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

STONE one pound of raisins and add to them one-half gill of brandy, the grated rind of an orange and a lemon, one ounce each of candied lemon and orange peel and two of citron; one pound of clean currants, a quarter of a pound of almonds, blanched and pounded to a paste ; a pound of suet, chopped fine and rubbed with four tablespoonfuls of flour ; one teaspoonf ul of salt, a nutmeg, and one pound of fresh bread crumbs. Mix well and add a gill of sherry. Cover closely and stand in a cool place for a day. Just before boiling add eight eggs, well beaten, and enough cream to moisten, not enough to make soggy. Stir hard and pour into buttered moulds which have been dusted with flour ; press pudding well into the mould to within two inches of the top. Put buttered paper on top, cover closely, and steam ten hours. It should be kept at least a month before using and steamed two more hours before serving. Do not open mould until ready to serve, when brandy should be poured over the pudding and lighted. Brandy sauce or rum sauce should be the accompaniment. DECEMBER 26th ''The poor little partridge was soon a heap of bones — sl very little heap." — Thackeray ("Memorials of Gormandising"). CUT the meat from the breast of a partridge, put the bone, together with the wings and legs, into a pan and cover with water. Add one small onion, a stalk of celery, a bit of whole mace, and a little salt and cayenne pepper, and boil until the liquor is reduced to a pint, then strain. Fry the breast meat in hot butter; after the meat is taken out of the frying pan add to the butter two tablespoonfuls of flour. Rub smooth; pour in the broth from the bones, boil until of a creamy consistency, pour over the meat and serve. DECEMBER 27TH "And as for the turkey and celery sauce, you should have seen how our host dispensed it!" — Thackeray ("Memorials of Gormandising"). CELERY sauce gives to boiled turkey a delightful flavor. To prepare it heat in a saucepan a tablespoonful of butter, and as it melts slowly add a heaping tablespoonful of flour, stirring constantly. When thoroughly blended, pour in a pint of milk and keep steadily stirring until the sauce is smooth and thick ; season with a saltspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper and the juice of half a lemon; stir in a cupful of chopped stewed celery, allow it to boil up once, and serve. DECEMBER 28th "A cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying Tyber in it" — Shakespeare ("Coriolanus"). IN Roman days they may have served their wine hot, without a drop of water, but for a century or more the English rule for "mulled wine" calls for some "allaying" fluid. A large cupful of water should be boiled with a piece or two of stick-cinnamon and some grated nutmeg; take out the cinnamon, pour in .a pint of port or sherry, add sugar to your taste, heat up once again, and it is ready. DECEMBER 29TH "Pray does anybody here hate cheese? I woulc be glad of a bit." — Swift. A DISH which few men will hate is made by adding to one-quarter of a Camembert cheese a piece of butter the size of a large horse-chestnut and a dash of paprika. Mix well with a pliable knife on a plate which has been rubbed with a clove of garlic. Remove the rind from the cheese before mixing with the butter. DECEMBER 30TH "Immense reduction in eggs — only one shilling each! 1 1" — Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too Late To Mend")- AT the price of a shilling apiece one may be sure eggs will be used singly, not in battalions, and the way to make the most of one would perhaps be to convert it into an eggnog. Beat the egg in a glass till very light with a tiny pinch of salt ; when light add two teaspoonfuls of sugar and a glass of sherry, grating a little nutmeg on top. A very good temperance eggnog is made by adding the juice of a lemon in place of the sherry.