THE HOUSEHOLD CIRCLE.

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 523, 29 December 1888, Page 4

THE HOUSEHOLD CIRCLE.

Keep thy house, and thy house will keep thee.'

* A LITTLE DINNER. - • Tapioca Soup. — Have ready about 3 pints of good and delicately flavoured beef stock. Wash 2oz of , the best tapioca in water, put it on the fire with half of the stock, heat together very slowly until the tapioca is very clear and partly dissolved, then add the rest of the stock, and the yolks of two eggs beaten. Piquant Filleted Fish-— Take some nice fillets of any flat fish ; about an hour before cooking, , sprinkle with salt and pepper, lay them in a dish, sprinkle . with common and tarragon vinegar. When wanted, roll" tight, put them in a saucepan with the liquor they were in, add about a quarter of a pint of veal or white stock ; let them simmer ten minutes or more if thick. Take the fish out, put half a teaspoonful of cornflour mixed smooth with a little cream to the stock, also a teaspoonful or two of essence of anchovy, the beaten yolk of an egg, and more . pepper if required. Stir over the fire to get

thick, pour over the. fish, which must be kept warm, and serve. Fowl and Peas.— (Spanish Dish.) Take a frying pan, put in some good lard and dripping. Take the heart, liver, and gizard of a fowl, an. onion cut in ' slices, some parsley, and' a little grated lemon peel ; put them all into the f rying T pan, and let them do gently. Cut up a fowl into nice pieces, also some shreds of ham, or bacon, add it to the above, and fry till it is a little brown. Take a stewpan, put into ita little gravy, pepper, salt, a teaspoonful of oil, and one of tarragon vinegar, put in the fowl and ham, chop the heart, liver, some of the onion and parsely fine, add to the fowl ; also put in a quart of young green peas, stew gently till the peas are quite done ; serve with the peas in the centre. Veal Olives — Cut some thin slices from a cold fillet of veal, from three to four iuches long and about two wide ; cut some bacon the same size. Half boil some shallot or onion, mince very fine with a little, sweet herb, almost to a powder, * add salt and pepper. Take-as many Spanish olives as you have pieces of veal, peel them quite thin round and round, but do not break ih peeling ; take out the stone, and the peel will curl up again. Put a piece' of veal arid bacon together, " sprinkle on some of the herb mixture, put an olive into each, tie with thread and fry them a light brown take them out and put them on one side. Now fry a little sliced onion in the butter, a little flour, sweet herbs, pepper, salt and some good stock : let it boil fifteen Ip> twenty minutes; strain it and lay.in the dliyesV having /first taken the thread carefully off them. Simmer for half-an-hour'; , the gravy should cover them while they are cooking. Serve in the sauce. Roast Fore -Quarter of Lamb— This, like all the other joints of lamb, should be well basted while roasting, but not" done too" quickly. In the, fore-quarter the "shoulder . should be separated ] from the ribs with a sharp* knife after roasting. A small slice of butter,/ a bit of cayenne, ahd a squeeze of lemon should be laid under the shoulder, which should be replaced. Serve good mint sauce, with, plenty of finely chopped mint in it, - with all roast and cold lamb. This joint will .ake from two to twp and a quarter hours. Lamb should always be well cbpked through.. Regent" Pudding.— 3oz floui', bread crumbs, currants, raisins, moist sugar, and grated cocoanut ; 4oz suet, chopped fine, -2 eggs, beaten, £ cup , of milk; beat all, together, for ten ; minutes,; put. into a buttered mould, boil fast- for three hours, and serve with brandy sauce. DkssERT. — Fruits in season. - ( , .- . T .7 < ~V-y* _ ,J. -~ ,* i „<• r.

-.*- ■ ... NEW'YEA^7(HFTsJ.-y-'^r'yT/J Cushions for .Needles and. PingY^- This fiS'a^ most useful>hd, very pretty little article. for tha/ work-basket. It. is composed of an, oblbhgv cushion, properly stuffed with bran, then covered with a piece of crimson silk, or satin. .The ends : are neatly gathered and covered with .a large v mother of pearl button at each side,, tbe needles | and pms being then stuck all round. -A basket | lull of these cushions, all made: of different and ; | bright- coloured silks, form a very attractive ornament to a bazaar stall.-and to vary the ' | pattern, some may he made with ribbons to match, to hang on the bed-room looking.glass.Toilet Tidy or Spill Case.— A very pretty tidy may be made of pale- blue satin or surah and silver perforated card. Take a piece" bf - satin measuring seven inches each way, and hem one end, fringe out the othei*, and run the two sides together ; then run a gathering thread all round, two and a half inches from the fringed c ? v " Draw n P- t! B ht . and secure with a few firm stitches, now take a piece. of the card measuring three inches deep, and long enough to go round the tidy; cut in deep. Vandykes each side ahd slip over the tidy, joining it by lapping one end over the other, and working long stitches with crewel silk, which should also go between the Vandykes to secure the card to the tidy. A piece of tinsel braid or fancy, -ribbon should be sewn to each side of the tidy to hang it up by, and knotted into a loop at the centre. New Wall Pocket.— This: little pocket is intended to be'hung up flat against a wall near a bed Or sofa to contain bottle, work, handkerchief, etc., and it is suitable for use by an invalid. .. The material chosen for it should be a dull green satin which is embroidered with shades of green silk to make it resemble as nearly as possible an enormous leaf. Two of these , leaveß, only one of which is embroidered, are required for. the pocket. The second one in mounted over a piece of cardboard tb make a stiff foundation for the back of the 'sachet; The embroidered piece is mounted over stiffened .. muslin. Both pieces must be lined, and they are then sewn carefully together; leaving a portion unsewn ,to make the opening of the pocket. This, unsewn part must be neatly lined with satin and turned back, and the corresponding portion in the back leaf must alßo be neatly lined. Finally, two small brass rings, are added at the back of the sachet to hang it up by. • In making tbis much depends upon the artistic manner in which the shading is done, and it is well, if, a natural leaf, is not at hand, to copy a gobd chromo, in which, perhaps, the shading is more decided and therefore easier, to' copy. Many shapes of leaves can be thlis adapted, % and indeed such sachets may be made in sin almost- endless variety of forms, Ivyi lilac, maple and lime leaves are all pretty and suitable. '