1881.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
159 
quors, beers, wines, etc., are bad, because, 
though they excite the salivary and gastric 
glands, the alcohol in them is absorbed di¬ 
rectly into the blood, injuring its natural 
composition, and it not only weakens these 
organs, but disorganizes the entire blood, 
and headache, depression—actual disease— 
is the positive, invariable result. A strong 
constitution may recover again and again, 
but the evil effects are going on all the time, 
and not only temporary, but ere long, severe 
disorganization will be the inevitable result. 
Home Topics, 
BY FAITH ROCHBSTER. 
Various Ways to Cook Eggs. 
Eggs are usually very plenty on the farm 
in spring, and are so cheap to those who buy 
them that they are used with great freedom. 
Most lovers of eggs learn by experience that 
‘ ‘ enough is enough.” Nutritious food is an ex¬ 
cellent thing, but Nature usually gives us our 
nourishment in a less concentrated form and 
accompanied by considerable waste matter. 
Thus in our fruits and vegetables, there is a 
large proportion of fibrous and other innutri- 
tious matter, mixed intimately with, and, as it 
were, dividing the more nutritious portions. 
Besides this, we have the water that makes a 
large part of all fresh vegetable foods. To 
attempt to make a meal mostly of eggs, eat¬ 
ing the same quantity as of other less concen¬ 
trated foods, is to prepare the way for “ pills 
and physic.” Eaten with moderation, nothing 
is more nourishing than eggs in a fresh con¬ 
dition and properly cooked. 
Soft Boiled. —Drop the whole eggs care¬ 
fully into boiling water, and boil steadily 
three and a half minutes by the watch. This 
is a common method ; though the white is 
hardened, the yolk is scarcely cooked at all. 
Soft Boiled. —Another method. Lay the 
eggs in a warm basin or saucepan, and cover 
with boiling water. Let them remain with¬ 
out boiling, but where the water will keep 
hot for ten minutes. Both yolk and white 
will be cooked soft. [Eggs cooked by this 
method are sometimes called “ coddled.” Of 
late the city furnishing stores offer what they 
call “ egg coddlers,” which cook the egg quite 
differently. The affair is a small porcelain 
saucepan, only large enough for one or at 
most two eggs, and made very thick to retain 
the l*eat. This is heated, has a lump of but¬ 
ter placed in it; the egg is broken into the 
buttered dish and served, the heat of the dish 
finishing the cooking at the table.—E d.] 
Hard Boiled Eggs. —It is the common 
way to boil eggs only about five minutes, and 
call them hard. They are then very “ hard ” 
of digestion. Boil ten minutes and they are 
still hard and soggy. Boil them twenty 
minutes and they become light and mealy, 
and may easily be mashed and seasoned. 
Eggs in Mexican Style.— Many years ago 
the editor of the American Agriculturist gave 
a method of cooking eggs in imitation of a 
style he had met with in Mexico. There a 
drawn butter flavored with garlic is used. 
His modification, which several have tried 
and found acceptable, was given so long ago, 
that it may be repeated. It is to boil the 
eggs hard, quarter them lengthwise, and pom- 
over them drawn butter, to which as much 
“ Worcestershire Sauce ” has been added as 
the taste approves. As Worcestershire Sauce 
is not often found outside of cities, he sug¬ 
gested that good home-made Tomato Catsup 
would be an acceptable substitute. 
Creamed Eggs. —Boil six eggs twenty min¬ 
utes. Make a pint of nice cream gravy (boiling 
cream thickened with flour and seasoned with 
salt, or milk and butter thickened, if cream 
cannot be had.) Put a layer of this cream 
gravy over six slices of toast, laid on a hot 
platter. Cut the whites of the eggs in thin 
slices and lay over this, and rub half of the 
yolks through a seive over the layer of whites. 
Add another layer of whites, and another of 
sifted yolks, and lastly the remainder of the 
cream gravy. Set in the oven for a few 
minutes and serve. 
Omelets. —Comparatively few of our house¬ 
keepers dare attempt an omelet, but there is 
nothing very difficult about it. The chief 
cause of failure lies in not having the spider 
hot enough, or in making an omelet too large 
for the pan. For a spider eight inches in 
diameter, not more than four eggs should be 
used. For an omelet of this size, use four 
eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, and two table¬ 
spoonfuls of cream, or in fault of that use 
milk. ' A larger omelet, and very good, is 
made with six eggs, a scant teacupful of 
milk, salt, and pepper. Beat the yolks alone 
to a smooth batter, add the milk, salt, and pep¬ 
per, and lastly, the well beaten whites. Have 
the frying pan very hot. Put in a tablespoon¬ 
ful of butter, which should instantly hiss. 
Follow it quickly with the well-beaten mix¬ 
ture, and do not stir this after it goes in. 
Cook over a hot fire, and as the egg sets, 
loosen it from the pan without breaking, to 
prevent burning. It should cook in about 
ten minutes. When the middle is set, it is a 
good plan to place the pan on the high grate 
in the oven to brown the top. This is not 
needed if you turn half of the omelet over 
upon itself before turning the whole from 
the. pan upon a hot dish. Eat while hot. 
Omelet with Cold Meat. —Almost any 
cold meat—beef, mutton, chicken, may be 
chopped fine, seasoned a little, spread upon 
the omelet before it is doubled together, mak¬ 
ing an excellent dish and affording variety. 
Ham Omelet. —[Mrs. Rochester, no doubt 
by oversight, omits the most delicious of all 
meat omelets, the Omelette au Jambon of the 
French. When lean, boiled ham is minced 
very fine and mixed with an omelet, we have 
the glorification of “ham and eggs.”— Ed.] 
Cauliflower .or Asparagus Omelet is 
made by chopping either of these cooked 
vegetables when cold (only the tender tops of 
the latter), and mixing with the eggs before 
cooking. Bread crumbs soaked in the milk 
are a good addition. Jelly of any kind is 
sometimes spread over an omelet before it is 
folded. Grated Onion or Chopped Parsley 
and other “sweet herbs” spread over the 
omelet makes a good variety. 
Scrambled Eggs. —Many use only eggs 
with butter and salt for this dish—for four 
eggs, one tablespoonful of butter. Melt the 
butter and turn in the beaten eggs, and stir 
quickly one or two minutes over a hot fire. 
A common practice is to increase the quantity 
without impairing the quality by adding milk, 
—a small cupful to six eggs, and a table¬ 
spoonful of butter with' salt and pepper as 
preferred. Stir these ingredients over a hot 
fire (putting in the butter first) until the 
whole thickens. It should be soft and creamy 
when done. It is very fine served on toast. 
“ Counter-Irritants." 
Not a little pain, disease, and sleeplessness 
also, may be saved by the proper understand¬ 
ing and use of counter-irritants. A pain in 
the head, and often in other parts of the body, 
can be removed or modified by putting the 
feet in hot water. How ? why ? When the 
feet are irritated it causes a rush of blood to- 
them, their veins become full and distented. 
This draws off the blood that was before 
crowding into the head or other affected part 
and producing pain there. Even rubbing the 
scalp briskly may attract outwardly the 
blood previously pressing the internal organs. 
A rubber bag of hot water at the feet, or 
other warm or gently irritating application, 
will often so draw down the blood from the 
excited brain that one will soon fall into a 
quiet sleep.—Ten to twenty drops of Aro¬ 
matic Spirits of Ammonia swallowed in half a 
tumbler of water on going to bed, or when 
restless and wakeful during the night, will 
very often put one into an easy slumber. It 
is quickly absorbed into the blood, and car¬ 
ried to every part of the body, producing a 
gentle stimulus. This calls the blood to every 
point, equalizing the circulation, and thus 
relieving the before excited brain. 
A “ cold ” generally means that there is or 
has been unequal heat, disturbing the blood 
circulation, and causing congestion, pain, and 
disease. A gentle physic of oil or calcined 
magnesia, in passing through the system, 
produces a flow to the intestines of fluids 
drawn from the blood. This reduces the 
blood as well as draws it from pai'ts affected 
by the “ cold.”—Almost any cold taken before 
it becomes chronic, or so “ seated ” as to pro¬ 
duce disorganization, may be relieved and 
usually cured by such a catharctic dose—one 
not severe enough to disarrange the digestive 
apparatus. “ Physic a cold ” is more philo¬ 
sophical than “ feeding a cold,” as the adage 
has it. The latter only aggravates the trouble. 
A lightly sore or irritated throat is usually 
relieved or cured by applying an irritant to 
the outside. “Volatile liniment” is good for 
this. It is made by shaking well together 
any amount of sweet oil with one-fourth to 
one-half its bulk of aqua ammonia, or “ harts¬ 
horn ”—the amount depending upon the 
strength of the ammonia. It is a good, 
cheap counter-irritant to keep on hand—well 
corked, using a new cork as the old one 
shrinks from the action of the ammonia. It 
is also useful to rub well on the chest when 
there is soreness in the muscles.—Alcohol, or 
strong whiskey, rubbed upon the throat ( out¬ 
side) as a counter-irritant, often relieves a 
sore throat, and the same of a sore chest. 
When using alcohol cover the part well and 
quickly, to prevent a chill from the rapid 
evaporation. Liniment, alcohol, hot water, 
or hot wet clothes, or mustard, on the outside 
of the abdomen tends to relieve irritation of 
the bowels, on the general principle of coun¬ 
ter-irritation above mentioned. 
For an Inflamed Sore Throat or tonsils, a 
very good general remedy is to gargle the 
throat every hour or two with a teaspoonful 
of chlorate of potassa solution. It is well to 
keep in every house a good sized vial of water 
with more chlorate of potassa in it than will 
dissolve. The clear liquid is then always of 
uniform strength, ready for use—a teaspoon- 
ful at a time, swallowing it after gurgling 
it against the inflamed tonsils. 
