Clean, wash, and joint a pair of chickens. (Salt the giblets slightly, and keep on ice until Monday; or, should the weather be warm, boil them in a pint of water; salt it well, and set away with the giblets in it.) Scald the pieces of chicken in boiling water, leaving them in it four minutes. Lay in ice-water ten minutes, to blanch them. Add to the quart of boiling water used for scalding them, the skimmed fat, the necks, and the heads, cleaned by scalding, picking off the feathers and cutting off the beaks. Stew for one hour, or until there is but a pint of gravy. Strain, cool, and take off the fat. Put two tablespoonfuls of butter into a saucepan, with a very finely minced onion and a dessertspoonful of flour. When they begin to simmer, put in the joints of chicken; turn several times in the butter, and, after they begin to color, add enough gravy to keep them from scorching, and stew, covered, at least an hour. Keep the chicken hot; strain the gravy; add parsley, pepper, and salt. Have in another saucepan a half cup of hot milk. Pour upon two beaten eggs, make very hot, and add to the gravy when you have taken the latter from the fire. Stir up, and pour over the chickens.
Spinach à la Crême.
Boil in plenty of hot salted water; drain, and chop fine upon a board or in a wooden tray. Return to the saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, and when hot, add a little sugar, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and two tablespoonfuls of cream. Stir until very hot, and serve in a deep dish, with sippets of fried bread laid over it.
Devilled Tomatoes.
1 quart fine ripe tomatoes, pared and cut in thick slices; yolks of 3 boiled eggs, pounded; 3 tablespoonfuls melted butter; 4 tablespoonfuls vinegar; 1 raw egg, beaten light; 1 teaspoonful powdered sugar; 1 saltspoonful salt, and same of made mustard; a soupçon of cayenne.
Rub a tablespoonful of butter into the pounded yolks; add the seasoning, then the vinegar, and put into a tin or porcelain saucepan. Heat, and stir in the beaten egg. Set in boiling water while you heat the rest of the butter in a frying-pan, and put in the sliced tomatoes. Shake over the fire eight minutes, turning several times. Lay the tomatoes upon a hot dish. Strain the butter in which they were fried into the dressing, stir well, and pour over the tomatoes.
Sweet Potatoes—Browned.
Parboil, peel, and lay in a baking-pan. Baste with a little of your soup stock, then with butter, until they are baked to a nice brown.
Baked Pears and Cream.
Peel ripe pears, and cut them in half, without removing the seeds. Pack in layers in a stoneware jar. Strew each layer with sugar, and drop a pinch of nutmeg in, now and then. Put a small cupful of water in the bottom to prevent burning. Fit on a close cover, and set in a moderate oven. Bake three hours on Saturday, and leave, unopened, in the oven all night. Set upon ice for some hours before you use them. Pour into a glass dish, and eat with cream. They are delicious if the pears are of fair quality.