Household cookery

Method, — Put shrimps in a jar, with a little butter, mace, cayenne, and salt to taste. Cover with a paper. Place jar in a pan of boiling water from 20 to 30 minutes ; then press into small pots. Allow to cool ; cover with clarified butter. To Clarify Butter, — Put butter in a pan and boil 2 or 3 minutes. Take off the scum or salt which rises to the top. Use when nearly set. Potted Crab I fresh crab. Cayenne. Salt. Powdered mace. Method, — Pick the meat from the shell and claws of the crab, chop very finely and pound in a mortar with the salt, cayenne, and mace. Press into small jars, cover with butter, put in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. When cold, cover with clarified butter, and allow to set. Dressed Crab I large crab. i table-spoonful salad oil or Salt and pepper. cream. I tea-spoonful made mustard. i tabie-spoonful vinegar. Method, — Remove the meat from the shell, clean it out well ; mix the meat of the crab with the other ingredients. Place the mixture in the shell. Garnish with the claws and a little parsley and lemon. BREAD Hints on making Bread Home-made bread is more nourishing, and the cost much less, than that of baker's bread. Bread made from the whole of the wheat grain, and called brown bread, is the best, as it contains all the nourishing properties of the grain. " Seconds," or household flour, which has the husks or bran removed, is the best kind of flour for white bread. Yeast used for the raising of bread should be quite fresh. To test — crumble the yeast in a basin ; work into it with a teaspoon a Httle moist sugar. If good, it will become liquid directly. Lukewarm water is used for making bread, from about 88"^ to 92^ Fahr. The temperature of water for mixing is from 80"^ to 90° Fahr. This can be obtained by mixing one-third boiling water to two-thirds cold. Proportion of yeast for making bread — 1 oz. yeast to 3 or 5 lbs. flour, li » 7 „ 10 2 ,,12 „ 14 H „ 14 » 18 White Bread 3 lbs. flour. 3 small tea-spoonfuls salt. I oz. yeast. i tea-spoonful sugar. About 1^ pint lukewarm water. Method, — Mix the yeast with i tea-spoonful of sugar, i teaspoonful of flour, and a little lukewarm water. Set in a warm place to rise. (It should rise as high again, and have a white froth on the top.) Mix flour and salt in a bowl (in winter it is well to warm the flour), make a hole in centre, pour in yeast ; add a little water, and mix with a wooden spoon until nearly all the flour is taken up. Knead lightly, but firmly, until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and does not stick to the fingers. Turn the smooth side uppermost, mark twice across with a knife, cover with a cloth, and set in a warm place to rise for 2 hours. Form into loaves, put into greased tins, cover^ and set to rise again. Bake in a hot oven, A 2-lb. loaf will take from f to I hour to bake. About \\ pint lukewarm water.