Virginia Cookery-book

One peck of tomatoes, half a dozen onions chopped fine, two table-spoonfuls of whole black pepper, one tablespoonful of allspice, one table-spoonful of cloves, two of celery-seed, two of ground mustard, four of salt, or more, if that is not enough to your taste; half a pound of brown sugar. Measure the spices whole, but pound them all up fine afterward, the tomatoes to be strained clear of skin and seed, and the onions to be chopped as fine as possible. Tomato Catsup, No. 3. One gallon of tomato juice, two pounds of sugar, seven table-spoonfuls of salt, four table-spoonfuls of black pepper, half a table-spoonful of allspice, three table-spoonfuls of mustard, half a pod of red pepper, and a little horseradish. Boil well, and just before taking off the fire add one quart of good vinegar. A Nice Store Sauce. Take one gallon of ripe tomatoes, wash, and simmer them in three quarts of water; boil it half away, and strain through a sieve; when all is drained add two table-spoon- fuls of ginger, one of mace, two of black pepper, two of salt, one of cloves, one of Cayenne pepper ; let these pulverized spices simmer in the juice until it is reduced to one quart, pour in half a pint of best vinegar, then pour the whole through a hair-sieve. Bottle in half -pint bottles, cork tightly, and seal. Keep in a cool place. Tomato Sauce. Peel tomatoes and press through a colander. To every gallon of juice add two pounds of sugar, a quarter of a pound of salt, four onions chopped fine, two pods of red pepper, or one table-spoonful of Cayenne, two ounces of ground mustard, and half a teacupful of celery-seed. If you do not like a sweet sauce, omit the sugar or a portion of it. Just as the recipe is given it has been found a good appetizer eaten with beef or other meat in the spring, that most trying of all seasons to a house-keeper. Oyster Sauce. Put fifty oysters, with a small quantity of their liquor, in a saucepan ; stew them very slowly ; add four ounces of good butter rolled in flour, four blades of mace broken up, and half a pint of sweet cream ; beat up the yolk of one egg, and add for thickening just as the sauce is about to boil ; stir one way until everything is well mixed. Do not begin to prepare this sauce until about twenty minutes before it is to be served, as it is very apt to curdle if kept a moment too long upon the fire. Cucumber Sauce. Chop up fine several cucumbers (the full, ripe yellow ones answer perfectly), sprinkle them well with salt, and let them stand thus for several hours ; then with the hand press f rotn them all the salt brine. To every quart of cu- cumbers thus prepared add four ounces of white mustardseed, four ounces of black mustard-seed, and two pods of red pepper of the ordinary size. If you can procure them, though, use a dozen tiny pods of red pepper, such as can be procured in some city markets. Put in air-tight glass jars, and cover with vinegar ; mix well together, and see that the covers are tight, and the sauce is made. Although fit for use immediately it will keep a year. Bay Sauce. Take one quart of strong vinegar, add four spoonfuls of mustard-seed (white and black), four of horseradish scraped, two onion bulbs, one pod of red pepper, and a little salt ; steep cold, and it will be fit for use in two weeks. Bottle, and substitute it for catsup with fish or stewed meat. Gooseberry Catsup. Ten pounds of fruit gathered just before ripening, five pounds of sugar, one quart of vinegar, two table-spoonfuls each of ground black pepper, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Boil the fruit in vinegar until reduced to a pulp, then add sugar and the other seasoning. Walnut Catsup, No. 1.