THE THINGS MARGARET MADE FOR LUNCHEON OR SUPPER
So many things in this part of Margaret's book call for white
sauce, or cream sauce, that the rule for that came first of all.
White or Cream Sauce
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1 tablespoonful of flour.
1 cup hot milk or cream, one-third teaspoonful of salt.
Melt the butter, and when it bubbles put in the flour, shaking
the saucepan as you do so, and rub till smooth. Put in the hot
milk, a little at a time, and stir and cook without boiling till
all is smooth and free from lumps. Add the salt, and, if you
choose, a little pepper.
Cream sauce is made exactly as is white sauce, but cream is used
in place of milk. What is called thick white sauce is made by
taking two tablespoonfuls of butter and two of flour, and only
one cup of milk.
Creamed Oysters
1 pint oysters.
1 large cup of cream sauce.
Make the sauce of cream if you have it, and if not use a very
heaping tablespoonful of butter in the white sauce. Keep this hot.
Drain off the oyster-juice and wash the oysters by holding them
under the cold-water faucet. Strain the juice and put the oysters
back in it, and put them on the fire and let them just simmer till
the edges of the oysters curl; then drain them from the juice again
and drop them in the sauce, and add a little more salt (celery-salt
is nice if you have it), and just a tiny bit of cayenne pepper.
You can serve the oysters on squares of buttered toast, or put
them in a large dish, with sifted bread-crumbs over the top and
tiny bits of butter, and brown in the oven. Or you can put them
in small dishes as they are, and put a sprig of parsley in each dish.
Panned Oysters
Take the oysters from their juice, strain it, wash the oysters,
and put them back in. Put them in a saucepan with a little
salt,--about half a teaspoonful to a pint of oysters,--and a
little pepper, and a piece of butter as large as the end of your
thumb. Let them simmer till the edges curl, just as before,
and put them on squares of hot buttered toast.
Scalloped Oysters
1 pint of oysters.
12 large crackers, or 1 cup of bread-crumbs.
1/2 cup of milk.
The strained oyster-juice.
Butter a deep baking-dish. Roll the crackers, or make the
bread-crumbs of even size; some people like one better than
the other, and you can try both ways. Put a layer of crumbs in
the dish, then a layer of oysters, washed, then a sprinkling of
salt and pepper and a few bits of butter. Then another layer of
crumbs, oysters, and seasoning, till the dish is full, with crumbs
on the top. Mix the milk and oyster-juice and pour slowly over.
Then cover the top with bits of butter, and bake in the oven till
brown--about half an hour.
You can put these oysters into small dishes, just as you did the
creamed oysters, or into large scallop-shells, and bake them only
ten or fifteen minutes. In serving, put a small sprig of parsley
into each.
Pigs in Blankets
These were great fun to make, and Margaret often begged to get
them ready for company.
15 large oysters.
15 very thin slices of bacon.
Sprinkle each oyster with a very little salt and pepper. Trim the
rind from the bacon and wrap each oyster in one slice, pinning this
``blanket'' tightly on the back with a tiny Japanese wooden toothpick.
Have ready a hot frying-pan, and lay in five oysters, and cook till
the bacon is brown and the edges of the oysters curl, turning each
over once. Put these on a hot plate in the oven with the door open,
and cook five more, and so on. Put them on a long, narrow platter,
with slices of lemon and sprigs of parsley around. Or you can put
each one on a strip of toast which you have dipped in the gravy in
the pan; this is the better way. This dish must be eaten very hot,
or it will not be good.
Creamed Fish
2 cups of cold fish.
1 cup of white sauce.
Pick any cold fish left from dinner into even bits, taking out all
the bones and skin, and mix with the hot white sauce. Stir until
smooth, and add a small half-teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
You can put this in a buttered baking-dish and cover the top with
crumbs and bits of butter, and brown in the oven, or you can put
it in small dishes and brown also, or you can serve it just as is,
in little dishes.
Creamed Lobster
1 lobster, or the meat from 1 can.
1 large cup of white or cream sauce.
Take the lobster out of the shell and clean it; Bridget will have
to show you how the first time. Or, if you are using canned lobster,
pour away all the juice and pick out the bits of shell, and find
the black string which is apt to be there, and throw it away.
Cut the meat in pieces as large as the end of your finger, and
heat it in the sauce till it steams. Put in a small half-teaspoonful
of salt, a pinch of cayenne, and a squeeze of lemon. Do not put
this in a large dish, but in small ones, buttered well, and serve
at once. Stand a little claw up in each dish.
Creamed Salmon
1 can salmon.
1 cup of white sauce.
Prepare this dish exactly as you did the plain creamed white fish.
Take it out of the can, remove all the juice, bones, and fat, and
put in the white sauce, and cook a moment till smooth. Add a small
half-teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, and a squeeze of lemon, and
put in a baking-dish and brown, or serve as it is, in small dishes.
Scalloped Lobster or Salmon
1 can of fish, or 1 pint.
1 large cup of cracker or bread crumbs.
1 large cup of white sauce.
Prepare this dish almost as you did the scalloped oysters. Take out
all the bones and skin and juice from the fish; butter a baking-dish,
put in a layer of fish, then salt and pepper, then a layer of crumbs
and butter, and a layer of white sauce, then fish, seasoning, crumbs
and butter again, and have the crumbs on top. Dot over with butter
and brown in the oven, or serve in small dishes.
Crab Meat in Shells
You can buy very nice, fresh crab meat in tins, and the shells also.
A very delicious dish is made by mixing a cup of rich cream sauce
with the crab meat, seasoning it well with salt and pepper and putting
in the crab-shells; cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in
the oven. This is a nice thing to have for a company luncheon.
Creamed Chicken or Turkey
2 cups of cold chicken.
1 large cup of white or creamed sauce.
1/2 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
Salt and pepper.
Pick the chicken or turkey off the bones and cut into small bits
before you measure it. Heat it in the sauce till very hot, but
do not let it boil, and add the seasoning,--about half a teaspoonful
of salt, and a tiny bit of cayenne, or as much celery-salt in the
place of the common kind. Put in a large buttered dish and serve,
or in small dishes, either with crumbs on top or not.
A nice addition to this dish is half a green pepper, the seeds
taken out, chopped very fine indeed, and mixed with the white meat;
the contrast of colors is pretty and the taste improved.
Scalloped Eggs
6 hard-boiled eggs.
1 cup cream or white sauce.
1 cup fine bread-crumbs.
Salt and pepper.
Cook the eggs twenty minutes, and while they are cooking make the
white sauce, and butter one large or six small dishes. Peel the
eggs and cut them into bits as large as the end of your finger.
Put a layer of bread-crumbs on the bottom of the dish, then a layer
of egg, then a sprinkling of salt, pepper, and bits of butter,
then a layer of white sauce. Then more crumbs, egg, and seasoning,
till the dish is full, with crumbs on top. Put bits of butter over
all and brown in the oven.
Eggs in Double Cream
This is a rule Margaret's Pretty Aunt got in Paris, and it is a
very nice one. Have half a pint of very thick cream--the kind
you use to whip; the French call this double cream. Cook six eggs
hard and cut them into bits. Butter a baking-dish, or small dishes,
and put in a layer of egg, then a layer of cream, then a sprinkling
of salt, and one of paprika, which is sweet red pepper. Put one
thin layer of fine, sifted crumbs on top with butter, and brown in
the oven. Or you can put the eggs and cream together and heat them,
and serve on thin pieces of buttered toast, with one extra egg put
through the ricer over the whole.
Creamed Eggs in Toast
Make small pieces of nice toast and dip each one in white sauce.
Boil hard four eggs, and cut in even slices and cover the toast,
and then spread the rest of the white sauce over all in a thin layer.
Devilled Eggs
6 eggs.
2 saltspoonfuls of dry mustard.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1 saltspoonful of cayenne pepper.
1 teaspoonful of olive-oil or cream.
1 large tablespoonful of chopped ham.
1/2 teaspoonful of vinegar.
Boil the eggs hard for twenty minutes, and put them in cold water
at once to get perfectly cold so they will not turn dark. Then peel,
cut in halves and take out the yolks. Put these in a bowl, and
rub in the seasoning, but you can leave out the ham if you like.
With a small teaspoon, put the mixture back into the eggs and
smooth them over with a knife.
If you do not serve these eggs with cold meat it is best to lay
them on lettuce when you send them to the table.
Eggs in Beds
Chop a cup of nice cold meat, and season with a little salt, pepper
and chopped parsley. Add enough stock or hot water just to wet it,
and cook till rather dry. Put this in buttered baking-dishes, filling
each half-full, and on top of each gently slip from a cup one egg.
Sprinkle over with salt and pepper, and put in the oven till firm.
Shepherd's Pie
This was a dish Margaret used to make on wash-day and house-cleaning
day, and such times when everybody was busy and no one wanted to
stop and go to market to buy anything for luncheon.
1 cup of chopped meat.
1 cup of boiling water.
1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1 teaspoonful of lemon juice, or 1/2 teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce.
Butter the size of a hickory-nut.
2 cups hot mashed potato.
If the potato is cold, put half a cup of hot milk in it, beat it
up well, and stand it on the back of the stove. Then mix all the
other things with the meat, and put it in the frying-pan and let
it cook till it seems rather dry. Butter a baking-dish, and cover
the sides and bottom with a layer of potato an inch thick. Put the
meat in the centre and cover it over with potato and smooth it.
Put bits of butter all over the top, and brown it in the oven.
Serve with this a dish of chow-chow, or one of small cucumber pickles.
Chicken Hash
1 cup of cold chicken, cut in small, even pieces.
1/2 cup chicken stock, or hot water.
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley.
1/2 teaspoonful salt.
A pinch of pepper.
Butter the size of a hickory-nut.
Put the chicken stock,--which is the water the chicken was cooked in,
or chicken broth,--or, if there is none, the hot water, into the
frying-pan, and mix in the chicken and seasoning, and cook and stir
till it is rather dry. Serve as it is, or on squares of buttered
toast. You can make any cold meat into hash this way, having it
different every time. Sometimes you can put in the chopped green
pepper, as before, or a slice of chopped onion, or a cup of hot,
seasoned peas; or, leave out half the soup or water, and put in
a cup of stewed tomato.
Broiled Sardines
These little fish are really not broiled at all, but that is the
name of the nice and easy dish. Take a box of large sardines and
drain off all the oil, and lay them on heavy brown paper while you
make four slices of toast. Trim off the edges and cut them into
strips, laying them in a row on a hot platter. Put the sardines
into the oven and make them very hot, and lay one on each strip
of toast and sprinkle them with lemon juice, and put sliced lemon
and sprigs of parsley all around.
Cheese Fondu
This was a recipe the Pretty Aunt put in Margaret's book out of
the one she had made at cooking school.
1 cup fresh bread-crumbs.
2 cups grated cheese.
1 cup of milk.
1 bit of soda as large as a pea.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1 pinch of red pepper.
1 teaspoonful of butter.
2 eggs.
Put the butter in a saucepan to heat while you beat the eggs light
without separating them; let these stand while you stir everything
else into the pan, beginning with the milk; cook this five minutes,
stirring all the time, and then put in the eggs and cook three minutes
more. Put six large crackers on a hot platter and pour the whole
over them, and send at once to the table to be eaten very hot.
Sometimes Margaret made three or four slices of toast before she
began the fondu, and used those in place of the crackers, and the
dish was just as nice.
Easy Welsh Rarebit
2 cups of rich cheese, grated.
Yolks of two eggs.
1/2 cup of milk.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
Saltspoonful of cayenne.
Make three nice slices of toast, cut off the crusts, and cut each
piece in two. Butter these, and very quickly dip each one in
boiling water, being careful not to soak them. Put these on a
hot platter in the oven. Put the milk in a saucepan over the fire,
being careful not to have one that is too hot, only moderate,
and when it boils up put in the cheese and stir without stopping,
until the cheese all melts and it looks smooth. Then put in the
beaten yolks of the eggs and the seasoning, and pour at once over
the toast and serve very hot. Many people like a saltspoonful of
dry mustard mixed in with the pepper. You can also serve this rarebit
on toasted and buttered crackers.
Scalloped Cheese
6 slices of bread.
3/4 of a pound of cheese.
2 eggs.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1 cup of cream.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1/2 teaspoonful of dry mustard.
1/4 teaspoonful of paprika.
Butter the bread and cut it into strips, and line the bottom and
sides of a baking-dish with it. Then beat the eggs very light
without separating them, and mix everything with them; put in the
dish and bake half an hour, and serve at once.
Veal Loaf
1 1/2 pounds of veal and
2 strips of salt pork, chopped together.
1/2 cup of bread-crumbs.
1 beaten egg.
1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg.
1/2 teaspoonful of black pepper.
1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of salt.
Bake three hours.
Have the butcher chop the meat all together for you; then put
everything together in a dish and stir in the egg, beaten without
separating, and mix very well. Press it into a bread-pan and put
in the oven for three hours by the clock.
Every half-hour pour over it a tablespoonful hot water and butter
mixed; you can put a tablespoonful of butter into a cup of water,
and keep it on the back of the stove ready all the time; after
the meat has baked two hours, put in a piece of heavy brown paper
over the top, and keep it there till it is done, or it may get
too brown. This is to slice cold; it is very nice for a picnic.
Pressed Chicken
This was one of the things Margaret liked to make for Sunday
night supper. Have a good-sized chicken cut up, and wipe each
piece with a clean, damp cloth. Put them in a kettle or deep
saucepan and cover with cold water, and cook very slowly and gently,
covered, till the meat falls off the bones. When it begins to
grow tender, put in a half teaspoonful of salt. Take it out,
and cut it up in nice, even pieces, and put all the bones back
into the kettle, and let them cook till there is only about a pint
and a half of broth. Add a little more salt, and a sprinkling
of pepper, and strain this through a jelly bag. Mix it with the
chicken, and put them both into a bread tin, and when cold put
on ice over night. After it has stood for an hour, put a weight
on it, to make it firm. Slice with a very sharp knife, and put
on a platter with parsley all around. This is a nice luncheon
dish for a summer day, as well as a supper dish.
When you have bits of cold meat which you cannot slice, and yet
which you wish to serve in some nice way, make this rule, which
sounds difficult, but is really very easy:
Meat Soufflé
1 cup of white sauce.
1 cup of chopped meat.
2 eggs.
Teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
Half a teaspoonful minced onion.
Put the parsley and onion in the meat, and mix with the white sauce.
Beat the yolks of the eggs and stir in, and cook one minute, and
then cool. Beat the whites of the eggs and fold in, and bake
half an hour, or a little more, in a deep, buttered baking-dish.
You must serve this immediately, or it will fall.
Cold Meats
Of course, like other people, Margaret's mother often had cold meat
for luncheon or supper, and one of the things her cook-book told
her was how to make it look nice when it came on the table.
Always trim off all bits of skin and ragged pieces from the meat,
and remove the cold fat, except on ham, and then you must trim it
to a rather narrow edge. If you have a rather small dish for a
large family, put slices of hard boiled eggs around the edge,
or make devilled eggs, and put those around in halves. Sometimes
you can cut lettuce in very narrow ribbons by holding several leaves
in your hand at once, folding them lengthwise, and using a pair
of scissors. Sometimes a dozen pimolas may be sliced across and
put about the meat, especially if it is cold chicken or turkey.
Always use parsley with meat, cold or hot. Saratoga potatoes make
a good border for lamb or roast beef, and cold peas mixed with
mayonnaise are always delicious with either chicken or lamb.
If only the dish looks pretty, it is almost certain to taste well.
Sliced Meat with Gravy
When there are a few slices left from a roast, put them in a
frying-pan with some of the gravy left also, and heat; serve with
parsley around.
If there is not gravy, take a little boiling water, add a little
salt, pepper, and half-teaspoonful of minced onion, and as much
chopped parsley. Lay in the meat in the frying-pan, cover, and
let it simmer, turning occasionally. A few drops of Kitchen Bouquet
will improve this; it is a brown sauce which comes in small bottles.
Some of the things Margaret made for breakfast she made for lunch
or supper, too, such as frizzled beef, and scalloped eggs and
omelettes. She had some vegetables besides, such as--
Baked Tomatoes
6 large tomatoes.
1 cup bread-crumbs.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1 slice of onion.
Put the butter in the frying-pan, and when it bubbles put in the
bread-crumbs, the salt and onion, with a dusting of pepper, and
stir till the crumbs are a little brown and the onion is all cooked;
then take out the onion and throw it away. Wipe the tomatoes with
a clean wet cloth, and cut out the stem and a round hole or little
well in the middle; fill this with the crumbs, piling them up well
on top; put them in a baking-dish and stand them in a hot oven;
mix a cup of hot water with a tablespoonful of butter, and every
little while take out the baking-dish and wet the tomatoes on top.
Cook them about half an hour, or till the skins get wrinkled all over.
Serve them in the dish they are cooked in, if you like, or put each
one on a small plate, pour some of the juice in the baking-dish
over it, and stick a sprig of parsley in the top.
Stuffed Potatoes
Wash six large potatoes and scrub them with a little brush, till
they are a nice clean light brown, and bake them for half an hour
in a hot oven; or, if they are quite large, bake them till they are
soft and puffy. Cut off one end from each and take out the inside
with a teaspoon, holding the potato in a towel as you do so, for
it will be very hot. Mix well this potato with two tablespoonfuls
of rich milk or cream, a half-teaspoonful of salt and just as much
butter, and put this back into the shells. Stand the potatoes side by
side in a pan close together, the open ends up, till they are browned.
SALADS
The Other Aunt said Margaret could never, never make salads,
but her mother said they were the easiest thing of all to learn,
so she did put them in just the same; she bought a tin of olive oil
from the Italian grocery, because it was better and cheaper than
bottled oil, and she gave Margaret one important direction,
``When you make salads, always have everything very cold,''
and after that the rules were easy to follow, and the salads
were as nice as could be.
French Dressing
3 tablespoonfuls of oil.
1/2 teaspoonful lemon juice or vinegar.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3 shakes of pepper.
Stir together till all is well mixed.
Many people prefer this dressing without pepper and with a
saltspoonful of sugar in its place; you can try it both ways.
Tomato and Lettuce Salad
Peel four tomatoes; you can do this most easily by pouring boiling
water over them and skinning them when they wrinkle, but you must
drain off all the water afterward, and let them get firm in the
ice-box; wash the lettuce and gently pat it dry with a clean cloth;
slice the tomatoes thin, pour off the juice, and arrange four
slices on each plate of lettuce, or mix them together in the
large bowl, and pour the dressing over.
Egg Salad
Cut up six hard-boiled eggs into quarters, lay them on
lettuce, and pour the dressing over. Or pass a dish of
them with cold meat.
Fish Salad
Pick up cold fish and pour the dressing over it, and put two sliced
hard-boiled eggs around it; a few tips of celery, nice white ones,
are pretty around the whole.
Cauliflower Salad
Take cold boiled cauliflower and pick it up into nice pieces;
pour the dressing over, and put on the ice till you need it.
String Bean Salad
Take cold string beans, either the green ones or the yellow, pour
the dressing over, put on ice, and serve on lettuce. Any cold
vegetables can be used besides these, especially asparagus,
while lettuce alone is best of all.
Pineapple Salad
Put large bits of picked-up pineapple on white lettuce, and pour
the dressing over.
Orange or Grapefruit Salad
Peel three oranges or one grapefruit, and scrape off all the white
lining of the skin. Divide it into sections, or ``quarters,'' and
with the scissors cut off the thin edge; turn down the transparent
sides and cut these off, too, scraping the pulp carefully, so as
not to waste it. Take out all the seeds; lay the pieces on lettuce,
and pour the dressing over. White grapes, cut in halves, with the
seeds taken out, are nice mixed with this, and pineapple, grapes,
and oranges, with a little banana, are delicious.
Mayonnaise
Yolk of 1 egg.
1/2 cup of olive-oil.
1 tablespoonful of lemon juice or vinegar.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
Pinch of red pepper.
Put the yolk of the egg into a very cold bowl; it is better to put
the bowl, the egg, the oil, and the beater all on the ice a half-hour
before you need them, for then the mayonnaise comes quicker.
With a Dover egg-beater beat till the yolk is very light indeed;
then have some one else begin to put in the oil, one drop at a time,
till the mayonnaise becomes so thick it is difficult to turn the
beater; then put in a drop or two of lemon or vinegar, and this
will thin it so you can use the oil again; keep on doing this till
you have nearly a cup of the dressing; if you need more oil than
the rule calls for, use it, and toward the last add it two or three
drops at a time. When you have enough, and it is stiff enough,
put in the pepper and salt and it is done. Never use mustard
except with lobster, as this will spoil the taste. Some salads,
especially fruit and vegetable, need very thick mayonnaise, and
then it is better to make it with lemon juice, while a fish salad,
or one to use with meats, may be thinner, and then the vinegar
will do; the lemon juice makes it thick. Always taste it before
using it, to see if it is just right, and, if not, put in more salt,
or whatever it needs. You will soon learn. Most people think
mayonnaise is very difficult to make, but, really, it is as easy as
baking potatoes, after you have once learned how. Every salad
given before is just as nice with mayonnaise as with French dressing,
and you can try each one both ways; then there are these, which
are better with mayonnaise.
Chicken Salad
1 cup of chicken cut in large bits.
1/2 cup of celery, cut up and then dried.
2 hard-boiled eggs, cut into good-sized pieces.
6 olives, stoned and cut up.
1/2 cup mayonnaise.
Mix all very lightly together, as stirring will make the salad mussy;
put on lettuce.
Lobster Salad
1 cup of lobster, cut in large bits.
2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in pieces.
1/2 teaspoonful of dry mustard, stirred in.
1/2 cup of mayonnaise.
Mix and put on lettuce.
Celery Salad
2 heads of celery.
3 hard-boiled eggs (or else
1 cup of English walnuts).
1/2 cup very stiff mayonnaise.
Wash, wipe, and cut the celery into pieces as large as the first
joint of your little finger, and then rub it in a clean towel till
it is as dry as can be. Cut up the eggs, sprinkle all with salt,
and add the mayonnaise and lay on lettuce. Or mix the celery and
the walnuts and mayonnaise; either salad is nice.
Celery and Apple Salad
2 sweet apples.
1 head of celery.
1/2 cup of English walnuts, broken up.
1/2 cup mayonnaise.
Peel the apples and cut into very small bits; chop the celery
and press in a towel; chop or break up the walnuts, but save
two halves for each person besides the half-cupful you put in
the salad. Mix all together, lay on white hearts of lettuce
on plates, and then put the walnuts on top, two on each plate.
Cabbage Salad
1/2 a small cabbage.
1 cup very stiff mayonnaise.
1 teaspoonful celery-seed.
Cut the cabbage in four pieces and cut out the hard core; slice
the rest very fine on the cutter you use for Saratoga potatoes;
mix with the mayonnaise and put in the salad-dish; sprinkle over
with celery-seed, when you wish it to be very nice, but it will do
without this last touch.
Cabbage Salad in Green Peppers
Wipe green peppers and cut off the small end of each. Take out
the seed and the stem; fill each pepper with the cabbage salad,
letting it stand out at the top; put each one on a plate on a
leaf of lettuce.
Stuffed Tomato Salad
1 cup of cut-up celery.
1/2 cup of English walnuts.
6 small, round tomatoes.
1/2 cup of mayonnaise.
Peel the tomatoes and scoop out as much of the inside as you can,
after cutting a round hole in the stem end; make a salad with the
celery, the cut-up walnuts, and the mayonnaise, and fill the tomatoes,
letting it stand up well on top. Serve on plates, each one on a
leaf of lettuce.
Potato Salad
3 cold boiled potatoes.
3 hard-boiled eggs.
1/2 cup English walnuts.
12 olives.
Break up the walnuts, saving a dozen halves unbroken. Cut the
potatoes and eggs into bits of even size, as large as the tip
of your finger; stone the olives and cut them up, too; mix them
together in a bowl, but do not stir them much, or you will break
the potatoes; sprinkle well with French dressing, and put on the ice;
when it is lunch or supper time, mix quickly, only once, with
stiff mayonnaise, and put on lettuce; this is a delicious salad
to have with cold meats.
Margaret's mother liked to have gingerbread or cookies for lunch
often, so those things came next in the cook-book.
Gingerbread
1 cup molasses.
1 egg.
1 teaspoonful of soda.
1 teaspoonful of ginger.
1 tablespoonful melted butter.
1/2 cup of milk.
2 cups of flour.
Beat the eggs without separating, but very light; put the soda
into the molasses, put them in the milk, with the ginger and
butter, then one cup of flour, measure in a medium-sized cup
and only level, then the egg, and last the rest of the flour.
Bake in a buttered biscuit-tin. For a change, sometimes add a
teaspoonful of cloves and cinnamon, mixed, to this, and a cup of
chopped almonds. Or, when the gingerbread is ready for the oven
drop over halves of almonds.
Soft Gingerbread, to Be Eaten Hot
1 cup of molasses.
1/2 cup boiling water.
1/4 cup melted butter.
1 1/2 cups flour.
3/4 teaspoonful soda.
1 teaspoonful ginger.
1/2 teaspoonful salt.
Put the soda in the molasses and beat it well in a good-sized bowl,
then put in the melted butter, ginger, salt, and flour, and beat
again, and add last the water, very hot indeed. Have a buttered
tin ready, and put it at once in the oven; when half-baked, it is
well to put a piece of paper over it, as all gingerbread burns easily.
You can add cloves and cinnamon to this rule, and sometimes you
can make it and serve it hot as a pudding, with a sauce of sugar
and water, thickened and flavored.
Ginger Cookies
1/2 cup butter.
1 cup molasses.
1/2 cup brown sugar.
1 teaspoonful ginger.
1 tablespoonful mixed cinnamon and cloves.
1 teaspoonful soda, dissolved in a tablespoonful of water.
Flour enough to make it so stiff you cannot stir it with a spoon.
Melt the molasses and butter together on the stove, and then take
the saucepan off and add the rest of the things in the recipe,
and turn the dough out on a floured board and roll it very thin,
and cut in circles with a biscuit-cutter. Put a little flour on the
bottom of four shallow pans, lift the cookies with the cake-turner
and lay them in, and put them in the oven. They will bake very
quickly, so you must watch them. When you want these to be extra
nice, put a teaspoonful of mixed cinnamon and cloves in them and
sprinkle the tops with sugar.
Grandmother's Sugar Cookies
1 cup of butter.
2 cups of sugar.
2 eggs.
1 cup of milk.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.
1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla.
Flour enough to roll out easily.
Rub the butter and sugar to a cream; put in the milk, then the eggs
beaten together lightly, then two cups of flour, into which you
have sifted the baking-powder; then the vanilla. Take a bit of this
and put it on the floured board and see if it ``rolls out easily,''
and, if it does not, but is soft and sticky, put in a handful
more of flour. These cookies must not be any stiffer than you
can help, or they will not be good, so try not to use any more
flour than you must.
They usually had tea for luncheon or supper at Margaret's house,
but sometimes they had chocolate instead, so these things came next
in the cook-book.
Tea
1/2 teaspoonful of black tea for each person.
1/2 teaspoonful for the pot.
Boiling water.
Fill the kettle half-full of fresh, cold water, because you cannot
make good tea with water which has been once heated. When it is
very hot, fill the china teapot and put it where it will keep warm.
When the water boils very hard, empty out the teapot, put in the tea,
and put on the boiling water; do not stand it on the stove, as too
many people do, but send it right to the table; it will be ready
as soon as it is time to pour it--about three minutes. If you are
making tea for only one person, you will need a teaspoonful of tea,
as you will see by the rule, and two small cups of water will be
enough. If for more, put in a half-teaspoonful for each person,
and one cup of water more.
Iced Tea
Put in a deep pitcher one teaspoonful of dry tea for each person
and two over. Pour on a cup of boiling water for each person,
and cover the pitcher and let it stand five minutes. Then stir
well, strain and pour while still hot on large pieces of ice.
Put in a glass pitcher and serve a bowl of cracked ice, a lemon,
sliced thin, and a bowl of powdered sugar with it. Pour it into
glasses instead of cups.
Lemonade
Sometimes in the afternoon Margaret's aunts had tea and cakes
or wafers, and in summer they often had iced tea or lemonade.
This is the way Margaret made lemonade:
Squeeze four lemons, and add ten teaspoonfuls of powdered sugar;
stir till it dissolves. Add six glasses of water, and strain.
Pour in a glass pitcher, and serve with glasses filled half-full
of cracked ice. If you want this very nice, put a little shredded
pineapple with the lemons. Sometimes the juice of red raspberries
is liked, also.
Lemonade with Grape-juice
Make the lemonade as before, and add half as much bottled
grape-juice, but do not put in any other fruit. Serve with
plenty of ice, in small glasses.
Chocolate
2 cups boiling water.
2 cups of boiling milk.
4 teaspoonfuls grated chocolate.
4 teaspoonfuls of sugar.
Scrape the chocolate off the bar, mix it with the boiling water,
and stir till it dissolves; mix the milk and sugar in them and
boil for one minute. If you wish to have it nicer, put a small
teaspoonful of vanilla in the chocolate-pot, and pour the hot
chocolate in on it when it is done, and have a little bowl of
whipped cream to send to the table with it, so that one spoonful
may be put on top of each cup.
Cocoa
6 teaspoonfuls of cocoa.
1 1/2 cups of boiling water.
1 1/2 cups of boiling milk.
1 tablespoonful powdered sugar.
Put the cocoa into the boiling water and stir till it dissolves,
then put in the boiling milk and boil hard two minutes, stirring
it all the time; take from the fire and put in the sugar and stir
again. If you like it quite sweet, you may have to use more sugar.