To one pint of cranberries take one and one-quarter cups of water. Put the cranberries on with the water and cook until soft; strain through a cloth; weigh and add three-fourths of a pound of sugar to every pint of juice. Cook ten minutes; pour into molds and set aside to cool. Serve with poultry, game or mutton.
Soak a small loaf of bread; press out every drop of water, work into this one cup of suet shaved very fine, the yolks of six eggs, one cup of currants, one cup of raisins seeded, one-half cup of citron shredded fine, three-quarters cup of syrup, one wineglass of brandy, one cup of sifted flour and the stiffly-beaten whites of eggs last. Boil four hours in greased melon mold.
Take a shoulder of mutton--must be young and tender--wash the meat well and dry with a clean towel. Rub well with salt, ginger and a speck of pepper, and dredge well with flour. Lay it in a covered roasting-pan. Put a few pieces of whole mace and a few slices of onion on top; pour a cup of water into the pan. Cover it up tight and set in a hot oven to roast, basting frequently. Allow twenty minutes to the pound for roasting mutton; it should be well done. Add more water if necessary (always add hot water so as not to stop the process of boiling), skim the gravy well and serve with currant or cranberry jelly. Pare potatoes of uniform size and wash and salt them about three-quarters of an hour before dinner. Lay the potatoes in pan around the roast and sprinkle them with salt and return to the oven to roast. Let them brown nicely.
Singe and clean the turkey the same as chicken. Fill with plain bread stuffing or chestnut stuffing. Tie down the legs and rub entire surface with salt and let stand overnight. Next morning place in large drippings or roasting-pan on rack and spread breast, legs and wings with one-third cup of fat creamed and mixed with one-fourth cup of flour. Dredge bottom of pan with flour. Place in a hot oven and when the flour on the turkey begins to brown, reduce the heat and add two cups of boiling water or the stock in which the giblets are cooking, and baste with one-fourth cup of fat and three-fourths cup of boiling water. When this is all used, baste with the fat in the pan. Baste every fifteen minutes until tender; do not prick with a fork, press with the fingers; if the breast meat and leg are soft to the touch the turkey is done. If the oven is too hot, cover the pan; turn the turkey often, that it may brown nicely. Remove strings and skewers and serve on hot platter. Serve with giblet sauce and cranberry sauce. If the turkey is very large it will require three hours or more, a small one will require only an hour and a half.
Wash and pick ripe cranberries and set on to boil in a porcelain-lined kettle closely covered. When soft strain the pulp through a fine wire sieve. Measure the juice and add an equal quantity of sugar. Set it on to boil again and let it boil very fast for about ten minutes--but it must boil steadily all the time. Wet a mold with cold water, turn the jelly into it and set it away to cool, when firm turn it into a glass salver.
Take neck of turkey, stuff with following: One-quarter pound of almonds or walnuts chopped fine and seasoned with chopped parsley, pepper and salt, put two hard-boiled eggs in the centre of this dressing; stuff neck, sew up the ends and when roasted slice across so as to have a portion of the hard-boiled egg on each slice; place on platter and surround with sprigs of parsley.
Beat yolks of four eggs with three tablespoons of goose, turkey or chicken fat, but if these are not convenient, clear beef drippings will do. Put in enough farina to make a good Batter. Beat whites of eggs to a stiff froth with pinch of salt, and stir in batter. Put on in large boiler sufficient water to boil dumplings and add one tablespoon of salt. When boiling drop in by tablespoons. Boil one hour. This quantity makes twenty dumplings.
