Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper

8 cloves, finely pounded, and a few coriander seeds. 2 egg-spoon of ground pepper. Some salt. A dash of nutmeg, oz. butter or dripping. A very thin slice of onion, minced. The yolk of an egg. Mix all these ingredients well together, and shape the mixture into a little roll, bake in an enamelled dish in which you have put some good dripping ; and before putting in the oven, cut thin strips of bacon and lay it in this way on the top of the mince, this imparts a very nice flavour to the meat. It takes about one hour and a quarter to bake in a good oven. Serve with the gravy formed in the dish when baking, to which add a little stock and cream, if you have it, and just let it boil up, then serve. It is also very nice to eat cold, cut in thin slices, and is excellent for picnics. A Nice Gravy. — This is a good gravy for mutton, beef, game, or poultry. When the roast is well done, remove some of the fat from the brown sauce in the baking-dish, add a cup of thick cream (or half a cup of milk with a teaspoonful of maizena stirred into it), mix it with the brown gravy, put into the baking-pan with a spoonful of good dripping ; stir about till it boils, then add a little cream, and stir all well over a quick fire to brown, but not burn. All the recipes I have got lately seem to be German ! Sept. MAYONNAISE. ST. LUCIA PUDDING September 21. — Mayonnaise Sauce (Mrs. Becker s).— Here is a German recipe for mayonnaise sauce. The yolk of one hard-boiled egg mashed very fine, add to it the yolks of 2 raw eggs and 2 tablespoonfuls of best Lucca oil, the oil to be added drop by drop, stirring constantly one way until quite thick; to this add 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, some pepper, salt, mustard, and a little pinch of sugar and of cayenne. St. Lucia Pudding. — A nice pudding which requires no eggs. I teacupful of flour. I teacupful of bread-crumbs. I small cup of minced suet. I small cup of Scotch marmalade or apricot jam. I cup milk. I teaspoon ful of salt. I large teaspoonful of baking-powder. Mix the baking-powder with the flour, then add in all the ingredients mixed well, and lastly the milk. Boil in a greased bowl three hours. Serve with a good pudding sauce. September 28. — Tortoises. — The eatable tortoises are at their best in September and October. We used to get them from Saldanah Bay. The tortoise is most nourishing, and scalloped with bread-crumbs, butter and lemon and salt, is most appetizing. Their eggs taste very like hens’ eggs. The coloured people have wonderful faith in the restorative powers of the tortoise. A recipe for tortoise soup is in Appendix, among home remedies. Tortoises have been known to live for six months without food or water. At Groote Poste one was forgotten by mistake in a seed-basket, which was hung on a beam in the loft from June till April, and when found was still alive, and had probably hibernated all that time. t r x‘ / ■ . A L . - -, ' <*- t *■ ■ ' ./■ * y-/w* r: '. ^ •. ' ** i' MhiT' *v\ ! .> • > * --. feifcwv :: ■-■ \ ■'t, ©ctobei* October 2. — A most enjoyable month. — October, like September, is a most enjoyable month, and flowers abound, and the oaks with their fresh leaves make the Cape Peninsula perfectly lovely. Many varieties of heath are brought in from the country districts.