Lemonade.—Take a quart of boiling water, and add to it five ounces of lump-sugar, the yellow rind of the lemon rubbed off with a bit of sugar, and the juice of three lemons. Stir all together and let it stand till cool. Two ounces of cream of tartar may be used instead of the lemons, water being poured upon it.
Raspberry Vinegar.—Fill a jar with red raspberries picked from the stalks. Pour in as much vinegar as it will hold. Let it stand ten days, then strain it through a sieve. Don't press the berries, just let the juice run through. To every pint add one pound loaf sugar. Boil it like other syrup; skim, and bottle when cold.
Summer Drink.—Boil together for five minutes two ounces of tartaric acid, two pounds white sugar, three lemons sliced, two quarts of water; when nearly cold add the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth, one tablespoonful of flour and half an ounce of wintergreen. Two tablespoonfuls in a glass of water make a pleasant drink; for those who like effervescence add as much soda as a ten-cent piece will hold, stirring it briskly before drinking.
Blackberry Syrup.—To one pint of juice put one pound of white sugar, one-half ounce of powdered cinnamon, one-fourth ounce mace, and two teaspoons cloves; boil all together for a quarter of an hour, then strain the syrup, and add to each pint a glass of French brandy.
Tea.—When the water in the teakettle begins to boil, have ready a tin tea-steeper; pour into the tea-steeper just a very little of the boiling water, and then put in tea, allowing one teaspoon of tea to each person. Pour over this boiling water until the steeper is a little more than half full; cover tightly and let it stand where it will keep hot, but not to boil. Let the tea infuse for ten or fifteen minutes, and then pour into the tea-urn, adding more boiling water, in the proportion of one cup of water for every teaspoon of dry tea which has been infused. Have boiling water in a water-pot, and weaken each cup of tea as desired. Do not use water for tea that has been boiled long. Spring water is best for tea, and filtered water next best.
Iced Tea a la Russe.—To each glass of tea add the juice of half a lemon, fill up the glass with pounded ice, and sweeten.
General Directions for Making Bread.—In the composition of good bread, there are three important requisites: Good flour, good yeast, [and here let us recommend Gillett's Magic Yeast Cakes. They keep good for one year in any climate, and once used you will not do without it. All grocers keep it] and strength to knead it well. Flour should be white and dry, crumbling easily again after it is pressed in the hand.
A very good method of ascertaining the quality of yeast will be to add a little flour to a very small quantity, setting it in a warm place. If in the course of ten or fifteen minutes it raises, it will do to use.
When you make bread, first set the sponge with warm milk or water, keeping it in a warm place until quite light. Then mold this sponge, by adding flour, into one large loaf, kneading it well. Set this to rise again, and then when sufficiently light mold it into smaller loaves, let it rise again, then bake. Care should be taken not to get the dough too stiff with flour; it should be as soft as it can be to knead well. To make bread or biscuits a nice color, wet the dough over top with water just before putting it into the oven. Flour should always be sifted.
Brown Bread, for those who can eat corn-meal: Two cups Indian meal to one cup flour; one-half teacup syrup, 2-1/2 cups milk; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 teaspoons of Gillett's baking powder. Steam an hour and a half. To be eaten hot. It goes very nicely with a corn-beef dinner.