APRIL.
Clear Soup.
Take the grease from the soup-jelly you will find in the crock into which the stock was poured yesterday. Take it up by the ladleful, leaving the meat and sediment at the bottom, and put on to heat in a soup-kettle. When it boils, stir in the beaten white of an egg; take off the scum as fast as it rises, and when quite clear add two teaspoonfuls of Coxe’s gelatine, previously soaked in cold water. Add, meanwhile, a little boiling water to the sediment and meat dice in the pot; strain off the liquid; pick out the bits of meat, and see that they are clean. Drop into the soup at the same time that you add four tablespoonfuls of colored water, made by burning a tablespoonful or two of sugar in a tin cup, pouring a little boiling water upon it, and stirring until you get a clear brown liquor. After these go in, do not let your soup really boil, but simmer a few minutes to throw up and remove any remaining scum. Pass sliced lemon with the soup.
Fricasseed Chickens—White.
Clean, wash, and joint the fowls. Lay in cold salt and water for one hour. Put them into a pot, with half a pound of salt pork cut into strips, and cold water enough to cover them. Cover closely, and heat very slowly to a gentle boil. The excellence of the fricassee depends mainly upon care in this respect. If the fowls are full-grown and reasonably tender, stew more than one hour after they begin to boil. When done add half a chopped onion, parsley and pepper. Cover again for ten minutes. Stir up two tablespoonfuls of flour in cold water, then into a cup of hot milk, and this, in turn, into two beaten eggs. Then put in a great spoonful of butter, and pour all into the saucepan; mix well, boil fairly, and, having arranged the chickens upon a hot dish, pour the gravy over them.
Buttered Parsnips.
Boil tender and scrape. Slice lengthwise. Put three tablespoonfuls of butter into a saucepan with pepper, salt and a little chopped parsley. When it heats, put in the parsnips, and shake and turn until the mixture boils. Lay the parsnips in order upon a hot dish, and pour the butter over them.
Savory Potatoes.
Pare and cut into squares some raw potatoes. Lay in cold water half an hour, put into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, slightly salted, and stew half an hour, not so fast as to break them. Then throw off the water and add a cupful of sauce made from the gravy of Friday’s chickens, thinned with a little hot water, and strained; seasoned to taste, and again thickened with a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour. Simmer all for ten minutes, and turn into a deep dish.
Lettuce Salad—Plain.
Wash the lettuce; pull leaf from leaf, and pile over a lump of ice in a salad-bowl. Pass the oil and vinegar, salt, pepper, and powdered sugar to each person, with the lettuce, that he may season for himself.
Pie-Plant (April) Fool.
- 1 pint of stewed pie plant, rubbed through a colander.
- 1 tablespoonful of butter.
- 1 cup of sugar.
- Yolks of four eggs.
- Méringue of the whites.
- 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
- Juice of half a lemon.
Put the strained pie-plant into a saucepan; set it in boiling water, and, when hot, beat in the butter, sugar, and beaten yolks. Stir two minutes, and turn out to cool. This can be done on Saturday. On Sunday, a few minutes’ whirl of your egg-beater will give you the méringue. Beat in the powdered sugar with a few more, and when you have poured the stewed fruit (or vegetable) into a glass bowl, pile the méringue (the “fool”?) on the top.
Coffee and Cake
Can be handed with, or after the sweets.