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

"Tea and coffee were there; a jug of water for Hewson." — Arthur Hugh Clough ("The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich"). A CAFE frappe, very simple to prepare and satisfactory to partake of, is made by adding to one quart of black coffee one pint of whipped and sweetened cream. Turn into a freezer, pack in salt and ice, and allow it to stand for an hour and a half. Serve in tall glasses. DECEMBER 15TH '* On one side of the table two green sauce-tureens, . . . were setting next to each other in a green dish; and on the other was a curried rabbit, in a brown suit, turned up with lemon." — Charles Dickens ("Sketches by Boz"). SKIN the rabbit, clean it and divide in convenient pieces. Fry a slice of onion in butter ; when brown put into the pan the pieces of rabbit, salted, peppered, and dredged with flour. Cook quickly for a few minutes, turning over often so that all parts may be seared. Cover with cold water, add parsley, sage, or any other herb whose flavor is liked, pepper and salt. When cooked tender take from the pan and keep hot while a gravy is made by adding butter, flour, catsup, and a dessertspoonful of curry powder. Mushrooms are an improvement also. At the end add a glass of claret. Pour over the meat. DECEMBER i6th "The beans and bacon set before 'em." — Pope. TO prepare " Isle of Shoals Baked Beans " soak over night one quart of white beans in barely enough water to cover them ; boil in same water ; add to the water two tablespoonfuls of molasses. Put the beans in a deep earthen pot, place in the centre a generous piece of salt pork, with the rind, cut in strips, above the beans. Bake in a moderate heat for twenty-four hours. Two hours before serving give them a brisk heat. Serve hot in the pot. At the last baking add a little water from time to time if they seem too dry. / / DECEMBER 17TH "A little piece of salmon cut out of the fish's centre."— Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too Late To Mend"). WASH and dry a slice of smoked salmon and broil slowly for twelve or fifteen minutes. Place it on a hot dish and spread over it a sauce made of a quarter of a cup of butter into which has been stirred half a teaspoonful of salt, a little paprika, and one tablespoonful each of chopped parsley and lemon juice. DECEMBER i8th *They call for dates and quinces in the pastry." — Shakespeare ("Romeo and Juliet"). TO make a date pudding soak in a cupful of milk a cupful of bread crumbs free from crusts ; beat in two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of suet, chopped very fine ; half a cupful of sugar, a saltspoonful each of salt and cinnamon, and a little nutmeg. Chop a cupful of dates and figs, dredge with a heaping tablespoonful of sifted flour and stir into the pudding. Beat hard for two or three minutes, pour into a well-buttered mould and steam for three hours. Eat with a liard. sauce, well flavored with nutmeg and brandy or sherry. DECEMBER 19TH "Venison, the red and the roe, with mutton; and grouse succeeding." — Arthur Hugh Clough ^The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich"). CLEAN, wipe, and lard the legs and breast of grouse. Rub well with butter, dredge with flour, season with salt, and cook in a quick oven for thirty minutes if liked well done; twenty or less will be enough if liked rare. DECEMBER 20TH "I had rather have a handful or two of dried peas." — Shakespeare ("Midsummer Night's Dream"). THE best use to put dried or split peas to is to make soup of them. Soak a cupful over night ; put on to boil in three pints of fresh water, adding more as it boils away, so as to keep about three pints in the kettle. Stir often to keep from sticking to the sides of the kettle. When thoroughly soft put through a strainer and return to the fire. Stock, milk, or cream may be added to make it the consistency preferred. Add to the strained soup while boiling a ta-