190 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
etc., the reader may flijure up. (If tbe writer w;is 
the wifu of this " other m.in " h" would talce a few 
lessons ou knife sharpening and he independent.) 
Glanciuij througli the open kitchen door, we saw 
Bridget iryiiig to stop an old leal; in a holler, with 
a plaster of dough, but it would come off, aud the 
water would run on to the stove and over the 
hearth. A drop of solder would have saved all this 
trouble aud vox.ntion. If the " other man " had 
read tbe Agriculturist for November, 18.59, page 
S43, he would liave known how to ajiply the solder 
himself in less than three minutes. 
Beef Steak. 
A rich, juicy piece of steak is as delicious a mor- 
sel as a hungry man can close his lips upon, yet 
how few know what it is. We presume nearly half 
those who cat beef steak at all iu tliis country, /ri/ 
it; certainly on the Continent of Europe a broiled 
steak is rarely or never seen. The Europeans in 
this country surely stick to Fatherkaudish customs 
in regard to steaks and chops, with a tenacity 
wortljy a better cause. EuLrlish and Americans 
broil their steaks; nevertheless, they make a very 
poor job of ii iu most cases. The fat drips into the 
fire and smokes, and flames and scorches the me.at ; 
the heat burns the edges to a coal, and the poor lit- 
tle thiu ste;ik curls aud writhes on the gridiron as 
if it were .alive with torture. Now and then it is 
put upon a plate aud pricked and jiressed to get a 
little juice out, which is preserved to be salted and 
buttered aud watered, to make a little gr.avy. Fi- 
nally, the burnt parts are scraped ofl', butter, salt, 
and pepper, administered, and it is sent to the table, 
Boaking in a lukewarm gravy, on a cold platter. 
A friend who has taken great satisf\vctiou in beef 
steak properly cooked, sends us the following ar- 
ticle cut from The Homestead, which was formerly 
published in Coiiuectieut. We endorse it entirely, 
only we must say tljat a little nice butter, even if 
it doe- cost 75 cents a pound, does not, to our taste, 
either disguise or injure the llavor of the beef: 
"When you are so lucky as to get a beef steak, 
don't spoil it in the cooking. It sliould be cut 
nearly .an inch in thickness, and divided — by the 
natural divisions where practicable — iuto pieces the 
Eize of your hand, or thereabouts. Cut aw.ay the 
most of the fat. If you happen to have such a thing 
as a "bcef-steak-pounder" iu the house, put it into 
the fire and burn it to a coal, — the wood it is 
usually made of furnishes capital coals for broiling ; 
but any coals will do, if they are hot enough. 
"The best gridiron is the double one of wire, which 
3-ou can shut your meat into and turn without a 
fork to let the juice out, but .any gridiron will do if 
it is clean. If you have much else to see to, besides 
the steak, you had better have something else for 
breakfast, for it is a siu to put a beef-steak over the 
coals and leave it to warp and squirm, aud dry up, 
until it is as tough aud tasteless as the sole of an 
old shoe. But if you h.ave a conscience void of 
ofTeuce with all men, and are able to concentrate 
j'our entire energies upon the business, put youc 
steak over the fire. Now you know that the out- 
side of a broiled piece of meat must be crisp, and 
[Turn a,] the inside juicy, to make it the most 
palatable and [Tarn it,] nourishiug. If you .allow 
it to rest long with one side to the fire, [Tarn it,] 
the juice and flavor rise to the surface and are lost. 
The great art [Turn it,] is to expose the meat at 
the start, for a moment, to such an intense heat 
that [Tarti it,] the severed flljers may be seared in 
such manner as to seal up (so to speak) the mois- 
ture. [Turn it.] Steak can be cooked in this way 
until it will not only look bloody when cut, but 
[Turn it,] will satisfy fully those who like " r.are" 
beef, without o31;uding [Tar>i W,] such .as prefer it 
" well done." Butter is worse than wasted, — of 
course [Turn it,] you'll h.ave it ou the table for 
such as wish to disguise the taste of beef, as well 
as pepper and salt. [Tarn it.] Tour motto is beef 
and fire. If your fire is a hot one, the steak is 
nearly done. It may not be considered imperti- 
nent to suggest [Turn it,] that, the pot.atooa being 
Juit done, too, tbs family may gather round tha ta- 
ble, so as to receive the steak upon their hot plates 
directly from the fire. There will be time for 
"grace," before eating, aud you'll be thankful 
after, whether it is customary or not to say so." 
Hints on Cooking, etc. 
Qaeen of Pnddin:;'^. — A new pudding, 
with this name, recently furnished to the '^ Agri- 
cuUurixt Household," by Mis. Wm. Morehouse, of 
Buffalo, N. Y.,has been tried with very satisfactory 
results : Iuto one quart of sweet milk, put one 
pint of fine bread crumbs, butter the size of an 
egg, the well beaten yollcn of 5 eggs ; sweeten and 
flavor as for custard ; mix tlie whole well together. 
While the above is baking, beat the whiten of the 5 
eggs to a stiff froth, and add a teaeupfnl of pow- 
dered sugar; pour it over tlie hot pudding when 
cooked, return it to the oven, and bake to a deli- 
cate brown. We like the above without addition, 
but some jirefer a layer of jelly, or canned peaches 
or other fruit, over the padding before the frosting 
is added. — No s,auce is needed. It is not only de- 
licious, but light and digestible. 
^'ice <j!iiis:oii-ll»rca»l. — The following direc- 
tions are furnislied to the Agriculturist by one we 
kuow to he a good housekeeper — who has a healthy 
family as evidence of good cookery — with the re- 
mark that " they make a gingerbread equal to the 
best article from the professional bakers:" To 3 
teacu])fuls of molasses, and 20 tablespoonfuls of 
melted lard, are added 7 teaspoonfuls of soda dis- 
solved iu 8 tablespoonfuls of boiling water, 3 tea- 
spoonfuls of crushed alum dissolved in 3 table- 
spoonfuls of boiling water, 1 tablespoonful of gin- 
ger, and a little salt if tlie lard is fiesh ; the whole 
well stirred together. Then 4 teaspoonfuls of cream 
of tartar are mixed thoroughly with a pint or so of 
flour, and stirred in qniclily, with enough more 
flour added to make a dough as soft as it can be con- 
veniently rolled. Bake iu a quid: oveu. Some may 
oliject to the alum, but a tc;ispoonful or two in a 
large milk-panful of cakes is but a homeopathic 
dose at most, and uo moi'c "mineral" than the 
salt used iu .all food. It gives the gingerbread tbe 
peculiar lightness of that made by bakers. Those 
who eschew alum must buy nothing at Bake Shops. 
Corn IPudding. — Cheap but good. 1 quart 
of milk to i tablespoonfuls of meal. Boil the milk, 
stir in a little molasses and ginger into the meal, i\ud 
stir the boiling milk into tbe meal aud let it get 
perfectly cold. Bake an hour and a half. This is an 
excellent pudding, but the directions must be 
exactly followed. 
The Jfustice's PiKldirag. — 3 quarts of 
bread cut thin ; 1 quart of milk, poured boiling on 
the bread ; let soak an hour or two ; add 1 quart of 
stoned raisins ; 1 teaeupful of syrup. Boil four 
hours iu a box or bag, and serve with cold sauce. 
Mince Pie tvithont Meat. — Prepare the 
pie-crust and apples the usual way, when seasoned 
and in the pie pans, fill the top of the apples with 
custard, prepared the same as for custard pie. 
Then put ou the top crust aud bake. It is a good 
imitation and preferable to mince pie. 
" Boiled. H'lojir : A Iji^lit Supper 
Disli.'" — Under this head we find the following 
strongly commended in Mrs. Warren's (Loudon) 
Work on Economy iu Living : " Prepare a small 
calico [muslin] bag a quarter of a yard square, aud 
sew it well all round ; stulT into it as much flour as 
it will hold, so that it shall be packed almost as 
hard as a stone. Tie securely, put it iuto a sauce- 
pan of boiling water and boil four hours, filling up 
the saucepan with more w.ater as it boils away. 
Then take it up, peel ofT the skin, crack or break the 
ball of fiour into pieces, roll it with a rolling pin 
on a pasteboard; then sift it, and, when it is cold, 
put into dry tins, such as tea, coflfee, or mustard 
tins [boxes]. This is quite equal to maizena, or 
Oswego coru flour, and may bo m.ade as arrowroot 
custard, only it must be boiled. Costs not one- 
third of maizena. It is strengthening .».nd very de- 
lidou(,"°~[Tli«ra U Use dlffgi'«nc« lit tb« cost of 
flour and maizena, or corn starch, here than in Eng- 
land, but the above is worthy a trial. Please let us 
have the result— Ed. American Agriculturist.] 
Boston Craeliers.— Will some one having 
experience please send directions for making them. 
Stale Bread Fritters.— Cut stale bread 
in thick slices and put it to soak for several hours 
iu cold sweet milk. Then fry it iu sweet lard, or 
butter the slices aud fry them, and eat with sugar 
or molasses, or a sweet sauce. To make it more 
delicate, remove the hard crust before using. 
Boiled ParsnipK. — Parnips .are cooked as 
carrots, but they do not require as much boiling, 
and are sometimes served differently, being sliced 
lengthways, dressed with butter aud pepper, or 
mashed with a little cream, some butter, and 
seasoned with pepper and salt. Thej' are excellent 
fried, also made into a stew with pork and potatoes. 
^Vings of <]Jeesc, Xnrlieys, etc., so 
convenient as dusters, may be kept for a long time 
thus: Thoroughly dry them and place them, flesh- 
end down, in a tub, keg, or any thing convenient, 
and fill with dry sand. 
^Vas lie IVIean ?— Xriie Courag^e. 
It is very customary among bad boys, as well as among 
batl men, lo try to persuade otlics lo join them in folly 
and sin— to pull tliem down to llieir own level— by ap- 
pealing lo their cunrage. When a man challenges anoth- 
er to fight a duel, it requires greater courage to stand up 
boidly and say I wilt not be a murderer, than i I does to 
face the weapon of Iiis clialienger. When a boy is chal 
lensed to engage in a bad cnlerprise.it usually requires 
a higher, noblei' courage to withstand the jeer.s of his 
tempters, tlian it does to set aside the good will of his 
parents and fiiends. — Here is an pxcellent illustration of 
true (lonrage, as told in the Chihirens' Prize. Read 
the story carefully and act upon the lesson it teaches: 
A new iic-holar came to Rackford scIiodI— a well-dres- 
seil fine-loiikinglad, whose u:>pearanoe all the boy."? liked. 
—There was a set of boys at tliis sclioot wlio immediate- 
ly invited him to join their "larks." Boys know pretty 
well uhatt'iat means. They used to spend their money 
in eatingand di inking, and often ran up large bills, which 
their friends sometinies found it hai"d to pay. Tiiey w ant- 
ed every new scholar to join them, and lliey contrived by 
laughing at him, or reproaching him, to g-^l almost any 
boy they \v anted inl'i ilieir meshps. The new boys were 
afr.iid not to yield to Ihem. — -But inisnew scliolar refused 
tlieir invitations. They called him mean and stingy— :\. 
charge which always makes bt>ys very sore.—'" Mean !" 
lie answei ed. '■ and w here is the meanness of not spend- 
ing miMiey which is not your ov\n? And where is the 
stinginess in not choosing to bee money of your friends 
to spend it in a way which they wnuUl not jipprove? 
For, after all, oui' money m'lst come from our frienils, as 
we haven't it, nor can we earn it. No. boys, I will not 
spend one penny that I shuuld he ashamed to give ac- 
count of to my father or mother, if they asl^ed me."' 
" Eh ! not out of your iear^^J-strings, then? Afraid of 
your father; afraid of )1iflM#^ipping you? Afiaid of 
your mother ? Won't she give you a sugar-plum ? What 
a precious baby ?" they cried in mocking tones. — "And 
yet you are trying to make me afraid of you," said the 
new scholar, boldly. "You want me to be afraid of rot 
doing as you say. But which. I should like to know, is 
the tjf'st sorl<>f fe:»r — the fear of my school- fellows, which 
would lead me intn what isl'uv ; or fear of my parent^ 
which will inspire me to things noble and ni:mly? It is 
very poor service you are shovving me, toliyto set mc 
against my parents, and teach me to be asliamed of their 
authority." The buys felt that there w:is no h»^adway 
lo be ma'le against such a new scholar. All thry said 
hurt themselves more than it hurt Inm. and Ihey liked bet- 
ter to be out of his way than in it— all the bad boys, I 
mfan. The others gathered ai'ound him. and never did 
they work or play with greater relish than while he was 
tluir champion and friend. "That new scholar is a 
ch'>ice fellow," said the principal, "and canies more 
influence than any other boy in school. They study hel- 
ter and play belter where he is ; you can't pull lum down. 
Everything mean and bad sneaks out of his way." 
Xlte UnlfnoTrn I\tiiiil>er Puzzle. — 
Answer and correction. — The top figures of the column?: 
containing the numbers sought, add up just that numher 
thus- 5J is in the first three and last tun columns and 
1-f 2-}-4+I6-f32 equal 55. and so of any oilier number np 
to 63.— fin the 3d column. 6l should be 63i Please marl* 
>'our paper with this coirecilon.J 
