The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

remove the taint. Where such an accident has occurred, the only thing to do is to place a saucer with burning sulphur into it, making the cask as airtight as you can, and thus thoroughly fumigate it; it must then be filled up with boiling water, strongly impregnated with salt and soda. But granted a little trouble in the rinsing and washing out, directly after use, this troublesome process can be perfectly avoided. A few recipes for home made herb beers may be given, though they no longer enjoy the popularity of “ auld lang syne.” Home Brewed Beer. — Common barley, rather more than a quart; a wine-bottleful of distiller's barm (this will keep) ; powdered ginger, 1oz. ; treacle, 1 1/2 to 2lb. ; dried hops, 1oz. Boil the barley in a large pot (as it swells considerably) for three hours ; boil the hops separately, for about one hour, and let it all stand till milk warm. Melt the treacle in a little hot water, then mix in the ginger, and finally stir together all the ingredients carefully, adding the barm (about a tumblerful) at the last ; then stir it altogether, adding cold water as required, to weaken and cool it ; it must not be more than milk warm. The barm will rise, and can be skimmed off and used again. Do not bottle this beer till it has done working, which it should have done in twelve hours. This beer, made in the afternoon, is fit for bottling the next day, and is very effervescent. First and last you would use for this a good pailful of water. Remember not to put the barm in while the mixture is hot, the latter should be just as warm as tea for drinking ; if put in while too hot the barm will sour the beer. This beer can be made without the barley, and is very nice, but not as strong. Keep the barm tightly corked. (This recipe was given me by the daughter of a Highland farmer, whose mother always made it.) Mead. — To every gallon of water add 41b. of honey, and boil it for an hour, then pour it into a tub, and when cool add a toast spread with yeast ; cover with a blanket, and leave it for three or four days, and if by then it has fermented well, draw it off, and put it into a cask, adding a lemon sliced for every gallon, and about one and half pints of brandy for every ten gallons. The rinds of some Seville oranges, peeled very thin, and tied to a string, should be hung in the cask for the time it is left unbunged (i. e. till the liquid is perfectly still), and then removed when it is bunged up. The cask, which must be perfectly sweet and clean, should be rinsed out with some of the brandy afterwards put to the wine. Cowslip. — Boil together 151b. of honey, and seven and a half gallons of water till one gallon has wasted, then lift it off the fire ; pour half a gallon of this liquid, boiling hot, on to nine quartered lemons, putting the rest of the liquor into a tub on to three full pecks of cowslip pips, and let the lemons and the flowers steep separately for twelve hours. Then pour the lemons and their liquor in with the cowslips, syrup, &c., adding a handful of sweetbriar ; when lukewarm, put in four tablespoonfuls of yeast, stir it well together, cover with a blanket, and leave it to work for four or five days, then draw off, into a cask, and bung down tightly when it has done