To accomplish this, one more requisite is necessary, which we had almost forgotten, but we will place it at the end of these remarks, because it is the most essen- tial of all. The dining-room must be well ventilated, the guests must have not only meats and drinks, but air. The company present, the servants, the lights, consume a vast amount of oxygen, and the atmo- sphere is vitiated by the strong odour of the dishes and sauces as they are brought into the room. Many a time have we seen a promising party die off into dul- ness and silence under the influence of these dele- terious gases, and, if the spirit of the party is to be kept alive, fresh air is more indispensable to it than champagne. THE LARDER, 13 CHAPTER III. FILLING THE LARDER. To provision the larder is of course the first duty of the housewife, and it requires foresight and judgment. In towns the wants of a family may be easily supplied from the respective tradesmen ; in the country the larder is more dependent on circumstances, and some of the following remarks are only applicable to country life. It must be borne in mind that there are but five kinds of butcher's meat, and that these varieties are more or less in season at different periods of the year. It is important to ascertain how often beef is killed, and to give such orders as will secure the joint or steak being hung till tender, and the stock meat being sent before the gravy is dried up by hanging. The silver side and round which are to be salted must hang a shorter time than the joints intended for roasting, but they must be hung a certain time. Mutton is killed more frequently than beef, and in giving orders for mutton the attention must be directed to saddles, legs, &c., being hung long enough to be tender, and to necks of mutton being supplied when newly killed, so that the scrag ends may be used at once for the stock pot. 14 BUTCHER'S MEAT. Veal is killed frequently in the spring, barely once a week at some seasons of the year. Sweet- breads and particular joints niust be ordered long in advance. Lamb when in season can be substituted for mut- ton : it is always higher in price. Pork is not always popular either with masters or servants. A roast loin of pork with apple sauce, or a boiled leg — slightly salted — with pease-pudding, are, however, excellent dishes when the pork is of good quality. Small delicate pork cutlets, with a puree of tomato, make a variety as an entree. The rule as to season should be the same as with oysters : fresh pork is in season in those months which have an R in them. A fillet of veal, stuffed and well roasted, a loin, with toast served under and the kidney as its garnish, a fricandeau carefully braised, will find favour in some houses ; and for entrees, such as creme de volaille, quenelles, grenadins, scallops, for white stock, savoury and sweet jelly, veal is a necessity.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To accomplish this, one more requisite is necessary, which we had almost forgotten, but we will place it at the end of these remarks, because it is the most essential of all. The dining-room must be well ventilated, the guests must have not only meats and drinks, but air. The company present, the servants, the lights, consume a vast amount of oxygen, and the atmosphere is vitiated by the strong odour of the dishes and sauces as they are brought into the room. Many a time have we seen a promising party die off into dulness and silence under the influence of these deleterious gases, and, if the spirit of the party is to be kept alive, fresh air is more indispensable to it than champagne. THE LARDER, 13 CHAPTER III. FILLING THE LARDER. To provision the larder is of course the first duty of the housewife, and it requires foresight and judgment. In towns the wants of a family may be easily supplied from the respective tradesmen ; in the country the larder is more dependent on circumstances, and some of the following remarks are only applicable to country life. It must be borne in mind that there are but five kinds of butcher's meat, and that these varieties are more or less in season at different periods of the year. It is important to ascertain how often beef is killed, and to give such orders as will secure the joint or steak being hung till tender, and the stock meat being sent before the gravy is dried up by hanging. The silver side and round which are to be salted must hang a shorter time than the joints intended for roasting, but they must be hung a certain time. Mutton is killed more frequently than beef, and in giving orders for mutton the attention must be directed to saddles, legs, &c., being hung long enough to be tender, and to necks of mutton being supplied when newly killed, so that the scrag ends may be used at once for the stock pot. 14 BUTCHER'S MEAT. Veal is killed frequently in the spring, barely once a week at some seasons of the year. Sweetbreads and particular joints niust be ordered long in advance. Lamb when in season can be substituted for mutton : it is always higher in price. Pork is not always popular either with masters or servants. A roast loin of pork with apple sauce, or a boiled leg — slightly salted — with pease-pudding, are, however, excellent dishes when the pork is of good quality. Small delicate pork cutlets, with a puree of tomato, make a variety as an entree. The rule as to season should be the same as with oysters : fresh pork is in season in those months which have an R in them. A fillet of veal, stuffed and well roasted, a loin, with toast served under and the kidney as its garnish, a fricandeau carefully braised, will find favour in some houses ; and for entrees, such as creme de volaille, quenelles, grenadins, scallops, for white stock, savoury and sweet jelly, veal is a necessity.

Cookery and housekeeping