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

VERY good and quickly made hot cakes are prepared by beating one egg very light, stirring in a cupful of flour, half a cupful of milk and two tablespoonfuls of sugar, beating them briskly till light and then stirring in quickly a good teaspoonful of bakingpowder. Bake in muffin tins for twenty minutes in a quick oven. This will be enough for half a dozen muffins. a8 FEBRUARY iith "What had ye till your dinner?" "I forget." "A choep likely?" "I think it was."— Charles Reade ("Peg Woffington"). WHEN the broiler is unavailable and the chafing-dish or frying-pan must serve your need for cooking chops, you will feel no regrets if you heat the pan very hot, then put in a lump of butter, about a tablespoonful for four chops; when the butter is melted add the chops, nicely trimmed; cover and cook two minutes, turn them, season with salt and butter, and when they are a light golden brown they are done to perfection. This will be in four or five minutes. FEBRUARY I2th "And salmon — perhaps salmon is next to the flounder. " — — Thackeray. A SALMON-LOAF is a "dressy" dish to set before a lunch party, and may be made the preceding day. Pick cold salmon into flakes, mix two cupfuls with the yolks of two hardboiled eggs, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, two of lemon- juice, and one of capers. Season highly. Pour a cupful of veal or chicken stock (heated) over half a box of gelatine; stir in the fish. Decorate a buttered mould with slices of egg and olives, pour in the mixture and let it get perfectly cold. Garnish with lettuce-leaves. FEBRUARY 13TH "Moore eats like three men; they are always making sago or tapioca or something good for him." — Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). TO make a delicious sago-cream soak a cupful of sago in two cups of cold water till it takes up all the water. Scald a quart of milk and stir the sago into it. Remove from the fire to do it. When almost cold beat it all up from the bottom, stir in two tablespoonfuls of sugar creamed with one of butter and the yolks of five eggs. When well mixed add the whipped whites of the eggs. Pour into small moulds, bake and eat cold with soft custard or wine sauce. FEBRUARY 14TH "The Last of Lent was spunging upon Shrovetide*s pancakes." — Charles Lamb. TO make the regular Shrovetide pancakes soak in a quart of milk two cupfuls of dry bread-crumbs, free from crusts; when the crumbs are thoroughly moistened beat in three eggs whipped light, a tablespoonful of melted butter, a teaspoonful of salt, and a tablespoonful of sugar. When well mixed stir in half a cupful of twice-sifted flour in which is mixed half a teaspoonful of baking-powder. Cook on a hot, lightly greased griddle and serve with butter and sugar and ground cinnamon. FEBRUARY isth "First catch your clams; along the ebbing edges Of saline coves you'll find the precious wedges.'* — W. A. Crofful. FOR a delicate but very good clamchowder take one pint of clamjuice, forty clams chopped very fine, eight potatoes, peeled, parboiled, and chopped into coarse pieces; two small onions, sliced ; one quart of tomatoes; cook all together for three hours, then add half a cup of butter and a cup of flour rubbed together, and a quart of milk. Cook half an hour longer. The addition of a bunch of celery, chopped fine, improves the flavor. This makes a large quantity, and half the amounts given will be enough for eight persons. FEBRUARY i6th *'I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit." — ^Shakespeare ("Twelfth Night").