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Bayberry, or Myrtle Soap
- Dissolve two pounds and a quarter of white potash in five quarts of water, then mix it with ten pounds of myrtle wax, or bayberry tallow. Boil the whole over a slow fire till it turns to soap, then add a teacup of cold water; let it boil ten minutes longer; at the end of that time, turn it into tin moulds or pans, and let them remain a week or ten days to dry; then turn them out of the moulds. If you wish to have the soap scented, stir into it an essential oil that has an agreeable smell, just before you turn it into the moulds. This kind of soap is excellent for shaving, and for chapped hands; it is also good for eruptions on the face. It will be fit for use in the course of three or four weeks after it is made, but it is better for being kept ten or twelve months.
Cosmetic Soap, for Washing the Hands. Take a pound of Castile soap, or any other nice old soap; scrape it fine; put it on the fire with a little water; stir it to a smooth paste; turn it into a bowl; when cold, add some lavender water, or any kind of essence : beat it with a silver spoon till well mixed; thicken it with Indian meal, and keep it in small pots, closely covered; exposure to the air will harden it. MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. lado a ni MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES.
To Pot Butter for Winter Use. - Mix a large spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of powdered white sugar, of salt, a table-spoonful of powdered white sugar, and one of saltpetre. Work this quantity into six pounds of freash-made butter.
Put the butter into a stone pot that is thoroughly cleansed. When you have finished putting down your butter, cover it with a layer of salt, and let it remain covered until cold weather.
To Extract Rancidity from Butter. - Take a small quantity that is wanted for immediate use. For a pound of the butter, dissolve a couple of teaspoonfuls of salæboiling water, put in the butter, mix it well with the salæratus water, and let it remain till cold; then take it off carefully, and work a teaspoonful of salt into it. Butter treated in this manner answers very well to use in cooking.
To Preserve Cream for Sea Voyages. - Take rich, fresh cream, and mix it with half of its weight of white cream, and mix it with half of its weight of white powdered sugar. When well mixed in, put it in bottles and cork them tight.
When used for tea or coffee, it will make them sufficiently sweet without any additional sugar.
Substitute for Cream in Coffee. - Beat the white of an egg to a froth; put to it a small lump of butter, and egg to a froth; put to it a small lump of butter, and turn the coffee to it gradually, so that it may not curdle. It is difficult to distinguish the taste from fresh cream.