Things Mother Used to Make Part 6

Toast as many slices of bread as desired. b.u.t.ter well and pour over these just enough salted water to soften. Have ready a dish of boiling water. Stir it round and round with a spoon or fork, break the egg and drop into this swirling water. Remove from the water in from four to six minutes, as preferred, and place one on each slice of bread. Serve hot, with a dash of pepper, if liked.

=Plain Omelette=

2 Eggs 2 Teaspoonfuls of Water Pinch of Salt

Beat whites and yolks separately. Put together, salt, and add water.

Pour onto a hot b.u.t.tered frying pan and fry one side until it is puffed up, then turn half over and serve at once.

=Ham Omelette=

Make a plain omelette and add two-thirds of a cupful of chopped boiled ham. Pour into the hot frying pan and cook both sides.

=New England Poached Eggs=

4 Eggs 8 Tablespoonfuls of Milk b.u.t.ter the size of a Walnut 1/2 Teaspoonful of Salt

Break the eggs into a sauce pan with milk, salt and b.u.t.ter. Cook until they thicken, stirring constantly. Remove from fire before it wheys.

Serve hot with a dash of pepper.

=FISH=

=Clam Fritters=

1 Egg 1 Cupful of Milk 1 Cupful of Bread-flour and a Little Salt

Beat the egg and half the milk, adding the flour gradually, to make the batter smooth. Salt, and add the last half-cupful of milk. Put one clam into one teaspoonful of batter and drop into boiling lard. Serve hot.

=Fish b.a.l.l.s=

1 Cupful of Hot Mashed Potatoes 1/2 Cupful of Shredded Cod-fish 2 Teaspoonfuls of Melted b.u.t.ter 2 Tablespoonfuls of Milk

Put the fish into a piece of cheese-cloth, let cold water run over it, and squeeze dry. Mix ingredients all together. Take a little flour in the hand and roll half a tablespoonful of the mixture between the palms, to the size of a small peach. Fry in deep fat.

=To Boil a Lobster=

Have a large kettle on the fire with plenty of boiling water, deep enough to cover the lobster well. Put into this one cupful of salt, if you cannot get the sea-water. When the water is galloping, put in the lobster, head foremost, and keep it under water. Boil from twenty to thirty-five minutes according to size.

=To Dress Lobsters Cold=

Crack the sh.e.l.l of the claws carefully, remove the meat and place on a platter. Turn the lobster on its back, lay a heavy knife on the middle of the tail, all the way up to the body. Give it a gentle blow with a hammer, then with both hands turn back the sh.e.l.l and draw out the tail intact. Twist off the claws from the under side of the body and remove the body from the sh.e.l.l. Open and remove the stomach and sandbags. Open the tail in length, halfway through, on the under side, remove the black vein from the body to the end. Dress with parsley and serve.

=Baked Mackerel=

1 Mackerel 3 Small Slices of Salt Pork Salt to Taste

Split open the mackerel, remove head and insides, wash clean, and lay in a baking-pan on a well b.u.t.tered paper or cheese-cloth, the skin side down. Spread over this slices of salt pork and a little salt. Bake in moderate oven for twenty minutes, or half an hour. This is much nicer than fried mackerel.

=Oysters on Toast=

Toast as many slices of bread as you require. Wipe enough oysters to cover them and season with pepper and salt. Put a little hot water over the bread and place in a very hot oven, until the edges of the oysters curl. Serve hot, with a white sauce.

=Baked Shad=

Make a nice dressing of five or six crackers, according to size of family (bread crumbs will do). Roll fine, or soak until soft in milk (water will do). Season to taste with poultry dressing, salt and add a small piece of b.u.t.ter. Wash the shad and stuff. Have a large sheet of white paper, well b.u.t.tered, or a piece of cheese-cloth. Put into a baking-pan and set in the oven. Bake one hour. Spanish mackerel is fine baked in the same way.

=MEAT DISHES=

=A La Mode Beef=

3 Pounds of Beef 6 Onions 4 or 5 White Turnips Potatoes Salt

Take three pounds of a cheap cut of beef. Wash, put into an iron pan, sprinkle over it salt to taste. Pare six onions, more or less, according to size of family, and prepare four or five small white turnips sliced thin. Lay these around the meat, and pour over all a quart of cold water. Put into the oven and bake three hours. Pare potatoes enough for the family, putting them in an hour and a half before serving.

This is a most delicious way to cook beef. As the water cooks away, add more. Thicken the gravy, with flour wet with water, as you would with any roast meat.

=Beefsteak Pie=

2 Pounds of Beef (any cheap cut will do) 1 Onion 1 Tablespoonful of Salt