DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. SALADS, MACARONI, ETC. Salad. The herbs and vegetables for a salad cannot be too freshly gathered. They should be carefully cleared from insects and washed with scrupulous nicety; they are better when not prepared until near the time of sending them to table, and should not be sauced until the instant before they are served. Tender lettuces, of which the outer leaves should be stripped away, mustard and cress, young radishes, and occasionally small green onions, (when the taste of the party is in favour of these last), are the usual ingredients of summer salads. Half grown cucumbers sliced thin, and mixed with them, are a favourite addition with many persons. In England it is customary to cut the lettuces extremely fine; the French, who object to the flavour of the knife, which they fancy this mode imparts, break them small instead. Young celery alone, sliced and dressed with a rich salad mixture, is excellent; it is still in some families served thus always with roast fowls. Beetroot, baked or boiled, blanched endive, small salad-herbs which are easily raised at any time of the year, celery, and hardy lettuces, with any ready-dressed vegetable, will supply salads through the winter. In summer salads the mixture must not be poured upon the lettuce or vegetables used in the salad, but be left at the bottom to be stirred up when wanted, as thus preserving the crispness of the lettuce. In winter salads, however, the reverse of this proceeding must be adopted, as thus: the salad of endive, celery, beet, and other roots being cut ready for dressing, then pour the mixture upon the ingredients, and stir them well up, so that every portion may receive its benefit. In doing this, it should likewise be recollected that the spoon and fork should always be of wood, and of sufficient size to stir up the vegetables in large quantities. Salad dressing.-For a salad of moderate size, pound very smoothly the yolks of two hard boiled eggs with a small tea-spoonful of unmade mustard, half as much sugar in fine powder, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Mix gradually with these a small cup of cream, or the same quantity of very pure oil, and two table-spoonfuls of vinegar. More salt and acid can be added at pleasure but the latter usually predominates too much in English salads. A few drops of Cayenne vinegar will improve this receipt. Hard yolks of egg, two; unmade mustard, one small tea-spoonful; sugar, half as much; salt, one saltspoonful; cream or oil, small cupful; vinegar, two table-spoonfuls. To some tastes a tea-spoonful or more of eschalot vinegar would be an acceptable addition to this sauce, which may be otherwise varied in numberless ways. Cucumbervinegar may be substituted for other, and small quantities of soy, caviare, essence of anchovies, or catsup may in turn be used to flavour the compound. The salad bowl too may be rubbed with a cut clove of garlic, to give the whole composition a very slight flavour of it. The eggs should be boiled for fifteen minutes, and allowed to become quite cold always before they are pounded, or the mixture will not be smooth; if it should curdle, which it will sometimes do, if not carefully made, add to it the yolk of a very fresh unboiled egg. As we have before had occasion to remark, garlic, when very sparingly and judiciously used, imparts a remarkably fine savour to a sauce or gravy, and neither a strong nor a coarse one, as it does when used in larger quantities. The veriest morsel (or, as the French call it, a mere soupcon) of the root is sufficient to give this agreeable piquancy; but unless the proportion be extremely small, the effect will be quite different. The Italians dress their salads upon a round of delicately toasted bread, which is rubbed with garlic, saturated with oil, and sprinkled with cayenne, before it is laid into the bowl: they also eat the bread thus prepared, but with less of oil, and untoasted, often before their meals, as a digester. French Salad dressing. Stir a salt-spoonful of salt and half as much pepper into a large spoonful of oil, and when the salt is dissolved, mix with them four additional spoonfuls of oil, and pour the whole over the salad; let it be well turned, and then add a couple of spoonfuls of vinegar; mix the whole thoroughly and serve it without delay. The salad should not be dressed in this way until the instant before it is wanted for table; the proportions of salt and pepper can be increased at pleasure, and common, or cucumber-vinegar may be substituted for the tarragon, which, however, is more frequently used in France than any other. Another Salad dressing. -Boil two eggs ten minutes, and put them into cold water, to harden and cool; then take out the yolks, and add two table-spoonfuls of olive oil, a tea-spoonrub them through a coarse sieve into a basin; ful of salt, the same quantity of mustard, half spoonful of soy or essence of anchovies, and two the quantity of ground black pepper, a tea tablespoonfuls of vinegar; incorporate the whole, and pour this sauce down the side of the salad-bowl. The whites of the eggs will serve to garnish the salad. Summer Salad.-Wash very clean one or two heads of fine lettuce, divide it, let it lie some time in cold water; drain and dry it in a napkin, and cut it small before serving. Mustard and cresses, sorrel and young onions, may be added. Winter Salad.-Wash very clean one or two heads of endive, some heads of celery, some mustard and cresses; cut them all small, add a little shredded red cabbage, some slices of boiled beet-root, an onion, if the flavour is not disliked; mix them together with salad sauce. In spring, add radishes, and also garnish the dish with them Vegetable Salads made of roots which have been boiled, also make good winter salads, amongst which potato and beet-root salads are perhaps the best. Cut the roots into thin slices, season them with pepper and salt, and pour over them the salad mixture, to which may be added, if the flavour be not disapproved, a few slices of raw onion. French Salad.-Chop thrce anchovies, a shalot, and some parsley small, put them into a bowl with two table-spoonsful of vinegar, one of oil, a little mustard, and salt. When well mixed, add by degrees some cold roast or boiled meat in very thin slices; put in a few at a time, not exceeding two or three inches long. Shake them in the seasoning, and then put more; cover the bowl close, and let the salad be prepared three hours before it is to be eaten. Italian Salad is made by picking the white portion of a cold fowl from the bones in small flakes, piling it in the centre of a dish, and pouring a salad mixture over, enriched with cream; make a wall around with salad of any kind, laying the whites of eggs, cut into rings, on the top in a chain. Spanish Salad.-Take whatever salad can be got, wash it in many waters, rinse it in a small net, or in napkins, till nearly dry, chop up onions and tarragon, take a bowl, put in equal quantities of vinegar and water, a teaspoonful of pepper and salt, and four times as much oil as vinegar and water: mix the same well together; take care never to put the lettuce into the sauce till the moment the salad is wanted, or it loses all its crispness and becomes sodden. For Vinaigrette.-Take any kind of cold meat, chop it finely, and lay it in a dish; chop the whites of the eggs employed for the salad very finely with small onions; add any kind of herb, and pickled cucumbers, all chopped finely: make a garnish round the meat, serve it with salad mixture, but do not stir it together, as it would spoil the appearance of the dish, which looks very pretty with the eggs and herbs in a ring. Chicken Salad.-Boil a chicken that weighs not more than a pound and a half. When very tender, take it up, cut it in small strips; then take six or seven fine white heads of celery, scrape and wash it; cut the white part small, in pieces about three quarters of an inch long, mix it with the meat of the fowl, and just before the salad is sent in, pour a dressing made in the following way over it. Boil four eggs hard; rub their yolks to a smooth paste with two tablespoonfuls of olive oil; two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard one tea-spoonful of salt; and one teacupful of strong vinegar. Place the delicate leaves of the celery around the edges of the dish. White-heart lettuce may be used instead of celery. Any other salad dressing may be used, if preferred. Tomatoes en Salade. These are now often served merely sliced, and dressed like cucumbers, with salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. For Winter Use.-Late in the season take tomatoes not too ripe, cut them into thick slices, salt them lightly in a flat dish, sprinkling the salt over them as you cut them. Pour off the water; put them in a jar, strewing black and Cayenne pepper through them and a few slices of onion, two wineglassfuls of sweet oil, a few blades of mace, and vinegar enough to cover them up tight to exclude the air. Coldslaw.-Shave as fine as possible a hard head of white cabbage, put it in a salad bowl, and pour over it the usual salad dressing. Another way is, to cut the cabbage head in two, shave it finely, put it in a stew-pan with half a tea-cupful of butter, a tea-spoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, and a salt-spoonful of pepper; cover the stew pan, and set over a gentle fire for five minutes, shaking it occasionally. When thoroughly heated, serve it as a salad. Radishes.-Radishes should always be freshly gathered; let them lie in cold water one hour before serving, then cut off all their leaves and almost all the stalk, serve them in glasses half filled with water, or on a plate. Shalots or Green Onions are sometimes served and eaten in the same way. Dressed Cucumbers.-Pare and slice them very thin, strew a little fine salt over them, and when they have stood a few minutes, drain off the water, by raising one side of the dish, and letting it flow to the other; pour it away, strew more salt, and a moderate seasoning of pepper on them, add two or three table-spoonfuls of the purest salad oil, and turn the cucumbers well, that the whole may receive a portion of it; then pour over them from one to three dessert-spoonfuls of Chili vinegar, and a little common, should it be needed; turn them into a clean dish and serve them. To dress Macaroni.-Wash and drain as much macaroni as you desire for dinner; put it on to boil in tepid water. When it is soft enough to pass a fork through, take it off, drain it through à cullender, wipe out the skillet, and return it immediately back again. Then add milk enough to half cover it, salt and red pepper to your taste, a piece of butter as large as a turkey's egg, and grated cheese as plentifully as you please; stew it all together, while stirring it for five or ten minutes; then throw it out into a dish, cover the top with grated bread crumbs, and set it in the oven for a few minutes to brown on the top. If left long in the oven it will dry up and become tough and unpalatable. Macaroni, Milanesc.-Throw the macaroni in boiling water with some salt in it. Let it have plenty of room and be well covered with water. Let it boil twenty-five minutes. Drain it in a cullender; then put it in a deep dish in alternate layers of macaroni and grated cheese; lay on the top slices of fresh butter; pour over it milk and cream enough to cover the whole, and place the dish in an oven where it can cook at the top and bottom equally. In fifteen or twenty minutes it will be done. Serve it up immediately. Too much fire will make it dry. Macaroni, à l'Italienne.-Take one quarter of a pound of macaroni, boil it in water till tender; thicken half a pint of milk with flour and a small bit of butter; add two table-spoonfuls of cream, half a tea-spoonful of mustard, a little white pepper, salt, and cayenne. Stir into this half a pound of grated cheese; boil all together a few minutes; add the macaroni; make all quite hot, and serve. This is the mode adopted at the best tables in Florence. Vermicelli is of the same substance as macaroni, but made much smaller, and frequently put into meat soups, as giving them additional richness; but it is, in our country, too sparingly used. To be well made, the soup should be thickened with it, and for that purpose it is preferable to macaroni. 106-Chess.-Several of our correspondents object to the continued publication of chess problems, in our miscellany, on the plea that the space thus occupied might be devoted to more interesting matter. The opinions of our subscribers will always receive attentive consideration; but in this matter, which may interest a large number of friends, we are inclined to consult them generally, and we shall feel obliged by their communications on the subject. 107-Stained Wood. G. C. R.-Staining wood requires no preparation before the stain is applied. To obtain a mahogany colour, put two ounces of dragon's blood, broken in pieces, into one quart of rectified spirits of wine; let the bottle stand in a warm place, shake it frequently; when dissolved, it is fit for use. 108-Education of Young Children. S.-The intellect of quite young children should be sparingly taxed. Physical dangers of a formidable nature are connected with their close confinement, or long enforced application. If they have a rural spot where they can enjoy pure air and exercise, let it be a part of their daily education. 109-Mackintoshes. A. C.-These useful garments are formed of fabrics covered on one side with caoutchouc, or two fabrics are united by the caoutchouc between. They are thus rendered impermeable to water, and possess a flexibility such as it had never been possible to obtain by the employment of other varnishes. For the purpose of obtaining the sheet of caoutchouc sufficiently thin for this purpose, it is dissolved. 110-Greenwich Observatory Library. W. O. R. You had better apply to the Astronomer Royal, Professor Airy. The library attached to the Observatory at Greenwich is well furnished with books of all classes, interesting or useful to the astronomer. Ephemerides and almanacs of all nations; the transactions of all the learned societies in Europe and America, the most elaborate treatises on astronomy, and every kindred subject, ancient and modern. 111-Marqueterie. H. G. - In marqueterie inlay, the design having been first drawn on paper and properly coloured, is pricked with a fine needle, so that the outline of the ornament or other objects can be formed on the various coloured woods proposed to be employed; these outlines being carefully marked in, are cut with a fine watch-spring saw, worked in a lathe: in most cases the wood forming the ground is cut with that forming the ornament, so that a piece cut out of white wood corresponds exactly in shape and size with the opening left in black wood, in which it therefore fits and forms the required pattern. 112-Preserving Sea-weeds. W.-The following is an easy method. The sea-weeds should be placed one by one into a large basin of clean water. Have ready writing paper divided into pieces (a quarter of a sheet is a convenient size); then, when the weed is sufficiently expanded and the dirt washed from it, place under it the piece of paper; then drain off the wet, and place them between two dry sheets of common paper, subjecting them to a slight pressure. The sea-weed will generally adhere to the paper, causing no further trouble, and the specimens may be arranged in a book of blank leaves, the name being procured if possible. 113-Tallow-Candles. E. - -The disagreeable smell of tallow-candles arises chiefly from the tallow being imperfectly purified; for if it contains a portion of the cellular tissue of the fat from which it is obtained, this putrifies and communicates the process of decomposition, like a ferment, to the fatty matter, which becomes rancid and evolves a most unpleasant odour. You should take care to purchase candles that have been "rendered" or purified. This is done by melting the tallow in an open copper pan exposed to the direct action of the fire. After it has remained in a fused state for some time, the water which the fleshy particles contain, evaporates, and they then rise to the surface and are skimmed off and pressed. the removal of oil or grease spots, common ether may be used. For It 114-Growth of the Nails and the Hair. H.-The growth of the nails is more rapid in children than in adults, and slowest in the aged. goes on more promptly in summer than in winter, so that the same nail which is renewed in 132 days in winter requires only 116 in summer. The increase for the nails of the right hand is more rapid than for the left; moreover, it differs for the different fingers, and in order corresponding with the length of the finger; consequently, it is most rapid for the middle finger, nearly equal for the two either side of this, slower for the little finger, and slowest for the thumb. The growth of the hair is well known to be much accelerated by frequent cutting. It forms more rapidly in the day than at night, and in hot seasons than in cold it is difficult to determine the precise rates. 115-Snuff-taking. M. E.-Snuff is said to have originated with the French; and indeed, it is very probable that no other nation in the world would have imagined so singular a mode of using the tobacco plant. During the last century it was indispensable for every French gentleman to carry a snuff-box, and the sale of But snuff was found so advantageous, that the French government created a monopoly of snuff manufacture in its own favour, which has subsisted for many years. As to the use of snuff, it cannot but be pernicious, for it acts upon the brain, causing intoxication and sickness. Besides this, a full third of the powder taken into the nostrils enters the stomach, creating a truly distressing disturbance of that organ. As to breaking off the habit, half-resolution will not suffice. Nothing but total abstinence will eradicate it. 116-Rhubarb. T.-Good rhubarb may be thus distinguished from the inferior description. The general characters of good rhubarb are, its having a whitish or clear yellow colour, being dry, solid, and compact; moderately heavy and brittle; when recently broken, appearing marked with yellow or reddish veins, mixed with white; being easily pulverizable; forming a powder of a fine bright yellow, having the peculiar, nauseous, aromatic smell of rhubarb, and a sub-acrid, bitterish, somewhat astringent taste, and when chewed, feeling gritty under the teeth, speedily colouring the saliva, and not appearing very mucilaginous. The size and form of the pieces are of little consequence; only you must break the large ones to see that they are not decayed or rotten within, and also observe that they are not musty or worm-eaten. This is the more necessary, as damaged pieces are frequently so artfully dressed up, and coloured with powdered rhubarb, as to impose on the buyer by their appearance. 117-Female Education. C. C.-Our fair correspondent sends the following excellent observations, which we willingly insert. "The main 118-Mahogany Furniture. G. S. C.-You are wrong in ascribing the date of your curiously carved bookcase to the seventeenth century. It was only in 1720 that mahogany was first employed in England for cabinet furniture. Its origin is thus related. Dr. Gibbons, an eminent physician, having had some planks of this wood given to him by his brother, a West India captain, who had brought them in his vessel as ballast, wished to use them for a house he was building; but the carpenters complained that the wood was too hard; it was, therefore, laid aside as useless. Soon after, Mrs. Gibbon wanted a candle-box, and the Doctor called in his cabinet-maker to make him one of this wood, then lying in his garden. He also declared that it was too hard. The Doctor said, he must get stronger tools; the candle-box was completed and approved, insomuch that the Doctor insisted upon having a bureau made of the same wood, and when finished, the fine colour, polish, &c., were so striking, that he invited his friends to come and see it. Among them was the Duchess of Buckingham, who was so pleased that she had a bureau from the same wood, which speedily became fashionable among the higher classes. 119-Snails. C. E. G.-Respecting snails as an article of diet, we can offer no opinion. Our own dislike to such food remains unchanged, notwithstanding the growing favour with which it is received by our continental neighbours. In France the snail is becoming a fashionable article of diet, and for several months past a particular place has been appropriated for their sale in the Paris fish-market, in the south-east angle, near the lobsters and fresh-water fish. object of education should be to prepare the "Snails," says one of the French journals, young for the active duties of life. But there "were highly esteemed by the Romans, our appears a deficiency in this respect, in the trainmasters in gastronomy, and are now raised in ing of young females, who are frequently seen many of the departments with success. In the devoting an undue portion of time to accom- sixteenth century, the Capuchins of Fribourg, plishments, which, however valuable they may recovered the art of breeding and fattening be in themselves, as embellishments, are totally snails, an art which is not lost in our day, for in insufficient to form the basis of education. If Franche-Comté, Lorraine and Burgundy, they the important position which women hold in raise excellent snails, which find a sure demand society, as wives, mothers, mistresses of fami- in the Paris market. There are now fifty lies, was duly considered, how essential would restaurants, and more than twelve hundred priit appear that they should pursue a thorough vate tables in Paris, where snails are accepted systematic course of study, such as would as a delicacy by from eight thousand to ten strengthen and enlarge their understanding, thousand consumers. The monthly consumpdiscipline their imagination, assist their reason- tion of this molluscan is estimated at half a ing powers, and lead to habits of observation, million. The market price of the great vinejudgment, and reflection. A young person yard snails is from 2f. 50c. to 3f. 50c. per hunthus educated would not be likely to set an dred, while those of the hedges, woods, and undue value on what is merely ornamental, forests, bring only from 2f. to 2f. 25c. The prothough she will not withhold from accomplish-prietor of the snaillery in the vicinity of Dijon, ments a reasonable share of attention." is said to net over 7,000 francs annually. THE TRIALS OF A SETTLER. BY FREDERICK GERSTAECKER, AUTHOR OF "TRAVELS ROUND THE WORLD." "AMERICA backwoods - Indians panthers-ah! how I long to be there and see it all!" says the enchanted reader, while, before his mind's eye, a delicious camera-obscura represents all these objects in a microscopic form, but invested with the magic of a teeming fancy. "I must go there," also said Von Sechingen, a young, rich, and independent German, as he threw Cooper's "Pathfinder" on the sofa, seized a rifle that hung on the wall, and took a quick and steady aim at a panther which his imagination had summoned up before him. He hardly allowed himself time to finish the book, but arranged his affairs; and within six weeks, a vessel bore him over the blue and foaming sea to the land of his hopes and dreams. There, in the depths of the forest, beneath the everrustling trees, he intended to build himself a hut, hunt the bear and panther, and associate with the red aborigines: there, at a distance from all the cares and annoyances of the old world, he hoped to find that peace for which he had yearned, and his lip curled proudly and contemptuously, when he thought of the system of compliments and etiquette, which now lay far behind him. The voyage was most successful: after a quick passage he reached New Orleans, though he hardly stopped there long enough to have a glance at the city; but, on the next morning, went on board a steamer bound for Arkansas, and, in nine days after, arrived at Little Rock, the capital of that state. A number of persons came on board here, either in the hope of greeting some friend, or to receive letters and newspapers, and Sechingen, to whom all this was new and strange, could not help noticing a pleasant little man, of about thirty-eight years of age, dressed in a shabby greycoat with brass buttons, a pair of dark summer trowsers, thick shoes, a light blue neckerchief, and a silk hat, very much the worse for wear. He moved about with indescribable and self-satisfied assurance, seemed to know every one on board, and was evidently known by all, for there was no end to the nodding and hand-shaking, and, "How are you, Charley? - always jolly?-bless me, how fat you've grown! was heard from every mouth. It was Charles Fisher, whose name has become inseparably connected with that of Little Rock in the mind of every German who has visited the town; for he has resided there many years, and knew the place, as he says, when "it was only a little village." He has saved a good deal of money through industry and economy, built a few houses, and established an inn and hotel, through which his profits have materially increased; for he buys every thing he wants in the eating and drinking line, at a cheap rate at Cincinnati or New Orleans, and retails them at enormous prices in Little Rock. Besides this, loved and respected as a good and harmless body, and living so long on one spot, that travellers always saw him the first on board, and, half-an-hour later, behind his counter, he has become, to a certain extent, a "poste restante," to which all letters for Little Rock, or even Arkansas, are addressed, when there is any uncertainty as to the actual residence of the recipient. Charles Fisher was, therefore, and still is, the police-bureau for all Germans who arrive at Little Rock, where they can inquire for any one they are interested in, and he can give them information on any possible subject. As he has scarcely ever left Little Rock, since he has resided in America, his views have not changed materially during the last fifteen years; and when a person asks him where good land is to be found in Arkansas, he invariably sends them to Fourche-la-fave: if you inquire how the "times " are, he pulls a packet of notes from out of his pocket, which he has fastened to a waistcoat button-hole by a piece of thread, saying at the same time, "We must tie our money together in Little Rock, or it may blow away:" if you inquire his political views, he is a Democrat with staunch feelings, and asserts, that "he would sooner have his head chopped off than join the Whigs;" but never enters into any further explanations; for the difference between the two parties is somewhat obscure in his mind; but if you |