PLAIN BREAD PUDDING. Prepare five ounces of bread crumbs, put them in a
basin, pour three quarters of a pint of boiling milk over them, put a
plate over the top to keep in the steam, and let it stand twenty
minutes. Then beat it up quite smooth, with two ounces of sugar, and a
little nutmeg. Break four eggs on a plate, leaving out one white, beat
them well, and add them to the pudding. Stir it all well together, put
it into a mould that has been well buttered and floured, tie a cloth
tight over it, and boil it an hour.

PLAIN CHEESECAKES. Three quarters of a pound of cheese curd, and a
quarter of a pound of butter, beat together in a mortar. Add a quarter
of a pound of fine bread soaked in milk, three eggs, six ounces of
currants well washed and picked, sugar to the taste, a little candied
orange peel, and a little sack. Bake them in a puff crust in a quick
oven.

PLAIN FRITTERS. Grate a fine penny loaf into a pint of milk, beat it
smooth, add the yolks of five eggs, three ounces of fine sugar, and a
little nutmeg. Fry them in hog's lard, and serve them up with melted
butter and sugar.

PLAIN PEAS SOUP. The receipts too generally given for peas are so much
crowded with ingredients, that they entirely overpower the flavour of
the peas. Nothing more is necessary to plain good soup, than a quart of
split peas, two heads of celery, and an onion. Boil all together in
three quarts of broth or soft water; let them simmer gently on a trivet
over a slow fire for three hours, and keep them stirring, to prevent
burning at the bottom of the kettle. If the water boils away, and the
soup gets too thick, add some boiling water to it. When the peas are
well softened, work them through a coarse sieve, and then through a
tammis. Wash out the stewpan, return the soup into it, and give it a
boil up; take off any scum that rises, and the soup is ready. Prepare
some fried bread and dried mint, and send them up with it on two side
dishes. This is an excellent family soup, produced with very little
trouble or expense, the two quarts not exceeding the charge of one
shilling. Half a dram of bruised celery seed, and a little sugar, added
just before finishing the soup, will give it as much flavour as two
heads of the fresh vegetable.

PLAIN RICE PUDDING. Wash and pick some rice, scatter among it some
pimento finely powdered, but not too much. Tie up the rice in a cloth,
and leave plenty of room for it to swell. Boil it in a good