MACARONI PUDDING. Simmer in a pint of milk, an ounce or two of the pipe sort of macaroni, and a bit of lemon and cinnamon. When quite tender, put it into a dish with milk, two or three eggs, but only one white. Add some sugar, nutmeg, a spoonful of peach water, and the same of raisin wine. Bake with a paste round the edges. A layer of orange marmalade, or raspberry jam, in a macaroni pudding, is a great improvement. In this case omit the almond water, or ratifia, which would otherwise be wanted to give it a flavour.

MACARONI SOUP. Boil a pound of the best macaroni in a quart of good stock, till it is quite tender. Then take out half, and put it into another stewpot. Add some more stock to the remainder, and boil it till all the macaroni will pulp through a fine sieve. Then add together the two liquors, a pint or more of boiling cream, the macaroni that was first taken out, and half a pound of grated parmesan cheese. Make it hot, but do not let it boil. Serve it with the crust of a French roll, cut into the size of a shilling.

MACAROONS. Blanch four ounces of almonds, and pound them with four spoonfuls of orange water. Whisk the whites of four eggs to a froth, mix it with the almonds, and a pound of sifted sugar, till reduced to a paste. Lay a sheet of wafer paper on a tin, and put on the paste in little cakes, the shape of macaroons.

MACKAREL. Their season is generally May, June, and July; but may sometimes be had at an earlier period. When green gooseberries are ready, their appearance may at all times be expected. They are so tender a fish that they carry and keep worse than any other: choose those that are firm and bright, and sweet scented. After gutting and cleaning, boil them gently, and serve with butter and fennel, or gooseberry sauce. To broil them, split and sprinkle with herbs, pepper and salt; or stuff with the same, adding crumbs and chopped fennel.

MAGNUM BONUM PLUMS. Though very indifferent when eaten raw, this fruit makes an excellent sweetmeat, or is fine in the form of tarts. Prick them with a needle to prevent bursting, simmer them very gently in a thin syrup, put them in a china bowl, and when cold pour the syrup over. Let them lie three days, then make a syrup of three pounds of sugar to five pounds of fruit, with no more water than hangs to large lumps of the sugar dipped quickly, and instantly brought out. Boil the plums in this fresh syrup, after draining the first from them. Do them very gently till they are clear, and the syrup adheres to them. Put them one by one into small pots, and pour the liquor over. Reserve a little syrup in the pan for those intended to be dried, warm up the fruit in it, drain them out, and put them on plates to dry in a cool oven. These plums are apt to ferment, if not boiled in two syrups; the former will sweeten pies, but will have too much acid to keep. A part may be reserved, with the addition of a little sugar, to do those that are dry, for they will not require to be so sweet as if kept wet, and will eat very nicely if boiled like the rest. One parcel may be done after another, and save much sugar, but care must be taken not to break the fruit.

MAHOGANY. To give a fine colour to mahogany, let the furniture be washed perfectly clean with vinegar, having first taken out any ink stains there may be, with spirits of salt, taking the greatest care to touch the stained part very slightly, and then the spirits must be instantly washed off. Use the following liquid. Put into a pint of cold-drawn linseed oil, four pennyworth of alkanet root, and two pennyworth of rose pink. Let it remain all night in an earthen vessel, then stirring it well, rub some of it all over the mahogany with a linen rag; and when it has lain some time, rub it bright with linen cloths. Dining tables should be covered with mat, oil cloth, or baize, to prevent staining; and should be instantly rubbed when the dishes are removed, while the board is still warm.

MAIDS. This kind of fish, as well as skate, requires to be hung up a day before it is dressed, to prevent its eating tough. Maids may either be broiled or fried; or if a tolerable size, the middle part may be boiled, and the fins fried. They should be dipped in egg, and covered with crumbs.MALT. This article varies very much in value, according to the quality of the barley, and the mode of manufacture. When good it is full of flour, and in biting a grain asunder it will easily separate; the shell will appear thin, and well filled up with flour. If it bite hard and steely, the malt is bad. The difference of pale and brown malt arises merely from the different degrees of heat employed in the drying: the main object is the quantity of flour. If the barley was light and thin, whether from unripeness, blight, or any other cause, it will not malt so well; but instead of sending out its roots in due time, a part of it will still be barley. This will appear by putting a handful of unground malt in cold water, and stirring it about till every grain is wetted; the good will swim, and the unmalted barley sink to the bottom. But if the barley be well malted, there is still a variety in the quality: for a bushel of malt from fine, plump, heavy barley, will be better than the same quantity from thin and light barley. Weight therefore here is the criterion of quality; and a bushel of malt weighing forty-five pounds is cheaper than any other at almost any price, supposing it to be free from unmalted barley, for the barley itself is heavier than the malt. The practice of mixing barley with the malt on a principle of economy, is not to be approved; for though it may add a little to the strength of the wort, it makes the beer flat and insipid, and of course unwholesome.

MARBLE. Chimney pieces, or marble slabs, may be cleaned with muriatic acid, either diluted or in a pure state. If too strong, it will deprive the marble of its polish, but may be restored by using a piece of felt and a little putty powdered, rubbing it on with clean water. Another method is, making a paste of a bullock's gall, a gill of soap lees, half a gill of turpentine, and a little pipe clay. The paste is then applied to the marble, and suffered to remain a day or two. It is afterwards rubbed off, and applied a second or third time, to render the marble perfectly clean, and give it the finest polish.

MARBLE CEMENT. If by any accident, marble or alabaster happen to be broken, it may be strongly cemented together in the following manner. Melt two pounds of bees' wax, and one pound of rosin. Take about the same quantity of marble or other stones that require to be joined, and reduce it to a powder; stir it well together with the melted mixture, and knead the mass in water, till the powder is thoroughly incorporated with the wax and rosin. The parts to be joined must be heated and made quite dry, and the cement applied quite hot. Melted sulphur, laid on fragments of stone previously heated, will make a firm and durable cement. Little deficiencies in stones or corners that have been stripped or broken off, may be supplied with some of the stone powdered and mixed with melted sulphur: but care must be taken to have both parts properly heated.

MARBLE PAPER. For marbling books or paper, dissolve four ounces of gum arabac in two quarts of water, and pour it into a broad vessel. Mix several colours with water in separate shells: with small brushes peculiar to each colour, sprinkle and intermix them on the surface of the gum water, and curl them with a stick so as to form a variety of streaks. The edges of a book pressed close may then be slightly dipped in the colours on the surface of the water, and they will take the impression of the mixture. The edges may then be glazed with the white of an egg, and the colours will remain. A sheet of paper may be marbled in the same way.

MARBLE STAINS. To take stains out of marble, make a tolerably thick mixture of unslaked lime finely powdered, with some strong soap-ley. Spread it instantly over the marble with a painter's brush, and in two month's time wash it off perfectly clean. Prepare a fine thick lather of soft soap, boiled in soft water; dip a brush in it, and scour the marble well with powder. Clear off the soap, and finish with a smooth hard brush till the stains are all removed. After a very good rubbing, the marble will acquire a beautiful polish. If the marble has been injured by iron stains, take an equal quantity of fresh spirits of vitriol and lemon juice. Mix them in a bottle, shake it well, and wet the spots. Rub with a soft linen cloth, and in a few minutes they will disappear.

MARBLE VEAL. The meat is prepared in the same way as potted beef or veal. Then beat up a boiled tongue, or slices of ham, with butter, white pepper, and pounded mace. Put a layer of veal in the pot, then stick in pieces of tongue or ham, fill up the spaces with veal, and pour clarified butter over it.

MARKING INK. Mix two drams of the tincture of galls with one dram of lunar caustic, and for marking of linen, use it with a pen as common ink. The cloth must first be wetted in a strong solution of salt of tartar, and afterwards dried, before any attempt be made to write upon it. A beautiful red ink may also be prepared for this purpose by mixing half an ounce of vermillion, and a dram of the salt of steel, with as much linseed oil as will make it of a proper consistency, either to use with a pen or a hair pencil. Other colours may be made in the same way, by substituting the proper ingredients instead of vermillion.

MANGOES. Cut off the tops of some large green cucumbers, take out the seeds, and wipe them dry. Fill them with mustard-seed, horseradish, sliced onion, ginger, and whole pepper. Sow on the tops, put the mangoes into a jar, cover them with boiling vinegar, and do them the same as any other pickle. Melons are done in the same way.

MARIGOLD WINE. Boil three pounds and a half of lump sugar in a gallon of water, put in a gallon of marigold flowers, gathered dry and picked from the stalks, and then make it as for cowslip wine. If the flowers be gathered only a few at a time, measure them when they are picked, and turn and dry them in the shade. When a sufficient quantity is prepared, put them into a barrel, and pour the sugar and water upon them. Put a little brandy into the bottles, when the wine is drawn off.

MARMALADE. For a cough or cold, take six ounces of Malaga raisins, and beat them to a fine paste, with the same quantity of sugarcandy. Add an ounce of the conserve of roses, twenty-five drops of oil of vitriol, and twenty drops of oil of sulphur. Mix them well together, and take a small tea-spoonful night and morning.

MARROW BONES. Cover the top of them with a floured cloth, boil and serve them with dry toast.

MARSHMALLOW OINTMENT. Take half a pound of marshmallow roots, three ounces of linseed, and three ounces of fenugreek seed; bruise and boil them gently half an hour in a quart of water, and then add two quarts of sweet oil. Boil them together till the water is all evaporated, and strain off the oil. Add a pound of bees' wax, half a pound of yellow rosin, and two ounces of common turpentine. Melt them together over a slow fire, and keep stirring till the ointment is cold.

MASHED PARSNIPS. Boil the roots tender, after they have been wiped clean. Scrape them, and mash them in a stewpan with a little cream, a good piece of butter, pepper and salt.

MASHED POTATOES. Boil the potatoes, peel them, and reduce them to paste. Add a quarter of a pint of milk to two pounds weight, a little salt, and two ounces of butter, and stir it all well together over the fire. They may either be served up in this state, or in scallops, or put on the dish in a form, and the top browned with a salamander.

MATTRASSES. Cushions, mattrasses, and bed clothes stuffed with wool, are particularly liable to be impregnated with what is offensive and injurious, from persons who have experienced putrid and inflammatory fevers, and cannot therefore be too carefully cleaned, carded, and washed. It would also be proper frequently to fumigate them with vinegar or muriatic gas. If these articles be infested with insects, dissolve a pound and a half of alum, and as much cream of tartar, in three pints of boiling water. Mix this solution in three gallons of cold water, immerse the wool in it for several days, and then let it be washed and dried. This operation will prevent the insects from attacking it in future.

MEAD. Dissolve thirty pounds of honey in thirteen gallons of water; boil and skim it well. Then add of rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and sweetbriar, about a handful altogether. Boil the whole for an hour, and put it into a tub, with two or three handfuls of ground malt. Stir it till it is about blood warm, then strain it through a cloth, and return it into the tub. Cut a toast, spread it over with good ale yeast, and put it into the tub. When the liquor has sufficiently fermented, put it into a cask. Take an ounce and a half each of cloves, mace, and nutmegs, and an ounce of sliced ginger. Bruise the spices; tie them up in a cloth, and hang it in the vessel, which must be stopped up close for use.—Another way. Put four or five pounds of honey into a gallon of boiling water, and let it continue to boil an hour and a half. Skim it quite clean, put in the rinds of three or four lemons, and two ounces of hops sewed up in a bag. When cold, put the liquor into a cask, stop it up close, and let it stand eight or nine months.

MEASLES. In general, all that is needful in the treatment of this complaint is to keep the body open by means of tamarinds, manna, or other gentle laxatives; and to supply the patient frequently with barley water, or linseed tea sweetened with honey. Bathe the feet in warm water; and if there be a disposition to vomit, it ought to be promoted by drinking a little camomile tea. If the disorder appear to strike inward, the danger may be averted by applying blisters to the arms and legs, and briskly rubbing the whole body with warm flannels.

MEAT. In all sorts of provisions, the best of the kind goes the farthest; it cuts out with most advantage, and affords most nourishment. Round of beef, fillet of veal, and leg of mutton, are joints that bear a higher price; but as they have more solid meat, they deserve the preference. Those joints however which are inferior, may be dressed as palatably; and being cheaper, they should be bought in turn; for when weighed with the prime pieces, it makes the price of these come lower. In loins of meat, the long pipe that runs by the bone should be taken out, as it is apt to taint; as also the kernels of beef. Rumps and edgebones of beef are often bruised by the blows which the drovers give the beasts, and the part that has been struck always taints; these joints therefore when bruised should not be purchased. And as great loss is often sustained by the spoiling of meat, after it is purchased, the best way to prevent this is to examine it well, wipe it every day, and put some pieces of charcoal over it. If meat is brought from a distance in warm weather, the butcher should be desired to cover it close, and bring it early in the morning, to prevent its being fly-blown.—All meat should be washed before it is dressed. If for boiling, the colour will be better for the soaking; but if for roasting, it should afterwards be dried. Particular care must be taken that the pot be well skimmed the moment it boils, otherwise the foulness will be dispersed over the meat. The more soups or broth are skimmed, the better and cleaner they will be. Boiled meat should first be well floured, and then put in while the water is cold. Meat boiled quick is sure to be hard; but care must be taken, that in boiling slow it does not stop, or the meat will be underdone. If the steam be kept in, the water will not be much reduced; but if this be desirable, the cover must be removed. As to the length of time required for roasting and boiling, the size of the joint must direct, as also the strength of the fire, and the nearness of the meat to it. In boiling, attention must be paid to the progress it makes, which should be regular and slow. For every pound of meat, a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes is generally allowed, according as persons choose to have it well or underdone. In preparing a joint for roasting, care must be taken not to run the spit through the best parts of the meat, and that no black stains appear upon it at the time of serving.

MEAT SAUCE. Put to a clean anchovy, a glass of port wine, a little strong broth, a sliced shalot, some nutmeg, and the juice of a Seville orange. Stew them together, and mix it with the gravy that runs from the meat.

MEAT SCREEN. This is a great saver of coals, and should be sufficiently large to guard what is roasting from currents of air. It should be placed on wheels, have a flat top, and not be less than about three feet and a half wide, with shelves in it, about one foot deep. It will then answer all the purposes of a large Dutch oven, a plate warmer, and a hot hearth. Some are made with a door behind, which is convenient; but the great heat to which they are exposed soon shrinks the materials, and the currents of air through the cracks cannot be prevented. Those without a door are therefore best.

MEDLEY PIE. Cut into small pieces some fat pork, or other meat underdone, and season it with salt and pepper. Cover the sides of the dish with common crust, put in a layer of sliced apples with a little sugar, then a layer of meat, and a layer of sliced onions, till the dish is full. Put a thick crust over it, and bake it in a slow oven. Currants or scalded gooseberries may be used instead of apples, and the onions omitted.

MELON FLUMMERY. Put plenty of bitter almonds into some stiff flummery, and make it of a pale green with spinach juice. When it becomes as thick as cream, wet the melon mould, and put the flummery into it. Put a pint of calf's foot jelly into a bason, and let it stand till the next day: then turn out the melon, and lay it in the midst of the bason of jelly. Fill up the bason with jelly beginning to set, and let it stand all night. Turn it out the next day, the same as for fruit in jelly: make a garland of flowers, and place it on the jelly.

MELON MANGOES. There is a particular sort for preserving, which must be carefully distinguished. Cut a square small piece out of one side, and through that take out the seeds, and mix with them mustard-seed and shred garlic. Stuff the melon as full as the space will allow, replace the square piece, and bind it up with fine packthread, boil a good quantity of vinegar, to allow for wasting, with peppercorns, salt, and ginger. Pour the liquor boiling hot over the mangoes four successive days; and on the last day put flour of mustard, and scraped horseradish into the vinegar just as it boils up. Observe that there is plenty of vinegar before it is stopped down, for pickles are soon spoiled if not well covered. Also the greater number of times that boiling vinegar is poured over them, the sooner they will be ready for eating. Mangoes should be pickled soon after they are gathered. Large cucumbers, called green turley, prepared as mangoes, are very excellent, and come sooner to table.

MELTED BUTTER. Though a very essential article for the table, it is seldom well prepared. Mix on a trencher, in the proportion of a tea-spoonful of flour to four ounces of the best butter. Put it into a saucepan, and two or three table-spoonfuls of hot water; boil it quick for a minute, and shake it all the time. Milk used instead of water, requires rather less butter, and looks whiter.

MICE. The poisonous substances generally prepared for the destruction of mice are attended with danger, and the use of them should by all means be avoided. Besides the common traps, baited with cheese, the following remedy will be found both safe and efficacious. Take a few handfuls of wheat flour, or malt meal, and knead it into a dough. Let it grow sour in a warm place, mix with it some fine iron filings, form the mass into small balls, and put them into the holes frequented by the mice. On eating this preparation, they are inevitably killed. Cats, owls, or hedgehogs, would be highly serviceable in places infested with mice. An effectual mousetrap may be made in the following manner. Take a plain four square trencher, and put into the two contrary corners of it a large pin, or piece of knitting needle. Then take two sticks about a yard long, and lay them on the dresser, with a notch cut at each end of the sticks, placing the two pins on the notches, so that one corner of the trencher may lie about an inch on the dresser or shelf that the mice come to. The opposite corner must be baited with some butter and oatmeal plastered on the trencher; and when the mice run towards the butter, it will tip them into a glazed earthen vessel full of water, which should be placed underneath for that purpose. To prevent the trencher from tipping over so as to lose its balance, it may be fastened to the shelf or dresser with a thread and a little sealing wax, to restore it to its proper position. To prevent their devastations in barns, care should be taken to lay beneath the floor a stratum of sharp flints, fragments of glass mixed with sand, or broken cinders. If the floors were raised on piers of brick, about fifteen inches above the ground, so that dogs or cats might have a free passage beneath the building, it would prevent the vermin from harbouring there, and tend greatly to preserve the grain. Field mice are also very destructive in the fields and gardens, burrowing under the ground, and digging up the earth when newly sown. Their habitations may be discovered by the small mounds of earth that are raised near the entrance, or by the passages leading to their nests; and by following these, the vermin may easily be destroyed. To prevent early peas being eaten by the mice, soak the seed a day or two in train oil before it is sown, which will promote its vegetation, and render the peas so obnoxious to the mice, that they will not eat them. The tops of furze, chopped and thrown into the drills, when the peas are sown, will be an effectual preventive. Sea sand strewed thick on the surface of the ground, round the plants liable to be attacked by the mice, will have the same effect.

MILDEW. To remove stains in linen occasioned by mildew, mix some soft soap and powdered starch, half as much salt, and the juice of a lemon. Lay it on the part on both sides with a painter's brush, and let it lie on the grass day and night till the stain disappears.

MILK BUTTER. This article is principally made in Cheshire, where the whole of the milk is churned without being skimmed. In the summer time, immediately after milking, the meal is put to cool in earthen jars till it become sufficiently coagulated, and has acquired a slight degree of acidity, enough to undergo the operation of churning. During the summer, this is usually performed in the course of one or two days. In order to forward the coagulation in the winter, the milk is placed near the fire; but in summer, if it has not been sufficiently cooled before it is added to the former meal, or if it has been kept too close, and be not churned shortly after it has acquired the necessary degree of consistence, a fermentation will ensue; in which case the butter becomes rancid, and the milk does not yield that quantity which it would, if churned in proper time. This also is the case in winter, when the jars have been placed too near the fire, and the milk runs entirely to whey. Milk butter is in other respects made like the common butter.

MILK AND CREAM. In hot weather, when it is difficult to preserve milk from becoming sour, and spoiling the cream, it may be kept perfectly sweet by scalding the new milk very gently, without boiling, and setting it by in the earthen dish or pan that it is done in. This method is pursued in Devonshire, for making of butter, and for eating; and it would answer equally well in small quantities for the use of the tea table. Cream already skimmed may be kept twenty-four hours if scalded, without sugar; and by adding as much pounded lump sugar as shall make it pretty sweet, it will be good two days, by keeping it in a cool place.

MILK PORRIDGE. Make a fine gruel of half grits well boiled, strain it off, add warm or cold milk, and serve with toasted bread.

MILK PUNCH. Pare six oranges and six lemons as thin as possible, and grate them afterwards with sugar to extract the flavour. Steep the peels in a bottle of rum or brandy, stopped close twenty-four hours. Squeeze the fruit on two pounds of sugar, add to it four quarts of water, and one of new milk boiling hot. Stir the rum into the above, and run it through a jelly bag till perfectly clear. Bottle and cork it close immediately.

MILK OF ROSES. Mix an ounce of oil of almonds with a pint of rose water, and then add ten drops of the oil of tartar.

MILK SOUP. Boil a pint of milk with a little salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Lay thin slices of bread in a dish, pour over them a little of the milk, and keep them hot over a stove without burning. When the soup is ready, beat up the yolks of five or six eggs, and add them to the milk. Stir it over the fire till it thickens, take it off before it curdles, and pour it upon the bread in the dish.

MILKING. Cows should be milked three times a day in the summer, if duly fed, and twice in the winter. Great care should be taken to drain the milk completely from the udder; for if any be suffered to remain, the cow will give less every meal, till at length she becomes dry before her proper time, and the next season she will scarcely give a sufficient quantity of milk to pay the expences of her keeping. The first milk drawn from a cow is also thinner, and of an inferior quality to that which is afterwards obtained: and this richness increases progressively, to the very last drop that can be drawn from the udder. If a cow's teats be scratched or wounded, her milk will be foul, and should not be mixed with that of other cows, but given to the pigs. In warm weather, the milk should remain in the pail till nearly cold, before it is strained; but in frosty weather this should be done immediately, and a small quantity of boiling water mixed with it. This will produce plenty of cream, especially in trays of a large surface. As cows are sometimes troublesome to milk, and in danger of contracting bad habits, they always require to be treated with great gentleness, especially when young, or while their teats are tender. In this case the udder ought to be fomented with warm water before milking, and the cow soothed with mild treatment; otherwise she will be apt to become stubborn and unruly, and retain her milk ever after. A cow will never let down her milk freely to the person she dreads or dislikes.

MILLET PUDDING. Wash three spoonfuls of the seed, put it into a dish with a crust round the edge, pour over it as much new milk as will nearly fill the dish, two ounces of butter warmed with it, sugar, shred lemon peel, and a dust of ginger and nutmeg. As you put it in the oven, stir in two beaten eggs, and a spoonful of shred suet.

MINCE PIES. Of scraped beef, free from skin and strings, weigh two pounds, of suet picked and chopped four pounds, and of currants nicely cleaned and perfectly dry, six pounds. Then add three pounds of chopped apples, the peel and juice of two lemons, a pint of sweet wine, a nutmeg, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, the same of mace, and pimento, in the finest powder. Mix the whole well together, press it into a deep pan, and keep it covered in a dry cool place. A little citron, orange, and lemon peel, should be put into each pie when made. The above quantity of mince meat may of course be reduced, in equal proportions, for small families.—Mince pies without meat, are made in the following manner. Pare, core, and mince six pounds of apples; shred three pounds of fresh suet, and stone three pounds of raisins minced. Add to these, a quarter of an ounce each of mace and cinnamon, and eight cloves, all finely powdered. Then three pounds of the finest powder sugar, three quarters of an ounce of salt, the rinds of four and the juice of two lemons, half a pint of port, and half a pint of brandy. Mix well together, and put the ingredients into a deep pan. Prepare four pounds of currants, well washed and dried, and add them when the pies are made, with some candied fruit.

MINCED BEEF. Shred fine the underdone part, with some of the fat. Put it into a small stewpan with some onion, or a very small quantity of shalot, a little water, pepper and salt. Boil it till the onion is quite soft; then put some of the gravy of the meat to it, and the mince, but do not let it boil. Prepare a small hot dish with sippets of bread, mix a large spoonful of vinegar with the mince, and pour it into the dish. If shalot vinegar is used, the raw onion and shalot may be dispensed with.

MINCED COLLOPS. Chop and mince some beef very small, and season it with pepper and salt. Put it, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter. When to be used, put the clarified butter into a fryingpan, and fry some sliced onions. Add a little water to it, put in the minced meat, and it will be done in a few minutes. This is a favourite Scotch dish, and few families are without it. It keeps well, and is always ready for an extra dish.

MINCED VEAL. Cut some cold veal as fine as possible, but do not chop it. Put to it a very little lemon-peel shred, two grates of nutmeg, some salt, and four or five spoonfuls either of weak broth, milk, or water. Simmer these gently with the meat, adding a bit of butter rubbed in flour, but take care not to let it boil. Put sippets of thin toasted bread, cut into a three-cornered shape, round the dish.

MINT SAUCE. Pick and wash the mint clean, and chop it fine. Put it into a small bason, and mix it with sugar and vinegar.

MINT VINEGAR. As fresh mint is not at all times to be had, a welcome substitute will be found in the preparation of mint vinegar. Dry and pound half an ounce of mint seed, pour upon it a quart of the best vinegar, let it steep ten days, and shake it up every day. This will be useful in the early season of house lamb.

MITES. Though they principally affect cheese, there are several species of this insect which breed in flour and other eatables, and do considerable injury. The most effectual method of expelling them is to place a few nutmegs in the sack or bin containing the flour, the odour of which is insupportable to mites; and they will quickly be removed, without the meal acquiring any unpleasant flavour. Thick branches of the lilac, or the elder tree, peeled and put into the flour, will have the same effect. Quantities of the largest sized ants, scattered about cheese-rooms and granaries, would presently devour all the mites, without doing any injury.

MIXED WINE. Take an equal quantity of white, red, and black currants, cherries, and raspberries; mash them, and press the juice through a strainer. Boil three pounds of moist sugar in three quarts of water, and skim it clean. When cold, mix a quart of juice with it, and put it into a barrel that will just hold it. Put in the bung, and after it has stood a week, close it up, and let it stand three or four months. When the wine is put into the barrel, add a little brandy to it.

MOCK BRAWN. Boil two pair of neat's feet quite tender, and pick all the flesh off the bone. Boil the belly piece of a porker nearly enough, and bone it. Roll the meat of the feet up in the pork, tie it up in a cloth with tape round it, and boil it till it becomes very tender. Hang it up in the cloth till it is quite cold, put it into some souse, and keep it for use.

MOCK TURTLE. Divide a calf's head with the skin on, and clean it well. Half boil it, take all the meat off in square pieces, break the bones of the head, and boil them in some veal and beef broth, to add to the richness. Fry some shalot in butter, and dredge in flower enough to thicken the gravy; stir this into the browning, and give it one or two boils. Skim it carefully, and then put in the head; add a pint of Madeira, and simmer till the meat is quite tender. About ten minutes before serving, put in some basil, tarragon, chives, parsley, cayenne pepper, and salt; also two spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, and one of soy. Squeeze the juice of a lemon into the tureen, and pour the soup upon it. Serve with forcemeat balls, and small eggs.—A cheaper way. Prepare half a calf's head as above, but without the skin. When the meat is cut off, break the bones, and put them into a saucepan with some gravy made of beef and veal bones, and seasoned with fried onions, herbs, mace, and pepper. Have ready prepared two or three ox-palates boiled so tender as to blanch, and cut into small pieces; to which a cow heel, likewise cut into pieces, is a great improvement. Brown some butter, flour, and onion, and pour the gravy to it; then add the meats as above, and stew them together. Add half a pint of sherry, an anchovy, two spoonfuls of walnut ketchup, the same of mushroom ketchup, and some chopped herbs as before. The same sauce as before.—Another way. Put into a pan a knuckle of veal, two fine cow heels, two onions, a few cloves, peppercorns, berries of allspice, mace, and sweet herbs. Cover them with water, tie a thick paper over the pan, and set it in an oven for three hours. When cold, take off the fat very nicely, cut the meat and feet into bits an inch and a half square, remove the bones and coarse parts, and then put the rest on to warm, with a large spoonful of walnut and one of mushroom ketchup, half a pint of sherry or Madeira, a little mushroom powder, and the jelly of the meat. If it want any more seasoning, add some when hot, and serve with hard eggs, forcemeat balls, a squeeze of lemon, and a spoonful of soy. This is a very easy way of making an excellent dish of mock turtle.—Another. Stew a pound and a half of scrag of mutton, with three pints of water till reduced to a quart. Set on the broth, with a calf's foot and a cow heel; cover the stewpan tight, and let it simmer till the meat can be separated from the bones in proper pieces. Set it on again with the broth, adding a quarter of a pint of sherry or Madeira, a large onion, half a tea-spoonful of cayenne, a bit of lemon peel, two anchovies, some sweet herbs, eighteen oysters chopped fine, a tea-spoonful of salt, a little nutmeg, and the liquor of the oysters. Cover it close, and simmer it three quarters, of an hour. Serve with forcemeat balls, and hard eggs in the tureen.—An excellent and very cheap mock turtle may be made of two or three cow heels, baked with two pounds and a half of gravy beef, herbs, and other ingredients as above.

MOLES. As these little animals live entirely on worms and insects, of which they consume incalculable numbers, they may be considered as harmless, and even useful, rather than otherwise; and it has been observed in fields and gardens where the moles had been caught, that they afterwards abounded with vermin and insects. But when the moles become too numerous, they are hurtful to vegetation, and require to be destroyed. Besides the common method of setting traps in their subterraneous passages, many might be dug out of the earth by carefully watching their situation and motions before the rising of the sun, and striking in a spade behind them to cut off their retreat. The smell of garlic is so offensive to them, that if a few heads of that plant were thrust into their runs, it would expel them from the place.

MOONSHINE PUDDING. Put into a baking dish a layer of very thin bread and butter, strewed over with currants and sweetmeats, and so on till the dish is full. Mix together a pint and a half of cream, the yolks of six eggs, half a grated nutmeg, and some sugar. Pour the mixture on the top of the pudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour.

MOOR FOWL. To dress moor fowl with red cabbage, truss the game as for boiling. Set them on the fire with a little soup, and let them stew for half an hour. Cut a red cabbage into quarters, add it to the moor fowl, season with salt and white pepper, and a little piece of butter rolled in flour. A glass of port may be added, if approved. Lift out the cabbage, and place it neatly in the dish, with the moor fowl on it. Pour the sauce over them, and garnish with small slices of fried bacon.

MORELLA CHERRIES. When the fruit is quite ripe, take off the stalks, prick them with a pin, and allow a pound and a half of lump sugar to every pound of cherries. Reduce part of the sugar to powder, and strew it over them. Next day dissolve the remainder in half a pint of currant juice, set it over a slow fire, put in the cherries with the sugar, and give them a gentle boil. Take out the cherries carefully, boil the syrup till it is thick, pour it upon the cherries, and tie them down.—Any other kind of fruit may be treated in the same way, only using such kind of juice to boil in the syrup as is most suitable to the fruit to be preserved. It is proper to put apple jelly over jam or preserved fruit, or to sift sugar over the tops of the jars; and when cold, cover them with brandy paper. If the air be admitted, they will not keep.

MORELLA WINE. Cleanse from the stalks sixty pounds of morella cherries, and bruise them as to break the stones. Press out the juice, mix it with six gallons of sherry wine, and four gallons of warm water. Powder separately an ounce of nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace, and hang them separately in small bags, in the cask containing the liquor. Bung it down; and in a few weeks it will become a deliciously flavoured wine.

MORELS. In their green state they have a very rich, high flavour, and are delicious additions to some dishes, or sent up as a stew by themselves, when they are fresh and fine. When dried they are of very little use, and serve only to soak up good gravy, from which they take more flavour than they give.

MOSS. To destroy moss on trees, remove it with a hard brush early in the spring of the year, and wash the trees afterwards with urine or soap suds, and plaster them with cow dung. When a sort of white down appears on apple trees, clear off the red stain underneath it, and anoint the infected parts with a mixture of train oil and Scotch snuff, which will effectually cure the disease.

MOTHS. One of the most speedy remedies for their complete extirpation, is the smell of turpentine, whether it be by sprinkling it on woollen stuffs, or placing sheets of paper moistened with it between pieces of cloth. It is remarkable that moths are never known to infest wool unwashed, or in its natural state, but always abandon the place where such raw material is kept. Those persons therefore to whom the smell of turpentine is offensive, may avail themselves of this circumstance, and place layers of undressed wool between pieces of cloth, or put small quantities in the corners of shelves and drawers containing drapery of that description. This, or shavings of the cedar, small slips of Russia leather, or bits of camphor, laid in boxes or drawers where furs or woollen clothes are kept, will effectually preserve them from the ravages of the moth and other insects.

MUFFINS. Stir together a pint of yeast with a pint and half of warm milk and water, and a little salt. Strain it into a quarter of a peck of fine flour, knead it well, and set it an hour to rise. Pull it into small pieces, roll it into balls with the hand, and keep them covered up warm. Then spread them into muffins, lay them on tins, and bake them; and as the bottoms begin to change colour, turn them on the other side. A better sort may be made by adding two eggs, and two ounces of butter melted in half a pint of milk. Muffins should not be cut, but pulled open.

MULBERRY SYRUP. Put the mulberries into a kettle of water, and simmer them over the fire till the juice runs from them. Squeeze out the juice, and add twice the weight of sugar. Set it over a slow fire, skim it clean, and simmer it till the sugar is quite dissolved.

MULBERRY WINE. Gather mulberries on a dry day, when they are just changed from redness to a shining black. Spread them thinly on a fine cloth, or on a floor or table, for twenty-four hours, and then press them. Boil a gallon of water with each gallon of juice, putting to every gallon of water an ounce of cinnamon bark, and six ounces of sugarcandy finely powdered. Skim and strain the water when it is taken off and settled, and put it to the mulberry juice. Now add to every gallon of the mixture, a pint of white or Rhenish wine. Let the whole stand in a cask to ferment, for five or six days. When settled draw it off into bottles, and keep it cool.

MULLED ALE. Boil a pint of good sound ale with a little grated nutmeg and sugar, beat up three eggs, and mix them with a little cold ale. Then pour the hot ale to it, and return it several times to prevent its curdling. Warm and stir it till it is thickened, add a piece of butter or a glass of brandy, and serve it up with dry toast.

MULLED WINE. Boil some spice in a little water till the flavour is gained, then add an equal quantity of port, with sugar and nutmeg. Boil all together, and serve with toast.—Another way. Boil a blade of cinnamon and some grated nutmeg a few minutes, in a large tea-cupful of water. Pour to it a pint of port wine, add a little sugar, beat it up, and it will be ready. Good home-made wine may be substituted instead of port.

MUMBLED HARE. Boil the hare, but not too much; take off the flesh, and shred it very fine. Add a little salt, nutmeg, lemon peel, and the juice of a lemon. Put it into a stewpan with a dozen eggs, and a pound of butter, and keep it stirring.

MUSCLE PLUM CHEESE. Weigh six pounds of the fruit, bake it in a stone jar, remove the stones, and put in the kernels after they are broken and picked. Pour half the juice on two pounds and a half of Lisbon sugar; when melted and simmered a few minutes, skim it, and add the fruit. Keep it doing very gently till the juice is much reduced, but take care to stir it constantly, to prevent its burning. Pour it into small moulds, pattipans, or saucers. The remaining juice may serve to colour creams, or be added to a pie.

MUSHROOMS. Before these are prepared for eating, great care must be taken to ascertain that they are genuine, as death in many instances has been occasioned by using a poisonous kind of fungus, resembling mushrooms. The eatable mushrooms first appear very small, of a round form, and on a little stalk. They grow very fast, and both the stalk and the upper part are white. As the size increases, the under part gradually opens, and shows a kind of fringed fur, of a very fine salmon colour; which continues more or less till the mushroom has gained some size, and then it turns to a dark brown. These marks should be attended to, and likewise whether the skin can be easily parted from the edges and middle. Those that have a white or yellow fur should be carefully avoided, though many of them have a similar smell, but not so strong and fragrant, as the genuine mushroom. Great numbers of these may be produced, by strewing on an old hotbed the broken pieces of mushrooms; or if the water in which they have been washed be poured on the bed, it will nearly answer the same purpose.

MUSHROOMS DRIED. Wipe them clean, take out the brown part of the large ones, and peel off the skin. Lay them on paper to dry in a cool oven, and keep them in paper bags in a dry place. When used, simmer them in the gravy, and they will swell to nearly their former size. Or before they are made into powder, it is a good way to simmer them in their own liquor till it dry up into them, shaking the pan all the time, and afterwards drying them on tin plates. Spice may be added or not. Tie the mushrooms down close in a bottle, and keep it in a dry place.

MUSHROOM KETCHUP. Take the largest broad mushrooms, break them into an earthen pan, strew salt over, and stir them occasionally for three days. Then let them stand twelve days, till there is a thick scum over. Strain and boil the liquor with Jamaica and black peppers, mace, ginger, a clove or two, and some mustard seed. When cold, bottle it, and tie a bladder over the cork. In three months boil it again with fresh spice, and it will then keep a twelvemonth.—Another way. Fill a stewpan with large flap mushrooms, that are not worm-eaten, and the skins and fringe of such as have been pickled. Throw a handful of salt among them, and set them by a slow fire. They will produce a great deal of liquor, which must be strained; then add four ounces of shalots, two cloves of garlic, a good deal of whole pepper, ginger, mace, cloves, and a few bay leaves. Boil and skim it well, and when cold, cork it up close. In two months boil it up again with a little fresh spice, and a stick of horseradish. It will then keep a year, which mushroom ketchup rarely does, if not boiled a second time.

MUSHROOM POWDER. Wash half a peck of large mushrooms while quite fresh, and free them from grit and dirt with flannel. Scrape out the black part clean, and do not use any that are worm-eaten. Put them into a stewpan over the fire without any water, with two large onions, some cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and two spoonfuls of white pepper, all in powder. Simmer and shake them till all the liquor be dried up, but be careful they do not burn. Lay them on tins or sieves in a slow oven till they are dry enough to beat to powder; then put the powder into small bottles, corked, and tied closely, and kept in a dry place. A tea-spoonful of this powder will give a very fine flavour to any soup or gravy, or any sauce; and it is to be added just before serving, and one boil given to it after it is put in.

MUSHROOM SAUCE. Melt some butter with flour, in a little milk or cream. Put in some mushrooms, a little salt and nutmeg, and boil it up together in a saucepan. Or put the mushrooms into melted butter, with veal gravy, salt, and nutmeg.

MUSLIN PATTERNS. In order to copy muslin patterns, the drawing is to be placed on a sheet of white paper, and the outline pricked through with a pin. The white sheet may then be laid on a second clear one, and a muslin bag of powdered charcoal sifted or rubbed over it. The pierced paper being removed, a perfect copy may be traced on the other; and in this way, patterns may be multiplied very expeditiously.

MUSTARD. Mix by degrees, the best Durham flour of mustard with boiling water, rubbing it perfectly smooth, till it comes to a proper thickness. Add a little salt, keep it in a small jar close covered, and put only as much into the glass as will be used soon. The glass should be wiped daily round the edges. If for immediate use, mix the mustard with new milk by degrees, till it is quite smooth, and a little raw cream. It is much softer this way, does not taste bitter, and will keep well. A tea-spoonful of sugar, to half a pint of mustard, is a great improvement, and tends much to soften it. Patent mustard is nearly as cheap as any other, and is generally preferred.

MUSTY FLOUR. When flour has acquired a musty smell and taste, from dampness and other causes, it may be recovered by the simple use of magnesia, allowing thirty grains of the carbonate to one pound of flour. It is to be leavened and baked in the usual way of making bread. The loaves will be found to rise well in the oven, to be more light and spongy, and also whiter than bread in the common way. It will likewise have an excellent taste, and will keep well. The use of magnesia in bread making is well worthy of attention, for if it improves musty flour, and renders it palatable, it would much more improve bread in general, and be the interest of families to adopt it. The use of magnesia in bread, independent of its improving qualities, is as much superior to that of alum as one substance can be to another.

MUTTON. In cutting up mutton, in order to its being dressed, attention should be paid to the different joints. The pipe that runs along the bone of the inside of a chine must be removed, and if the meat is to be kept some time, the part close round the tail should be rubbed with salt, after first cutting out the kernel. A leg is apt to be first tainted in the fat on the thick part, where the kernel is lodged, and this therefore should be removed, or the meat cannot be expected to keep well. The chine and rib bones should be wiped every day, and the bloody part of the neck be cut off to preserve it. The brisket changes first in the breast; and if it is to be kept, it is best to rub it with a little salt, should the weather be hot. Every kernel should be taken out of all sorts of meat as soon as it is brought in, and then wiped dry. For roasting, it should hang as long as it will keep, the hind quarter especially, but not so long as to taint; for whatever may be authorised by the prevailing fashion, putrid juices certainly ought not to be taken into the stomach. Great care should be taken to preserve by paper the fat of what is roasted. Mutton for boiling will not look of a good colour, if it has hung long.—In purchasing this meat, choose it by the fineness of the grain, the goodness of its colour, and see that the fat be firm and white. It is not the better for being young: if it be wether mutton, of a good breed and well fed, it is best for age. The flesh of ewe mutton is paler, and the texture finer. Ram mutton is very strong flavoured, the flesh is of a deep red, and the fat is spongy: wether mutton is the best.

MUTTON BROTH. Soak a neck of mutton in water for an hour, cut off the scrag, and put it into a stewpot, with two quarts of water. As soon as it boils, skim it well, and simmer it an hour and a half. Cut the best end of the mutton into pieces, two bones in each, and take off some of the fat. Prepare four or five carrots, as many turnips, and three onions, all sliced, but not cut small. Put them soon enough to get quite tender, and add four large spoonfuls of Scotch barley, first wetted with cold water. Twenty minutes before serving, put in some chopped parsley, add a little salt, and send up all together. This is a Scotch dish, and esteemed very excellent in the winter.

MUTTON CHOPS. Cut them from the loin or neck, broil them on a clear fire, and turn them often, or the fat dropping into the fire will smoke them. When done, put them into a warm dish, rub them with butter, slice a shalot in a spoonful of boiling water, with a little salt and ketchup, and pour it over the chops. The ketchup may be omitted, and plain butter used instead.

MUTTON CHOPS IN DISGUISE. Prepare a seasoning of chopped parsley and thyme, grated bread, pepper and salt. Smear the chops over with egg, strew the seasoning on them, and roll each in buttered paper. Close the ends, put them in a Dutch oven or fryingpan, and let them broil slowly. When done, send them to table in the paper, with gravy in a boat.

MUTTON COLLOPS. From a loin of mutton that has been well kept, cut some thin collops nearest to the leg. Take out the sinews, season the collops with salt, pepper, and mace; and strew over them shred parsley, thyme, and two or three shalots. Fry them in butter till half done; add half a pint of gravy, a little lemon juice, and a piece of butter rubbed in flour. Simmer them together very gently for five minutes, and let the collops be served up immediately, or they will become hard.

MUTTON CUTLETS. To do them in the Portuguese way, half fry the chops with sliced shalot or onion, chopped parsley, and two bay leaves. Season with pepper and salt; then lay a forcemeat on a piece of white paper, put the chop on it, and twist the paper up, leaving a hole for the end of the bones to go through. Broil the cutlets on a gentle fire, serve them with a little gravy, or with sauce Robart.

MUTTON HAM. Choose a fine-grained leg of wether mutton, of twelve or fourteen pounds weight; cut it ham shape, and let it hang two days. Then put into a stewpan half a pound of bay salt, the same of common salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and half a pound of coarse sugar, all in powder. Mix, and make it quite hot; then rub it well into the ham. Let it be turned in the liquor every day; at the end of four days add two ounces more of common salt; in twelve days take it out, dry it, and hang it up a week in wood smoke. It is to be used in slices, with stewed cabbage, mashed potatoes, or eggs.

MUTTON HASHED. Cut thin slices of dressed mutton, fat and lean, and flour them. Boil the bones with a little onion, season the meat, and warm it up with the gravy, but it should not boil. Instead of onion, a clove, a spoonful of currant jelly, and a glass of port wine, will make it taste like venison.

MUTTON KEBOBBED. Take all the fat out of a loin of mutton, and that on the outside also if too fat, and remove the skin. Joint it at every bone, mix a small nutmeg grated with a little salt and pepper, crumbs of bread, and herbs. Dip the steaks into the yolks of three eggs, and sprinkle the above mixture all over them. Then place the steaks together as they were before they were cut asunder, tie and fasten them on a small spit. Roast them before a quick fire; set a dish under, and baste them with a good piece of butter, and the liquor that comes from the meat, but throw some more of the above seasoning over. When done enough, lay the meat in a dish. Prepare an additional half pint of good gravy, put into it two spoonfuls of ketchup, and rub down a tea-spoonful of flour with it. Give it a boil, skim off all the fat, and pour it over the mutton. Be careful to keep the meat hot, till the gravy is quite ready.

MUTTON PIE. Cut steaks from a loin or neck of mutton that has hung some time; beat them, and remove some of the fat. Season with salt, pepper, and a little onion. Put a little water at the bottom of the dish, and a little paste on the edge; then cover it with a tolerably thick paste. Or raise small pies, breaking each bone in two to shorten it; cover it over, and pinch the edges together. When the pies come from the oven, pour into each a spoonful of good mutton gravy.

MUTTON PUDDING. Season some chops with salt and pepper, and a taste of onion. Place a layer of meat at the bottom of the dish, pour over them a batter of potatoes boiled and pressed through a cullender, and mixed with an egg and milk. Put in the rest of the chops, and the batter, and bake it. Batter made of flour eats very well, but requires more egg, and is not so good as potatoe. Another way is to cut slices off a leg that has been underdone, and put them into a bason lined with a fine suet crust. Season with pepper and salt, and finely shred onion or shalot.

MUTTON RUMPS AND KIDNEYS. Stew six rumps in some good mutton gravy half an hour; then take them up, and let them stand to cool. Clear the gravy from the fat, and put into it four ounces of boiled rice, an onion stuck with cloves, and a blade of mace. Boil them till the rice is thick. Wash the rumps with yolks of eggs well beaten, and strew over them crumbs of bread, a little pepper and salt, chopped parsley and thyme, and grated lemon peel, fried in butter, of a fine brown. While the rumps are stewing, lard the kidneys, and set them to roast in a Dutch oven. When the rumps are ready, the grease must be drained from them before they are put in the dish; the pan being cleared likewise from the fat, warm up the rice in it. Lay the latter on the dish, place the rumps round upon the rice, the narrow ends towards the middle, and the kidneys between. Garnish with hard eggs cut in halves, the white being left on, or with different coloured pickles.

MUTTON SAUCE. Two spoonfuls of the liquor in which the mutton is boiled, the same quantity of vinegar, two or three shalots finely shred, with a little salt, put into a saucepan with a bit of butter rolled in flour, stirred together and boiled once, will make good sauce for boiled mutton.

MUTTON SAUSAGES. Take a pound of the rawest part of a leg of mutton that has been either roasted or boiled; chop it quite small, and season it with pepper, salt, mace, and nutmeg. Add to it six ounces of beef suet, some sweet herbs, two anchovies, and a pint of oysters, all chopped very small; a quarter of a pound of grated bread, some of the anchovy liquor, and two eggs well beaten. When well mixed together, put it into a small pot; and use it by rolling it into balls or sausages, and fry them. If approved, a little shalot may be added, or garlick, which is a great improvement.

MUTTON STEAKS. These should be cut from a loin or neck that has been well kept; if a neck, the bones should not be long. Broil them on a clear fire, season them when half done, and let them be often turned. Take them up into a very hot dish, rub a bit of butter on each, and serve them up hot and hot the moment they are done.—To do them Maintenon, half fry them first, then stew them while hot, with herbs, crumbs, and seasoning. Rub a bit of butter on some writing paper, to prevent its catching the fire, wrap the steaks in it, and finish them on the gridiron.

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