THE RURAb NEW-YORKEE 
January 21, 
70 
Wrinkles and Recipes. 
I wonder how many of our readers 
are buying steak from the itinerant 
butcher? I have been for years, and 
while commending its freshness have 
long lamented its toughness. Last 
Summer, however, I hit upon the plan 
of running it all through my food chop¬ 
per and making Hamburger of it. 
Occasionally I add a little onion for 
variety. I usually buy three or four 
pounds at once, as I have a chance but 
once a week, and after grinding fry half 
in small cakes held together with a 
little salted and peppered flour, and boil 
the rest for hash, adding onion always 
to this portion. The little ones and 
father, especially, hail the change with 
delight, as neither could masticate the 
meat in its original form. 
Pie has for several years been a 
tabooed article with some members of 
our family, although all are fond of it. 
So the other day I made baking powder 
crust, rich as for shortcake, rolled it 
very thin, and used it for pies in lieu 
of the lard article. It took upon itself 
a beautiful brown flaky appearance, and 
when it appeared at dinner the cry went 
forth, “What kind of pie is that?” To 
mv answer, “Huckleberry,” a groan went 
up with “ohs” and “ahs” and “How I 
wish 1 rnigh eat some, but pie crust 
never does agree with me.” "But,” I 
said, “this is different, so do try some.” 
So all ventured, albeit some rather gin¬ 
gerly, and not one suffered any ill 
effects. It was very light, tender, and 
Really costs much less with us than the 
lard crust, as lard is now 15 cents per 
pound, and it requires so much to make 
a tender crust by the older recipes. 
Then, too, a little dab left makes a 
dainty biscuit or two, instead of going 
to the pigs or being set aside until hard 
or moldy. 
There is always such an absolute cer¬ 
tainty about baking powder biscuit crust, 
with its quart of flour to two teaspoons 
baking powder, etc., my luck has been 
so good, that 1 always shrink from ex¬ 
perimenting with sour cream and soda, 
especially when I have company. But 1 
like my city friends especially to enjoy 
the cream biscuits so I have begun to 
use the following formula, which I never 
vary, and which thus far has produced 
delicious biscuit with uniformly good 
results: One cup thick sour cream, two 
cups nice buttermilk (old will not doj, 
one rounding teaspoon soda, one heap¬ 
ing teaspoon baking powder dissolved 
in the milk, one teaspoon salt and one 
tablespoon sugar sifted with sufficient 
flour to make as soft a dough as can 
be handled on the molding board. The 
soda sweetens and the baking powder 
lightens, which soda alone will not do 
satisfactorily I think in biscuit. This 
recipe makes a dozen. 
1 am always trying new recipes for 
dark cakes, as we like them better than 
the white ones, and they have the 
added merit of improving with age. So 
the other day I gladly tried a new one 
handed me by a neighbor, which is at 
once the best and cheapest of any 1 have 
ever used. One cup sugar, one egg, but¬ 
ter or lard size of an egg, one level 
teaspoon soda, one-half teaspoon each of 
nutmeg and cloves, one teaspoon cinna¬ 
mon, one cup raisins, three cups water, 
and about two cups of flour, though it 
is always safest to bake a tester, as 
flour varies so greatly. Boil the raisins 
in the water till you have but one cup 
of juice besides the fruit. Dissolve the 
soda in this and when cool add to the 
creamed sugar, egg and butter, then add 
the sifted flour and lastly fold in the 
raisins, well floured. Cooking the fruit 
prevents its falling to the bottom of the 
cake, and the fruit juice gives the cake 
a far more delicious flavor than either 
molasses or coffee for the wetting. 
This makes one loaf, but I double it, 
bake it in a dripping pan and when cold 
ice with confectioner’s sugar and milk 
made into a smooth thick paste and 
flavored with vanilla. 
No dish appears with more frequency 
on our farm tables than warmed-over 
potatoes, creamed, hashed or fried, and 
yet how little thought most of us give 
to their preparation! “Well, I must 
warm up those potatoes,” says Mrs. A. 
as supper time approaches, and into the 
frying pan she pops a lump of fat of 
some kind, dashes in the cold potatoes, 
pours in some milk, sprinkles over them 
some pepper and salt and considers the 
task done save for an occasional stirring. 
And these she calls “creamed potatoes.” 
What a misnomer! Mrs. B. takes a 
minute longer and sprinkles or sifts 
over the top some dry flour. In this 
case the potatoes will not be as soggy 
as in the other, but you are always a 
little uncertain as to whether the next 
bite will be potato or a lump of dough. 
Coat the potatoes but do not soak them, 
and let the coating be free from lumps. 
These are the two points to be aimed 
for, and there is but one way to insure 
success, viz., to make the sauce first. 
But you say, “It takes too much times.” 
True, it does take a little longer, just 
two minutes, but these two minutes may 
spell the difference between success and 
failure. In the frying pan 1 pour one 
pint of milk for each quart of sliced or 
chopped potato, to which I add pepper 
and salt, and butter the size of an egg, 
although ham, bacon or pork fat is al¬ 
most as good. When melted I stir in a 
rounding tablespoon of flour mixed 
smooth in cold water or -milk. When 
cooked, which only takes a minute or 
two, 1 add the potatoes, stir gently till 
all are coated, then cover to steam 
through till time to serve. When com¬ 
pany is coming be generous with the but¬ 
ler, add a little chopped parsley, and 
no more delicious accompaniment for 
fried chicken or cold meats can be 
found. We have quite discarded the 
fried potatoes as being indigestible, for 
our table. Sometimes, however, we de¬ 
sire to serve creamed potatoes when 
there are no cold boiled ones. Try this, 
which 1 copied years ago from a list of 
dainties which had made a Catskill 
house famous: To a pint and half of 
rich milk add one-half or three-fourths 
cup butter (other fat will not be as nice 
for these), pepper ar salt, and one 
quart of raw potatoes chopped very fine 
and soaked for an hour in cold water 
if you need not hurry your preparations. 
Cover closely and cook very slowly on 
the back of the range for about an hour, 
stirring occasionally. When done they 
will be like thick cream and most de¬ 
licious I can assure you. 
LEILA BARNES. 
Apple Sauce Cake. —One and one-half 
cups apple sauce; y 2 cup shortening; V/ 2 
cups dark brown sugar; 1 cup raisins or 
currants; 1 teaspoonful cinnamon; 1 tea¬ 
spoonful cloves; pinch of salt; 2 l / 2 cups 
flour; 2 teaspoonfuls soda. Mix the soda 
in the apple sauce while hot; add melted 
lard last. Beat well and bake in but¬ 
tered loaf pan, one-lialf hour in a mod¬ 
erate oven. E. s. 
Squash Fritters.—Two cupfuls stewed 
and mashed squash, one cupful sour 
milk, two ' eggs, three tablespoonfuls 
brown sugar (may be satisfactorily 
omitted), half teaspoonful each salt and 
soda, flour to make a soft batter. Fry 
like pancakes. 
Broiled Deviled Tomatoes.—Cut the 
tomatoes in half-inch slices and broil 
over a clear fire. Pour over them a sauce 
made of mashing the yolks of three hard- 
boiled eggs; add a saltspoonful of salt, 
one teaspoonful each of powdered sugar 
and mustard, a dash of cayenne or a 
drop or two of tabasco; then stir in three 
ounces of melted butter. When all these 
ingredients are blended add three table¬ 
spoonfuls of vinegar. Put the mixture 
over the fire, bring to the boil and stir in 
two well-beaten eggs. When it has thick¬ 
ened keep it warm over the fire until 
ready to use. 
Destiny bears us to our lot, and des¬ 
tiny is perhaps our own will. —Disraeli. 
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