Virginia Cookery-book

In the fall of the year is the best season for putting away butter, so that it will keep to use during the spring months, when it is usually so scarce and high in price. Half a pound of salt, a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, a quarter of a pound of white sugar ; pound these ingredients together, and put one ounce to evei*y pound of butter as you take it from the churn, sprinkling and working it just as with salt alone. Pack it down in a jar as tightly as possible, adding from week to week until it is full ; then cover with an inch of salt, tie a thick cloth over the mouth, invert the jar, and it will be better after six months' keeping than at first. Mbs. Colston's^ Recipe fob Putting up Butter to Keep. Pulverize together in a mortar two quarts of best common salt, one ounce of saltpetre, and one ounce of white sugar; work the butter three times, and at the third working put in an ounce of the above mixture to every pound of butter; the butter must be made up into halfpound rolls and put into the following brine : To three gallons of brine strong enough to bear an e^g add a quarter of a pound of white sugar. Cottage Cheese. Take a pail of new, rich milk, put it in a kettle over the fire, and let it scald (be careful that it does not boil, or the curd would become hard and tough), then strain through a thin, white, cotton bag, allowing it to hang and drain all night. In the morning add a teaspoonful of salt, a small piece of butter, and enough sweet cream to make the cheese of such consistency as you like. Most persons simply turn it out into a dish and send to table with a pot of cream in addition ; but it may be shaped in small moulds, or made up into rolls or cakes. BONNT-CLABBER.* Where the dairy is good, this plain but, to many tastes^ * Spelled in dictionaries Baugh-naugh Claugh-baugh. A gentleman from America calling to pay his respects to Fredrika Bremer was asked to sup with her on this homely dish. delightful dish may be enjoyed daily in hot weather. It is simply milk that through heat has '* turned " or thickened until it is of the consistence of baked custard. It should then be set upon ice, or in the coolest part of the spring-house, and sent to table not a moment before it is to be helped out. Individuals eat it with relish just as it is ; but for most persons sugar, cream, and grated nutmeg are required to make it one of the choicest of Arcadian dishes. The milk may be poured into a glass bowl before it turns, and then be more presentable than in one of the dairy milk-pans. Slip. Slip is bonny-clabber without its acidity, and so delicate is its flavor that many persons like it just as well as icecream. It is prepared thus : Make a quart of milk moderately warm ; then stir into it one large spoonful of the preparation called rennet ; set it by, and when cool again it will be as stiff as jelly. It should be made only a few hours before it is to be used, or it will be tough and watery; in summer set the dish on ice after it has jellied. It must be served with powdered sugar, nutmeg, and cream. Artichoke blossoms were made to take the place of rennet by Virginia matrons in times past, and it may be convenient to know that they possess the same virtue as rennet; but nowadays druggists sell a nice preparation of rennet quite reasonably, that renders the making of slip one of the simplest of processes. A nice dessert is thus furnished with hardly any trouble, and at very short notice. CUBDS AND CbBAH, No. 1. Turn one quart of milk as for slip ; let it stand until just before it is to be served; then take it up with a skimming-ladle, and lay it on a sieve ; when the whey has drained off, put the curds in a dish, and surround them with cream ; use sugar and nutmeg with them. Curds and Cream, No. 2.