Fruit pies made from juicy fruits sometimes lose half their
finest part by the juice overflowing, or pushing through the
crust where upper and under crusts meet. The escaping juice,
moreover, soaks the crust. Our grandmothers overcame the
difficulty by tieing round the pie when ready to bake a strip of
stifif damp linen.
TO PREVENT SOGGY CRUST
In making the filling for a cocoanut or custard pie, there
will be less chance of having a soggy crust if the milk is brought
to the scalding point and the eggs, sugar, and seasonings stirred
in before putting in the crust. This will shorten the time of
cooking by half.
DO NOT USE MELTED BUTTER IN CAKE
In cakemaking, do not melt butter ; it spoils the cake.
TO PREVENT HASTY BROWNING
Keep in a pantry drawer sheets of clean brown paper to
slip over a dish that is browning too rapidly. A sheet of
asbestos paper, or of oiled or greased paper, may be used in
the same way and will serve the purpose quickly.
FRYING DOUGHNUTS
In the first place, have the lard hot and quiet, not boiling
and bubbling. Drop in the doughnuts. They will disappear a
second and then rise to the top. Have a long fork and turn
them, not piercing, while they cook. Do not let them soak
fat, as they do while lying cooking only on one side, or in a
fat not hot enough. When they are browned all round, pick
them up with the fork, which does not take so much of the
fat as a skimmer, and lay in a colander standing near in a
ITEMS OF VALUE 403
warm place and lined with brown paper. The warmth from
the colander keeps the fat on the cakes melted and allows
the brown paper to absorb it.
TO BROWN BUCKWHEAT CAKES WITHOUT
MOLASSES
Using molasses to make buckwheat cakes brown you in-
troduce a sweetening into the cakes. This many people dislike.
It is well to know you can get the brown color by putting a
handful of Indian meal in the batter. The meal will also help
make the cakes light, while the tendency of molasses is to make
them heavy.
USES OF A PINCH OF SALT
It is said that a pinch of salt added to a pot of coffee or of
tea just before pouring will increase the natural aroma of the
dish.
A pinch of salt added to a dish too sweet will help conceal
the sweetness.
BREAD AND CRACKER CRUMBS
It is sound economy to have a glass jar with a tight cover
for rolled and crisp cracker or bread crumbs. Into it you
can drop the powdered crumbs which )'0U make from crusts
and scraps of bread and crackers, and have always on hand
the crumbs so necessary in frying, in cooking meats, vegetables,
cheese, pudding, and other dishes.
TO SAVE AFTER SCORCHING
If milk scorches — it is best to heat it in a double-boiler,
but sometimes for haste it is set immediately over the
fire — lift the saucepan off the fire and set it in a pan of
cold water till the bottom of the saucepan is cool. Then pour
oft* the milk, keeping back the scorched part clinging to the
bottom of the saucepan.
This same method will be found effective in the scorching
of vegetables, meats, and all articles of food.
404 THE HOME COOK BOOK
TO DESTROY SIVIELL OF COOKING CABBAGE, ETC.
In cooking cabbage or anything having strong odors, set on
the back of the stove a granite cup one quarter full of vinegar.
Keep this hot. Do not let it boil, or burn, and it will absorb
all the odor.
Page 219
Presented as published in 1905. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Fruit pies made from juicy fruits sometimes lose half their finest part by the juice overflowing, or pushing through the crust where upper and under crusts meet. The escaping juice, moreover, soaks the crust. Our grandmothers overcame the difficulty by tieing round the pie when ready to bake a strip of stiff damp linen.
TO PREVENT SOGGY CRUST
In making the filling for a cocoanut or custard pie, there will be less chance of having a soggy crust if the milk is brought to the scalding point and the eggs, sugar, and seasonings stirred in before putting in the crust. This will shorten the time of cooking by half.
DO NOT USE MELTED BUTTER IN CAKE In cakemaking, do not melt butter ; it spoils the cake.
TO PREVENT HASTY BROWNING
Keep in a pantry drawer sheets of clean brown paper to slip over a dish that is browning too rapidly. A sheet of asbestos paper, or of oiled or greased paper, may be used in the same way and will serve the purpose quickly.
FRYING DOUGHNUTS
In the first place, have the lard hot and quiet, not boiling and bubbling. Drop in the doughnuts. They will disappear a second and then rise to the top. Have a long fork and turn them, not piercing, while they cook. Do not let them soak fat, as they do while lying cooking only on one side, or in a fat not hot enough. When they are browned all round, pick them up with the fork, which does not take so much of the fat as a skimmer, and lay in a colander standing near in a
warm place and lined with brown paper. The warmth from the colander keeps the fat on the cakes melted and allows the brown paper to absorb it.
TO BROWN BUCKWHEAT CAKES WITHOUT
MOLASSES Using molasses to make buckwheat cakes brown you introduce a sweetening into the cakes. This many people dislike. It is well to know you can get the brown color by putting a handful of Indian meal in the batter. The meal will also help make the cakes light, while the tendency of molasses is to make them heavy.
USES OF A PINCH OF SALT It is said that a pinch of salt added to a pot of coffee or of
tea just before pouring will increase the natural aroma of the
dish.
A pinch of salt added to a dish too sweet will help conceal
the sweetness.
BREAD AND CRACKER CRUMBS It is sound economy to have a glass jar with a tight cover for rolled and crisp cracker or bread crumbs. Into it you can drop the powdered crumbs which )'0U make from crusts and scraps of bread and crackers, and have always on hand the crumbs so necessary in frying, in cooking meats, vegetables, cheese, pudding, and other dishes.
TO SAVE AFTER SCORCHING If milk scorches — it is best to heat it in a double-boiler, but sometimes for haste it is set immediately over the fire — lift the saucepan off the fire and set it in a pan of cold water till the bottom of the saucepan is cool. Then pour oft* the milk, keeping back the scorched part clinging to the bottom of the saucepan.
This same method will be found effective in the scorching of vegetables, meats, and all articles of food.
TO DESTROY SIVIELL OF COOKING CABBAGE, ETC.
In cooking cabbage or anything having strong odors, set on the back of the stove a granite cup one quarter full of vinegar. Keep this hot. Do not let it boil, or burn, and it will absorb all the odor.