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PRIZE COOKING AND HOUSEHOLD 
RECEIPTS. 
Br Olivia E. Chapmah. 
To this article was awarded second prize, $15. 
Birds' Nest and Eggs. —Take one dozen lemons or 
oranges, and with a sharp knife shred off the yel¬ 
low rind, let the strips be long and slender; make 
a rich syrup with pare white sugar, flavored with the 
juice of lemons or oranges. Into this, while boil¬ 
ing, drop the shreds and boil until clear, then remove and 
cool upon broad dishes. When the syrup has drained off, 
form the shreds into a nest, in the center of a handsome 
dish. Take a dozen or more eggs, and cutting off the tip 
of the small end, extract all the white and yolk; make 
blanc-mange—yellow and white—yellow with yolks of 
eggs, and white in the usual way with cornstarch or gela¬ 
tine, flavoring with vanilla, almond, and other flavoring if 
desired, separating the mixture and flavoring several dif¬ 
ferent portions; one part should be colored pink and 
crimson with a decoction of cochineal dissolved in alcohol. 
While in a half liquid state fill the shells to the top, and 
allow them to cool. When solid, remove the shells carefully, 
and beautiful eggs of various shades of color will be 
formed, with which fill the nest. Dress the dish upon the 
outside with a green wreath, or set in the midst of branches 
and sprays of green, intermixed with flowers. 
Cream CaJce—The Shells. —Beat five eggs, yellow and 
white separately, add to the yolks one cup full of sugar, 
then the whites whisked until they stand alone; rub half 
a teaspoonful of soda into one teaeupful of flour, beat this 
into the eggs and sugar, and add one full teaspoonful of 
cream of tartar, beat well, and divide into cakes by drop¬ 
ping a large tablespoonful upon a baking tin, not allowing 
the drops to touch each other, nor be placed near enough 
to run together when heated Gem pans are best to bake 
them in, the £at circles instead of deep ones. Let the oven 
be quick, and when the cakes are a light brown remove 
them, and allow to cool a little, then split them open on 
one side and drop the cream in the hollow opening. 
For the Cream. —Boil one pint of new milk, beat the 
yolks of two eggs, and add a teaspoonful of sugar and 
enough of cornstarch to thicken, (nearly three tablespoon¬ 
fuls) stirred smooth in a little cold milk; add to the milk 
also the whites of the eggs, a teaspoonful extracts of 
lemon, and one of vanilla, beat well, and as soon as thi k 
remove from the fire, allow to cool before placing in the 
puffs, pinching the parts together after filling. Paint over 
with the white of an egg and dress plentifully with 
powdered sugar. 
Canvass-Back Duck to Roast. —The duck should be 
young and fat; pick it well, draw and singe carefully; 
but do not wash it. Dress it, leaving its head on to dis¬ 
tinguish it from common game, and place it on the spit 
before a brisk fire for at least fifteen minutes, or according 
as your family or friend like them more or less done, 
which you must inquire ; serve it hot, in its own gravy. 
The head of the Canvass Back is purple, and the breast 
silver color. Other ducks can be served in the same man¬ 
ner, only wild game should not be cooked quite as long, as 
that peculiar delicate wild flavor so highly prized by 
epicures would be destroyed. For sauce, currant j lly. 
Broiled Partridge.— (French method.) After having 
prepared the bird with great nicety, divided and flattened 
it, season it with salt and pepper, or Cayenne, dip it into 
clarified butter, and then into line, bread crumbs, and take 
care to have it evenly covered ; if wanted very nice, dip the 
second time into the butter and crumbs, place over a very 
clear fire and broil gently from twenty to thirty minutes; 
serve with mushroom sauce, 
Bread Jelly for the Sick. —Cut the crumbs of a penny 
roll into thin slices, and toast them equally of a pale brown ; 
boil them gently in a quart of water until it will jelly, which 
may be known by putting a little in a spoon to cool; strain 
it upon a bit of lemon peel, and sweeten with a little sugar; 
cleanliness is very essential in sickness, a dirty cup, or a 
bit of coal on toast, or in broth, may turn an invalid’s 
stomach. 
Rock Rice. —Boil a teacupful of the best rice till quite 
soft, in new milk," sweeten with powdered white sugar, 
and pile it upon a dish; lay all over it- lumps of jelly, or 
preserved fruit of any kind. Beat the whites of three 
eggs to a stiff froth, add a little sugar, flavor with what 
you please. Add to this when beaten very stiff, about a 
tablespoonful of rich cream: drop it over the rice, giving 
it the appearance of a rock of snow. 
To Prepare Fruit for Dessert. —Beat well the white of an 
egg with a little water; dip the fruit in and roll it imme¬ 
diately in fine crushed sugar; place it upon a dish, and 
leave it live or six hours, then serve. A more sightly or 
exquisite dessert than a plate of currants thus dressed 
cannot be had. 
Cookies. —Two cups of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup 
of sweet milk, two eggs, four cups of flour, four heaping 
teaspoonfuls of baking powder. The flour should be 
measured in a little larger cup than the sugar, mix well, 
and bake in a quick oven, then spread with the white of an 
egg well beaten, and sprinkle with sugar; or a quicker 
way would be to sprinkle well with sugar just before 
baking. 
To Bake Fish. —Take two good sized fish, clean and 
wipe them well in a cloth, but do not wash them ; keep the 
breasts as whole as possible; strew salt over them, and 
leave upon a board several hours; then wipe the salt from 
them, cut off the heads and fins, cut the skin through down 
the back, and take it off neatly, being careful to keep the 
fish whole. Beat yolks of three eggs, dip the fish in the 
egg, have ready some bread crumbs mixed with pepper, 
salt, and chopped parsley, roll the fish in the crumbs, and 
stuff the heads and breasts with oysters chopped, but not 
too fine, and bread crumbs mixed with egg. Butter a dish, 
lay the fish upon it, stick pieces of butter upon each, and 
bake them. For sauce, take a pint of veal gravy, the same 
of cream, mix two tablespoonfuls of flour in a little of the 
cream, cold, and boil until smooth ; add a blade of mace, a 
little nutmeg and salt; some prefer an onion. Lay the 
heads of the fish at each end of the dish and garnish with 
lemon. 
A Novel Way of Making Jelly Cake. —Take the whites 
of six eggs, one cup of white sugar, same of flour, one 
tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of sweet milk, 
two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar and one of soda. Bake 
in a large oblong dripping pan, so the cake will be very 
thin; meanwhile stir another batch, making just the same, 
with the exception of using the yolk instead of the whites; 
when both are done, spread while warm with jelly, 
or preserves of any kind; put together, bring the lar¬ 
gest side of the cake toward you, and roll immediately; 
or cut in four or eight parts, put together alternately, put¬ 
ting jelly between each layer, and frost lightly over the 
top. Another method is to make three pans, making the 
third layer of one-third red sand sugar, proceeding the 
same as for the other layers; in putting together let the 
first layer be the yellow, made of the yolks, then the red, 
and lastly the whites. Nicely frost the top, and you have 
a beautiful as well as a delicious party cake. They are 
very pretty made into rolls. 
For Iced Apples.— Pare and core ten large apples 
(more or less) of a large tart kind. Bake them until nearly 
done; put them away to get entirely cold; then prepare 
some icing as for apple meringue, and first pouring off all 
the juice, lay the icing thickly on the tops and sides as 
much as you can. Return them to the oven to just harden 
and set. Serve with cream. 
Wild Plum Jelly. —Beautiful jelly can be made from the 
wild plums so plentiful in some parts of the west; nice 
marmalade can be made from the same fruit. Pour boil¬ 
ing water over your plums, turning it off immediately—this 
is for the purpose of extracting the bitter taste in the 
skins. Steam the plums in a stone jar or covered pan over 
boiling water until they crack so that the juice runs out. 
Put them in a colander and allow to drain, but do not 
press them; boil this juice twenty minutes, meanwhile 
heating the sugar on plates in the oven (pound for pint) 
so hot that you cannot bear your hand in it. Put the hot 
sugar into the boiling juice and boil all together a few 
minutes. Jelly can be made from any fruit or vegetable 
from which can be obtained the peculiar principle called 
peciine. Boiling the sugar with the fruit longer than is 
necessary for its perfect mixture spoils the flavor. Never 
put water on fruit and allow it to simmer, will have to be 
boiled out again. Everything should be very clean and 
bright. 
Crab-apple Marmalade. —Sift the steamed apples through 
a colander; do not pare them, only cut out the blossom 
ends; a pint of pulp to half a pound of sugar. Boil until 
you have a clear thick paste. 
To Cook Beans. —Beans should never be put in cold water 
to soak, because all the nutritious part of the bean is ex¬ 
tracted by the process. They should be washed in warm 
water, then in cold; be tied loosely in a cloth; be put into 
boiling water, with a spoonful of dripping and a little salt 
in it and be kept boiling for four hours. They are excel¬ 
lent if served with gravy and not with melted butter. They 
serve as garnish for roast mutton or beef, or are excellent 
served whole as a puree. To make the latter, when the 
beans are done throw them instantly into cold water, when 
the skins will slip off; rub the beans through a colander 
and mix a lump of butter with them. A little milk or cream 
is good mixed in. 
Hominy Cakes. —A pint of small hominy, a pint of white 
Indian meal sifted, a saltspoonful of salt, three large table- 
spoonfuls of strong yeast, a quart of milk. Having washed 
the hominy and left it soaking overnight, boil it soft, drain, 
and while hot mix it with meal, adding the salt and butter, 
then mix gradually with the milk and set away to cool; 
beat the eggs very light and add them gradually to the 
mixture. The whole should make a thick batter. Bake 
on a griddle. 
Transparent Pudding.— Beat the yolks of eight eggs and 
the whites of two, and mix with them half a pound of 
warmed butter and the same of loaf sugar, pounded • butter 
cups or moulds, lay at the bottom orange marmalade or 
preserved apricots, pour the pudding upon the sweetmeats 
and bake from fifteen to twenty minutes. This is very 
rich, and should not be eaten by those having weak stom¬ 
achs. 
Arrow-root Pudding. —Dissolve four teacupfuls of arrow 
root in a quart of fresh milk, boil with a few bitter almonds 
pounded up, or peach leaves to give it a flavor, if you -wish ; 
stir it well while it is boiling, or until it becomes a smooth 
baiter; when quite cool add six eggs well beaten, to the 
batter, then mix with it a quarter of a pound of powdered 
sugar (if brown is used it spoils the color); grate some 
lemon peel into the mixture and add a little of the juice. 
The pudding should be baked an hour and sent to the table 
cold. Quince, raspberry or strawberry preserves may be 
served with it. and, to add to the appearance, ornament 
the top with slices of preserves. 
Mixed Pickle. —To each gallon of vinegar allow' a quarter 
of a pound of bruised ginger, qua rter of a pound of mus¬ 
tard. quarter of a pound of salt, two ounces of mustard 
seed, one and a half' ounces of turn eric, one ounce of ground 
black pepper, one-quarter ounce of Cayenne; cauliflowers, 
onions, celery, sliced cucumbers, gherkin, French beans, 
nasturtions, capsicum. Have a large jar with a tightly 
fitting lid, in which put as much vinegar as is required, re¬ 
serving a little to mix the various powders to a smooth 
paste. Put into a basin the mustard, tumeric, pepper and 
Cayenne; mix them with vinegar and stir until no lumps 
remain; add ail the ingredients to the vinegar and mix 
well. Keep this liquor in a warm place and stir thoroughly 
every morning with a wooden spoon for near a month, 
when it will be ready for the vegetables to be added. As 
these come into season have them gathered on a dry day, 
and. after merely wiping them with a cloth to free them 
from moisture, put them into the pickle. The cauliflowers 
should be divided into small bunches. Put all the vegetables 
into the pickle raw, and at the end of the season, when the 
vegetables are all procured, store away in jars and tie over 
with a bladder. As none of the ingredien ts are boiled, this 
pickle will not be fit for eating for several months. I will 
repeat that the contents must be stirred each morning. 
Pickle Chow-Chow. —Quarter of a peck green tomatoes, 
the same of white onions and pickling beans, one dozen 
green cucumbers, one dozen green peppers, one large head 
of cabbage ; season with mustard, celeiy seed, salt to suit 
the taste. Cover the mixture with the best cider vinegar. 
Boil two hours slowly, continually stirring, and add two 
tablespoonfuls of sweet oil while hot. 
Beef Steak Pie. —Choose steak that has been long hung; 
cut into moderately-sized pieces and trim off' all the skin or 
sinews; season them with salt and pepper; put a crust 
underneath, or in the bottom, then layers of crust, beef and 
oysters alternately; stew the liquor and beards of oysters 
with a bit of lemon peel, mace, and a tablespoonful of wal¬ 
nut catsup. When the pie is baked, boil with the above 
three spoonfuls of cream and one of butter rubbed in flour. 
For a small pie,, a dozen oysters, generally more is better. 
The pie should be baked near two hours. 
Crust for Tarts. —Beat the white of an egg to a strong 
froth, thin it with as much water as will make three-fourths 
of a pound of fine flour into a very stiff paste ; roll it very 
thin, then lay the third part of half a pound of butter upon 
it in little bits, dredge it 'with some flour left out a) first 
and roll up tight; roll it out again and put the same pro¬ 
portion of butter, and so proceed until all be worked in; 
bake in the form desired’ and use cranberries for filling. 
Ginger Bread to Keep. —Rub half a pound of butter into 
one pound of flour, then rub in half a pound of sugar, two 
tablespoonfuls of ginger and one of rose water; work it 
well, roll out, and bake in flat pans in a moderate oven. It 
will take about half an hour. 
Pumpkin Pie. —Take out the seeds and pare the pumpkin 
or squash, but in taking out the seeds do not scrape the 
inside of the pumpkin; the part nearest the seed is the 
sweetest; then stew the pumpkin and strain it through a 
sieve or colander; to a quart of nnlk for a family pie, three 
eggs are enough; stir in the stewed pumpkin with your 
milk and beaten up eggs till it is as thick as you can stir 
round rapidly and easily. If the pie is wanted richer make 
it thinner and add sweet cream or another egg or two, but 
even one egg to one quart of milk makes “very decent 
pies.” Add a little salt, two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon 
and one of powdered ginger; the peel of a lemon grated 
gives a pleasant flavor. The more eggs the better pie. 
Some put an egg to a gill of milk. Bake three-fourths of 
an hour in deep plates or shallow dishes, without an upper 
crust, in a hot oven. 
