Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

This mince will keep for several weeks in cold weather, and makes a good variation from the usual mince-meat. Pick over, wash, and rub dry on a towel, a pound of dried currants ; slice two ounces of citron, seed one pound of raisins ; remove all skin and membrane from a pound of beef-suet, and chop it quite fine ; pare and core apples enough to weigh two pounds, and chop them fine ; grate the rind and squeeze the juice of one lemon and one orange ; mix all these ingredients thoroughly ; add to them a pound of sugar, a gill of brandy, two gills of good port, and salt, ground mace, cinnamon, and cloves to taste ; more sugar may be required. If all this mince is not used, pack it tightly in glass jars, lay a round of paper dipped in brandy in each jar, and close the jars air-tight until it is needed for use. APPLE AND PIE-PLANT PIE. Use equal quantities of tart apples and pie-plant, or garden rhubarb, and a good pastry, for which many recipes have been given ; peel and slice the fruit ; heap it in a deep earthen pie-dish, cover it thickly with sugar, and wet the edges of the dish ; roll the pastry about a quarter of an inch thick, cover the pie with it, being careful not to press the edges of the pastry ; cut two or three little slits in the pastry, and then bake the pie for three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven, or until the" fruit is done. Sift powdered sugar over the pie, and use it hot or cold. BHUBARB-PIE, NEW-ENGLAND STYLE. Make a good pastry, for which directions have already been given. Peel some garden rhubarb, or pie-plant, and cut it in small pieces ; after lining the pie-plates with pastry, fill them with layers of rhubarb and sugar, and if a lemon is available use the grated yellow rind for flavoring ; cover the pie, wetting the edges of the pastry to make them adhere ; make several cuts in the top crust, and bake the pie in a moderate oven until both top and bottom crust are nicely browned ; if the bottom of the pie cooks faster than the top, put a second plate under it when it is quite brown ; if the top browns before the bottom is done, cover it with brown paper. Dust the top crust with powdered sugar after the pie is done, and use it either hot or cold. CHERRY-TART. Make a pastry according to directions already given, or as follows ; Lay half a pound of butter in a bowl of very cold water, and work it for five minutes with the hands, touching it very quickly and lightly, so that it may be quite smooth and yet firm ; then wrap it in a cloth dusted with flour, lay it on a plate, and place it in the refrigerator or in an equally cool place. Put a pound of flour in a bowl with a level teaspoonful of salt, add to it the yolk of an egg, and sufficient very cold water to mix it to a medium soft paste; work quickly and very lightly, and then roll the paste out about