Cooking and castle-building

"Yes," I replied, "the difference between an ordinary and a perfect fish-ball, is as marked and appreciable as between any other properly and improperly prepared article of food. To make perfect fish-balls requires care and attention. Salt fish should be soaked for several hours in cold water, then boiled slowly until very tender. The potatoes should be well boiled, dry, and mealy. Take measure for measure of fish picked clean from skin and bones, and potatoes. Add a fresh egg, a small piece of butter, Cayenne pepper, and a little sweet milk. Work these ingredients so perfectly together that the fish and potato are as indivisible as are two drops of water run together. In this thorough mixing consists the chief art of making fish-balls. Eoll this mixture into round balls between the hands, dust with flour, and fry in boiling lard. If the balls crack and come to pieces in the lard, it is because the lard is not hot enough or the balls are too soft. These round balls, fried in a quantity of boiling lard, will be found far superior, for most tastes, to flat cakes made of the same fish and fried in a small amount of grease. When nicely brown, the ball should be lifted from the lard in a wire skimmer, dried on a napkin, and served hot. When boiled fish, with drawn butter, has been served for dinner, what is left can be made into balls, and the gravy used instead of butter and milk. Delicious balls can also be made of fresh fish, either baked or boiled, and a proportion of light bread soaked in sweet milk may be used in place of potato." "Can't you also suggest," asked Emeline, " some improvement in hashes and warmed-up meats and potatoes ? They are so often found upon breakfast-tables, in both city and country, that every one should be acquainted with the best manner of preparing them." "All cold fresh meats, when properly hashed and served, make nice, palatable breakfast-dishes. In preparing them, great care should be taken to throw out all gristle, tough skin, and dry, chippy portions. The meat should then be hashed fine, and mixed either with hashed potato or bread crumbed and soaked in sweet milk. Ordinary hash, made of equal proportions of corned beef and potato, can be much improved and made really delicious, by adding bread-crumbs soaked in milk, or sweet milk or cream without the crumbs, and working it well with the hand, then forming it into rolls, and browning in the oven. Or, it ma}' be placed in a well-buttered bread-pan of medium size, and put in a hot oven until it is brown on the bottom and sides, and perfectly heated. When ready to serve, turn it from the pan on a heated platter. Yery nice hashed meatballs or cakes are made by mixing with hashed meat, bread crumbed and soaked in sweet milk, and a fresh egg. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and sweet herbs, if liked. If the meat is mostly lean, sweet cream or a little butter must be added. Make into round cakes, and fry quickly in a small quantity of hot fat. When brown on both sides, serve hot. For frying all these meat-and-potato cakes, the fat fried out of salt pork is much nicer than fresh lard.