Henry Edward Krehbiel - "A Second Book Of Operas"

Eliza Orzeszko (AKA Orzeszkowa) - "The Argonauts"

Edward T. Curnick - "The Kentucky Ranger"

Paul Heyse - "Die Einsamen"

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




You may make molasses candy with almonds blanched and slit into
pieces; stir them in by degrees after the mixture has boiled two
hours and a half. Or you may blanch a quart of ground-nuts and put
them in instead of the almonds.


NOUGAT.

Blanch a pound of shelled sweet almonds; and with an almond
cutter, or a sharp penknife, split each almond into five slips.
Spread them over a large dish, and place them in a gentle oven.
Powder a pound of the finest loaf-sugar, and put it into a
preserving pan without a drop of water. Set it on a chafing-dish
over a slow fire, or on a hot stove, and stir it with a wooden
spoon till the boat has entirely dissolved it. Then take the
almonds out of the oven, and mix with them the juice of two or
three lemons. Put them into the sugar a few at a time, and let
them simmer till it becomes a thick stiff paste, stirring it hard
all the while. Have ready a mould, or a square tin pan, greased
all over the inside with sweet oil; put the mixture into it;
smooth it evenly, and set it in a cold place to harden.


LEMON DROPS.

Squeeze some lemon-juice into a pan. Pound in a mortar some of the
best loaf-sugar, and then sift it through a very fine sieve. Mix
it with the lemon-juice, making it so thick that you can scarcely
stir it. Put it into a porcelain sauce-pan, set it on hot coals,
and stir it with a wooden spoon five minutes or more. Then take
off the pan, and with the point of a knife drop the liquid on
writing paper. When cold, the drops will easily come off.

Peppermint drops may be made as above, substituting for the lemon-juice
essence of peppermint.




WARM CAKES FOR BREAKFAST AND TEA.


BUCKWHEAT CAKES.

Take a quart of buckwheat meal, mix with it a tea-spoonful of
salt, and add a handful of Indian meal. Pour a large table-spoonful
of the best brewer's yeast into the centre of the meal.
Then mix it gradually with cold water till it becomes a batter.
Cover it, put it in a warm place and set it to rise; it will take
about three hours. When it is quite light, and covered with
bubbles, it is fit to bake. Put your griddle over the fire, and
let it get quite hot before you begin. Grease it well with a piece
of butter tied in a rag. Then dip out a large ladle full of the
batter and bake it on the griddle; turning it with a broad wooden
paddle. Let the cakes be of large size, and even at the edges.
Ragged edges to batter cakes look very badly. Butter them as you
take them off the griddle. Put several on a plate, and cut them
across in six pieces.

Grease the griddle anew, between baking each cake.

If your batter has been mixed over night and is found to be sour
in the morning, melt in warm water a piece of pearl-ash the size
of a grain of corn, or a little larger; stir it into the batter;
let it set half an hour, and then bake it. The pearl-ash will
remove the sour taste, and increase the lightness of the cakes.


FLANNEL CAKES.

Put a table-spoonful of butter into a quart of milk, and warm them
together till the butter has melted; then stir it well, and set it
away to cool. Beat five eggs as light as possible, and stir them
into the milk in turn with three pints of sifted flour; add a
small tea-spoonful of salt, and a large table-spoonful and a half
of the best fresh yeast. Set the pan of batter near the fire to
rise; and if the yeast is good, it will be light in three hours.
Then bake it on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat cakes. Send
them to table hot, and cut across into four pieces. This batter
may be baked in waffle-irons. If so, send to table with the cakes
powdered white sugar and cinnamon.


INDIAN BATTER CAKES.

Mix together a quart of sifted Indian meal, (the yellow meal is
best for all purposes,) and a handful of wheat flour. Warm a quart
of milk, and stir into it a small tea-spoonful of salt, and two
large table-spoonfuls of the best fresh yeast. Beat three eggs
very light, and stir them gradually into the milk in turn with the
meal. Cover it, and set it to rise for three or four hours. When
quite light, bake it on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat
cakes. Butter them, cut them across, and send them to table hot,
with molasses in a sauce-boat.

If the batter should chance to become sour before it is baked,
stir in about a salt-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in a little
lukewarm water; and let it set half an hour longer before it is
baked.


INDIAN MUSH CAKES.

Pour into a pan three pints of cold water, and stir gradually into
it a quart of sifted Indian meal which has been mixed with half a
pint of wheat flour, and a small tea-spoonful of salt. Give it a
hard stirring at the last. Have ready a hot griddle, and bake the
batter immediately, in cakes about the size of a saucer. Send them
to table piled evenly, but not cut. Eat them with butter or
molasses.

This is the most economical and expeditious way of making soft
Indian cakes; but it cannot be recommended as the best. It will be
some improvement to mix the meal with milk rather than water.


JOHNNY CAKE.

Sift a quart of Indian meal into a pan; make a hole in the middle,
and pour in a pint of warm water. Mix the meal and water gradually
into a batter, adding a small tea-spoonful of salt. Beat it very
hard, and for a long time, till it becomes quite light. Then
spread it thick and even on a stout piece of smooth board. Place
it upright on the hearth before a clear fire, with a flat iron or
something of the sort to support the board behind, and bake it
well. Cut it into squares, and split and butter them hot.


INDIAN FLAPPERS.

Have ready a pint of sifted Indian meal, mixed with a handful of
wheat flour, and a small tea-spoonful of salt. Beat four eggs very
light, and stir them by degrees into a quart of milk, in turn with
the meal. They can be made in a very short time, and should be
baked as soon as mixed, on a hot griddle; allow a large ladle full
of batter to each cake, and make them all of the same size. Send
them to table hot, buttered and cut in half.


INDIAN MUFFINS.

Sift and mix together a pint and a half of yellow Indian meal, and
a handful of wheat flour. Melt a quarter of a pound of fresh
butter in a quart of milk. Beat four eggs very light, and stir
into them alternately (a little at a time of each) the milk when
it is quite cold, and the meal; adding a small tea-spoonful of
salt. The whole must be beaten long and hard. Then butter some
muffin rings; set them on a hot griddle, and pour some of the
batter into each.

Send the muffins to table hot, and split them by pulling them open
with your fingers, as a knife will make them heavy. Eat them with
butter, molasses or honey.


WATER MUFFINS.

Put four table-spoonfuls of fresh strong yeast into a pint of
lukewarm water. Add a little salt; about a small tea-spoonful;
then stir in gradually as much sifted flour as will make a thick
batter. Cover the pan, and set it in a warm place to rise. When it
is quite light, and your griddle is hot, grease and set your
muffin rings on it; having first buttered them round the inside.
Dip out a ladle full of the batter for each ring, and bake them
over a quick fire. Send them to table hot, and split them by
pulling open with your hands.


COMMON MUFFINS.

Having melted three table-spoonfuls of fresh butter in three pints
of warm milk, set it away to cool. Then beat three eggs as light
as possible, and stir them gradually into the milk when it is
quite cold; adding a tea-spoonful of salt. Stir in by degrees
enough of sifted flour to make a batter as thick as you can
conveniently beat it; and lastly, add two table-spoonfuls of
strong fresh yeast from the brewery. Cover the batter and set it
in a warm place to rise. It should be light in about three hours.
Having heated your griddle, grease it with some butter tied in a
rag; grease your muffin rings round the inside, and set them on
the griddle. Take some batter out of the pan with a ladle or a
large spoon, pour it lightly into the rings, and bake the muffins
of a light brown. When done, break or split them open with your
fingers; butter them and send them to table hot.


SODA BISCUITS.

Melt half a pound of butter in a pint of warm milk, adding a tea-spoonful
of soda; and stir in by degrees half a pound of sugar.
Then sift into a pan two pounds of flour; make a hole in the
middle; pour in the milk, &c., and mix it with the flour into a
dough. Put it on your paste-board, and knead it long and hard till
it becomes very light. Roll it out into a sheet half an inch
thick. Cut it into little round cakes with the top of a wine
glass, or with a tin cutter of that size; prick the tops; lay them
on tins sprinkled with flour, or in shallow iron pans; and bake
them of a light brown in a quick oven; they will be done in a few
minutes. These biscuits keep very well.


A SALLY LUNN.

This cake is called after the inventress. Sift into a pan a pound
and a half of flour. Make a hole in the middle, and put in two
ounces of butter warmed in a pint of milk, a salt-spoonful of
salt, three well-beaten eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of the best
fresh yeast. Mix the flour well into the other ingredients, and
put the whole into a square tin pan that has been greased with
butter. Cover it, set it in a warm place, and when it is quite
light, bake it in a moderate oven. Send it to table hot, and eat
it with butter.

Or, you may bake it on a griddle, in small muffin rings, pulling
the cakes open and buttering them when brought to table.


SHORT CAKES.

Rub three quarters of a pound of fresh butter into a
pound and a half of sifted flour; and make it into a dough with a
little cold water. Roll it out into a sheet half an inch thick,
and cut it into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler. Prick them
with a fork; lay them in a shallow iron pan sprinkled with flour,
and bake them in a moderate oven till they are brown. Send them to
table hot; split and butter them.


TEA BISCUIT.

Melt a quarter of a
pound of fresh butter in a quart of warm milk, and add a salt-spoonful
of salt. Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, make a hole
in the centre, and put in three table-spoonfuls of the best
brewer's yeast. Add the milk and butter and mix it into a stiff
paste. Cover it and set it by the fire to rise. When quite light,
knead it well, roll it out an inch thick, and cut it into round
cakes with the edge of a tumbler. Prick the top of each with a
fork; lay them in buttered pans and bake them light brown. Send
them to table warm, and split and butter them.


RICE CAKES.

Pick
and wash half a pint of rice, and boil it very soft. Then drain
it, and let it get cold. Sift a pint and a half of flour over the
pan of rice, and mix in a quarter of a pound of butter that has
been warmed by the fire, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Beat five
eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a quart of milk.
Beat the whole very hard, and bake it in muffin rings, or in
waffle-irons. Send them to table hot, and eat them with butter,
honey, or molasses. You may make these cakes of rice flour instead
of mixing together whole rice and wheat flour.


CREAM CAKES.

Having
beaten three eggs very light, stir them into a quart of cream
alternately with a quart of sifted flour; and add one wine glass
of strong yeast, and a salt-spoon of salt. Cover the batter, and
set it near the fire to rise. When it is quite light, stir in a
large table-spoonful of butter that has been warmed by the fire.
Bake the cakes in muffin rings, and send them to table hot, split
with your fingers, and buttered.


FRENCH ROLLS.

Sift a pound of
flour into a pan, and rub into it two ounces of butter; mix in the
whites only of three eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, and a table-spoonful
of strong yeast; add sufficient milk to make a stiff
dough, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Cover it and set it before the
fire to rise. It should be light in an hour. Then put it on a
paste-board, divide it into rolls, or round cakes; lay them in a
floured square pan, and bake them about ten minutes in a quick
oven.


COMMON ROLLS.

Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, and mix
with it a tea-spoonful of salt. Warm together a jill of water and
a jill of milk. Make a hole in the middle of the pan of flour; mix
with the milk and water a jill of the best yeast, and pour it into
the hole. Mix into the liquid enough of the surrounding flour to
make a thin batter, which you must stir till quite smooth and free
from lumps. Then strew a handful of flour over the top, and set it
in a warm, place to rise for two hours or more. When it is quite
light, and has cracked on the top, make it into a dough with some
more milk and water. Knead it well for ten minutes. Cover it, and
set it again to rise for twenty minutes. Then make the dough into
rolls or round balls. Bake them in a square pan, and send them to
table hot, cut in three, buttered and put together again.

BREAD.


Take one peck or two gallons of fine wheat flour, and sift it into
a kneading trough, or into a small clean tub, or a large broad
earthen pan; and make a deep hole in the middle of the heap of
flour, to begin the process by what is called setting a sponge.
Have ready half a pint of warm water, which in summer should be
only lukewarm, but even in winter it must not be hot or boiling,
and stir it well into half a pint of strong fresh yeast; (if the
yeast is home-made you must use from three quarters to a whole
pint;) then pour it into the hole in the middle of the flour. With
a spoon work in the flour round the edges of the liquid, so as to
bring in by degrees sufficient flour to form a thin batter, which
must be well stirred about, for a minute or two. Then take a
handful of flour, and scatter it thinly over the top of this
batter, so as to cover it entirely. Lay a warmed cloth over the
whole, and set it to rise in a warm place; in winter put it nearer
the fire than in summer. When the batter has risen so as to make
cracks in the flour on the top, scatter over it three or four
table-spoonfuls (not more) of fine salt, and begin to form the
whole mass into a dough; commencing round the hole containing the
batter, and pouring as much soft water as is necessary to make the
flour mix with the batter; the water must never be more than
lukewarm. When the whole is well mixed, and the original batter
which is to give fermentation to the dough is completely
incorporated with it, knead it hard, turning it over, pressing it,
folding it, and working it thoroughly with your clenched hands for
twenty minutes or half an hour; or till it becomes perfectly light
and stiff. The goodness of bread depends much on the kneading,
which to do well requires strength and practice. When it has been
sufficiently worked, form the dough into a lump in the middle of
the trough or pan, and scatter a little dry flour thinly over it;
then cover it, and set it again in a warm place to undergo a
farther fermentation; for which, if all has been done rightly,
about twenty minutes or half an hour will be sufficient. The oven
should be hot by the time the dough has remained twenty minutes in
the lump. If it is a brick oven it should be heated by faggots or
small light wood, allowed to remain in till burnt down into coals.
When the bread is ready, clear out the coals, and sweep and wipe
the floor of the oven clean. Introduce nothing wet into the oven,
as it may crack the bricks when they are hot. Try the heat of the
bottom by throwing in some flour; and if it scorches and burns
black, do not venture to put in the bread till the oven has had
time to become cooler. Put the dough on the paste-board, (which
must be sprinkled with flour,) and divide it into loaves, forming
them of a good shape. Place them in the oven, and close up the
door, which you may open once or twice to see how the bread is
going on. The loaves will bake in from two hours and a half to
three hours, or more, according to their size. When the loaves are
done, wrap each in a clean coarse towel, and stand them up on end
to cool slowly. It is a good way to have the cloths previously
made damp by sprinkling them plentifully with water, and letting
them lie awhile rolled up tightly. This will make the crust of the
bread less dry and hard. Bread should be kept always wrapped in a
cloth, and covered from the air in a box or basket with a close
lid. Unless you have other things to bake at the same time, it is
not worth while to heat a brick oven for a small quantity of
bread. Two or three loaves can be baked very well in a stove,
(putting them into square iron pans,) or in a Dutch oven.
[Footnote: If you bake bread in a Dutch oven, take off the lid
when the loaf is done, and let it remain in the oven uncovered for
a quarter of an hour.] If the bread has been mixed over night
(which should never be done in warm weather) and is found, on
tasting it, to be sour in the morning, melt a tea-spoonful of
pearl-ash in a little milk-warm water, and sprinkle it over the
dough; let it set half an hour, and then knead it. This will
remove the acidity, and rather improve the bread in lightness. If
dough is allowed to freeze it is totally spoiled. All bread that
is sour, heavy, or ill-baked is not only unpalatable, but
extremely unwholesome, and should never be eaten. These accidents
so frequently happen when bread is made at home by careless,
unpractised or incompetent persons, that families who live in
cities or towns will generally risk less and save more, by
obtaining their bread from a professional baker. If you like a
little Indian in your wheat bread, prepare rather a larger
quantity of warm water for setting the sponge; stirring into the
water, while it is warming, enough of sifted Indian meal to make
it like thin gruel. Warm water that has had pumpkin boiled in it
is very good for bread. Strong fresh yeast from the brewery should
always be used in preference to any other. If the yeast is home-made,
or not very strong and fresh, double or treble the quantity
mentioned in the receipt will be necessary to raise the bread. On
the other hand, if too much yeast is put in, the bread will be
disagreeably bitter. [Footnote: If you are obliged from its want
of strength to put in a large quantity of yeast, mix with it two
or three handfuls of bran; add the warm water to it, and then
strain it through a sieve or cloth; or you may correct the
bitterness by putting in a few bits of charcoal and then straining
it.] You may take off a portion of the dough that has been
prepared for bread, make it up into little round cakes or rolls,
and bake them for breakfast or tea.


BRAN BREAD.

Sift into a pan
three quarts of unbolted wheat meal. Stir a jill of strong yeast,
and a jill of molasses into a quart of soft water, (which must be
warm but not hot,) and add a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash, or
sal-aratus. Make a hole in the heap of flour, pour in the liquid,
and proceed in the usual manner of making bread. This quantity may
be made into two loaves. Bran bread is considered very wholesome;
and is recommended to persons afflicted with dyspepsia.


RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.

Sift two quarts of rye, and two quarts of Indian meal, and mix
them well together. Boil three pints of milk; pour it boiling hot
upon the meal; add two tea-spoonfuls of salt, and stir the whole
very hard. Let it stand till it becomes of only a lukewarm heat,
and then stir in half a pint of good fresh yeast; if from the
brewery and quite fresh, a smaller quantity will suffice. Knead
the mixture into a stiff dough, and set it to rise in a pan. Cover
it with a thick cloth that has been previously warmed, and set it
near the fire. When it is quite light, and has cracked all over
the top, make it into two loaves, put them into a moderate oven,
and bake them two hours and a half.


COMMON YEAST.

Put a large handful of hops into two quarts of boiling water,
which must then be set on the fire again, and boiled twenty
minutes with the hops. Have ready in a pan three pints of sifted
flour; strain the liquid, and pour half of it on the flour. Let
the other half stand till it becomes cool, and then mix it
gradually into the pan with the flour, &c. Then stir into it half
a pint of good strong yeast, fresh from the brewery if possible;
if not, use some that was left of the last making. You may
increase the strength by stirring into your yeast before you
bottle it, four or five large tea-spoonfuls of brown sugar, or as
many table-spoonfuls of molasses.

Put it into clean bottles, and cork them loosely till the
fermentation is over. Next morning put in the corks tightly, and
set the bottles in a cold place. When you are going to bottle the
yeast it will be an improvement to place two or three raisins at
the bottom of each bottle. It is best to make yeast very
frequently; as, with every precaution, it will scarcely keep good
a week, even in cold weather. If you are apprehensive of its
becoming sour, put into each bottle a lump of pearl-ash the size
of a hazle-nut.


BRAN YEAST.

Mix a pint of wheat bran, and a handful of hops with a quart of
water, and boil them together about twenty minutes. Then strain it
through a sieve into a pan; when the liquid becomes only milk-warm,
stir into it four table-spoonfuls of brewer's yeast, and two
of brown sugar, or four of molasses. Put it into a wooden bowl,
cover it, and set it near the fire for four or five hours. Then
bottle it, and cork it tightly next day.


PUMPKIN YEAST.

Pare a fine ripe pumpkin, and cut it into pieces. Put them into a
kettle with a large handful of hops, and as much water as will
cover them. Boil them till the pumpkin is soft enough to pass
through a cullender. Having done this, put the pulp into a stone
jar, adding half a pint of good strong yeast to set it into a
fermentation. The yeast must be well stirred into the pumpkin.
Leave the jar uncovered till next day; then secure it lightly with
a cork. If pumpkin yeast is well made, and of a proper
consistence, neither too thick nor too thin, it will keep longer
than any other.


BAKER'S YEAST.

To a gallon of soft water put two quarts of wheat bran, one quart
of ground malt, (which may be obtained from a brewery,) and two
handfuls of hops. Boil them together for half an hour. Then strain
it through a sieve, and let it stand till it is cold; after which
put to it two large tea-cups of molasses, and half a pint of
strong yeast. Pour it into a stone jug, and let it stand uncorked
till next morning. Then pour off the thin liquid from the top, and
cork the jug tightly. When you are going to use the yeast, if it
has been made two or three days, stir in a little pearl-ash
dissolved in warm water, allowing a lump the size of a hickory-nut
to a pint of yeast. This will correct any tendency to sourness,
and make the yeast more brisk.


TO MAKE BUTTER.

Scald your milk pans every day after washing them; and let them
set till the water gets cold. Then wipe them with a clean cloth.
Fill them all with cold water half an hour before milking time,
and do not pour it out till the moment before you are ready to use
the pans. Unless all the utensils are kept perfectly sweet and
nice, the cream and butter will never be good. Empty milk-pans
should stand all day in the sun.

When you have strained the milk into the pans, (which should be
broad and shallow,) place them in the spring-house, setting them
down in the water. After the milk has stood twenty-four hours,
skim off the cream, and deposits it in a large deep earthen jar,
commonly called a crock, which must be kept closely covered, and
stirred up with a stick at least twice a day, and whenever you add
fresh cream to it. This stirring is to prevent the butter from
being injured by the skin that will gather over the top of the
cream.

You should churn at least twice a week, for if the cream is
allowed to stand too long, the butter will inevitably have a odd
taste. Add to the cream the strippings of the milk. Butter of only
two or three days gathering is the best. With four or five good
cows, you may easily manage to have a churning every three days.
If your dairy is on a large scale, churn every two days.

Have your churn very clean, and rinse and cool it with cold water.
A barrel churn is best; though a small upright one, worked by a
staff or dash, will do very well where there are but one or two
cows.

Strain the cream from the crock into the churn, and put on the
lid. Move the handle slowly in warm weather, as churning too fast
will make the butter soft. When you find that the handle moves
heavily and with great difficulty, the butter has come; that is,
it has separated from the thin fluid and gathered into a lump, and
it then is not necessary to churn any longer. Take it out with a
wooden ladle, and put it into a small tub or pail. Squeeze and
press it hard with the ladle, to get out all that remains of the
milk. Add a little salt, and then squeeze and work It for a long
time. If any of the milk is allowed to remain in, it will speedily
turn sour and spoil the butter. Set it away in a cool place for
three hours, and then work it over again. [Footnote: A marble slab
or table will be found of great advantage in working and making up
butter.] Wash it in cold water; weigh it; make it up into separate
pounds, smoothing, and shaping it; and clap each pound on your
wooden butter print, dipping the print every time in cold water.
Spread a clean linen cloth on a bench in the spring-house; place
the butter on it, and let it set till it becomes perfectly hard.
Then wrap each pound in a separate piece of linen that has been
dipped in cold water.

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