The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-12-13
A CHRISTMAS PLgM.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 pics, 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 a
plum-pudding is piece of culinary and
confectionery art which can not be done
by a novice. To do this work properly
requires experience, skill, and taste.
Nv 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 a fruition 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 di-
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 l pound of best beef suet; mix with
this in large pan pound of stale
bread-crumbs and ] pound of flour;
beat together, in another pan, 6 eggs,
and mix with these about 4 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 ounce of Gin
namon, ounce of ginger, a
grated nutmeg, teaspoonful of salt,
and pound of sugar. CThe above
may be made still richer by introducing
more sugar and eggs) Chop up fine 8
ounces of candied citron, / pound of
almonds, and 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 a day,
and high piece of art like plum-pud-
| ding requires at least hours TO boil.
1t is important to keep in mind that Il
plum-pudding is in some respects like a
duck-it likes to swim, and to do this 1t
requires plenty of room. 1t should be
boiled, therefore, in Il 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 Il 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 yet to pre-
serve its form wholly uninjured, you
must first immerse the whole in a 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 basin of the
same size us the pudding, so that 1t 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, 80
| 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-pnddingm may be baked as well
as boiled. This is a good device when
YOU are short of time; for while it re-
quires 6 hours to boil the pudding, it
NAV be baked in hours. When baked
it must be done in mold. Before
pouring the Ingredients of the pudding
/ into the mold let the inside of the mold
be well buttered.
Whether you bake your pudding or
boil it, the following is an axpedient
which will greatly improve its excel
lence: Prepare and mix yOuT materi-
ais "A hours before you begin to cook,
and let them stand for this length of
time untouched In this way each will
permeate all the others more fully, and
secure more of their perfect blending of
all the various juices and tlavOrs which
it is the object of the entire process to
bring about.
may add here, that time is the es-
sence of all good cookery, and those
ladies and gentlemen make a great mis-
take who, in their orders, hurry to
cook. Whether boiling, baking, or
roasting, lapse of time is of the essence
of the chemistry of the operation, and
patience is part of the price of excel
| lence.
Proceed we now to compound nee
tar for this ambrosia-the sauce:
Put into Il small saucepan two ounces
of the best quality of butter; to this add
large tablespoonful of flour; mix these
well together while they are cold with a
spOon-a spoon made of wood Pour
in half q pint of cold water, and add a
stir until they have nearly (not quite)
reached the boiling point. Now add a
glass of best California or Catawba
brandy, some fine sugar don't spoil it
with coarse sugar., a little cinnamon,
and the grated peel of half lemon
Make the sauce hot, and sprinkle dash
of cinnamon on the top.
Now pour over it small quantity of
best California or Catawba brandy; set
this last on fire on the dish, and then
serve in a blaze of glOry.-JGnes w.
Parkinson, IN the philadelphia Press.
A CURIOUS case as to the rights of the