Home-Pickled Cucumber

We use a great deal of pickled gherkin and cucumber in most made dishes, so it is much more economical to prepare your own.

Buy the cucumbers when they are full grown, but not yellow; slice them half an inch thick, treat one or two onions in the same way (allowing that quantity to about two or three cucumbers). Cover the slices of cucumber and onion with fine salt, and let them stand all night. In the morning, strain'away all the liquor that has come from the cucumbers; dry them in a cloth. Season as much vinegar, as will cover the pickles, with an ounce of mixed spice and a quarter of nutmeg; when it has boiled, pour it at once over the cucumbers, and cover the jar closely. Three days afterwards, drain the liquor from the cucumbers and reboil, again pour it into the jar over the cucumbers, and reboil it; do the same a third time; see they are well-covered, then cover the jar with a bladder and brown paper.

Pickled Barberries

Mix the same quantity of distilled water and white wine vinegar together; put it into a clean pan; to every quart pf this liquor put eight ounces of sugar; set the pan over the fire, and throw in a few of the barberries, well bruised. Let it boil for half an hour; strain, and when nearly cold, pour it over the barberries, in a glass jar; tie over all a piece of bladder and brown paper.

Hints On Mushroom Pickling

There are many ways to pickle mushrooms, but a safe way to keep them, when they have been pickled, is to pour enough oil on them to cover to about an inch in depth; this must be done when they are quite cold.

Home-Made White Wine For Cooking

To three gallons of water put eight pounds of Lisbon sugar, and boil for half an hour, skimming well the whole time. Then take a gallon of white currants (picked), pour the boiling hot liquor over them, but do not crush the currants.

When the wine is just warm, put into it a round of toast, spread with brewer's barm, not yeast; keep it working for two days, and then strain through a flannel bag.

Put it into a barrel, just large enough to contain it, and throw in an ounce of isinglass. Swinborne's is the best.

When it has finished working, cover the jar closely for a week, then bottle, and into each bottle put a lump of the best white sugar. Cork tightly.

This will be found to be a very capital wine for cooking purposes.

Curry Powder

You may have to prepare curries, so I will give you a few words of counsel as to their making. It is best to buy the powder, and, in my opinion, the Bombay or Bengal is best Few people seem to know that the principal ingredient in a really well made curry is such fruits as mangoes, (dried or green), tamarinds (salted or fresh), green ginger, lime juice, cocoanut and almonds. Also that a quantity of the milk of cocoanut is much used in the making of gravies for curries.

Pine-Apple Truffle

Peel a ripe pine-apple, cut it into slices, lay it in a deep glass dish, then cover it over with a quarter of a pound of castor sugar. Let it stand for six hours. Just before serving-pour over it a small bottle of sherry, and one of champagne.