Squirrel Soup.
2 large fine gray squirrels, skinned, cleaned and cut up, 1 lb. lean corned ham, cut into dice; 1 onion; 2 blades of mace; a little cayenne; juice of a lemon; browned flour; 3 quarts of cold water; dripping; 2 tablespoonfuls of butter.
Fry squirrel and onion in the dripping to a light brown. Drain off the fat and put them into the soup-pot with the water, ham, and mace. Cover closely, and stew until the meat is in rags, and the water reduced one-third. Strain, cool, and skim; season and put over the fire. When it boils, skim well, and stir in the butter, cut up in browned flour. When it has thickened, add the lemon-juice and serve.
Fricasseed Chicken.
Clean, wash and cut up a pair of full-grown chickens. Wash, but do not soak. Put into a pot with half a pound of fat salt pork, cut very thin, and enough cold water to cover them. Heat very slowly, and cook until tender. When done add a chopped onion, with chopped parsley and pepper. Cover again, and five minutes later, stir in a great tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour. Heat in another saucepan a cup of milk; add two beaten eggs; boil one minute. Arrange the chickens upon a dish; strain the gravy; stir in the milk and eggs, and without putting again over the fire, pour over the fowls.
Boiled Rice.
Wash well in several waters. Strain a half cupful of your chicken gravy with an equal quantity of soup; add a little boiling water, and put on with the rice in a farina-kettle. When it is quite soft, and has absorbed all the broth, salt it, and stir in a little boiling milk in which has been melted a teaspoonful of butter, and a little minced parsley. Turn into a hot dish, when it has soaked up the milk, and pass grated cheese with it.
Scalloped Tomatoes.
Pare and slice fine ripe tomatoes. Put into a bake-dish with alternate layers of buttered bread-crumbs. Season each stratum of tomato with pepper, salt and sugar. Bake covered, until very hot—then, brown. The uppermost layer should be of crumbs.
Lima Beans.
See Wednesday, First Week in August.
Fruit.
Dispose to the best advantage in baskets or dishes, with a garnishing of green leaves.
Iced Coffee and Ellie’s Cake.
See Monday, Second Week in August, for Iced Coffee. For Ellie’s Cake, please consult “General Receipts, No. 1, of Common Sense in the Household Series,” page 326.