This section is from the book "The National Cook Book", by A Lady Of Philadelphia. Also available from Amazon: I Know How to Cook.
One pint of milk, One pint of cream, One ounce of isinglass,
The grated rind and juice of one lemon, Sugar to the taste.
Boil the milk and pour it whilst hot over the isinglass, let it stand near the fire until it is perfectly dissolved, then strain it through a flannel jelly bag into the pint of cream, to which add the grated rind and juice of one lemon, and sugar to the taste. Let the whole boil once; take it off the fire, strain it again through your jelly bag, and pour it in moulds. Set it in a cool place.
Boil four calves' feet in three quarts of water until the water is reduced to one quart, then strain it through a flannel jelly bag and stand it away to cool. When it is perfectly cold scrape off all the fat, which will be congealed in a cake on the top; after you have scraped all off as clean as you can get it, take a piece of clean damp sponge, or soft cloth a little damp, and wipe the top of the jelly and the inner edge of the vessel which contains it, lest any of the grease should be combined with the jelly when it is melted, as it would destroy its transparency. Break the jelly in pieces, put it in a preserving pan, add to it one pound of pulverized white sugar, half an ounce of bitter almonds pounded in a mortar with a little rose-water; put the almonds in the mortar one at a time, so as to pound them very finely, they should be like cream when done; strain them and add them to the jelly with a table spoonful of rose-water. Place the preserving pan in a vessel of boiling water, let it stand till it gets very hot, but do not let it boil. Strain it through the jelly bag several times, and when perfectly clear pour it in moulds; wet them inside first to prevent the jelly from adhering to them, and stand them in a cold place. When you strain the jelly do not squeeze the bag, as by that means you force the sediment through it; and by no means wash it, as it is impossible to wring it perfectly dry, and consequently the jelly will be thinned; scrape it on the in-side as clean as you can each time.
 
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