Evening star., 1898-12-24
HOUSE HOLD HINTS


mas Eve until the passing of the New Year.
| This is doubtlessibut al continuation of the
| Wassail bowl. which rom time immemorial
| formed part of every Christmas entertain
ment in Merrie England The original Was
| sail bowl, says htstory2was the skull of an
| enemy-that gruesome wine cup being in
| especial favor with the early Saxons. Its
| contents originally were wine sweetened
| and spiced with roasted apples bobbing
! merrily on its suTface;nbut as Leigh Hunt
! says: 1T is a good -natured bowl. accom-
| modating itself to the means of all claims.
and If wine was out of the question ale
| sufticed." Tradition, however, made it i'm
perative that the contents of the great
| po"l-aie' WINE. cider, eggnog or what not
| should be stirred with sprig of rosemary
| In the southern states ''befo' de wah'' the
| punch bowl filed with eggnog and fre. to
Whomsoever would, was considered an in
| d'spensabie part OF the Christmas celebra-
| ton Gradually this feature has crept
1 north, and at all the clubs and at most
| of the country house parties the punch
bowl and the punch bowl supper will be
| that viii. fill the flowing bowl" eggnog
| will doubtless. as heretofore. take first
| rank; but a delicious temperance punch is
frequently made from equal portions of
ped ice. soda water and fruit. Iced coffee
with whipped cream on top makes likewise
, n acceptable filling for the Christmas and
| New Year punch bowl.
| To make the genuine eggnop of south-
| ern fame. allow to a quart of rich milk
| six eggs-whites and yolks beaten sepa-
| rately until the yolks are lemon-colored
and creamy, and the whites very stiff
| Add half cupful of sugar to the yokes
| and milk. together with a half pint of the
best. brandy. Flavor with nutmeg and
crown with the whipped whites, which
may be beaten in lightly In serving in
| a nf n1tfy,
| of the whipped white Frequently less of
| white of egg is used, four answering the
purpose quite as well, and whisky may be
| substituted for the brandy Wreath the
punch bowl with evergreens, and "Seryite
| cum cantico."
| picked oysters. which are once more de-
| servedly popular. They may be purchased
| at ary Of the large fish stores or delica-
| tessens, but they are SO easily prepared at
| home, and SO much more economically that
| 1t seems a pity the prudent housewife
| should not know just how to prepare them.
| These also may be kept on hand for sew
| eral weeks and will be found a trump card
during the holidays, when social functions
| of various sorts are in order. To one hun
| dred of the large count oysters allow
| one pint pure white wine vinegar, half
dozen blades of mace. two dozen whole
Cloves two dozen whole black peppers and
| two small red peppers broken into bits
| Put the oysters. liquor and ALL into a
granite or porcelain kettle add n small
| teaspoonful of salt and heat slowly until
the oysters plump out not allowing them
| to reach the boiling point. Remove with
| a SKINNER and set one side; add the yina-
gar and spices to the liquor remaining and
| scaid. When the oysters are almost cold
| put in glass cans and fill with the scalding
| liquor, adding it little by little at first, so
| That the cans win not crack. Keep in a
dark. cool closet er store room, and if you
| open can use tae Jptents up as soon as
| pCSSlDe, as cXD9SIIreSfO the iar
| the oysters.
+ Aifeady the bake shops are redolent of
the spicy caraway. that good old Dutch
| aVant-couriel of the New Year. The Dutch
| cCoky was usually Sarnished with carawav
seeds, but the chief oGall cookies, the New
| year cakes. cotfdn' ts-possbly have been
| made without thsln. These cakes were OBJ
| long in shape, like those seen today in the
Stops. but were much richer and more
| deilclous The fashioned housekeeper
| VINO cIlnss 20 tradition still raises her New
Year cakes Dis her great, great-grand-
| mother did before her, with yeast; but the
| Old family recipe books are gradually fad
| ing away, ard fhe up-.o-date woman prefers
| the modern method, which saves her tiTne
| A simple rule for plain but excellent seed
| cakes calls far one cup of butter and two
| cups of sugar beaten to cream, two cup
fuls of baking powder, sifted together three
| times, pinch of salt, two tablespoonfuls
| OF caraWaE seeds and three ablespoonfuis
| of sweet milk. More -four may be added
| II not quite stiff enough to roll. Turn ont
| on houred board and roll with a Toured
| rolling pin. until nearly thin as a wafer
| Cut into round or obiong cakes and bake in
| a rather quick oven. Some housekeepers
| prefer to add a couple of eggs to this
recipe. which makes the cookies a little
| harder.
Sauce Tartare, by the way, is one of the
| incest things housekeeper liable to the
| unexpected irruptiOn of guests can keep
| on hand. 1t can be used in an emergency
for so many different things. 1t will not
| only make fish delicious, but it is excellent
for potato salad. broiled or deyiled chicken
| tongue beef or even caulif1ower. 1t is easy
| to make. the only precaution being rot to
| add the oil too rapidly. Mix in a small
| bowl one teaspoonful dry mustard. one-half
teaspoonful powdered sugar, one-half
| teaspoonful salt and one-quarter salt spoon
| of cayenne. Add the yolks of two eggs and
| stir with small wooden spoon. Measure
| out one cupful of olive Oil, and add few
drops at a time, stirring until 1t thickens.
| III 1t begins to thicken too much to beat
| readily, thin with little lemon juice, then
add Oil and lemon alternately. until you
have used all the oil and two tablespoonful
| of lemon Lastly beat in two tablespoon
| fuls of vinegar. This gives the regular
Mayonnaise, which should be smooth and
| thick Now for the sauce Tartare, add one
tablespoonful finely chopped onion and one
| tablespoonful finely chopped capers, olives,
| parsley or pickles, singly or in combi-
nation. This may be put in a glass jar,
and will keep for several weeks in cold
| weather.
| Caviar Canapes are among the tidbits
| with which after-theater parties are wont
to regale themselves. They are especially
| appetizng after a sleigh ride or walk in
| the keen. frosty air, and will be an accept
| able addition to the libation from the punch
| bowl. They are usually prepared on the
chatting DISH but may be sent in hot from
the kitchen If preferred. Toast or fry crisp
In butter oblong slices of bread, having all
the four corners trimmed off evenly. Cover
each one with layer Of the caviar and
| sprinkle about the edges narrow border
| of finely chopped raw onions.
| pretty center piece for the Christmas
| dinner table is made by cutting q large
| five-pointed star out of white sheet wad-
! ding. This is placed the smooth side down.
ward. The fluffy upper is then pulled apart
little to simulate snow. and sprinkled
| thick with Jack Frost powder. In the GEN.
| ter Of this place a vase, bowl or tall glass
vase filed with holly twigs and scarlet
| berries. and outline the edges of the star
| with small pieces, of holly.
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