For _Puff Paste_, the flour was put in a wide earthen pan set before the fire, till it was quite warm, turning it frequently with the hands. A little butter was then rubbed into the flour, and enough warm water was added to make the whole into a very smooth and even paste, every lump in the flour having been carefully crumbled in the process of mixing. The paste was rolled out rather thick, and little bits of butter stuck all over it; flour was then dusted over the butter, and the paste was folded up so as to cover the flour. This was repeated as often as required, and half a pound of butter to a pound of flour was considered to make a very rich crust, a quarter of a pound of butter to a pound of flour being the usual proportion. _Short_ or _Sugar Paste_ was made by rubbing two ounces of lump-sugar, crushed by a rolling-pin so as to be very fine, into a pound of dry flour, and adding three ounces of butter, both the butter and the sugar being so mixed as to leave no lumps. The yolks of two eggs were then beaten up well, with some cream, and added to the flour, so as to make it into a paste, and if more moisture was required, milk or cream was used, but no water. This paste only required rolling out once, and it was delicious. In some of the modern cookery books equal quantities of butter and flour, in addition to the yolks of two eggs, are recommended for rich puff paste; and it is directed that the greater part of the butter should be made into a ball, and the buttermilk having been squeezed out of it, it should be put into the crust and covered with it, like an apple in making an apple-dumpling. The crust is then to be floured and rolled out five or six times. I have never tried this paste, and I should think it would be difficult to make. Regular pastrycooks, I am told, use oil, which they mix with the flour without any water; and lard or dripping is often used in large families to save butter. Eggs give a great richness to paste; but when used the whites should be omitted, as they are apt to make the paste hard. Having thus broken through my determination to give you only receipts for impromptu cookery, I think I must give you a few hints on what may be called National Cookery, or, in other words, that I may teach you how to make the favourite dishes of most of the nations of Europe. I do this principally to amuse you, and to enable you to produce variety in your entertainments, as the greatest enemy you have to dread is monotony; but you may occasionally find it useful to know how to produce the favourite dishes of foreigners, when you have to entertain them.