The home cook book

Cut half a pound of figs in small pieces, add a tablespoon of grated chocolate and two pounds of sugar and enough water to dissolve the sugar. Cook all together till it creams, and then add, after taking from the fire, three-quarters of a pound of seeded dates and the meats of a pound and a half of English walnuts. Stir all together till grains appear, and then spread in oiled pans and set to cool. Cut in squares when cold. CANDIED ORANGE RINDS Orange rinds left from breakfast you may convert into a dainty confection. Cut them in strips, carefully removing the bitter white part. Boil them in hot water till quite tender. To a cup of sugar add four tablespoons of water, cook to the crackling point and drop in the orange strips and cook five minutes longer. Set away to cool, leaving the rinds in the syrup. When cool drain the rinds on a sieve, dip in granulated sugar, and dry on oiled paper. SALTED NUTS Almost any large-meated nuts — pecans, almonds, filberts, peanuts, or English walnuts — may be salted. Buy pecans and walnuts shelled, as it is very difficult to remove them from the shells entire. A pound of shelled walnuts at forty cents a pound is really cheaper than when unshelled at twenty cents. Peanuts and almonds are more economical purchased un- / shelled. Obtain peanuts that are unroasted. Remove the skins by pouring boiUng water over them — a process which is called blanching — then dry thoroughly. For a pound of nuts pour half a cup of olive oil in a spider. When hot, put in one cup of the nuts and shake gently over a brisk fire till they begin to brown delicately. When all are evenly browned, lift the nuts on a skimmer, drain as much oil from them as possible and toss on a sheet of white blotting paper. Dust liberally with fine salt. Do not salt nuts longer than twenty-four hours before they are eaten. The Art of Pie-Making'— Piecrust— Puff Paste— Preparing Fruits for Pie— Apple Pie— Clierry Pie— Cream Pie— Sour Cream Pie — Dried Fruit Pies — Lemon Pie, Double Crust— Lemon Pie, Under Crust — Lemon Meringue Pie — Chocolate Lemon Pie — Mincemeat— Orange Pie — Potato Pie— Pumpkin Pie— Philadelphia Pumpkin Pie — Raisin Pie— Rhubarb or Pieplant Pie— Rhubarb Meringue Pie— Green Tomato Pie —Almond Straws or Tarts— Cheese Biscuit — Cheese Straws — Cream Horns— Fig Tarts— Pastry Fruit Cakes— Puff Paste Patties THE ART OF PIE-MAKING ALTHOUGH many esteemed authorities on dietetics have placed their ban of displeasure upon the pie-eating habit, declaring it to be at all times conducive to ill health, yet the fact remains that in many homes pies are freely consumed. It is not the purpose of this article either to extol or to condone the consumption of pastry, but to give explicit directions for making the very best quality of this, if questionable, nevertheless delectable, variety of sweets. To make crisp, palatable pastry the work must be done in a cool place, the materials which enter into its composition must be of the best, thoroughly chilled, put together quickly, with as little contact during the whole process with the hands and fingers as is practicable. All hard kneading must be avoided if light paste is desired.