Not with the leaven, as of old,
Of sin and malice fed,
But with unfeigned sincerity.

One dozen of potatoes, two cupfuls of hops; put them together in a bag, and place them in a pot with two quarts of water; let it boil till the potatoes are done; a cupful of salt, a ladle of flour; then pour the boiling water over it, then let it stand till lukewarm; add a cupful of old yeast, cover it up, and put near the fire till it foments.

BREAD.

His diet was of wheaten bread.
Cowper.

Mixt with the rustic throng, see ruddy maids,
Some taught with dextrous hand to twirl the wheel,
Some expert
To raise from leavened wheat the kneaded loaf.
Dodsley.

Her bread is deemed such dainty fare,
That ev’ry prudent traveller
His wallet loads with many a crust.
Cowper.

Like the loaf in the Tub’s pleasant tale,
That was fish, flesh, and custard, good claret and ale,
It comprised every flavor, was all and was each,
Was grape and was pineapple, nectarine and peach.
Lovilond.

Mix with six pounds of sifted flour one ounce of salt, nearly half a pint of fresh sweet yeast as it comes from the brewery, and a sufficient quantity of warmed milk to make the whole into a stiff dough, work and knead it well on a board, on which a little flour has been strewed, for fifteen or twenty minutes, then put it into a deep pan, cover it with a warmed towel, set it before the fire, and let it rise for an hour and a half or perhaps two hours; cut off a piece of this sponge or dough; knead it well for eight or ten minutes, together with flour sufficient to keep it from adhering to the board, put it into small tins, filling them three quarters full; dent the rolls all around with a knife, and let them stand a few minutes before putting them in the oven.

The remainder of the dough must then be worked up for loaves, and baked either in or out of shape.

RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.

Of wine she never tasted through the year,
But white and black was all her homely cheer,
Brown bread and milk (but first she skimmed her bowls),
And rasher of singed bacon on the coals.
Chaucer.

Sift two quarts of rye, and two quarts of Indian meal, and mix them well together. Boil three pints of milk; pour it boiling upon the meal; add two teaspoonfuls of salt, and stir the whole very hard. Let it stand till it becomes of only a lukewarm heat, and then stir in half a pint of good, fresh yeast; if from the brewery and quite fresh, a smaller quantity will suffice. Knead the mixture into a stiff dough, and set it to rise in a pan. Cover it with a thick cloth that has been previously warmed, and set it near the fire. When it is quite light, and has cracked all over the top, make it into two loaves; put them into a moderate oven, and bake them two hours and a half.

BUTTER.

Vessels large
And broad, by the sweet hand of neatness clean’d,
Meanwhile, in decent order ranged appear,
The milky treasure, strain’d thro’ filtering lawn,
Intended to receive. At early day,
Sweet slumber shaken from her opening lids,
My lovely Patty to her dairy hies;
There, from the surface of expanded bowls
She skims the floating cream, and to her churn
Commits the rich consistence; nor disdains,
Though soft her hand, though delicate her frame,
To urge the rural toil, fond to obtain
The country housewife’s humble name and praise.
Continued agitation separates soon
The unctuous particles; with gentler strokes
And artful, soon they coalesce; at length
Cool water pouring from the limpid spring
Into a smooth glazed vessel, deep and wide,
She gathers the loose fragments to a heap,
Which in the cleansing wave, well wrought and press’d,
To one consistent golden mass, receives
The sprinkled seasoning, and of pats or pounds
The fair impression, the neat shape assumes.
Dodsley.

COTTAGE CHEESE.

Warm from the cow she pours
The milky flood. An acid juice infused,
From the dried stomach drawn of suckling calf,
Coagulates the whole. Immediate now
Her spreading hands bear down the gathering curd,
Which hard and harder grows, till, clear and thin,
The green whey rises separate.
Dodsley.

Warm three half pints of cream with one half pint of milk, and put a little rennet to it; keep it covered in a warm place till it is curdled; have a proper mould with holes, either of china or any other; put the curds into it to drain, about one hour or less. Serve it with a good plain cream, and pounded sugar over it.