FIRST PRIZE WINNERS IN THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST CONTEST FOR BEST RECIPES FOR COOKING AND SERVING PORK.

PORK PIE.

Unless you have a brick oven do not attempt this dish, as it requires a long and even baking, which no stove oven can give. Make a good pie crust and line a large pan, one holding about 6 quarts; in the bottom put a layer of thin slices of onions, then a layer of lean salt pork, which has been previously browned in the frying pan, next place a layer of peeled apples, which sprinkle with a little brown sugar, using ½ lb. sugar to 3 lbs. apples; then begin with onions, which sprinkle with pepper, pork and apples again, and so on until the dish is full. Wet the edges of the crust, put on the top crust, well perforated, and bake at least four hours, longer if possible. These pies are eaten hot or cold and are a great favorite with the English people. Potatoes may be used in place of apples, but they do not give the meat so fine a flavor.

PORK POTPIE.

Three pounds pork (if salt pork is used, freshen it well), cut into inch cubes. Fry brown, add a large onion sliced, and a teaspoon each of chopped sage, thyme and parsley. Cover with 5 pints of water and boil for two hours, add a large pepper cut small or a pinch of cayenne, and a tablespoon of salt if fresh pork has been used. Add also 3 pints vegetables, carrots, turnips and parsnips cut small, boil half an hour longer, when add a pint of potatoes cut into small pieces, and some dumplings. Cover closely, boil twenty minutes, when pour out into a large platter and serve. The dumplings are made of 1 pint of flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted together. Add 2 eggs, well beaten and 1 cup of milk. Mix out all the lumps and drop by spoonfuls into the stew. Serve this potpie with a salad of dandelion leaves, dressed with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

PORK GUMBO.

Cut into small dice 2 lbs. lean pork. (In these recipes where the pork is stewed or baked in tomatoes or water, salt pork may be used, provided it is well freshened.) Fry the pork a pale brown, add 2 sliced onions, and when these are brown add 3 bell peppers sliced, and 2 quarts peeled tomatoes, with 2 teaspoons salt. Let boil gently, stirring frequently, for 1½ hours. Peel and cut small 1 pint of young tender okra pods, and add. Cover again and boil half an hour longer. Cook in a lined saucepan, as tin will discolor the okra. With this serve a large dish of rice or hominy. Corn may be used in place of okra if the latter is disliked. The corn should be cut from the cobs and added half an hour before dinner time.

SUCCOTASH.

Boil a piece of lean pork (about 5 lbs. in weight) in 3 quarts water, until the meat is tender. The next day take out the pork, and remove the grease risen on the liquor from the pork during cooking. To 3 pints of the liquor add 1 pint of milk and 1½ pints lima beans. Let them boil until tender—about one hour—when add 1½ pints corn cut from the cob. Let the whole cook for ten minutes, add a teaspoon of salt if necessary, half a teaspoon of pepper, and drop in the pork to heat. When hot, pour into a tureen and serve.

PORK PILLAU.

Take a piece of pork (about 4 lbs.) and 2 lbs. bacon. Wash and put to boil in plenty of water, to which add a pepper pod, a few leaves of sage and a few stalks of celery. One hour before dinner, dip out and strain 2 quarts of the liquor in which the pork is boiling, add to it a pint of tomatoes peeled, a small onion cut fine, and salt if necessary; boil half an hour, when add 1 pint of rice well washed. When it comes to a boil draw to the back of stove and steam until the rice is cooked and the liquor absorbed. The pork must boil three or four hours. Have it ready to serve with the rice. This makes a good dinner, with a little green salad, bread and butter and a good apple pudding.

PORK ROLL.

Chop fine (a meat chopper will do the work well and quickly) 3 lbs. raw lean pork and ¼ lb. fat salt pork. Soak a pint of white bread crumbs in cold water. When soft squeeze very dry, add to the chopped meat with a large onion chopped fine, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon each of chopped sage and thyme, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Mix together thoroughly and form into a roll, pressing it closely and compactly together. Have ready about a tablespoon of fat in a frying pan, dredge the roll thickly with flour and brown it in the fat, turning it until nicely browned on all sides. Then place it in a baking pan, and bake in a hot oven for one hour. Baste it every ten minutes with water. Do not turn or disturb the meat after it has been put into the oven. Half an hour before dinner add 12 or 14 small carrots that have been parboiled in salted boiling water for fifteen minutes. When done, place the roll on a platter, surround it with plain boiled macaroni, dot with the carrots and pour over all a nicely seasoned tomato sauce.

PEPPER POT.

Cut 3 lbs. rather lean pork into 2-inch cubes, fry until brown, place in a 3-quart stone pot (a bean jar is excellent for this purpose) having a close-fitting lid; add 2 large onions sliced, 6 large green peppers (the bell peppers are the best, being fine in flavor and mild), a tablespoon of salt (if fresh pork was used), and 3 large tomatoes peeled and cut small. Fill the pot with water and place in the oven or on the back of the stove and allow to simmer five or six hours, or even longer. The longer it is cooked the better it will be. Persons who ordinarily cannot eat pork will find this dish will do them no harm. The sauce will be rich and nicely flavored, and the meat tender and toothsome. Serve with it plenty of boiled rice or potatoes.

PORK CROQUETTES (IN CABBAGE LEAVES).

To 1 lb. lean pork chopped fine add 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon each of pepper, chopped sage and thyme, 1 teaspoon chopped parsley and a large onion also chopped. Mix well and stir in 2-3 cup (half-pint cup) of well-washed raw rice. Wash a large cabbage, having removed all the defective outer leaves. Plunge it whole into a large pot of boiling salted water and boil for five minutes, remove and drain. This will render the leaves pliable. Let cool a little, when pull the leaves apart, and wrap in each leaf a tablespoon of the pork and rice. Wrap it up securely and neatly as if tying up a parcel and secure with wooden toothpicks or twine. When all are done, lay in a baking dish and cover with a quart of tomatoes peeled and cut fine, mixed with half a pint of water, and a teaspoon of salt. Bake one hour in a hot oven, turning the croquettes occasionally. If the sauce becomes too thick, dilute with a little hot water. When done, dish, pour over the sauce and serve with potatoes or hominy. These are very good indeed. If desired the croquettes may be steamed over hot water in a steamer for three hours, or plunged directly into a kettle of boiling water and boiled for one hour. They are not so delicate as when baked.

PORK WITH PEA PUDDING (ENGLISH STYLE).

Boil the pork as directed above, and do not omit the vegetables, as they flavor the meat and the pudding. Use the yellow split peas and soak a pint in cold water over night. Drain and tie them loosely in a pudding bag and boil with the pork for three hours. An hour before dinner remove and press through a colander, add a teaspoon salt, half a teaspoon pepper and 3 eggs well beaten. Chop enough parsley to make a teaspoonful, add to the peas with a little grated nutmeg. Beat up well, sift in half a pint of flour and pour into a pudding bag. The same bag used before will do if well washed. Tie it up tightly, drop into the pork water again and boil another hour. Remove, let drain in the colander a few minutes, when turn out onto a dish. Serve with the pork, and any preferred sauce; mint sauce is good to serve with pork, and a tomato sauce is always good. In fact, it is a natural hygienic instinct which ordains a tart fruit or vegetable to be eaten with pork. The Germans, who are noted for their freedom from skin diseases, add sour fruit sauces to inordinately fat meats.

PORK WITH SAUERKRAUT (GERMAN STYLE).

Boil a leg of pork for three or four hours, wash 2 quarts sauerkraut, put half of it into an iron pot, lay on it the pork drained from the water in which it was cooking and cover with the remainder of sauerkraut, add 1 quart water in which the pork was cooking, cover closely and simmer gently for one hour.

PORK CHOWDER.

Have ready a quart of potatoes sliced, 2 large onions sliced, and 1 lb. lean salt pork. Cut the pork into thin slices and fry until cooked, drain off all but 1 tablespoon fat and fry the onions a pale brown. Then put the ingredients in layers in a saucepan, first the pork, then onions, potatoes and so on until used, adding to each layer a little pepper. Add a pint of water, cover closely and simmer fifteen minutes, then add a pint of rich milk, and cover the top with half a pound of small round crackers. Cover again and when the crackers are soft, serve in soup plates. If you live where clams are plentiful, add a quart of cleaved clams when the potatoes are almost done and cook ten minutes.

SEA PIE.

Make a crust of 1 quart flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, mix well, rub in a tablespoon of fat—pork fat melted or lard—and mix into a smooth paste with a pint of water. Line a deep pudding dish with this, put in a layer of onions, then potatoes sliced, then a thin layer of pork in slices, more onions, etc., until the dish is full. Wet the edges, put on a top crust. Tie a floured cloth over the top and drop into a pot of boiling water. Let the water come up two-thirds on the dish, and keep the water boiling for four hours. Invert on a dish, remove the mold and serve hot.

For Fresh Pork Only.

CORN AND PORK SCALLOP.

Cut about 2 lbs. young pork into neat chops and reject all fat and bone. Fry them until well cooked and of a pale brown, dust with salt and pepper. Cut some green corn from the cob. Take a 2-quart dish, put a layer of corn in the bottom, then a layer of pork, and so on until the dish is full, add 1 pint of water, cover and bake for one hour. Remove the cover fifteen minutes before serving, so the top may be nicely browned. Serve with potatoes and a lettuce salad. Onions and pork may be cooked in the same manner.

STUFFED SHOULDER OF PORK.

Take a shoulder of pork and bone it. Cut out the shoulder blade, and then the leg bone. After the cut made to extract the shoulder blade, the flesh has to be turned over the bone as it is cut, like a glove-finger on the hand; if any accidental cut is made through the flesh it must be sewed up, as it would permit the stuffing to escape. For the stuffing, the following is extra nice: Peel 4 apples and core them, chop fine with 2 large onions, 4 leaves of sage, and 4 leaves of lemon thyme. Boil some white potatoes, mash them and add 1 pint to the chopped ingredients with a teaspoon of salt and a little cayenne. Stuff the shoulder with this and sew up all the openings. Dredge with flour, salt and pepper and roast in a hot oven, allowing twenty minutes to the pound. Baste frequently, with hot water at first, and then with gravy from the pan. Serve with currant jelly, potatoes and some green vegetables. Another extra good stuffing for pork is made with sweet potatoes as a basis. Boil the potatoes, peel and mash. To a half pint of potato add a quarter pint of finely chopped celery, 2 tablespoons chopped onions, ½ teaspoon pepper, teaspoon each of salt and chopped parsley and a tablespoon of butter.

PORK ROASTED WITH TOMATOES.

Take a piece for roasting and rub well with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and pour into the pan a pint of hot water, and place in a brisk oven. This must be done two or three hours before dinner, according to the size of roast; baste the meat often. An hour before dinner peel some tomatoes (about a quart), put them into a bowl and mash with the hands till the pulp is in fine pieces, add to them a chopped onion, a teaspoon of chopped parsley and ½ teaspoon each of sage and thyme. Draw the pan containing the roast to the mouth of oven and skim all the fat from the gravy; pour the tomatoes into the pan, and bake for one hour. With this serve a big dish of rice.

PORK WITH SWEET POTATOES.

Prepare the roast as described above, either stuffed or otherwise. When partly done, peel and cut some sweet potatoes into slices about three inches long. Bank these all around the meat, covering it and filling the pan. Baste often with the gravy and bake one hour. Serve with this a Russian salad, made of vegetables. Young carrots may be used in place of sweet potatoes.

RARE OLD FAMILY DISHES, DESCRIBED FOR THIS WORK BY THE BEST COOKS IN AMERICA. EVERY ONE OF THESE RECIPES IS A SPECIAL FAVORITE THAT HAS BEEN OFTEN TRIED AND NEVER FOUND WANTING. NONE OF THESE RECIPES HAS EVER BEFORE BEEN PRINTED, AND ALL WILL BE FOUND SIMPLE, ECONOMICAL AND HYGIENIC.

Ham.

BOILED.

Wash well a salted, smoked pig’s ham, put this in a large kettle of boiling water and boil until tender, remove from the kettle, take off all of the rind, stick in a quantity of whole cloves, place in a baking pan, sprinkle over with a little sugar, pour over it a cup of cider, or, still better, sherry. Place in the oven and bake brown.

FOR LUNCH.

Mince cold ham fine, either boiled or fried, add a couple of hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, a tablespoon of prepared mustard, a little vinegar and a sprinkling of salt. Put in a mold. When cold cut in thin slices or spread on bread for sandwiches.

BONED.

Having soaked a well-cured ham in tepid water over night, boil it until perfectly tender, putting it on in warm water; take up, let cool, remove the bone carefully, press the ham again into shape, return to the boiling liquor, remove the pot from the fire and let the ham remain in it till cold. Cut across and serve cold.

POTTED.

Mince left-over bits of boiled ham and to every 2 lbs. lean meat allow ½ lb. fat. Pound all in a mortar until it is a fine paste, gradually adding ½ teaspoon powdered mace, the same quantity of cayenne, a pinch of allspice and nutmeg. Mix very thoroughly, press into tiny jars, filling them to within an inch of the top; fill up with clarified butter or drippings and keep in a cool place. This is nice for tea or to spread picnic sandwiches.

STEW.

A nice way to use the meat left on a ham bone after the frying slices are removed is to cut it off in small pieces, put into cold water to cover and let it come to a boil. Pour off the water and add enough hot to make sufficient stew for your family. Slice an onion and potatoes into it.

WITH VEAL.

A delicious picnic dish is made of ham and veal. Chop fine equal quantities of each and put into a baking dish in layers with slices of hard-boiled eggs between; boil down the water in which the veal was cooked, with the bones, till it will jelly when cold; flavor with celery, pepper and salt and pour over the meat. Cover with a piecrust half an inch thick and bake until the crust is done. Slice thin when cold.

OMELET.

Beat 6 eggs very light, add ½ teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons sweet milk, pepper to taste, have frying pan very hot with 1 tablespoon butter in; turn in the mixture, shake constantly until cooked, then put 1 cup finely chopped ham over the top and roll up like jelly cake, cut in slices.

BAKED.

Most persons boil ham. It is much better baked, if baked right. Soak it for an hour in clean water and wipe dry. Next spread it all over with thin batter and then put it into a deep dish, with sticks under it to keep it out of the gravy. When it is fully done, take off the skin and batter crusted upon the flesh side, and set away to cool. It should bake from six to eight hours. After removing the skin, sprinkle over with two tablespoonfuls of sugar, some black pepper and powdered crackers. Put in pan and return to the oven to brown; then take up and stick cloves through the fat, and dust with powdered cinnamon.

WITH CORN MEAL.

Take bits of cold boiled ham, cut into fine pieces, put in a frying pan with water to cover, season well. When it boils, thicken with corn meal, stirred in carefully, like mush. Cook a short time, pour in a dish to mold, slice off and fry.

BALLS.

Chop ½ pint cold boiled ham fine. Put a gill of milk in a saucepan and set on the fire. Stir in ½ teacup stale bread crumbs, the beaten yolks of 2 eggs and the ham. Season with salt, cayenne and a little nutmeg. Stir over the fire until hot, add a tablespoon chopped parsley, mix well and turn out to cool. When cold make into small balls, dip in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs and fry in boiling fat.

TOAST.

Remove the fat from some slices of cold boiled ham, chop fine. Put 2 tablespoonfuls of butter into a saucepan on the stove, add the chopped ham and half a cup of sweet cream or milk. Season with pepper and salt; when hot, remove from the stove and stir in quickly 3 well-beaten eggs. Pour onto toast and serve at once.

FLAVORED WITH VEGETABLES.

Take a small ham, as it will be finer grained than a large one, let soak for a few hours in vinegar and water, put on in hot water, then add 2 heads of celery, 2 turnips, 3 onions and a large bunch of savory herbs. A glass of port or sherry wine will improve the flavor of the ham. Simmer very gently until tender, take it out and remove the skin, or if to be eaten cold, let it remain in the liquor until nearly cold.

PATTIES.

One pint of ham which has previously been cooked, mix with two parts of bread crumbs, wet with milk. Put the batter in gem pans, break 1 egg over each, sprinkle the top thickly with cracker crumbs and bake until brown. A nice breakfast dish.

PATTIES WITH ONIONS.

Two cups bread crumbs moistened with a little milk, and two cups cooked ham thoroughly mixed. If one likes the flavor, add a chopped onion. Bake in gem pans. Either break an egg over each gem or chop cold hard-boiled egg and sprinkle over them. Scatter a few crumbs on top. Add bits of butter and season highly with pepper and salt, and brown carefully.

FRIED PATTIES.

One cup cold boiled ham (chopped fine), 1 cup bread crumbs, 1 egg, salt and pepper to taste, mix to the right thickness with nice meat dressing or sweet milk, mold in small patties and fry in butter.

HAM SANDWICHES.

Mince your ham fine and add plenty of mustard, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 tablespoon butter and as much chopped cucumber pickles as you have ham. Beat this thoroughly together and pour into 1 pint of boiling vinegar, but do not let the mixture boil. When it cools, spread between your sandwiches.

Salt Pork.

FRIED WITH FLOUR.

Slice the pork thinly and evenly, placing it in a large frying pan of water, and turning it twice while freshening. This prevents it humping in the middle, as pork, unless the slices are perfectly flat, cannot be fried evenly. When freshened sufficiently, drain, throw the water off, and, rolling each slice in flour, return to the frying pan. Fry a delicate brown, place on a platter dry, add slices of lemon here and there. Drain all the frying fat off, leaving a brown sediment in the pan. Pour 1 cup of rich milk on this, and when it thickens (keep stirring constantly until of the consistency of rich, thick cream), pour into a gravy boat, and dust with pepper.—[M. G.

FRIED PORK AND GRAVY.

Cut the rind from a firm piece of fat salt pork that has a few streaks of lean (if preferred). Slice thin, scald in hot water, have the frying pan smoking hot, put in the slices of pork and fry (without scorching) until crisp. Then pour off nearly all the fat, add some hot water after the slices have been removed from the pan, and stir in some flour moistened with cold water for a thickened gravy.—[Farmer’s Wife.

FRIED IN BATTER OR WITH APPLES.

Slice thin and fry crisp in a hot frying pan, then dip in a batter made as follows: One egg well beaten, 3 large spoons rich milk, and flour enough to make a thin batter. Fry once more until the batter is a delicate brown, and if any batter remains it may be fried as little cakes and served with the pork. Instead of the batter, apples, sliced, may be fried in the fat, with a little water and sugar added, or poor man’s cakes, made by scalding 4 spoons granulated (or other) corn meal with boiling water, to which add a pinch of salt and 1 egg, stirred briskly in.—[F. W.

SWEET FRIED.

Take nice slices of pork, as many as you need, and parboil in buttermilk for five minutes, then fry to a golden brown. Or parboil the slices in skimmilk, and while frying sprinkle on each slice a little white sugar and fry a nice brown. Be watchful while frying, as it burns very easily after the sugar is on.—[I. M. W.

TO FRY IN BATTER.

Prepare as for plain fried pork, fry without dipping in flour, and when done, dip into a batter made as follows: One egg beaten light, 2 tablespoonfuls of milk and the same of sifted flour, or enough to make a thin batter. Stir smooth, salt slightly, dip the fried pork into it and put back into the hot drippings. Brown slightly on both sides, remove to a hot platter and serve immediately.—[R. W.

FRIED WITH SAGE.

Freshen the pork in the usual manner with water or soaking in milk, partly fry the pork, then put three or four freshly picked sprigs of sage in the frying pan with the pork. When done, lay the crisp fried sage leaves on platter with the pork.—[Mrs. W. L. R.

MRS. BISBEE’S CREAMED PORK.

Slice as many slices as your frying pan will hold, pour on cold water, place upon the range to freshen; when hot, pour off the water and fry until crispy; take out upon a platter, pour the fat in a bowl. Pour some milk, about a pint, in the frying pan, boil, thicken and pour upon the fried pork. Serve at once.—[Mrs. G. A. B.

BAKED.

Take a piece of salt pork as large as needed, score it neatly and soak in milk and water half an hour, or longer if very salt; put into a baking pan with water and a little flour sprinkled over the scoring. Bake until done. Always make a dressing to eat with this, of bread and cracker crumbs, a lump of butter, an egg, salt, pepper and sage to taste; mix with hot milk, pack in a deep dish and bake about twenty minutes. Keep water in the baking dish after the meat is taken up, pour off most of the fat and thicken the liquor. Tomatoes go well with this dish, also cranberry sauce.

BOILED.

Boil 4 or 5 lbs. of pork having streaks of lean in it, in plenty of water, for one and one-half hours. Take out, remove skin, cut gashes across the top, sprinkle over powdered sage, pepper and rolled crackers. Brown in the oven. Slice when cold.

CREAMED IN MILK AND WATER.

Freshen 10 or 12 slices of fat pork and fry a nice brown, then take up the pork and arrange on a deep platter. Next pour off half the fat from the frying pan and add 1 cup of milk and 1 of boiling water, and 1 tablespoon flour mixed with a little cold milk or water, or else sifted in when the milk and water begin to boil, but then a constant stirring is required to prevent it from being lumpy. Next add a pinch of salt and a dust of pepper, let it boil up, and pour over the pork. Enough for six.

EGG PORK.

Take slices of pork and parboil in water, sprinkle a little pepper on the pork and put into the frying pan with a small piece of butter and fry. Take 1 egg and a little milk and beat together. When the meat is nearly done, take each slice and dip into the egg, lay back in the pan and cook until done.

CREAMED PORK.

Take 6 slices nice pork, or as many as will fry in the frying pan, and parboil for five minutes, then take out of the water and roll one side of each slice in flour and fry to a golden brown. When fried, turn nearly all of the fat off and set the pan on the stove again and turn on a cup of nice sweet cream; let it boil up, then serve on a platter.

Soups, Stews, Etc.

PORK SOUP.

Put pork bones in pot of cold salted water. Add the following ingredients, in a cheesecloth bag: A few pepper seeds, a bit of horse-radish, mace, and 1 sliced turnip. Boil as for beef soup; strain and add a teaspoon of rice flour to each pint, and let come to a boil. Serve with crackers.

PORK STEW

Slice and fry in a kettle from ¼ to ½ lb. salt pork, drain off the fat and save for shortening, add 3 pints boiling water, 2 or 3 onions sliced thin, 1 quart potatoes sliced and pared, a sprinkling of pepper, large spoon flour mixed in 1 cup of cold water. Let the onions boil a few moments before adding the potatoes and flour. Five minutes before serving, add 1 dozen crackers, split and moistened with hot water, or make dumplings as for any stew.

DRY STEW.

Place slices of pork in the frying pan and fill full with chipped potatoes; pour over a little water and cover tightly, and cook until the pork begins to fry, then loosen from the bottom with a wide knife and pour over more water, and so on until done. Pepper and salt and a bit of butter.

OLD-FASHIONED STEW.

Place 6 large slices of pork in the kettle with nearly a quart of water, let it boil half an hour, then add 8 sliced potatoes and 2 sliced onions, and when nearly done add a little flour, pepper and salt, and a lump of butter.

CHOWDER.

Cut 4 slices of salt pork in dice, place in kettle and fry, add 6 good-sized onions chopped fine, let fry while preparing 8 potatoes, then add 1 quart boiling water and the potatoes sliced thin. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Boil one-half hour.

Miscellaneous.

BACON, BROILED OR FRIED.

The first essential is to have the bacon with a streak of lean and a streak of fat, and to cut or slice it as thin as possible. Then lay it in a shallow tin and set it inside a hot stove. It will toast evenly and the slices will curl up and be so dry that they may be taken in the fingers to eat. The lard that exudes may be thickened with flour, a cup of sweet new milk and a pinch of black pepper added, and nice gravy made. Or if preferred, the bacon, thinly sliced, may be fried on a hot skillet, just turning it twice, letting it slightly brown on both sides. Too long in the hot skillet, the bacon gets hard and will have a burned taste.

BRAINS.

Lay the brains in salt and water for an hour to draw out the blood. Pick them over and take out any bits of bone and membrane. Cook for half an hour in a small quantity of water. When cooked drain off the water, and to each brain add a little pepper, nearly an even teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of butter and 1 beaten egg. Cook until the egg thickens. Or when the brains are cooked, drain off the water, season with salt, pepper and sage.

PORK AND BEANS.

Pick over and let soak over night 1 quart beans; in the morning wash and drain, and place in a kettle with cold water, with ½ teaspoon soda, boil about twenty minutes, then drain and put in earthen bean dish with 2 tablespoons molasses, season with pepper. In the center of the beans put 1 lb. well-washed salt pork, with the rind scored in slices or squares, rind side uppermost. Cover all with hot water and bake six hours or longer, in a moderate oven. Keep covered so they will not burn on the top, but an hour or so before serving remove the pork to another dish and allow it to brown. Beans should also brown over the top.

BOILED DINNER.

Put a piece of salt pork to cook in cold water about 9 o’clock. At 10 o’clock add a few beets, at 11 o’clock a head of cabbage, quartered. One-half hour later add the potatoes. Serve very hot.

GERMAN WICK-A-WACK.

Save the rinds of salt pork, boil until tender, then chop very fine, add an equal amount of dried bread dipped in hot water and chopped. Season with salt, pepper and summer savory; mix, spread one inch deep in baking dish, cover with sweet milk. Bake one-half hour. Very nice.

BROILED PORK.

Soak the pork in cold water over night. Wipe dry and broil over coals until crisp. Pour over it ½ pint sweet cream. Ham cooked this way is delicious.

LUNCH LOAF.

Chop remnants of cold boiled ham or salt pork, add crushed crackers and from 3 to 6 eggs, according to the amount of your meat. Bake in a round baking powder box, and when cold it can be sliced for the table.

PORK HASH.

Take scraps of cold pork and ham, chop very fine, put in frying pan, add a very little water, let cook a few minutes, then add twice this amount of chopped potato. Salt and pepper to taste, fry and serve hot.

FOR SUNDAY LUNCHEON.

Take the trimmings saved from ribs, backbone, jowl, shanks of ham and shoulder, and all the nice bits of meat too small for ordinary use; place in a kettle with sufficient water to barely cover meat, and boil slowly until quite tender. Fit a piece of stout cheesecloth in a flat-bottomed dish and cover with alternate strips of fat and lean meat while hot; sprinkle sparingly with white pepper, add another layer of meat and a few very thin slices of perfectly sound tart apples. Repeat until pork is used, then sew up the ends of the cloth compactly, place between agate platters and subject to considerable pressure over night. Served cold this makes a very appetizing addition to Sunday suppers or luncheon.

PORK CHEESE.

Cut 2 lbs. cold roast pork into small pieces, allowing ¼ lb. fat to each pound of lean; salt and pepper to taste. Pound in a mortar a dessert spoon minced parsley, 4 leaves of sage, a very small bunch of savory herbs, 2 blades of mace, a little nutmeg, half a teaspoon of minced lemon peel. Mix thoroughly with the meat, put into a mold and pour over it enough well-flavored strong stock to make it very moist. Bake an hour and a half and let it cool in the mold. Serve cold, cut in thin slices and garnished with parsley or cress. This is a cooking school recipe. For ordinary use the powdered spices, which may be obtained at almost any country store, answer every purpose. Use ¼ teaspoon sage, ½ teaspoon each of summer savory and thyme, and a pinch of mace.

PORK FLOUR-GRAVY.

Take the frying pan after pork has been fried in it, put in a piece of butter half as large as an egg, let it get very hot, then put in a spoonful of flour sprinkled over the bottom of the pan. Let this get thoroughly browned, then turn boiling water on it, say about a pint. Now take a tablespoon of flour, heaping, wet it up with a cup of sweet milk and stir into the boiling water, add salt and pepper to taste, and a small piece more butter, cook well and serve.

PORK OMELET.

Cut the slices of pork quite thin, discarding the rind, fry on both sides to a light brown, remove from the spider, have ready a batter made of from 2 or 3 eggs (as the amount of pork may require), beaten up with a little flour and a little sweet milk, pouring half of this batter into the spider. Then lay in the pork again, and pour the remaining part of the batter over the pork. When cooked on the one side, cut in squares and turn. Serve hot. Sometimes the pork is cut in small squares before adding the batter.

ANOTHER OMELET.

Put 1 cup cold fried salt pork (cut in dice) and 3 tablespoons sweet milk on back of stove to simmer, then beat 6 eggs and 1 teaspoon salt until just blended. Put 2 tablespoons butter in frying pan. When hot add eggs and shake vigorously until set, then add the hot creamed pork, spread over top, fold, and serve immediately.

PIG’S FEET.

Cut off the feet at the first joint, then cut the legs into as many pieces as there are joints, wash and scrape them well and put to soak over night in cold, slightly salted water; in the morning scrape again and change the water; repeat at night. The next morning put them on to boil in cold water to cover, skim carefully, boil till very tender, and serve either hot or cold, with a brown sauce made of part of the water in which they were boiled, and flavored with tomato or chopped cucumber pickles. If the pig’s feet are cooled and then browned in the oven, they will be much nicer than if served directly from the kettle in which they were boiled. Save all the liquor not used for the sauce, for pig’s feet are very rich in jelly; when cold, remove the fat, which should be clarified, and boil the liquor down to a glaze; this may be potted, when it will keep a long time and is useful for glazing, or it may be used for soups either before or after boiling, down.—[R. W.

PICKLED PIG’S FEET.

Clean them well, boil until very tender, remove all the bones. Chop the meat, add it to the water they were boiled in, salt to taste. Add enough vinegar to give a pleasing acid taste, pour into a dish to cool. When firm, cut in slices. Or leave out the vinegar and serve catsup of any kind with the meat. Or before cooking the feet, wrap each one in cloth and boil seven hours. When cold take off the cloth and cut each foot in two pieces. Serve cold with catsup or pepper sauce or horse-radish. Or the feet may be put into a jar and covered with cold vinegar, to which is added a handful of whole cloves.—[A. L. N.

KIDNEY ON TOAST.

Cut a kidney in large pieces and soak in cold water an hour. Drain and chop fine, removing all string and fiber; also chop separately one onion. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add the chopped kidney and stir till the mixture turns a whitish color, then add the onion. Cook five minutes, turn into a small stewpan, season and add a cupful of boiling water. Simmer an hour and thicken with a teaspoonful of cornstarch wet with cold water. Cook five minutes longer, pour over slices of nicely browned toast and serve.

Pork Fritters.

CORN MEAL FRITTERS.

Make a thick batter of corn meal and flour, cut a few slices of pork and fry until the fat is fried out; cut a few more slices, dip them in the batter, and drop them in the bubbling fat, seasoning with salt and pepper; cook until light brown, and eat while hot.

FRITTERS WITH EGG.

Fry slices of freshened fat pork, browning both sides, then make a batter of 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 1 teaspoon baking powder sifted through enough flour to make a rather stiff batter, and a pinch of salt. Now remove the pork from the frying pan and drop in large spoonfuls of the batter, and in the center of each place a piece of the fried pork, then cover the pork with batter, and when nicely brown, turn and let the other side brown. Currant jelly is nice with them.

FRICATELLE.

Chop raw fresh pork very fine, add a little salt and plenty of pepper, 2 small onions chopped fine, half as much bread as there is meat, soaked until soft, 2 eggs. Mix well together, make into oblong patties and fry like oysters. These are nice for breakfast. If used for supper, serve with sliced lemon.

CROQUETTES.

Raw pork chopped fine, 2 cups, 1 small onion chopped very fine, 1 teaspoon powdered sage, 1 cup bread crumbs rubbed fine, salt and pepper to taste, 2 eggs beaten light. Mix thoroughly, make small flat cakes, roll lightly in flour and fry in hot lard.

Pork Pies, Cakes and Puddings.

PORK PIE.

Cut fresh pork in small inch and half-inch pieces, allowing both fat and lean. Boil until done in slightly salted water. Lay away in an earthen dish over night. In the morning it will be found to be surrounded with a firm meat jelly. Will not soak pie crust. Make a rich baking powder biscuit paste. Roll out thin, make top and bottom crust, fill with the prepared pork. Bake.—[H. M. G.

A HINT FOR PORK PIE.

Every housekeeper knows how to make pork pie, but not every one knows that if the bottom crust is first baked with a handful of rice to prevent bubbling—the rice may be used many times for the same purpose—and the pork partially cooked before the upper crust is added, the pie will be twice as palatable as if baked in the old way. The crust will not be soggy and the meat juices will not lose flavor by evaporation.—[Mrs. O. P.

PORK PIE WITH APPLES.

Line a deep pudding dish with pie crust. Place a layer of tart apples in the dish, sprinkle with sugar and a little nutmeg, then place a layer of thin slices of fat salt pork (not cooked), sprinkle lightly with black pepper. Continue to add apples and pork until the dish is full. Cover with a crust and bake until the apples are cooked, when the pork should be melted. Serve as any pie.—[M. C.

SPARERIB PIE.

Chop the small mussy pieces of meat, put in a pudding or bread tin, add some of the gravy and a little water. Make a biscuit crust, roll half an inch thick and put over the top and bake. A tasty way is to cut the crust into biscuits, place close together on top of the meat and bake. More dainty to serve than the single crust. A cream gravy or some left from the rib is nice with this pie. Any of the lean meat makes a nice pie, made the same as the above.

PORK CAKE WITHOUT LARD.

Over 1 lb. fat salt pork, chopped very fine, pour a pint of boiling water. While it is cooling, sift 9 cups flour with 1 heaping teaspoon soda and 2 of cream tartar, stir in 2 cups sugar and 1 of molasses, 4 eggs, teaspoon of all kinds spice, 2 lbs. raisins, 1 lb. currants and ½ lb. citron. Lastly, thoroughly beat in the pork and water and bake slowly. This will keep a long time.

PORK CAKE.

Take ½ cup sugar, ½ cup strong coffee, ½ cup molasses, ½ cup chopped salt pork, ¼ cup lard, 1 cup raisins, stoned and chopped, 2 cups flour, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon soda, dissolved in coffee, 1 teaspoon cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

PORK PUDDING.

This is made somewhat after the style of the famous English beefsteak pudding—differs only in two points. Cut up the pieces of fresh pork and stew in the skillet, in slightly salted water, till soft. Make a rich biscuit dough or plain pie paste. Line a quart basin and fill with the stewed pork. Add pepper, a few chopped potatoes if desired, cover all with the paste pinched tightly over, tie a small cloth tightly over the basin, then place basin in a larger cloth, gather the corners together and tie snugly over top, boil in a kettle for half an hour. Be sure the water is boiling hot before placing the basin in, and keep it boiling, with a tight lid.

Roasts.

FRESH LEG.

Score the leg with sharp knife in half-inch gashes, fill with a filling made of chopped onion, sage, bread crumbs and mixed with the beaten yolks and whites of 2 eggs, salt; stuff knuckle and gashes also. Pepper freely and roast it well. A leg weighing 8 lbs. requires three hours of a steady fire. Drain off fat from roasting tin and make a brown gravy. Serve with tart apple sauce.

WITH BUTTERMILK.

Take a piece of pork that is quite lean, soak over night in buttermilk and boil until about half done, then put it in the baking pan, cut through the rind in slices, sprinkle with pepper and sugar and bake to a golden brown.

DANISH PORK ROAST.

Braise the roast, and between each slit insert a bit of sage—which may be removed before serving; place in a deep stewpan and fill the corners and crevices with prunes that have been previously soaked in water long enough to regain their natural size. Roast in moderate oven, basting as usual, taking care not to break the prunes. When half done, take up the prunes, remove pits, crush and add to a dressing made as follows: Moisten 2 cups bread crumbs—one-third corn bread is preferable to all wheat—season with salt, pepper and a mere hint of onions. Put into a cheesecloth bag—saltbag if at hand—and bake beside the roast for half an hour, taking care to prevent scorching. Serve in slices with the roast.

SPARERIB.

Season well with salt, pepper and a little sage. Put in roasting pan with a little water, bake a nice brown. By cracking the ribs twice, you can roll up and fasten with skewers, or tie up with coarse twine. Put the stuffing inside, same as turkey. After it is done, take meat from pan. If the water is not all cooked out, set on top of stove until none remains. Pour out the grease, leaving about half a cup. Set back to cool so as not to cook the gravy too fast at first. Stir 2 spoons or more of flour into the grease and let brown. Add boiling water to make the required amount of gravy. Before removing from fire, add ½ cup sweet cream. Baked or mashed potatoes with cold slaw are in order with sparerib, with currant, cranberry or apple sauce. Very nice cold with fried potatoes or chips for supper.

Liver.

WITH BACON.

Pour salted boiling water over the liver and let it stand a few minutes, drain and slice. Crisp thin slices of bacon in a hot frying pan, lay them neatly around the edge of a platter or deep dish, and set the dish where it will keep hot. Fry the liver in the drippings from the bacon and put it in the middle of the dish. Pour a little boiling water into the frying pan, season to taste with pepper and salt, thicken with browned flour and pour over the liver or serve separately.—[R. F.

LIVER AND ONIONS.

Use two frying pans. In both have a generous supply of fryings or salted lard. Cut the liver in thin, even slices, and wash in cold water. Wipe each slice dry before placing it in the hot grease; fill the frying pan full, pepper and salt all, cover with lid and set over a brisk fire. Slice the onions and place them in the second frying pan of hot grease, pepper, salt and stir frequently. Turn the liver once, each slice. When done, place on a platter, with the onions heaped over and around.—[H. M. G.

HASHED.

Parboil the liver, chop it fine and put it into a hot frying pan with just enough of the liquor it was boiled in to moisten it so it won’t be hard and dry. When hot, season with salt, pepper and butter, and serve with mashed potato. Or you can chop cold boiled potatoes with the liver and make a regular hash of it if preferred.—[R. L.

Heart.

STUFFED.

Take three hearts, remove the ventricles and dividing wall, wash and wipe out dry. Fill with 3 tablespoons chopped ham, 4 tablespoons bread crumbs, a little melted butter, some pepper and salt; beat up an egg and mix the meat, etc., with as much of the egg as is needed to bind it together. Tie each heart in a piece of cloth and boil three hours, or till tender, in salt and water. Remove the cloths carefully, so as to keep the dressing in place, rub them over with butter and sprinkle with a little flour, and brown in a brisk oven. Reduce the liquor and thicken it. Serve with mashed potatoes and apple jelly.

BOILED.

Make a biscuit dough rather stiff, sprinkle a well-cleaned heart over with a little pepper and salt, roll the heart securely in the biscuit dough, wrap all in a clean white cloth and sew or baste together loosely, then put in a kettle of hot water and boil about four hours. Serve hot by removing cloth and slicing.

Sausage.

SAUSAGE WITH DRIED BEEF.

To 10 lbs. meat allow 5 tablespoons salt, 4 of black pepper, 3 of sage, and ½ tablespoon cayenne. Some persons prefer to add a little ginger, thinking that it keeps the sausage from rising on the stomach. Mix the spices thoroughly through the meat, which may be put into skins or muslin bags and hung in a cold, dry place, or partly cooked and packed in jars with a covering of lard. Every housekeeper uses fried and baked sausages, but sausage and dried beef is a more uncommon dish. Cut the sausage into small pieces, put it into a stewpan with water to cover, and put on to cook. Slice the dried beef and tear it into small pieces, removing fat and gristle, and put into the stew pan. When done, thicken slightly with flour, season and stir an egg quickly into it. Don’t get the gravy too thick and don’t beat the egg—it wants to show in little flakes of white and yellow.—[Rosalie Williams.

SAUSAGE ROLLS.

Make a rich pie paste, roll out thin and cut, with a large cooky cutter or a canister lid, large discs of the paste. Take a small cooked sausage, and placing it on the edge of the circle of paste, roll it up and pinch the ends together. Bake in a quick oven and serve hot or cold.

WITH CABBAGE.

Put some pieces of fat and lean pork through the sausage mill; add a finely chopped onion, pepper, salt and a dash of mace. Cut a large, sound head of cabbage in two, scoop out the heart of both halves and fill with sausage meat; tie up the head securely with stout twine, put into salted water sufficient to cover the cabbage, and boil one hour and a half. Drain thoroughly and save the liquid, which should not exceed one cupful in all. Brown a tablespoonful of butter over a hot fire, stir in a teaspoon of browned flour and add the liquid; pour over cabbage and serve hot.

GOOD SAUSAGE.

This sausage recipe has been proved good. Take 30 lbs. pork and 12 oz. salt, 2 oz. pepper, 2 oz. sage. Put sage in a pan and dry in oven, then sift. You can add two ounces of ground mustard if you wish. Add 2 or 3 lbs. sugar, mix all together, salt, pepper, etc., and mix with meat before it is chopped. After it is well mixed, cut to your liking.

Fresh Pork.

CUTLETS.

Cut them from a loin of pork, bone and trim neatly and cut away most of the fat. Broil fifteen minutes on a hot gridiron, turning them three or four times, until they are thoroughly done but not dry. Dish, season with pepper and salt and serve with tomato sauce or with small pickled cucumbers as a garnish.

BREADED CUTLETS.

A more elaborate dish is made by dipping the cutlets into beaten egg seasoned to taste with salt, pepper and sage, then into rolled cracker or bread crumbs. Fry slowly till thoroughly done, and serve with mashed potatoes.

CUTLETS FROM COLD ROAST PORK.

Melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan, lay in the cutlets and an onion chopped fine, and fry a light brown; then add a dessertspoon of flour, half a pint of gravy, pepper and salt to taste, and a teaspoon each of vinegar and made mustard. Simmer gently a few minutes and serve.

PORK CHOPS.

The white meat along the backbone (between the ribs and ham) is not always sufficiently appreciated, and is often peeled from the fat, cut from the bones and put into sausage, which should never be done, as it is the choicest piece in the hog to fry. Leave fat and lean together, saw through the bone, fry or broil. The meat gravy should be served in a gravy boat.

BREADED PORK CHOPS.

Cut chops about an inch thick, beat them flat with a rolling pin, put them in a pan, pour boiling water over them, and set them over the fire for five minutes; then take them up and wipe them dry. Mix a tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper for each pound of meat; rub each chop over with this, then dip, first into beaten egg, then into crackers, rolled, as much as they will take up. Fry in hot lard.

BARBECUED PORK.

Put a loin of pork in a hot oven without water, sprinkle with flour, pepper and salt, baste with butter, cook two or three hours, or until very brown. Pour in the gravy half a teacup of walnut catsup. Serve with fried apples.

Roast Pig.

SUCKING PIG.

Scald carefully and scrape clean, wipe dry, chop off the toes above first joint, remove entrails, and although some cook head entire, it is not advisable. Remove brains, eyes, upper and lower jaws, leaving skin semblance of head, with ears thoroughly scraped and cleaned. Make a dressing composed of one large boiled onion chopped, powdered sage, salt, pepper, 4 cups stale bread crumbs, a bit of butter, and all mixed with well-beaten eggs. Stuff the body part with this. Stitch it up. Previously boil the heart in salted water and stuff this into the boneless head skin to preserve its shape and semblance. Place it down on its feet, head resting on front feet, hind legs drawn out, just as you want it to lie on the platter when served or sent to table. Roast three hours, constantly basting.

TO ROAST WHOLE.

A pig ought not to be under four nor over six weeks old, and ought to be plump and fat. In the city, the butcher will sell you a shoat already prepared, but in the country, we must prepare our own pig for roasting. As soon as the pig is killed, throw it into a tub of cold water to make it tender; as soon as it is perfectly, cold, take it by the hind leg and plunge into scalding water, and shake it about until the hair can all be removed, by the handful at a time. When the hair has all been removed, rub from the tail up to the end of the nose with a coarse cloth. Take off the hoofs and wash out the inside of the ears and nose until perfectly clean. Hang the pig up, by the hind legs, stretched open so as to take out the entrails; wash well with water with some bicarbonate of soda dissolved in it; rinse again and again and let it hang an hour or more to drip. Wrap it in a coarse, dry cloth, when taken down, and lay in a cold cellar, or on ice, as it is better not to cook the pig the same day it is killed. Say kill and clean it late in the evening and roast it the next morning. Prepare the stuffing of the liver, heart and haslets, stewed, seasoned and chopped fine. Mix with these an equal quantity of boiled Irish potatoes, mashed, or bread crumbs, and season with hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, parsley and sage, or thyme, chopped fine, pepper and salt. Scald the pig on the inside, dry it and rub with pepper and salt, fill with the stuffing and sew up. Bend the forelegs under the body, the hind legs forward, and skewer to keep in position. Place in a large baking pan and pour over it one quart of boiling water. Rub fresh butter all over the pig and sprinkle pepper and salt over it, and put a bunch of parsley and thyme, or sage, in the water. Turn a pan down over it and let it simmer in a hot oven till perfectly tender. Then take off the pan that covers the pig, rub it with more butter and let brown, basting it frequently with the hot gravy. If the hot water and gravy cook down too much, add more hot water and baste. When of a fine brown, and tender and done all through, cover the edges of a large, flat china dish with fresh green parsley and place the pig, kneeling, in the center of the dish. Place in its mouth a red apple, or an ear of green corn, and serve hot with the gravy; or serve cold with grated horse-radish and pickle. Roast pig ought to be evenly cooked, through and through, as underdone pork of any kind, size or age is exceedingly unwholesome. It ought also to be evenly and nicely browned on the outside, as the tender skin when cooked is crisp and palatable. It is easily scorched, therefore keep a pig, while roasting, covered till tender and almost done.

Tongue.

The tongues should be put into the pickle with the hams; boil after three or four weeks, pickle in vinegar which has been sweetened. Add a tablespoon ground mustard to a pint of vinegar. Will keep months. They should be pickled whole. Also nice when first cooked without pickling. Slice cold, to be eaten with or without mayonnaise dressing. Sliced thin, and placed between thin slices of bread, make delicious sandwiches. Chopped fine, with hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise, make nice sandwiches. Many boil pork and beef tongues fresh. An old brown tongue is an abomination. The saltpeter gives the pink look canned tongues have; the salt and sugar flavor nicely.

When fresh, tongues are nice for mince pies. They may be corned with the hams and boiled and skinned and hot vinegar seasoned with salt and pepper poured over them; or are nice sliced with cold potatoes, garnished with cress or lettuce and a cream salad dressing poured over them. Cream salad dressing: Stir thoroughly together 1 teaspoon sugar, six tablespoons thick sweet cream and 2 tablespoons vinegar, salt and pepper or mustard to taste. The cream and vinegar should be very cold, and the vinegar added to the cream a little at a time, or it will curdle. Stir till smooth and creamy.

Souse.

Take off the horny parts of feet by dipping in hot water and pressing against them with a knife. Singe off hair, let soak in cold water for 24 hours, then pour on boiling water, scrape thoroughly, let stand in salt and water a few hours; before boiling wrap each foot in a clean white bandage, cord securely to keep skin from bursting, which causes the gelatine to escape in the water. Boil four hours. Leave in bandage until cold. If you wish to pickle them, put in a jar, add some of the boiling liquor, add enough vinegar to make a pleasant sour, add a few whole peppers. Very nice cold. If you want it hot, put some of the pickle and feet in frying pan. When boiling, thicken with flour and serve hot.—[Nina Gorton.

See that the feet are perfectly clean, the toes chopped off and every particle cleanly scraped, washed and wiped. Boil for three hours continually, or until every particle falls apart, drain from liquid, pick out all the bones, chop slightly, return to the liquid, add ½ cup vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, pepper, salt and a dash of nutmeg. (Do not have too much liquid.) Boil up once more and turn all out into a mold, press lightly, and cut cold.—[H. M. Gee.

Thoroughly clean the pig’s feet and knock off the horny part with a hatchet. Pour boiling water over them twice and pour it off, then put them on to cook in plenty of water. Do not salt the water. Boil until very tender, then take out the feet, pack in a jar, sprinkle each layer with salt, whole pepper and whole cloves, and cover with equal portions of vinegar and the broth in which the feet were boiled. Put a plate over the top with a weight to keep the souse under the vinegar. If there remains any portion of the broth, strain it and let stand until cold, remove the fat and clarify the broth with a beaten white of egg. It will be then ready for blancmange or lemon jelly and is very delicate.

Scrapple.

Take hog’s tongue, heart, liver, all bones and refuse trimmings (some use ears, snout and lights, I do not), soak all bloody pieces and wash them carefully, use also all clean skins, trimmed from lard. Put into a kettle and cover with water, boil until tender and bones drop loose, then cut in sausage cutter while hot, strain liquor in which it was boiled, and thicken with good corn mush meal, boil it well, stirring carefully to prevent scorching. This mush must be well cooked and quite stiff, so that a stick will stand in it. When no raw taste is left, stir in the chopped meat and season to taste with salt, pepper and herb, sage or sweet marjoram, or anything preferred. When the meat is thoroughly mixed all through the mush, and seasoning is satisfactory, dip out into pans of convenient size, to cool. Better lift off fire and stir carefully lest it scorch. When cold, serve in slices like cheese, or fry like mush (crisp both sides) for breakfast, serving it with nice tomato catsup. It tastes very much like fried oysters. Some prefer half buckwheat meal and half corn. To keep it, do not let it freeze, and if not covered with grease melt some lard and pour over, or it will mold. This ought to be sweet and good for a month or more in winter, but will crumble and fry soft if it freezes.—[Mrs. R. E. Griffith.

Head Cheese.

Have the head split down the face, remove the skin, ears, eyes and brains, and cut off the snout; wash thoroughly and soak all day in cold salted water; change the water and soak over night, then put on to cook in cold water to cover. Skim carefully and when done so the bones will slip out, remove to a hot pan, take out every bone and bit of gristle, and chop the meat with a sharp knife as quickly as possible, to keep the fat from settling in it. For 6 lbs. meat allow 2 tablespoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, a little cayenne, ¼ teaspoon clove and 2 tablespoons sage. Stir the meat and seasoning well together and put into a perforated mold or tie in a coarse cloth, put a heavy weight on it and let it stand till cold and firm. The broth in which the meat was cooked may be used for pea soup, and the fat, if clarified, may be used for lard.—[R. W.

Cut the head up in suitable pieces to fit the receptacle you wish to boil it in, first cutting off all pieces that are not to be used. If too fat, cut off that, too, and put with the lard to be rendered. Take out the brains and lay them in a dish of cold water, then put the head on to boil till tender. Be sure to skim well. When it begins to boil, cook till the meat is ready to drop off the bones, then take up, remove all bones or gristle and grind or chop, not too fine; put in salt, pepper and cloves to taste, also sage if liked, mix all well together, heat it all together, and pour in a cloth, which is laid in a crock, tie it up tight and put on a weight, to press it. Next day remove the cloth and the head cheese is ready for the table. Skim the fat off the liquor the head was boiled in and set aside for future use. Heat the liquor to a boil and stir in nicely sifted corn meal. After salting, take up in crock and let it get cold, then cut off in slices and fry a nice brown. Nice for breakfast.—[Mrs. A. Joseph.

Pig’s Head.

English Brawn: Cut off the hearty cheek or jowl, and try it out for shortening. Saw the pig’s head up in small pieces, carefully removing the brains, snoot, eyes, jawbones or portions of teeth sockets. (It is surprising with saw and a keen, sharp-pointed knife how much of the unpleasant pieces of a pig’s head can be removed before it is consigned to the salt bath.) Soak all night in salt and water, drain in the morning and set over the fire to boil in slightly salted water. Place the tongue in whole also. When the flesh leaves the bone, take out and strip all into a wooden chopping bowl, reserving the tongue whole. Skin the tongue while warm. Chop the head pieces fine, add pepper, salt, powdered sage to suit taste. Pack all in a deep, narrow mold and press the tongue whole into the middle of the mass. Weight down and set away all night to cool. Keep this always in a cold place until all is used, and, as usual, use a sharp knife to slice.—[Aunt Ban.

To Keep Hams and Shoulders.

We pack them for a few days with a sprinkle of dry salt, then lift and wipe dry (both barrel and meat), repack and cover with brine, which may be prepared thus: To 16 gals. brine (enough to carry an egg) placed in a kettle to boil add ¼ lb. saltpeter, 3 pts. syrup molasses and a large shovel of hickory ashes tied in a clean saltbag or cloth; boil, skim and cool.—[Mrs. R. E. Griffith.

To prepare smoked ham for summer use: Slice the ham and cut off the rind. Fill a spider nearly full, putting the fat pieces on top. Place in the oven and bake. When partly cooked, pack the slices of hot ham closely in a stone jar and pour the meat juice and fat over the top. Every time that any of the meat is taken out, a little of the lard should be heated and poured back into the jar to keep the meat fresh and good. Be very careful each time to completely cover the meat with lard.—[Marion Chandler.

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