BEEF.—­Good beef has an open grain, and a tender, oily smoothness; a pleasant carnation color, and clear white suet, betoken good meat; yellow suet is not so good.

PORK.—­If young, the lean will break in pinching, and if you nip the skin with your nails, it will make a dent; the fat will be soft and pulpy, like lard.  If the lean be tough, and the fat flabby and spongy, feeling rough, it is old, especially if the rind be stubborn, and you cannot nip it with your nails.  Little kernels, like nail-shot, in the fat, are a sign that it is measly, and dangerous to be eaten.

To judge of the age of POULTRY, see page 53.

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CARVING.

[WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN FRUGAL HOUSEWIFE.]

TO CARVE A TURKEY.—­Fix the fork firmly on one side of the thin bone that rises in the centre of the breast; the fork should be placed parallel with the bone, and as close to it as possible.  Cut the meat from the breast lengthwise, in slices of about half an inch in thickness.  Then turn the turkey upon the side nearest you, and cut off the leg and the wing; when the knife is passed between the limbs and the body, and pressed outward, the joint will be easily perceived.  Then turn the turkey on the other side, and cut off the other leg and wing.  Separate the drum-sticks from the leg-bones, and the pinions from the wings; it is hardly possible to mistake the joint.  Cut the stuffing in thin slices, lengthwise.  Take off the neck-bones, which are two triangular bones on each side of the breast; this is done by passing the knife from the back under the blade-part of each neck-bone, until it reaches the end; by raising the knife, the other branch will easily crack off.  Separate the carcass from the back by passing the knife lengthwise from the neck downward.  Turn the back upwards, and lay the edge of the knife across the back-bone, about midway between the legs and wings; at the same moment, place the fork within the lower part of the turkey, and lift it up; this will make the back-bone crack at the knife.  The croup, or lower part of the back, being cut off, put it on the plate, with the rump from you, and split off the side-bones by forcing the knife through from the rump to the other end.

The choicest parts of a turkey are the side-bones, the breast, and the thigh-bones.  The breast and wings are called light meat; the thigh-bones and side-bones dark meat.  When a person declines expressing a preference, it is polite to help to both kinds.

A SIRLOIN OF BEEF.—­Place the curving bone downward upon the dish.  Cut the outside lengthwise, separating each slice from the chine-bone, with the point of the knife.  Some people cut through at the chine, slip the knife under, and cut the meat out in one mass, which they afterward cut in slices; but this is not the best, or the most proper way.  The tender loin is on the inside; it is to be cut crosswise.