HOUSEHOLD HINTS. 
PREPARED BY MRS. C. G. HERBERT. 
Uses for Stale Bread. 
There are so many ways to utilize stale bread, that it 
seems a wonder so much is wasted in many households. 
We see it thrown in garbage pails, or left to mould by 
many an economical servant, who would gladly use it 
if she only “ knew what to do with it.” 
It makes delicious griddle cakes when soaked soft in 
cold water. Three small slices, with water enough to 
cover them, should be sufficient,when the milk and flour 
are added, to make nearly two quarts of batter. Some 
cooks prefer to put in one egg, while others like them 
fully as well without. When the bread is soaked soft, 
make it fine with a spoon, add the milk and sufficient 
(lour to stiffen enough so the cakes can be easily turned. 
If sour milk is used, add to the batter one even teaspoon 
of cream tartar, dissolved in a little water, and one even 
teaspoon of soda. This is a good plan to follow in all uses 
of sour milk, as it seldom contains enough acid to entirely 
counteract the soda. Of course, when only a small 
quantity of sour milk is used, twice as much cream 
tartar as soda should bo taken, for when the milk is en¬ 
tirely sweet the proportions are three even teaspoons of 
cream tartar to one of soda. 
French toast is always a favorite dish with children and 
most grown people, and can be made of tliin slices cut 
from a stale loaf and moistened in milk and egg—two 
eggs to a pint of milk—and then fried on a griddle with a 
mixture of butter and lard, or butter and beef drip¬ 
pings. It is eaten with sugar or syrup like griddle cakes. 
Of course all our readers are familiar with the ordi¬ 
nary bread puddings, a recipe for one variety having 
been given in the Cabinet of September, 1882; but all 
may not know that pieces of bread which are not too 
liax'd can be made into a resemblance to turkey 
dressing. Cut your bread into dice, and if you have a 
quantity of gravy from which fat can be taken, left 
from any kind of roast (though a piece of butter will do 
as well), thoroughly grease the bottom of a spider; put 
in the bread, with some little chunks of butter and plenty 
of seasoning, then pom' enough boiling water on it to 
moisten it; cover tightly, and in a moment it will steam 
through and you can stir it, and either brown a little or 
have it moist like dressing. It should be eaten with 
gravy over it, and is a good substitute for potatoes. 
The little dry hard pieces and crusts which always 
accumulate can be put on a pie tin in an oven that is 
just hot enough to dry and make them a light brown, 
then roll them fine and put away to use in making 
coquettes, frying fish, etc. We have recently learned 
that these slightly browned crumbs make excellent 
griddle cakes, with the addition of one egg and a hand¬ 
ful of flour, and milk to make a batter; but as we have 
never tasted them, we can only recommend it as 
worthy of trial. 
Hickory-nut Layer Cake. 
Pick out one tea-cup full of hickory-nut meats several 
days before you wish to make your cake, and put them 
in the warming oven to dry. When they are as dry as 
they can be, you can roil them with a rolling-pin until 
they are as fine as corn-meal. Any nice cake can be 
used ; make four layers, and do not bake them too 
much, as layer cake, to be nice, must be soft. Make an 
icing of the whites of two eggs, not quite as stiff as ordi¬ 
nary icing, and stir in the rolled nuts ; spread between 
the layers and ice on top with plain icing. 
Jenny Lind cake is an excellent cake for layer cake, 
and the recipe was given last year in the Cabinet, but 
we will repeat it for the benefit of our numerous new 
subscribers : One-half pound butter if you wish to make 
a rich cake, otherwise you can omit one or even two 
ounces ; one pound of flour ; one of sugar ; one cup of 
sweet milk (half pint); five eggs ; one even teaspoon 
soda, and three even teaspoons of cream tartar. This 
will make a small bar tin and four layers, or you can 
bake what is left from the layers in small tins, making 
a pretty variety. If you do not care for a large quantity 
of cake, but several varieties, cut your four layers in 
the middle, and put different filling in each half, then 
put a piece of writing-paper between the halves and 
place them tightly together. Layer cake should never 
be set away on a plate, but on something with a flat 
surface. If you have nothing better, turn one of your 
jelly-cake tins bottom side up, and put a plain white 
paper over it, and put your cake on it till you wish to 
cut it. 
Charlotte Russe. . 
Make a custard of one pint of milk and three eggs ; 
sweeten to taste, and cook over hot water till it is 
scalded. Then sweeten and whip one pint of rich cream 
to a stiff froth. Dissolve one-fourth of an ounce box of 
gelatine in as little water as possible, and add to the 
custard while warm ; when it is nearly cold stir in the 
whipped cream and flavor with vanilla. Line a dish 
with sponge cake cut tliin or baked in lady-fingers, pour 
the custard over it, and set it in a cool place till ready 
for use. This recipe is sufficient for a company of six. 
If you choose to take the trouble when your cream is 
whipped you can drain it well on a nice sieve, and all 
that drips through can be re-whipped. 
Gelatine Icing for Cake. 
Now that the price of eggs is so high, it may interest 
the readers of the Cabinet to know that frosting for 
cake can be successfully made without any eggs. Take 
one-half teaspoon of gelatine, pour on it three table¬ 
spoons of cold water and set it on the back of the stove 
until it dissolves, strain it, and when it is entirely cold 
add three tablespoons of sugar, and beat with an egg- 
beater until it is as light and white as if made from eggs, 
then add whatever sugar is needed to make it the usual 
stiffness. This will ice one small cake. When your 
gelatine is cold, it should not be as stiff as for jelly, only 
stiff enough not to run, and if you find it is too stiff you 
can add a little more water, and then only use three 
tablespoons of it. 
