190 
AMERICAN AaRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
etc., the reader may figure up. (If the writer was 
the wife of this “ other man” h« would take a few 
lessons on knife sharpening and be independent.) 
Glancing through tlie open kitehen door, we saw 
Bridget trying to stop an old leak in a boiler, with 
a plaster of dough, but it would come oft', aud the 
water would run on to the stove and over the 
hearth. A drop of solder would have saved all this 
trouble and vexation. If the “ other man ” had 
read the Agriculturiat for November, 18.59, page 
842, he would have known how to apply the solder 
himsCif 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. tVe presume nearly half 
those who cat beef steak at all in tliis country,/ry 
it; certainly on the Continent of Europea broiled 
steak is rarely or never seen. The Europeans in 
this country surely stick to Fatherlandish customs 
in -regard to steaks and chops, with a tenacity 
worthy a better cause. English and Amerie.ans 
broil their steaks; nevertheless, they make a very 
poor job of it in most cases. The fat drips into the 
fire aud smokes, aud flames and scorches the meat; 
the heat burns the edges to a coal, aud the poor lit¬ 
tle thin steak curls and writhes on the gridiron as 
if it were alive with torture. Now and then it is 
put upon a plate and pricked and pressed to get a 
little juice out, which is preserved to be salted and 
buttered and watered, to make a little gravy. Fi¬ 
nally, the burnt parts are scraped off, butter, salt, 
and pepper, administered, and it is sent to the table, 
soaking in a lukewarm gravy, on a cold platter. 
A friend who has taken great satisfaction in beef 
steak properly cooked, sends us the following ar¬ 
ticle cut from The Homestead, which was formerly 
published in Connecticut. We endorse it entirely, 
only we must say that a little nice butter, even if 
it does cost 75 cents a pound, does not, to our taste, 
either disguise or injure the flavor of the beef: 
“ When you are so lucky as to get a beef steak, 
don’t spoil it in the cooking. It should be cut 
nearly an inch in thickness, and divided—by the 
natural divisions where practicable—into pieces the 
size of your hand, or thereabouts. Cut away the 
most of the fat. If you happen to have such a thing 
as a “beef-steak-pounder” in 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 
you 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 sin to put a beef-steak over the 
coals and leave it to warp and squirm, and dry up, 
until it is as tough and tasteless as the sole of an 
old shoe. But if you have a conscieuee void of 
oft'ence with all men, and are able to concentrate 
your entire energies upon the business, put your 
steak over the fire. Now you know that the out¬ 
side of a broiled piece of meat must be crisp, and 
[Timi it,] the inside juicy, to make it the most 
palatable and [Tarn it,] nourishing. If you allow 
it to rest long with one side to the fire, [Tarn ii,] 
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 iutense heat 
that [Tarn it,] the severed fibers may be seared in 
such manner as to seal up (so to speak) the mois¬ 
ture. [Tarn it.] Steak can be cooked in this way 
until it will not only look bloody when cut, but 
[Tarn it,] will satisfy fully those who like “rare” 
beef, without olfeiiding [Tarnlt,] such as prefer it 
“well done.” Butter is worse than wasted,—of 
course [Tarn it,] you’ll have it on the table for 
such as wish to disguise the taste of beef, as well 
as pepper and salt. [Tarn it.] Your motto is beef 
and lire. If your fire is a hot one, the steak is 
nearly done. It may not be considered imperti¬ 
nent to suggest [Tarn it,] that, the potatoes being 
just done, too, the family may gather round the ta¬ 
ble, so as to receive the steak upon their hot plates 
directly from the tire. There will be time for 
“grace,” before eating, and you’ll be thankful 
after, whether it is customary or not to say so.” 
-- I - 
Hints on Cooking, etc. 
Queen of Puddings.—A new pudding, 
with this name, recently furnished to the Agri- 
culturUt Household,” by Mrs. Wm. Morehouse, of 
Butfalo, N. Y.,has been tried with very satisfactory 
results : Into one quart of sweet milk, put one 
pint of fine bread crumbs, butter the size of an 
egg, the well beaten yolks of 5 eggs ; sweeten and 
flavor as for custard; mix the whole well together. 
AVhile the above is baking, beat the whites of the 5 
eggs to a stiff froth, aud add a teaeupful of pow¬ 
dered sugar; pour it over the hot pudding when 
cooked, return it to the oven, and bake to a deli¬ 
cate brown. We like the above without .addition, 
but some prefer a layer of jelly, or canned peaches 
or other fruit, over the pudding before the frosting 
is added.—No sauce is needed. It is not only de¬ 
licious, but light aud digestible. 
Nice CSiug'erljreatl.—The following direc¬ 
tions are furnished to the Agriculturist by one we 
know to be a good housekeeper—who h.as a healthy 
family as evidence of good cookerj-—with the re¬ 
mark that “ they make a gingerbread equal to the 
best article from the professional bakers To 2 
teacupfuls of molasses, and 20 tablespoonfuls of 
melted lard, are added 7 teaspoonfuls of soda dis¬ 
solved in 8 tablespoonfuls of boiling water, 2 tea¬ 
spoonfuls of crushed alum dissolved in 3 table¬ 
spoonfuls of boiling w.ater, 1 tablespoonful of gin¬ 
ger, and a little salt if the lard is fresh ; 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 quickly, with enough more 
flour added to make a dough as soft as it can be con¬ 
veniently rolled. Bake in a quick oven. Some may 
object to the alum, but a teaspoonful or two in a 
large milk-panful of cakes is but a homeopathic 
dose at most, and no more “mineral” than the 
salt used in all food. It gives the gingerbread the 
peculiar lightness of that made by bakers. Those 
who eschew alum must buy nothing at Bake Shops. 
Corn. —Cheap but good. 1 quart 
of milk to 4 tablespooufuls of meal. Boil the milk, 
stir in a little molasses aud ginger into the meal, 
stir the boiling milk into the meal aud let it get 
perfectly cold. Bake an hour and a h.alf. This is an 
excellent pudding, but the. directions must be 
exactly followed. 
The Justice’s I'wdding'.—2 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 r.aisins; 1 teacupful of syrup. Boil four 
hours iu a box or bag, and serve with cold sauce. 
Mince Pie Avithout Meat.—Prepare the 
pie-crust and apples the usual w.ay, when seasoned 
and iu the pie pans, fill the top of the apples with 
custard, prepared the same as for cust.ard pie. 
Then put on the top crust and bake. It is a good 
imitation aud preferable to mince pie. 
“Boiled Flour; A Flight Supper 
B>ish.”—Under this head we find the following 
strongly commended in Mrs. Warren’s (Loudon) 
Work on Economy in Living ; “Prepare a small 
calico [muslin] bag a quarter of a yard square, aud 
sew it well all round ; stuff 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 into a sauce- 
p.an of boiling water and boil four hours, filling up 
the saucepan with more water as it boils away. 
Then take it up, peel off the skin, crack or break the 
ball of flour 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 te.a, coffee, or mu.stard 
tins [boxes]. ' This is quite equal to maizena, or 
Oswego corn flour, and may be made as arrowroot 
custard, only it must be boiled. Costs not one- 
third of maizena. It is strengthening and very de¬ 
licious.”—[There is less difference in the cost of 
flour and maizeu.a, or corn starch, here than in Eng¬ 
land, but the .above is worthy a trial. Please let us 
have the result.— Ed. Ameuican Agkicultuiiist.] 
Boston Crackers. —Will some one having 
experience please send directions for making them. 
Stale Bread. Fritters. —Cut stale bread 
in thick slices aud put it to soak for several hours 
iu cold sweet milk. Then fry it in sweet lard, or 
butter the slices and fry them, and eat with sugar 
or molasses, or a sweet sauce. To make it more 
delicate, remove the hard crust before using. 
Boiled Farsnips. —Parnips are cooked as 
carrots, but they do not require as much boiling, 
and are sometimes served differently, being sliced 
lengthwa 3 's, dressed with butter and pepper, or 
mashed with a little cream, some butter, and 
seasoned with popper and salt. They are excellent 
fried, also made into a stew with pork and potatoes. 
Wings of Cleese, Turkeys, etc., so 
convenient as dusters, may be kept for a long time 
thus : Thoroughly dry them aud place them, flesh- 
end down, in a tub, keg, or any thing couvenient, 
aud fill with dry s.and. 
Was lie Mean ?—True Courage, 
It is very customary among bad boys, as well as among 
bad men, to try to per.suade othe.’s to join them in folly 
and sill—to pull them down to their own level—by ap¬ 
pealing to their courage. When a man challenges anoth¬ 
er to fight a duel, it requires greater courage to stand up 
boldly and say I will not be a murderer, than it does to 
face the weapon of his challenger. When a boy is chal 
lenged to engage in a bad enterprise, it usually requires 
a higher, nobler courage to withstand the jeers of his 
tempters, than it does to set aside the good will of his 
parents and friends;—Here is an excellent iilustration of 
true courage, as told in the Childrens’ Prize. Read 
the story carefully and act upon the lesson it teaches : 
A new scholar came to Rackford school—a well-dres¬ 
sed fine-looking lad, whose appearance all the boys liked. 
—There was a set of boys at this school who immediate¬ 
ly invited him to join their “larks.” Boys know pretty 
well what that means. They used to spend their money 
in eating and drinking, and often ran up large bilis, which 
their friends sometimes found it hard to pay. Tiiey want¬ 
ed every new scholar to join them, and they contrived by 
laughing at him, or reproaching him, to get almost any 
boy they wanted into their meshes. The new boys were 
afraid not to yield to them.--But tills new scholar refused 
their invitations. They called him mean and stingy—a. 
charge which always makes boys very sore.—“ Mean 1” 
he answered, “ and where is the meanness of not spend¬ 
ing money which is not your own? And where is the 
stinginess in not choosing to beg money of your friends 
to spend it in a way which they would not approve ? 
For, after all, our money must come from our friends, as 
we haven't it, nor can we earn it. No, boys, I will not 
spend one penny that I should be ashamed to give ac¬ 
count of to my father or mother, if they asked me.'’- 
“ Eh I not out of your leading-strings, then ? Afraid of 
your father; afraid of his whipping you? Afraid of 
your mother? tVon’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, boklly. “ You want me to be afraid of not 
doing as you say. But which, I should like to know, is 
the best sort of fear—the fear of my school-fellows, which 
would lead me into what is low ; or fear of my parents, 
which will inspire me to things noble and manly? It is 
very poor service you are showing me, to try to set mo 
against my parents, and teach me to be ashamed of their 
authority.”-The boys felt that there was no headway 
to be made against such a hew scholar. All they said 
hurt themselves more than it hurt him, and they liked bet¬ 
ter to be out of his way than in it—all the bad boys, I 
mean. The others gathered around him, and never did 
they work or play w ith greater relish than while he was 
their champioh and friend.-“ That new .scholtir is a 
choice fellow,’’ said the principtil, “and carries more 
influence than any other boy in school. They study bet¬ 
ter and play better where he is; you can’t pull him down. 
Everything mean and bad snetiks out of his way.” 
Tlie IJnkisoAA'ii Number Fuzzle.— 
Antv’er and correction, —The top figures of the columns 
containing the numbers sought, add up just that number 
thus- 55 is In the first three and last two columns and 
I-t-2-f4-f 16-1-32 equal 55, and so of any other number up 
to 63.—(In the 3d column. 51 should be 53. Please mark 
your paper with this correction.] 
