Mary at the Farm and Book of Recipes Compiled during Her Visit Part 66

MARY'S RECIPE FOR PEACH CREAM

Mary made ice cream when peaches were plentiful; she used 1 quart of sweet cream, sweetened to taste (about 2 cups sugar) and 2 quarts of ripe peaches mashed and sweetened before adding to cream. Freeze in ordinary manner. If peaches were not fine flavored, she added a little almond flavoring.

LEMON SHERBET

This is the way Frau Schmidt taught Mary to make this dessert. She used for the purpose 1 quart of water, 5 lemons, 2 tablespoons gelatine, 2 large cups sugar. She soaked the gelatine in about 1 cup of water. She squeezed out the juice of lemons, rejecting seeds and pulp. She allowed a cup of water out of the quart to soak the gelatine. This mixture was put in an ice cream freezer and frozen.

FRAU SCHMIDT'S FROZEN CUSTARD

1-1/2 quarts milk.

2 cups sugar.

5 eggs.

2-1/2 tablespoonfuls of flour.

Scald the milk in a double boiler. Moisten flour (she preferred _flour_ to corn starch for this purpose) with a small quant.i.ty of cold milk, and stir into the scalded milk. Beat together egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy, then add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs and stir all into the boiling milk. Cool thoroughly, flavor with vanilla and freeze as you would ice cream. When partly frozen crushed strawberries or peaches may be added in season. A little more sugar should then he added to the fruit, making a dessert almost equal to ice cream. In Winter one cup of dried currants may be added, also one tablespoonful of sherry wine, if liked.

CARAMEL ICE CREAM

Scald one pint of sweet milk in a double boiler. Stir into it one cup of sugar and one rounded tablespoonful of flour, which had been mixed smoothly with a small quant.i.ty of the milk before scalding. Add two eggs which had been beaten together until light and creamy. At the same time the milk was being scalded, a fry-pan containing one cup of granulated sugar was placed on the range; this should be watched carefully, on account of its liability to scorch. When sugar has melted it will be brown in color and liquid, like mola.s.ses, and should then be thoroughly mixed with the foundation custard. Cook the whole mixture ten minutes and stand aside to cool; when perfectly cold add a pinch of salt, one quart of sweet cream, and freeze in the ordinary manner.

CHERRY SHERBET

Aunt Sarah taught Mary to prepare this cheap and easily made dessert of the various berries and fruits as they ripened. Currants, strawberries, raspberries and cherries were used. They were all delicious and quickly prepared. The ice for freezing was obtained from a near-by creamery. The cherries used for this were not the common, sour pie cherries, so plentiful usually on many "Bucks County Farms,"

but a fine, large, red cherry, not very sour. When about to prepare cherry sherbet, Mary placed over the fire a stew-pan containing 1 quart of boiling water and 1 pound of granulated sugar. Boiled this together 12 minutes. She added 1 tablespoonful of granulated gelatine which had been dissolved in a very little cold water. When the syrup had cooled, she added the juice of half a lemon and 1 quart of pitted cherries, mixed all together. Poured it in the ice cream freezer, packed around well with coa.r.s.e salt and pounded ice. She used 1 part salt to 3 parts ice. She turned the crank slowly at first, allowed it to stand a few minutes, then increased the speed. When the mixture was firm she removed the dasher. She allowed the water to remain with the ice and salt, as the ice-cold water helped to freeze it. She filled in ice and salt around the can in the freezer and on top of the can; covered the top of the freezer with a piece of old carpet and allowed it to stand a couple of hours, when it was ready to serve. Almost any fruit or fruit juice, either fresh or canned, may be made into a delicious dessert by this rule.

One quart of boiling water and 1 pound of sugar boiled together to form a syrup, then add 1 quart of juice or fruit and juice to measure exactly one quart. Mix together according to directions and freeze.

GRAPE SHERBET

Grape sherbet was made in this manner: The grapes were washed, picked from the stems and placed in a stew-pan over the fire. When hot remove from the fire and mash with a potato-masher and strain through a jelly bag, as if preparing to make jelly. Boil together 1 pound of granulated sugar and 1 quart of water, about 12 minutes. While hot add 1 pint of grape juice and 1 teaspoonful of granulated gelatine, which had been dissolved in a very little cold water, to the hot syrup. When the mixture was partly frozen add the stiffly beaten white of 1 egg and 1 tablespoonful of pulverized sugar, beaten together. All were stirred together, covered and stood away until cold. Then placed in a freezer, iced as for ice cream, and frozen in the same manner as for cherry sherbet. The juice of all berries or fruits may be extracted in the same manner as that of grapes.

WINES AND SYRUPS--UNFERMENTED GRAPE JUICE

To 6 pounds of stemmed Concord grapes add 1 quart of water, allow them to simmer on range until grapes have become soft. Strain through a piece of cheese-cloth, being careful to press only the juice through, not the pulp of the grapes. Return the grape juice to the preserving kettle and add 3/4 of a pound of sugar. Allow the juice to just commence to boil, as cooking too long a time spoils the flavor of the juice. Bottle at once, while juice is hot. Bottles must be sterilized and air-tight if you expect grape juice to keep. Cover corks with sealing wax.

VINEGAR MADE FROM STRAWBERRIES

"Aunt Sarah" Landis possessed the very finest flavored vinegar for cooking purposes, and this is the way it was made. She having a very plentiful crop of fine strawberries one season, put 6 quarts of very ripe, mashed strawberries in a five-gallon crock, filled the crock with water, covered the top with cheese-cloth and allowed it to stand in a warm place about one week, when it was strained, poured into jugs and placed in the cellar, where it remained six months, perhaps longer, when it became very sharp and sour, and had very much the appearance of white wine with a particularly fine flavor. This was not used as a beverage, but as a subst.i.tute for cider in cooking.

BOILED CIDER FOR MINCE PIES

In Autumn, when cider was cheap and plentiful on the farm, 3 quarts of cider was boiled down to one, or, in this proportion, for use in mince meat during the Winter. A quant.i.ty prepared in this manner, poured while hot in air-tight jars, will keep indefinitely.

LEMON SYRUP

Boil two cups of granulated sugar and one cup of water together for a few minutes until the sugar is dissolved, then add the juice of six well-scrubbed, medium-sized lemons; let come to a boil and add the grated yellow rind of three of the lemons. Be careful not to use any of the white skin of the lemons, which is bitter. Put in air-tight gla.s.s jars. This quant.i.ty fills one pint jar. A couple tablespoonfuls added to a tumbler partly filled with water and chipped ice makes a delicious and quickly prepared drink on a hot day.

EGG NOGG

Add to the stiffly beaten white of one egg the slightly beaten yolk of egg. Pour into gla.s.s tumbler, fill with cold sweet milk, sweeten with sugar to taste and a little grated nutmeg on top or a tablespoonful of good brandy. This is excellent for a person needing nourishment, and may be easily taken by those not able to take a raw egg in any other form. The egg nogg will be more easily digested if sipped slowly while eating a cracker or slice of crisply toasted bread.

ROSE WINE

Gather one quart of rose leaves, place in a bowl, pour over one quart of boiling water, let stand nine days, then strain, and to each quart of strained liquid add one pound of granulated sugar. Allow to stand until next day, when sugar will be dissolved. Pour into bottles, cork tightly, stand away for six months before using. Aunt Sarah had some which had been keeping two years and it was fine.

DANDELION WINE

Four good quarts of dandelion blossoms, four pounds of sugar, six oranges, five lemons. Wash dandelion blossoms and place them in an earthenware crock. Pour five quarts of boiling water over them and let stand 36 hours. Then strain through a muslin bag, squeezing out all moisture from dandelions. Put the strained juice in a deep stone crock or jug and add to it the grated rind and juice of the six oranges and five lemons. Tie a piece of cheese-cloth over the top of jug and stand it in a warm kitchen about one week, until it begins to ferment. Then stand away from stove in an outer kitchen or cooler place, not in the cellar, for three months. At the end of three months put in bottles.

This is a clear, amber, almost colorless liquid. A pleasant drink of medicinal value. Aunt Sarah always used this recipe for making dandelion wine, but Mary preferred a recipe in which yeast was used, as the wine could be used a short time after making.

DANDELION WINE (MADE WITH YEAST)

Four quarts of dandelion blossoms. Pour over them four quarts of boiling water; let stand 24 hours, strain and add grated rind and juice of two oranges and two lemons, four pounds of granulated sugar and two tablespoonfuls of home-made yeast. Let stand one week, then strain and fill bottles.

GRAPE FRUIT PUNCH

Two cups of grape juice, 4 cups of water, 1-1/2 cups of sugar, juice of 3 lemons and 3 oranges, sliced oranges, bananas and pineapples.

Serve the punch in sherbet gla.s.ses, garnished with Marachino cherries.

A SUBSt.i.tUTE FOR MAPLE SYRUP

A very excellent subst.i.tute for maple syrup to serve on hot griddle cakes is prepared from 2 pounds of either brown or white sugar and 1-3/4 cups of water, in the following manner: Place the stew-pan containing sugar and water on the back part of range, until sugar dissolves, then boil from 10 to 15 minutes, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of honey. Remove from the range and add a few drops of vanilla or "mapleine" flavoring. A tiny pinch of cream of tartar, added when syrup commences to boil, prevents syrup granulating; too large a quant.i.ty of cream of tartar added to the syrup would cause it to have a sour taste.

SALTED ALMONDS OR PEANUTS

Blanch 2 pounds of sh.e.l.led almonds or peanuts (the peanuts, of course, have been well roasted) by pouring 1 quart of boiling water over them.

Allow them to stand a short time. Drain and pour cold water over them, when the skin may be easily removed. Place in a cool oven until dry and crisp. Put a small quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter into a pan. When hot, throw in the nuts and stir for a few minutes, sprinkle a little salt over.

Many young cooks do not know that salted peanuts are almost equally as good as salted almonds and cheaper. Peanuts should always be freshly roasted and crisp.

PEANUT b.u.t.tER