BOILED CIDER FOR MINCE PIES

In Autumn, when cider was cheap and plentiful on the farm, 3 quarts of cider was boiled down to one, or, in this proportion, for use in mince meat during the Winter.  A quantity prepared in this manner, poured while hot in air-tight jars, will keep indefinitely.

LEMON SYRUP

Boil two cups of granulated sugar and one cup of water together for a few minutes until the sugar is dissolved, then add the juice of six well-scrubbed, medium-sized lemons; let come to a boil and add the grated yellow rind of three of the lemons.  Be careful not to use any of the white skin of the lemons, which is bitter.  Put in air-tight glass jars.  This quantity fills one pint jar.  A couple tablespoonfuls added to a tumbler partly filled with water and chipped ice makes a delicious and quickly prepared drink on a hot day.

EGG NOGG

Add to the stiffly beaten white of one egg the slightly beaten yolk of egg.  Pour into glass tumbler, fill with cold sweet milk, sweeten with sugar to taste and a little grated nutmeg on top or a tablespoonful of good brandy.  This is excellent for a person needing nourishment, and may be easily taken by those not able to take a raw egg in any other form.  The egg nogg will be more easily digested if sipped slowly while eating a cracker or slice of crisply toasted bread.

ROSE WINE

Gather one quart of rose leaves, place in a bowl, pour over one quart of boiling water, let stand nine days, then strain, and to each quart of strained liquid add one pound of granulated sugar.  Allow to stand until next day, when sugar will be dissolved.  Pour into bottles, cork tightly, stand away for six months before using.  Aunt Sarah had some which had been keeping two years and it was fine.

DANDELION WINE

Four good quarts of dandelion blossoms, four pounds of sugar, six oranges, five lemons.  Wash dandelion blossoms and place them in an earthenware crock.  Pour five quarts of boiling water over them and let stand 36 hours.  Then strain through a muslin bag, squeezing out all moisture from dandelions.  Put the strained juice in a deep stone crock or jug and add to it the grated rind and juice of the six oranges and five lemons.  Tie a piece of cheese-cloth over the top of jug and stand it in a warm kitchen about one week, until it begins to ferment.  Then stand away from stove in an outer kitchen or cooler place, not in the cellar, for three months.  At the end of three months put in bottles.  This is a clear, amber, almost colorless liquid.  A pleasant drink of medicinal value.  Aunt Sarah always used this recipe for making dandelion wine, but Mary preferred a recipe in which yeast was used, as the wine could be used a short time after making.