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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A SATISFYING THANKSGIVING 
MtfNU. 
I T is but natural that the three things 
which can not be spared from the 
Thanksgiving feast should be distinctively 
of home production, and so it has come to be 
a fact that a Thanksgiving dinner which 
lacks turkey, cranberries or pumpkin pie 
seems “ like the play of Hamlet with the 
Prince of Denmark left out.” 
Farmers are not given to dinners of 
many courses, and a dinner resembling the 
one which I shall describe will be served in 
many a farmhouse on the coming Thanks¬ 
giving, and in but three courses : 
m£nu. 
Soup. Oyster. 
Meats. 
Roast turkey. Baked ham. 
GIblet dressing. Jellied cranberries. 
Vegetables 
Irish potatoes, mashed. Sweot turnips, mashed. 
Browned sweet potatoes. 
Cabbage salad. 
Celery. 
Dessert. 
Pumpkin pie. Indian pudding. 
Cheese, 
Crullers. 
Coffee Tea. 
Fruit and nuts. 
Oyster Soup. —If the oysters are solid 
meats allow three cupfuls of cold water to 
each quart of oysters t stir well, then take 
out the oysters carefully, making sure 
that no bits of shell adhere to them. Strain 
the liquor into a kettle and let it come to a 
boil, skim and add butter, pepper and salt 
to taste. When it again comes to a boil put 
in the oysters and when the edges begin to 
curl throw in a cupful of cream which has 
been previously heated and serve at once. 
Serve with crackers which have been heated 
through in theoven. 
Giblet Dressing.— The liver, heart and 
gizzard should be boiled until tender in a 
little water and minced very fine. When 
the turkey is roasted, remove it from the 
dripper, take out the strings and put it in a 
hot place. Put the water in which the gib¬ 
lets were boiled into the dripper for gravy. 
Thicken with a large spoonful of flour, wet 
up smoothly with a little milk. Let it boil 
up, strain and add the minced giblets. 
Baked Ham.—B oil a nice ham until ten¬ 
der. Take it up, remove the skin, dot it 
with light sprinklings of black pepper, 
sprinkle one tablespoonful of sugar on it and 
bake it until it is nicely browned. Serve hot 
or cold as desired. 
Jellied Cranberries.— Stew nice ripe 
cranberries till tender, then add three- 
quarters of a pound of sugar to each pint of 
berries, let the sugar dissolve and when 
they come to aboil pour into molds. 
Every one knows howto prepare mashed 
potatoes and turnips, but all may not know 
how much turnips are Improved if three or 
four potatoes are mashed with them. 
Browned Sweet Potatoes.— Wash the 
potatoes carefully, but do not cut them. 
Boil or steam them until tender. Remove 
the skins, cut them through lengthwise, 
place in a dripper and put in the oven. 
Baste them two or three times with melted 
butter. 
Cabbage Salad.— Slice a nice firm head 
of cabbage on a slicer and put into a salad 
bowl. Put one tablespoonful of butter and 
one cupful of vinegar on the stove in a 
saucepan. Mix one teaspoonful of mustard, 
one teaspoonful of tumeric, half a tea¬ 
spoonful of ginger, one teaspoonful of salt, 
one tablespoonful of flour, and half a tea¬ 
cupful of sugar, with half a teacupful of 
cold vinegar. When the vinegar on the 
stove boils stir in the other mixture. 
Let it cook a few minutes, then pour it 
over the cabbage hot. 
Pumpkin Pie.— The nicest pumpkin pie I 
ever ate was made from squash, but this 
would Beem heretical to many, so I will 
not insist that others should pattern after 
my unorthodox ideas. Steam or stew either 
pumpkin or squash until tender. Put it 
through a colander. Take one quart of 
the vegetable, one quart of creamy milk, 
two eggs, and salt to taste, flavor with 
lemon and bake with one crust. 
Baked Indian Pudding.— One quart of 
boiling milk, mix slowly with one cup of 
|tti,$cctUmcou$i gulvntijsing. 
Always name The R. N.-Y. In writing to 
advertisers. 
When Baby was sick, we nave her Castorla, 
When she was a Child, she cried (or Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Custorlu, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla. 
corn meal. When cool add one cup of 
molasses, two well-beaten eggs, one tea¬ 
spoonful of salt, and one teaspoonful of 
ginger; mix thoroughly and pour into a 
greased pudding pan. Bake for three 
hours in a moderate oven. 
Crullers.— Two cupfuls of sugar, one 
quart of thin sour cream or sour milk (if 
the latter add half a teacupful of butter or 
lard), two eggs, one even tablespoonful of 
soda, one grated nutmeg and a little salt. 
Mix into a soft dough with flour, cut into 
fanciful shapes, and fry In hot lard. Roll 
the crullers in sugar as you take them from 
the kettle. 
Coffee.— I do not think my way of mak¬ 
ing coffee is the best, only I arrive at better 
results with this way than any other. 
Break an egg in a pint bowl and beat up 
light. Fill the bowl with cold water. For 
each gue-t allow one heaping tablespoon¬ 
ful of coffee, roasted and ground, and one 
extra for every six persons. Use enough 
of the egg and water to wet the coffee. 
Put about a pint of cold water into the 
boiler with the coffee and set on the stove. 
When it boils up add about a quart of boil¬ 
ing water for every four guests and place 
the pot where it will keep hot, but will not 
boil. When cream is a little scarce a tea¬ 
cupful of cream whipped for a few minutes 
with a quart of new milk is by no means to 
be despised. 
It is to be understood that you went to 
church in the morning and gave thanks 
with your neighbors for the year’s boun¬ 
ties. Go out among the poor in the after¬ 
noon, if you did not do it the night before 
Thanksgiving, and give them from your 
abundance what is most needed to make 
them comfortable and thankful. It may 
be food or clothing; it may be only care 
or expressions of good-will: but remem¬ 
ber that “ with what measure you mete, it 
shall be measured to you again.” 
s. A. little. 
THANKSGIVING PUMPKIN PIES. 
ECURE a pumpkin and test It by 
using enough for one pie—do not 
bother to restore poor pumpkin with 
seasoning—it should be fine-grained and 
capable of cooking out dry; cut it in 
squares, leaving on the skin. Put in¬ 
to a smooth iron kettle, cover closely and 
let It cook three hours; then remove the 
cover (put only enough water in to keep 
the pieces from resting on the bottom) and 
rub through the colander while hot. Do 
this the day before you wish to make your 
pies, also make your pastry the day before 
as follows : Rub one half cupful of good 
lard, very fresh and sweet, into a pint of 
salted flour; add ice cold watTer to make a 
good, fine dough ; pack this in a perfectly 
new porcelain bowl, cover, and set in the 
cellar; next morning proceed with the pies. 
Take morning’s milk and for two pies pro¬ 
ceed as follows: One heaping cupful of 
the cold pumpkin which has been thor¬ 
oughly sifted, put it into a dish large 
enough to contain all the ingredients; beat 
three eggs; stir one tablespoonful of 
grated ginger root and one half teaspoouful 
of fine ground cinnamon with one cupful 
of granulated sugar and sift into the eggs ; 
beat well and add to the pumpkin, stirring 
well; beat up one cup of sweet cream and 
stir in, then add the milk and let stand 
until the paste is ready, stirring often. 
Lay the pastry on the board and roll one 
half inch in thickness; have ready good, 
sweet butter, and spread all over this 
paste, sprinkle on a very little flour ; com¬ 
mence at the side and roll up, cut off in 
slices one half inch thick aud lay flat ou 
the board until all is piled up, crossing the 
pieces it oblong ; press down with the cool 
hand, then roll again ; do this three times, 
then roll moderately thin and line the 
plates. The pies, when done, should 
be 1 }4 inch in thickness; cut the crust 
around the plate, and^if not deep, cut slices 
of the paste, wet the edge and lay on until 
sufficiently high; do not work or squeeze 
the crust to give it a mixed look on the 
edge. Strain the liquid preparation 
through a soup strainer or rather fine 
sieve, (it should be of the consistency of 
thick cream when ready for the oven) fill 
the crust full aud bake in a moderate oven. 
The pie should not be allowed to boil, 
neither whey; it is a process particular to 
bake jiust right, but it can be done. Do not 
allow a brown crust on top. Always serve 
the pie thoroughly cold: it is best the 
second day if the first day is not long 
enough to allow it to become cold. If auy 
crust is left over, cheese straws can be 
made by rolling out aud bifting grated 
cheese upon it—cut in sfips one half inch 
wide aud one inch long aud bake carefully 
—fill in log cabin style in a fancy (?) plate ; 
or to make tarts, use the same crust and 
bake in patty pans putting in peeled raw 
potatoes, pressing them down to make the 
hole in the tart; remove the potatoes when 
done. ELLA H. BEEBE. 
[The directions for crust given above are 
nearly like those for first-class “ puff 
paste,” which is considered such a delicacy, 
and so difficult to make.—E ds.] 
PREPARING THE TURKEY. 
T seems superfluous to mention the neces¬ 
sity of care in removing feathers, singe¬ 
ing and drawing a turkey, but many young 
cooks have been known to fail from care¬ 
lessness or a lack of knowledge in regard to 
this stage of the work. The fowl should 
not be fed for several hours before killing, 
and its meat will be whiter if the head is 
cut off instead of the bleeding being done 
by stabbing in the mouth. Care should be 
taken lest the bird bruise himself during 
his dying struggles. The wing and tail 
feathers may be taken out before scalding. 
Scald carefully, for if the water is too hot 
the flesh will be torn when the feathers are 
removed. The singeing may be done by 
means of a lighted paper, and must be 
rapid, else the bird will be blackened by the 
smoke. In drawing a fowl care must be 
taken lest the gall bladder be broken. 
After drawing, rinse the bird well in two 
waters, tie the feet together and hang it in 
a cool place for at least 24 hours before 
using. A turkey may be prepared for 
roasting the night before if necessary, but 
if this is done it is better to covet it care¬ 
fully with a damp cloth. Cut off the feet 
ana the end of the neck. Draw the skin 
over the neck bone and tie securely. For 
dressing, soak one pint of stale bread 
crumbs in hot milk. Mince three stalks of 
celery very fine and mix them with the 
soaked bread, together with a well beaten 
egg and one tablespoonful of melted butter. 
Stir lightly with a fork. Season to taste 
with salt and pepper. 
Lay the turkey in a large pan, but not 
the one in which it is to be roasted. Put a 
little of the dressing into the space from 
which the crop was removed, and sew the 
skin into place with coarse white thread. 
Put the remainder of the dressing into the 
body of the fowl, which has been previously 
rubbed with salt, lay a thin slice of salt fat 
pork over the opening and sew securely. 
Tie the legs together and pass a string 
around the body to hold the wings in 
place. Put the bird on his back In the 
dripper. Put some hot water in the pan 
with a teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoon 
ful of butter, and place in the oven. The 
water must be dipped over the bird every 
few minutes, so that it will brown nicely 
and not get dry. A turkey weighing from 
12 to 15 pounds should be allowed four 
hours of steady heat, at the very least, to 
cook. If the legs brown too fast cover 
them with paper and move the bird from 
side to side, so that it may brown evenly on 
all sides. , s. A. L. 
(Continued on next page.) 
$ti.$cenane 0 u,$ gUvcrti.$ing. 
Advertisers treat all correspondents 
well if they mention The Rural New- 
YorKer. 
As a Rule, 
It is best not to attempt to remedy costive¬ 
ness by the use of saline or drastic purga¬ 
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the most prompt and beneficial is Ayer’s 
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their medicinal virtues for a long time, and 
are easy to take. 
“ I can recommend Ayer’s Pills above all 
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cathartic for myself and family.”—J. T. Hess, 
Leitlisville, Pa. 
“ In 1858, by the advice of a friend, I began 
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H. W. Hersh, Judsonia, Ark. 
Ayer’s Pills, 
PREPARED BY 
DR. J. C. AYER & CO., Lowell, Mass. 
Sold by all Dealers in Medicines. 
Tuffs Pills 
stimulate the torpifl liver, strengthen the 
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are unequaled as an 
Anti-Bilious Medicine. 
Elegantly sugar coated. Rose small. Price, 
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VICTORY AT LAST ! 
Self-threading Sewing Needles. 
The Blind can use them. Invaluable for 
falling sight Klrest lit edles made. Mill- 
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Sample paper, he S for 25c : 12 for '.Sc. 
New ENGLAND NOVELTY M’F’O CO , 
21 Portland St., Boston, Mass. 
PUDIOTUih PlDnQ 1<* Very B'-autlful Christ 
unmaimaa UflllUo. mas Cards, no two alike, by 
malt for 25c. They will please you. New England 
Novelty M’k’g Co.. 21 Portland St, Boston. Mass. 
THE MARCHAL 4 SMITH P14N0 CO. 
o o o 
o o o o 
We Sell Direct to Families 
And make it Easy for you to buy of us no matter where you live. 
p ESTABLISHED 1859. 
-syIv'Vw} f £) 
INCORPORATED 1877. 
c 
Yes, my dear, my Marchal & Smith Piano is a beautiful Instrument. The tone isso 
sweet and pure, the aetion so fairy-like, and the finish so elegant that not another 
thing can 1 wish for. I wrote to the factory, and told them just what I wanted, and 
they selected it and sent it to me for trial, agreeing to take it back and pay all the 
I freights if I did not like it. But I could not be better suited it l hud a thousand to 
choose from. My dear, when you want a Piano or an Organ send for then- 
catalogue. They have 
PIAIMOS 
$150 to $1 500 
ORGANS 
FROM 
$35 to $500. 
MARCHAL l SMITH PIANO CO., 235 East 21st St., New York. 
