PIES.

TAKE one cup of nice drippings and mix with goose, duck or chicken fat. In the fall and winter, when poultry is plentiful and fat, you should save all drippings for pie-crust. If you have neither of the above, use rendered meat fat (I do not mean suet--that is horrid!--but genuine meat fat); use half butter; if you consider this "Trefa" use all fat. Take one cupful of fat, and stir to a cream; add a salt-spoonful of salt, four cups of sifted flour and rub creamed fat and flour between your hands until it looks like sand. Make a hole in the center, pour in a cupful of ice-water and mix lightly; do not knead and it will be flaky. This will make four pies. You may keep the dough in your refrigerator for a week. Bake pies fresh every day, as they are quickly made when the dough is ready.

Take a small cup of butter, nice rendered suet, or both, and rub to a cream, add a pinch of salt, also a little brown sugar and sift into this mass a pound of flour. Rub the flour and butter (or fat) with your hand, until it looks like sand, then take the yelk of an egg, a wineglassful of brandy and half a cup of ice-water, and work it into the flour lightly. Knead as little as possible and roll out thin. If the dough is of the right consistency, no flour will be required to roll it out. If you are compelled to use flour use as little as possible. The pie-plates should be well greased; I use perforated tin pie-plates. Pie-crust being so simple a thing to make it is strange that so few know how to make it well. Pie-crust should be handled as little as possible, and baked in a hot oven. All pies should be removed, while hot, to the plates they are to be served on.

Take half a cup of nice drippings or butter, and rub into a pound of sifted flour. Stir the yelk of an egg into a scant cup of ice-water, and work the flour and water into dough. Roll out very thin, baste the dough with another half a cup or more of butter, and fold closely. Roll out again, and so on until you have used up all the fat, say about a cupful and a half. Set away for an hour at least in a very cold place (on top of ice in summer) before rolling out. You may use a wineglassful of brandy when mixing the dough, as it improves it very much; add salt also.

Select large purple plums, about fifteen plums for a good-sized pie; cut them in halves, remove the kernels and dip each half in cornstarch or flour. Line your pie-tin with a rich paste and lay in the plums, close together, and sprinkle thickly with a whole cup of sugar. Lay strips of paste across the top, into bars, and also a strip around the rim, and press all around the edge with a pointed knife or fork, which will make a fancy border. Sift powdered sugar on top.
Damson pie is made in the same way. Eat cold.

Cut the apples very thin, and mix them up well with sugar and cinnamon. See that your apples are tart and juicy, lay them upon your pie crust (fill it up), adding more sugar. Put flakes of butter here and there, add about two tablespoonfuls of water and cover it with a sheet of rich pie-crust. Bake half an hour in a hot oven.

Line a pie-plate with a rich puff paste. Grate up a cocoanut, reserving the milk. Rub a quarter of a pound of butter to a cream, add half a pound of powdered sugar and the beaten yelks of four eggs, the grated peel of a lemon, a wineglassful of brandy and the milk of the cocoanut, and then add the grated nut to this mixture.

This will make two pies. Bake in open shells. Now make a meringue of the whites with pulverized sugar and spread on top. After the pie is baked and set back in the oven for a minute, you may beat up the whites to a stiff froth and mix with the cocoanut and bake at once.

Line a pie-plate with a rich crust, and fill with raspberries and powdered sugar and cover with a layer of pie-crust, but do not press down the edges. When the pie is baked lift up the top crust and pour over the fruit the following mixture: Boil a cup of cream, stir the yelks of three or four eggs with three tablespoonfuls of sugar and one teaspoonful of cornstarch and pour into the hot cream. When perfectly cold spread over the pie, put the top crust on again and sprinkle with powdered sugar. If you prefer this cream white, use the whites of the eggs instead of the yelks, using one egg less, and proceed just as you would with the yelks.

Chop fine three pounds of boiled beef, scrape fine one pound of suet, chop up four pounds of apples, two pounds of raisins, seeded and chopped, two pounds of currants (wash the currants about half a dozen times and carefully at that); pick over carefully one pound of sultana raisins; chop up one pound of citron, add two pounds of brown sugar, one tablespoonful of salt, one of allspice, one of cloves, two teaspoonfuls of grated nutmeg, one of mace, four of ground cinnamon, one quart of sherry or other wine, one pint of good brandy and one pint of boiled cider. This quantity fills a two-gallon stone jar and will keep all winter. Tie up the jar with a clean cloth and another covering of paper and keep it in a cool place. It will be ready to use twenty-four hours after it is prepared. All this seems a great deal of trouble, and so it is; but when once made it is so handy to use and very good. When using the mincemeat always take from the bottom, as the juice naturally settles there. Tie up carefully before putting away. I prepare a large jarful every winter and am always sorry when it is gone. I also use mock mincemeat, as follows:

Line a plate with a rich puff paste, and fill with the following: Beat up two eggs with one cup and a quarter of sugar, one cupful of bread which has been soaked in warm water, one-half cup of molasses, half a cup of vinegar, half a cup of water, one cup of raisins, a pinch of salt, half a teaspoonfuls of ground cloves, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and pinch of pepper. This quantity will make two pies. Cover with strips of crust and bake half an hour.

Line a pie-plate with a rich crust and bake, then fill with a layer of sweetened grated peaches which have had a few pounded peach kernels added to them. Then whip one cupful of rich cream, sweeten and flavor and spread over the peaches. Set in ice-chest until wanted.

(No. 1.) Line a pie-plate with a rich pie-crust, cover thickly with peaches, that have been pared and sliced fine (canned peaches may be used when others are not to be had), adding sugar and cover with strips of dough and bake quickly. If you do not mind the expense, spread over the peaches a meringue made by whipping the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth and sweetening with a tablespoonful of pulverized sugar for each egg. Add half a teaspoonful cream tartar to the meringue; flavor with vanilla and set back in the oven until the meringue begins to color. Take out carefully. Eat cold. Delicious served with cream.

(No. 2.) Pare, stone and slice the peaches. Line a deep pie-plate with a rich paste, sprinkle a very little cornstarch over the bottom crust and lay in your fruit, sprinkle sugar liberally over them in proportion to their sweetness.

Add a few peach kernels, pounded fine, to each pie and bake with crossbars of paste across the top. If you want it extra fine, whip the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth and sweeten with about four tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar, adding a teaspoonful cream tartar and spread over the pie and return to the oven until the meringue is set. Eat cold.

Line a pie-plate with rich paste, sprinkle cornstarch lightly over the bottom crust and fill with cherries and regulate the quantity of sugar you scatter over them by their sweetness. Bake with an upper crust, secure the edges well, by spreading the white of an egg all around and pinching firmly together. Eat cold.

Grate about two cups of stale rye bread, mix it with a little sugar and cinnamon and grated lemon peel. Butter a deep pie-plate (must be well greased), and line it with the bread crumbs. Cut up very thin, five or six tart apples, mix these well with sugar, cinnamon, raisins or currants, and a little citron cut up fine. Put the apples on your crumbs, which have been seasoned, adding a little more sugar, and cover with the remaining crumbs, put flakes of butter on top and sprinkle with about a wineglassful of wine, either red or white. Bake for about twenty minutes.

Line a deep pie-plate with a rich pie-crust, grate four or five large apples, add the grated peel of a lemon and sweeten to taste, you may add a few pounded almonds (not necessary though, just as good without), add raisins or currants, the latter must be carefully cleaned and free from all stems. Beat up the yelks of three or four eggs, and stir well into the apples. Fill your crust and bake. Spread over the pie a thick meringue, made of the whites of the eggs, whipped stiff, and add about three tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar, and half a teaspoonful of cream tartar. Flavor with rose-water or vanilla; set back in the oven until the meringue is of a light brown. Eat cold. Very fine.

Line a pie-plate with a rich puff paste. Pare and grate four or five large tart apples into a bowl into which you have stirred the yelks of two or three eggs with about half a cup of sugar. Add a few raisins, a few currants, a few pounded almonds, a pinch of ground cinnamon, and the grated peel of a lemon. Have no top crust. Bake in a quick oven. In the meantime, make a meringue of the whites of the eggs by beating them to a very stiff froth, and add about three tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar. Spread this over the pie when baked and set back in the oven until brown. Eat cold.

Press through a sieve one pint of stewed pumpkin and add four eggs and a scant cup of sugar. Beat yelks and sugar together until very thick and add one pint of milk to the beaten eggs. Then add the pressed pumpkin, one-half teaspoonful cinnamon, less than half a teaspoonful of mace and the sauce of grated nutmeg. Stir the stiff-beaten whites in last. Bake in a very rich crust without cover.

Line a deep pie-plate with a rich puff paste, and bake a light brown. Remove from the oven until the filling is prepared. Take a large juicy lemon, grate the peel and squeeze out every drop of juice. Now take the lemon and put it into a cup of boiling water to extract every particle of juice. Put the cup of water on to boil with the lemon juice and grated peel, and a cup of sugar; beat up the yelks of four eggs very light and add to this gradually the boiling lemon juice. Return to the kettle and boil. Then wet a teaspoonful of cornstarch with a very little cold water, and add also a teaspoonful of butter and when the boiling mixture has thickened remove from the fire and let it cool. Beat up the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth, add half of the froth to the lemon mixture and reserve the other half for the top of the pie. Now bake the lemon cream in the baked pie-crust. Add a few tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and half a teaspoonful cream tartar to the remaining beaten whites. If you desire to have the meringue extra thick, add the whites of one or more eggs. When the pie is baked take from the oven just long enough to spread the meringue over the top, and set back for two or three minutes, leaving the oven doors open just the least bit, so as not to have it brown too quickly.

Strip the skin from the stalks of rhubarb, more commonly called pie-plant, then cut them in pieces about an inch long, pour boiling water over them and let them remain in it until you prepare the pie-crust. Drain the pie-plant, line your pie-plates with a rich pie or puff paste, sprinkle cornstarch over the paste and then sugar. Now lay in the pie-plant, sprinkle heavily with sugar, and put flakes of butter over them (you may omit the butter if you object.) Cover with a rich paste and retain the juice by moistening the edge of the under crust with white of egg, and pressing the upper one upon it. Spread beaten egg over the top crust also. Use perforated pie-plates and remove from the plates as soon as taken from the oven, to prevent them from sticking.

Strip the skin carefully from the stalk of the pie-plant and cut it into small pieces. Scald with boiling water, then drain and press out every drop of water with your hands. Now set over the fire to stew, with as little water as possible. When done, press through a collander or wire sieve, sweeten to taste and flavor with grated nutmeg or lemon. Bake with strips of dough put across the top. I forgot to add: Beat up two eggs for each pie, after mixing the sugar. You may put in the yelks alone and use the whites for a meringue. If you do this, bake the paste first, then the custard.

Take a quart of Dutch cheese, rub smooth with a silver or wooden spoon, then rub a piece of butter the size of an egg to a cream, add half a cup of sugar and the yelks of four eggs gradually, a pinch of salt, grate in the peel of a lemon, wash half a cupful of currants, and add also a little citron, cut up very fine. Line two pie-plates with some rich pie-crust, and fill with above mixture, not forgetting to add the beaten whites.

Take a quarter of a pound of puff paste and half an ounce of Parmesan cheese, grated very fine, and a little salt. Sprinkle the cheese and salt over the paste and roll it two or three times. Cut it into narrow strips about five inches long. Bake in a slow oven and send to the table hot.

Line a pie-plate with a rich crust and fill with the following mixture: One cup of vinegar, two of water and two cups of sugar, boil; add a lump of butter and enough cornstarch to thicken; flavor with lemon essence and put in a shell and bake.

This is so simple and nice that it deserves to be better known. Make a crust as rich as possible and line a deep tin. Bake quickly in a hot oven and spread it with a layer of jelly or jam. Next whip one teacupful of sweet cream until it is thick. Set the cream in a bowl of ice while whipping. Sweeten slightly and flavor with vanilla, spread this over the pie and put in a cool place until wanted.

First line a pie-plate with puff paste and bake, and then make a cream of the yelks of four eggs, a little more than a pint of milk, one tablespoonful of cornstarch and four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and flavor with two teaspoonfuls of vanilla. Pour onc rust and bake; beat up the whites with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and half a teaspoonful of cream tartar. Spread on top of pie and set back in the oven until baked a light brown.

Line your pie-plate with a rich crust. Slice apples thin, half fill your plates, and pour over them a custard made of four eggs and two cups of milk, sweetened and seasoned to taste.

Line your pie-plate with a rich crust. Beat up five eggs light with one-half cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, one pint of milk and grated nutmeg or grated lemon peel, and pour in shell and bake.

Squeeze out the pulps and put them in one vessel, the skins into another. Then simmer the pulp a little and press it through a collander to separate the seeds. Then put the skins and pulps together and they are ready for the pies. To make these pies truly delicious, beat up two eggs with half a cup of sugar for each pie; pour over the grapes and bake without a cover.

Chop up four pounds of tender boiled beef, which you have picked over carefully; scrape very fine one pound of beef suet; pare, core and chop up six pounds of tart apples; seed and cut in halves two pounds of raisins, two pounds of currants, carefully washed and picked over, also two pounds of sultanas, carefully picked; chop or cut up very fine one pound of citron, one pound of figs, one pound of dates, one piece of candied lemon peel, half a piece of candied orange peel, two pounds of brown sugar, one large tablespoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of new allspice, one teaspoonful of freshly ground cloves, two teaspoonfuls of grated nutmeg, one of mace, two tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon, one quart of sherry, one pint of best brandy, and one of boiled cider. To this you may add any quantity of "Melange," the French fruit preserves, if you are fortunate enough to have any. Your mince meat will be good with out the melange, but, its addition is a great improvement. This quantity will fill a three-gallon jar. Keeps all winter. Add more wine or brandy if too dry. When using the "mince meat" always take up from the bottom, as the juice naturally sinks leaving the top quite dry. Cover with a plate, then tie up with several thicknesses of strong paper and set in a cool place. It is ready for use in twenty-four hours after it is prepared. When boiling the meat for mince, season with salt, and boil until very tender. Allow it to cool in the liquor it was boiled in, which keeps the meat juicy. You may add a large cupful of the liquor to the mince meat.

(No. 1.) Line your pie-plate with a rich paste, slice pineapples as thin as possible, sprinkle sugar over them abundantly and put flakes of sugar here and there. Cover and bake.

You may make pineapple pies according to any of the plain apple pie recipes.

(No. 2.) Pare and core the pineapple and cut into small slices and sprinkle abundantly with sugar and set it away in a covered dish to draw enough juice to stew the pineapple in. Bake two shells on perforated pie-plates of a rich pie dough. When the pineapple is stewed soft enough to mash, mash it and set it away to cool. When the crust is baked and cool whip half a pint of sweet cream and mix with the pineapple and fill in the baked shell. Delicious.

Made according to above recipe. Are also very fine.

Bake a rich pie-crust in a deep pie-plate, and fill in with wine jelly. Allow the jelly to cool a little before pouring it into the pie-shell. Then set away in a cool place to harden. Patties made the same way are delicious. Serve with whipped cream.

[Editorial note: Handwritten inscription]

Orange Pie --

1 Tablespoon butter -- 1 cup sugar creamed

Yolks 3 eggs -- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
juice 3 oranges -- whites of eggs
whipped + put on top --