COUNTRY VISITING.-RECIPES.-TO IMPROVE 1 HE FLAVOR OF COFFEE. 
95 
fables’ department. 
COUNTRY VISITING. 
BY MRS. KIRKLAND. 
There is hardly any country village so small and 
unambitious, as not to have its debating society‘or its 
literary effort of some kind. Many a young man 
who has had good success in life, has ascribed the 
figure he has been able to make in court, or his repu¬ 
tation as a teacher, or his acceptableness in the pulpit, 
to an early opportunity for practice in his native vil¬ 
lage, and the taste for literature which naturally 
grows with such efforts. 
This is excellent; why then confine it to young 
men ? Why should not young women, too, make 
some attempt at improvement, in a mode suited to 
their position ? We should never recommend to them 
debating societies or lyceums, but w T hy should they 
be debarred from ail social literary enjoyment ? 
Visiting is, as we all know, one of the chief of 
country pleasures. There is no girl so poor or so 
hard-worked, that she cannot, once in a while, make 
a sociable afternoon visit; and among the daughters 
of able farmers, perhaps, it is not too much to say, 
tha.t an average of two afternoons per week is thus 
speiit. After the day’s business is well over, and the 
soil of the morning is carefully banished from person 
and dress, nothing is more natural and common than 
for the daughters of the house, and perhaps the 
mother too, to prepare themselves for a visit either at 
home or abroad ; and among the plainer farmers, the 
knitting-work, and among those rather more ambi¬ 
tious, the neat bit of sewing, or even fancy-w T ork, is 
taken in hand by way of sweetening leisure by some 
light employment But what occupies the thoughts 
at such times > and what conversation cheers these 
golden hours of rest? As to thoughts, let us guess. 
“ I wonder,” thinks the mother, “ where that brood 
of turkeys has strayed to! Jem had no business to 
let them out! and the hens have got a trick of lay¬ 
ing away too. We sha’n’t have an egg. Mary !” 
she says, turning to her eldest daughter, “ I don’t be¬ 
lieve the boys have ever hunted for eggs in that hole 
by the lime-kiln!” 
Mary, thus withdrawn from a pleasing anticipation 
of the weaver’s bringing home her new bedquilt, pro¬ 
mises to go herself egg-hunting; and forthwith her 
thoughts branch away into some “ mingled yarn” of 
equally valuable meditation, while the younger girls 
are giggling over the recollection of how Joe Pullen 
“ carried on” at the minister’s donation party. 
Presently some of the neighbors come in with their 
work to sit the afternoon ; and after they have taken 
the bandanna handkerchiefs off their heads and ar¬ 
ranged them in their laps (an odious habit this, by 
the by, of wearing pocket handkerchiefs in place of 
bonnets), and settled themselves near the windows as 
the place of honor, they keep the ball of conversation 
rolling, as well as the ball of yarn, and the sum and 
substance of all they have to say is usually no more 
valuable than such as we have described. 
Now why should this useless twaddle fill up the 
minds, and supply the talk, of intelligent women ? 
They have usually had a tolerable school education, 
and those whose advantages are least, can read tolera¬ 
bly. Why not then endeavor, by the aid of books, 
to provide some materials for conversation better than 
this? The evil is greater than may be supposed; for 
so powerful an engine as conversation can hardly be 
of indifferent operation. When it is simply frivolous 
it is injurious ; but when it runs into scandal, ferret¬ 
ing out the faults and discussing the frailties of a 
neighborhood, it becomes indeed a curse, justifying 
the apostle’s expression, “ set on fire of hell.” 
How many of the lapses from virtue which take 
place in the country arise from the habit of suspect¬ 
ing and whispering evil of others, we cannot deter¬ 
mine; but those who have lived among people whose 
conversation had no legitimate and proper materials, 
can testify that it is but a step from frivolity to cor¬ 
ruption, in talk as in manners. How advantageous 
then would be the introduction of well selected books 
into social visits ! 
RECIPES. 
Brawn or Head Cheese. — Blanc-mange. — Pig’s-foot 
Oil.—Sore Throat. — Souse. —In a farmer’s kitchen 
the stale adage is often verified, “ God made nothing 
without its use,” and the farmer’s wife can testify 
there are various uses to which one thing often may 
be applied. An instance I can supply from my late 
country observations. Boil pig’s feet—a dozen of 
them if you have them—for several hours, till the 
bones can easily be removed. Strain the liquor from 
them and set aside to cool. Remove the bones care¬ 
fully, and reserve equal portions, if you choose, for 
souse and brawn or head cheese. 
To make the latter, chop moderately fine, add sage 
and thyme, or sweet marjoram, plenty of pepper and 
salt, and if you like, a trifle of spice and a glass of 
wine. Tie all firmly when well mixed, into a crash 
cloth, which must first be well wrung in cold water, 
and let it stand in a press for twenty-four houcs. 
You have then a handsome mould of head cheese. 
A delicate blanc-mange, not inferior to the best 
isinglass, may be made of the jelly formed by the 
liquor when cold. From this you must first skim 
every particle of oil, which must be carefully pre¬ 
served as it forms— 
An excellent remedy for sore throat or croupy affec¬ 
tions, externally applied, or simmered with molasses 
and vinegar, to give your children when the case de¬ 
mands it before retiring at night. 
I see it lately asserted, that cattle’s feet prepared in 
the same way for boiling as pig’s feet, afford an 
equally good jelly for blanc-mange. 
To make souse , add to the feet when well boiled, 
the pig’s head. After boiling four or five hours, re¬ 
move from both all the bones, and place the whole 
in a stone jar. Boil in vinegar a few cloves or any 
other spice, with pepper and a little salt; mix with 
this a little of the liquor in which they were boiled, 
to prevent too great acidity, and with this liquid 
cover the meat. Cut in slices when you use it, and 
after heating in a frying-pan, pour off the liquid and 
brown it; or if you prefer, dip the slices in batter 
and fry in a pan rubbed with butter or lard. 
Prosa. 
To Improve the Flavor of Coffee. —To each 
pound of roasted coffee add forty to fifty grains of car¬ 
bonate of soda. In addition to improving the flavor, 
the soda makes the coffee more healthy, as it neu¬ 
tralizes the acid contained in the infusion. 
