A ham is usually a rear leg of pork which has been cured and smoked.
Ham in which the bone has been removed is thinly sliced or shaved for cold cuts, thickly sliced for ham steaks, or sold in cubes for adding to omelets, beans casseroles, soups, salads, and greens.
Beat half a cup of butter until creamy and light. Gradually beat in one cup of sugar.
Divide into three parts; leave one plain, add one or two ounces of melted chocolate to one part, and into the third part beat strawberry or raspberry preserves or jam to color and flavor as desired.
Hobo Butter
This is a budget stretcher that may be used as a baking substitute for butter (in many, but not all cases).
3/4 cup Crisco vegetable oil 1 lb. margarine, softened 1 cup buttermilk 1 (or more, to taste) teaspoon salt
Blend ingredients in a deep bowl. Whip with mixer. Pour into containers and refrigerate to harden. Easy to make. Use like butter.
Hominy
A farinaceous food made of maize (Indian corn). It is very nourishing. Derivation from the word "auhuminea," which is the North merican indian term for parched corn.
Honey
Sweet juice collected from various flowers by bees. French Narbonne and Swiss honey are both celebrated. The English and Welsh honeys also supply an excellent table delicacy. Honey is said to be one of the most variable of food materials. When pure it is derived solely from the sweet fluid collected from the nectaries of flowers and further elaborated by the honey-bee.
Melt butter over medium high heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan to avoid scorching. Skim foam from surface. Pour clear butter carefully off the top into another container, leaving behind the milky water at the bottom of the saucepan. (This remnant may be used for baking).
An alternative method is to follow the same steps as above, but continue to cook the butter over low heat, continuing the skim the foam from the surface periodically until foam no longer forms and the butter appears clear (this means the water has evaporated) then strain the butter through cheesecloth into a separate container.
1 1/2 pounds raw butter will yield approximately 1 pound clarified butter.
How-To Mix a Butter Cake
Measure the dry ingredients; mix with the flour and sift. Next break the eggs, dropping each into a saucer first incase the whole egg is to be used, so that if a stale egg happens to be among them, it can be detected in time. If the whites and yolks are to be used separately, divide them as you break the eggs, and beat both well before using the yolks until light and the whites until stiff and dry.
Then measure the butter, and if it is too hard to work well, let it stand in a warm place until it has become softened, but not melted. If there is not time for this, warm the bowl by pouring hot water into it, letting it stand a few minutes, then emptying and wiping it dry. Do not let it get too warm, however, or the butter will become oily instead of creamy.
If fruit is to be used, wash and dry it the day before. Dust with flour just before using, and mix by hand until each piece is powdered, so that all will mix evenly with the dough instead of sinking to the bottom.
Be sure to have all the ingredients ready before beginning to mix. Put the butter into the bowl; work it until soft and creamy, and gradually add the sugar, beating constantly. Next add the eggs, or the yolks, whichever the recipe specified, and then the liquid. Work in the flour, a little at a time; or, if desired, add small quantities of flour and liquid alternately until the entire amount of each has been used.
How-To Mix a Sponge Cake
Separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites, and beat the yolks with an egg beater until they are thick and lemon colored. Then, add the sugar, a little at a time, beating constantly. Now, beat the whites until they are stiff and dry; add them and the sifted dry ingredients as directed in the recipe. Do this with as few motions as possible, as otherwise the air bubbles enclosed in the mixture will be broken and all previous work undone.
Hydrometer
A hydrometer is an instrument which measures the specific gravity of a liquid. It is most often used to measure the the density or relative thickness of a liquid to water. Readings exceeding 1.000 at 60°F indicate a density higher than water.
This is helpful in preparing worts (used in brewing beer) which have a calculated quantity of sugar content.
To calculate alcoholic content by means of specific gravity, subtract the final specific gravity of a brew, from the first specific gravity measurement obtained at the start. Multiple this figure by 105 to obtain per of alcohol by weight.
For example: 1.040 -1.0108 equals 0.030, so 0.030 x 105 equals 3.15%.
