white pepper or cayenne. Pound it all together in a mortar, and bind it with one or two eggs beaten and strained. The same stuffing will do for meat, or for patties. For fowls, it is usually put between the skin and the flesh.
FORCEMEAT FOR GOOSE. Chop very fine about two ounces of onion, and an ounce of green sage. Add four ounces of bread crumbs, the yolk and white of an egg, a little pepper and salt; and if approved, a minced apple. This will do for either goose or duck stuffing.
FORCEMEAT FOR HARE. Chop up the liver, with an anchovy, some fat bacon, a little suet, some sweet herbs, and an onion. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, crumbs of bread, and an egg to bind all together.
FORCEMEAT FOR SAVOURY PIES. The same as for fowls, only substituting fat or bacon, instead of suet. If the pie be of rabbit or fowls, the livers mixed with fat and lean pork, instead of bacon, will make an excellent stuffing. The seasoning is to be the same as for fowls or meat.
FORCEMEAT FOR TURKEY. The same stuffing will do for boiled or roast turkey as for veal, or to make it more relishing, add a little grated ham or tongue, an anchovy, or the soft part of a dozen oysters. Pork sausage meat is sometimes used to stuff turkies or fowls, or fried, and sent up as garnish.
FORCEMEAT FOR TURTLE. A pound of fine fresh suet, one ounce of cold veal or chicken, chopped fine; crumbs of bread, a little shalot or onion, white pepper, salt, nutmeg, mace, pennyroyal, parsley, and lemon thyme, finely shred. Beat as many fresh eggs, yolks and whites separately, as will make the above ingredients into a moist paste. Roll it into small balls, and boil them in fresh lard, putting them in just as it boils up. When of a light brown take them out, and drain them before the fire. If the suet be moist or stale, a great many more eggs will be necessary. Balls made in this way are remarkably light; but being greasy, some people prefer them with less suet and eggs.
FORCEMEAT FOR VEAL. Scrape two ounces of undressed lean veal, free from skin and sinews; two ounces of beef or veal suet, and two of bread crumbs. Chop fine two drams of parsley, one of lemon peel, one of sweet herbs, one of onion, and add half a dram of mace or allspice reduced to a fine powder. Pound all together in a mortar, break into it the yolk and white of an egg, rub it all up well together, and season it with a little pepper and salt. This may be made more savoury, by the addition of cold boiled tongue, anchovy, shalot, cayenne, or curry powder.
FOREHAND OF PORK. Cut out the bone, sprinkle the inside with salt, pepper, and dried sage. Roll the pork tight, and tie it up; warm a little butter to baste it, andthen flour it. Roast it by a hanging jack, and about two hours will do it.
FOREQUARTER OF LAMB. Roast it either whole, or in separate parts. If left to be cold, chopped parsley should be sprinkled over it. The neck and breast together are called a scoven.
FOWLS. In purchasing fowls for dressing, it is necessary to see that they are fresh and good. If a cock bird is young, his spurs will be short; but be careful to observe that they have not been cut or pared, which is a trick too often practised. If fresh, the vent will be close and dark. Pullets are best just before they begin to lay, and yet are full of egg. If hens are old, their combs and legs will be rough: if young, they will be smooth. A good capon has a thick belly and a large rump: there is a particular fat at his breast, and the comb is very pale. Black-legged fowls being moist, are best for roasting.
FRECKLES. The cosmetics generally recommended for improving the skin and bloom of the face are highly pernicious, and ought by no means to be employed. Temperance in diet and exercise, with frequent washing and bathing, are the best means of preserving a healthful countenance. But those who desire to soften and improve the skin, may use an infusion of horseradish in milk, or the expressed juice of houseleek mixed with cream, which will be useful and inoffensive. Freckles on the face, or small discolourations on other parts of the skin, are constitutional in some cases; and in others, they are occasioned by the action of the sun upon the part, and frequent exposures to the morning air. For dispersing them, take four ounces of lemon juice, one dram of powdered borax, and two drams of sugar: mix them together, and let them stand a few days in a glass bottle till the liquid is fit for use, and then rub it on the face. But for chaps and flaws in the skin, occasioned by cold, rub on a little plain unscented pomatum at bed-time, and let it remain till morning. Or, which is much better, anoint the face with honey water, made to the consistence of cream, which will form a kind of varnish on the skin, and protect it from the effects of cold.
FRENCH BEANS. String, and cut them into four parts; if smaller, they look so much the better. Lay them in salt and water; and when the water boils, put them in with some salt. As soon as they are done, serve them immediately, to preserve their colour. Or when half done, drain off the water, and add two spoonfuls of broth strained. In finishing them, put in a little cream, with flour and butter.
FRENCH BREAD. With a quarter of a peck of fine flour, mix the yolks of three and the whites of two eggs, beaten and strained; a little salt, half a pint of good yeast that is not bitter, and as much lukewarm milk as will work it into a thin light dough. Stir it about, but do not knead it. Divide the dough into three parts, put them into wooden dishes, set them to rise, then turn them out into the oven, which must be quick, and rasp the bread when done.
FRENCH DUMPLINGS. Grate a penny loaf, add half a pound of currants, three quarters of a pound of beef suet finely shred, and half a grated nutmeg. Beat up the yolks of three eggs with three spoonfuls of cream, as much white wine, and a little sugar. Mix all together, work it up into a paste, make it into dumplings of a convenient size, and tie them up in cloths. Put them into boiling water, and let them boil three quarters of an hour.
FRENCH PIE. Lay a puff paste round the edge of the dish, and put in either slices of veal, rabbits or chickens jointed; with forcemeatballs, sweetbreads cut in pieces, artichoke bottoms, and a few truffles.
FRENCH PORRIDGE. Stir together some oatmeal and water, and pour off the latter. Put fresh in, stir it well, and let it stand till the next day. Strain it through a fine sieve, and boil the water, which must be small in quantity, adding some milk while it is doing. With the addition of toast, this is much in request abroad, for the breakfast of weakly persons.
FRENCH PUDDING. Grate six ounces of brown bread, and shred half a pound of suet. Add four eggs well beaten, half a pound of currants picked and washed, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a little nutmeg. Mix all together, tie the pudding up close in a cloth, and boil it two hours. Serve it up with a sauce of melted butter, a little sugar and sweet wine.
FRENCH ROLLS. Rub one ounce of butter into a pound of flour; mix one egg beaten, a little yeast that is not bitter, and as much milk as will make the dough tolerably stiff. Beat it well, but do not knead it: let it rise, and bake it on tins.
FRENCH SALAD. Mince up three anchovies, a shalot, and some parsley. Put them into a bowl with two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, and a little salt and mustard. When well mixed, add by degrees some cold roast or boiled meat in very thin slices: put in a few at a time, not exceeding two or three inches long. Shake them in the seasoning, and then put more: cover the bowl close, and let the salad be prepared three hours before it is to be eaten. Garnish with parsley, and a few slices of the fat.
FRICANDEAU OF BEEF. Take a nice piece of lean beef; lard it with bacon seasoned with pepper, salt, cloves, mace, and allspice. Put it into a stewpan with a pint of broth, a glass of white wine, a bundle of parsley, all sorts of sweet herbs, a clove of garlic, a shalot or two, four cloves, pepper and salt. When the meat is become tender, cover it close. Skim the sauce well, strain it, set it on the fire, and let it boil till reduced to a glaze. Glaze the larded side with this, and serve the meat on sorrel sauce.
FRICANDEAU OF VEAL. Cut a large piece from the fat side of the leg, about nine inches long and half as thick and broad. Beat it with the rolling pin, take off the skin, and trim the rough edges. Lard the top and sides, cover it with fat bacon, and then with white paper. Lay it into a stewpan with any pieces of undressed veal or mutton, four onions, a sliced carrot, a faggot of sweet herbs, four blades of mace, four bay leaves, a pint of good veal or mutton broth, and four or five ounces of lean ham or gammon. Cover the pan close, and let it stew slowly for three hours; then take up the meat, remove all the fat from the gravy, and boil it quick to a glaze. Keep the fricandeau quite hot, and then glaze it. Serve it with the remainder of the glaze in the dish, and sorrel sauce in a tureen.—The following is a cheaper way of making a good fricandeau of veal. With a sharp knife cut the lean part of a large neck from the best end, scooping it from the bones a hand's length, and prepare it in the manner above directed. Three or four bones only will be necessary, and they will make the gravy; but if the prime part of the leg is cut off, it spoils the whole.—Another way is to take two large round sweetbreads, and prepare them like veal. Make a rich gravy with truffles, morels, mushrooms, and artichoke bottoms, and serve it round.
FRICASSEE OF CHICKENS. Boil rather more than half, in a small quantity of water, and let them cool. Cut them up, simmer in a little gravy made of the liquor they wereboiled in, adding a bit of veal or mutton, onion, mace, lemon peel, white pepper, and a bunch of sweet herbs. When quite tender, keep them hot, while the following sauce is prepared. Strain off the liquor, return it into the saucepan with a little salt, a scrape of nutmeg, and a little flour and butter. Give it one boil, and when ready to serve, beat up the yolk of an egg, add half a pint of cream, and stir them over the fire, but do not let it boil. It will be quite as good however without the egg. Without the addition of any other meat, the gravy may be made of the trimmings of the fowls, such as the necks, feet, small wing bones, gizzards, and livers.
FRICASSEE OF RABBITS. Skin them, cut them in pieces, soak in warm water, and clean them. Then stew them in a little fresh water, with a bit of lemon peel, a little white wine, an anchovy, an onion, two cloves, and a sprig of sweet herbs. When tender take them out, strain off the liquor, put a very little of it into a quarter of a pint of thick cream, with a piece of butter, and a little flour. Keep it constantly stirring till the butter is melted; then put in the rabbit, with a little grated lemon peel, mace, and lemon juice. Shake all together over the fire, and make it quite hot. If more agreeable, pickled mushrooms may be used instead of lemon.—To make a brown fricassee, prepare the rabbits as above, and fry them in butter to a nice brown. Put some gravy or beef broth into the pan, shake in some flour, and keep it stirring over the fire. Add some ketchup, a very little shalot chopped, salt, cayenne, and lemon juice, or pickled mushrooms. Boil it up, put in the rabbit, and shake it round till it is quite hot.
FRYING. This is often a very convenient and expeditious mode of cooking; but though one of the most common, it is as commonly performed in a very imperfect manner, and meets with less attention than the comfort of a good meal requires. A fryingpan should be about four inches deep, with a perfectly flat and thick bottom, and perpendicular sides. When used it should be half filled with fat, for good frying is in fact, boiling in fat. To make sure that the pan is quite clean, rub a little fat over it, then make it warm, and wipe it out with a clean cloth. Great care must be taken in frying, never to use any oil, butter, lard, or drippings, but what is quite clean, fresh, and free from salt. Any thing dirty spoils the appearance, any thing bad tasted or stale spoils the flavour, and salt prevents its browning. Fine olive oil is the most delicate for frying, but it is very expensive, and bad oil spoils every thing that is dressed with it. For general purposes, and especially for fish, clean fresh lard is not near so expensive as oil or clarified butter, and does almost as well, except for collops and cutlets. Butter often burns before any one is aware, and what is fried with it will get a dark and dirty appearance. Dripping, if nicely clean and fresh, is almost as good as any thing: if not clean, it may easily be clarified. Whatever fat be used, let it remain in the pan a few minutes after frying, and then pour it through a sieve into a clean bason. If not burnt, it will be found much better than it was at first; but the fat in which fish has been fried, will not serve any other purpose. To fry fish, parsley, potatoes, or any thing that is watery, the fire must be very clear, and the fat quite hot, which will be the case when it has done hissing. Fish will neither be firm nor crisp, nor of a good colour, unless the fat be of a proper heat. To determine this, throw a little bit of bread into the pan: if it fries crisp, the fat is ready: if it burns the bread, it is too hot. Whatever is fried beforethe fat is hot enough, will be pale and sodden, and offend the palate and the stomach, as well as the eye. The fat also must be thoroughly drained from the fry, especially from such things as are dressed in bread crumbs, or the flavour will be impaired. The dryness of fish depends much upon its having been fried in fat of a due degree of heat, they are then crisp and dry in a few minutes after being taken out of the pan: when they are not, lay them on a soft cloth before the fire, and turn them till they are dry.
FRIED CARP. Scale, draw, and wash them clean; dry them in flour, and fry them in hog's lard to a light brown. Fry some toast, cut three-corner ways, with the roes; lay the fish on a coarse cloth to drain, and serve them up with butter, anchovy sauce, and the juice of a lemon. Garnish with the bread, roe, and lemon.
FRIED EELS. There is a greater difference in the goodness of eels than of any other fish. The true silver-eel, so called from the bright colour of the belly, is caught in the Thames. The Dutch eels sold at Billingsgate are very bad; those taken in great floods are generally good, but in ponds they have usually a strong rank flavour. Except the middle of summer, they are always in season. If small, they should be curled round and fried, being first dipped into eggs and crumbs of bread.
FRIED EGGS. Boil six eggs for three minutes, put them in cold water, and take off the shells, without breaking the whites. Wrap the eggs up in a puff paste, smear them over with egg, and grate some bread over them. Put into a stewpan a sufficient quantity of lard or butter to swim the eggs; and when the lard is hot, put in the eggs, and fry them of a good colour. Lay them on a cloth to drain.
FRIED HERBS. Clean and drain a good quantity of spinach leaves, two large handfuls of parsley, and a handful of green onions. Chop the parsley and onions, and sprinkle them among the spinach. Stew them together with a little salt, and a bit of butter the size of a walnut. Shake the pan when it begins to grow warm, and let itlieclosely covered over a slow stove till done enough. It is served with slices of broiled calves' liver, small rashers of bacon, and fried eggs. The latter on the herbs, and the other in a separate dish. This is the mode of dressing herbs in Staffordshire.
FRIED MACKAREL. Stuff the fish with grated bread, minced parsley and lemon peel, pepper and salt, nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg, all mixed together. Serve with anchovy and fennel sauce. Or split the fish open, cut off their heads, season and hang them up four or five hours, and then broil them. Make the sauce of fennel and parsley chopped fine, and mixed with melted butter.
FRIED OYSTERS. To prepare a garnish for boiled fish, make a batter of flour, milk, and eggs. Season it a very little, dip the oysters into the batter, and fry them of a fine yellow brown. A little nutmeg should be put into the seasoning, and a few crumbs of bread into the flour.
FRIED PARSLEY. Pick some young parsley very clean, and put it into a fryingpan with a bit of butter. Stir it with a knife till it becomes crisp, and use it for garnishing. Or rub the picked parsley in a cloth to clean it, and set it before the fire in a Dutch oven till it is crisp. This is better than fried parsley, and may be rubbed on steaks, calf's liver, or any other dish of the kind.
FRIED PATTIES. Mince a bit of cold veal, and six oysters; mix them with a few crumbs of bread, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and a very small bit of lemon peel. Addthe liquor of the oysters, warm all together in a tosser, but it must not boil, and then let it grow cold. Prepare a good puff-paste, roll it thin, and cut it into round or square pieces. Put some of the mixture between two of them, twist the edges to keep in the gravy, and fry them of a fine brown. If baked, it becomes a fashionable dish. All patties should be washed over with egg before they are baked.
FRIED POTATOES. Slice them thin, and fry them in butter till they are brown; then lay them in a dish, and pour melted butter over them. Potatoes may likewise be fried in butter, and served up with powder sugar strewed over them. Any kind of fruit may be fried in the same manner, and all batter should be fried in hog's lard.
FRIED RABBIT. Cut it into joints, and fry it in butter of a nice brown. Send it to table with fried or dried parsley, and gravy or liver sauce.
FRIED SMELTS. Wipe them clean, take away the gills, rub them over with a feather dipped in egg, and strew on some grated bread. Fry them in hog's lard over a clear fire, and put them in when the fat is boiling hot. When they are of a fine brown, take them out and drain off the fat. Garnish with fried parsley and lemon.
FRIED SOLES. Divide two or three soles from the backbone, and take off the head, fins, and tail. Sprinkle the inside with salt, roll them up tight from the tail and upwards, and fasten with small skewers. Small fish do not answer, but if large or of a tolerable size, put half a fish in each roll. Dip them into yolks of eggs, and cover them with crumbs. Egg them over again, and then put more crumbs. Fry them of a beautiful colour in lard, or in clarified butter. Or dip the soles in egg, and cover them with fine crumbs of bread. Set on a fryingpan of the proper size, and put into it a good quantity of fresh lard or dripping. Let it boil, and immediately put the fish into it, and do them of a fine brown. Soles that have been fried, eat good cold with oil, vinegar, salt and mustard.
FRIED TENCH. Scale and clean the fish well, dry and lay them before the fire, dust them with flour, and fry them in dripping or hog's lard. Serve with crisped parsley, and plain butter. Perch, trout, and grayling may be done the same.
FRIED TURBOT. Cut a small turbot across in ribs, dry and flour it, put it into a fryingpan, and cover it with boiling lard. Fry it brown, and drain it. Clean the pan, put in a little wine, an anchovy, salt, nutmeg, and a little ginger. Put in the fish, and stew it till the liquor is half wasted. Then take it out, put in some butter rolled in flour, with a minced lemon, and simmer them to a proper thickness. Rub a hot dish with a piece of shalot, lay the turbot in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.
FRIED VENISON. Cut the meat into slices, fry it of a bright brown, and keep it hot before the fire. Make gravy of the bones, add a little butter rolled in flour, stir it in the pan till it is thick and brown, and put in some port and lemon juice. Warm the venison in it, put in the dish, and pour the sauce over it. Send up currant jelly in a glass.
FRITTERS. Make them of pancake batter, dropped in small quantities into the pan: or put apple into batter, pared and sliced, and fry some of it with each slice. Currants, or very thinly-sliced lemon, make an agreeable change. Fritters for company should be served on a folded napkin in the dish. Any sort of sweetmeat, or ripe fruit, may be made into fritters.
FRONTINIAC. Boil twelvepounds of loaf sugar, and six pounds of raisins cut small, in six gallons of water. When the liquor is almost cold, put in half a peck of elder flowers; and the next day six spoonfuls of the syrup of lemons, and four of yeast. Let it stand two days, put it into a barrel that will just hold it, and bottle it after it has stood about two months.
FROST AND BLIGHTS. When a fruit tree is in full blossom, the best way to preserve it from frost and blights is to twine a rope upon its branches, and bring the end of it into a pail of water. If a light frost happen in the night, the tree will not be affected by it; but an ice will be formed on the surface of the water, in which the end of the rope is immersed. This experiment may easily be tried on wall fruit, and has been found to answer. If trees be infected with an easterly blight, the best way is to fumigate them with brimstone strewed on burning charcoal: this will effectually destroy the insects, and preserve the fruit. Afterwards it will be proper to dash them with water, or wash the branches with a woollen cloth, and clear them of all glutinous matter and excrescences of every kind, which would harbour the insects; but the washing should be performed in the early part of a warm day, that the moisture may be exhaled before the cold of the evening approaches.
FROSTED POTATOES. If soaked three hours in cold water, before they are to be prepared as food, changing the water every hour, these valuable roots will recover their salubrious quality and flavour. While in cold water, they must stand where a sufficiency of artificial heat may prevent freezing. If much frozen, allow a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre to every peck of potatoes, and dissolve it in the water. But if so much penetrated by the frost as to render them unfit for culinary purposes, they may be made into starch, and will yield a large quantity of flour for that purpose.
FROTH FOR CREAMS. Sweeten half a pound of the pulp of damsons, or any other scalded fruit. Put to it the whites of four eggs beaten, and beat up the pulp with them till it will stand up, and take any form. It should be rough, to imitate a rock, or the billows of the ocean. This froth looks and eats well, and may be laid on cream, custard, or trifle, with a spoon.
FRUIT. The method of preserving any kind of fruit all the year, is to put them carefully into a wide-mouthed glass vessel, closed down with oiled paper. The glasses are to be placed in a box filled with a mixture of four pounds of dry sand, two pounds of bole-armeniac, and one pound of saltpetre, so that the fruit may be completely covered. The fruit should be gathered by the hand before it be thoroughly ripe, and the box kept in a dry place.
FRUIT BISCUITS. To the pulp of any scalded fruit, put an equal weight of sugar sifted, and beat it two hours. Then make it into little white-paper forms, dry them in a cool oven, and turn them the next day. They may be put into boxes in the course of two or three days.
FRUIT FOR CHILDREN. To prepare fruit for children, far more wholesome than in puddings or pies, put some sliced apples, plums or gooseberries, into a stone jar, and sprinkle among them a sufficient quantity of fine moist sugar. Set the jar on a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of boiling water, and let it remain till the fruit is well done. Slices of bread, or boiled rice, may either be stewed with the fruit, or added when eaten.
FRUIT PASTE. Put any kind of fruit into a preserving pan, stir it till it will mash quite soft, andstrain it. To one pint of juice, add a pound and a half of fine sugar; dissolve the sugar in water, and boil it till the water is dried up. Then mix it with the juice, boil it once, pour it into plates, and dry it in a stove. When wanted for use, cut it in strips, and make paste knots for garnishing.
FRUIT PUDDINGS. Make up a thick batter of milk and eggs, with a little flour and salt; put in any kind of fruit, and either bake or boil it. Apples should be pared and quartered, gooseberries and currants should be picked and cleaned, before they are put into the batter. Or make a thick paste, roll it out, and line a bason with it, after it has been rubbed with a little butter. Then fill it with fruit, put on a lid, tie it up close in a cloth, and boil it for two hours. The pudding will be lighter, if only made in a bason, then turned out into a pudding cloth, and boiled in plenty of water.
FRUIT STAINS. If stains of fruit or wine have been long in the linen, rub the part on each side with yellow soap. Then lay on a thick mixture of starch in cold water, rub it well in, and expose the linen to the sun and air till the stain comes out. If not removed in three or four days, rub off the mixture, and renew the process. When dry, it may be sprinkled with a little water.—Many other stains may be taken out by only dipping the linen into sour buttermilk, and drying it in a hot sun. Then wash it in cold water and dry it, two or three times a day.
FRUIT FOR TARTS. To preserve fruit for family desserts, whether cherries, plums, or apples, gather them when ripe, and put them in small jars that will hold about a pound. Strew over each jar six ounces of fine pounded sugar, and cover each with two bladders, separately tied down. Set the jars in a large stewpan of water up to the neck, and let it boil three hours gently. Keep these and all other sorts of fruit free from damp.
FRUIT TREES. When they have the appearance of being old or worn out, and are covered with moss and insects, they may be revived and made fruitful by dressing them well with a brush, dipped in a solution of strong fresh lime. The outer rind, with all its incumbrance, will then fall off; a new and clean one will be formed, and the trees put on a healthy appearance.
FRUITS IN JELLY. Put half a pint of calf's foot jelly into a bowl; when stiff, lay in three peaches, and a bunch of grapes with the stalk upwards. Cover over with vine leaves, and fill up the bowl with jelly. Let it stand till the next day, and then set it to the brim in hot water. When it gives way from the bowl, turn the jelly out carefully, and send it to table. Any kind of fruit may be treated in the same way.
FUEL. Coals constitute a principal article of domestic convenience, especially during the severity of winter. At that season they often become very scarce, and are sold at an extravagant price. To remedy this evil in some measure, take two-thirds of soft clay, free from stones, and work it into three or four bushels of small coals previously sifted: form this composition into balls or cakes, about three or four inches thick, and let them be thoroughly dried. When the fire burns clear, place four or five of these cakes in the front of the grate, where they will soon become red, and yield a clear and strong heat till they are totally consumed. The expense of a ton of this composition is but trifling, when compared with that of a chaldron of coals, as it may be prepared at one-fourth of the cost, and will be of greater service than a chaldron and a half of the latter. Coaldust worked up with horse dung, cow dung, saw dust, tanner's waste, or any other combustible matter that is not too expensive, will also be found a savinginthe article of fuel. Nearly a third of the coals consumed in large towns and cities might be saved, if the coal ashes were preserved, instead of being thrown into the dust bins, and afterwards mixed with an equal quantity of small coal, moistened with water. This mixture thrown behind the fire, with a few round coals in front, would save the trouble of sifting the ashes, and make a cheerful and pleasant fire.——The Best Mode of lighting a Fire.—Fill the grate with fresh coals quite up to the upper bar but one; then lay on the wood in the usual manner, rather collected in a mass than scattered. Over the wood place the cinders of the preceding day, piled up as high as the grate will admit, and placed loosely in rather large fragments, in order that the draft may be free: a bit or two of fresh coal may be added to the cinders when once they are lighted, but no small coal must be thrown on at first. When all is prepared, light the wood, when the cinders in a short time being thoroughly ignited, the gas rising from the coals below, which will now be affected by the heat, will take fire as it passes through them, leaving a very small portion of smoke to go up the chimney. One of the advantages of this mode of lighting a fire is, that small coal is better suited to the purpose than large, except a few pieces in front to keep the small from falling out of the grate. A fire lighted in this way will burn all day, without any thing being done to it. When apparently quite out, on being stirred, you have in a few minutes a glowing fire. When the upper part begins to cake, it must be stirred, but the lower must not be touched.
FUMIGATION. To prevent infection from fever, take a handful each of rue, sage, mint, rosemary, and lavender, all fresh gathered. Cut them small, put them into a stone jar, pour on a pint of the best white-wine vinegar, cover the jar close, and let it stand eight days in the sun, or near the fire. Then strain it off, and dissolve in it an ounce of camphor. This liquid sprinkled about the chamber, or fumigated, will much revive the patient, and prevent the attendants from receiving the infection. Or mix a spoonful of salt in a cup, with a little powdered magnesia: pour on the mixture at different times a spoonful of strong vitriolic acid, and the vapour arising from it will destroy the putrid effluvia.
FURNITURE LININGS. These articles require to be first washed, and afterwards dyed of a different colour, in order to change and improve their appearance.—For a Buff or salmon colour, according to the depth of the hue, rub down on a pewter plate two pennyworth of Spanish arnatto, and then boil it in a pail of water a quarter of an hour. Put into it two ounces of potash, stir it round, and instantly put in the lining. Stir it all the time it is boiling, which must be five or six minutes; then put it into cold spring water, and hang the articles up singly without wringing. When almost dry, fold the lining, and mangle it.—For Pink, the calico must be washed extremely clean, and thoroughly dried. Then boil it in two gallons of soft water, and four ounces of alum; take it out, and dry it in the air. Meanwhile boil in the alum water two handfuls of wheat bran till quite slippery, and then strain it. Take two scruples of cochineal, and two ounces of argall finely pounded and sifted, and mix it with the liquor a little at a time. Put the calico into the liquor, keep it stirring and boiling, till theliquor is nearly wasted. Then take out the calico, wash it first in chamber lye, and afterwards in cold water. Rinse it in water-starch strained, dry it quick without hanging it in folds, and let it be well mangled. It would be better still to have it callendered.—Blue. The calico must be washed clean and dried. Then mix some of Scott's liquid blue in as much water as will be sufficient to cover the things to be dyed, and add some starch to give it a light stiffness. Dry a small piece of the lining to see whether the colour is deep enough; and if approved, put it in and wash it in the dye. Dry the articles singly, and mangle or callender them.
FURS. To preserve them from the moth, comb them occasionally while in use. When not wanted, mix among them bitter apples from the druggists, in small muslin bags, sewing them in several folds of linen, carefully turned in at the edges. Keep the furs in a cool place, free from damp.
Gad fly.Cows and oxen are often so distressed by the darts of the gad fly, that they rush into the water for refuge till night approaches. The only remedy is to wash the backs of the cattle in the spring with strong tobacco-water, which would greatly prevent the generating of these vermin. When sheep are struck with the fly, the way is to clip off the wool, to rub the parts affected with powdered lime or wood ashes, and afterwards to anoint them with currier's oil, which will heal the wounds, and secure the animals from future attack. Or dissolve half an ounce of corrosive sublimate in two quarts of soft water, and add a quarter of a pint of spirits of turpentine. Cut off the wool as far as it is infected, pour a few drops of the mixture in a circle round the maggots produced by the flies, and afterwards rub a little of it among them, and the maggots will immediately be destroyed.
GAME. Game ought not to be thrown away even after it has been kept a long time, for when it seems to be spoiled it may often be made fit for eating, by carefully cleaning and washing it with vinegar and water. If there is danger of birds not keeping, the best way is to crop and draw them. Pick them clean, wash them in two or three waters, and rub them with salt. Plunge them into a kettle of boiling water one by one, and draw them up and down by the legs, that the water may pass through them. Let them remain in the water five or six minutes, and then hang them up in a cool place. When drained, season the insides well with pepper and salt, and wash them before they are roasted. The most delicate birds, even grouse, may thus be preserved. Those that live by suction cannot be done this way, as they are never drawn; and perhaps the heat might make them worse, as the water could not pass through them; but they will bear a high flavour. Lumps of charcoal put about birds and meat will preserve them from taint, and restore what is spoiling.
GAME SAUCE. Wash and pare a head of celery, cut it into thin slices, boil it gently till it becomes tender; then add a little beaten mace, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Thicken it with flour and butter, boil it up, pour some of it in thedish, and some in a boat. Lemon pickle or lemon juice may be added to it.
GAMMON. Take off the rind of the ham and gammon, and soak it in water; cover the fat part with writing paper, roast, and baste it with canary. When done, sprinkle it over with crumbs of bread and parsley. Serve it with brown gravy, after it is well browned, and garnish it with raspings of bread.
GARDEN HEDGES. A well trained hawthorn fence is the strongest, but as it is apt to get thin and full of gaps at the bottom, the barberry is to be preferred, especially on high banks with a light soil. It may be raised from the berries as easily as hawthorn, and will grow faster, if the suckers be planted early. The barberry puts up numerous suckers from the roots; it will therefore always grow close at the bottom, and make an impenetrable fence. In trimming any kind of close hedge, care should be taken to slope the sides, and make it pointed at the top: otherwise, the bottom being shaded by the upper part, will make it grow thin and full of gaps. The sides of a young hedge may be trimmed, to make it bush the better; but it should not be topped till it has arrived at a full yard in height, though a few of the points may be taken off. The bottom of hawthorn hedges may be conveniently thickened, by putting in some plants of common sweet briar, or barberry.
GARDEN RHUBARB. To cultivate the common garden rhubarb, it should not only have a depth of good soil, but it should be watered in dry weather, and well covered with straw or dung in the winter season. It will then become solid when taken out of the ground; and if cut into large slices, and hung up in a warm kitchen, it will soon be fit for use. The plants may be taken up when the leaves are decayed, either in spring or in autumn, while the weather is dry; and when the roots are cleared from dirt, without washing, they should be dried in the sun for a few days before they are hung up. The better way would be to wrap them up separately in whited brown paper, and dry them on the hob of a common stove. Lemon and orange peel will dry remarkably well in the same manner.
GARGLES. Common gargles may be made of figs boiled in milk and water, with a little sal-ammoniac; or sage-tea, with honey and vinegar mixed together. A sore throat may be gargled with it two or three times a day.
GEESE. The rearing of this species of poultry incurs but little expense, as they chiefly support themselves on commons or in lanes, where they can get at water. The largest are esteemed the best, as also are the white and the grey: the pied and dark coloured are not so good. Thirty days are generally the time that the goose sets, but in warm weather she will sometimes hatch sooner. Give them plenty of food, such as scalded bran and light oats. As soon as the goslings are hatched, keep them housed for eight or ten days, and feed them with barley meal, bran, and curds. Green geese should begin to fatten at six or seven weeks old, and be fed as above. Stubble geese require no fattening, if they have the run of good fields and pasture.—If geese are bought at market, for the purpose of cooking, be careful to see that they are fresh and young. If fresh, the feet will be pliable: if stale, dry and stiff. The bill and feet of a young one will be yellow, and there will be but few hairs upon them: if old, they will be red. Green geese, not more than three or four months old, should be scalded: a stubble goose should be picked dry.
GEORGE PUDDING. Boil verytender a handful of whole rice in a small quantity of milk, with a large piece of lemon peel. Let it drain; then mix with it a dozen apples, boiled to a pulp as dry as possible. Add a glass of white wine, the yolks of five eggs, two ounces of orange and citron cut thin, and sweeten it with sugar. Line a mould or bason with a very good paste, beat the five whites of the eggs to a very strong froth, and mix it with the other ingredients. Fill the mould, and bake it of a fine brown colour. Serve it bottom upwards with the following sauce: two glasses of wine, a spoonful of sugar, the yolks of two eggs, and a piece of sugar the size of a walnut. Simmer without boiling, and pour to and from the saucepan till the sauce is of a proper thickness, and then put it in the dish.
GERMAN PUDDINGS. Melt three ounces of butter in a pint of cream, and let it stand till nearly cold. Then mix two ounces of fine flour, and two ounces of sugar, four yolks and two whites of eggs, and a little rose or orange flower water. Bake in little buttered cups half an hour. They should be served the moment they are done, and only when going to be eaten, or they will not be light. Turn the puffs out of the cups, and serve with white wine and sugar.
GERMAN PUFFS. Mix together two ounces of blanched almonds well beaten, a spoonful of rose water, one white and two yolks of eggs, a spoonful of flour, half a pint of cream, two ounces of butter, and sugar to taste. Butter some cups, half fill them, and put them in the oven. Serve with white wine sauce, butter, and sugar. This is esteemed a good middle dish for dinner or supper.
GIBLETS. Let the giblets be picked clean and washed, the feet skinned, the bill cut off, the head split in two, the pinion bones broken, the liver and gizzard cut in four, and the neck in two pieces. Put them into a pint of water, with pepper and salt, an onion, and sweet herbs. Cover the saucepan close, and stew them on a slow fire till they are quite tender. Take out the onion and herbs, and put them into a dish with the liquor.
GIBLET PIE. Clean and skin the giblets very carefully, stew them with a small quantity of water, onion, black pepper, and a bunch of sweet herbs, till nearly done. Let them grow cold: and if not enough to fill the dish, lay at the bottom two or three slices of veal, beef, or mutton. Add the liquor of the stew; and when the pie is baked, pour into it a large teacupful of cream. Sliced apples added to the pie are a great improvement. Duck giblets will do; but goose giblets are much to be preferred.
GIBLET SOUP. Scald and clean three or four sets of goose or duck giblets, and stew them slowly with a pound or two of gravy beef, scrag of mutton, or the bone of a knuckle of veal, an ox tail, or some shanks of mutton. Add a large bunch of sweet herbs, a tea-spoonful of white pepper, a large spoonful of salt, and three onions. Put in five pints of water, cut each of the gizzards into four pieces, and simmer till they become quite tender. Skin the stew carefully, add a quarter of a pint of cream, two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom powder, and an ounce of butter mixed with a dessert-spoonful of flour. Let it boil a few minutes, then put it into a tureen, add a little salt, and serve up the soup with the giblets. Instead of cream, it may be seasoned with a large spoonful of ketchup, some cayenne, and two glasses of sherry.
GILDED FRAMES. These valuable articles cannot be preserved from fly stains, without covering them with strips of paper, and suffering them to remain till the fliesare gone. Previous to this, the light dust should be blown from the gilding, and a feather or a clean brush lightly passed over it. Linen takes off the gilding, and deadens its brightness; it should therefore never be used for wiping it. Some means should be used to destroy the flies, as they injure furniture of every kind, and the paper likewise. Bottles hung about with sugar and vinegar, or beer, will attract them; or fly water, put into little shells placed about the room, but out of the reach of children.
GILLIFLOWER WINE. To three gallons of water put six pounds of the best raw sugar; boil the sugar and water together for the space of half an hour, and keep skimming it as the scum rises. Let it stand to cool, beat up three ounces of syrup of betony with a large spoonful of ale yeast, and put it into the liquor. Prepare a peck of gilliflowers, cut from the stalks, and put them in to infuse and work together for three days, the whole being covered with a cloth. Strain it, and put it into a cask; let it settle for three or four weeks, and then bottle it.
GINGER BEER. To every gallon of spring water add one ounce of sliced white ginger, one pound of lump sugar, and two ounces of lemon juice. Boil the mixture nearly an hour, and take off the scum; then run it through a hair sieve into a tub, and when cool, add yeast in the proportion of half a pint to nine gallons. Keep it in a temperate situation two days, during which it may be stirred six or eight times. Then put it into a cask, which must be kept full, and the yeast taken off at the bunghole with a spoon. In a fortnight, add half a pint of fining to nine gallons of the liquor, which will clear it by ascent, if it has been properly fermented. The cask must still be kept full, and the rising particles taken off at the bunghole. When fine, which may be expected in twenty-four hours, bottle and cork it well; and in summer it will be ripe and fit to drink in a fortnight.
GINGER DROPS. Beat two ounces of fresh candied orange in a mortar, with a little sugar, till reduced to a paste. Then mix an ounce of the powder of white ginger, with a pound of loaf sugar. Wet the sugar with a little water, and boil all together to a candy, and drop it on white paper the size of mint drops. These make an excellent stomachic.
GINGER WINE. To seven gallons of water put nineteen pounds of moist sugar, and boil it for half an hour, taking off the scum as it rises. Then take a small quantity of the liquor, and add to it nine ounces of the best ginger bruised. Put it all together, and when nearly cold, chop nine pounds of raisins very small, and put them into a nine gallon cask, with one ounce of isinglass. Slice four lemons into the cask, taking out all the seeds, and pour the liquor over them, with half a pint of fresh yeast. Leave it unstopped for three weeks, and in about three months it will be fit for bottling. There will be one gallon of the sugar and water more than the cask will hold at first: this must be kept to fill up as the liquor works off, as it is necessary that the cask should be kept full, til it has done working. The raisins should be two thirds Malaga, and one third Muscadel. Spring and autumn are the best seasons for making this wine.—Another. Boil nine quarts of water with six pounds of lump sugar, the rinds of two or three lemons very thinly pared, and two ounces of bruised white ginger. Let it boil half an hour, and skim it well. Put three quarters of a pound of raisins into the cask; and when the liquor is lukewarm, turn it, adding the juice of two lemons strained, with a spoonful and a halfof yeast. Stir it daily, then put in half a pint of brandy, and half an ounce of isinglass shavings. Stop it up, and bottle it in six or seven weeks. The lemon peel is not to be put into the barrel.
GINGERBREAD. Mix with two pounds of flour, half a pound of treacle, and half a pound of butter, adding an ounce of ginger finely powdered and sifted, and three quarters of an ounce of caraway seeds. Having worked it very much, set it to rise before the fire. Then roll out the paste, cut it into any shape, and bake it on tins. If to be made into sweetmeats, add somecandiedorange-peel, shred into small pieces.—Another sort. To three quarters of a pound of treacle, put one egg beaten and strained. Mix together four ounces of brown sugar, half an ounce of sifted ginger, and a quarter of an ounce each of cloves, mace, allspice, and nutmeg, beaten as fine as possible; also a quarter of an ounce of coriander and caraway seeds. Melt a pound of butter, and mix with the above, adding as much flour as will knead it into a pretty stiff paste. Roll it out, cut it into cakes, bake them on tin plates in a quick oven, and a little time will do them. Gingerbread buttons or drops may be made of a part of the paste.—A plain sort of gingerbread may be prepared as follows. Mix three pounds of flour with half a pound of butter, four ounces of brown sugar, and half an ounce of pounded ginger. Make it into a paste, with a pound and a quarter of warm treacle. Or make the gingerbread without butter, by mixing two pounds of treacle with the following ingredients. Four ounces each of orange, lemon, citron, and candied ginger, all thinly sliced; one ounce each of coriander seeds, caraways, and pounded ginger, adding as much flour as will make it into a soft paste. Lay it in cakes on tin plates, and bake it in a quick oven. Keep it dry in a covered earthen vessel, and the gingerbread will be good for some months. If cakes or biscuits be kept in paper, or a drawer, the taste will be disagreeable. A tureen, or a pan and cover, will preserve them long and moist; or if intended to be crisp, laying them before the fire, or keeping them in a dry canister, will make them so.
GINGERBREAD NUTS. Carefully melt half a pound of butter, and stir it up in two pounds of treacle. Add an ounce of pounded ginger, two ounces of preserved lemon and orange peel, two ounces of preserved angelica cut small, one of coriander seed pounded, and the same of caraway whole. Mix them together, with two eggs, and as much flour as will bring it to a fine paste. Make it into nuts, put them on a tin plate, and bake them in a quick oven.
GLASS. Broken glass may be mended with the same cement as china, or if it be only cracked, it will be sufficient to moisten the part with the white of an egg, strewing it over with a little powdered lime, and instantly applying a piece of fine linen. Another cement for glass is prepared from two parts of litharge, one of quick lime, and one of flint glass, each separately and finely powdered, and the whole worked up into a paste with drying oil. This compound is very durable, and acquires a greater degree of hardness when immersed in water.
GLASSES. These frail and expensive articles may be rendered less brittle, and better able to bear sudden changes of temperature, by first plunging them into cold water, then gradually heating the water till it boils, and suffering it to cool in the open air. Glasses of every description, used for the table, will afterwards bear boiling water suddenlypoured into them, without breaking. When they have been tarnished by age or accident, their lustre may be restored by strewing on them some fuller's earth, carefully powdered and cleared of sand and dirt, and then rubbing them gently with a linen cloth, or a little putty.
GLOVES. Leather gloves may be repaired, cleaned, and dyed of a fine yellow, by steeping a little saffron in boiling water for about twelve hours; and having lightly sewed up the tops of the gloves, to prevent the dye from staining the insides, wet them over with a sponge or soft brush dipped in the liquid. A teacupful will be sufficient for a single pair.
GLOUCESTER CHEESE. This article is made of milk immediately from the cow; and if it be too hot in the summer, a little skim milk or water is added to it, before the rennet is put in. As soon as the curd is come it is broken small, and cleared of the whey. The curd is set in the press for about a quarter of an hour, in order to extract the remainder of the liquid. It is then put into the cheese tub again, broken small, and scalded with water mixed with a little whey. When the curd is settled, the liquor is poured off; the curd is put into a vat, and worked up with a little salt when about half full. The vat is then filled up, and the whole is turned two or three times in it, the edges being pared, and the middle rounded up at each turning. At length, the curd being put into a cloth, it is placed in the press, then laid on the shelves, and turned every day till it becomes sufficiently firm to bear washing.
GLOUCESTER JELLY. Take rice, sago, pearl barley, hartshorn shavings, and eringo root, each one ounce. Simmer with three pints of water till reduced to one, and then strain it. When cold it will be a jelly; of which give, dissolved in wine, milk, or broth, in change with other nourishment.
GNATS. The stings of these troublesome insects are generally attended with a painful swelling. One of the most effectual remedies consists of an equal mixture of turpentine and sweet oil, which should immediately be applied to the wounded part, and it will afford relief in a little time. Olive oil alone, unsalted butter, or fresh lard, if rubbed on without delay, will also be found to answer the same purpose. They may be destroyed by fumigation, the same as for flies.
GOLD. To clean gold, and restore its lustre, dissolve a little sal ammoniac in common wine. Boil the gold in it, and it will soon recover its brilliance. To clean gold or silver lace, sew it up in a linen cloth, and boil it with two ounces of soap in a pint of water: afterwards wash the lace in clear water. When the lace happens to be tarnished, the best liquor for restoring its lustre is spirits of wine, which should be warmed before it is applied. This application will also preserve the colour of silk or embroidery.
GOLD RINGS. If a ring sticks tight on the finger, and cannot easily be removed, touch it with mercury, and it will become so brittle that a slight blow will break it.
GOOSE FEATHERS. These being deemed particularly valuable, the birds in some counties are plucked four or five times in a year. The first operation is performed in the spring for feathers and quills, and is repeated for feathers only, between that period and Michaelmas. Though the plucking of geese appears to be a barbarous custom, yet experience has proved, that if carefully done, the birds thrive better, and are more healthy, when strippedof their feathers, than if they were left to drop them by moulting. Geese intended for breeding in farm yards, and which are called old geese, may be plucked three times a year, at an interval of seven weeks, but not oftener. Every one should be thirteen or fourteen weeks old before they are subject to this operation, or they are liable to perish in cold summers; and if intended for the table, they would become poor and lose their quality, were they stripped of their feathers at an earlier period.
GOOSE PIE. Quarter a goose, season it well, put it in a baking dish, and lay pieces of butter over it. Put on a raised crust, and bake it in a moderate oven. To make a richer pie, forcemeat may be added, and slices of tongue. Duck pie is made in the same manner.
GOOSE SAUCE. Put into melted butter a spoonful of sorrel juice, a little sugar, and some scalded gooseberries. Pour it into boats, and send it hot to table.
GOOSEBERRY FOOL. Put the fruit into a stone jar, with some good Lisbon sugar. Set the 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 it is done enough to pulp, press it through a cullender. Have ready a sufficient quantity of new milk, and a tea-cupful of raw cream, boiled together, or an egg instead of the latter. When cold, sweeten it pretty well with fine Lisbon sugar, and mix the pulp with it by degrees.
GOOSEBERRY HOPS. Gather the largest green gooseberries of the walnut kind, and slit the tops into four quarters, leaving the stalk end whole. Pick out the seeds, and with a strong needle and thread fasten five or six together, by running the thread through the bottoms, till they are of the size of a hop. Lay vine leaves at the bottom of a tin preserving-pan, cover them with the hops, then a layer of leaves, and so on: lay a good many on the top, and fill the pan with water. Stop it down so close that no steam can escape, set it by a slow fire till scalding hot, and then take it off to cool. Repeat the operation till the gooseberries, on being opened, are found to be of a good green. Then drain them on sieves, and make a thin syrup of a pound of sugar to a pint of water, well boiled and skimmed. When the syrup is half cold, put in the fruit; give it a boil up, and repeat it thrice. Gooseberry hops look well and eat best dried, and in this case they may be set to dry in a week. But if to be kept moist, make a syrup in the above proportions, adding a slice of ginger in the boiling. When skimmed and clear, give the gooseberries one boil, and pour the syrup cold over them. If found too sour, a little sugar may be added, before the hops that are for drying receive their last boil. The extra syrup will serve for pies, or go towards other sweetmeats.
GOOSEBERRY JAM. Gather some ripe gooseberries, of the clear white or green sort, pick them clean and weigh them. Allow three quarters of a pound of lump sugar to a pound of fruit, and half a pint of water. Boil and skim the sugar and water, then put in the fruit, and boil it gently till it is quite clear. Break the gooseberries into jam, and put into small pots.—Another. Gather some ripe gooseberries in dry weather, of the red hairy sort, and pick off the heads and tails. Put twelve pounds of them into a preserving pan, with a pint of currant juice, drawn as for jelly. Boil them pretty quick, and beat them with a spoon; when they begin to break, add six pounds of white Lisbon sugar, and simmer them slowly to a jam. They require long boiling, or they will not keep; but they make an excellent jam for tarts and puffs. When thejam is put into jars, examine it after two or three days; and if the syrup and fruit separate, the whole must be boiled again. In making white gooseberry jam, clarified sugar should be used; and in all cases great care must be taken to prevent the fruit from burning to the bottom of the pan.
GOOSEBERRY PUDDING. Stew some gooseberries in a jar over a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of water, till reduced to a pulp. Take a pint of the juice pressed through a coarse sieve, and mix it with three eggs beaten and strained. Add an ounce and a half of butter, sweeten it well, put a crust round the dish, and bake it. A few crumbs of roll should be mixed with the above to give it a little consistence, or four ounces of Naples biscuits.
GOOSEBERRY TRIFLE. Scald as much fruit as when pulped through a sieve, will cover the bottom of a dish intended to be used. Mix with it the rind of half a lemon grated fine, sweetened with sugar. Put any quantity of common custard over it, and a whip on the top, as for other trifles.
GOOSEBERRY VINEGAR. Boil some spring water; and when cold, put to every three quarts, a quart of bruised gooseberries in a large tub. Let them remain two or three days, stirring often; then strain through a hair bag, and to each gallon of liquor add a pound of the coarsest sugar. Put it into a barrel, with yeast spread upon a toast, and cover the bung hole with a piece of slate. The greater the quantity of sugar and fruit, the stronger the vinegar.
GOOSEBERRY WINE. When the weather is dry, gather gooseberries about the time they are half ripe. Pick them clean as much as a peck into a convenient vessel, and bruise them with a piece of wood, taking as much care as possible to keep the seeds whole. Now having put the pulp into a canvas bag, press out all the juice; and to every gallon of the gooseberries, add about three pounds of fine loaf sugar. Mix the whole together by stirring it with a stick, and as soon as the sugar is quite dissolved, pour it into a cask which will exactly hold it. If the quantity be about eight or nine gallons, let it stand a fortnight: if twenty gallons, forty days, and so on in proportion. Set it in a cool place; and after standing the proper time, draw it off from the lees. Put it into another clean vessel of equal size, or into the same, after pouring out the lees and making it clean. Let a cask of ten or twelve gallons stand for about three months, and twenty gallons for five months, after which it will be fit for bottling off.
GOOSEBERRIES PRESERVED. Gather some dry gooseberries of the hairy sort, before the seeds become large, and take care not to cut them in taking off the stalks and buds. If gathered in the damp, or the gooseberry skins are the least broken in the preparation, the fruit will mould. Fill some jars or wide-mouthed bottles, put the corks loosely in, and set the bottles up to the neck in a kettle of water. When the fruit looks scalded, take them out; and when perfectly cold, cork them down close, and rosin the top. Dig a trench sufficiently deep to receive all the bottles, and cover them with the earth a foot and a half. When a frost comes on, a little fresh litter from the stable will prevent the ground from hardening, so that the fruit may more easily be dug up.—Green gooseberries may also be preserved for winter use, without bedding them in the earth. Scald them as above, and when cold, fill the bottles up with cold water. Cork and rosin them down, and keep them in a dry place.—Another way. Having prepared the gooseberries as above, prepare akettle of boiling water, and put into it as much roche alum as will harden the water, or give it a little roughness when dissolved: but if there be too much it will spoil the fruit. Cover the bottom of a large sieve with gooseberries, without laying one upon another; and hold the sieve in the water till the fruit begins to look scalded on the outside. Turn them gently out of the sieve on a cloth on the dresser, cover them with another cloth, putting some more to be scalded, till the whole are finished. Observe not to put one quantity upon another, or they will become too soft. The next day pick out any bad or broken ones, bottle the rest, and fill up the bottles with the alum water in which they were scalded. If the water be left in the kettle, or in a glazed pan, it will spoil; it must therefore be quickly put into the bottles. Gooseberries prepared in this way, and stopped down close, will make as fine tarts as when fresh from the trees.—Another way. In dry weather pick some full grown but unripe gooseberries, top and tail them, and put them into wide-mouthed bottles. Stop them lightly with new velvet corks, put them into the oven after the bread is drawn, and let them stand till they are shrunk one fourth. Take them out of the oven, fasten the corks in tight, cut off the tops, and rosin them down close. Set them in a dry place; and if well secured from the air, they will keep the year round. Currants and damsons may be preserved in the same way.
GOOSEGRASS OINTMENT. Melt some hog's lard, add as much clivers or goosegrass as the lard will moisten, and boil them together over a slow fire. Keep the mixture stirring till it becomes a little brown, and then strain it through a cloth. When cold, take the ointment from the water, and put it up in gallipots.
GOUT. Gouty patients are required to abstain from all fermented and spirituous liquors, and to use wine very moderately; carefully to avoid all fat, rancid, and salted provisions, and high seasoned dishes of every description. The constant use of barley bread is recommended, with large doses of powdered ginger boiled in milk for breakfast. Absorbent powders of two scruples of magnesia, and three or four grains each of rhubarb and purified kali, should be taken during the intervals of gouty fits, and repeated every other morning for several weeks. The feet should be kept warm, sinapisms frequently applied to them, and the part affected should be covered with flannel.
GOUT CORDIAL. Take four pounds of sun raisins sliced and stoned, two ounces of senna, one ounce of fennel seed, one of coriander, half an ounce of cochineal, half an ounce of saffron, half an ounce of stick liquorice, and half a pound of rhubarb: infuse them all in two gallons of brandy, and let it stand for ten days. Stir it occasionally, then strain it off, and bottle it. Take a small wine-glass full, when the gout is in the head or stomach; and if the pain be not removed, take two large spoonfuls more.—Or take six drams of opium, half an ounce of soap of tartar, half an ounce of castile soap, one dram of grated nutmeg, three drams of camphor, two scruples of saffron, and nine ounces of sweet spirit of sal-ammoniac. Put them all into a wine flask in a sand-heat for ten days, shaking it occasionally till the last day or two: then pour it off clear, and keep it stopped up close for use. Take thirty or forty drops in a glass of peppermint two hours after eating; it may also be taken two or three times in the day or night if required.
GRANARIES. These depositaries are very liable to be infestedwith weasels, and various kinds of insects. To prevent their depredations, the floors of granaries should be laid with poplars of Lombardy.
GRAPES. To preserve this valuable fruit, prepare a cask or barrel, by carefully closing up its crevices to prevent access of the external air. Place a layer of bran, which has been well dried in an oven; upon this place a layer of bunches of grapes, well cleaned, and gathered in the afternoon of a dry day, before they are perfectly ripe. Proceed then with alternate layers of bran and grapes till the barrel is full, taking care that the bunches of grapes do not touch each other, and to let the last layer be of bran; then close the barrel so that the air may not be able to penetrate. Grapes thus packed will keep for a twelvemonth. To restore their freshness, cut the end of each bunch, and put that of white grapes into white wine, and that of black grapes into red wine, as flowers are put into water to keep them fresh. It is customary in France to pack grapes for the London market in saw dust, but it must be carefully dried with a gentle heat, or the turpentine and other odours of the wood will not fail to injure the fruit. Oak saw dust will answer the purpose best.
GRAPE WINE. To every gallon of ripe grapes put a gallon of soft water, bruise the grapes, let them stand a week without stirring, and draw the liquor off fine. To every gallon of liquor allow three pounds of lump sugar, put the whole into a vessel, but do not stop it till it has done hissing; then stop it close, and in six months it will be fit for bottling.—A better wine, though smaller in quantity, will be made by leaving out the water, and diminishing the quantity of sugar. Water is necessary only where the juice is so scanty, or so thick, as in cowslip, balm, or black currant wine, that it could not be used without it.
GRAVEL. The gout or rheumatism has a tendency to produce this disorder; it is also promoted by the use of sour liquor, indigestible food, especially cheese, and by a sedentary life. Perspiration should be assisted by gentle means, particularly by rubbing with a warm flannel; the diet regulated by the strictest temperance, and moderate exercise is not to be neglected. For medicine, take the juice of a horseradish, made into a thin syrup by mixing it with sugar; a spoonful or two to be taken every three or four hours.
GRAVEL WALKS. To preserve garden walks from moss and weeds, water them frequently with brine, or salt and water, both in the spring and in autumn. Worms may be destroyed by an infusion of walnut-tree leaves, or by pouring into the holes a ley made of wood ashes and lime. If fruit trees are sprinkled with it, the ravages of insects will be greatly prevented.
GRAVIES. A few general observations are necessary on the subject of soups and gravies. When there is any fear of gravy meat being spoiled before it be wanted, it should be well seasoned, and lightly fried, in order to its keeping a day or two longer; but the gravy is best when the juices are fresh. When soups or gravies are to be put by, let them be changed every day into fresh scalded pans. Whatever liquor has vegetables boiled in it, is apt to turn sour much sooner than the juices of meat, and gravy should never be kept in any kind of metal. When fat remains on any soup, a tea-cupful of flour and water mixed quite smooth, and boiled in, will take it off. If richness or greater consistence be required, a good lump of butter mixed with flour, and boiled in the soup or gravy, will impart either of these qualities. Long boiling is necessary to obtain the full flavour; and gravies and soups are best made the day beforethey are wanted. They are also much better when the meat is laid in the bottom of the pan, and stewed with herbs, roots, and butter, than when water is put to the meat at first; and the gravy that is drawn from the meat, should almost be dried up before the water is added. The sediment of gravies that have stood to be cold, should not be used in cooking. When onions are strong, boil a turnip with them, if for sauce; and this will make them mild and pleasant. If soups or gravies are too weak, do not cover them in boiling, that the watery particles may evaporate. A clear jelly of cow heels is very useful to keep in the house, being a great improvement to soups and gravies. Truffles and morels thicken soups and sauces, and give them a fine flavour. The way is to wash half an ounce of each carefully, then simmer them a few minutes in water, and add them with the liquor to boil in the sauce till quite tender. As to the materials of which gravy is to be made, beef skirts will make as good as any other meat. Beef kidney, or milt, cut into small pieces, will answer the purpose very well; and so will the shank end of mutton that has been dressed, if much be wanted. The shank bones of mutton, if well soaked and cleaned, are a great improvement to the richness of the gravy. Taragon gives the flavour of French cookery, and in high gravies it is a great improvement; but it should be added only a short time before serving. To draw gravy that will keep for a week, cut some lean beef thin, put it into a fryingpan without any butter, cover it up, and set it on the fire, taking care that it does not burn. Keep it on the fire till all the gravy that comes out of the meat is absorbed, then add as much water as will cover the meat, and keep it stewing. Put in some herbs, onions, spice, and a piece of lean ham. Let it simmer till it is quite rich, and keep it in a cool place; but do not remove the fat till the gravy is to be used.
GRAVY FOR FOWL. When there is no meat to make gravy of, wash the feet of the fowl nicely, and cut them and the neck small. Simmer them with a little bread browned, a slice of onion, a sprig of parsley and thyme, some salt and pepper, and the liver and gizzard, in a quarter of a pint of water, till half wasted. Take out the liver, bruise it, and strain the liquor to it. Then thicken it with flour and butter, and a tea-spoonful of mushroom ketchup will make the gravy very good.
GRAVY FOR WILD FOWL. Set on a saucepan with half a pint of veal gravy, adding half a dozen leaves of basil, a small onion, and a roll of orange or lemon peel. Let it boil up for a few minutes, and strain it off. Put to the clear gravy the juice of a Seville orange, half a teaspoonful of salt, the same of pepper, and a glass of red wine. Shalot and cayenne may be added. This is an excellent sauce for all kinds of wild water-fowl, and should be sent up hot in a boat, as some persons like wild fowl very little done, and without any sauce. The common way of gashing the breast, and squeezing in a lemon, cools and hardens the flesh, and compels every one to eat it that way, whether they approve of it or not.
GRAVY FOR MUTTON. To make mutton taste like venison, provide for it the following gravy. Pick a very stale woodcock or snipe, and cut it to pieces, after having removed the bag from the entrails. Simmer it in some meat gravy, without seasoning; then strain it, and serve it with the mutton.
GRAVY SOUP. Wash and soak a leg of beef; break the bone, and set it on the fire with a gallon of water, a large bunch of sweet herbs, two large onions sliced and friedto a fine brown, but not burnt; add two blades of mace, three cloves, twenty berries of allspice, and forty black peppers. Stew the soup till it is rich, and then take out the meat, which may be eaten at the kitchen table, with a little of the gravy. Next day take off the fat, which will serve for basting, or for common pie crust. Slice some carrots, turnips, and celery, and simmer them till tender. If not approved, they can be taken out before the soup is sent to table, but the flavour will be a considerable addition. Boil vermicelli a quarter of an hour, and add to it a large spoonful of soy, and one of mushroom ketchup. A French roll should be made hot, then soaked in the soup, and served in the tureen.
GRAVY WITHOUT MEAT. Put into a bason a glass of small beer, a glass of water, some pepper and salt, grated lemon peel, a bruised clove or two, and a spoonful of walnut pickle, or mushroom ketchup. Slice an onion, flour and fry it in a piece of butter till it is brown. Then turn all the above into a small tosser, with the onion, and simmer it covered for twenty minutes. Strain it off for use, and when cold take off the fat.
GRAYLINE. Having scaled and washed the fish, then dry them. Dust them over with flour, and lay them separately on a board before the fire. Fry them of a fine colour with fresh dripping; serve them with crimp parsley, and plain butter. Perch and tench may be done the same way.
GREASE EXTRACTED. The ashes of burnt bones finely powdered, or calcined hartshorn, heated over the fire in a clean vessel, and laid on each side of the grease spot, if on books or paper, with a weight laid upon it to assist the effect, will completely remove it; or the powder may be wrapped in thin muslin, and applied in the same manner. When prints get foul and dirty, they may readily be cleaned in the same manner as linen is bleached, by being exposed to the sun and air, and frequently wetted with clean water. If this do not fully succeed, the print may be soaked in hot water; and if pasted on canvas, it should first be taken off by dipping it in boiling water, which will loosen it from the canvas. The dirt occasioned by flies, may be gently taken off with a wet sponge, after the print has been well soaked. Spots of white-wash may be removed by spirit of sea salt diluted with water.—If grease spots appear in leather, a different process must be pursued. A paste made of mealy potatoes, dry mustard, and spirits of turpentine, mixed together, and applied to the spot, will extract the grease from leather, if rubbed off after it has been allowed sufficient time to dry. A little vinegar may be added, to render the application more effectual.