Fried Bacon

Select a piece of streaky or back and trim off the rind, bone and smoky portions before slicing. Cook in a fryingpan until the fat is transparent and the lean lightly browned on both sides and crisp. Drain on paper, and serve.

Preparing Bacon For Breakfast

The bacon must be fresh and in fine condition. It is cut with a keen knife, the under bones being cut off, and both edges pared neatly, also the end opposite from the string for hanging it up. Then cut up the requisite number of slices for immediate use, and no more. Thin slices are always preferable, so that the bacon, whether boiled or fried, will be crisp and tasty. When cutting the slices, be careful not to detach the skin; also cut crosswise, but never lengthwise. Arrange on the broiler, and broil over a moderate fire for two minutes on each side. Dress on a hot dish, serving at once. Four minutes is plenty of time for the frying.

Bacon Salted, Dried And Smoked

The previous description applies precisely with regard to the salting and drying. The next step is the smoking. The smoke is generally that of burning wood or straw, hickory chips or corncobs. Woods containing resins, such as pine, are not advisable, as they would give an unpleasant flavor to the bacon. They are usually dried slowly over the smoke made by burning sawdust, oak or beach, the fire being kept night and day by smothering with dry sawdust. The flitches should be hung up high until quite dry, but not so hard that the rind begins to peel off. Sometimes the rubbing over the flitch with bran is advocated, although not especially recommended, as it encourages flies to settle on it. This may be prevented by wrapping in bags before they are suspended.

Bacon With Macaroni

Place a couple of ounces of macaroni with a little well seasoned stock in a saucepan, and simmer gently on the side of the fire until quite tender, which will take about an hour, but care should be taken that it is not allowed to become overdone or pulpy. Add a little streaky bacon boiled and cut into squares, and a small lump of butter. Toss the pan over the fire for a few moments, seasoning with salt and pepper, then turn onto a dish, and serve very hot.

Baked Pork

The skin, if left on, should be well scraped with a dull knife, and afterwards wiped thoroughly with a wet cloth and scored into little squares. If, however, the skin has been removed trim off some of the loose fat, cut out the chine or backbone, disjointing it from the ends of the ribs so that it may facilitate the carving of the meat. Place in a drippingpan a few slices of carrot, turnip and onion, together with a dozen cloves, whole, a teaspoonful of peppercorns and a few leaves of parsley or celery; lay the pork upon the vegetables, place the pan in a moderate oven and cook to a brown, when it may be seasoned with salt, pepper and pounded sage, and finish the cooking, allowing about fifteen minutes to each pound of the meat. One hour before the pork is done prepare the garnish as follows: Procure a dozen peeled white onions, break the layers apart and put them in a pan, with a teaspoonful each of sugar and butter, with a little salt and pepper, set the pan in the oven, occasionally shaking it, in order to move the onions about and insure their browning with uniformity; after the onions have been prepared wash four sour apples, quarter them, and remove the cores, put them into a pan with barely enough water in to cover, and a tablespoonful of butter on each and bake them until they are tender, but do not allow them to become broken, and keep both the onions and apples hot, serving them with the pork. When the meat is done place it on a hot dish and arrange the onions and apples in little groups around it, and serve with a dish of plain-boiled potatoes with brown gravy. The gravy may be prepared by pouring out nearly all of the drippings from the pan in which the pork was cooked, leaving in the scraps of vegetables, set the pan over.the fire and stir in a heaped tablespoonful of flour, cook it until brown and then add a pint of boiling water, gradually a little at a time, season the gravy with salt and pepper and again boil for a moment or two, strain and it is ready for serving with the pork.