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[THEY MUST HUNGER IN FROST WHO WILL NOT WORK IN HEAT.] 2097. Muffins. Add a pint and a half of good ale yeast (from pale malt, if possible) to a bushel of the very best white flour; let the yeast lie all night in water, then pour off the water quite clear; heat two gallons of water just milk-warm, and mix the water, yeast, and two ounces of salt well together for about a quarter of an hour. Strain the whole, and mix up your dough as light as possible, letting it lie in the trough an hour to rise; next roll it with your hand, pulling it into little pieces about the size of a large walnut. These must be rolled out thin with a rolling-pin, in a good deal of flour, and if covered immediately with a piece of flannel, they will rise to a proper thickness; but if too large or small, dough must be added accordingly, or taken away; meanwhile, the dough must be also covered with flannel. Next begin baking; and when laid on the iron, watch carefully, and when one side changes colour, turn the other, taking care that they do not burn or become discoloured. Be careful also that the iron does not get too hot. In order to bake muffins properly, you ought to have a place built as if a copper were to be set; but instead of copper a piece of iron must be put over the top, fixed in form like the bottom of an iron pot, underneath which a coal fire is kindled when required. Toast the muffins crisp on both sides with a fork; pull them open with your hand, and they will be like a honeycomb; lay in as much butter as you intend; then clap them together, and set by the fire: turn them once, that both sides may be buttered alike. When quite done, cut them across with a knife; but if you use a knife either to spread or divide them, they will be as heavy as lead. Some kinds of flour will soak up more water than others; when this occurs, add water; or if too moist, add flour: for the dough must be as light as possible.