Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

* Hop-and-Potato Yeast. With the following-named materials three quarts of yeast may be made. In a small family one-third of this quantity will be enough to make at one time, as it is best not to use the yeast when it is very old. Use six large potatoes, three quarts of boiling water, one cupful of hops, measured lightly, two table-spoonfuls of salt, two of sugar, and one cupful of yeast. Pare the potatoes, and put them into a stew-pan with the hops, tied loosely in a bag of thin muslin, and the boiling water. Cook for half an hour ; then remove the potatoes with a skimmer, and mash them in a large bowl till they are fine and light. Pour upon them the water in which they were boiled, and add the sugar and salt. Rub this mixture through a sieve, and let it stand until it is about blood-warm (98°) ; then stir in the yeast, and cover the dish closely. Set in a warm place to rise ; in a temperature of 75° it will rise in about six hours. When it has risen sufficiently, the surface will be covered with bubbles. It is, unlike many kinds of yeast, too thin a mixture to foam. Put into air-tight glass jars, and set in a cool place. It will keep for three weeks. The potatoes and hops used in making this yeast should be boiled in a porcelain-lined kettle or one of granite-ware, because a tin or iron kettle would make the yeast turn dark. * Water Bread. This should be made in the morning, and these materials are enough for four small loaves : one quart of water, three quarts and three-fourths of flour, one tablespoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of sugar, and half a cupful of yeast. Mix the yeast with one pint of water, at blood heat and stir into this mixture a pint and a half of flour. Beat thoroughly ; and after covering, set in a warm place where it will rise. At the end of two hours it should be a sponge. When it is well risen, add the remainder of the water as well as the salt and sugar. Beat well, and then beat in the remainder of the flour, — reserving, however, a cupful for the purpose of kneading. Sprinkle a moulding-board with a part of this cupful, and, turning out the dough upon the board, knead it from twenty minutes to half an hour. Return it to the bowl, and let it rise until a light sponge is formed, — say for about two hours ; then shape it into loaves, put it into pans, and let it rise until the loaves are double their original size. About an hour will be required for this rising. Set the pans into a moderate oven, and bake for an hour. If one prefer, all the ingredients may be put together at once. In that case the dough should be kneaded for half an hour, and then allowed to rise over night. In the morning shape into loaves, and let it rise again ; finally baking as already directed. It makes the bread a little richer to work two tablespoonfuls of butter into the dough ; or a pint of milk and a pint of water may be used instead of a full quart of water. If compressed yeast be used, half of a two-cent cake, dissolved in one-third of a cupful of water, will be equal to half a cupful of liquid yeast. * Potato Bread. For four large or six medium- sized loaves use one quart of boiling water, three large potatoes, one-third of a cupful of yeast or one-third of a cake of compressed