Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-12-22
A CHRISTMAS PLUM.PUDDING.

By the common consent of Christen-
dom. good cheer is part of the great
religious festival which is now upon us,
and high among all Christmas roastings
and 5akings, Christmas pies, cakes, and
confectionery, in grand pre-eminence,
like the lordly chief of an illustrious
tribe, stands the Christmas plum-pud-
ding.
To compound, prepare, and cook .
plum-pudding is a piece of culinary and
confectionery art which can not be done
by novice. To do this work properly
requires experience, skill, and taste.
My first remark is that the materials
of this dish must all be of the very best.
Mediocre poetry, it is admitted, is no
poetry at all. To partake of plum
pudding is frnition of the prayer,
"Give and preserve to us the kindly
fruits of the earth, that in due time we
may enjoy them," and to attempt to
compose one of ingredients of an in
ferior quality, instead of worshiping
the bounty of Providence, is so far to
bring it into contempt. Cheap and
poor materials here are equally offensive
to piety, good taste, and the laws of d.
gestiOn.
We now proceed with the work in
hand as practical operation:
Stone pound of bloom raisins; wash
and clean 1 pound of currants; mince
fine pound of best beef suet; mix with
this in large pan l pound of stale
bread-crumbs and ! pound of flour;
beat together, in another pan, eggs,
ard mix with these about pint of
milk pour this over the suet and the
flour; stir and beat the whole well to-
gether; now add the currants and
raisins, seasoned with 1 ounce of Gin
namon, 4 ounce of ginger, a.
grated nutmeg, teaspoonful of salt,
and pound of sugar. (The above
may be made still richer by introducing
more sugar and eggs.) Chop up fine 6
ounces of candied citron, 1 pound of
almonds, and 2 ounces of preserved
lemOn-peel; pour in glass of best Cal
ifornia brandy.
Plum-pudding is boiled either in a
cloth or in an ornamental mold tied up
in cloth. In either way it requires |
time. Rome was not built in day,
and high piece of art like plum pud-.
ding requires at least hours 10 boil.
1t is important to keep in mind that a |
Plum-pudding is in some respects like a |
duck-it likes to swim, and to do this I |
requires plenty of room. 1t should be |
boiled, therefore, in large pot; and |
this should contain plenty of water. A |
small pot and shallow water are its alb
horrence. The proof of this will appear
IN the eating of it. The boiling also
should not be spasmodic-now rapidly
and now slowly-the boiling should be
brisk, and this briskness should be kept
up equally to the end.
To the novice and uninitiated 1t would |
appear to be very simple and easy
thing to take the pudding out of
the bag without breaking it. This is |
not so. This part of the process re-
quires as much dainty manipulation as
to land a salmon-trout, when you have
caught him on your hook. To take the
pudding out of the bag, and vet to pre-
serve its form wholly uniniured, YOU
must first immense the whole in bag of
cold water. The Office of the cold water
Is to chill and solidify the surface, so
that it may part smoothly from its cloth
covering. Place it in a basin of the
same size as the pudding, so that it will
Just receive and hold it. Unite the cloth
and lay bare the pudding to the edge of
the basin. Place upon it upside DOWN
the dish in which it is to be served.
invert dish, pudding, bag and all, so
that the pudding may rest, right side
up, on the dish. Lift off the basin, re-
move the cloth, and there is your plum
pudding in all entirety and plumptitude,
'whole as the MARBLE" and as appetiz-
ing and beautiful as so much mamma
from heaven.
Plum-pndding NAV be baked as well