Stewed pigeons are cooked in nearly the same way, with the omission of the stuffing.  Being dry meat, they require a good deal of butter.

Pigeons should be stuffed and roasted about fifteen minutes before a smart fire.  Those who like birds just warmed through, would perhaps think less time necessary.  It makes them nicer to butter them well just before you take them off the spit, and sprinkle them with nicely pounded bread, or cracker.  All poultry should be basted and floured a few minutes before it is taken up.

The age of pigeons can be judged by the color of the legs.  When young, they are of a pale delicate brown; as they grow older, the color is deeper and redder.

A nice way of serving up cold chicken, or pieces of cold fresh meat, is to make them into a meat pie.  The gizzards, livers, and necks of poultry, parboiled, are good for the same purpose.  If you wish to bake your meat pie, line a deep earthen or tin pan with paste made of flour, cold water, and lard; use but little lard, for the fat of the meat will shorten the crust.  Lay in your bits of meat, or chicken, with two or three slices of salt pork; place a few thin slices of your paste here and there; drop in an egg or two, if you have plenty.  Fill the pan with flour and water, seasoned with a little pepper and salt.  If the meat be very lean, put in a piece of butter, or such sweet gravies as you may happen to have.  Cover the top with crust, and put it in the oven, or bake-kettle, to cook half an hour, or an hour, according to the size of the pie.  Some people think this the nicest way of cooking fresh chickens.  When thus cooked, they should be parboiled before they are put into the pan, and the water they are boiled in should be added.  A chicken pie needs to be cooked an hour and a half, if parboiled; two hours, if not.

If you wish to make a pot pie instead of a baked pie, you have only to line the bottom of a porridge pot with paste, lay in your meat, season and moisten it in the same way, cover it with paste, and keep it slowly stewing about the same time that the other takes.  In both cases, it is well to lift the upper crust, a little while before you take up the pie, and see whether the moisture has dried away; if so, pour in flour and water well mixed, and let it boil up.

Potatoes should be boiled in a separate vessel.

If you have fear that poultry may become musty before you want to cook it, skin an onion, and put in it; a little pepper sprinkled in is good; it should be kept hung up in a dry, cool place.

If poultry is injured before you are aware of it, wash it very thoroughly in pearlash and water, and sprinkle pepper inside when you cook it.  Some people hang up poultry with a muslin bag of charcoal inside.  It is a good plan to singe injured poultry over lighted charcoal, and to hold a piece of lighted charcoal inside, a few minutes.

Many people parboil the liver and gizzard, and cut it up very fine, to be put into the gravy, while the fowls are cooking; in this case, the water they are boiled in should be used to make the gravy.