Holiday Stories for Young People | Page 6

against our ever borrowing
so much as a slatepencil or a pin. We were always to use our own
things or go without. I never had a sister, but cousins often spent
months at the house, and were in and out of my room in the freest way,
forever bringing me their gloves to mend or their ties to clean, as
cousins will.
"Never borrow," said my mother. "Buy, or give away, or do without,

but be beholden to nobody for a loan."
Another rule for little housekeepers is to wash their hands and faces
and have their hair in the nicest order before they begin to cook. The
nails should be cleaned and the toilet attended to as carefully as if the
girl were going to a party, before she begins any work in the kitchen.
I suppose you think my bill of fare for a company tea very plain, but I
hadn't time for anything elaborate. Besides, if what you have is very
good, and set on the table prettily, most people will be satisfied even if
the fare is simple.
"Apple-sauce," said Amy one day, "is a dish I never touch. We used to
have it so often at school that I grew tired at the sight of it."
But Amy did eat apple-sauce at our house. Aunt Hetty taught me how
to make it, and I think it very good. We always cook it in an
earthenware crock over a very quick fire. This is our receipt: Pare and
slice the apples, eight large ones are sufficient for a generous dish, and
put them on with a very little water. As soon as they are soft and pulpy
stir in enough granulated sugar to make them as sweet as your father
and brothers like them. Take them off and strain them through a fine
sieve into a glass dish. Cook the apple-sauce about two hours before it
is wanted on the table. Put beside it a bowl of whipped cream, and
when you help to the sauce add a heaping spoonful of the cream to
every dish.
People spoil apple-sauce by making it carelessly, so that it is lumpy and
coarse, or has seeds or bits of the core sticking in it, and mother says
that both apple-pies and apple-sauce should be used the day they are
made. They lose their bouquet, the fine delicate flavor is all gone if you
keep them long before using. A great divine used to say that "the
natural life of an apple pie is just twelve hours."
_Tapioca Blanc-Mange._--This is the receipt: One pint of fresh milk,
three-quarters of a cupful of sugar, half a pound of tapioca soaked in
cold water four hours, a small teaspoonful of vanilla, a pinch of salt.
Heat the milk and stir in the tapioca previously soaked. Mix well and

add the sugar. Boil it slowly fifteen minutes, then take it off and beat
until nearly cold. Pour into moulds, and stand upon the ice.
This is very nice served with a teaspoonful of currant or raspberry jelly
to each helping, and if cream is added it makes a beautiful dessert. This
ought to be made the day before it is needed. I made mine before noon
and it was quite ready, but you see it tired me to have it on my mind,
and it might have been a failure.
_Cup-Cake._--Three teacups of sifted sugar and one cup and a half of
butter beaten to a cream, three eggs well beaten (white and yolks
separately), three teacupfuls of sifted flour. Flavor with essence of
lemon or rose water. A half teaspoonful is enough. Dissolve a
teaspoonful of cream of tartar and a half teaspoonful of baking soda in
a very little milk. When they foam, stir them quickly into the cake. Beat
well until the mixture is perfectly smooth, and has tiny bubbles here
and there on the surface. Bake in a very quick oven.
_Cookies._--These were in the house. We always keep a good supply.
One cup of butter, one of sugar, one of sour milk, half a nutmeg grated,
one teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in a little boiling water, flour
enough to roll out the cookies. Cut into small round cakes and bake.
Keep these in a close tin. They will last a long time unless the house is
supplied with hungry school-boys.
_Cocoa._--Two ounces of cocoa and one quart of boiling water. Boil
together for a half hour on the back of the stove, then add a quart of
milk and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Boil for ten minutes and serve.
Everything on the table was enjoyed, and we girls had a very merry
time. After tea and before the brothers came, we arranged a plan for
learning to make bread.