SUGARED PEARS.

Half a dozen of those fine pears called the “Bartlett” will make a small dish worthy the attention of any good Christian who has a sweet tooth in his head.  Pare the fruit, cut out the cores, squeeze lemon juice over them, which will prevent their discoloration.  Boil them gently in enough sirup to cover them till they become tender.  Serve them cold, with Naples biscuit round the dish.

TABLE BEER.

Table beer of a superior quality may be brewed in the following manner, a process well worth the attention of the gentleman, the mechanic, and the farmer, whereby the beer is altogether prevented from working out of the cask, and the fermentation conducted without any apparent admission of the external air.  I have made the scale for one barrel, in order to make it more generally useful to the community at large; however the same proportions will answer for a greater or less quantity, only proportioning the materials and utensils.  Take one peck of good malt, ground, one pound of hops, put them in twenty gallons of water, and boil them for half an hour; then run them into a hair-cloth bag or sieve, so as to keep back the hops and malt from the wort, which when cooled down to sixty-five degrees by Fahrenheit’s thermometer, add to it two gallons of molasses, with one pint, or a little less, of good yeast.  Mix these with your wort, and put the whole into a clean barrel, and fill it up with cold water to within six inches of the bung hole (this space is requisite to leave room for fermentation), bung down tight.  If brewed for family use, would recommend putting in the cock at the same time, as it will prevent the necessity of disturbing the cask afterward.  In one fortnight this beer may be drawn and will be found to improve to the last.

MINCE MEAT.

This inevitable Christmas luxury is vastly improved by being mixed some days before it is required for use; this gives the various ingredients time to amalgamate and blend.

Peel, core, and chop fine a pound of pippin apples, wash and clean a pound of Zante currants, stone one pound of bloom raisins, cut into small pieces a pound of citron, remove the skin and gristle from a pound and a half of cold roast or boiled beef, and carefully pick a pound of beef suet; chop these well together.  Cut into small bits three-quarters of a pound of mixed candied orange and lemon peel; mix all these ingredients well together in a large earthen pan.  Grate one nutmeg, half an ounce of powdered ginger, quarter of an ounce of ground cloves, quarter of an ounce of ground allspice and coriander seed mixed, and half an ounce of salt.  Grate the yellow rind of three lemons, and squeeze the juice over two pounds of fine sugar.  Put the grated yellow rind and all the other ingredients in a pan; mix well together, and over all pour one pint of brandy, one pint of sherry, and one pint of hard cider; stir well together, cover the pan closely, and when about to use the mince meat, take it from the bottom of the pan.