The following excellent rule for seasoning sausages is furnished by the same person whose receipt for curing hams I have been allowed to copy.
To twelve pounds and a half of meat put a gill of fine salt, a large gill of powdered sage, and half a gill of ground pepper. Let the measures be exact.
Some persons find it most convenient to keep sausage meat in a cloth. It is done by making a long bag of strong cotton cloth, of such a size that, when filled, it will be as large round as a common half pint mug. It should be crowded full, and each end tied up. If you have not a sausage-filler, it can be filled with the hand. Sew up only a quarter of a yard, then fill it tight, so far; then sew another quarter, and fill it, and so on until you reach the end. When the meat is to be used, open one end, rip up the seam a little way, and cut off slices rather more than an inch thick, and fry them. It may be kept good from December to March, in a cold, dry place.
How to salt Shad to keep a Year.
Procure those which are just caught; soak them an hour or two in a plenty of water, in order that the scales may be easily taken off. Take care to remove them all. Cut off the heads and open them down the back. When you have taken out all the refuse parts, remove the greatest part of the spine, as the fish will be more sure to keep sweet. A sharp knife is indispensable. Lay them in fresh water with a good deal of salt in it for an hour or two, in order to extract the blood. Then take them out, and sprinkle them plentifully with fine salt, taking care that it touches all the ends and edges. If most convenient, let them lie over night. In the morning, mingle an ounce of saltpetre and a pound of sugar with a peck of coarse-fine salt, and put a layer of salt, and a layer of fish (the skin being down), into the firkin. A peck of salt will cure twenty-five shad.
To try Lard.
The fat should not be suffered to stand long without being tried, because, even in cold weather, some parts of it may soon become musty, and nothing can then restore its sweetness. Remove all the lean bits, as they will adhere to the kettle, and cause the fat to burn. Cut it into pieces a little more than an inch square, and take care to have them nearly of a size. Put a little water into the kettle, and keep a steady, good fire, without much blaze, and stir the fat often. Attention to the kettle and the fire will be necessary, through the process. It will require three hours to do it. When the fat no longer bubbles, but is still, it is done enough. It is best to squeeze it through a tow cloth bag, made by folding half a square in such a way that the corner will form the end, and it should be rounded off a little at the bottom, and the seam made exactly as directed for a pudding-bag. Two pieces of wood fastened together, somewhat like a lemon-squeezer, will facilitate the process of straining it. Strain all that flows off without much pressure into one jar, and that which is extracted last, into another. There is no advantage in putting salt into lard. It does not mingle with it, as appears by its being always found at the bottom of the kettle, undissolved. Stone jars are best for keeping lard, but potter's ware does very well. It should stand in a cold place, and in warm weather, a fire-place with a close board, in a cool room, is a very good place to keep it.
Scraps are a favorite dish with many persons. Put salt, pepper, and pulverized sage to them, while they are still warm, break them small, and stir them well that the seasoning may be equally distributed.