Evening star., 1877-12-28
The HOusekeeper.
[By a Lady jn the Germantown Tel
HOW tn pl-y pnr-r rf,v

[By a Lady jn the Germantown telegraph Il
HOW TO BUY POULTRY.
i send the following which l have observed
for some years in purchasing poultry. and
which may be of use to some of Your readers
who may not be familiar with the age of pOul-
try:
Few housekeepers. and fewer cooks. are as
good judges of the age of poultry a they ought
To be. We all know when poultry comes upon
the table, whether il is tender or tough: and
there should be no difficulty of Knowing inst
as certainly whether a chicken. duck. goose or
turkey II old or young, when IL i offered for
sale. Now the following l. offered aS rule bv
which poultry can be safely judged, which. IL
read over lew times, and then laid away for
ready reference when needed. no person need
purchase old, tough poultry unless from choice
If a hens spur is hard, and the scales on the
legs rough. she Il old, whether YOU see her
head or not but the head will corroborate
your observation. lfthe under bin Is so stiff
that you cannot bend il down, and the comb
thick and rough. leave her. no matter how fat
and plump, for some one less particular. A
young hen has only the rudimentS Of spurs
the scales on the legs are smooth. glossy and
fesh col0red whatever the color may be; the
claws tender and short, the nails sharp. the
under-bill soft, and the comb thin and smooth.
An old hen turkey has rough scales ON the
legs, calloSlties on the sOleS of the feet, and
long strong claws; young one the reverse
of all these marks. When the feathers are on
and the old turkey-cOck has a long tuft or
beard, young one but a sprouting one; and
when they are of, the smooth scales on the
legs decide the point besides the difference in
size of the wattles of the neck and in the elastic
shoot upon the nose.
An old goose when alive is known by the
rough legs, the strength of the wings. particu-
larry at the piniOnS, the thickness and strength
OF the bill, and the finenesS of the feathers:
and when plucked. by the legs. the tenderness
of the skin under the wings, by the piniOnS and
the bill and the cOarSeneSS of the skin.
Ducks are distinguished by the same means
but there l. this ditference-that a ducklings
bill Is much longer in proportion To the
breadth of its head than the old duck. A young
pigeon Is discovered by its pale COlOrS, smooth
scales tender. collapsed feet. and the yellow
long down interSperSed among its feathers. A
pigeon that can fly has always red -cOlOred legs
and no down, and is then too old for use.
HEAD-CHEEsE.
The time of year is at hand for head-ch
SauSageS and all such things, for that reason
receipts Tor making will not be out of place.
After the heads have been properly trimmed
&. G., minus eyes, ears and noSe) and soaked
in cold water 1.-TWO days at least to extract
the blood, wash them in warm water and put
on TO boil; cook them in plenty of water till
the bones drop out then set of 10 cool. pouring
another: as soon as cool enough pick out
every bone with your fingers, then chop the
meat nne, the same as though making hash.
season with plenty OF pepper, salt and pulver-
lied sage. IL Il an improvement for those who
are fond of high seasoning to chop up a good
large red pepper with the meat and put Just
pinch Ci ground spice and cloves in with the
pepper and salt. Skim all the grease you can
off the liquid and put il in and the meat back
in the JOt. let all boil together a few moments
then pour in pan TO cool.
If there are pigs feet 10 pickle boil at the
same time and put the water they are cooked
in i'm the head cheese.