146 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
neither veal nor beef. Heifer or very young beef 
may be easily told by the color. It is far less bright 
than matured beef, being of a dull, bloodless-look¬ 
ing color, something between that of veal and beef. 
The bones are small, and the fat white. Bull beef 
is known by its high color, its coarse grain, and un¬ 
pleasant-looking fat. It is of very strong flavor, 
and undesirable, especially when old. 
In good beef the fat is thoroughly mingled with 
the lean ; but those cuts where there is the largest 
amount of this intermingling of fat with the lean, 
are not always the best to buy. The ribs and the 
rump, in my opinion, are the best for roasting. I 
am quite well aware that the latter is usually salted 
and boiled, but it makes an excellent roasting-piece 
nevertheless ; tender, juicy, and of fine flavor. The 
sirloin is the tenderest part of beef, but when 
roasted, has not so fine a flavor as the ribs. Many 
prefer it, however. It is generally cut up into 
steaks for broiling, for which purpose it is the best 
adapted. Steaks are often cut from the middle of 
the rump, and also from the shoulder. These are 
very good, but not being prime parts, a much less 
price should be paid for them. A round steak from 
good, tender, fat beef is good and of excellent flavor; 
but care must be taken not to purchase when the 
leg, from which the round is taken, has been cut 
down too far. The muscular leg should not be cut 
into steaks, but the* butchers will do it so long as 
they can sell it. The thick ribs next to the shoulder 
are often sold by butchers to their best customers, 
as the primest part, and at a prime price. It makes 
a thick, firm, compact-looking roast, the lean very 
handsomely intermingled with fat. The shoulder- 
blade runs three inches or more deep into the meat. 
This is removed, and a piece of solid suet neatly 
inserted in its place, thereby deceiving the unwary. 
It makes a very inferior roast. 
To choose 3futlon .—It should be fat, and the fat 
clear and white. Have nothing at all to do with 
mutton where the fat is yellow. Good mutton is of 
an entirely different color from good beef. The 
latter is a bright carnation, whereas mutton is of a 
darker and deeper hue. Mutton should be made 
from fully-matured sheep. If only a year old, it 
would be lamb. It should be three years old to be 
good, and five years old to be prime. The hind- 
quarter is best for roasting. The fore-quarter of 
lamb is excellent roasted, but the fore-quarter of 
fully-matured mutton should be boiled. The ribs 
may be used for chops, however. Chops are cut 
from the ribs, the loin, and the middle of the leg. 
I think the rib chops the best, though where the 
butcher charges the same price for both, the leg- 
cutlets are the more economical, as there is much 
less bone, and no hard meat, as on the ribs. 
The butcher will sell to the inexperienced buyer 
chops cut from the neck; also chops where the neck 
and shoulder join, and more than half bone. 
Many persons, because they do not like fat, buy 
lean meat. This is poor economy. It is better to 
buy the fat meat. The butcher is generally willing 
to cut off considerable of the fat. 
Veal should be clear, white, firm, and not too 
large. It is not fit to cat when neither veal or beef. 
Do not buy veal when it is dark and thin, and where 
the meat shows through the surface-skin. 
Hints on Butter-making. 
A lady who thinks that much that is written 
about butter-making is by “ men,” and not by ex¬ 
perienced butter-makers, gives a few hints. For 
the improvement of winter butter, she very sen¬ 
sibly begins with the cow, and advises feeding In¬ 
dian meal. She says: “ My rule in winter is to let 
the milk stand on a table in the cellar for 34 hours ; 
set it on the 6 tove until the cream wrinkles (do not 
lot it get too hot), then let it stand another 24 
hours, and skim. Use a skimming-ladle with holes, 
in order to have as little milk as possible with the 
cream. Stir the cream every day ; and the day be¬ 
fore churning put the pot near the stove to allow 
the cream to warm and get sour. Some have the 
mistaken idea that cream should not get sour; but 
it makes better butter, and more of it. Stir the 
cream well, as much depends upon that. If a clear, 
yellow skin forms ou the cream, it will make the 
butter strong; it is as bad as mold, or worse. In 
summer throw a handful of salt into your cream- 
pot when you first set it; it will keep the cream 
sweet longer. Be sure to ventilate the cellar or 
milk-room. It is a mistake to clmrn sweet and 
sour cream together, as it makes the butter 
streaked. Do not work the butter too long; it 
will become oily; but have a fine cloth, squeezed 
out of cold water, to take up the buttermilk with.” 
-— .—.—— <» —--- 
How I Wash my Dishes. 
Of course, I make sure before breakfast or din¬ 
ner that there is plenty of water in the boiler, and 
also in the tea-kettle. After the table is cleared, 
the table-cloth brushed off and neatly folded away, 
and the diuing-room disposed of, I proceed with 
my dishes. First, I take my large dish-pan, put 
into it a piece of soap, and pour over the soap three 
or four dipperfuls of hot water from the boiler. 
Then I add two or three dipperfuls of cold rain¬ 
water. Then my dish-cloth. The water should 
now be so cool as not to turn the hands red when 
put into it. Take the dish-cloth and rub from the 
soap the melted surface, and put the remainder 
away. Wash a dish at a time and pass it to anoth¬ 
er pan; a milk-pan is generally used. When all 
are done, or the pan is full, take the tea-kettle and 
pour over enough hot water to thoroughly rinse 
and heat them. Now take them from the water, 
one at a time, and place them bottom-side up upon 
a tray or pan to drain. If they have been properly 
washed, this hot rinsing water will run off or evap¬ 
orate in a minute, leaviug the dishes nearl 3 - dry. 
However, they should now be wiped with a clean, 
dry towel, and put away. Dishes must be washed 
in soft water. Especially is this necessary where 
soap is used. And soap is really indispensable in 
washing dishes properly. The dishes should be 
scraped free from grease, crumbs, bones, etc., be¬ 
fore commencing to wash them. A neat house¬ 
keeper will have the same dish-cloth in use until it 
is worn out, when it should be put into the rag¬ 
bag. Never allow the dish-cloth to be used for 
any thing else but washing dishes. Mbs. W. T. 
-...-. »- 
How to make Head-Cheese. 
BY MBS. I. W. T. 
Select the cleanest and fattest and most perfect 
pig’s head. The butcher splits the head only once 
—through the center of the forehead and snout— 
taking off the jowls. Direct him to give it a cross 
cut—by the eyes—separating the snout from the 
forehead. Now ask him to take out the eyes, 
which he can do very readily with his sharp knife; 
see that he takes out both eye-lids—upper and 
lower—with the sac, in which is the eye and the 
surrounding membranes. He must go close to the 
bone socket, in order not to break the eye. Now 
let him take off the ears, including the wrinkled 
portion of the 6kin surrounding them, and going 
deep enough to remove the whole canal of the ear. 
Open the ear, and scoop out the horny portion, 
about as large as an egg, containing the wax, 
drum, and dirt. It is easily done. The bones of 
the snout may now be removed without loss of 
flesh. The pieces should then be put to soak in 
plenty of lukewarm water. The water should be 
drained off and renewed until all the blood is re¬ 
moved. The flesh, especially the fat part, and also 
the skin, will be of a very white and delicate ap¬ 
pearance. Hair will remain on 60 iue parts of the 
head and on the ears, which the knife will not re¬ 
move. These must be singed off with a piece of 
lighted paper. It is well to examine the fleshy 
part of the snout and lower jaw, and with a knife 
scrape off the skin which the butcher cannot re¬ 
move before the head is split. I always find scald¬ 
ed 6kin here, which comes away with a mere touch 
of the knife. After this is done, wash again and 
then salt. Take a quart of salt and a tablespoonful 
of finely pulverized saltpetre, mix them thoroughly 
together, and rub the pieces of pork with the mix¬ 
ture, adding sugar or molasses if you wish. I add 
[April, 
1 - - t 
neither; nor do I put any water to the salt, nor over 
the meat; but I am careful that some of the 6alt 
6hall touch every part of the meat I pack the 
pieces closely in a crock, and let them stand for 
ten days or two weeks. It is well to turn them 
occasionally, letting the top pieces g* to the bot¬ 
tom into the brine that has been formed. In two 
weeks, or perhaps less time, I take the pieces for 
the cheese from the crock, wash the brine from 
them, and boil them gently until very tender. If 
the bones do not slip from the meat without the 
aid of a knife or force, it is not tender enough. 
When boiled sufficiently remove from the kettle, 
and take out all the bone. Now cut it up fine 
with a knife and fork—some use a chopping-knife 
and bowl, but I do not like that way. Season with 
black pepper—the meat is probably quite salt 
enough. Many add pulverized sage. This is also 
objectionable to me and my family, so I do not put 
any in. I use only pepper. A little mace might 
be good, as it improves almost every thing when 
sparingly used. When the meat is chopped or cut 
up fine, it must be put into bowls to be pressed 
into shape. I think the practice of putting head¬ 
cheese into milk-pans is wrong. It is a very incon¬ 
venient shape from which to cut the slices proper¬ 
ly. A two-quart bowl is the shape I use for my 
family. Where two or more bowlfuls are made, 
only one is removed from the bowl as wanted, as 
the cheese keeps better. It will keep for some 
time if not loosened from the sides of the bowl, 
while a head-cheese exposed to the air soon de¬ 
teriorates in flavor. A weight is necessary to press 
the meat in the bowl. An inverted plate and a 
flat-iron will do. The jowls or cheeks are seldom 
used in the cheese, as they are too fat. I salt 
mine with the rest of the head ; and at the time of 
making the cheese remove them from the brine, 
wipe them dry, wrap them in a paper, and hang 
them up to dry and cure. They will be nice with 
roast or boiled chicken, or veal, next Summer. 
Cut head-cheese in very thin slices—the thinner 
the better—and eat with mustard and vinegar. 
To Itoil Mam.— The ham should be nicely 
washed in warm water and put into cold water. 
Allow a quarter of an hour to each pound of ham. 
When sufficiently boiled, remove it from the water 
and place it in a baking-pan ; remove the rind, and 
roast or bake one hour in a quick oven, dredging it 
frequently with a mixture of finely-powdered and 
sifted bread-crumbs and flour, in the proportion of 
one part of flour to three of bread-crumbs. If not 
scorched, it will look finely upon the table. The 
flour prevents the crust of crumbs from scattering 
over the ham when cut. W. 
Bluelcvrliejit Calces. —Nanna W. thinks 
that her buckwheat cakes are so good that others 
ought to know how they are made. One cupful 
of corn-meal, two cupfuls of wheat flour, four 
cupfuls buckwheat flour, two teaspoonfuls of salt, 
one teacupful of yeast, and sufficient warm water 
to make a pouring batter; mix, and let rise over 
night, and bake in the morning. Leave a pint of 
the batter to set the next lot, and you need not use 
any more yeast the whole season. Keep the 
“ stock ” cool when not wanted. If the batter 
turns sour, stir in, just before using, a teaspoonful 
of baking soda dissolved in cold water. 
Green Spina-cli.— At the head of that 
class of pot-herbs commonly called “greens,” 
stands spinach, admitted to be the most delicate in 
texture and acceptable in flavor. Many like their 
greens boiled with meat—a treatment that may be 
well enough for turnip-tops, cabbage-sprouts, and 
the like coarse herbs, but to drench the refined and 
delicate spinach in greasy pot-liquor, is to my no¬ 
tion out-and-out sacrilege. Often, with the best of 
intentions, the cook will send spinach to the table 
of an olive or nearly brown color, instead of the 
dark, pleasing green, which makes it as welcome to 
the eye as it is to the palate. This want of proper 
color is because the cook does- not know one sim¬ 
ple dodge. Always boil spinach in an uncovered 
pot, AVhen the spinach is done, drain it on a 
colander, chop it fine, warm it up with a good lump 
of butter, and, when well heated through, serve. 
