Take four feet, (that have been perfectly cleaned,) and boil them, in four quarts of water, till very soft, and the water is reduced to one quart. Take it from the fire, and let it remain till perfectly cold, then take off all the fat, and scrape off the dregs that adhere to the jelly. Put the jelly in a preserving kettle, set it on a slow fire—when it melts, take it from the fire, and mix with it half a pint of white wine, the juice and grated rind of a couple of fresh lemons, and a stick of cinnamon or mace. Wash and wipe dry six eggs—take the whites of them, and beat them to a froth—stir them into the jelly when it is cool—bruise the shells, and mix them with the jelly, then set it on a few coals. Sweeten it, when hot, to the taste—white sugar is the best, but brown answers very well. Let the whole boil slowly fifteen minutes, without stirring it—suspend a flannel bag on a nail, and let the jelly drain through it, into a deep dish or pitcher. If it is not clear the first time, let it pass through the bag till it becomes so. The bag should not be squeezed, otherwise the jelly will not look clear. When transparent, turn it into glasses, and set the glasses, if the weather is hot, into cold water, and keep them in a cool place. This kind of jelly will keep but a few days, in warm weather. A knuckle of veal, and sheep’s feet, make a nice jelly, prepared in the same manner as calf’s feet.
Boil four ounces of hartshorn shavings in a couple of quarts of water, till it becomes a thick jelly—then strain and put to it the juice and rind of a couple of lemons, a wine glass of white wine, and a stick of cinnamon. Wash four fresh eggs, wipe them dry, separate the whites from the yelks, beat the whites to a froth, bruise the shells, and mix them with the hartshorn—set the whole on a moderate fire—sweeten it to the taste when hot. Boil it till it becomes quite thick, then let it drain through a jelly-bag till clear.
Old Java and Mocha coffee are the best kinds. Coffee should be put in an iron pot, and dried over a moderate fire for several hours, before it is roasted. It should be put at such a distance from the fire, as to be in no danger of burning. When it has dried three or four hours, set the pot on a hot bed of coals, and stir it constantly, until sufficiently roasted, which is ascertained by biting one of the lightest colored kernels—if it is brittle, the whole is done. Turn it out of the pot immediately, into a box—cover it tight, to keep in the steam. A coffee-roaster is better than a pot to roast coffee in, as it preserves the fine aromatic flavor of the coffee, which in a great measure escapes with the steam of the coffee, when roasted in an open pot. To make good common coffee, allow a table-spoonful of it, when ground, to each pint of water. Turn on the water boiling hot, and boil the coffee in a tin pot, from twenty to twenty-five minutes—if boiled longer, it will not taste fresh and lively. Let it stand, after being taken from the fire, four or five minutes to settle, then turn it off carefully from the grounds, into a coffee-pot or urn. When the coffee is put on the fire to boil, a piece of fish-skin or isinglass, of the size of a nine-pence, should be put in, or else the white and shell of half an egg, to a couple of quarts of coffee. Many persons dislike to clear coffee with fish-skin, thinking that it imparts an unpleasant taste to coffee, but it will not, if properly prepared. The skin should be taken from mild codfish, that has not been soaked, as the skin loses its clearing properties by soaking. Rinse it in cold water, and dry it perfectly. When dried, cut it into pieces of the size of a nine-pence. If torn off, as it is wanted for use, too much is apt to be put in at once, and give the coffee a bad taste. A piece of the size of a twelve and a half cent piece, is sufficient to settle a couple of quarts of water. French coffee is made in a German filter, the water is turned on boiling hot, and one-third more coffee is necessary than when boiled in the common way. Where cream cannot be procured for coffee, the coffee will be much richer to boil it with a less proportion of water than the above rule, and weaken it with boiling hot milk, when served out in cups.
Scald the tea-pot, and if the tea is a strong kind, a tea-spoonful for a pint of water is sufficient—if it is a weak kind, more will be required. Pour on just enough boiling water to cover the tea, and let it steep. Green tea should not steep more than five or six minutes before drinking—if steeped longer, it will not be lively. Black tea requires steeping ten or twelve minutes to extract the strength.
Scrape the chocolate off fine, mix it smooth with water—if liked very rich, make the chocolate entirely of milk—if not, use half water. Boil water and milk together, then stir in the chocolate, previously mixed with water—stir it till it boils, then sweeten it to your taste, and take it up. If liked rich, grate in a little nutmeg. A table-spoonful of chocolate to a pint of water or milk, is about the right proportion.