California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



Jlomf$tic. 



Our Own. 



i;f I bad known in the nioruiug. 

 How wearily all the day. 



The words unkiud 



Would trouble my mind 

 I said when you weut away; 

 I had been more careful, darling. 

 Nor given you needless pain; 



But *'we vex our owu" 



With look and tone 

 We might never turn back again, 



For though in the qtiiet evening 

 You may give me a kiss of peace, 



Yet it might be 



That never for me 

 Tiie pain of the heart should never cease. 

 How many go forth in the moraing 

 That never come home at night; 



And hearts have broken 



For harsh words spoiien. 

 We have careful thoughts for the stranger. 

 And smiles for the sometime guest, 



But oft for our owu 



The bitter tone , 

 Though we love "our own" the best. 

 Ah I lips with the curve impatient. 

 Ah! brow with that look of scorn: 



"Twere a cruel fate 

 Were the night too late 

 To undo the work of morn. 



Familiar Taiks — No. 4. 



BY SNIP. 

 FKIED CAULIFLOWEK 



Is a favorite dish with us, but seems to be un- 

 known to all who have not eaten it here or hear 

 it spoken of. It is a breakfast dish with us, 

 and is jjrepared in this manner: The cartli- 

 flower is boiled and mashed, as you would 

 mash potatoes, in the evening, and mixed 

 with pejjper and salt, and if you like, a little 

 butter. In the morning make a batter, not 

 very thin, of flour and milk and one egg, for 

 two small heads of cauliflower. Fry in small 

 cakes — about two tablespoonfuls for a cake — 

 and be careful it does not burn. 



I here give some of mj" favorite recipes. 

 The first has no name, so you may call it 

 what you like: 



Take some mashed potatoes, or boil and 

 mash some. If the latter, mix in some but- 

 ter or cream, or if you have it, some good 

 meat gravy. Season to suit your taste and 

 put a layer in a deep dish; upon this place a 

 layer of finely minced meat, seasoned to suit. 

 AUernate in this way until the dish is tilled. 

 Then spread the top thick with bread-crumbs 

 and bake until quite brown. 



BOILED EEEAD PUDDING. 



Crumb your stale bread in a pail that has a 

 tight-fitting cover. Cover the bread with 

 sweet milk and put it by the stove to warm 

 and soften. Then to every quart of the mix- 

 ture add two well-beaten eggs, a cup of sugar, 

 a handful of raisins or sweet dried fruit of 

 any kind. Do not have the pail full, as it 

 will rise some. Set it in a kettle of boiling 

 water, hainng the cover on tightly, and boil 

 about an hour. It is superior to baked bread 

 pudding. 



UNCLE snook's cookies. 



One cup of sugar, one-half cup of butter 

 or lard, one teaspoonful of soda, twoteaspoon- 

 fuls of cream-tartar, two-thirds of a cnp of 

 water. The thinner they are rolled the bet- 

 ter. If made of lard they will need to be 

 mado thin. 



CREAM CAKE. 



of soda. 



BREAKFAST CAKE. 



Four cups of flour, two cups of milk, one 

 half cup of sugar or not as you choose, two 

 eggs, one teaspoon of soda, two teaspoons of 

 cream-tartar. This will make two cakes it 

 baked in tin biscuit pans. 



Carving at Table. 



BY AUNT MARTHA. 



One of the most important acquisitions in 

 the routine of daily life is the ability to carve 

 well, and not only well, but elegantly. Not 

 only at the tables of the aristocratic, but in 

 the circles of middle life, where not all the 

 refinements of cookery are adopted, the util- 

 ity of a skill in the use of a carving-knife is 

 sufficiently obvious. 



In the first place, whatever is to be carved 

 should be set in a dish sufficiently large for 

 turning it if necessary; but the dish itself 

 should not be removed from its position, 

 which should be so close before the carver as 

 to only leave room for the plates. Th'e carv- 

 ing-knife should be light, sharp, well-tem- 

 pered and of moderate size, strength being 

 less required than skill in the manner of us- 

 ing it. 



Large, solid joints, such as ham, fillet of 

 veal and salt beef, should be served in thin 

 slices, while lamb and the like should never 

 be cut in verj' slender slices. 



The art of carving is not attained by the 

 study of liooks and i^lates, any more than 

 that of the carpenter or house-builder Ijy the 

 study of architecture; and while these are 

 useful in their place, the art is only made per- 

 fect by a regular ajiprenticeshii); and every 

 young man should put himself to this work 

 iu early life. It is a very cause of admira- 

 tion to find such j^rofieients in doing the hon- 

 ors of the table. There are too many, both 

 among the young and tlie middle-aged, who 

 exhibit the most embarassiug awkwardness 

 when called ujiou to officiate in this capacity 

 at home or abroad. 



One cup of sour cream, one cup of sugar, 

 two cups of Hour, two eggs, one teaspoonful 



How TO Prepare Feathers for Use. — Be- 

 fore the time comes for killing poultry for 

 market, it is a good pjlan to i:fepare two or 

 three bags of coarse, unbleached cloth — one 

 to contain the geese and ducks' feathers, and 

 the other for chickens' and turkeys' feathers. 

 When plucking the poultry, cut oft the wings 

 first, and if not needed for dusters, strip off 

 the feathers from the parts nearest the bodj- 

 and then peel oft' the feathery parts from the 

 quill, but take care that no skin or flesh ad- 

 heres to any of the feathers. Then put the 

 bags into a brick oven, if you are the fortu- 

 nate possessor of one, and keep them there, 

 exeejjt when the oven is used for baking pur- 

 poses, taking them out into the wind occa- 

 sionally and be.atiug them with a stick. When 

 you have collected enough to fill a pillow, 

 cut the shape you desire out of bed-ticking 

 and stitch it round on the wrong side with 

 coarse, well-waxed thread, leaving a small 

 space at one end to put in the feathers. Now 

 lay it on a table, and rub it over on the wrong 

 side with a piece of beeswax, just warmed a 

 little, so as to besmear the ticking. If you 

 cannot obtain the beeswax, common yellow- 

 soap will do as well. If you do not wish to 

 use the feathers, either for pillows or sofa- 

 cushions, they can be put into beds that have 

 become a little empty. The geese and duck 

 feathers make the best beds, but the mixed 

 feathers do well for cushions, etc. If any of 

 the skin or flesh lulheres to the feathers, they 

 will have a disagreeable, putrid odor, whii'h 

 maj' seem to be an insurmounlablo obstacle 

 to their use; but if, after the family wash is 

 finished, the bag, tied up clusely at the neck, 

 is put into the boiler of soajisuds and boiled 

 a few moments, moving it about with the 

 clothestick and lilting it up .and down and 

 squeezing it out a few times, and is then tak<'U 



out ana hung in the air for several days, and 

 shaken hard, when the feathers become dry 

 they will be light and free from any bad smell, 

 and they can then be put in the oven, and thus 

 kept free from moths and always be ready 

 for use. 



Corned Beef. —For every one hundred 

 pounds of beef, after the largest bones have 

 been removed, apply the .following: Four 

 pounds of table salt, four pounds of white 

 sugar, two ounces of salt-petre, and two 

 ounces of baking soda. Mix all together and 

 rub every piece of meat thoroughly, and then 

 pack close and firm. In a few days there will 

 be brine enough to cover the meat. The ani- 

 mal heat should be all diiven off before pack- 

 ing, and this is really one of the most impor- 

 tant conditions to be observed before salting. 

 If beef is killed in warm weather it should 

 be placed in an ice house for forty-eight hours 

 before salting. But the best time to put it 

 down is in late Autumn or Winter, when the 

 weather is cool. 



Apple Puffs. — Mix a quarter of a jjound 

 of butter with a quart of sifted flour, two 

 eggs, a spoonful of salt and a half-teaspoon- 

 ful of soda, dissolved in a little cold water. 

 Jloisten it with cold water so you can just 

 roll it out easily. Boll as thin as possible 

 and cut into cakes. Put three of them to- 

 gether, sprinkle flour between each one, lay 

 on the top thin slices of tart apples and sprin- 

 lile sugar and a little nutmeg over them. En- 

 close the ajiple liy doubling the pastry over 

 them, pressing the edges well together, and 

 fry in sufficient hot lard to cover them. When 

 of a light brown, take up carefully. 



Stewed Fowl. — Fill the inside of a young 

 fowl with oysters, put it into ajar or tin pail 

 tightly closed, and put it into a kettle of wa- 

 ter. Boil an hour and a half. There will be 

 a quantity of gravy from the fowl and oysters. 

 Add to it a little flour made smooth in a small 

 quantity of water, some butter, seasoning to 

 taste, and more oysters with thefr liquor. 

 Serve this with the fowl, which will be very 

 white and tender. All the fine flavor lost in 

 ordinary boiling will be preserved. 



How to Preserve Smoked Meats. — Take 

 ground black pepper, the finer the better. 

 Wash all the mold or soil oft' from the hams 

 or beef, and w hile they are damp rub them 

 thoroughly with the pepper. Two pounds of 

 pepper will keep thirty pounds of meat free 

 from flies and insects of all kinds. It can 

 remain, afterbeing thus treated, in the smoke- 

 house or wood-house and not a fly will ap- 

 proach it. It also improves the flavor of the 

 meat. 



Polishing Shells. — Mrs. Bryan, in the 

 Western Farm Journal, saj's: "My way of 

 cleaning and polishing clam shells is to boil 

 them in very strong lye about half an hour, 

 then scrape them with a knife until I get all 

 the outside crust oft'. I cleaned some the 

 other day that looked just like pearl. When 

 done they look almost as pretty as sea shells. 

 For the periwinkle, mollusk, etc., I just rub 

 them with a coarse cloth after they have been 

 boiled in the lye. Care must be taken not to 

 boil them too long." 



Pocket Mucilage. — Boil one pound of the 

 best white glue and strain very clear; boil 

 also four ounces of isinglass and mix the two 

 together. Place them on a water-bath with 

 half a iiound of white sugar, and evaporate 

 till the liquid is (juite thick, when it is to be 

 poured into moulds, cut and dried to curry in 

 the pocket. This mucilage immediately dis- 

 solves iu water, and fastens paper very firmly. 



To Take Grease from Wall-paper'— Lay 

 several folds of blotting-paper on the spot, 

 and hold a hot iron near it till th 

 absorbed . 



Washing to Stiffen Fine Lace. — Dissolve 

 a lump of white sugar iu a wine-glassful of 

 cold water. 



