Timbale Molds

1 teaspoonful melted Crisco 3/4 cupful flour 1 egg 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1/2 cupful milk

Sift flour and salt into bowl, add egg well beaten, milk and Crisco.  Beat five minutes then strain into cup.  Have kettle of Crisco on fire and heat until cube of bread will become golden brown in sixty seconds.  Heat timbale iron in hot Crisco, let stand two or three minutes, then drain and dip into batter to half inch of top of iron; submerge in Crisco and fry until batter is crisp and lightly browned.  Remove from iron and drain on paper.  If batter does not cling to iron, then iron is not hot enough.  If Crisco sizzles considerably, and batter case spreads out and drops from the iron, mold is too hot.  If iron is lowered too far into batter the case will come over top of iron and be difficult to remove.  Creamed dishes of all kinds can be served in these cases.  Cold custards, cooked vegetables, fruits or ices may be also served in the cases.

Sufficient for forty cases.

Vegetable Pie

1/4 cupful melted Crisco 6 potatoes 2 carrots 1 parsnip 1/2 head celery 1 cupful peas 1 egg 1 cupful sliced beans 2 onions 4 tomatoes Pepper and salt to taste Sufficient white vegetable stock to cover 1 teaspoonful powdered herbs

Peel and slice potatoes and partly boil them.  Then prepare parsnip, carrots, celery and onions, and cook them for fifteen minutes.  Grease large fireproof dish and place in all vegetables in layers, with herbs, Crisco, salt and pepper to taste.  Pour in white stock, cover with layer of sliced potatoes and bake in moderate oven for one and a half hours.

Sufficient for one large savory pie.

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EGGS

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When there is any doubt as to the freshness of eggs, they may be tested in various ways.  Quite fresh eggs will sink in a strong brine, and as they become stale they remain suspended at different depths in the brine, until an absolutely stale egg will float.  Successful preservation depends in a great measure upon the condition of the egg at the time of preserving.  Different methods of preserving all aim at the same thing, namely, at coating the porous shell with some substance which will prevent the air entering and setting up decomposition.  See page 30.

When used as food, eggs should be cooked at a low temperature—­about 160 deg.  F., or if in the shell at about 180 deg.  F. The time varies with the size of the egg, from two and a half minutes for poaching a medium-sized egg to four and a half minutes for boiling a large one.  If too much cooked, or at too high a temperature, the white becomes tough, hard, and to many people, indigestible.

When required for salads, garnishing, etc., the eggs must be boiled from ten to twenty minutes, and if the yolks are to be powdered for sprinkling, they must be cooked for a longer time, or the centers will be somewhat tough and elastic, and useless for the purpose.