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Suet Dumplings, Plain

It cannot be too strongly insisted upon, and mothers of families cannot be too fully persuaded, that a certain quantity of fat taken with food is absolutely necessary to health. Those who do not take it are particularly liable to consumption, and this is specially the case with young people who are growing rapidly. To these anxious friends administer fat as a medicine in the shape of cod-liver oil, but it matters little in what shape fat is taken, the effect on the system of dripping, butter, or oil being exactly the same. Unfortunately, though one man can lead a horse to water, a hundred cannot make him drink, and it is useless to set before delicate, perhaps fanciful, persons things from which, however nourishing and wholesome, they turn away with dislike and loathing. There are families in which every scrap of fat which is served to its members seated at table is left on the plate and thrown to the cat or into the dustbin. This ought not to be. It does not often happen, indeed, in households where the members of the families are employed out of doors, but it does when their occupations are sedentary. We have no right to say an unkind word about "daintiness" if those who are confined all day long in a close indoor atmosphere have not the sharp-set appetite of the ploughman who hears the singing of the lark, and feels the freshness of the breeze from misty daybreak to ruddy sunset. Still, we would urge those who think they can take no meat but lean to use the fat under some disguise. They already take it in many shapes unconsciously, and without thinking of it, as in broth, milk, and butter, and even in meat which they call and consider lean. The housewife, at any rate, ought to be thoroughly convinced of the great importance of all kinds of fat in family dishes. She ought to see that none is wasted, to procure all she can at an economical rate, to buy not one ounce less than the usual quantity of good wholesome fat with the meat, and then so to employ it that her family shall be cheated, as it were, into taking, almost without knowing it, what is essential for their bodily welfare. One of the easiest ways of doing this is to serve fat in puddings, and amongst puddings of the kind one of the most excellent is suet dumpling. This is wholesome, excellent, and cheap; it may be made more or less substantial, its flavour may be varied according to taste, and it can be eaten as a savoury or a sweet dish. For plain suet dumpling, the best suet is the kidney-fat of beef or veal, which can be bought separately in small quantities, and at a moderate, though, unfortunately, a gradually-increasing price. To make the dumplings, clear the suet from skin and fibre, chop it fine, and to a pound of flour put from a quarter to half a pound of chopped suet. Before putting in the suet, however, mix with the flour a pinch of salt, and, if liked, a small pinch of pepper: if a small quantity only of suet is used, add a tea-spoonful of baking-powder. Add cold water to make the mixture into a tolerably stiff dough. Divide this into balls about the size of a large orange. Flour them well. Tie each one separately and securely in a cloth which has been wrung out of boiling water and floured, and be careful to leave the dumplings room to swell. Throw them into fast-boiling water, and keep them boiling quickly until done enough. Turn them out of the cloth, and serve immediately. Jam, sugar, treacle, sweet sauce, or salt and meat-gravy may all be served with them. When the dumplings are to be served with the meat they may be thrown without cloths into the liquor in which the meat is boiled, and allowed to remain until done enough. Time to boil the dumplings, half to three-quarters of an hour, according to size. Probable cost, suet, 10d. per pound. Sufficient, one dumpling for each person.