is cool. A plateful for each of the three meals should be placed in the refrigerator ready for use. Do not set butter in a refrigerator with anything else in it but milk, or in a safe with anything but milk. It readily imbibes the flavor of everything near it. After churning, butter should be taken up in what is called "a piggin," first scalded and then filled with cold water. With an old-fashioned butter-stick (scalded) wash and press the butter till no water is left. Then add a little salt, finely beaten. Beat again in a few hours, and make up in half-pound prints. I would advise all housekeepers (even those who do not make their own butter) to keep a piggin, a butter-stick, and a pretty butter-print.
To secure nice Butter for the Table in Winter.
In October and November, engage butter to be brought weekly, fresh from the churn in rolls. Wrap each roll in a piece of old table cloth, and put in a sweet firkin or stone jar which has been washed with soda water, scalded and sunned for a month before using. Pour over it a clear strong brine, which also must have been prepared at least a week beforehand, by pouring off the settlings and repeated strainings. Have a nice flat rock washed and weight the butter down with it, being careful to keep it always under the brine.—Mrs. S. T.
Recipe for Putting up Butter.
2 quarts best common salt.
1 ounce pulverized saltpetre.
1 ounce white sugar.
Work the butter over three times, the last time adding an ounce of the above mixture to every pound butter. Of course, the butter is salted, when first made. Make the butter into rolls and wrap in cloths or pack in jars, within four inches of the top of each jar. If the latter is done, fill the jars with brine and tie up closely. If the former is preferred, drop the rolls into brine, prepared as follows:
To every gallon brine that will bear an egg, add one pound white sugar and one-half ounce saltpetre. Boil well and skim. Keep the brine closely covered. I have used butter on my table in May, put up in this way, and it tasted as well as when put up in October.—Mrs. R. C.
Clabber.
To have clabber in perfection, place in small glass dishes or bowls enough milk to make clabber for each person. After it has turned, set it in the refrigerator, if in summer, till called for. By the way, refrigerators (as well as water-coolers) should be washed every morning with water in which a tablespoonful of common soda has been dissolved. They should then be aired before filling with ice for the day.—Mrs. S. T.
Cottage Cheese.
When the tea-kettle boils, pour the water into a pan of "loppered" milk. It will curd at once. Stir it and turn it into a colander, pour a little cold water over it, salt it and break it up. A better way is to put equal parts of buttermilk and thick milk in a kettle, over the fire, heat it almost boiling hot, pour into a linen bag and let it drain till next day. Then take it out, salt it, put in a little cream or butter, as it may be thick or not, and make it up into balls the size of an orange.
SOUP.
As making soup is a tedious process, it is best to make enough at once to last several days. Beef shank is most generally used in making nutritious soup. It is best to get this the day before using it, and soak it all night in cold, clear water. If you cannot do this, however, get it as early in the morning as you can. Break the bones, wash it, soak it a few minutes in weak salt and water, and put it in a large boiler of cold water. As soon as it begins to simmer, remove the dark scum that rises on top. Keep the boiler closely covered, and boil very slowly till an hour or two before dinner. Then, with a ladle, remove all the fat from the top, as it is this element that makes soup unwholesome. Strain and season, or, if you prefer, season just enough for one meal, reserving the rest as foundation for another sort of soup. It is well always to keep some of this stock on hand in cold weather, as by the addition of a can of tomatoes, or other ingredients, a delicious soup may be quickly made of it. Never throw away water in which any sort of meat has been boiled, as it is much better to simmer hash or a stew in this liquor than in water, and it is also invaluable for basting fowls or meats that have not been parboiled.
Directions for soup making are so fully given in the following pages that it is needless for me to say anything further on the subject here.
Oyster Soup.
100 oysters.
1 teaspoonful salt.
1 tablespoonful black pepper.
¼ pound butter.
Yolks of 3 eggs.
1 pint rich milk, perfectly fresh.
3 tablespoonfuls flour.
Separate the oysters from the liquor: put the liquor to boil, when boiled add salt, pepper and butter, then the flour, having previously made it into a batter. Stir all the time. When it comes to a boil, add the eggs well beaten, then the milk, and when the mixture reaches a boil, put in the oysters; let them also just boil, and the soup is done. Stir all the time to prevent curdling.—Mrs. Judge M.
Economical Oyster Soup.
1 quart oysters.
2 quarts water.
Boil with salt and pepper.
Cut up one tablespoonful butter with flour and put in while boiling; beat the yolks of four eggs light, mix them with one-half pint milk.
When the oysters are well cooked, pour on the milk and eggs, stirring all the time. Let it boil up, and take off quickly, and pour into the tureen, over toasted bread cut into dice—if preferred rich, leave out some of the water.—Mrs. Lt.-Gov. M.
Oyster Soup.
Empty the oysters into a colander and drain off all the liquor; then strain the liquor through a very coarse cloth to rid it of all scum, etc. To a whole can of oysters take a quart of milk.
Put the milk, oyster liquor, one level tablespoonful flour rubbed very smooth with one heaping tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoonful salt, one-half teaspoonful pepper, all on the fire together in a farina-boiler (or put a skillet one-third filled with boiling water under the saucepan, to prevent the milk burning). When it comes to a boil, put in the oysters and let them stew for twenty minutes or till the gill of the oyster turns and begins to ruffle and crimp at the edge. Serve immediately, for if they are cooked too long, they become hard, dark and tasteless. If you put the salt in last, it will not curdle the soup. Some add one level teaspoonful whole cloves and same of mace, tied up in a net bag, but they are little improvement.—Mrs. R.
Purée of Oysters.
For fifty oysters.
Put the oysters on in their own liquor—let them come to a boil—take them out and mince them; skim the liquor when nearly done. Beat well together:
1 egg.
1 dessertspoonful butter.
½ pint milk.
1 cracker sifted.
Salt, pepper (mace, also, if liked).
Pour this into boiling liquor and then add the minced oysters. When done, the soup is smooth. The milk must be fresh or it will curdle.—Mrs. John Walker, Alabama.
Oyster Soup.
Take two quarts of oysters, wash them, and add,
2 quarts water.
A bundle of herbs.
1 small onion sliced.
Let it boil until all the substance is out of the oysters. Strain the liquor from the ingredients and put it back in the pot. Add a large spoonful butter mixed with flour. Have ready two dozen oysters to throw in just as it is ready to be dished—at the same