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

. CHAMPAGNE JELLY. — Champagne jelly is sold in bottles containing quarts, pints, and half-pints. It is a very delicate form of nourishment for invalids. Though the flavour of the champagne is not so strong as some might expect, its name renders it very attractive. When the jelly is melted to be poured into the mould, care should be taken to melt it very gradually. The bouquet of champagne is proverbially delicate ; and, should the jelly be really heated, the delicate bouquet will be destroyed. When the jelly is dissolved sufficiently to admit of its being poured into the mould, a small wineglassful of good old liqueur brandy will be found to improve its flavour. Before pouring the jelly into the mould it is sometimes desirable to hold the mould over some steam. The steam condenses on the cold mould, and thus forms an almost infinitely thin film of water between the mould and the jelly. Wine jellies are very delicate, and consequently great care has to be exercised in turning them out, as, when the mould is plunged into hot water, unless great care is taken they are apt to run, and the sharp form of the mould will then be destroyed. The thin coating which is formed by the condensed steam tends greatly to prevent the jelly from sticking. CHARTREUSE, GREEN.— Green chartreuse has for many years been regarded as the king among liqueurs ; and it says much for the good sense of the present French Government, that when the religious orders were banished from France, that particular order was exempted which manufactured green and yellow chartreuse. Green chartreuse is manufactured from herbs and shrubs which grow in the neighbourhood of Grenoble, one of the herbs resembling in flavour that known in this country as penny-royal. Green chartreuse possesses considerable strength, and can be used in making high-class jellies, in addition to its ordinary use as a recherche liqueur to be handed round after dinner. When you make chartreuse jelly, the chief point to be borne in mind is not to lose the flavour of the chartreuse. Of course, when any spirit is heated, the strength evaporates ; consequently, in making chartreuse jelly, the jelly must be made first, and the chartreuse must not be added till the very last moment — that is, just when the jelly is on the point of setting. By this means the whole of the flavour of the chartreuse will be retained. In making chartreuse jelly, which is of course an expensive luxury, it is always advisable to have some ice, and the mould in which the jelly is to be made should be placed in some of the ice, which must be chopped up, and mixed with a little salt, which will reduce the temperature to about thirty degrees below freezing point. When the mould has been cooled to this extent, take it out and hold it over a little steam for about a second, and replace it in the ice. The mould now contains a thin film of ice. Now pour in the chartreuse jelly, which, as it is already on the point of setting, will very soon get firm owing to the intense cold to which it is exposed.