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THE FUN OF COOKING
[Illustration: "Such a Perfectly Lovely Picnic!"]
THE FUN OF COOKING
A STORY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
BY
CAROLINE FRENCH BENTON
Author of "A Little Cook Book for a Little
Girl," "Margaret's Saturday
Mornings," etc.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
BY SARAH K. SMITH
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1915
Copyright, 1914, 1915, by
THE CENTURY CO.
To
DEAR LITTLE KATHARINE THE FIFTH
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS 13
II SUPPER AT THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS 27
III JACK'S SCHOOL LUNCHEONS 41
IV THE BIRTHDAY PICNIC 57
V SUNDAY NIGHT SUPPER 72
VI MILDRED'S SCHOOL PARTY 91
VII STRAWBERRY TIME 106
VIII IN CAMP 120
IX IN CAMP, continued 137
X JAMS AND JELLY 151
XI A HALLOWE'EN SUPPER 168
XII WHEN MOTHER BLAIR WAS SICK 180
XIII A DOLL-AND-LITTLE-GIRL PARTY 192
XIV WHEN NORAH WAS AWAY 204
XV THANKSGIVING DAY SUPPER 216
XVI CANDY FOR THE FAIR 228
XVII EXAMINATION DAY 244
INDEX 253
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"Such a lovely picnic" _Frontispiece_
Jack fried the "Cheese Dreams" 38
Brownie and Mildred making "Chocolate Crackers" 47
Making "Orange Baskets" 65
Arranging a small round tray in front of her mother's place 76
She looked carefully in the oven through a tiny crack 85
The refreshments were perfectly delicious, everybody said 99
"Here comes Jack with the berries, just in time" 114
The first supper in camp 123
Jack gets breakfast 134
The next day was perfect for fishing 139
Roasting corn over a bed of coals 145
"But, Norah, if you can't begin till you know how" 156
"I am so proud I want everybody to see my jam" 165
"This candy ought to be at least a dollar a pound" 231
Selling candy at the Christmas fair 241
THE FUN OF COOKING
CHAPTER I
THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS
The Blairs were a particularly nice family. That is what the neighbors
always said of them, and, to tell the truth, the Blairs believed it.
That is, the father and mother thought the children were particularly
nice, and the children thought their father and mother and each other
particularly nice; and so, of course, they all must have been very nice
indeed.
Saturdays and Sundays and vacation days were all holidays to them, and
they did such interesting things, and laughed so much as they did them,
that everybody said, "What good times those Blairs do have!"
Jack and Mildred Blair were named after their father and mother, and
Brownie, whose real name was Katharine, was named for her grandmother;
so to avoid getting everybody mixed, the children were called the Junior
Blairs by everybody.
Now it happened that there were ever so many uncles and aunts and
cousins who were Blairs, too, but most of them lived a long way off, and
they were very seldom able to get together for a family party; but this
winter, ten of them were coming to spend Christmas with the real Blairs,
and, as five of them were between fourteen and twelve, the ages of
Mildred and Jack, and some more about nine, like Brownie, they were all
planning to have the very nicest sort of a time, and everybody was as
excited as could be.
Christmas was only two days away, when, suddenly, it began to snow. And
how it snowed! The flakes came down steadily hour after hour, and soon
the sidewalks were covered, and the steps were buried, and the piles of
snow almost covered the gate. Everybody said that all the trains were
delayed; and it was not long before the little Blairs began to whisper,
"Whatever shall we do if they can't get here in time for Christmas?"
Mother Blair guessed what the trouble was, and said cheerfully that, of
course, the snow would stop falling before long, and the trains would
be on time in the morning.
"And a beautiful white Christmas is the loveliest thing in the world,"
she added. But the children looked out of the window and were afraid,
deep down in their hearts, that something dreadful might happen.
"If we only had something nice to do right now," groaned Jack, "so we
could forget the snow. But we can't trim the tree till everybody comes
to help, and the presents are all tied up, and there isn't anything
Christmasy to do that _I_ can think of."
"Why not cook?" suggested Mother Blair, "There are lots of things to
make--Christmas things, you know."
Mildred began to brighten up. "If we could cook things all alone, I'd
like that," she said.
"Boys don't cook," Jack said scornfully, still looking out of the
window.
"Boys make pop-corn, though," laughed his mother. "And then suppose you
make that up into nice balls, and have them all ready when the cousins
come. And, Mildred, I think Norah would give you and Brownie one corner
of the kitchen, and let you cook all by yourselves."
So Jack took the corn-popper and went down to the furnace, and when he
opened the door, he found a great bed of red coals waiting for him; and
Mildred and Brownie put on their big gingham aprons and went out into
the kitchen.
[Illustration: The Christmas cakes]
Underneath the large table was a smaller one; this Mother Blair pulled
out and pushed across the room to an empty place. Then she wrote out
very plainly a little receipt, and under this she explained exactly how
to put things together; this she pinned on the wall over the table.
"There!" she said. "Now you can go right to work." This was what was on
the paper:
CHRISTMAS CAKES
1/4 cup of butter.
1/2 cup of sugar.
1/4 cup of milk.
1 egg.
1 cup of flour.
1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.
1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla.
Put the butter and sugar in a bowl, and rub them together till
smooth and creamy. Beat the egg without separating it, and put
that in next; beat all together, then add the milk, a little at a
time. Put a rounded spoonful of baking-powder in the flour and
stir it well, and add that slowly, mixing as you do it; and, last,
put in the vanilla. Grease some little scalloped tins, and fill
them half full; bake till brown.
Mildred rubbed the butter and sugar while Brownie beat the egg; they
took turns putting in the other things, and, last, Norah set the tins in
the oven for them. Then the two girls rushed into the sitting-room and
said, "That's all done, Mother Blair! Now something else to cook,
please!"
"But don't forget to watch your cakes," said Mother Blair, as she handed
them a second receipt. "Open the oven door every little while just
enough to peek in at them; if you forget them, they will surely burn."
The second receipt was for
OATMEAL MACAROONS
3 cups of rolled oats.
2-1/2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3 level tablespoonfuls of butter.
1 cup of sugar.
3 eggs, beaten separately.
1 teaspoonful of vanilla.
Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream them; beat the yolks
of the eggs, put them in, and beat again; mix the oatmeal with the
baking-powder and salt, and add this next, a little at a time;
then put in the vanilla, and, last, the stiff whites of the eggs.
Have ready a shallow pan, greased, and drop the batter on this in
tiny bits, no larger than the end of your thumb, and two inches
apart. Bake in an oven that is not very hot. When they are brown
on the edges, they are done; remove them from the pan while they
are still warm.
While Mildred was mixing these, Brownie took a last peep into the oven,
and found the cakes were baked. Norah helped her take them out, and she
herself took them from the pans and put them on a platter to cool. Then
it was not long before the first panful of macaroons was done, too, and
these came out all crisp and delicious.
Just as they were finishing them, their mother came out into the
kitchen. "Oh, how lovely!" she exclaimed, "I never, never saw anything
so good as those macaroons. Perfectly delicious!"
"But see the scalloped cakes, Mother," said Brownie. "Aren't they
lovely, too?"
"Lovely? Of course they are. And I've such a bright idea about those
cakes, too!"
"Oh, what?" cried both the girls together, because Mother Blair's bright
ideas were always particularly nice, just like herself.
"I've been looking over the boxes of Christmas candy, and I find we have
lots of candied cherries. And, Norah, you had some of the citron left
from the plum-pudding, hadn't you?"
Norah said she had a large piece put away.
"Well, then, suppose we cut the citron into thin slices, and cut those
up into little bits of green leaves, and cut some of the cherries into
tiny bits to look like berries; then we will ice the little cakes and
around each one, right on top, we will make a green holly wreath with
holly berries in it. Won't those be pretty?"
"Oh, Mother, let me, let me!" Brownie begged.
"Very well, you make the leaves and berries, while Mildred ices the
cakes," said Mother Blair.
So while Mildred mixed the icing, Brownie took some small scissors and
cut up the citron and the cherries. At first her scissors bothered her
by getting sticky, but Norah showed her how to dip them in water often
and wipe them dry, and after she tried that way, she had no trouble.
Mildred's rule for icing was this:
ICING
The white of one egg.
1 teaspoonful of cold water.
1 cup of powdered sugar.
1/2 teaspoonful of flavoring.
Put the white of the egg in a bowl, add the water, and beat till
light; stir in the sifted sugar and the flavoring, and spread on
the cakes while they are still a little warm; smooth over with the
blade of a knife.
After the cakes were iced, the leaves were laid in a wreath around the
edges, with the tiny red berries among them; and they were the prettiest
things for Christmas anybody ever saw.
When, at last, they were put away, Norah told them she had some bits of
pie-crust left over from her mince-pies that they could have, if they
wanted it. Brownie dashed into the hall, shouting, "Mother, Mother! What
can we make with pie-crust? Norah says we can have some."
"Tartlets," called Mother Blair from upstairs. And when Brownie ran up
for it she gave her this receipt:
TARTLETS
Flour the pastry board; roll out some pie-crust very thin, and
press it into little scalloped tins; prick holes in the bottom to
let the air in. Cut off the edges smoothly, and bake till light
brown. Just before you need them fill the shells with jelly.
The very moment when the tarts disappeared in the pantry, Jack came up
with his pans of pop-corn.
"Real cooking is just for girls," he said, with his mouth full of a
stolen macaroon. "It's all right for boys to make pop-corn balls,
though. Only how do you do it?" His mother told him to wash his hands
well, and then gave him this rule:
POP-CORN BALLS
1 cup of molasses.
1/2 cup of sugar.
2 teaspoonfuls of vinegar.
1/2 teaspoonful of soda.
2 teaspoonfuls of butter.
Boil fifteen minutes, stirring all the time. Pour a little over a
pan of corn, and take up in your hands all that sticks together,
and roll it into a ball. Keep the candy hot on the back of the
stove, and pour on more till it is all done.
This made a great dishful of lovely balls, and they set them away in a
cold place; and then Norah told them they must run out of the kitchen,
because she wanted to get luncheon ready.
After lunch, Jack had to go and shovel out paths again, because those he
had made had all disappeared. Mildred and Brownie dressed a tiny doll
for a cousin they were afraid might not have quite as many as she would
want, and when that was done, they said they wanted to cook some more.
Their mother told them she had one very, very nice receipt meant
especially for holidays, which, strangely enough, had Brownie's name.
"Because you are so very, very nice yourself," she said with a hug,
"perhaps you can make these all by yourself, too."
BROWNIES
3 squares of chocolate.
2 eggs, beaten together.
1/2 cup of flour.
2 cups of sugar.
1/4 cup of butter.
1 cup of chopped English walnuts.
Cream the butter and sugar together, and add the eggs, well beaten
without separating; then add the flour. Melt the chocolate by
cutting it up into small bits and putting it in a little dish over
the steam of the tea-kettle. Put this in next, and, last, the
nuts. Lay a greased paper on the bottom of a shallow pan, and pour
the cake in, in a thin layer. Bake twenty-five minutes; mark off
into squares while warm, and cut before removing from the pan.
These should be as thick as cookies when done.
"Don't you want me to help you make them, Brownie?" Mildred asked, as
she read the receipt over. "You see, I could beat the eggs for you, and
you know how hard it is for you not to tip the bowl over when you beat
them!"
"Well," Brownie said slowly, "I might let you do just that one thing,
Mildred, but Mother _said_ I was to make these cakes all alone."
"But let me help just a tiny little bit," Mildred coaxed; "they do sound
so interesting!"
So in the end the two made the cakes together, all delicious, and just
the thing for company.
While they were still fresh from the oven, in came a pretty grown-up
neighbor, whom all the Blairs, big and little, loved very much, because
she always was ready for a good time with them.
"Fee-fy-fo-fum!" she exclaimed, wrinkling up her little nose. "I smell
something good to eat!"
"Oh, _dear_ Miss Betty," Brownie cried, "it is Christmas cooking! Come
and see it."
So Miss Betty saw all the lovely little holly cakes, and the tartlets,
and the macaroons, and the Brownies, and ate little crumbs off wherever
she could find one. Then she said, "I want to cook too! May I, Norah?"
"Sure you may," said Norah, who thought Miss Betty was the nicest young
lady in the world.
Then Miss Betty wrote out this receipt, and pinned it up, and everybody
helped her make:
GINGERBREAD MEN
2 cups of molasses.
1 cup of equal parts of butter and lard, mixed.
1 level tablespoonful of ginger.
1 teaspoonful of soda.
Flour to mix very stiff.
Melt the butter, add the molasses and ginger, then the soda,
dissolved in a teaspoonful of boiling water; stir in flour till
the dough is so stiff you cannot stir it with a spoon; take it out
on the floured board, and roll a little at a time, and with a
knife cut out a man; press currants in for eyes and for buttons on
his coat. Bake in a floured pan.
[Illustration: Gingerbread man]
"These are going to be Santa Clauses," said Miss Betty. "Jack, if you
will cut me some tiny cedar twigs, we will stick them in the right
hands--one in each." So Jack whittled down the ends of some little twigs
till they were very sharp, and while the men were warm and soft, they
put a twig in the right hand of each, and they were as funny as could
be.
"Now, Jack, I've something lovely for you to make!" said Miss Betty. "I
came over on purpose to tell you about it."
"Boys don't cook!" said Jack, loftily.
"Boys would be perfectly wild to make these," laughed Miss Betty, "if
only they knew how; but of course if you don't care to--"
"What are they?"
"Christmas elves, and the cunningest things you ever saw." She opened a
box and showed them a dear, droll little figure, brown and fat. It made
the children laugh to look at him.
"We will make one for each person at the Christmas dinner, and stand
them at the plates with cards in the hands, to show where everybody is
to sit. Now, Jack, do you want to try?"
Jack instantly was hard at work.
CHRISTMAS ELVES
Take a square of thin wood and drive two long, slender nails
through it; these are the legs of the elf. Turn it upside down and
push two large raisins on each nail, and then a fig on both--these
are the legs and the body. Take a wire about four inches long, and
put two raisins on each end, twisting up the ends to hold them.
Lay this across the fig body and press it down to hold it firm.
Put a marshmallow on a wooden toothpick, and put that on top for a
head, and half of a fig for a cap. Draw eyes, nose, and mouth on
the face with pen and ink, and, if you choose, brush a little
melted chocolate on the sides of his head, for hair. Put a sprig
of Christmas green in his cap.
[Illustration: The Christmas elves]
Just as the elves were put in a row on the table. Miss Betty exclaimed,
"Children, it's stopped snowing! It will be all clear to-morrow, and
everybody will get here in time, after all!"
They rushed to the window to look, for sure enough, the storm was over,
and everybody was going to have _A Merry Christmas_!