E. Nesbit - "The Incomplete Amorist"

L. Frank Baum - "The Patchwork Girl of Oz"

John Mavrogordato - "The World in Chains"

Various - "Up To Date Business"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches

E >> Eliza Leslie >> Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches





RADISH PODS.

Gather sprigs or bunches of radish pods while they are young and
tender, but let the pods remain on the sprigs; it not being the
custom to pick them off. Put them into strong salt and water, and
let them stand two days. Then drain and wipe them and put them
into a clean stone jar. Boil an equal quantity of vinegar and
water. Pour it over the radish pods while hot, and cover them
closely to keep in the steam. Repeat this frequently through the
day till they are very green. Then pour off the vinegar and water,
and boil for five minutes some very strong vinegar, with a little
bit of alum, and pour it over them. Put them into a stone jar,
(and having added some whole mace, whole pepper, a little tumeric
and a little sweet oil,) cork it closely, and tie over it a
leather or oil-cloth.


GREEN BEANS.

Take young green or French beans; string them, but do not cut them
in pieces. Pat them in salt and water for two days, stirring them
frequently. Then put them into a kettle with vine or cabbage
leaves under, over, and all round them, (adding a little piece of
alum.) Cover them closely to keep in the steam, and let them hang
over a slow fire till they are a fine green.

Having drained them in a sieve, make for them a pickle of strong
vinegar, and boil in it for five minutes, some mace, whole pepper,
and sliced ginger tied up in a thin muslin bag. Pour it hot upon
the beans, put them into a stone jar, and tie them up.


PARSLEY.

Make a brine of salt and water strong enough to bear an egg, and
throw into it a large quantity of curled parsley, tied up in
little bunches with a thread. After it has stood a week (stirring
it several times a day) take it out, drain it well, and lay it for
three days in cold spring or pump-water, changing the water daily.
Then scald it in hard water, and hang it, well covered, over a
slow fire till it becomes green. Afterwards take it out, and drain
and press it till quite dry.

Boil for five minutes a quart of strong vinegar with a small bit
of alum, a few blades of mace, a sliced nutmeg, and a few slips of
horseradish. Pour it on the parsley, and put it away in a stone
jar.


MANGOES.

Take very young oval shaped musk-melons. Cut a round piece out of
the top or side of each, (saving the piece to put on again,) and
extract the seeds. Then (having tied on the pieces with
packthread) put them into strong salt and water for two days.
Afterwards drain and wipe them, put them into a kettle with vine
leaves or cabbage leaves under and over them, and a little piece
of alum, and hang them on a slow fire to green; keeping them
closely covered to retain the steam, which will greatly accelerate
the greening. When they are quite green, have ready the stuffing,
which must be a mixture of scraped horseradish, white mustard
seed, mace and nutmeg pounded, race ginger cut small, pepper,
tumeric and sweet oil. Fill your mangoes with this mixture,
putting a small clove of garlic into each, and replacing the
pieces at the openings; tie them with a packthread crossing
backwards and forwards round the mango. Put them into stone jars,
pour boiling vinegar over them, and cover them well. Before you
put them on the table remove the packthread.


NASTURTIANS.

Have ready a stone or glass jar of the best cold vinegar. Take the
green seeds of the nasturtian after the flower has gone off. They
should be full-grown but not old. Pick off the stems, and put the
seeds into the vinegar. No other preparation is necessary, and
they will keep a year with nothing more than sufficient cold
vinegar to cover them. With boiled mutton they are an excellent
substitute for capers.


MORELLA CHERRIES.

See that all your cherries are perfect. Remove the stems, and put
the cherries into a jar or glass with sufficient vinegar to cover
them well. They will keep perfectly in a cool dry place.

They are very good, always retaining the taste of the cherry. If
you cannot procure morellas, the large red pie-cherries may be
substituted.


PEACHES.

Take, fine large peaches (either cling or free stones) that are
not too ripe. Wipe off the down with a clean flannel, and put the
peaches whole into a stone jar. Cover them with cold vinegar of
the best kind, in which you have dissolved a little of salt,
allowing a table-spoonful to a quart of vinegar. Put a cork in the
jar and tie leather or oil-cloth over it.

Plums and grapes may be pickled thus in cold vinegar, but without
salt.


BARBERRIES.

Have ready a jar of cold vinegar, and put into it ripe barberries
in bunches. They make a pretty garnish for the edges of dishes.


TO PICKLE GREEN PEPPERS.

The bell pepper is the best for pickling, and should be gathered
when quite young. Slit one side, and carefully take out the core,
so as not to injure the shell of the pepper. Then put them into
boiling salt and water, changing the water every day for one week,
and keeping them closely covered in a warm place near the fire.
Stir them several times a day. They will first become yellow, and
then green. When they are a fine green put them into a jar, and
pour cold vinegar over them, adding a small piece of alum.

They require no spice.

You may stuff the peppers as you do mangoes.


TO PICKLE BUTTERNUTS.

These nuts are in the best state for pickling when the shell is
soft, and when they are so young that the outer skin can be
penetrated by the head of a pin. They should be gathered when the
sun is hot upon them.

If you have a large quantity, the easiest way to prepare them for
pickling is to put them into a tub with sufficient lye to cover
them, and to stir and rub them about with a hickory broom, till
they are clean and smooth on the outside. This is much less
trouble than scraping them, and is not so likely to injure the
nuts. Another method is to scald them, and then to rub off the
outer skin. Put the nuts into strong salt and water for nine or
ten days; changing the water every other day, and keeping them
closely covered from the air. Then drain and wipe them, (piercing
each nut through in several places with a large needle,) and
prepare the pickle as follows:--For a hundred large nuts, take of
black pepper and ginger root of each an ounce; and of cloves, mace
and nutmeg of each a half ounce. Pound all the spices to powder,
and mix them well together, adding two large spoonfuls of mustard
seed. Put the nuts into jars, (having first stuck each of them
through in several places with a large needle,) strewing the
powdered seasoning between every layer of nuts. Boil for five
minutes a gallon of the best white wine vinegar, and pour it
boiling hot upon the nuts. Secure the jars closely with corks and
leathers. You may begin to eat the nuts in a fortnight.

Walnuts may be pickled in the same manner.


TO PICKLE WALNUTS BLACK.

The walnuts should he gathered while young and soft, (so that you
can easily run a pin through them,) and when the sun is upon them.
Rub them with a coarse flannel or tow cloth to get off the fur of
the outside. Mix salt and water strong enough to bear an egg, and
let them lie in it nine days, (changing it every two days,) and
stirring them, frequently. Then take them out, drain them, spread
them on large dishes, and expose them to the air about ten
minutes, which will cause them to blacken the sooner. Scald them
in boiling water, (but do not let them lie in it,) and then rub
them with a coarse woollen cloth, and pierce everyone through in
several places with a large needle, (that the pickle may penetrate
them thoroughly.) Put them into stone jars, and prepare the spice
and vinegar. To a hundred walnuts allow a gallon of vinegar, an
ounce of cloves, an ounce of allspice, an ounce of black pepper,
half an ounce of mace, and half an ounce of nutmeg. Boil the spice
in the vinegar for five or six minutes; then, strain the vinegar,
and pour it boiling hot over the walnuts. Tie up in a thin muslin
rag, a tea-cupful of mustard seed, and a large table-spoonful of
scraped horseradish, and put it into the jars with the walnuts.
Cover them closely with corks and leathers.

Another way of pickling walnuts black, is (after preparing them as
above) to put them into jars with the spices pounded and strewed
among them, and then to pour over them strong cold vinegar.


WALNUTS PICKLED WHITE.

Take large young walnuts while their shells are quite soft so that
you can stick the head of a pin into them. Pare them very thin
till the white appears; and as you do them, throw them into spring
or pump water in which some salt has been dissolved. Let them
stand in that water six hours, with a thin board upon them to keep
them down under the water. Fill a porcelain kettle with fresh
spring water, and set it over a clear fire, or on a charcoal
furnace. Put the walnuts into the kettle, cover it, and let them
simmer (but not boil) for five or six minutes. Then have ready a
vessel with cold spring water and salt, and put your nuts into it,
taking them out of the kettle with a wooden ladle. Let them stand
in the cold salt and water for a quarter of an hour, with the
board keeping them down as before; for if they rise above the
liquor, or are exposed to the air, they will be discoloured. Then
take, them out, and lay them on a cloth covered with another, till
they are quite dry. Afterwards rub them carefully with a soft
flannel, and put them into a stone jar; laying among them blades
of mace, and sliced nutmeg, but no dark-coloured spice. Pour over
them the best distilled vinegar, and put on the top a
table-spoonful of sweet oil.


WALNUTS PICKLED GREEN.

Gather them while the shells are very soft, and rub them all with
a flannel. Then wrap them singly in vine leaves, lay a few vine
leaves in the bottom of a large stone jar, put in the walnuts,
(seeing that each of them is well wrapped up so as not to touch
one another,) and cover them with a thick layer of leaves. Fill up
the jar with strong vinegar, cover it closely, and let it stand
three weeks. Then pour off the vinegar, take out the walnuts,
renew all the vine leaves, fill up with fresh vinegar, and let
them stand three weeks longer. Then again pour off the vinegar,
and renew the vine leaves. This time take the best white wine
vinegar; put salt in it till it will bear an egg, and add to it
mace, sliced nutmeg, and scraped horseradish, in the proportion
of an ounce of each and a gallon of vinegar to a hundred walnuts.
Boil the spice and vinegar about eight minutes, and then pour it
hot on the walnuts. Cover the jar closely with a cork and leather,
and set it away, leaving the vine leaves with the walnuts. When
you take any out for use, disturb the others as little as
possible, and do not put back again any that may be left.

You may pickle butternuts green in the same manner.


TO PICKLE ONIONS.

Take very small onions, and with a sharp knife cut off the stems
as close as possible, and peel off the outer skin. Then put them
into salt and water, and let them stand in the brine for six days;
stirring them daily, and changing the salt and water every two
days. See that they are closely covered. Then put the onions into
jars, and give them a scald in boiling salt and water. Let them
stand till they are cold; then drain them on a sieve, wipe them,
stick a clove in the top of each and put them into wide-mouthed
bottles; dispersing among them some blades of mace and slices of
ginger or nutmeg. Fill up the bottles with the best white wine
vinegar, and put at the top a large spoonful of salad oil. Cork
the bottles well.


ONIONS PICKLED WHITE.

Peel some very small white onions, and lay them for three days in
salt and water changing the water every day. Then wipe them, and
put them into a porcelain kettle with equal quantities of milk and
water, sufficient to cover them well. Simmer them over a slow
fire, but when just ready to boil take them off, and drain and dry
them, and put them into wide-mouthed glass bottles; interspersing
them with blades of mace. Boil a sufficient quantity of distilled
white wine vinegar to cover them and fill up the bottles, adding
to it a little salt; and when it is cold, pour it into the bottles
of onions. At the top of each bottle put a spoonful of sweet oil.
Set them away closely corked.


TO PICKLE MUSHROOMS WHITE.

Take small fresh-gathered button mushrooms, peel them carefully
with a penknife, and cut off the stems; throwing the mushrooms
into salt and water as you do them. Then put them into a porcelain
skillet of fresh water, cover it closely, and set it over a quick
fire. Boil it as fast as possible for seven or eight minutes, not
more. Take out the mushrooms, drain them, and spread them on a
clean board, with the bottom or hollow side of each mushroom
turned downwards. Do this as quickly as possible, and immediately,
while they are hot, sprinkle them over with salt. When they are
cold, put them into a glass jar with slight layers of mace and
sliced ginger. Fill up the jar with cold distilled or white wine
vinegar. Put a spoonful of sweet oil on the top of each jar, and
cork it closely.


MUSHROOMS PICKLED BROWN.

Take a quart of large mushrooms and (having trimmed off the
stalks) rub them with a flannel cloth dipped in salt. Then lay
them in a pan of allegar or ale vinegar, for a quarter of an hour,
and wash them about in it. Then pat them into a sauce-pan with a
quart of allegar, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, the same of
allspice and whole pepper, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Set the pan
over coals, and let the mushrooms stew slowly for ten minutes,
keeping the pan well covered. Then take them off, let them get
cold by degrees, and put them into small bottles with the allegar
strained from the spice and poured upon them.

It will be prudent to boil an onion with the mushrooms, and if it
turns black or blueish, you may infer that there is a poisonous
one among them; and they should therefore be thrown away. Stir
them for the same reason, with a silver spoon.


TO PICKLE TOMATAS.

Take a peck of tomatas, (the small round ones are best for
pickling,) and prick every one with a fork. Put them into a broad
stone or earthen vessel, and sprinkle salt between every layer of
tomatas. Cover them, and let them remain three days in the salt.
Then put them into vinegar and water mixed in equal quantities,
half and half, and keep them in it twenty-four hours to draw out
the saltness. There must be sufficient of the liquid to cover the
tomatas well.

To a peck of tomatas allow a bottle of mustard, half an ounce of
cloves, and half an ounce of pepper, with a dozen onions sliced
thin. Pack the tomatas in a stone jar, placing the spices and
onions alternately with the layers of tomatas. Put them in till
the jar is two-thirds fall. Then fill it up with strong cold
vinegar, and stop it closely. The pickles will be fit to eat in a
fortnight.

If you do not like onions, substitute for them a larger quantity
of spice.


TOMATA SOY.

For this purpose you must have the best and ripest tomatas, and
they must be gathered on a dry day. Do not peel them, but merely
cut them into slices. Having strewed some salt over the bottom of
a tub, put in the tomatas in layers; sprinkling between each layer
(which, should be about two inches in thickness) a half pint of
salt. Repeat this till you have put in eight quarts or one peck of
tomatas. Cover the tub and let it set for three days. Then early
in the morning, put the tomatas into a large porcelain, kettle,
and boil it slowly and steadily till ten at night, frequently
mashing and stirring the tomatas. Then put it out to cool. Next
morning strain and press it through a sieve, and when no more
liquid will pass through, put it into a clean kettle with two
ounces of cloves, one ounce of mace, two ounces of blade pepper,
and two table-spoonfuls of cayenne, all powdered.

Again let it boil slowly and steadily all day, and put it to cool
in the evening in a large pan. Cover it, and let it set all night.
Next day put it into small bottles, securing the corks by dipping
them in melted rosin, and tying leathers over them.

If made exactly according to these directions, and slowly and
thoroughly boiled, it will keep for years in a cool dry place, and
may be used for many purposes when fresh tomatas are not to be
had.


TO PICKLE CAULIFLOWERS.

Take the whitest and closest full-grown cauliflowers; cut off the
thick stalk, and split the blossom or flower part into eight or
ten pieces. Spread them oh a large dish, sprinkle them with salt,
and let them stand twenty-four hours. Then wash off the salt,
drain them, put them into a broad flat jar or pan, scald them with
salt and water, (allowing a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart
of water,) cover them closely and let them stand in the brine till
next day. Afterwards drain them in a hair sieve, and spread them
on a cloth in a warm place to dry for a day and a night. Then put
them carefully, piece by piece, into clean broad jars and pour
over them a pickle which has been prepared as follows:--Mix
together three ounces of coriander seed, three ounces of turmeric,
one ounce of mustard seed, and one ounce of ginger. Pound the
whole in a mortar to a fine powder. Put it into three quarts of
the best white wine vinegar, set it by the side of the fire in a
stone jar, and let it infuse three days. These are the
proportions, but the quantity of the whole pickle must depend on
the quantity of cauliflower, which must he kept well covered by
the liquid. Pour it over the cauliflower, and secure the jars
closely from the air.

You may pickle brocoli in the same manner. Also the green tops of
asparagus.


TO PICKLE RED CABBAGE.

Take a fine firm cabbage of a deep red or purple colour. Strip off
the outer leaves, and cut out the stalk. Quarter the cabbage
lengthways, and then slice it crossways. Lay it in a deep dish,
sprinkle a handful of salt over it, cover it with another dish,
and let it lie twenty-four hours. Then drain it in a cullender
from the salt, and wipe it dry. Make a pickle of sufficient white
wine vinegar to cover the cabbage well, adding to it equal
quantities of cloves and allspice, with some mace. The spices must
be put in whole, with a little cochineal to give it a good red
colour. Boil the vinegar and spices hard for five minutes, and
having put the cabbage into a stone jar, pour the vinegar over it
boiling hot. Cover the jar with a cloth till it gets cold; and
then put in a large cork, and tie a leather over it.


COLD SLAW. [Footnote: This receipt was accidentally omitted in its
proper place.]

Take a nice fresh cabbage, wash and drain it, and cut off all the
stalk. Shave down the head into very small slips, with a cabbage
cutter, or a very sharp knife. It must be done evenly and nicely.
Put it into a deep china dish, and prepare for it the following
dressing. Melt in a sauce-pan a quarter of a pound of butter, with
half a pint of water, a large table-spoonful of vinegar, a salt-spoon
of salt, and a little cayenne. Give this a boil up, and pour
it hot upon the cabbage.

Send it to table as soon as it is cold.


WARM SLAW.

Cut the cabbage into shavings as for cold slaw; (red cabbage is
best;) and put it into a deep earthen dish. Cover it closely, and
set it on the top of a stove, or in a slack oven for half an hour
till it is warm all through; but do not let it get so heated as to
boil. Then make a mixture as for cold slaw, of a quarter of a
pound of butter, half a pint of water, a little salt and cayenne,
and add to it a clove of garlic minced fine. Boil this mixture in
a sauce-pan, and pour it hot over the warm cabbage. Send it to
table immediately.

This is a French method of dressing cabbage.


EAST INDIA PICKLE.

This is a mixture of various things pickled together, and put into
the same jar.

Have ready a small white cabbage, sliced, and the stalk removed; a
cauliflower cut into neat branches, leaving out the large stalk;
sliced cucumbers; sliced carrots; sliced beets, (all nicked round
the edges;) button-onions; string-beans; radish pods; barberries;
cherries; green grapes; nasturtians; capsicums; bell-peppers, &c.
Sprinkle all these things with salt, put them promiscuously into a
large earthen pan, and pour scalding salt and water over them. Let
them lie in the brine for four days, turning them all over every
day. Then take them out, wash each thing separately in vinegar,
and wipe them carefully in a cloth. Afterwards lay them on sieves
before the fire and dry them thoroughly.

For the pickle liquor.--To every two quarts of the best vinegar,
put an ounce and a half of white ginger root, scraped and sliced;
the same of long pepper; two ounces of peeled shalots, or little
button-onions, cut in pieces; half an ounce of peeled garlic; an
ounce of-turmeric; and two ounces of mustard seed bruised, or of
mustard powder. Let all these ingredients, mixed with the vinegar,
infuse in a close jar for a week, setting in a warm place, or by
the fire. Then (after the vegetables have been properly prepared,
and dried from the brine) put them all into one large stone jar,
or into smaller jars, and strain the pickle over them. The liquid
must be in a large quantity, so as to keep the vegetables well
covered with it, or they will spoil. Put a table-spoonful of sweet
oil on the top of each jar, and secure them well with a large cork
and a leather.

If you find that after awhile the vegetables have absorbed the
liquor, so that there is danger of their not having a sufficiency,
prepare some more seasoned vinegar and pour it over them.

East India pickle is very convenient, and will keep two years. As
different vegetables come into season, you can prepare them with
the salt and water process, and add them to the things already in
the jar. You may put small mangoes into this pickle; also plums,
peaches and apricots.


TO PICKLE OYSTERS FOR KEEPING.

For this purpose take none but the finest and largest oysters.
After they are opened, separate them from their liquor, and put
them into a bucket or a large pan, and pour boiling water upon
them to take out the slime. Stir them about in it, and then take
them out, and rinse them well in cold water. Then put them into a
large kettle with fresh water, barely enough to cover them,
(mixing with it a table-spoonful of salt to every hundred
oysters,) and give them a boil up, just sufficient to plump them.
Take them, out, spread them on large dishes or on a clean table,
and cover them with a cloth. Take the liquor of the oysters, and
with every pint of it mix a quart of the best vinegar, a table-spoonful
of salt, a table-spoonful of whole cloves, the same of
whole black pepper, and a tea-spoonful of whole mace. Put the
liquid over the fire in a kettle, and when it boils throw in the
oysters, and let them remain in it five minutes. Then take the
whole off the fire, stir it up well, and let it stand to get quite
cold. Afterwards (if you have a large quantity) put it into a keg,
which must first be well scalded, (a new keg is best,) and fill it
as full as it can hold. Do not put a weight on the oysters to keep
them down in the liquor, as it will crush them to pieces if the
keg should be moved or conveyed to a distance. If you have not
enough to fill a keg, put them into stone jars when they are
perfectly cold, and cover them securely.




SWEETMEATS.


GENERAL REMARKS.

The introduction of iron ware lined with porcelain has fortunately
almost superseded the use of brass or bell-metal kettles for
boiling sweetmeats; a practice by which the articles prepared in
those pernicious utensils were always more or less imbued with the
deleterious qualities of the verdigris that is produced in them by
the action of acids.

Charcoal furnaces will be found very convenient for preserving;
the kettles being set on the top. They can be used in the open
air. Sweetmeats should be boiled rather quickly, that the watery
particles may exhale at once, without being subjected to so long a
process as to spoil the colour and diminish the flavour of the
fruit. But on the other hand, if boiled too short a time they will
not keep so well.

If you wish your sweetmeats to look bright and clear, use only the
very best loaf-sugar. Fruit may be preserved for family use and
for common purposes, in sugar of inferior quality, but it will
never have a good appearance, and it is also more liable to spoil.

If too small a proportion of sugar is allowed to the fruit, it
will _certainly_ not keep well. When this experiment is tried
it is generally found to be false economy; as sweetmeats, when
they begin to spoil, can only be recovered and made eatable by
boiling them over again with additional sugar; and even then, they
are never so good as if done properly at first. If jellies have
not sufficient sugar, they do not congeal, but will remain liquid.

Jelly bags should be made of white flannel. It is well to have a
wooden stand or frame like a towel horse, to which the bag can be
tied while it is dripping. The bag should first be dipped in hot
water, for if dry it will absorb too much of the juice. After the
liquor is all in, close the top of the bag, that none of the
flavour may evaporate.

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