House Movers

Here's a different occupation that folks don't often think about, a house mover. They literally moved a house from it's foundation, moved it to another location and set it on it's new foundation.

Below is an advertisement from the Omaha Daily Bee, Feb. 12, 1886 advertising a house moving company.

Below are some illustrations of various types of buildings being moved from the Salt Lake Herald June 13, 1897

Etiquette & Manners

Etiquette & Manners is something often discussed on some of my of the writer loops I belong to as they pertain to the 19th century. Through Google books I've found a great source of books regarding such topics. Below is a list ordered by the year they were published. I've gathered this resource list over the past two years from Google Books. Hope it helps you in your search for proper behavior in the time period of your setting.

1832 Domestic Manners of the Americans
1835 Pencil Sketches
1837 The Young Lady's Friend
1839 Miss Leslie's Behavior Book
1842 Elegant Extracts
1843 Etiquette or, A Guide to The Usages of Society with a Glance at Bad Habits
1854 Etiquette Social Ethics and the Curtiousy of Society
1854 The Behavior Book
1860 The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manners
1860 The Hand Book of Etiquette
1866 Marine's Sensible Letter Writer
1868 Manners or Happy Homes
1870 Good Manners a Manual of Ediquette
1872 The Ladie's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness
1873 The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness
1884 Don't: A Manual of Mistakes and Improprieties More or Less
1888 Manners
1889 American Etiquette and Rules of Politeness
1889 Perfect Etiquette or How to Behave in social...
1892 Etiquette An Answer to the Riddle, When? Where? How?
1896 Social Etiquette or Manners and Customs of Polite Society
1897 Manners for Men
1897 Practical Letter Writing
1899 Twenty Letters in Letter Writing and Business

Milk Paint

Milk Paint

A fellow historical author Vicki McDonough asked about Milk paint on a writer's loop. I'm posting some recipes and information about this commonly used paint. It was even used in the 20th century. As you'll see by the recipes below there were other additives placed in the paint, like the first recipe adds linseed oil. This changes the paints drying time and luster. If the paint is simply milk and lime it is a flat paint, without color it was used on many walls to brighten up the homes. The lack of fumes was another consideration of preference for this paint. Vicki's question dealt with aged paint, in my limited experience, I've mainly seen it worn off, I've never seen in flake or peel. (however, I spoke with my husband who's been house painting for 40 years, he says it powders.) You can still purchase milk paint today and if you like the antique look on furniture milk paint might just be the way to go.

Many of the sources in Google books take from the 1825 copy from Smith's Art of House Painting. This source notates that it comes from Smith's book but was written much later in 1839.
Milk Paint. Take of skimmed milk nearly two quarts; of fresh slacked lime, about six ounces and a half; of linseed oil four ounces, and of whiting three pounds: put the lime into a stone vessel, and pour upon it a sufficient quantity of milk to form a mixture, resembling thin cream; then add the oil a little at a time, stirriitg it with a small spatula; the remaining milk is then to be added, and lastly the whiting. The milk must on no account be sour. Slake the lime by dipping the pieces in water, out of which it is to be immediately taken, and left to slack in the air. For fine white paint, the oil of caraways is best, because colourless; but with ochres the commonest oils may be used. The oil, when mixed with the milk and lime, entirely disappears, and is totally dissolved by the lime, forming a calcareous soap. The whiting, or ochre, is to be gently crumbled on the surface of the fluid, which it gradually imbibes, and at last sinks: at this period it must be well stirred in. This paint may be coloured like distemper or size-colour, with levigated charcoal, yellow ochre, ftc., and used in the same manner. The quantity here prescribed is sufficient to cover twentyseven square yards with the first coat, and it will cost about three-halfpence a yard. The same paint will do for out-door work by the addition of two ounces of slaked lime; two ounces of linseed oil, and two ounces of white Burgundy pitch; the pitch to be melted in a gentle heat with the oil, and then added to the smooth mixture of the milk and lime. In cold weather it must be mixed warm, to facilitate its incorporation with the milk. (Smith's Art of House-Painting, 1825, p. 26.)
Source: An Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa architecture and furniture ©1839 pg277

Another recipe:

"Milk Paint.—A paint has been used on the-Continent with success, made from milk and lime, that dries quicker than oil paint, and has no smell. It is made in the following manner: Take fresh curds and bruise the lumps on a grinding-stone, ! or in an earthen pan, or mortar, with a spatula or strong spoon. Then pmt them into a pot with an equal quantity of lime, well slacked with water, to make it just thick enough to-be kneaded. Stir this i mixture without adding more water, and a white : coloured fluid will soon be obtained, which will serve as a paint. It may be laid on with a brush with as much ease as varnish, and it dries very speedily. It must, however, be used tho same day it is made, for if kept till next day k will be too thick: consequently no more must be mixed up at one, time than can be laid on in a day. If any colour be required, any of the ochres, as yellow ochre, or red ochre, or umber, may be mixed with it in any proportion. Prussian blue would be changed by the lime. Two coats of this paint will be sufficient, and when quite dry it may be polished with a piece of woolen cloth, or similar substance, and il will become as bright as varnish. It will only do for inside work ; but it will last longer if varnished i over with white of egg after it has been polished." j "The following receipt for milk paint is given in •Smith's Art of House Painting:' Take of skimmed milk nearly two quarts ; of fresh-slacked lime i about six ounces and a half; of linseed oil four I ounces, and of whiting three pounds ; put the lime j into a stone vessel, and pour upon it a sufficient quantity of milk to form a mixture resembling thin cream ; then add the oil, a little at a time, stirring i it with a small spatula ; the remaining milk is then to be added, and lastly the whiting. 1116 milk must I on no account be sour. Slack the lime by dipping the pieces in water, out of which it is to be immediately taken, and left to slack in the air. For fine white paint the oil of caraway is best, because -colourless; but with ochres the commonest oils may be used. The oil, when mixed with the milk and lime, entirely disappears, and is totally dissolved by the lime, forming a calcareous soap. The whiting or ochre is to be gently crumbled on the surface of the fluid, which it gradually imbibes, and at last sinks: at this period it must be well stirred in. This paint may be coloured like distemper or size-colour, with levigated chartoal, yellow ochre, &<:., and used in the same manner. The quantity here prescribed is sufficient to cover twenty-seven square yards with the first coat, and it will cost about three halfpence a yard. The same paint will do for outdoor work by the addition of two ounces of slacked lime, two ounces of linseed oil, and two ounces of white Burgundy pitch: the pitch to be melted in a gentle heat with the oil, and then added to the smooth mixture of the milk and lime. In oold weather it must be mixed warm, to facilitate its incorporation with the milk."
Source: Western Farmer and Gardener Vol 2 ©1846 pg327

And finally at the end of the century we have this recipe:
Skim Milk Paint.
A method of painting farm buildings and country houses, while by no means new, is yet so little known and so deserving of wider application as to warrant a description, says an exchange. The paint has but two parts, both cheap materials, being water lime or hydraulic cement and skim milk. The cement is placed in a bucket, and the skim milk, sweet, is gradually added, stirring constantly until just about the consistency of good cream. The stirring must be thoroughly done to have an even flow, and if too thin the mixture will run on the building and look streaked. The proportions cannot be exactly stated, but a gallon of milk requires a full quart of cement, and sometimes a little more. This is a convenient quantity to mix at a time for one person to use. If too much is prepared the cement will settle and harden before all is used.
A flat paintbrush about four inches wide is the best implement to use with this mixture. Lay it on exactly as with oil paint. It can be applied to woodwork, old or new, and brick and stone. When dry, the colour is a light creamy brown, or what some would call yellowish stone colour. The skim milk cement paint, well mixed, without adding colour has a good body, gives smooth satisfactory finish on either wood or stone and wears admirably.—American Mechanic.
Source Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope Vol. 10 ©1897 pg424

Calls for Inquiry

To finish the week on manners, I'm again using the Manners for men ©1897 by Mrs. C.E. Humphry and including the excerpt concerning funerals. Note the choice of flowers for the occasion in the last paragraph.


In calling on friends who have suffered bereavement, after having received their card of thanks for kind inquiries, it is, of course, requisite that the dress should be of the quietest description. A red tie, for instance, would be horribly out of place. Only in case of friendships is bereaved. the call prolonged beyond ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. The caller takes his tone from that of the family. It is in the worst taste to refer to the loss sustained unless the initiative is taken by one of those bereaved. This is very seldom done, and the conversation is usually conducted on lines calculated to avert any disturbing remark. No one likes to break down or lose self-command except in seclusion; and, in fact, it is only necessary to look into one's own consciousness in order to discover what is the best course to follow in such cases.
Should a young man be invited to attend the funeral, he must wear mourning, black gloves, and black hatband. Punctuality, important at all times, is particularly essential at this dreary ceremonial. The family usually provides carriages, but in the case of friends who possess equipages, they always take their own. It is the custom to assemble at the house, or to go by fixed train should the family reside in the country. It is better not to accept any invitations to return to the house afterwards; for, as a rule, these are only given as a matter of form.
We often see in newspapers after the announcement of a death, a request that no flowers may be sent. Failure to comply with this would argue a want of perception, but when no such intimation is made a friend may send flowers, the only essential being that they should consist as a rule of pure white flowers or orchids, pansies, or violets. Occasionally an exception is made to these in the case of favourite flowers of the lost friend. An exquisite garland of pale tea-roses appeared among the scores of wreaths seen at the funeral of one of our greatest poets.

Manners for Men

I found a book entitled "Manners for men" by Mrs. C. E. Humphry ©1897 written toward the end of the 19th century. In it the author goes into great detail on how a man is to behave if he is a gentleman. The first thing that caught my eye was the title of a chapter, entitled "The Ideal Man." I had to chuckle at that. I do not believe there is an ideal man nor is there an ideal woman. I do however believe that there is an ideal man for me, and I'm fortunate enough to have married him but as much as I love my husband he is not perfect, neither am I. It's a rather fun book to read but today I'm going to share an excerpt that also goes to my current writing project of a non-fiction book on 19th century Carriages & Wagons.

Manners for Men in escorting Ladies into a Hansom Cab.


IN A HANSOM.
In handing a lady into a hansom care must be taken to protect her dress from the muddy wheel. The gentleman asks if she would like the glasses down, and conveys her instructions to the driver, then raises his hat as she drives away. Should he be accompanying her in the hansom, she seats herself at when accom- the nearest side to the pavelady. ment, so that when he enters he will not have to go round a corner, as it were. In this case he gives the cabman instructions across the roof of the cab, and if his companion wishes the glasses to be lowered, he asks for them through the trap-door at the top of the cab. He must never smoke when the glasses are let down— to do so would render the atmosphere unbearable to almost any woman. But if he knows his partner in the drive sufficiently well, he can ask permission to smoke, should the glasses not be required.

Letter Writing Part 2

In continuing with the theme of letter writing I'm posting


Ease in writing Letters must not degenerate to carelessness.
It ought, at the same time, to be remembered, that the ease and simplicity which I have recommended in epistolary correspondence, are not to be understood as importing entire carelessness. In writing to the most intimate friend, a certain degree of attention, both to the subject and the style, is requisite and becoming. It is no more than what we owe both to ourselves, and to the friend with whom we correspond. A slovenly and negligent manner ofwriting is a disobliging mark of want of respect. The liberty besides, of writing letters with too careless a hand, is apt to betray persons into imprudence in what they write. The first requisite, both in conversation and correspondence, is to attend to all the proper decorums which our own character, and that of others, demand. An imprudent expression in conversation may be forgotten and pass away; but when we take the pen into our hand, we must remember, that " Litera scripta manet." (What is written is permanent.)
Source: Elegant Extracts ©1842 pg. 386

NO ARGUMENT is necessary to show that a text-book on corre'' spondence is needed. The average student can solve difficult arithmetical problems, analyze 'Paradise Lost,' or read Greek, before he knows the requirements of an ordinary business letter. Much of the business done at the present day is by correspondence, and the only writing that many persons do is comprised in their letters. One's habits and abilities are judged by his letters,—and usually correctly. If he writes a well-arranged, neat, business-like letter, he is given credit for possessing like qualities in business. But if his letter is awkwardly worded, slovenly and carelessly written, we conclude he possesses similar traits of character. It is. important, therefore, that early training be given in neatness, correct forms, and established customs in writing letters.
. . .
A letter that is worth writing, is worth writing carefully. A slovenly letter is indicative of a slovenly man, and there is surely no compliment, but rather disrespect,. in sending such a letter to one's friends. Do not be afraid to write and re-write until a sentence is as nearly perfect as you can make it. From this practice you will acquire skill in composition. Prominent literary men and women do not allow their compositions to appear in print until they have been rewritten, corrected, and improved many times. Charles Darwin's manner of writing was, first, to make a rough copy, then have a fair copy made and corrected, then a new copy made, once more corrected, and sent to the printer; the printer's proofs were then corrected in pencil, reconsidered and written in ink; and then he was glad to have corrections and suggestions from others.
. . .
2. Social Letters are letters of sentiment; and embrace domestic or family letters, letters of affection, introduction, congratulation, condolence, advice, and all letters that are prompted by friendship or love.
3. Business Letters.—A business letter is a letter on public, private, or personal business. There are two classes of business letters. Apersonal business letter includes letters of merchants, bankers, manufacturers, and others in connection with their business, either as firms or individuals. An official letter is one written by or to a public officer on business pertaining to his office. This class embraces the letters of various officers of a city, state, or nation.
Source: Practical letter writing ©1897

Oil Discovery

Here is a brief outline sketch of the oil history in the 19th century.

1846 Kerosene as fuel was introduced by Canadian Abraham Gesner
1853 a Russian sea captain noted the oil along the shoreline of Cook Inlet, Alaska.
1854 the North American Gas Light Company was formed.
1859 NW Pennsylvania an important well is drilled for the soul purpose of finding oil.
1862 first commercial oil well in Canon City, Colorado.
1865 first oil pipeline was constructed.
1865 California's first productive well was drilled.
1866 First well in Texas drilled by Lyne T. Barret. wasn't exploited until 1888 when a crew of drillers from the PA came to lend a hand.
1872 Robert Augustus patents Vaseline from the unwanted goop of the PA wells.
1892 First well strike in Southern California was drilled by Edward L. Doheny indowntown LA
1896 some marginally successful wells were drilled in Corsicana, Texas.
1897 500 wells in LA, California
1897 oil discovered in Oklahoma
1898 Oil drilling begins in Alaska

Peanut Recipes

Peanuts seemed to come into their own during the 19th Century. Most folks used them for cookies and candy. The fourth tidbit is an article with a lot of different uses for the peanut. Enjoy! And start thinking what your characters would do with all their peanuts.

Peanut Cookies.
Cream one tablespoonful butter; add two tablespoons sugar, one egg, two tablespoons milk; mix with onehalf cupful flour, one-half teaspoon baking powder, one salt spoon salt, one-half cup chopped peanuts and onehalf teaspoon lacto-lemon. Drop by the spoonful onto nnbuttered tins; garnish with whole peanuts and bake about twelve minutes. Mrs. C. F. Crosby.
Source: Cook Book of Tried Recipes ©1897

Peanut Brittle.
Boil three cups of brown sugar, one cup of New Orleans molasses, half a teaspoonful of cream-of-tartar, and one cup of water to the hard-ball stage. (To test, plunge a skewer in cold water, then into the boiling mixture to the depths of about two inches, then back into the water; let it remain while ten is counted, then push off the candy with the forefinger and thumb; if it can be worked while held under water to a hard, solid ball, it is cooked enough.) Now add one pint of peanuts, and boil to the hard crack stage. Test as before, but, when the candy is taken from the skewer, drop it into cold water a second, then press the teeth on it, and if it leaves the teeth clean it is boiled enough; add one-fourth a pound of butter and let just boil in; remove from the fire, add two level teaspoonfuls of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a little water and stir vigorously. When the mixture begins to rise, pour out upon a marble or platter and spread thin. When cold break or cut in pieces.
Source: The Boston Cooking-School Magazine of Culinary Science ©1899

PEANUT CANDY.
Two small bags of peanuts—say, ten cents' worth—fresh roasted. Shell and chop fine in wooden bowl. Measure-, then take exactly the same amount of granulated sugar. Melt without water, and as soon as a liquid and without cooking, turn in the nuts; stir a moment, then put out on a dripping-wet breadboard, and roll with wet pin very thin.
Mrs. E. B. K. sends us the following recipe for peanut candy, which is simply made, very satisfactory, and for which we wish to thank her:
Source: Table Talk ©1897

THE PEANUT AS AN ARTICLE OF FOOD.
WE take from the Philadelphia Evening Call a communication by May Forney on the peanut as an article of food and the various ways in which it may be prepared for the table. Some of our housekeeping readers will no doubt give one or more of the following recipes a trial:
The majority of people know very little about the peanut any more than that it is a palatable, though rather indigestible, article of food, and that a savory odor greets one pleasantly while passing by the corner peanut-roaster.
But the peanut has a mission far more important than to be eaten simply in its roasted state, .ind it performs it so well that it is raised extensively in all of the warm regions of the globe, and its cultivation grows constantly in proportion as the nut is found to be more and more useful. The peanut is presumably of American origin, and although the nuts raised on our soil are larger in size and finer in flavor than those grown in other countries, it is everywhere else more appreciated, its nutritious qualities more recognized and put to practical uses. In New Spain and some parts of Africa the peanut forms a staple article of food. It enters largely into the composition of some of the choicest European chocolates, and an oil is expressed from it said to be quite the equal of olive or almond oil for either h nip or table use.
Before war times, old "mammies," who were the presiding geniuses of plantation kitchens, made any number of niceties out of peanuts, only one of which ever to any extent became known to us. There was a time—not so very long ago, either— when every Philadelphia child was familiar with the peanut or groundnut cakes, as they were called. They were sold on the corners of streets by .old. colored: women wearing gorgeous-hued
I Madras turbans and spotless aprons. They w. on low stools and had their tempting wares neatly arranged on linen-covered trays. Likely the tmrbaned heads are laid low by this time, for we rarely see them and never see the groundnut cakes. They were very good, too, and fortunately tbc recipe for making them has been preserved. It was a savant who said that old recollections were revived more vividly through the taste than any other of the senses. For the benefit, then, of that who may care to recall the days when they bought groundnut cakes from their picturesque vendors, I append the original recipe for
Philadtlphia Groundnut Cakts.—Boil two pounds of light-brown sugar in a preserving-kettle, with just enough water to thoroughly wet it, and when this sirup begins to boil throw in the white of an egg to clear it. Let it boil until a few drops of the sirup put into cold water become brittle; it Lthen sufficiently done, and must be taken from the fire and strained. Have ready a quarter of a peck of groundnuts, roasted in the shell and then shelled and hulled. Mix the nnts thoroughly through the sirup while it is yet hot. Dampen with i brush a pasteboard or marble slab, free from all grease, and drop the hot mixture upon it in little lumps, which must be flattened with a spoon iato thin cakes the size of a tumbler-top. When coW take them off of the board with a knife.
The following recipes are no less good md somewhat more practical, and show that the peanut can be made into dishes that can be served with every course, from soup to dessert:
Peanut Soup.—Shell and hull carefully three pounds of roasted nuts; pound them to a smooth paste in a mortar. Put the paste into a saucepan, set it over a fire, and stir into it slowly two qua of boiling water; season well with salt and caj
pepper, and let it simmer gently until it thickens, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Serve very hot.
Peanut >'».'/' '"''•'' Oyttert.—Prepare three pounds of nuts aa in the preceding recipe; mix with the paste two tableepoonfuls of dour, smoothly blended with half a pint of cold water. Place the mixture in a saucepan over the tire, stir into it gradually a pint and a half of boiling water, or half milk and half water; add a email red pepper and a good pinch of salt, and boil fur fifteen minutes; then pat in one pint of fine oysters. Let the soup boil up on«e, taking care it does not burn, which it will do readily, and serve immediately.
thicken Stuffed with Peanuti.—Shell and hull two quarts of roasted nuts, pound them in a mortar, and take two-thirds for the stuffing, reserving the remainder for the sauce or gravy. Mix with the stuffing-paste one cup of fine cracker crumbs; season with a teaspoonful of salt and a sallspoonftil of cayenne pepper and a little chopped parsley; add one-third of a cup of melted butter. To make the peanut-sauce, remove the fat from the drippingpan after the chicken has been taken out, adding water sufficient to make nearly a pint. Thicken with floor, add salt, pepper, and the remainder of the plainest paste. Boil up once and serve.
Peanut Croguettei.—To make these, remove the shells and bulls from three pounds of roasted nuts; simmer them gently in good broth or gravy until they are soft enough to rub through a sieve with a potato masher. To each pint of this mixture add one ounce of butter and a-palatable seasoning of salt and pepper, and stir these ingredients over the fire until they are scalding hot, then place the saucepan where the eontents will keep hot without boiling; stir into them the yelks of six raw eggs, stirring the mixture constantly until the yelks thicken, taking care it does not boil, in which cafe the eggs will curdle. Cool the pur£e. Now wet the hands slightly with cold water and mold tablespoonfuls of the cold mixture into little pyramids. Boll them in cracker or bread-crumbs, dip them in beaten egg and then a tecond time in the crumbs, and drop them in boiling lard sufficient to cover them. When brown, take them out of the fat with a skimmer, lay them for a moment on coarse brown paper which will absorb the grease, sprinkle a little salt over them, and serve at once u a folded napkin.
Peanut Salad.—Have ready about three pints of freshly roasted nuts, carefully hulled, and place them in a dish of crisp, tender lettuce-leaves. Dress the salad with a plain French salad dressing made of one part vinegar, three parts oil, and highly seasoned with pepper and salt. The salad ahoild be eaten an soon as prepared, as it readily loeea its flavor and crispness.
Peanut Pattiet.—To one quart of roasted nuts pounded fine in a mortar, add ten well-beaten eggs, one pound of sugar, and a half a pound of batter. Line two dozen patty-pans with flaky puff-paste, and fill with the nut mixture. Bake in a moderate oven until the pastry is done. Dust the patties with powdered sugar; they are equally good eaten either hot or cold.
Peanut Sovfflt.—Make a purge of roasted nuts by simmering them in a gravy and mashing them through a sieve; add to about three ounces six
ounces powdered sugar, two ounces of flour, a teaspoonful of salt, and stir in gradually a pint and a half of milk. Set the saucepan over the fire and stir ita contents until they have boiled two minutes; then set it to one side of the stove, where they will not boil, and stir for one minute. Separate the yelks of seven eggs from the whites and stir the yelks, one at a time, into the souffle' mixture, watching that it does not boil. Add the whites beaten to a stiff froth, stirring them in very lightly. Put the mixture very quickly into a twoquart tin mold lined with buttered paper that rises several inches above the top. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven, and serve the instant it is done.
Peanut Cakes.—Pound one pint of roasted peanuts to a smooth paste; mix in one pint of lightbrown sugar and the whites of five eggs, beaten stiffly. Put the mixture into small buttered pans, and bake in a fair oven to a light brown.
Source: Arthur's Home Magazine ©1884

Easter Menus & Entertainment from the 19th Century

Here are a couple of samples from Easter Dinners and Entertaining from a couple sources. Have a Blessed Easter.

EASTER DINNER.
Cream Tomato Soup
Paris Eggs Brown Bread
Roast Tenderloin of Beef Succotash
Asparagus White Turnips Tomatoes
Cabbage Salad
Ambrosia Nuts Raisins Cake

The most characteristic Easter rite, and the one most widely diffused, is the use of patch (i. e. Easter) Eggs They are usually stained of various colors and people mutually make presents of them; sometimes they are kept as amulets, sometimes eaten; games are also played by striking them against one another. There can be little doubt that the use of eggs at this season was originally symbolical of the revivification of nature—the springing
Source: Mrs. Owen's New Cook-Book ©1897

ENTERTAINING AT EASTER.
"There is a tender hue that tips the first young leaves of spring,
A trembling beauty in their notes when young birds learn to sing
A purer look when first on earth the gushing brook appears,
A liquid depth in infant eyes that fades with summer years."

IN the early days of ecumenical councils it was a mooted point when Easter should be celebrated. The Christian Jews kept the feast on the same day as their Passover, the fourteenth of Nisan, the month corresponding to our March or April; but the Gentile church observed the first Sunday following this, because Christ rose from the dead on that day. It was not until the fourth century that the Council of Nice decided upon the first Sunday after the full moon which follows the twenty-first of March. The contest was waged long and heavily, but the Western churches were victorious; a vote settled it.
Perhaps this victory decided the later and more splendid religious ceremonials of Easter, which are much more observed in Rome and in all Catholic countries than those of Christmas. Constantine gratified his love of display by causing Easter to be celebrated with unusual pomp and parade. Vigils and night watches were instituted, people remaining all night in the churches in Rome, and carrying high wax tapers through the streets in processions.
People in the North, glad of an escape from four months of darkness, watch to see the sun dawn on an Easter morning. They have a superstitious feeling about this observance, which came originally from Egypt, and is akin to the legend that the statue of Memnon sings when the first ray of the sun touches it.
It is the queen of feasts in all Catholic churches, the world over. In early days, the fasting of Lent was restricted to one day, the Friday of Passion Week, Good Friday; then it extended to forty hours, then to forty days, — showing how much fashion, even in churchly affairs, has to do with these matters. One witty author says that, "people who do not believe in anything will observe Lent, for it is the fashion."
Certainly, the little dinners of Lent, in fashionable society, are amongst the most agreeable of all entertainments. The crime cTecrevisse, the oyster and clam soups, the newly arrived shad, the codfish a la royale and other tempting dainties are very good, and the dinner being small, and at eight o'clock, there is before it a long twilight for the drive in the Park.
A pope of Rome once offered a prize to the man who would invent one thousand ways of cooking eggs, for eggs can always be eaten in Lent, and let us hope that he found them. The greatest coxcomb of all cooks, Louis Ude, who was prone to demand a carriage and five thousand a year, was famous for his little Lenten menus, and could cook fish and eggs marvellously. The amusements of Lent have left one joke in New York. Roller skates were once a very fashionable amusement for Lenten afternoons, though now gone out, and a club had rented Irving Hall for their playground and chosen Festina lente, " Make haste slowly," for their motto. It was a very witty motto, but some wise Malaprop remarked, " What a very happy selection, ' Festivals of Lent!'"
However, Lent once passed, with its sewing circles and small whist-parties, then conies the brilliant Easter, with its splendid dinners, its weddings, its christenings and caudle parties, its ladies' lunches, its Meadow Brook hunt, its asparagus parties, and the chickens of gayety which are hatched out of Easter eggs. It is a great day for the confectioner. In Paris, that city full of gold and misery, the splendour and luxury of the Easter egg bonbonniere is fabulous. A few years since a Paris house furnished an Easter egg for a Spanish infanta, which cost eight hundred pounds sterling.
Easter dinners can be made delightful. They are simple, less heavy, hot, and stuffy, than those of midwinter. That enemy of the feminine complexion, the furnace, is put out. It no longer sends up its direful sirocco behind one's back. Spring lamb and mint sauce, asparagus and fresh dandelion salad, replace the heavy joint and the canned vegetables. A foreigner said of us that we have everything canned, even the canvas-back duck and the American opera. Everything should be fresh. The ice-cream man devises allegorical allusions in his forms, and there are white dinners for young brides, and roseate dinners for debutantes.

For a gorgeous ladies' lunch, behold a menu. This is for Easter Monday : —
Little Neck clams.
Chablis. Beef tea or consommi in cups.

CStelettes de cervelles & la cardinal. Cucumbers.
Little ducks with fresh mushrooms.
Champagne. Artichokes.

Claret.
Sweetbread d la Richelieu.
Asparagus, Hollandaise sauce.
Roman punch.
Pdtl de foie gras.
Roast snipe.
Tomato salad, lettuce.
Ice creams, in form of nightingales' nests
Strawberries, sugared fruit, nougat cakes.

Coffee.
Of course, a season of such rejoicing, when "Christians stand praying, each in an exalted attitude, with outstretched hands and uplifted faces, expressing joy and gladness," is thought to be very propitious for marriage. There is generally a wedding every day, excepting Friday, during Easter week. A favourite spring travelling-dress for an Easter bride is fawn coloured cashmere, with a little round hat and bunch of primroses.
For a number of choir boys to sing an epithalamium, walking up the aisle before the bride, is a new and very beautiful Easter fashion.
A favourite entertainment for Easter is a christening. Christening parties are becoming very important functions in the art of entertaining. Many Roman Catholics are so anxious for the salvation of the little new soul, that they have their children baptized as soon as possible, but others put off this important ceremony until mamma can go to church, when little master is five weeks old. Then friends are invited to the ceremony very much in this fashion: —
Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton request the pleasure of your company at the baptism of their infant daughter at the Cathedral, Monday, March 30, at 12 o'clock. At home, after the ceremony, 14 W. Ellicott Square.
Source: The Art of Entertaining ©1892

Cabbages

Folks in Florida have been harvesting cabbages for a month now. I recently sent my husband to the farmer's market to pick up a head of cabbage to make stuffed cabbage. He mis-understood and brought home 4 huge heads of cabbage, needless to say we've been cooking cabbage in all sorts of ways.

Below are some 19th Century Recipes for various cabbage dishes.
CABBAGE.
Boiled Cabbage.— Carefully clean a nice head of cabbage, divide into halves, and with a sharp knife slice very thin, cutting from the center of the head outward. Put into boiling water, cover closely, and cook rapidly until tender; then turn into a colander and drain, pressing gently with the back of a plate. Return to the kettle, add salt to taste, and sufficient sweet cream to moisten well; heat through if at all cooled ; dish, and serve at once. If preferred, the cream may be omitted, and the cabbage served with tomato sauce or lemon juice as a dressing.

Cabbage and Tomatoes.— Boil finely chopped cabbage in as little water as possible. When tender, add half the quantity of hot stewed tomatoes, boil together for a few minutes, being careful to avoid burning; season with salt if desired, and serve. If preferred, a little sweet cream may be added just before servingCabbage Celery.— A firm, crisp head of cabbage cut in slices half an inch or an inch thick, and then again into pieces four or five inches long and two or three inches wide, makes quite an appetizing substitute for celery.

Cabbage Hash.— Chop fine, equal parts of cold boiled potatoes and boiled cabbage, and season with salt. To each quart of the mixture add one half or three fourths of a cup of thin cream; mix well and boil till well heated.

Chopped Cabbage, or Cabbage Salad.— Take one pint of finely chopped raw cabbage; pour over it a dressing made of three tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a half cup of whipped cream, thoroughly beaten together in the order named; or serve with sugar and diluted lemon juice. Strained tomatoes with a tablespoonful of lemon juice to the pint also makes a nice dressing.

Mashed Cabbage.— Out a fine head of cabbage into quarters, and cook until tender. A half hour before it is done, drop in three good-sized potatoes. When done, take all up in a colander together, press out the water, and mash very fine. Season with cream, and salt if desired.

Stewed Cabbage.— Chop nice cabbage quite fine, and put it into boiling water, letting it boil twenty minutes. Turn into a colander and drain thoroughly; return to the kettle, cover with milk, and boil till perfectly tender; season with salt and cream to taste. The beaten yolk of an egg, stirred in with the cream, is considered an improvement by some.
Source: Every-day Dishes and Every-day work ©1897

Stuffed cabbage.
Choose a large white, close cabbage, take off all the hard green outside leaves, and blanch it; cut out the heart and press between two plates to squeeze out all water. Make a stuffing with finely-minced sausage-meat, four yolks of egg and marrow, mix well together and spread a teaspoonful between each leaf, tie up the cabbage to its original shape—be careful not to cut the leaves with the string—simmer over a slow fire in stock, season with a bouquet of herbs, onions, a saveloy, carrots, a pinch of grated nutmeg, salt, and black pepper, cover the whole with slices of bacon ; shake the stew-pan occasionally so that the cabbage may not stick to the bottom and get burnt. Dish up the cabbage after cutting off the string. Pass the sauce through a tammy, clear of all grease, stir in a little thin browning, and pour over the cabbage.
Source 366 menus and 1200 recipes ©1882

CABBAGE
Mrs. E. F. Spence. One cabbage; boiling salted water; 1/8 teaspoon soda. The cabbage should be fine and of medium size. Wash, quarter, and put it in a kettle of boiling salted water to which the soda has been added. Boil twenty minutes. Serve hot.
LADIES CABBAGE
C. S.
Cabbage; 4 tablespoons cream; I tablespoon butter; 1 egg; pepper; salt.
Select medium sized heads that feel firm and heavy. Shave the cabbage very fine, and let it lie in cold salted water one hour. Drain and place in plenty of boiling water. Cook rapidly for ten minutes, then drain; add butter, pepper, salt and cream. Simmer until it is nearly dry. Just before serving, beat the egg to a cream; stir quickly into the cabbage; boil up once and serve.
HOT CABBAGE SLAW
Mrs. H. L. Parlee.
One cabbage; I teacup milk; 1/2 teacup vinegar; butter the size of a walnut, pepper; salt.
Slice the cabbage fine; put it in a sauce pan with the milk, butter, salt and pepper. When it boils, add the vinegar; cover closely and cook slowly until done. Less vinegar may be used or none at all. If cream is used instead of milk, less butter is required.
STUFFED CABBAGE
Mrs. M. J. Danison.
One head cabbage; some cooked veal or chicken; 1 egg, (yolk); salt; pepper.
Choose a large fresh cabbage and cut out the heart; fill with the veal, or chicken chopped very fine, highly seasoned, and rolled into balls with yolk of egg. Then tie the cabbage firmly together, (some tie a cloth around it, ) and boil in a covered kettle two hours.
Source: How We Cook in Los Angeles ©1894

Spring Planting or Fall Planting

Having grown up in the North, springtime is planting time for me. However, since I've been living in Florida for over 20 years, I've learned that planting season tends to be more common in the fall and late winter. You might be wondering why I've posted this tidbit however I'll share a couple of my reasons:
Is your character a farmer?
Is your character having bad fortune? And if so, could planting at the wrong time give him or her problems?
Is a secondary character an older individual who loves to share their knowledge with younger folks?
The opportunities to use some of these tidbits are endless and adds just a touch of color to your historical novel that you might have missed. Anyway, Enjoy!

Here's a little tidbit from Collier's Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social Information ©1882:
In northern locations spring planting is preferable Southward, fall is preferred No certain line of division can be fixed ; but we should say that, as a rule, all south of the latitude of Phila delphia, Columbus in Ohio, and Quincy in Illinois, may most safely plant in the fall, while north of those points it is better to plant in the spring.
Note: This is in reference to fruit tree planting.

If spring planting is preferred, begin as soon as the frost is out deep enough and the ground in good working condition. One year with another, the entire month of May can be devoted to planting forest trees in Minnesota or Dakota. The advantages of fall planting are chiefly in the fact that the ground becomes firmly packed among the roots of the young tree to the exclusion of the air, and that it is in better position to appropriate the moisture resulting from the winter snows and early spring rains, getting thereby such a "send-off " as to enable the young tree to successfully go through a dry spell that would be very damaging, if not fatal, to spring planting. Such dry spells do occasionally prevail all over tbe Northwest about planting time, and hang on unmercifully. On the other hand, an open winter with frequent or occasional thawing and freezing, occasionally proves fatal to fall planting, the action of frost heaving the fall-planted seedling or cutting nearly or quite out of the ground. Where well rooted young trees are used we overcome this trouble to a great extent by deep planting. While spring planting escapes this danger, it is in bad shape to withstand a protracted drowth, and right there is where fall planting has the inside track. But should your spring planting be followed up by occasional timely showers, the newly planted trees grow right along with great vigor. The tree planter must take his chances. I have for many years planted largely both spring and fall, and my experience does not yet justify me in bringing in a verdict either way. In fact I consider it one of the least important of the many conundrums of forestry.
Source: The Minnesota Horticulturist: Annual Report ©1883

NOW is the time at the north to prepare for planting trees next spring, for all planting north of the latitude of this city is most safely done at that time of the year. Furthensouth the long autumn enables trees planted when the leaves are ripe to push out new roots and establish themselves before the ground freezes. Where cold weather follows close after the early frosts a tree planted in the autumn has no opportunity to develop new roots and, therefore, loses not only the benefit it would have obtained in a more temperate climate in an early and vigorous spring growth, but is forced to go through the winter without the aid of roots in actual working condition. Trees planted in cold countries at this season of the year do not necessarily die, but they are more apt to suffer than those planted in the spring; they are often blown over unless carefully staked. and they are frequently upheaved by the frost or thrown out of the ground entirely. For all operations, however, connected with the planting and care of trees, except the mere setting in the ground, the autumn is the best time. At this season planting plans should be made and stock selected, and the ground should be made ready to receive the trees as soon as the frost leaves it in the spring. Spring in this latitude is so short and the rush of spring work is so pressing that it is impossible to properly prepare ground for planting unless _tt is done during the previous summer or autumn. This 18 the time, therefore, when northern planters should decide what trees they want to use next spring and where they will plant them ; it is the time to select and order nursery stock, and here it may be said that better results are always obtained by personal inspection and selection by the purchaser than by leaving it to the seller to fill his orders. If the planter has facilities for protecting plants through the winter in a cold cellar or pit, it is better to obtain them now than in the spring, when nurserymen are crowded with orders‘and too busy to devote proper time and attention to digging and packing their trees. The ground being prepared, the exact position of each plant determined on and the plants on hand, the mere operation of setting them in the ground takes but a short'time.
Source: Garden and Forest ©1897

Swans

Personally, I always loved swans. There were several in a pond near the Methodist Campgrounds on Martha's Vineyard where I grew up. Today's tidbit shares some information on these birds and their various types.

Whistling Swan.
Adult: General plumuge, white; bill and feet, black; a small yellow spot on bare loral skin at the base of the bill in front of the eye, which is not always present; the distance from the /ran/ angle of the eye to the back edge of the nostril is more than the distance from the bark edge of the nostril to the end of the hill . this is oue of the characters by which it may be always distinguished from the Trumpeter Swan; bill and feet, black.
The immature birds are usually pale, plumbeous gray, with a brownish wash on the head and upper neck: feet, pale yellowish, sometimes pale flesh color or grayish. Length, 53; w ing, 21.50: bill, 4: tarsus, 4.20.
Habitat: "The whole of North America, breeding far north, Commander Islands, Kamchatka, accidental in Scotland." (A. O. I'.)
The Whistling Swan is common in winter on the Atlantic coast about the Carol in as and Virginia, and occasionally wanders as far south as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. It breeds in the far north, the nest being composed of leaves and grass and placed on the ground. The eggs, which are from three to rive, are dull white.

OLOR BUCCINATOR (Rich).
Trumpeter Swan.
Adult; General plumage, white; bare loral skin in front of eye, not yellow: bill and feet, black; the distance from the front angle of the et/e to the. Inick edge of the nostril is equal or less than the distance from the back edge of tin nostril to the end of the bill.
Immature birds are ashy gray, often tinged with brownish on the head and neck; bill and feet, dull yellowish brown, tinged with olive.
Habitat; "Chiefly the interior of North America, from the Gulf to the fur countries, breeding from Iowa and the Dakotas northward, west to the Pacific coast; rare or casual on the Atlantic." (A. O. II.)
The eggs of the Trumpeter Swan are soiled white, and usually from three to six in number. The nest, which is placed on the ground, is composed of grass lined with down.

The Whooping Swan, Olor cygnus (Linn.), is occasionally found in Greenland, but has not been recorded elsewhere in North America.
It is described as having the base of the mandible and the entire hare loral skin yellow.
Source: How to Know the Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America ©1897

Pecan Pie

While folks claim that Pecan Pie was made earlier in the 19th Century there seems to be no recipes found in cook books until the end of the century. There were a few that mentioned making a custard pie and adding pecans but those seem to be different than what we know today as pecan pie. Below is the earliest recipe for Pecan Pie that I found.

Texas Pecan Pie. Mrs. M. B. sends the following receipt: One cup of sugar, one cup of sweet milk, half a cup of pecan kernels chopped fine, three eggs and a tablespoonful of flour. When cooked, spread the well-beaten whites of two eggs on top, brown, sprinkle a few of the chopped kernels over. These quantities will make one pie.
Source: Ladies' Home Journal ©1897 and again in 1898

Please note that I did find an 1824 reference of a "pecan pie" in a Christian publication. Here's the quote: "Once more consider, God seldom gives his pecan pie so sweet a foretaste of their future rest, as in their deep afflictions."

Chestnuts

Chestnuts were far more popular during the 19th century than today. One of the reasons for this is the blight that hit the U.S. during the first half of the 20th Century. However, today we can find chestnuts in the stores during the holidays.

Below are some recipes that your historical characters might have used or eaten during the 19th Century.

Chestnut Stuffing. — Shell one quart of large chestnuts. Pour on boiling water, and remove the inner brown skin. Boil in salted water or stock till soft. Mash fine. Take half for the stuffing, and mix with it one cup of fine cracker crumbs; season with one teaspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of pepper, and one teaspoonful of chopped parsley. Moisten with one third of a cup of melted butter. Professional cooks sometimes mix a little apple sauce, flavored with wine, lemon, and sugar, with a chestnut stuffing.
Chestnut Sauce. — Remove the fat from the drippingpan; add nearly a pint of hot water; thicken with flour which has been cooked in brown butter; add salt and pepper, and the remainder of the chestnuts.
Source: Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book ©1891


Italian Chestnut Soup.—(Old Recipe.)—Mince finely two small onions, one carrot, two leeks, and a quarter of a stick of celery. Fry all brown in butter, season with salt, and stew in a quart of stock for one hour. Take three or four dozen chestnuts according to size, peel off the first shell, put them in a chestnutpan, and stir them about till they are sufficiently cooked for the second shell to be removed. Stew them for half an hour in half the prepared liquor. Set apart the whole chestnuts to garnish the soup. Chop the remainder and strain through a sieve with the liquor they have been stewed in. Add the rest of the stock, simmer over a slow fire for six or seven minutes, place the whole chestnuts in the tureen and pour the soup over.
Italian Chestnut Stew.—Mince finely two small onions and a sprig of rosemary, and fry them brown in butter. Add two pounds of meat or chicken or turkey cut into small pieces, half a pint of red Italian wine vinegar (this is often considered more delicate than French vinegar), a pint and a half of stock with three ounces of tomato conserve dissolved in it, and a pinch of salt. Stew over a slow fire for forty minutes. Add three or four dozen chestnuts prepared as for the soup in the last recipe, stew all over a slow fire for an hour and a quarter, adding more stock if necessary. Dish with the meat in the centre, and the chestnuts arranged round it.
Source: Mrs. Roundell's Practical Cookery Book ©1898

Chestnut Croquettes.
Shell and blanch about one and one-half pints chestnuts; boil in one quart of water; add one root celery cut into pieces, one slice onion, one bay leaf; when tender, drain and mash while hot; add one teaspoon onion juice, one teaspoon salt, one tablespoon butter, a little cayenne; mix; form into cylinders; dip in egg and bread crumbs and fry in hot fat. Mrs. Barber.
Source: Cook Book of Tried Recipes ©1897


Chestnut Forcemeat, for Roast Fowl.—Roast and peel a dozen large chestnuts; boil them for about twenty minutes in some strong veal gravy, drain, and, when cold, put them into a mortar, blanch and mince them, with the liver of the fowl, a tea-Bpoonful of grated ham, a tea-spoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, a tea-spoonful of chopped onions, a small pinch of grated lemon-rind, three grains of cayenne, two table-spoonfuls of breadcrumbs, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and the yolks of two eggs. Pound the dry ingredients in a mortar, and moisten them with the butter and eggs. This forcemeat is excellent for a large fowl. Time to prepare, about twenty minutes. Probable cost of chestnuts, 2d. or 3d. per pint. This quantity will serve for one large fowl.
Chestnut Pudding.—Take some chestnuts, and make a little incision in the skin of each one, throw them into boiling water, and let them remain until tender. Remove the shells and skins, dry them in the oven, and afterwards pound them to powdor. Mix half a pound of this powder with six ounces of butter beaten to a cream, two table-spoonfuls of sifted sugar, two or three drops of tho essence of vanilla, a breakfast-cupful of milk, and six wellbeaten eggs. Stir these well together, then pour the mixture into a wcll-buttercd mould, place a piece of buttered writing paper over the top, and steam for an hour and a half, or, if preferred, bako in a good oven. Servo with wine sauce. Probable cost, Is. 3d. Sufficient for four or five persons.
Chestnut Sauce, Brown.—Prepare the chestnuts as in tho following recipe, but instead of adding cream or milk to the paste, mix them with a little good brown gravy, and season the sauce rather highly. Time to roast the chestnuts, according to the quality. Probable cost, 2d. or 3d. per pint. Sufficient for one roast fowl.
Chestnut Sauce, White.—Roast a dozen chestnuts until quite tender, then remove tho brown rind and the skin under it, and put them into a mortar with a tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-spoonful of pepper, half a tea-spoonful of sifted sugar, and a piece of butter about the sizo of a walnut. Pound these together to a smooth paste, which must be put into a saucepan, and mixed with a breakfast-cupful of milk or cream; stir the liquid till it boils. This sauce is excellent for boiled fowls. Time to roast the chestnuts, varying with the quality. Probable cost, 2d. or 3d. per pint, if made with milk. Sufficient for one fowl.
Chestnut Soup.—Take off the outer rind from fifty chestnuts, and put them into a saucepan of cold water. Place them on the fire, and when the water is just upon the point of boiling, take them out and remove tho under skin. Stew them in sufficient stock to cover them until quite tender; put thorn in a mortar, and pound them to a paste, reserving a dozen to bo placed whole in the soup just before it is dished. Pound with the paste two tablespoonfuls of broad-crumbs, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a tea-spoonful of pepper, and half a nutmeg grated. Mix with it very gradually the stock in which the chestnuts were boiled, if its sweetness is not objected to, allowing a quart of the mixture and a pint of milk to every quart of stock. Boil all together onco more, with tho chestnuts which were reserved, and if the soup is too thick, add a little more stock. Before serving, place somo fried sippets in tho tureen. The stock may bo either made from meat or from vegetables alone. Time, two and a half hours. [Sufficient for eight or nino persons. Probable cost, exclusive of the stock, 1 Od. per quart.
Chestnuts, Compdte of.—Take thirty large chestnnts, peel on tho outer brown skin, ana put them into a saucepan of cold water. When tho water is just on the point of boiling, take them off, romovo the second skin, and be careful not to break tho chestnuts. Make a syrup with a breakfast-cupful of water and a quarter of a pound of sugar, adding a glass of shorry and tho rind of half an orange or a lemon cut very thin. Put the chestnuts into this, and let them simmer gentlv for twenty minutes. Strain tho syrup over the chestnuts, and serve hot. Sift a little sugar ovor them. Time, abont forty minutes. Probable cost, chestnuts.
3d. or 4d. per pint. The above quantity will make a moderate-sized dish.
Chestnuts, Pur6e of.—Take fifty large chostnuts—those are the best which have no division, and, when the skin is removed, are entire. Take off the outer brown skin, and boil the chestnuts until the inner skin will come off easily, when it also must be removedHaving done this, put the chestnuts into a saucepan with sufficient white stock to cover them, and boil them gently until they are quite soft, when thoy must be pressed, while hot, through a wire sieve. Tho pulp must then oo put into a stewpan, with a piece of butter about tho size of a walnut, a cupful of cream or new milk, half a cupful of the stock in which they were simmered, and a little salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir this over the fire until quite hot, when it may be placed in the middle of a dish of cutlets. Tunc, two hours. Probable cost of chestnuts, 3d. or 4d. per pint. Sufficient for four or five persons.
Chestnuts, Boasted for Dessert.— Cut a little piece of the outer shell off each chestnut; this is to prevent them bursting when hot. Boil them for about ten minutes; do not allow them to cool, but put them into a tin in the oven, or into a Dutch oven before the fire, and let them remain until they are quite soft. Fold them in a napkin, and servo quite hot. Salt should be eaten with thom. Time to bake, about ten minutes. Probable cost of chestnuts, 3d. or 4d. per pint. Sufficient, one pint for foui or five persons.
Chestnuts, Stewed (to be served as a vegetable).—Remove tho outer rind from sound chestnuts, then fry them in a little butter, when the inner skin may easily be freed from them. Put them into a saucepan with some good stock, and boil them until they are tender but unbroken. Tho chestnuts should be removed from tho gravy as soon as thoy arc cooked, and served in a tureen, with a little white sauce poured over them. Time to boil the chestnuts, ono hour and a half. Probable cost, 3d. or 4d. per pint. Sufficient, one quart for a turcenful.
Source: Cassel's Dictionary of Cookery 1883

Chicken Salad

I know we're past labor day and summer salads will soon be a thing of the past until next summer but it's still warm and perhaps your characters are hosting a party and its the summer.

So today we're posting a few recipes for Chicken Salad.

Chicken Salad.
(For forty guests.) Four chickens, same quantity of celery.
SALAD DRESSING.
Twelve eggs, four tablespoons melted butter, four tablespoons oil, three tablespoons mustard, two teaspoons salt, two teacups vinegar, one pint cream. Beat yolks; add butter and oil slowly, then the mustard mixed smooth in a little hot water, then the beaten whites, then the vinegar and salt. Put on the stove in a custard kettle and cook until thick like custard. About an hour before serving mix the chicken and celery. Add cream to the dressing and pour over the chicken. Mrs. W. E. Burns.

Chicken Salad.
Shred fine two chickens and as much celery as chicken, chopped fine.
FOR DRESSING.
Two teaspoons mustard made in a paste with a little water, two teaspoons of sugar, one small teaspoon salt, three-fourths cup of vinegar, one-half cup of sweet cream, three eggs well beaten. Mix vinegar, sugar and salt with paste; add eggs; heat slowly with dish set in hot water and stir constantly till the thickness of cream. When done stir in a piece of butter size of an egg. Put cream in when you mix with chicken.
Mrs. H. Jay. Putman.

Chicken Salad.
Boil the fowls tender and remove all fat, gristle and skin, mince the meat in small pieces, but do not hash it. Take the same quantity of celery as chicken, cut into pieces of about one-quarter of an inch; mix thoroughly and set in a cool place. Use Eoyal Yacht Club Salad Dressing. Garnish the dish with fresh lettuce leaves, hard-boiled eggs or red beets cut in fancy shapes.
Source: Cook Book of Tried Recipes ©1897

Chicken Salad
Boil one chicken until tender, shred in fine pieces; cut white, tender stalks of celery very fine; about one cup of celery to one chicken. Mix chicken and celery together then stir well into them a mixture, in proportion of three tablespoonfuls of vinegar to one of oil,with pepper, salt, and a little mustard to taste. Put this aside for an hour or two or until just before serving, it will absorb the vinegar, etc. When about to serve mix the celery and chicken with a Mayonnaise sauce, leaving a portion of the sauce to mask the top. Reserve several fresh leaves of celery with which to garnish the dish. Stick a little bouquet of these tops into the center of the salad, then a row of them around it; sometimes slices or little cut diamonds of hard boiled eggs'are used for garnishing. Chicken salad is often made with lettuce instead of celery, the lettuce not being added until the last thing before serving. Salmon, shrimps and other salads are made in the same way, always using lettuce. Those desiring to, may add a little onion.
Source: Santa Rosa Recipes ©1891

CHICKEN SALAD
Mrs. Henderson's Cook Book.

One chicken; white celery stalks; 3 tablespoons vinegar; I tablespoon Howland's olive oil; salt, pepper, mustard.
Boil chicken till tender, when cold, separate the meat from the bones. Cut into small bits; do not mince it. Cut some white, tender stalks of celery into three-quarters inch lengths. Mix chicken and celery together; stir into them a mixture in the proportion of three tablespoons of vinegar to one of oil; pepper, salt, mustard to taste. Set this aside for an hour or two. When ready to serve mix the chicken and celery with a mayonnaise dressing, reserving a portion of the mayonnaise to mark the top. Garnish with fresh celery leaves, stick a bunch of these in the center of the salad and from the center to each of the four sides, sprinkle rows of capers.
Chicken salad is often made of lettuce instead of celery. Marinate the chicken alone a moment before serving, add the small, tender, sweet lettuce leaves, then pour mayonnaise dressing over the top. Garnish with the center heads of lettuce, capers, cold chopped red beets, or sliced hard-boiled eggs. Sometimes little slips of anchovy are added for a garnish. When on the table it should all be mixed together.
Many may profit by this recipe for chicken salad, for it is
astonishing how few understand making so common a a dish. It is often minced and mixed with hard-boiled eggs for a dressing.

CHICKEN SALAD
Mrs. E. A. Otis.
In mixing chicken salad allow one yolk of an egg to each chicken, and to four chickens one and a half pints of olive oil. Pick the chickens apart with fingers, removing carefully all fat and skin. Then take celery, pick likewise into small pieces and add it to the chicken until there is an equal quantity of each. If celery cannot be obtained, use lettuce prepared in the same manner.
For the dressing one level teaspoon of salt to each yolk of an egg; pepper to taste, one teaspoon of dry mustard, and juice of one lemon, more if the lemon is not very juicy. The oil should be added a few drops at a time, stirring constantly. While stirring, add an occasional drop of vinegar. To this mixture add the last thing one-half cup of rich cream, and when thoroughly mixed, pour over the salad just before it is served. The object of the lemon is to cut the oil, and make the dressing of a cream-like consistency.
Source: How We Cook in Los Angeles ©1894
(Gotta love that title for a cook book)

Oysters Part 2

Below are some recipes for Oysters. I have a previous post in 2012 on Oysters which had other recipes from 1880.

Oyster Scallops with Mushroom Sauce.
Take two or three oysters to each shell with cracker crumbs top and bottom. A teaspoonful of oyster liquor with pepper, salt and pieces of butter. Bake on the upper grate of a hot oven until plump and hot and serve at once. Add, as they go to the table, a tablespoonful of mushroom sauce made in the following manner:
One can mushrooms, four tablespoonfuls of butter, two tablespoonfuls of flour, one cup of stock (the liquor from the mushrooms), one scant cup of sweet cream, salt and pepper to taste. Put the butter and flour in stewpan and stir till smooth; cook five minutes; add the other ingredients and cook ten minutes longer. Put in double boiler and keep till wanted. Garnish each with parsley. Scalloped chicken or sweet breads are delicious served with this sauce. It may also be used over oyster, chicken or sweetbread patties.
Mrs. George A. R. Simpson.
Scalloped Oysters.
A layer of rolled cracker in a buttered pudding dish, then a layer of oysters with seasoning of butter, pepper and salt, repeat till dish is full, with the crumbs on top; pour on the liquor mixed with a little milk. A beaten egg with milk is nice to put over the top. Cover and bake about half an hour, remove cover and brown before sending to the table.
Contributed.
Oyster Stew.
Three pints of oysters; put liquor in a stewpan, let boil up, skim carefully, put in two and one-half quarts of milk, let come to a boil; add oysters, having looked them over and removed every bit of shell. The moment they begin to curl up remove from the fire and salt to taste; season well with butter. Contributed.
Oyster Chowder.
One slice of salt pork cut in bits, one large Irish potato, peeled and cut in small cubes, a cup of canned tomatoes well chopped and half an onion. Cover with a pint of water and boil till potatoes and pork are tender; add one pint of oysters, salt and pepper to taste. Cream one tablespoonf ul of butter and flour together, and cook all fifteen minutes; add one cup of hot rich milk or cream and serve boiling hot at once. This will serve six people. For clam chowder, substitute clams for the oysters. Mrs. F. G. Winston.
Oyster Pattie Filling.
Scald three dozen oysters and drain. Put into a sauce pan two ounces of butter and whisk it to a cream; add teaspoonful of flour and stir free from lumps; add heaping salt-spoon of salt and a pepper-spoon of white pepper; whisk into it half pint each of hot cream and oyster liquor. Allow it to simmer a few minutes and to thicken, then add oysters and a squeeze of lemon juice; when hot fill shells and serve. This will fill about two dozen shells. Pattie shells can be bought at a bakery or caterers. Mrs. Mary Plum.
Oysters with Mushrooms.
Put in your baking dish, oysters and mushrooms in alternate layers in about equal proportions; on the whole pour a rich white sauce, cover with fine bread crumbs and bake twenty minutes. This is also nice with the addition of chicken cut in dice in about the same proportion. Mrs. C. F. Latimer.
Roast Oysters.
Put shells in a pan in the oven till hot enough to melt butter; quickly dust in some pepper with the butter; lay the oysters in the shell and put back in the oven. By the time the edge of the oyster is curled, they are done. Serve in shells. Mrs. H. F. Broicn.
Little Pigs in Blankets or "Huitres au Lit."
Season large oysters with salt and pepper. Cut very thin slices of fat bacon; wrap each oyster in a slice of bacon and fasten with a wooden skewer; put in a hot omelet pan and cook just long enough to crisp the bacon. Serve on small pieces of delicate toast. Contributed.
Fried Oysters.
One dozen large oysters, two eggs, cracker crumbs seasoned with pepper and salt. Drain oysters on cloth; dip into the beaten eggs, then roll into cracker crumbs; doing so, at least, twice. Place them on a platter, keep in a cool place and let stand several hours. Fry them quickly in very hot lard.
Mrs. Augustus W. Morse.
Relish for Fried Oysters.
One large head of cabbage, one dozen large peppers, red and green, seeds removed one ounce celery seed, two ounces ground mustard, one teacup sugar, one gallon vinegar, salt to taste; mix well and place in jar.
Mrs. E. A. Russell, Russell Coffee House.
Oysters 0n Toast.
Put a quart of oysters in their liquor on to cook. When they come to a boil, add a pint of milk or cream, a tablespoon of butter mixed smoothly with two teaspoons of flour; pepper and salt to suit taste. Let boil up and pour over six slices of nicely browned and buttered toast. This will serve half a dozen persons, and is a nice breakfast, lunch or supper dish.
Source: Cook Book of Tried Recipes ©1897

Tomato Recipes

I'm going to skip tomato sauce recipes for this post and concentrate on some different recipes from the 19th Century. I found one recipe that said, cut and/or slice sprinkle with salt and pepper and eat as fast as you can. LOL I loved that. Of course, I love fresh tomatoes and a little salt and pepper is perfect imho.


FROZEN TOMATO SALAD
Chop fine one can of tomatoes, then run through a course sieve. Season to taste with a few drops of onion juice, a very little sugar, a drop of clove extract, a little tarragon vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Turn into a freeze and freeze as usual. Fill a melon mold with frozen mixture, pack in ice and salt and let stand for two hours to ripen. Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves with a garnish of mayonnaise.
Source: Table Talk ©1899

FRIED TOMATOES
Peel and cut a solid tomato into slices half an inch thick, remove the seeds and roll them in crumbs. Put in a short-handled spider a little butter, and fry in it two slices of onion. Remove the onion and lay in the sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and chopped parsley. Cover the slices with a buttered paper, and keep the spider in a hot oven from ten to fifteen minutes.
BROILED TOMATOES.
The tomato should first be peeled and then cut into slices three-quarters of an inch thick; small tomatoes are cut into halves. Put some olive oil into a soup plate and put each piece of tomato into the the oil, covering all the parts, before laying the pieces upon a fine wire broiler and cooking over a clear fire. Arrange on a hot platter and season with salt and pepper and chopped parsley. Another method is to peel and cut the tomatoes into thick slices and broil; have ready some grated cheese. and sprinkle it over the tomatoes while they are broiling, covering both sides; serve on a hot dish as soon as they are taken from the fire, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Still another mode is to leave the skins on; cut the tomato into halves; place them on a coarse broiler with the skins down; sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and broil without turning, over a fire not too strong, until the pulp is tender; when cooked, cover them with melted butter or a sauce if preferred.
Source: Good Housekeeping ©1897

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP.
Recipe.
Put one pint of milk to heat in a double boiler. Put one tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan and when bubbling add one tablespoonful of flour. Stir this into the hot milk. While this thin white sauce is cooking put a pint, or half a can of tomatoes into the saucepan. Add one teaspoonful of salt and a speck of pepper and when the tomatoes are thoroughly hot and soft, strain them into the milk. Serve at once.
Cream of Tomato Soup.
For the cream of tomato soup, which will be the next thing I will make, I will prepare the flour and butter in the same manner as for a white sauce, melt the butter and add the flour. Then I will turn this mixture into the hot milk and cook it over hot water. I then heat the tomatoes, add the salt and pepper and strain the two together into a dish to serve.
There are just two points in this cream of tomato soup that must be observed in order to have a smooth soup. One point is, do not over cook the tomatoes. The acid of the tomato is brought out and made stronger by cooking, and if the acid is too strong it will curdle the milk. You are at a little disadvantage sometimes, when using canned tomatoes, for you cannot tell how long the manufacturer has cooked them; but if you are using tomatoes that you have canned yourself you have no trouble. As a rule, however, I find no trouble with canned tomatoes that I get from the grocery. The other precaution to observe is not to add the milk to the tomatoes until ready to serve, and then do not heat the mixture after the milk and tomatoes are put together.. Observing, these
two rules I think you will have no trouble with the soup curdling. If It should curdle a little you may very often get it smooth again by using the Dover beater, which will restore its smoothness somewhat. This will also restore the smoothness to a boiled custard that is cooked a little too long. If you turn it into a cold bowl and beat it with a Dover beater your mixture will be almost as smooth as though it had not curdled.
Question—When do you strain your tomatoes?
Mrs. Jamison—I strain them after they are cooked because it is convenient. The recipe calls for a pint of strained tomatoes. I generally take a little more than the measure and strain them after they are cooked instead of before.
Just a word here in connection with these canned vegetables. Always turn them out of the tin can as soon as it is opened, whether you are going to use the entire can or not, because while there is no poison in the can as long as it is kept from the air, as soon as the air mixes with the acid of the fruit the acid begins to work on the tin and the poison is developed in that way. As long as they are air tight there is no danger of poison, nor is there if you observe the precaution of emptying the can as soon as it is opened.
Source: Bulletin ©1896

Daily use of the Tomato.—Cut up with salt, vinegar, and pepper, as you lo cucumbers, and eat away as fast as you can.
How to stew them.—Take your tomato from the vine ripe, slice up, put n the pot over the fire, without water; stew them slow, ana when done put it a small lump of butter, and eat as you do apple sauce. If you choose, a ittle crumb of bread or pnlverised crackers may be added. What you have eft, put away in a jar for winter.
Tomato Omelet.—When stewed, beat up a half dozen new-laid eggs, the yolk and white separated; when each are well beaten, mix them with the ;omato—put them in a pan and beat them up; you have a fine omelet.
To keep them the year round.—Take them full ripe, and scald in hot water, to facilitate the operation of taking off the skin ; when skinned, boil well in a little sugar and salt, but no water, and then spread in cakes about an eighth of an inch thick, in the sun. They will dry enough in three or four days to pack away in bags, which should be hun" in a dry room.
To pickle Tomatoes.—Pick them when they are ripe. Put them in layers in a jar, with garlic, mustard seed, horseradish, spices, &C., as you like, filling up the jar; occasionally putting a little fine salt, proportionally to the quantity laid down, and which is intended to preserve the tomato. When type jar is full, pour on the tomatoes cold cider vinegar (it must be pure,) till all is covered, and then cork up tight and set away for winter.
To make Tomato Preserves, —Take them while quite small and green— put them in cold clarified syrup, with an orange cut in slices to every two pounds of tomatoes. Simmer them over a slow fire for two or three'hours. There should be equal weights of sugar and tomatoes. If very superior preserves are wanted,allow two fresh lemons to three pounds of tomatoes—pare thin the rind of the lemons, so as to get none of the white part; squeeze out the juice, mix the parings, juice, and cold water sufficient to cover the tomatoes, and put in a few peach leaves and powdered ginger tied up in bags. Boil the whole gently, for three fourths of an hour, take up the tomatoes, strain the liquor, and put with it a pound and a half of white sugar for each pound of tomatoes. Put in the tomatoes and boil them gently till the syrup appears to have entered them. In the course of a week, turn the syrup from them, heat it scalding hot, and turn it on to the tomatoes. Prepared in this way, they resemble West India sweetmeats.
N. B.—Dr. Bennett, a medical professor in cie of our colleges, considers the tomato an invaluable article of diet. He ascribes to it high medical properties, and declares it to be one of the most powerful deohstruents; and' that when used as an article of diet, it is a sovereign remedy for dyspepsia er indigestion, and all those affections of ..w liver and other organs of the stomach.— Western Farmer.
Source: The Farmer's Almanack ©1841

Omelets

This is continuing the Egg Recipes from last week found in Mrs. Owens New Cook Book ©1897

OMELETS.
EGG OMELETS. OTHER VARIETIES.
NoTE-lf possible keep one pan for omelets alone.
PLAIN OMELETS—4 Eggs. Four eggs, $ cup of milk and 1 teaspoon flour. Beat the flour with a little of the milk, and fill the cup with milk till half full. Then put this mixture and the 4 eggs together, just sufficiently to break the Quaking. OMELET. Souffle.
yolks, but not to beat them. Pour this into a hot and well-buttered frying pan and cover it. When it begins to cook, roll it over and over like a jelly-roll, and as soon as cooked, turn it out on a hot platter with as little handling as possible.
QUAKING OMELET—4 Eggs. Four eggs, 1 tablespoon milk, pinch of pepper and scant half teaspoon salt. Whip the whites into a stiff froth and place in a pan of boiling water and let cook until firm. In the meantime beat the yolks and milk together and turn into a hot frying pan, which has been well buttered, sprinkle on salt and pepper, and set the frying pan in the oven, and let remain 6 minutes. Carefully dish the whites, without breaking them, on to a hot dish, and turn the yolks out on them exactly in the center, leaving a white rim all around, and you have a pretty dish.
OMELET WITH BAKING POWDER.
Mrs. T. A. Evoy, Chicago.
2 heaping teaspoons corn starch. 2 level teaspoons baking powder. 1 cup milk. 4 eggs, pepper, salt and celery salt.
Beat all together and put into hot bacon fat in spider. Cover and cook slowly.
OMELETS—6 Eggs.
Katherine Gorman, Clinton, Illinois.
6 eggs beaten separately. Beat a large teaspoon of flour with the yolks, add a little salt, then the whites and k cup milk. Have the skillet hot and buttered, pour in the mixture and let stand on top of stove 10 minutes then put in the oven and bake 15 minutes.
BAKED OMELET—8 Eggs.
Emogene Mather (Mrs. W. B.), Chicago. 8 fresh eggs beaten separately, 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon salt. Thoroughly beat yolks then add salt, flour and milk, and lastly the beaten whites; stir lightly. Bake 25 minutes and serve at once in baking dish.
OMELET SOUFFLE. Beat the yolks of 6 eggs light, add $ teaspoon lemon juice, a bit of grated peel and nutmeg, and $ teaspoon sugar. Beat well and add lightly 5 tablespoons cream. Butter the omelet pan, heat, pour in the mixture, and stir in lightly the well-beaten whites. Cook 5 or 6 Apple. OMELET. Codfish.
minutes in a quick oven. Turn upside down on a hot plate and serve instantly.
OTHER VARIETIES OF OMELETS.
APPLE OMELET. Pare and stew 4 large tart apples and rub through a sieve. While hot add a tablespoon butter, $ cup sugar (heaping), 1 teaspoon vanilla and a grating of nutmeg. Whip whites and yolks of 4 eggs separately and add when apples are cold, folding in the whites the last thing. Pour into a buttered pudding dish and bake only until delicately browned.
ASPARAGUS OMELET. Boil 2 whole bunches of asparagus for 20 minutes. Remove the tender tops and put into a buttered baking dish. Season with pepper and salt and dots of butter. Beat 4 eggs with 1 tablespoon melted butter, a little salt and pepper, and pour over the asparagus. Bake 8 minutes in a quick oven and serve hot.
BREAD OMELET.
Mrs. Z. B. Glynn, East Boston, Mass. Put bread crumbs into a saucepan with cream or milk; salt and pepper. When the bread has absorbed the cream, break in as many eggs as will suffice for the meal, and fry as omelet.
CAULIFLOWER OMELET.
1 cup cold boiled cauliflower chopped fine and mixed with 4 eggs and 1 teaspoon corn starch. Cook as other omelets in buttered frying pan.
CHEESE OMELET. 4 eggs, 4 tablespoons milk, 2 tablespoons grated cheese, salt and pepper. Separate whites and yolks. Beat whites stiff, add the yolks and seasoning, then the milk, then the cheese; pour into the omelet pan. Have a platter warm for omelets, otherwise they will shrink or fall.
CODFISH OMELET. Pick up £ cup of salt codfish and let the water run on it a short time to freshen sufficiently. Put into a frying pan with 1 heaping tablespoon butter. Beat 4 eggs very light and add. As soon as partly Corn. OMELET. Meat.
set fold over and place in hot oven for 5 minutes. This may be served with cream sauce, but is good without.
CORN OMELET. Take cold boiled sweet corn, cut from the cob. For a cup full take 6 eggs, beat, add 6 tablespoons milk, the cup of corn, 1 teaspoon salt, \ saltspoon pepper; mix all together and cook in butter as any other omelet.
CRAB OMELET.
Florence R. Sheridan, Mobile, Ala.
Boil $ dozen crabs and pick out the meat, to which add 3 eggs beaten, 2 tablespoons cracker dust, a little chopped onion, parsley, butter, salt and pepper. Have a pan with butter very hot, in which drop the mixture in spoonsful and fry a light brown. Canned crabs make delightful omelet also.
HAM OMELET.
Mrs. Z. B. Glynn, East Boston, Mass.
2 eggs. 4 tablespoons butter.
2 tablespoons minced ham, lean. Pinch of pepper.
Fry the ham 2 minutes in a little butter; then mix all togetner and proceed as with a plain omelet. Serve very hot. Lean bacon or tongue will answer equally as well, but should be slightly cooked previous to mixing.
ORANGE OMELET. Three eggs, a teaspoon of orange juice, and same of grated orange rind. Beat the yolks and whites separately, then add carefully together and proceed as for plain omelet.
RICE OMELET. Mix 1 cup boiled rice with 1 cup milk; add 1 tablespoon butter, a little salt, and 3 well beaten eggs. Cook as an ordinary omelet. DRIED BEEF OMELET. Mince £ pound dried beef fine, beat up 4 eggs and stir into the beef. Put in the skillet a tablespoon of butter and turn the mixture in, stirring until the eggs scramble. Serve hot with garnish of celery or parsley.
MEAT OMELET. Mince up any cold pieces of meat, add a few crumbs of bread or crackers, and enough beaten egg to bind them together. Season Mushroom. OMELET. Oyster.
well and pour into a well-buttered frying pan. If it is difficult to turn it whole, a hot shovel may be held over the top until it is browned. MUSHROOM OMELET.
Twelve large mushrooms, wash and peel. Remove the stems and mince them fine, adding 3 beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne and pour the mixture over the mushrooms. Put a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and dip a spoonful at a time into it, being careful that a whole mushroom is in each spoon and fully encased in the mixture of egg and minced stems. They may be turned or not as preferred. When dished for the table they should be kept separate and one served to each person.
OYSTER OMELET.
One dozen large fresh oysters chopped into small pieces, £ teaspoon salt sprinkled on them, and then let stand in their own liquor hour. Beat 6 eggs, separately. Add to the yolks a tablespoon of rich cream, a little pepper and salt, and then lightly stir in the whites. Put 2 tablespoons butter into a hot frying pan. When it is melted and begins to fry, pour in your egg mixture and as quickly as possible add the oysters. Do not stir, but with a broad-bladed omelet knife lift the omelet as the eggs set from the bottom of the pan, to prevent scorching. In 5 minutes it will be done. Place a hot dish, bottom upward, over the omelet, and dexterously turn the pan over with the brown side uppermost upon the dish. Eat without delay.

How to Cook Eggs

Below are 19th Century Recipes and information on how to cook eggs from Mrs. Owens New Cook Book ©1897 Omelets will be in another post.

TO BOIL EGGS.
Have the water far below the boiling point. At 180 degrees the albumen will become solid and white. If at 212 it will become shrunken and tough.
TO SERVE HARD BOILED EGGS. Remove shells and if not ready to serve at once drop them into hot water, a little salted. Place them on a layer of lettuce, with a few leaves over them. Pretty and appetizing.
Boiled. EGGS. To Poach.
BOILED EGGS.
Use a wire egg-boiler for boiling eggs; 3 minutes cooks the white about right for soft-boiled eggs. If put into cold water and let remain to a boiling point, they are cooked more evenly than by plunging into hot water at first. And it is further recommended to pour boiling water on the eggs and set the vessel on the hearth for 5 minutes.
Another method is to put eggs into boiling water, set back and let remain in water for 10 minutes.
ENGLISH BOILED EGGS. Put eggs into cold water and when it begins to boil, let boil just 2 minutes.
SCRAMBLED EGGS. Put a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan. When hot put in the requisite number of eggs beaten lightly. Pepper and salt them, and add $ cup of milk to a dozen eggs. Stir constantly, and as soon as they begin to set, take off and pour out. They must not be hard. EGGS SCRAMBLED IN MILK.
Lydia Avery Coonley, Chicago. Eggs beaten up with milk and scrambled in a dish set in a dish of water, make a pleasant variety. Use salt, but no butter.
SCRAMBLED EGGS IN BREAD CASE.
C. R. Schrapps, St. Louis. Take an even brick-shaped loaf of bread, cut the top off. Take a sharp knife and cut out the crumb of the loaf evenly, leaving the crust, ends, sides and bottom. Immerse both case and cover in hot fat and fry a nice brown, and drain well. In the meantime prepare scrambled eggs in the ordinary manner sufficient for the meal, and put into the hot bread case, cover with the hot cover and place on a platter. Dish with a spoon from the case the same as from a platter or tureen. After the eggs are gone the fried bread may be served in convenient pieces. Cooked asparagus placed on the eggs is a nice accompaninent.
TO POACH EGGS.
Mrs. W. A. Dickerman, Marseilles, Ill. Let the water come nearly to boiling heat, break the eggs in carefully and be sure that the water covers them, put a close cover on the sauce pan and cook until sufficiently done, and they will skim out very full and white. It will take but 2 or 3 minutes.
To Fry. EGGS. Panned.
TO FRY EGGS. Break the eggs into hot fat in the frying pan, cover closely and cook until done—perhaps 5 minutes, or butter gem irons and break an egg in each one, set in the oven, after seasoning. Will cook in a very short time.
FRIED HAM AND EGGS. Freshen the ham, if it requires it, by putting it on the stove in cold water, and pouring off as soon as it comes to a scald. Fry the ham in its own fat, then fry the eggs afterward in the same. Dish up on the same platter.
BROILED HAM AND EGGS. Broil thin slices of ham. Put a bit of butter on each slice when done. Poach the eggs in water, and lay one neatly on each piece of ham.
STEAMED EGGS.
Butter a tin plate and break in your eggs. Set in a steamer, place over a kettle of boiling water and steam till the whites are cooked . If broken into buttered patty pans they look nicer, by keeping their forms better. Or still better, if broken into egg cups and steamed until done, they are very nice. Cooked in this way, there is nothing of their flavor lost.
BAKED EGGS.
Take a large platter. Break on it as many eggs as you need for your meal, sprinkle over with salt, pepper and lumps of butter. Set in the oven, and in about 5 minutes the whites will be set and the eggs sufficiently cooked. A handy way on washing or ironing days, when the top of the stove is all in use.
EGG PYRAMIDS. Mrs. H. B. Clark, Pulaski, N. Y. Take 4 eggs, beat whites to a stiff froth, salt a little, butter the platter, put whites on in spoonsful. Make a hollow in each center and put a whole yolk in, salt and pepper and put a bit of butter on each one. Set into the oven and bake until a delicate brown.
PANNED EGGS. Make a minced meat of chopped ham, fine bread crumbs, pepper, salt and some melted butter. Moisten with milk to a soft paste, and Scalloped. EGGS. Fricasseed.
half fill some patty pans with the mixture. Break an egg carefully upon the top of each. Dust with pepper and salt, and sprinkle some finely-powdered cracker over all. Set in the oven and bake about 8 minutes and serve at once.
SCALLOPED EGGS. Prepare a cup of thick drawn-butter gravy, and a dozen hardboiled eggs. Butter a pudding dish and place in it a layer of fine bread crumbs moistened with milk or broth. Add 2 beaten eggs to the drawn butter. Cut the boiled eggs in slices, dip each slice in gravy and place in layers upon the bread crumbs. Sprinkle these with cold meat or fowl minced fine. Repeat the layers and put over all a covering of sifted bread crumbs. Heat well through in a moderate oven.
EGGS WITH TOMATO SAUCE. Boil 6 eggs hard and divide lengthwise. Pour over them a pint of tomato sauce. Serve hot.
RUGBY EGGS.
Isadore P. Taylor (Mrs. H. S.) Kenilworth, Ill. $ can of tomatoes, stewed, 1 small onion chopped fine, 1 small teaspoon corn starch, and butter size of egg. Cook 6 minutes, add salt and pepper (chopped parsley if desired) then add 5 well beaten eggs very slowly. When the mixture is as thick as thick cream, pour over buttered toast and serve immediately.
EGGS al a CREME. Boil 12 eggs hard, cut in slices and put in a baking dish with grated bread crumbs, pepper and salt. Make a cream sauce of a pint of cream or milk, add chopped parsley and a bit of onion and nutmeg. Pour over the eggs, sprinkle with crumbs and brown in a well heated oven.
SHAKER EGGS. Boil 4 minutes, take out, and as soon as cool enough to handle remove the shells, keep the eggs whole. Dop in a covered dish and dress with pepper, salt and sweet cream. To 6 eggs allow ^ cup cream. FRICASSEED EGGS. Boil 6 eggs hard, cut crosswise and remove yolks; mash the yolks with a little minced cold tongue or ham or fowl, a little butter and Swiss. EGGS. Sur Le Plat or Shirred.
made mustard and parsley. Fill the whites and set them in a covered dish. Have some broth ready and heat to boiling, and add 3 tablespoons cream to each cup of broth. Boil up, pour hot over the eggs, let stand covered for 5 minutes and serve at once.
SWISS EGGS.
Take a baking dish and butter the bottom generously. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Break in as many eggs as are required. Season with salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of cayenne. Pour over k cup cream and sprinkle more cheese. Bake 15 minutes.
PARIS EGGS.
Boil 6 eggs hard, when cool remove shell cut in two, take out the yolks and put them in a bowl, with the juice of one onion, pinch of red pepper, saltspoon of salt and $ cup cream. Mix thoroughly into a smooth paste, then return to the whites, and stand them in the bottom of a small pudding dish. Pour sauce over them and bake 20 minutes.
SAUCE.
Rub together till smooth 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 small tablespoon butter, saltspoon of salt, pinch of red pepper and juice of 1 onion. Put this with 1 pint of boiling cream (less amount used for yolks) stir until thick and smooth.
Chef of Les Trois Freres, Paris in "250 choice recipes."
(The above is a delicious dish, but I use only a few drops of onion juice. I found the flavor entirely too strong if a whole one was used. F. E. O.)
BEAUREGARD EGGS. Boil 12 eggs 20 minutes; remove shells, divide whites and yolks. Rub the yolks through a sieve into a dish alone; chop the whites very fine; blend 1 tablespoon of butter with 2 of corn starch in a saucepan and add a pint of milk and stir until thick and smooth. Stir in the whites of the eggs, $ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of white pepper. Have a nice piece of toast ready on each plate, and more for reinforcement . Spread each piece with the white sauce and sprinkle with the sifted yolks set in the oven a minute. A bit of parsley is also an improvement.
EGGS SUR Le PLAT OR SHIRRED EGGS.
Little individual stone china dishes come expressly for this mode

Stuffed. EGGS. Cradled.
of serving eggs. Heat and butter dish, break into it two eggs, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, and $ teaspoon butter. Place in hot oven about 5 minutes. These may be varied by adding different seasonings and flavorings. For instance, the cups may be rubbed with onion, a little chopped parsley, ham, tongue, chicken, or grated cheese may be sprinkled in the dish before the eggs are broken in.
STUFFED EGGS.
Boil 12 eggs 20 minutes; cut in two; also cut a thin slice from each end so the eggs will stand. Take out yolks and mash fine. Add 3 tablespoons melted butter, 2 drops onion juice, a little finely chopped boiled ham, small teaspoon prepared mustard, 1 of celery seed, salt and cayenne pepper to taste; make quite moist with vinegar, mix all thoroughly, chip the edges of whites in small points with scissors; fill with above mixture and serve each half on a small, curled lettuce leaf.
EGG LOAF.
Remove the shell from hard-boiled eggs; moisten a cup of bread crumbs with 1 teaspoon butter; mix with this the crumbled yolks of 3 hard-boiled eggs; season with salt and pepper; line bottom of dish with this mixture, place eggs in, then fill round again, and cover the top with buttered crumbs, and brown in oven 5 minutes. Garnish with slaw or chopped pickles.
SAVORY EGGS.
Tin cups, or tin muffin pans; butter thickly, line with thin layer of chopped parsley, put in bottom a thin layer of minced ham (seasoned), break egg in cup, sprinkle with salt and pepper, (be careful not to break the yolk); set molds in pan of boiling water until eggs set (about fifteen minutes). Serve upon a piece of round bread, toasted.
CRADLED EGGS. Mince very fine some cold chicken, turkey or duck and add some melted butter, pepper, salt, chopped parsley, and. two beaten eggs; moisten with some stock, put in a saucepan and place over a fire and cook about eight minutes; turn on a hot platter and make it smooth across the top, form a ridge all around and build a fence of triangular pieces of toast on the outside; have ready and place in this meat bed Deviled. EGGS. Omelets.
as many poached or dropped eggs as it will hold; garnish with parsley at each end of the platter.
DEVILED EGGS.
Boil eggs hard. When cold, take off the shells, cut in two lengthwise, remove yolks and mash fine in a bowl, adding salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar until it is palatable and taking care to keep it thick enough to replace in the whites. Smooth over and serve eithes in halves, or put the halves together. A most excellent dish.
EGG RELISH.
Take the whites of hard-boiled eggs divided in lengthwise halves. Drop into each one a teaspoon of mayonnaise, on this put the yolk rubbed through a sieve and mixed lightly with salt and pepper and top this with a bit of grated cheese.
CURRIED EGGS.
Boil eggs hard, remove shell and divide in lengthwise halves. Take i rounding tablespoon of butter, put it in a frying pan; in it fry one tart apple, one small onion, add a heaping teaspoon curry powder, the same of flour, 4 tablespoons stock or water; let simmer; then add the eggs and heat them thoroughly.- Have ready a dish of plain boiled rice, make room in the center of it for the mixture, and pour what may be left over the top.
PICKLED EGGS.
Boil eggs very hard and remove the shell. Take 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, allspice, and mace, put in a little muslin bag in cold water, boil well, and if it boils away, add enough to make $ pint when the spices are taken out. Add 1 pint of strong vinegar, pour over the eggs. If you want them colored, put in some beet juice.