Noodle Soup.
Empty your stock-jar into the soup-pot, adding as much boiling water as you may need, with additional seasoning, and any bones you may chance to have. Simmer one hour, or more; strain, return to the fire, and boil and skim for five minutes, before dropping in a generous handful of noodles—dried, or fresh. Simmer twenty minutes. For receipt for noodles, please consult Wednesday, First Week in August.
Roast Pig.
See that your butcher has done his part well in cleaning the month-old pig. Rinse out with soda and water, then with fair water, wiping the pig dry, inside and out. Prepare a dressing of a cupful of crumbs, half a chopped onion, two teaspoonfuls powdered sage, three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, a saltspoonful of salt, and as much pepper, half a grated nutmeg, and the yolks of two beaten eggs. Moisten with half a cup of soup-stock, and stuff the little fellow into his original size and shape. Sew him up, and place in a kneeling posture in a dripping-pan, skewering or tying his legs in the proper position. Dredge with flour. Pour a little hot salted water in the dripping-pan. Baste with butter and water three times as the pig warms; afterward, with gravy from the dripping-pan. When he begins to smoke all over, rub every ten minutes with a rag dipped in melted butter. This will keep the skin from cracking. Roast in a moderate, steady oven two hours.
Put the innocent—still kneeling—upon a large hot dish; surround with parsley and blanched celery-tops. Put a wreath of green about his neck, and a sprig of celery in his mouth.
Skim and strain the gravy; thicken with browned flour; boil up, add a glass of wine and the juice of a lemon, and serve in a boat.
In carving, cut off the head first; then split down the back; take off hams and shoulders, and separate the ribs.
Mashed Potatoes.
Prepare and serve as usual.
Stewed Celery.
See Wednesday, Third Week in December.
Mince Pie.
2 lbs. lean fresh beef, boiled, and, when cold, chopped fine; 1 lb. beef suet, powdered; 5 lbs. of apples, pared, cored, and chopped; 2 lbs. of raisins, seeded and chopped; 1 lb. sultana raisins, washed, and picked over; 2 lbs. of currants, washed, and carefully picked over; ¾ lb. of citron, cut up fine; 2 tablespoonfuls of cinnamon; 1 powdered nutmeg; 2 tablespoonfuls of mace; 1 tablespoonful of cloves, and the same, each, of allspice and fine salt; 2½ lbs. of brown sugar; 1 quart brown sherry; 1 pint best brandy.
Mix all these thoroughly, putting in the liquor last. Make it, at least, twenty-four hours before it is needed. Keep in a stone jar, with a tight cover, and a piece of bladder tied over the top. When ready to bake your pies, line greased pie-dishes with good paste, put in the mince-meat, and lay strips of pastry, notched with a jagging-iron in a lattice pattern, over the top.
This mince-meat will keep all winter—if not used up.