MRS. PEPYS’S DIARY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 324, 9 April 1928, Page 4

MRS. PEPYS’S DIARY

MONDAY.—Goins to my kitchen do this day gain a hint from tha doings of my Maid Jane, and this a gredft change that it should be so. The same being the using of a brick as an iron stand, an idea siie hath gained from her mother who doth much laundering to help out her living. The brick, she declares, holds the heat in the iron much longer than the bought stands or iron, and so both time and gas saved. Praising her for her thoughtfulness, I do also promise her to write of it here to her great satisfaction that it should be so. TUESDAY.—At her request do write out for Mr. cousin Gladys, a good recipe for eggs en surprise, this a very tasty dish for serving at supper when it needs must be cold. The way to boil hard as many eggs as you wish, and when cold roll gently upon your kitchen table to break their shells; then remove the shells and carefully cut out a piece from the upper side of your eggs. Then scoup out the yolk and pound this up with some sausage mixture, cooked, or you may use chicken meat or ham if that suits you better. Add to your mixture pepper and salt and pack into the egg cases. Put on the lids, decorate the tops with pieces of beetroot, cut into any pretty device, and serve cold with a garnish of cut beetroot, chopped lettuce or any other green salad. You may mix your egg yolk with anchovy to give it a line flavour.

WEDNESDAY.—For our supper this night do prepare a dish of sheeps tongue with celery sauce, by taking four sheep's tongues, washing them carefully, and letting them lie m cold water. Then after a little while do put into a saucepan with one pint of warm water, bring to the boil, skimming as is necessary. Now add -ine small head of celery, cut into pieces, also one onion, sliced, and leave all to simmer slowly for one hour, or longer, if required, rendering your sheep’s tongues tender. Next lift our, skin and cut into slices, removing the root. Then must you strain the liquid from your vegetables, and chop finely. Make also a sauce with loz of butter, loz of flour, a seasoning of salt and pepper, and of the liquid half a pint. Thin this down with milk, if required, and put the tongue and vegetables back into it to reheat. Make a pretty bed of creamed potato on a dish that is properly hot, arrange the tongue on the top, and pour sauce over and around. For a garnish you may use tinned or bottled peas, and slices of lemon.

THURSDAY.—To drink a dish of tea with Mr. Pepys’s Aunt Lettiee, where I do partake of an excellent seed cake of her making. This good enough eating to cause me to ask her for the recipe, which she doth gladly do, she agreeing with me that seed cake is not as oft made nowadays as it doth deserve when of a fine quality. The recipe is to rub 3oz of butter into 41b of flour, to add 2oz of carraways, and of sugar 3oz. Next to beat up thoroughly three eggs, 10 add them to your dry ingredients, and lastly to stir in one teaspoonful of baking powder. Grease well a caketin, pour in your mixture, and bake for three-quarters of an hour in a quick oven. Here I would note that if any should like the flavour of carraway, but not the seeds, to buy them ground is a simple matter. FRIDAY.—-At my reading do discover a very good idea, and that to buy at the end of this month a supply of oranges, slightly bruised or damaged, but not yet bad, these oft to be had at a very moderate price indeed. The way to use them to your profit is to make orange wine of them, the other ingredients no more than boiling water and sugar. This is a very pleasant fruit drink, for drinking .with soda water, or as an aid in making a fruit “cup” or punch. But also I note that a glass of good brandy doth add much to its flavour and quality if put to the wine before it is bottled. SATURDAY.—For eating at our lunch upon the Lord’s Day, do decide upon a prune pie, this an American sweet, I understand, and the first time of my serving it at my table; It is made by soaking £lb of prunes in the usual manner. Then cook them in the same water until soft, remove the stones, and cut the prunes into pieces. Next cover a plate with a thin crust, add to your prunes three tablespoon - fuls of sugar, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, strained, a sprinkling of flour and some small bits of butter. Cover Avith a top crust and bake in a suitable pastry oven. Before serving sprinkle with castor sugar.