DAMSON TART

_Ingredients._—1½ pint of damsons, ¼ lb. of moist sugar, ½ lb. of short or puff crust. _Mode._—Put the damsons, with the sugar between them, into a deep pie-dish, in the midst of which place a small cup or jar turned upside down; pile the fruit high in the middle, line the edges of the dish with short or puff crust, whichever may be preferred; put on the cover, ornament the edges, and bake from ½ to ¾ hour in a good oven. If puff-crust is used, about 10 minutes before the pie is done, take it out of the oven, brush it over with the white of an egg beaten to a froth with the blade of a knife; strew some sifted sugar over, and a few drops of water, and put the tart back to finish baking: with short crust, a little plain sifted sugar, sprinkled over, is all that will be required. _Time._—½ to ¾ hour. _Average cost_, 10_d._ _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons. _Seasonable_ in September and October.

DAMSONS, Baked, for Winter use.

_Ingredients._—To every lb. of fruit allow 6 oz. of pounded sugar; melted mutton suet. _Mode._—Choose sound fruit, not too ripe; pick off the stalks, weigh it, and to every lb. allow the above proportion of pounded sugar. Put the fruit into large dry stone jars, sprinkling the sugar amongst it; cover the jars with saucers, place them in a rather cool oven, and bake the fruit until it is quite tender. When cold, cover the top of the fruit with a piece of white paper cut to the size of the jar; pour over this melted mutton suet about an inch thick, and cover the tops of the jars with thick brown paper well tied down. Keep the jars in a cool dry place, and the fruit will remain good till the following Christmas, but not much longer. _Time._—From 5 to 6 hours to bake the damsons in a very cool oven. _Seasonable_ in September and October.

DAMSONS, Compôte of.

_Ingredients._—1 quart of damsons, 1 pint of syrup (_see_ SYRUP). _Mode._—Procure sound ripe damsons, pick the stalks from them, and put them into boiling syrup made by the recipe. Simmer them gently until the fruit is tender, but not sufficiently soft to break; take them up, boil the syrup for 5 minutes, pour it over the damsons, and serve. This should be sent to table in a glass dish. _Time._—About ¼ hour to simmer the damsons; 5 minutes to boil the syrup. _Average cost_, 9_d._ _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ in September and October.

DAMSONS, Preserved.

_Ingredients._—To every quart of damsons allow ½ lb. of loaf sugar. _Mode._—Put the damsons (which should be picked from the stalks and quite free from blemishes) into a jar, with pounded sugar sprinkled amongst them in the above proportion; tie the jar closely down, set it in a saucepan of cold water; bring it gradually to boil, and simmer gently until the damsons are soft, without being broken. Let them stand till cold; then strain the juice from them, boil it up well, strain it through a jelly-bag, and pour it over the fruit. Let it cool, cover with oiled papers, and the jars with tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg, and store away in a dry place. _Time._—About ¾ hour to simmer the fruit after the water boils; ¼ hour to boil the juice. _Seasonable._—Make this in September or October.

DAMSONS, or any kind of Plums, to Preserve. (Useful in Winter.)

_Ingredients._—Damsons or plums; boiling water. _Mode._—Pick the fruit into clean dry stone jars, taking care to leave out all that are broken or blemished. When full, pour boiling water on the plums, until it stands one inch above the fruit; cut a piece of paper to fit the inside of the jar, over which pour melted mutton-suet; cover down with brown paper, and keep the jars in a dry cool place. When used, the suet should be removed, the water poured off, and the jelly at the bottom of the jar used and mixed with the fruit. _Seasonable_ in September and October.

DARIOLES À LA VANILLE. (Sweet Entremets.)

_Ingredients._—½ pint of milk, ½ pint of cream, 2 oz. of flour, 3 oz. of pounded sugar, 6 eggs, 2 oz. of butter, puff-paste, flavouring of essence of vanilla. _Mode._—Mix the flour to a smooth batter, with the milk; stir in the cream, sugar, the eggs, which should be well whisked, and the butter, which should be beaten to a cream. Put in some essence of vanilla, drop by drop, until the mixture is well flavoured; line some dariole-moulds with puff-paste, three-parts fill them with the batter, and bake in a good oven from 25 to 35 minutes. Turn them out of the moulds on a dish, without breaking them; strew over sifted sugar, and serve. The flavouring of the darioles may be varied by substituting lemon, cinnamon, or almonds, for the vanilla. _Time._—25 to 35 minutes. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 8_d._ _Sufficient_ to fill 6 or 7 dariole-moulds. _Seasonable_ at any time.

DECEMBER—BILLS OF FARE.

Dinner for 18 persons.

_First Course._

Mock-Turtle Soup, removed by Cod’s Head & Shoulders and Oyster Sauce.

Stewed Eels. Fried Whitings. Vase of Flowers.

Julienne Soup, removed by Soles aux fines herbes.

_Second Course._

Haunch of Mutton

Roast Goose. Ham and Brussels Stewed Beef à la Jardinière. Sprouts.

Vase of Flowers.

Boiled Turkey and Celery Sauce.

_Entrées._

Fillets of Grouse and Sauce Piquante.

Curried Lobster. Mutton Cutlets and Soubise Sauce. Vase of Flowers.

Sweetbreads.

_Third Course._

Apricot Pheasants, Victoria Tourte. removed by Sandwiches. Plum-Pudding.

Lemon Jelly. Vanilla Cream. Champagne Jelly.

Vase of Flowers.

Blancmange.

Tipsy Cake. Wild Ducks, Mince Pies. removed by Iced Pudding.

Dessert and Ices.

Dinner for 12 persons.

_First Course._—Game soup; clear vermicelli soup; codfish au gratin; fillets of whitings à la maître d’hôtel. _Entrées._—Filet de bœuf and sauce piquante; fricasseed chicken; oyster patties; curried rabbit. _Second Course._—Roast turkey and sausages; boiled leg of pork and vegetables; roast goose; stewed beef à la Jardinière. _Third Course._—Widgeon; partridges; Charlotte aux pommes; mince pies; orange jelly, lemon cream; apple tart; cabinet pudding. Dessert and ices.

Dinner for 10 persons.

_First Course._—Mulligatawny soup; fried slices of codfish; soles à la crême. _Entrées._—Croquettes of fowl; pork cutlets and tomato sauce. _Second Course._—Roast ribs of beef; boiled turkey and celery sauce; tongue, garnished; lark pudding; vegetables. _Third Course._—Roast hare; grouse; plum-pudding; mince pies; Charlotte à la Parisienne; cheesecakes; apple tart; Nesselrode pudding. Dessert and ices.

Dinner for 8 persons.

_First Course._—Carrot soup; crimped cod and oyster sauce; baked soles. _Entrées._—Mutton kidneys à la Française; oyster patties. _Second Course._—Boiled beef and vegetables; marrow-bones; roast fowls and water-cresses; tongue, garnished; game pie. _Third Course._—Partridges; blancmange; compôte of apples; vol-au-vent of pears; almond cheesecakes; lemon pudding. Dessert and ices.

Dinners for 6 persons.

_First Course._—Rabbit soup; brill and shrimp sauce. _Entrées._—Curried fowl; oyster patties. _Second Course._—Roast turkey and sausages; boiled leg of pork; vegetables. _Third Course._—Hunters’ pudding; lemon cheesecakes; apple tart; custards, in glasses; raspberry cream. Dessert.

* * * * *

_First Course._—Ox-tail soup; crimped cod and oyster sauce. _Entrées._—Savoury rissoles; fowl scollops à la Béchamel. _Second Course._—Haunch of mutton; boiled chickens and celery sauce; bacon-cheek, garnished with Brussels sprouts; vegetables. _Third Course._—Snipes; orange jelly; cheesecakes; apples à la Portugaise; apricot-jam tartlets; soufflé of rice. Dessert.

* * * * *

_First Course._—Vermicelli soup; soles à la maître d’hôtel; fried eels. _Entrées._—Pork cutlets and tomato sauce; ragoût of mutton à la Jardinière. _Second Course._—Roast goose; boiled leg of mutton and vegetables. _Third Course._—Pheasants; whipped cream; meringues; compôte of Normandy pippins; mince pies; plum-pudding. Dessert.

* * * * *

_First Course._—Carrot soup; baked cod; fried smelts. _Entrées._—Stewed rump-steak à la Jardinière; fricasseed chicken. _Second Course._—Roast leg of mutton, boned and stuffed; boiled turkey and oyster sauce; vegetables. _Third Course._—Wild ducks; fancy pastry; lemon cream; damson tart, with bottled fruit; custards, in glasses; cabinet pudding. Dessert.

DECEMBER, Plain Family Dinners for.

_Sunday._—1. Carrot soup. 2. Roast beef, horseradish sauce, vegetables. 3. Plum-pudding, mince pies.

_Monday._—1. Fried whitings, melted butter. 2. Rabbit pie, cold beef, mashed potatoes. 3. Plum-pudding cut in slices and warmed, apple tart.

_Tuesday._—1. Hashed beef and broiled bones, pork cutlets and tomato sauce; vegetables. 2. Baked lemon pudding.

_Wednesday._—1. Boiled neck of mutton and vegetables,—the broth served first with a little pearl barley or rice boiled in it. 2. Bakewell pudding.

_Thursday._—1. Roast leg of pork, apple sauce; vegetables. 2. Rice snowballs.

_Friday._—1. Soles à la crême. 2. Cold pork and mashed potatoes, broiled rump-steaks and oyster sauce. 3. Rolled jam pudding.

_Saturday._—1. The remains of cold pork curried, dish of rice, mutton cutlets and mashed potatoes. 2. Baked apple dumplings.

* * * * *

_Sunday._—1. Roast turkey and sausages, boiled leg of pork, pease pudding; vegetables. 2. Baked apple pudding, mince pies.

_Monday._—1. Hashed turkey, cold pork, mashed potatoes. 2. Mincemeat pudding.

_Tuesday._—1. Pea-soup made from liquor in which pork was boiled. 2. Boiled fowls and celery sauce, vegetables. 3. Baked rice pudding.

_Wednesday._—1. Roast leg of mutton, stewed Spanish onions, potatoes. 2. Baked rolled jam pudding.

_Thursday._—1. Baked cod’s head. 2. Cold mutton, roast hare, gravy and red-currant jelly. 3. Macaroni.

_Friday._—1. Hare soup, made with stock and remains of roast hare. 2. Hashed mutton, pork cutlets, and mashed potatoes. 3. Open tarts, rice blancmange.

_Saturday._—1. Rump-steak-and-kidney pudding, vegetables. 2. Mince pies, baked apple dumplings.

DECEMBER, Things in Season.

_Fish._—Barbel, brill, carp, cod, crabs, eels, dace, gudgeons, haddocks, herrings, lobsters, oysters, perch, pike, shrimps, skate, sprats, soles, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.

_Meat._—Beef, house lamb, mutton, pork, venison.

_Poultry._—Capons, chickens, fowls, geese, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, teal, turkeys, widgeons, wild ducks.

_Game._—Hares, partridges, pheasants, snipes, woodcocks.

_Vegetables._—Broccoli, cabbages, carrots, celery, leeks, onions, potatoes, parsnips, Scotch kale, turnips, winter spinach.

_Fruit._—Apples, chestnuts, filberts, grapes, medlars, oranges, pears, walnuts, dried fruits, such as almonds and raisins, figs, dates, &c.,—crystallized preserves.

With moderns the dessert is not so profuse, nor does it hold the same relationship to the dinner that it held with the ancients,—the Romans more especially. On ivory tables they would spread hundreds of different kinds of raw, cooked, and preserved fruits, tarts, and cakes, as substitutes for the more substantial comestibles with which the guests were satiated. However, as late as the reigns of our two last Georges, fabulous sums were often expended upon fanciful desserts. The dessert certainly repays, in its general effect, the expenditure upon it of much pains; and it may be said, that if there be any poetry at all in meals, or the process of feeding, there is poetry in the dessert, the materials for which should be selected with taste, and, of course, must depend, in a great measure, upon the season. Pines, melons, grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums, strawberries, apples, pears, oranges, almonds, raisins, figs, walnuts, filberts, medlars, cherries, &c. &c., all kinds of dried fruits, and choice and delicately-flavoured cakes and biscuits, make up the dessert, together with the most costly and _recherché_ wines. The shape of the dishes varies at different periods, the prevailing fashion at present being oval and circular dishes on stems. The patterns and colours are also subject to changes of fashion; some persons selecting china, chaste in pattern and colour; others, elegantly-shaped glass dishes on stems, with gilt edges. The beauty of the dessert services at the tables of the wealthy tends to enhance the splendour of the plate. The general mode of putting a dessert on table, now the elegant tazzas are fashionable, is, to place them down the middle of the table, a tall and short dish alternately; the fresh fruits being arranged on the tall dishes, and dried fruits, bon-bons, &c., on small round or oval glass plates. The garnishing needs especial attention, as the contrast of the brilliant-coloured fruits with nicely-arranged foliage is very charming. The garnish