A Handbook of Cookery for a Small House

boil for five minutes longer. Strain through a cullender, pressing hard with a plate or wooden vegetable press to get all the water out; put into a bowl and beat well with a fork and then work it into another bowl through a hair sieve using a large wooden spoon. Then work in half a gill of cream, a small piece of butter and a little milk. The spinach ought then to have the consistency of thick cream. Put it into a dish and serve with croutons of lightly fried French roll or garnished with hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters. PASTRIES, SWEETS, AND CAKES _General Remarks_ For Tarts the fruit of all kinds must always be cooked first by itself. Bottled fruits should also be brought to a boil with sugar before being put into the pastry, except for baked apple dumplings. For Puddings the fruit should not be cooked before. Suet crust should be mixed with water with just the chill off but not hot. Milk puddings always require to be cooked in a very slow oven. Never use brown sugar for sweetening except for Christmas pudding and apple pudding. _156. Pastry for Meat Pies_ For meat pies, sausage rolls, etc., the following pastry is recommended. Put two and a half cupfuls of flour into a bowl and work into it a quarter of a pound of butter. Mix with a little tepid water. Roll out on the board and spread it thickly with a quarter of a pound of lard (half at a time). Turn over the ends of the pastry, roll out again and spread the rest of the lard. Turn in the ends again and roll finally for the crust of your pie. _157. Pastry for Puddings_ Put into the pastry bowl two and a half to three breakfast-cupfuls of flour and half a teaspoonful of baking powder (unless self-raising flour is being used in which case no baking powder is necessary). Have a quarter of a pound of beef suet carefully separated from all skin and chopped very finely. Work the suet smoothly into the