Wash a cupful of hominy in two waters; then stir it into one quart of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of salt, and boil from thirty to sixty minutes. The latter time is the better. Be careful that the hominy does not burn. It can be used more than oatmeal, as it is good with any kind of meat. It is appropriate for any meal, and is nice eaten warm or cold with milk.
Oatmeal.
Oatmeal, Indian meal and hominy an require two things for perfection--plenty of water when put on to boil, and a long time for boiling. Have about two quarts of boiling water in a large stew-pan, and into it stir a cupful of oatmeal, which has been wet with cold water. Boil one hour, stirring often, and then add half a spoonful of salt, and boil an hour longer. If it should get too stiff, add more boiling water; or, if too thin, boil a little longer. You cannot boil too much. The only trouble in cooking oatmeal is that it takes a long time, but surely this should not stand in the way when it is so much better for having the extra time. If there is not an abundance of water at first the oatmeal will not be very good, no matter how much maybe added during the cooking. Cracked wheat is cooked in the same way.
Strawberry Short-Cake.
One pint of flour, measured before sifting; one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, four of butter, one tea-cupful of milk. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Rub the butter into the mixture, and add the milk. Butter two tin squash-pie plates. Spread the mixture in them, and bake in a quick oven from eighteen to twenty minutes. Mash one quart of strawberries with three-fourths of a cupful of sugar. When the cakes are taken from the oven, split and butter them, and put half of the strawberries and sugar in each cake. Serve immediately.
Sweet Strawberry Short-Cake.
Three eggs, one cupful of sugar, two of flour, one table-spoonful of butter, one scant teaspoonful of cream of tartar, a small half teaspoonful of soda. Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, well beaten. Mix the soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Stir into the beaten egg and sugar. Bake in deep tin plates. Four can be filled with the quantities given. Have three pints of strawberries mixed with a cupful of sugar. Spread a layer of strawberries on one of the cakes, lay a second cake over this, and cover with berries. Or, a mèringue, made with the white of an egg and a table-spoonful of powdered sugar, may be spread over the top layer of strawberries,
English Muffins.
One quart of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, one-third of a cake of compressed yeast, or one-third of a cupful of liquid yeast; one cupful and a half of water. Have the water blood warm. Dissolve the yeast in one-third of a cupful of cold water. Add it and the salt to the warm water, and gradually stir into the flour. Beat the dough thoroughly; cover, and let it rise in a warm place until it is spongy (about five hours). Sprinkle the bread board with flour. Shape the dough into balls about twice the size of an egg, and drop them on the floured board. When all the dough has been shaped, roll the balls into cakes about one-third of an inch thick. Lay these on a warm griddle, which has been lightly greased, and put the griddle on the back of the stove, where there is not much heat. When the cakes have risen a little, draw the griddle forward and cook them slowly, turning often, to keep the flat shape. It will take about twenty minutes for them to rise on the griddle, and fifteen to cook. Tear them apart, butter them, and serve.