Are made by treating the dough mixed for Graham bread as above and
following the foregoing receipt in every section, but allowing more
time for rising and baking. They are even better when cold than hot.
Breakfast Biscuit.
Two cups of fresh milk slightly warmed.
One quart and a cup of flour sifted.
Five tablespoonfuls of yeast.
One even tablespoonful of white sugar.
One even teaspoonful of salt.
Bit of soda as large as a pea, dissolved in hot water.
One tablespoonful of butter, just melted, not hot.
Yolk of one egg beaten light.
Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl, hollow the heap in the
centre and pour in the milk, working down the flour into the liquid
with a spoon or your hands until it is thoroughly melted. Into a second
hollow pour the yeast and knead thoroughly for fifteen minutes. Wrap
bowl and biscuit in a thick cloth and set to rise where it will neither
become chilled nor sour over night. (Study the temperature in different
parts of the kitchen and kitchen closets to the end of finding the best
places for raising dough and sponge.)
Do all this at bedtime. Early in the morning turn out the dough upon
a floured board, work it for a minute into manageable shape; drill
several finger-holes in it and fill them with the melted butter, the
dissolved soda and the beaten yolk of egg. Pinch the dough hard to stop
the mouths of these cavities, and knead for ten minutes, carefully at
first, lest the liquids should be wasted, and more boldly when they are
absorbed by the paste. Roll out into a sheet half an inch thick with a
floured rolling-pin; cut into round cakes, set these closely together
in a well-greased pan; prick each with a fork and let them rise near
the fire for half an hour, covered with a light cloth.
Bake from twenty to twenty-five minutes in a quick oven, turning the
pan around once, quickly and lightly. Break apart from one another and
pile on a plate, throwing a clean doily or a small napkin over them.
Break open at table. Hot rolls and muffins should never be cut.
One word with regard to getting up early in order to give dough a
chance for the second rising. It is _not_ a wholesome practice for any
woman—least of all a young girl to be out of bed two hours before she
eats her breakfast. Studying upon an empty stomach provokes dyspepsia
and injures the eyes. Active exercise in like circumstances tempts
debility and disease. Yet our bread and rolls must be looked after
at the proper time. Have yourself called on biscuit mornings an hour
earlier than usual. Rise, wash face and hands, rinse the mouth out and
brush back the hair. Put on stockings and slippers, such underclothing
as may be needed to prevent cold, a wrapper and the kitchen apron.
Cover your hair entirely with a handkerchief or sweeping cap. Before
beginning operations down-stairs eat a half-slice of dry bread or a
biscuit. You will not relish it, but take it all the same to appease
the empty, discontented stomach. Having made out your rolls and tucked
them up snugly for the final rise, return to your chamber for a
comfortable bath and toilet. When habited for the day in all except the
outer gown, collar, etc., slip on the wrapper again and run down to
put the biscuits in the oven. Unless it is _too_ hot, they will get no
harm while you finish dressing in ten minutes, just in season to turn
the pan.
From the beginning of your apprenticeship in housewifery, learn how to
“dovetail” your duties neatly into one another. A wise accommodation of
parts and angles, and compactness in the adjustment of “must-be-dones”
are better than mere personal strength in the accomplishment of such
tasks as fall to women to perform. Master these, and do not let them
master you. Weave the little duties in and under and among what seem
to be the greater. While your bread is taking a three hours’ rise, you
are free in body and mind for other things. The grand secret of keeping
house well and without worry, lies in the art of packing and fitting
different kinds of work and in picking up the minutes. Other things
besides rising dough get on quite as well without your standing by to
watch them.
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