Books and My Food: With Literary Quotations and Original Recipes for Every ..

ley, and stew gently for an hour, or until the tripe is perfectly tender. Season with salt and a little paprika, add a cup of hot cream thickened with flour to the sauce, and serve very hot. AUGUST 30TH ''Salmon, lamb, peas, imiocent young potatoes, a cool salad, sliced cucumber, a tender duckling — all there." — Charles Dickens ("Mwtin Chuzde- wit"). SLICED cucumbers may be enjoyed all winter by preparing them when they are fresh after this recipe: Take two dozen large cucumbers and six small onions, pared and sliced very thin ; place them in layers in a large jar, sprin- kle salt on each layer. After standing six hours, drain thoroughly and cover with a dressing made of one cupful of olive oil, one quart of vinegar, one-half cupful each of white and black mustard seed and two tablespoonfuls of celery seed. Let it stand for twenty-four hours, and if necessary add vinegar enough to cover; put in jars and do not open for three or four months. 153 i AUGUST 31ST ''Where other people would make preserves He turns his fruit into pickles.'' — ^HooD. THE old-fashioned housekeeper frequently turned her fruit into pickles with excellent result. Peaches make on the whole the best sweet pickle, and the following is a good rule: Peel white peaches, and to every pound of fruit allow half a pound of sugar. Place sugar and fruit in a pre- serving kettle and bring to a boil. To three pounds of fruit allow one cup of vinegar and a tablespoonful each of mace, cinnamon, and cloves, tied up in little bags not to discolor the fruit. Pour the spiced vinegar over the fruit and boil fifteen minutes. Remove the fruit, and put it carefully into glass jars. Boil the syrup down until quite thick, pour over the fruit in the jars, and seal. Z53 SEPTEMBER ist ''He . . . beat up yolks of eggs in neat Schied- am and administered it in small doses, followed this up by meat stewed in red wine and water, shredding into both mild febrifugal herbs that did no harm." — Charles Reade ("Tlie Cloister and the Hearth")- AN eegf cocktail is an excellent appetizer and more nourishing than its spirituous prototype. Mix for each cocktail a tablespoonful of lemon juice, a few drops of Tabasco sauce, a tablespoonful of sherry or Ma- deira, and a well-beaten egg. It should be served in a tall glass and eaten with a long-handled spoon. SEPTEMBER 2D ''Nor hears with pain New oysters oy'd, nor sighs for cheerful ale." — ^JOHN Philips. WHEN tfie oysters are new each autumn and a fresh pleasure, the simplest method of prepar- ing them seems best, and to those to whom raw oysters do not appeal an ap- petizing way to serve them is roasted in the shell. They need only be washed clean and laid upon hot coals or in a shallow pan on the top of the range, 154 which should be hot. Lay the deeper shell next the pan ; when they open wide, take off the loosened upper shell — ^be careful not to spill the juice — and lay upon a hot platter, with a small piece of butter on each. Pass pepper, salt, Ta- basco, sliced lemon, and any other fa- vorite sauce. SEPTEMBER 30 "If we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce." — Shakespeare ('"Othello")- SHRED two heads of green lettuce and cook for half an hour in a quart of chicken stock; rub through a colander and return to the fire; stir in two tablespoonfuls of butter rubbed into one of flour, a tablespoonful of chopped boiled onion, and a tablespoonful of minced parsley. In another sauce-pan heat, but do not boil, a cup of milk, sea- soned with salt and pepper, stir in a well- whipped egg. Pour into the tureen and add the lettuce soup. Serve with strips of toast or crisp dinner biscuit. ISS SEPTEMBER 4th "We had delicate cucumbers stuffed with forced meats." — ^Thackeray.