The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell are exceedingly good, rich, and dark in colour. They are, however, all the better when served with a little sweet sauce. Make the pudding hot through by placing it on the fire in boiling water, taking care that the water keeps boiling. Then take the tin out of the saucepan, open it, and turn the pudding out on to a dish. Have ready the sauce to be served, which should be made as follows : — Take a quarter of a pint of water and add sufficient butter and flour to make the sauce about as thick as gruel. If the sauce is wanted very rich, three or four times the amount of butter originally used can be dissolved in the sauce. Next add a teaspoonful of lemon juice, having dissolved in the water six or seven lumps of sugar to make the sauce thoroughly sweet. Then add a tablespoonful of rum and a tablespoonful of brandy. Brandy sauce made from a mixture of brandy and rum is far superior to brandy sauce made from brandy alone. One of the lumps of sugar should, previously to being dissolved in the sauce, have been rubbed on the outside of a lemon, so as to impart the flavour of lemon-peel. Housekeepers who are liable to be taken by surprise — i.e., who are occasionally called on to provide a little something extra, owing to the arrival of unexpected guests — would do well to have one or two of these tinned plum puddings by them. They are as cheap as they are delicious, and the amount of trouble saved is very considerable.. It is never worth while to make plum pudding in very small quantities, and where there are only one or two persons these tinned puddings are a great convenience. POIS GROS.— Pois gros are, as the name implies, large peas, which can be obtained in tins. I do not myself think that large peas are equal in flavour to small, but for some purposes they are more suited. For instance, in making ragouts, hashes, and stews, in which a number of vegetables are mixed, the big peas are better than the small. The hash made from stewed neck of mutton in which is turnip, carrot, and some onions, is very greatly improved by having a tin of good-sized peas mixed in with them. These big peas also make a very nice dish when served by themselves. They should be made hot through by placing the tin for about twenty minutes in boiling water. The tin should then be opened, the water strained off, and the peas turned into a hot vegetable dish, when either a tablespoonful of white sauce or plain butter can be added, With a little chopped parsley and lemon juice. Good white sauce is far better than butter, but either will do. The peas must be served very hot, and when it is possible they should be surrounded by fried crofltons of bread. When, however, the peas are served with another dish, such as roast lamb, roast leg of mutton, etc., it is better to serve them plain with the addition of a few fresh mint leaves, a saltspoonful of salt, half a saltspoonful of sugar, and a little, pepper. This will make the peas slightly sweet, a taste which they are often very apt to lose after being preserved in tins.