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RECIPES. 669 



corn-meal before using it. Add half a cup of fine flour, three tablespoonfuls of sugar 

 or molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, and one of salt. Make a batter, and boil an 

 hour or more, stirring often; or, better, cook in a tin pail set in boiling water. Use 

 it as mush, with butter, sugar, and milk for supper. Next morning, thin it with hot 

 water; add two or three eggs, and bake either as muffins or griddle-cakes. 



Hominy. Soak and then boil a quart of hominy, with two heaping teaspoonfuls 

 of salt. Use it for dinner as a vegetable, or for supper with sugar and milk or cream. 

 Next morning use the remainder, soaked in water or milk, with two eggs and a salt- 

 spoonful of salt. Bake as muffins or griddle-cakes, or cut in slices, dipped in flour, 

 and fried. Farina may be used in the same way. 



Rice. Pick over one pint of rice; add two teaspoonfuls of salt and three quarts 

 of boiling water. Then boil fifteen minutes; then uncover; let it steam fifteen minutes. 

 This to be used for a vegetable at dinner, or for a tea-dish, with butter and sugar. 

 At night, soak the remainder in as much milk or water, and next morning add as 

 much fine or unbolted flour as there was rice, three eggs, a teaspoonful of salt, and 

 half a teaspoonful of soda. Thin with water or milk, and bake as muffins or griddle- 

 cakes. 



BREAD. 



Hop and Potato Yeast. Pare and slice five large potatoes, and boil them in 

 one quart of water, with a large handful of common hops (or a square inch of 

 pressed hops), -tied in a muslin rag. When soft, take out the hops and press the 

 potatoes through a colander, and add a small cup of white sugar, a teaspoonful of 

 ginger, two teaspoonfuls of salt, and two teacups of common yeast, or half as much 

 distillery. Add the yeast when the rest is only blood- warm. White sugar keeps 

 better than brown, and the salt and ginger help to preserve the yeast. Do not boil 

 in iron or use an iron spoon, as it colors the yeast. Keep yeast in a stone or earthen- 

 ware jar, with a plate fitting well to the rim. This is better than a jug, as easier to 

 fill and to cleanse. Scald the jar before making new yeast. The rule for quantity 

 is, one tablespoonful of brewers' or distillery yeast to every quart of flour; or twice as 

 much home-made yeast. 



Potato Yeast is made by the above rule, omitting the hops. It can be used in 

 large quantities without giving a bitter taste, and so raises bread sooner. But it 

 has to be renewed much oftener than hop yeast, and the bread loses the flavor of 

 hop yeast. 



Hard Yeast is made with home-brewed yeast (not brewers' or distillery), thick- 

 ened with Indian meal and fine flour in equal parts, and then made into cakes an 

 inch thick, and three inches by two in size, dried in the wind, but not in the sun. 

 Keep them tied in a bag in a dry, cool place, where they will not freeze. One cake 

 soaked in a pint of warm water (not hot) is enough for four quarts of flour. It is a 

 good plan to work in mashed potatoes into this yeast, and let it rise well before 

 using it. This makes the nicest bread. Some housekeepers say pour boiling water 

 on one-third of the flour, and then mix the rest in immediately, and it has the same 

 effect as using potatoes. When yeast ceases to look foamy, and becomes watery, 

 with sediment at the bottom, it must be renewed. When good, the smell is pungent, 

 but not sour. If sour, nothing can restore it. 



Milk Yeast or Salt Rising. Take a cup of fresh milk, bring it to a boil, then 

 add enough cold water to make it lukewarm. Put in one tablespoonful of corn- 

 meal, and one of sugar, enough flour to make a tolerably stiff batter. Keep in a 



