Chapter IV: Part III

_DINNER AND TEA DISHES
SAUCES AND SWEETS_

At first, of course, Margaret could not get dinner all alone; indeed, it took her almost a year to learn how to cook everything needed--soup, vegetables, meat, salad, and sweets; but at first she helped the cook, and each day she cooked something. Then she began to arrange very easy dinners when cook was out, such as cream soup, beefsteak or veal cutlets, with potatoes and one vegetable, and a plain lettuce salad, with a cold sweet made in the morning. The first time she really did every single thing alone, Margaret’s father gave her half a crown; he said it was a “tip” for the best dinner he ever ate.

SOUPS

STOCK FOR ORDINARY SOUP

Put all the bones you have left from any joints, break them up small and put in a large saucepan and fill with cold water till the bones are covered. Put in an onion, carrot, and a small stick of celery. Boil all down till the bones become quite clean. Pour off into a basin, and when wanted remove the fat from the top and flavour it with what vegetable you want your soup made of, such as celery, or pea.

VEGETABLE MARROW SOUP

Peel and cut in quarters a small marrow and remove the seeds. Melt an ounce of butter in a stewpan and put in the marrow with a little pepper and salt, a lump of sugar, and a grate of nutmeg. Toss it over fire for a few minutes, and moisten with as much white stock as will cover it. Let it stew gently till tender, and then pass through a fine hair-sieve. Put then with it as much boiling stock as will make it the thickness of cream. Add half a pint of cream and season with pepper and salt. Put over the fire till very hot. Tomato soup is made the same way.

CREAM OF POTATO

This is one of the best and most delicate soups.

5 freshly boiled potatoes.
1 slice of onion.
1 quart of stock.
1 small teaspoonful of salt.
1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.

Boil the onion and salt in the stock. It requires no thickening, as if the potatoes are passed through a sieve and added to the stock they will make it thick enough. Add the parsley after the soup is in the tureen, as it will turn brown if put in too soon. The yolk of an egg, beaten, can be added, if required, to make the soup richer.

CREAM OF SPINACH

1 pint of cold cooked spinach.
1 quart of stock.

Heat the spinach, using a little of the quart of stock with it, and press through the sieve; thicken the rest of the stock and the seasoning, and strain again. It is better to use cayenne pepper instead of black with spinach.

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP, CALLED TOMATO BISQUE

6 large tomatoes, cut up.
2 slices onion.
2 sprigs parsley.
1 teaspoonful sugar.
½ teaspoonful salt.
1 quart stock.
1 tablespoonful butter.
1 tablespoonful flour.

Cook the tomatoes with the onion, parsley, sugar, and salt for twenty minutes, with a little of the stock. Make the stock and flour and butter into white sauce as usual; strain the tomato, mix the two, and strain through a sieve.

Sometimes add a stalk of celery to the other seasoning as it cooks, and a little cream before serving.

OYSTER SOUP

1 pint oysters.
1 quart rich stock.
½ teaspoonful salt.

Drain off the oyster juice, add the stock, boil it for one minute, and skim it well. Then drop in the oysters and cook one minute, or till the edges begin to curl, and it is done. This soup is not thickened at all; but if you like you may add two tablespoonfuls of cream.

MEAT SOUPS

You can make meat soup, or stock, out of almost any kind of meat, cooked or raw, with bones or without. Many cooks never buy fresh meat for it, and others think they must always have it. It is best to learn both ways.

PLAIN MEAT SOUP

5 lbs. of shin of beef.
5 quarts of water.
1 small tablespoonful of salt.
1 head of celery, cut up.
1 onion.
1 carrot.
1 turnip.
1 sprig of parsley.
2 bay-leaves.
6 whole cloves.

Cut the meat off the bone. Put the bone in a clean saucepan first, and then the meat on top, and pour in the water; cover, and let this stand on the back of the stove an hour, then draw it forward and let it cook. This will bring scum on the water in half an hour, and you must carefully pour in a cup of cold water and skim off everything which rises to the top. Cover the saucepan tightly, and cook very slowly indeed for four hours; then put in the cut-up vegetables and cook one hour more, always just simmering, not boiling hard. Then it is done, and you can put in the salt, and strain the soup first through a heavy wire sieve, and then through a flannel bag, and set it away to get cold, and you will have a strong, clear, delicious stock, which you can put many things in to have variety.

CLEAR VEGETABLE SOUP

Slice one carrot, one turnip, and one potato, and cut them either into small, even strips, or into tiny cubes, or take a vegetable cutter and cut out fancy shapes. Simmer them about twenty minutes in a little water. Meanwhile, take two pints of soup stock and heat it. Sprinkle a little salt over the vegetables and drain them; put them in the soup-tureen and pour the hot soup over.

SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 pint of split peas.
1½ quarts of boiling water.
1 quart of soup stock.
1 small teaspoonful of salt.
3 shakes of pepper.

Wash the peas in cold water and throw away those which float, as they are bad. Soak them overnight, and in the morning pour away the water on them and cover them with a quart of the boiling water in the recipe, and cook an hour and a half. Put in the rest of the water and the stock, and press the whole through a sieve, and, after washing and wiping the saucepan, put the soup back to heat, adding the salt and pepper.

TOMATO SOUP

1 tin tomatoes, or 1 quart of fresh stewed ones.
1 pint of stock.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
2 tablespoonfuls of flour.
1 teaspoonful of sugar.
1 small onion, cut up.
1 sprig of parsley.
1 bay-leaf.
1 small teaspoonful of salt.
3 shakes of pepper.

Put the tomatoes into a saucepan with the parsley, onion, bay-leaf, and stock, and cook fifteen minutes, and then strain through a sieve. Wash the saucepan and put the tomatoes back in it, and put on to boil again; melt the butter, rub smooth with the flour, and put into the soup while it boils, and stir till it is perfectly smooth. Then add the sugar, salt and pepper, and soda, and strain into the hot tureen. Serve croûtons with this soup. They are made by cutting tiny little squares of bread and fried in a little butter till they become crisp.

CHICKEN OR TURKEY SOUP

Break up the bones and cover with cold water; add a slice of onion, a bay-leaf, and a sprig of parsley, and cook all day, adding water when necessary, and skimming. Cool, take off the grease, heat again, and strain. Serve with small, even squares of chicken meat in it, or a little cooked rice and salt. Many people like a small pinch of cinnamon in turkey soup.

VEGETABLES

MASHED POTATOES

6 large potatoes.
½ cup hot milk.
Butter the size of a walnut.
3 teaspoonfuls salt.
3 shakes of pepper.

Peel and boil the potatoes till tender; then turn off the water and stand them on the back of the stove with a cover half over them, where they will keep hot while they get dry and floury, but do not let them burn; shake the saucepan every little while. Heat the milk with the butter, salt, and pepper in it; mash the potatoes well, either with the wooden potato-masher or with a wire one, and put in the milk little by little. When they are all free from lumps, pile them lightly in the vegetable-dish as they are. Do not smooth them over the top.

BEETS

Wash the beets but do not peel them. Boil them gently for three-quarters of an hour, or till they can be pierced easily with a straw. Then skin them and slice in a hot dish, dusting each layer with a little salt, pepper, and melted butter. Those which are left over may have a little vinegar poured over them, to make them into pickles for luncheon.

Once Margaret made something very nice by a recipe her Aunt put in her book. It was called--

STUFFED BEETS

1 tin French peas.
6 medium-sized beets.

Boil the beets as before and skin them, but leave them whole. Heat the peas after the juice has been turned off, and season them with salt and pepper. Cut off the stem end of each beet so that it will stand steadily, and scoop a round place in the other end; sprinkle each beet with salt and pepper, and put a tiny bit of butter down in this little well, and then fill it high with the peas it will hold.

PEAS

Shell them and drop them into a saucepan of boiling water, into which you have put a teaspoonful of salt and a pinch of soda. Boil them till they are tender, from fifteen minutes, if they are fresh from the garden, to half an hour or more, if they have stood in the grocer’s a day or two. When they are done they will have little dents in their sides, and you can easily mash two or three with a fork on a plate. Then drain off the water, put in three shakes of pepper, more salt if they do not taste just right, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and shake them till the butter melts; serve in a hot covered dish.

FRENCH BEANS

Pull off the strings and cut off the ends; hold three or four beans in your hand and cut them into long, very narrow strips, not into square pieces. Then cook them exactly as you did the peas.

STEWED TOMATOES

6 large tomatoes.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
1 teaspoonful of sugar.
3 shakes of pepper.
Butter as large as a walnut.

Peel and cut the tomatoes up small, saving the juice; put together in a saucepan with the seasoning. Simmer twenty minutes, stirring till it is smooth, and last put in half a cup of bread-crumbs. Serve in a hot, covered dish.

ASPARAGUS

Untie the bunch, scrape the stalks clean, and put it in cold water for half an hour. Tie the bunch again, and cut enough off the white ends to make all the pieces of the same length. Stand them in boiling water in a saucepan, and cook gently for about twenty minutes. Lay on a dish, on squares of buttered toast.

ONIONS

Peel off the outside skin and cook them in boiling, salted water till they are tender; drain them, put them in a baking-dish, and pour over them a tablespoonful of melted butter, three shakes of pepper, and a sprinkling of salt, and put in the oven and brown a very little. Or, cover them with a cup of white sauce instead of the melted butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, but do not put in the oven.

FRIED POTATOES

Wash and peel sufficient potatoes, then chop them fine, and put them into cold water. Put some bacon dripping into an iron frying-pan, and when very hot turn the potatoes into it (previously dried by pressing in a clean cloth). Add salt and pepper. Cook until soft; then draw the pan to a hotter part of the stove and brown. Serve very hot.

CARROT CROQUETTES

Wash and scrape a sufficient number of carrots; stew them until very soft, drain and mash and season with salt, pepper, and butter; then bind together with the yolk of an egg. When cool enough to handle, shape into balls, dredge with brown bread-crumbs, and fry in deep fat till brown. Serve up with parsley.

MACARONI

6 long pieces of macaroni.
1 cup of white sauce.
½ pound of cheese.
Pepper and salt.

Break up the macaroni into small pieces, and boil fifteen minutes in salted water, shaking the saucepan often. Pour off the water. Butter a dish, put in a layer of macaroni, a good sprinkle of salt, then a very little white sauce, and a layer of grated cheese, sprinkled over with a tiny dusting of pepper; only use a tiny bit. Then cover with a thin layer of white sauce, and so on till the dish is full, with the last layer of white sauce covered with an extra thick one of the cheese. Bake till brown.

Margaret’s mother got this recipe in Paris, and she thought it a very nice one.

After the soup, meat, and vegetables at dinner came the salad; for this Margaret almost always had lettuce, with French dressing, as mayonnaise seemed too heavy for dinner. Sometimes she had nice watercress; very occasionally she had celery with mayonnaise.

SWEETS

BLANCMANGE

1 pint of milk.
2 heaping tablespoonfuls of cornflour.
3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Whites of three eggs.
½ teaspoonful of vanilla.

Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff. Mix the cornflour with half a cup of the milk, and stir it till it melts. Mix the rest of the milk and the sugar, and put them on the fire in the double saucepan. When it bubbles, stir up the cornflour and milk well, and stir them in and cook and stir till it gets as thick as oatmeal; then turn in the eggs and stir them lightly, and cook for a minute more. Take it off the stove, mix in the vanilla, and put in a mould to cool. When dinner is ready, turn it out on a dish and put small bits of red jelly round it, or pieces of preserved ginger, or a pretty circle of preserved peaches, or preserved pineapple. Have a pitcher of cream to pass with it, or have a nice bowl of whipped cream. If you have a ring-mould, let it harden in that, and have the whipped cream piled in the centre after it is on the dish, and put the jelly or preserves round last.

CHOCOLATE BLANCMANGE

Use the same recipe as before, but put in one more tablespoonful of sugar. Then shave thin two squares of chocolate, and stand on the fire till it melts, and stir it in very thoroughly before you put in the eggs. Instead of pouring this into one large mould, put it in egg-cups to harden; turn these out carefully, each on a separate plate, and put a spoonful of whipped cream by each one.

BAKED CUSTARD

2 cups of milk.
Yolks of two eggs.
2 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
A little nutmeg.

Beat the eggs till they are light; mix the milk and sugar till the sugar melts; put the two together, and pour into a nice baking-dish, or into small cups, and dust the nutmeg over the tops. Bake till the top is brown, and till when you put a knife-blade into the custard it comes out clean.

COCOANUT CUSTARD

Add a cup of cocoanut to the above recipe and bake it in one dish, stirring it up two or three times from the bottom, but, after it begins to brown, leaving it alone to finish. Do not put any nutmeg on it.

TAPIOCA PUDDING

2 tablespoonfuls of tapioca.
Yolks of two eggs.
½ cup of sugar.
1 quart of milk.

Put the tapioca into a small half-cup of water and let it stand one hour. Then drain it and put it in the milk in the double saucepan, and cook and stir it till the tapioca looks clear, like glass. Beat the eggs and mix the sugar with them, and beat again till both are light, and put them with the milk and tapioca and cook three minutes, stirring all the time. Then take it off the fire and add a saltspoonful of salt and a half-teaspoonful of vanilla, and let it get perfectly cold.

FLOATING ISLAND

1 pint of milk.
3 eggs.
⅓ cup of sugar.

Put the milk on the stove to heat in a good-sized pan. Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff, and as soon as the milk scalds--that is, gets a little wrinkled on top--drop spoonfuls of the egg on to it in little islands; let them stand there to cook just one minute, and then with the skimmer take them off and lay them on a plate. Put the milk where it will keep hot, but not boil, while you beat the yolks of the eggs stiff, mixing in the sugar and beating that, too. Pour the milk into the bowl of egg, a little at a time, beating all the while, and then put it in the double boiler and cook till it is as thick as cream. Take it off the fire, stir in a saltspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of vanilla, and set it away to cool. When it is dinner-time, strain the custard into a pretty dish and slip the whites off on top, one by one. If you like, you can dot them over with very tiny specks of red jelly.

CAKE AND CUSTARD

Make a plain boiled custard, just as before, with--

1 pint of milk.
Yolks of three eggs.
⅓ cup of sugar.
1 saltspoonful of salt.
½ teaspoonful of vanilla.

Beat the eggs and sugar, add the hot milk, and cook till creamy; put in the salt and vanilla, and cool. Then cut stale cake into strips, or split ladyfingers into halves, and spread with jam. Put them on the sides and bottom of a flat glass dish, and gently pour the custard over.

APPLE CHARLOTTE

Peel, core, and slice six apples. Butter a baking-dish and sprinkle the inside all over with fine bread-crumbs. Then take six very thin slices of buttered bread and line the sides and bottom of the dish. Put a layer of apples an inch thick, a thin layer of brown sugar, six small pieces of butter, and a dusting of cinnamon, another layer of crumbs, another of apples and sugar, and so on till the dish is full, with crumbs and butter on top, and three tablespoonfuls of sugar poured over. Bake this one hour.

LEMON PUDDING

1 cup of sugar.
4 eggs.
2 lemons.
1 pint of milk.
1 tablespoonful of granulated sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls of cornflour.
1 pinch of salt.

Wet the cornflour with half a cup of the milk, and heat what is left. Stir up the cornflour well, and when the milk is hot put it in and stir; then boil five minutes, stirring all the time. Melt the butter, and put that in with a pinch of salt, and cool it. Beat the yolks of the eggs, and add the sugar, the juice of both lemons, and the grated rind of one, pour into the milk, and stir well; put in a buttered baking-dish and bake till slightly brown. Take it out of the oven; beat the whites of two of the eggs with a tablespoonful of granulated sugar, and pile lightly on top, and put in the oven again till it is just brown. This is a very nice recipe.

RICE PUDDING WITH RAISINS

1 quart of milk.
2 tablespoonfuls of rice.
⅓ cup of sugar.
½ cup of seeded raisins.

Wash the rice and the raisins and stir everything together till the sugar dissolves; then put it in a baking-dish in the oven. Every little while open the door and see if a light brown crust is forming on top, and, if it is, stir the pudding all up from the bottom and push down the crust. Keep on doing this till the rice swells and makes the milk all thick and creamy, which it will after about an hour. Then let the pudding cook, and when it is a nice deep brown take it out and let it get very cold.

BREAD PUDDING

2 cups of milk.
1 cup of soft bread-crumbs.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
2 egg yolks.
1 egg white.
½ teaspoonful of vanilla.
1 saltspoonful of salt.

Crumb the bread evenly and soak in the milk till soft. Beat it till smooth, and put in the beaten yolks of the eggs, the sugar, vanilla, and salt, and last the beaten white of the egg. Put it in a buttered pudding-dish, and stand this in a pan of hot water in the oven for fifteen minutes. Take it out and spread its top with jam, and cover with the beaten white of the other egg, with one tablespoonful of granulated sugar put in it, and brown in the oven. You can eat this as it is, or with cream, and you may serve it either hot or cold.

Sometimes you can put a cup of washed raisins into the bread-crumbs and milk, and mix in the other things; sometimes you can put in a cup of chopped almonds, or a little preserved ginger. Marmalade is especially nice on bread pudding.

ORANGE PUDDING

Make just like Lemon Pudding, but use three oranges instead of two lemons.

CABINET PUDDING

1 pint of milk.
Yolks of 3 eggs.
3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
1 saltspoonful of salt.

Beat the eggs, add the sugar, and stir them into the milk, which must be very hot, but not boiling; stir till it thickens, and then take it from the fire. Put a layer of washed raisins in the bottom of a mould, then a layer of slices of stale cake or Savoy biscuits; then more raisins round the edge of the mould, and more cake, till the mould is full. Pour the custard over very slowly, so the cake will soak well, and bake in a pan of water in the oven for an hour. This pudding is to be eaten hot, with any sauce you like, such as Foamy Sauce.

Cut-up figs are nice to use with the raisins, and chopped nuts are a delicious addition, dropped between the layers of cake.

COTTAGE PUDDING

1 egg.
1 cup sugar.
½ cup milk.
1½ teaspoonfuls baking-powder.

Beat the yolk of the egg light, add the sugar slowly, and beat more, then put in the milk, the flour, the whites of the eggs beaten stiff, and last of all the baking-powder, and stir it up well. Put in a greased pan and bake nearly half an hour. If you want this very nice, put in half a cup of chopped figs, mixed with part of the flour.

Serve with Foamy Sauce.

PRUNE WHIPS

This was a cookery-school recipe which the Aunt put in, because she said it was the best sort of a pudding for little girls to make and like.

1 tablespoonful of powdered sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls of stewed prunes.
White of 1 egg.

Cook the prunes till soft, take out the stones, and mash the prunes fine. Beat the white of the egg very stiff, mix in the sugar and prunes, and bake in small buttered dishes. Serve hot or cold, with cream.

JUNKET

1 junket tablet.
1 quart milk.
½ cup sugar.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Break up the junket tablet--or rennet can be used--into small pieces, and put them into a tablespoonful of water to dissolve. Put the sugar into the milk with the vanilla, and stir till it is dissolved. Warm the milk a little, but only till it is as warm as your finger, so that if you try it by touching it with the tip, you do not feel it at all as colder or warmer. Then quickly turn in the water with the tablet melted in it, stirring it only once, and pour immediately into small cups on the table. These must stand for half an hour without being moved, and then the junket will be stiff. In winter you must warm the cups till they are like the milk. This is very nice with a spoonful of whipped cream on each cup, and bits of preserved ginger or of jelly on it.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Margaret’s mother called this the Thousand Mile Shortcake, because she sent so far for the recipe to the place where she had once eaten it, when she thought it the best she had ever tasted.

1 pint flour.
½ cup butter.
1 egg.
1 teaspoonful baking-powder.
½ cup milk.
1 saltspoonful salt.

Mix the baking-powder and salt with the flour and sift all together. The butter should stand on the kitchen table till it is warm and ready to melt, when it may be mixed in with a spoon, and then the egg, well beaten, and the milk.

Divide the dough into halves; put one in a round biscuit-tin, butter it, and lay the other half on top, evenly. Bake a light brown. When you take it out of the oven, let it cool, and then lift the layer apart. Mash the strawberries, keeping out some of the biggest ones for the top of the cake, and put on the bottom layer; put a small half-cup of powdered sugar on them, and put the top layer on. Dust this over with sugar till it is white, and set the large berries about on it, or cover the top with whipped cream and put the strawberries on this.

SHORTCAKE

1 small cup sugar.
½ cup butter.
1 cup cold water.
1 egg.
2 cups flour.
3 teaspoonfuls baking-powder.

Rub the butter and sugar to a cream; sift the flour and baking-powder together; beat the egg stiff without separating; put the egg with the sugar and butter, add the water and flour in turn, a little at a time, stirring steadily; bake in two layer-tins. Put jam between them and on top.

Tiny field strawberries make the most delicious shortcake of all.

LEMON CHEESE CAKES

¾ lb. of loaf sugar.
4 oz. of fresh butter.
Yolks of 6 eggs.
Whites of 4 eggs.
Peel of 3 lemons grated.
Juice of 3 lemons.

Put the lemon juice and grated rind, together with the sugar and butter, into a brass pan; add the eggs gradually lest they curdle. Then simmer over the fire until as thick as honey, stirring gently all the time.

Pour into small jars, and when cold paste paper over. Keep in a very dry place. Fill the patty-pans half-full, as it rises much in a quick oven. Puff paste should be used for these.

LEMON JELLY

½ box gelatine.
½ cup cold water.
2 cups boiling water.
1 cup sugar.

Juice of 3 lemons, and three scrapings of the yellow rind.

Put the gelatine into the cold water and soak one hour. Put the boiling water, the sugar, and the scrapings of peel on the fire, and stir till the sugar dissolves. Take it off the fire and stir in the gelatine, and mix till this is dissolved; when it is partly cool, turn in the lemon juice and strain through a flannel bag dipped in water and wrung dry. Put into a pretty mould.

ORANGE JELLY

Make this exactly as you did the Lemon Jelly, only instead of taking the juice of three lemons, take the juice of two oranges and one lemon, and scrape the orange peel instead of the lemon peel.

Whipped cream is nicer with either of these jellies.

PRUNE JELLY

Wash well a cup of prunes, and cover them with cold water and soak overnight. In the morning put them on the fire in the same water, and simmer till so tender that the stones will slip out. Cut each prune in two and sprinkle with sugar as you lay them in the mould; pour over them lemon jelly made by the recipe above, and put on ice. Turn out on a pretty dish, and put whipped cream round.

FRUIT JELLY

Make a plain lemon jelly, as before. Cut up, very thin, two oranges, one banana, six figs, and a handful of white grapes, which you have seeded, and sweeten them. Put in a mould and pour in the jelly; as it begins to grow firm you can gently lift the fruit from the bottom once or twice.

You can also fill the mould quite full of fruit, and make only half the jelly and pour over. Whipped cream is nice to eat with this.

STEWED RHUBARB

Wipe the rhubarb with a damp cloth. Cut into pieces about one inch long; put in a stewpan with enough water just to cover it, and put in sugar to suit taste. Cook till it becomes soft, but not mashed; let it simmer gently.

SNOW PUDDING

½ box of gelatine.
1 pint of cold water.
3 eggs.
Juice of 3 lemons.
½ cup of powdered sugar.

Pour the water over the gelatine and let it stand ten minutes; then put the bowl over the fire and stir till it is dissolved, and take it off at once. As soon as it seems nearly cold, beat to a froth with the egg-beater. Beat the whites of the eggs stiffly, and add to the gelatine, with the lemon juice and sugar, and mix well. Put in a mould and set on ice. Make a soft custard by the recipe, and pour round the pudding when you serve it.

VELVET CREAM

¼ box of gelatine.
1 pint of milk.
2 eggs.
3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Small teaspoonful of vanilla.

Put the gelatine in the milk and soak fifteen minutes; put on the stove and heat till it steams, but do not let it boil; stir carefully often, as there is danger of its burning. Beat the yolks of the eggs with the sugar, and put these in the custard, and cook till it all thickens and is smooth, but do not boil it. Strain, cool, and add the vanilla, and last fold in the beaten whites of the eggs, and put in a mould on the ice.

Preserved peaches laid round this are very nice, or rich pineapple, or apricot jam; or a ring of whipped cream, with bits of red jelly, make a pretty border.

COMPOTE OF ORANGES AND CHESTNUTS

Peel and quarter eight oranges, boil half-pound of lump sugar and half-pint of water till it becomes a syrup. Pour over quartered oranges whilst boiling, and let cool. Boil one and a half or two pounds of chestnuts until quite cooked; peel and put into a boiling syrup, made as above, well flavoured with vanilla. Gently simmer for one and a half hours; when cool pass through a wire sieve. Pile up in centre of dish and place orange round; decorate with whipped cream and pistachio nuts (chopped).

CREAM BUNS OR ÉCLAIRS

½ pint water.
1 oz. butter
5 oz. fine flour.
3 eggs.
A little salt.

Put the water and butter in a saucepan over the fire to boil, then stir in five ounces of flour. Blend thoroughly till smooth and well cooked; break in the eggs and mix well together. Put the mixture out in pieces on a well-buttered baking-sheet and bake in a slow oven for one hour.

Scoop out the inside and fill with whipped cream. Place the top on again and sift sugar over, or they can be covered with chocolate icing.

TREACLE SPONGE

½ lb. flour.
¼ lb. beef suet.
½ teaspoonful carbonate soda.
A pinch of salt.
1 teaspoonful ground ginger.
1 teacup golden syrup.
¼ pint milk.

Chop suet fine, put into a basin, add flour, soda, and ginger; mix syrup with the milk, stir this in the mixture; grease a mould and steam two hours.

Froth Sauce can be served round, or a little warmed golden syrup.

HARD SAUCE

Beat together a half-cup of powdered sugar and a half-cup of butter with a fork till both are light and creamy. Flavour with a teaspoonful of vanilla and put on the ice to harden.

FOAMY SAUCE

½ cup butter.
½ cup boiling water.
1 cup powdered sugar.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.
White of 1 egg.

Rub the butter and sugar to a cream; add vanilla and beat well. When it is time to serve, beat the egg stiff, stir the boiling water into the sugar and butter, and then put in the egg and beat till foamy, standing it on the stove as you do so to keep it hot. Serve in the sauce-boat.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

4 lbs. of raisins.
4 lbs. of currants.
4 lbs. of mixed peel.
4 lbs. of beef suet.
2 lbs. of bread-crumbs.
2 lbs. of flour.
½ lb. of mixed spice.
3 lbs. of brown sugar.
16 or 20 eggs.
2 lbs. of chopped sweet almonds.
Rind of 4 lemons grated, and the juice.

Stone the raisins, wash the currants, chop the suet and peel, and put all dry ingredients together and mix well. Then add the whipped eggs and stir all together for half an hour; then add half a bottle of rum, half a bottle of brandy, and the juice of the lemons. Add spirits to taste; boil eight hours. Enough for twelve puddings.

FROTH SAUCE FOR PUDDINGS

Take a clean stewpan, break in two yolks of eggs, quarter-pint of cream, a wineglass of sherry, and a little sugar.

Whisk well on the stove till it becomes thick and frothy, but not to curdle; then pour round the pudding. This sauce must not be made till just before it is wanted.

LEMON SAUCE

White of 1 egg.
½ cup of powdered sugar.
Juice of half a lemon.

Beat the egg, add the sugar and lemon, and beat again.

WHITE SAUCE

1 tablespoonful cornflour.
½ cup cold water.
1 cup boiling water.
½ cup powdered sugar.
Pinch of salt.
2 whites of eggs.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Dissolve the cornflour in the cold water, and then add the boiling water and sugar and salt, and cook for fifteen minutes, stirring all the time. Take from the fire and fold in the stiffly beaten egg-whites with the flavouring, and beat till perfectly cold. Any flavouring will do for this sauce; pistache is very nice.

QUICK PUDDING SAUCE

1 egg.
½ cup powdered sugar.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Put the egg in a bowl without separating it and beat till very light; then pour in the sugar very slowly, beating all the time; add the vanilla and serve at once.

This is a very nice sauce, and so simple to make that Margaret learned it among the first of her recipes.

FRENCH PANCAKES

2 tablespoonfuls flour.
2 eggs.
1 oz. butter.
½ pint milk.

Rub the butter into the flour, beat the eggs, add the milk and mix all together. Put in well-buttered tins or saucers; bake twenty minutes in a quick oven.

ICE-CREAMS AND ICES

Margaret had a little ice-cream freezer which was all her own, and held only enough for two little girls to eat at a tea-party, and this she could pack alone. When she made ice-cream for all the family she had to use the larger freezer, of course, and this cook helped her pack. But the same recipe was used for either the large one or the small. First break up the ice in a thick bag with a hammer until the pieces are no larger than eggs, and all about the same size. Then put two big bowls of this into a tub or pail, and add one bowl of coarse salt, and so on, till you have enough, mixing it well with a long-handled spoon. Put the freezer in its pail and put the cover on; then fill the space between with the ice and salt till it is full, pressing it down as you work. Let it stand now in a cool place, till you know the inside is very cold, and then wipe off the top carefully and pour in the cream, which must be very cold, too. Put on the top and turn smoothly and slowly till it is stiff, which should be fifteen minutes. Then draw off the water from the pail, wipe the top of the cover again, so that no salt can get in, and take out the dasher, pushing the cream down with a spoon from the sides and packing it firmly. Put a cork in the hole in the cover, and put it on tightly. Mix more ice with a little salt--only a cupful to two bowls this time--and pack the freezer again up to the top. Wring out a heavy cloth in the salt water you drew off the pail, and cover it over tightly with this, and then stand in a cool, dark place till you need it; all ice-creams are better for standing two hours.

QUEEN’S PUDDING

1 breakfast-cup of bread-crumbs.
3 oz. of castor sugar.
1 rind of a lemon grated.
2 eggs.
1 breakfast-cup of milk.
2 oz. of butter.

Put bread-crumbs into a basin with lemon rind and sugar; warm the butter in the milk, separate yolks from whites, add the yolks when beaten to the milk and butter, and pour over the other ingredients. Grease a pie-dish and put in mixture and bake until set. Leave till it is cold, spread over it raspberry jam, whip the whites to a stiff froth with a little sugar, pile high on the top and put it in the oven to dry, but not to brown.

PLAIN ICE-CREAM

3 cups of cream.
1 cup of milk.
1 small cup of sugar.
2 teaspoonfuls of vanilla.

Put the cream, milk, and sugar on the fire, and stir till the sugar dissolves and the cream just wrinkles on top; do not let it boil. Take it off, beat it till it is cold, add the vanilla, and freeze.

FRENCH ICE-CREAM

1 pint of milk.
1 cup of cream.
1 cup of sugar.
4 eggs.
1 tablespoonful of vanilla.
1 saltspoonful of salt.

Put the milk on the fire and let it just scald or wrinkle. Beat the yolks of the eggs, put in the sugar, and beat again; then pour the hot milk into these slowly, and the salt, and put it on the fire in the double boiler and let it cook to a nice thick cream. (This is a plain boiled custard, such as you made for Floating Island.) Take it off and let it cool while you beat the whites of the eggs stiff, and then the cup of cream. Put the eggs in first lightly when the custard is entirely cold, and then the whipped cream last, and the vanilla, and freeze.

SUMMER PUDDING

Line a pudding-basin with slices of bread without crust, and cut out a round for the bottom. Fill up with ripe raspberries or black currants, which have been stewed a little with sugar to make the syrup, but not long enough to destroy the colour. Put a plate on the top and a weight on it.

Next day turn out when required, and serve with whipped or plain cream.

COFFEE ICE-CREAM

Make either of these creams, and flavour with half a cup of strong coffee in place of vanilla.

CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM

Make plain ice-cream; melt two squares of chocolate in a little saucepan. Mix a little of the milk or cream with this, and stir it smooth, and then put it in with the rest. You will need to use a large cup of sugar instead of a small one in making this, as the chocolate is not sweetened.

PEACH ICE-CREAM

Peel, cut up, and mash a cup of peaches. Make plain ice-cream, with a large cup of sugar, and when it is cold stir in the peaches and freeze.

STRAWBERRY ICE-CREAM

Mix a large cup of strawberries, mashed and strained carefully so that there are no seeds, with the ice-cream, and freeze.

ITALIAN CREAM

Yolks of 4 eggs.
½ pint milk.
½ pint double cream.
1 oz. castor sugar.
1 oz. melted gelatine.
1 wineglassful Chartreuse, or any liqueur.

Make a custard with the yolks and milk; add the sugar.

LEMON ICE

1 quart water.
4 lemons.
2½ cups sugar.
1 orange.

Boil the sugar and water for ten minutes; strain it and add the juice of the lemons and orange; cool and freeze.

ORANGE ICE

1 quart water.
6 oranges.
1 lemon.
2½ cups sugar.

Prepare exactly as you did Lemon Ice.

STRAWBERRY ICE

1 quart water.
2½ cups sugar.
1½ cups strawberry juice, strained.

Prepare like Lemon Ice.

RASPBERRY ICE

1 quart water.
2½ cups sugar.
1½ cups raspberry-juice, strained.

Prepare like Lemon Ice.

When Margaret wanted to make her own freezer full of ice-cream, she just took a cup of cream and heated it with the sugar, and when it was cold put in three drops of vanilla, and froze it.

CAKE

Next after the ices in her book, Margaret found the cake to eat with them, and first of all there was a recipe for some little cakes which the smallest girl in the neighbourhood used to make all alone.

CHOCOLATE ICING FOR CAKES

Whites of 2 eggs.
¼ pound icing sugar.
3 oz. grated chocolate.

Melt the chocolate in a stewpan with a tablespoonful of milk, and mix it with the sugar. When cool, stir in the whites, which have been well beaten, and use.

ELEANOR’S CAKES

¼ cup of butter.
½ cup of sugar.
¼ cup of milk.
1 egg.
1 cup of flour.
1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.
½ teaspoonful of vanilla.

Rub the butter and sugar to a cream, beat the egg light without separating, and put it in next; then the milk, a little at a time; mix the baking-powder with the flour and stir in, and last the vanilla. Bake in small scalloped tins, and fill each one only half-full.

GRANDMOTHER’S LITTLE FEATHER CAKE

1 cup sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls soft butter.
1 egg.
½ cup milk and water mixed.
1½ cups sifted flour.
1 teaspoonful baking-powder.

Rub the butter and sugar to a cream. Beat the yolk of the egg stiff and put that in; then add part of the milk and water, and part of the flour and baking-powder, which has been sifted together; next the vanilla, and last the stiff whites of the eggs, not stirred in, but just lightly folded in. If you put them in heavily and roughly, the cake will always be heavy. Bake this in a buttered biscuit-tin, and cut in squares when cold. It is nice covered with caramel or chocolate icing.

DOMINO CAKE

Make this feather cake and pour it into two pans, so that the bottom shall be just covered, and bake it quickly. When it is done, take it out of the pans and ice it, and while the icing is still a little soft, mark it off into dominoes. When it is entirely cold, cut these out, and with a clean paint-brush paint little round spots on them with a little melted chocolate, to exactly represent the real dominoes. It is fun to play a game with these at a tea-party, and eat them up afterwards.

MARGARET’S OWN CAKE

Margaret’s mother named this cake for her, because she liked so much to make it and to eat it. It is very nice cake for little girls.

5 eggs.
1 cup of granulated sugar.
1 cup of flour.
1 pinch of salt.
½ teaspoonful of lemon juice, or vanilla.

Separate the eggs, and beat the yolks very light and foamy; then put in the sugar, which you have sifted, a little at a time, and the flour in the same way; but put them in in turn--first sugar, then flour, and so on. Then put in the flavouring, and last fold in the whites of the eggs, beaten very stiff. Bake in a buttered pan.

SPONGE CAKE

Take four eggs, their weight in castor sugar, and the weight of two in flour.

Separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks lightly, gradually add sugar, then add the whites, which have been beaten stiffly, and lastly the flour and a few drops of essence of lemon.

Bake in a moderate oven for one hour.

BRANDY SNAPS

¼ lb. flour.
¼ lb. butter.
½ lb. castor sugar.
3 oz. best treacle.
1 teaspoonful ground ginger.
Little juice of lemon.

The butter and the treacle to be made warm in the oven; then put the sugar and flour, ground ginger and lemon to it, and stir till smooth.

Spread very thin on the baking-sheet. When done, take off in squares; let them get a little cool, and then roll them round the handle of a wooden spoon; don’t let them get too stiff or they will not roll.

LAYER CAKE

1 cup sugar.
½ cup water.
2 eggs.
2 teaspoonfuls baking-powder.
½ cup butter.
2½ cups flour.
Teaspoonful vanilla.

Rub the butter to a cream in a deep bowl, and put in the sugar a little at a time, and rub this till it, too, creams. Then put in the beaten yolks of the eggs, and then the water. Beat the egg-whites well, and fold in half, then add the flour, in which you have mixed and sifted the baking-powder, and then put in the vanilla and the rest of the eggs.

Divide in two layers, or in three if the tins are small, and bake till a light brown.

DANISH CAKES

5 oz. flour.
¼ lb. butter.
2 oz. brown sugar.
A few drops of vanilla.
1 egg.
1 oz. cocoanut.

Rub butter in flour, add sugar and vanilla, mix with yolk of egg, roll out and cut out with round cutter, brush tops over with the white of egg, sprinkle over with cocoanut, and bake in moderate oven about quarter of an hour.

COCOANUT CAKES

¼ lb. cocoanut.
Whites of 2 eggs.
2 oz. castor sugar.

Beat whites to a stiff froth, then add the sugar and cocoanut, drop on a greased tin, and bake in a quick oven.

DUNDEE CAKE

Cream together six ounces of butter and six ounces of castor sugar; well whisk four eggs.

Sieve together eight ounces of flour with half-teaspoonful of baking-powder, add to the flour the grated rind of one lemon. Next add the eggs and flour alternately to the butter and sugar; stir in well; mix together quarter-pound currants, quarter-pound sultanas, three ounces chopped peel, and one ounce shredded almonds. Add these to the other ingredients, mixing well. Put mixture into a lined tin, sprinkle almonds on the top, and bake one and a half hours.

JOU CAKE

6 oz. of butter.
½ lb. of castor sugar.
¾ lb. of flour.
4 eggs.
Cup of milk.
¼ lb. of sultanas.
¼ lb. of glacé cherries, cut in half.
2 oz. of citron.
A little essence of vanilla.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.

First prepare a deep Yorkshire pudding-tin, grease it well, and line it with white paper, and cut. Make it fit the tin; then grease the inside paper well and dust over with sugar. Put the butter into a deep basin and beat well to a cream, then add the sugar and work that in well, then the eggs, one at a time, and beat thoroughly. Add the fruit and the essence, mix the baking-powder with the flour, and stir in gradually to the other ingredients; lastly, stir in a teacupful of milk and pour into the tin, and bake three-quarters of an hour without opening the oven door if possible. If the oven is very hot, put some paper over the top to prevent it getting too brown. The cake can be cut up into any shapes, as it is two and a half inches high when cut.

A NICE RICH CAKE

¾ lb. butter.
½ lb. Demerara sugar.
½ lb. flour.
6 eggs.
1 lb. currants.
1 lb. sultanas.
½ lb. candied peel.
¼ lb. sweet almonds, blanched and sliced.
½ teaspoonful mixed spice.
¼ pint rum or brandy.

Beat butter to a cream; then add sugar and beat well; next the eggs (which must have been well beaten for twenty minutes), then the fruit, peel, and spice. Add the rum and then the flour. Beat all well together; bake in a lined tin, with buttered paper, in a moderate oven three and half hours.

QUEEN CAKES

The weight of two eggs in flour, sugar, and butter. Beat butter to a cream, add the sugar, and well work that in. Next, add one egg--allow five minutes for each egg--then the other, and lastly the flour, in which has been put half-teaspoonful of baking-powder. Stir lightly, add a few cleaned currants, and half fill the moulds. These must be prepared before you begin the mixture. Bake in a moderate oven a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes; let them stand a few minutes when done, and turn out on a wire sieve. It is sufficient for twelve or fourteen cakes.

SHORTBREAD

½ lb. flour.
5 oz. butter.
3 oz. sugar.

Put in a basin and knead all well together; roll out and cut out with plain or fancy cutters. Bake in a quick oven a quarter of an hour. They must not be baked brown.

NOAH’S BUN

1 lb. flour.
½ lb. Demerara sugar.
½ lb. sultanas.
¼ lb. currants.
1 teaspoonful ground ginger.
1 teaspoonful mixed spice.
1 dessertspoonful carbonate of soda.
6 oz. butter, warmed in a breakfast-cup of milk.

Stir the butter and milk into the other ingredients with a wooden spoon, and bake in a buttered and lined tin two hours; it is a very dark cake.

A NICE CHOCOLATE CAKE

½ lb. butter.
2 oz. ground rice.
½ lb. grated chocolate.
¼ lb. flour.
6 oz. castor sugar.
1 teaspoonful baking-powder.
4 eggs.
A few drops essence of vanilla.

Beat butter and sugar together for twenty minutes, add the chocolate--previously dissolved in a tablespoonful of milk, not too hot--add yolks one at a time, mixing each carefully. Mix flour, rice, and powder together, and sift through a sieve to the yolks, and stir gently. Beat whites to a stiff broth, stir in lightly, add the essence, and bake in a papered tin in a good oven an hour and half. The oven door must not be opened, at least, for half an hour, and closed gently. Try with an iron skewer at the end of one and a half hours.

SWISS ROLL

3 eggs.
6 oz. of castor sugar.
Grated rind of half a lemon.
4 oz. of flour.
½ teaspoonful of baking-powder.

Put yolks and sugar into a basin, whip together for twenty minutes, mix lemon peel and flour gradually. Whip whites to a stiff froth and mix in lightly. Turn the mixture into a well-greased tin, bake twenty minutes in quick oven. Have ready a sheet of paper, well sprinkled with castor; turn the cake on to this; spread two tablespoonfuls of warm raspberry jam, then roll up as lightly as possible, and put on a sieve to cool.

FILLING FOR LAYER CAKES

NUT AND RAISIN FILLING

Use the recipe for plain icing, and add a half-cup of chopped raisins mixed with a half-cup of chopped almonds or English walnuts.

FIG FILLING

Mix a cup of chopped figs with the same icing.

ORANGE FILLING

1 cup powdered sugar.
1 tablespoonful boiling water.
Grated rind of 1 orange.
1 tablespoonful orange juice.

Put the sugar in a bowl, add the rind, then the water and juice, and spread at once on the cake. This icing must be very thick when made, and if it seems thin put in more sugar.

CARAMEL FILLING

2 cups brown sugar.
½ cup cream or milk.
Butter the size of an egg.
½ teaspoonful vanilla.

Mix all together and cook till it is smooth and thick.

EASY FRUIT-CAKE

Margaret’s Other Aunt begged to have this in the book, because she said it was so simple any little girl could make it, and all the family could help eat it, as they were especially fond of fruit-cake.

1 cup butter.
2 cups sugar.
1 cup milk.
1 cup currants.
1 cup raisins.
1 egg.
1 teaspoonful soda.
2 teaspoonfuls mixed spices.
3 cups flour.

Wash and dry the currants. Buy the seeded raisins and wash these, too, and then chop them. Cream the butter and sugar, add the egg, beaten well without separating, then the sugar with the soda stirred in it, then the milk, then the spice. Measure the flour, and then take out a half-cup of it, and stir in the raisins and currants, to keep them from going to the bottom of the cake when it is baked. Stir these in, add the rest of the flour and beat well. Bake in two buttered cake-tins.

PLAIN ICING

Put the white of one egg into a bowl with a half-teaspoonful of water, and beat till light. Then stir in a cup of sifted powdered sugar, and put on the cake while that is still warm, and smooth it over with a wet knife.

CHOCOLATE ICING

Melt one square of chocolate in a saucer over the tea-kettle, and put in two tablespoonfuls of milk and stir till smooth. Add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and a small half-teaspoonful of butter, and stir again. Take it off the stove and put it on the cake while both are warm.

CARAMEL ICING

½ cup milk.
2 cups brown sugar.
Butter the size of an egg.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Mix the butter, sugar, and milk, and cook till it is smooth and thick, stirring all the time and watching it carefully to see that it does not burn; take it off and put in the vanilla, and spread while warm on a warm cake.

DOUGHNUTS

Margaret’s mother did not approve of putting this recipe in her cook-book, because she did not want Margaret ever to eat rich things; but her grandmother said it really must go in, for once in a while very nice doughnuts would not hurt anybody.

1½ cups of sugar.
½ cup of butter.
3 eggs.
1½ cups of milk.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.
Pinch of salt.

Put in flour enough to make a very soft dough, just as soft as you can handle it. Mix, and put on a slightly floured board and make into round balls, or roll out and cut with a cutter with a hole in the centre. Take two cups of lard with one cup of beef suet which you have melted and strained, and heat till it browns a bit of bread instantly. Then drop in three doughnuts--not more, or you will chill the fat--and when you take them out dry on brown paper. It is much better to use part suet than all lard, yet that will do if you have no suet in the house.

TEA CAKES

2 squares of chocolate.
1 teaspoonful of sugar.
Bit of butter the size of a pea.

Melt the chocolate over the fire and stir in the sugar and butter and a couple of drops of vanilla, if you like. Take little round biscuits, and with a fork roll them quickly in this till they are covered; dry on buttered paper.

BREAD SAUCE FOR CHICKEN, TURKEY, AND GAME

Put into a saucepan the quantity of milk you think will be required. Put some stale bread through the wire sieve and put the crumbs into the milk--not a great deal at first, as the bread swells. Also put a small onion, with four cloves stuck in it, into the milk. Let it gently simmer until the bread swells, but if not fairly thick add more crumbs. Before serving take out the onion and add salt and pepper and a lump of butter.

BROWN SAUCE FOR FISH

One ounce of butter into a stewpan. Stir in a spoonful of flour (or more if a large quantity is required). Let these cook together for five minutes, then add some well-seasoned stock and stir till it boils; colour with some gravy colouring; add salt to taste. Add a glass of port or sherry, one teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, same of Worcester sauce, a little chopped parsley and mushrooms. Just before serving add a little lemon juice--about a teaspoonful; if it is put in at first it will turn the parsley brown.

COLD BRANDY SAUCE FOR PLUM PUDDING

4 oz. of butter.
4 oz. of castor sugar.
4 tablespoonfuls of brandy.

Beat butter to the thickness of honey, mix in the sugar and pour in the brandy by degrees, and see that all is well mixed.

TARTS

Margaret’s mother did not like her to eat tarts, but she let her learn how to make them, and once in a while she had a small piece. Here is her recipe:

1 lb. of flour.
¼ lb. of butter.
¼ lb. of lard.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
½ cup of water.

Put the flour, butter, lard, and salt in a bowl, and rub well in. Then add the water, a little at a time, turning the paste and mixing till smooth, but not touching with the hand. Put a very little flour on the pastry-board and lift the crust on this, and with a floured rolling-pin lightly roll it out once each way; fold it over and roll again, and do this several times till the crust looks even, with no lumps of butter showing anywhere. Put it on a plate and lay it in the ice-chest for at least an hour before you use it.

Pie-crust will never be light and nice if you handle it. Do not touch it with your fingers unless it is really necessary. When you use it, get everything ready for the pie first, and then bring out the crust, roll quickly, and spread over the pie.

Put a narrow strip of paste all round the edge, and press it together; if you wet it with a little water it will stick.

Put on the cover, wet the edges so they will stick together, and pinch evenly.

APPLE TART

Fill a baking-dish with apples, peeled and cut in slices. Sprinkle cinnamon and plenty of sugar, about half a cup. Put in the oven and bake till the apples are soft, and then cool, put on the crust, and bake till brown. Serve powdered sugar and rich cream with this.

FRENCH PEACH PIE

Put the crust in the pie-dish as before; boil a cup of sugar with two tablespoonfuls of water till it thickens. Lay quarters of peaches in the paste, round and round, evenly, no one on top of the other. Break ten peach-stones and arrange the kernels evenly on top; then pour the syrup over, and put a few narrow strips of crust across the pie, four each way, and bake.

CRANBERRY PIE

Cook a quart of cranberries till tender, with a small cup of water; when they have simmered till rather thick, put in a heaped cup of sugar and cook five minutes more. When as thick as oatmeal, take them off the fire and put through the colander; line a tin with crust, fill with the berries, put strips of crust across, and bake. A nice plan is to take half a cup of raisins and a cup of cranberries for a pie, chopping together and cooking with water as before, adding a sprinkling of flour and a little vanilla when done.

TARTLETS

Whenever Margaret made a tart she always saved all the bits of crust and rolled them out, and lined patty-pans with them and baked them. She often filled them with raw rice while they baked, to keep them in shape, saving the rice when they were done. She filled the shells with jelly, and used the tartlets for lunch.

CANDY

Margaret did not wait till she reached the recipes for candy at the back of her book before she began to make it. She made it all the way along, whenever another little girl came to spend the afternoon, or it was such a rainy day that she could not go out. Nearly always she made sugar candy, because it was such fun to pull it, and she used the same recipe her mother used when she was a little girl.

SUGAR CANDY

2 cups brown sugar.
1 cup white sugar.
1 tablespoonful butter.
1 tablespoonful vinegar.
1 small teaspoonful soda.

Boil hard twenty minutes, stirring all the time, and cool in shallow pans. If you double the quantity you must boil the candy five minutes longer.

The best thing about this candy is that it does not stick to the fingers, if you let it get quite cool before touching it, and pull it in small quantities. Do not put any butter on your fingers, but work fast.

HARDBAKE

Make the sugar candy given above, and stir in a large cup of shelled almonds just before taking it from the fire. Put in shallow, buttered pans.

PEPPERMINT DROPS

1 cup of sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls of water.
3 teaspoonfuls of peppermint essence.

Boil the sugar and water till when you drop a little in water it will make a firm ball in your fingers. Then take it off the fire and stir in the peppermint, and carefully drop four drops, one exactly on top of another, on a buttered platter. Do not put these too near together.

CREAM WALNUTS

2 cups of light brown sugar.
⅔ cup of boiling water.
1 small saltspoonful of cream of tartar.
1 cup of chopped walnuts.

Boil till the syrup makes a thread, then cool till it begins to thicken, and stir in the walnuts and drop on buttered paper.

CREAM MADE FROM ICING SUGAR

Take the white of one egg, and measure just as much cold water; mix the two well, and stir stiff with icing sugar; add a little flavouring, vanilla, or almond, or pistache, and, for some candies, colour with a tiny speck of fruit paste. This is the beginning of all sorts of cream candy.

CHOCOLATE CREAMS

Make the cream candy into balls, melt three squares of chocolate; put a ball on a little skewer or a fork, and dip into the chocolate and lay on buttered paper.

NUT CANDY

Chop a cup of almonds and mix with the cream candy; make into bars, and when cold cut in slices.

WALNUT CREAMS

Press two walnut halves on small balls of cream candy, one on either side.

BUTTERSCOTCH

6 tablespoonfuls of brown sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls of water.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1 saltspoonful of soda.

Boil all together, without stirring, till it hardens in water; then put in a small teaspoonful of vanilla and pour at once on a buttered dish. When hard break up into squares.

PINOCHE

1 cup light brown sugar.
1 cup cream.
1 cup walnuts, chopped fine.
Butter the size of a walnut.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Cook the sugar and cream till it makes a ball in water; then put in the butter, vanilla, and nuts, and beat till creamy and spread on a dish.

BETTY’S ORANGE CANDY

Betty was Margaret’s particular friend, so this was her favourite recipe:

2 cups sugar.
Juice of one orange.

Boil till it hardens in water, and then pull it.

CREAMED DATES, FIGS, AND CHERRIES

Make the plain cream candy, as before; wash the dates well, open at one side, and take out the stones and press in a ball of the candy; leave the side open. You can sprinkle with granulated sugar if you choose.

Cut figs in small pieces, and roll each piece in the cream candy till it is hidden.

For the cherries, colour the cream candy light pink and make into little balls. On top of each press a candied cherry.

DATES WITH NUTS

Wash and wipe the dates dry, and take out the stones. Put half an English walnut in each and press the edges together; roll in granulated sugar. Small figs may be prepared in the same way.

MARGARET’S SCHOOL LUNCHEONS

As Margaret had to take her luncheon to school with her sometimes, she had to learn how to make a good many kinds of sandwiches, because she soon grew tired of one or two sorts.

Cut the bread very thin and spread lightly with butter, and after they are done trim off the crusts neatly, not taking off all the crust, but making the two pieces even. For plain meat sandwiches, chop the meat very fine, sprinkle with salt, and spread on the bread; if it is too dry, put in a very little cream as you chop the meat.

EGG SANDWICHES

Make a very little French dressing--about a teaspoonful of oil, a sprinkling of salt, and four drops of lemon juice or vinegar. Chop a hard-boiled egg very fine, mix with the dressing, and spread.

LETTUCE SANDWICHES

Spread the bread, lay on a lettuce-leaf, and cover with French dressing, or with mayonnaise. These sandwiches are about the best for school, as they do not get dry.

CELERY SANDWICHES

Chop the celery fine, mix with a French or mayonnaise dressing, and spread.

CHICKEN AND CELERY SANDWICHES

Mix chopped celery and chopped chicken, as much of one as the other, wet with French or mayonnaise dressing, and spread.

SARDINE SANDWICHES

Scrape off all the skin from the sardines, and take out the bones and drain them by laying them on paper; mash them with a fork, and sprinkle with lemon juice, and spread.

TOMATO AND CHEESE SANDWICHES

Slice a small, firm tomato very thin indeed, and take out all the seeds and soft pulp, leaving only the firm part; put one slice on the bread, and one thin shaving of cheese over it, and then put on bread. A slice of tomato with a spreading of mayonnaise makes a nice sandwich.

THE END

INDEX

Apple Charlotte, 113

Asparagus, 103

Bachelor breakfast, 27

Bacon, fried, 25
liver and, 26

Beans, French, 103

Beef, to pickle, 75

Beets, 100
stuffed, 101

Birds’ nests, 12

Biscuit, baking-powder, 34

Blancmange, 107
chocolate, 108

Brandy snaps, 149

Brawn, 69

Buns, cream, 130
ginger, 79
grandmother’s sugar, 81

Butterscotch, 173

Cake and custard, 112

Cake, 144
cocoanut, 151
chocolate, 156
Danish, 150
Domino, 147
Dundee, 151
easy fruit, 159
Eleanor’s, 145
jou, 152
layer, 149
little feather, 146
Margaret’s own, 147
Noah’s bun, 156
rich, 153
sponge, 148

Cakes, Eleanor’s, 145
filling for layer, 158-9
griddle, 37
queen, 154
tea, 163

Candy, Betty’s orange, 174
sugar, 170
nut, 173

Carrot croquettes, 105

Cheese fondu, 55
straws, 76

Cheese cakes, lemon, 123

Cherries, creamed, 175

Chicken, creamed, 50
minced, 54
pressed, 59

Chocolate, 84
blancmange, 108

Chops, fried, 26
grilled, 25

Cocoa, 84

Coffee, 38
French, 39

Compote of oranges and chestnuts, 129

Cottage pie, 53

Crab, dressed, 48
hot, 49

Crackers, cream, 36

Cream, icing sugar, 172

Creams, chocolate, 172
walnut, 173

Creamed cherries, 175

Creamed dates, 175
figs, 175

Custard, baked, 109
cake and, 112
cocoanut, 109

Cutlets, veal, 28

Dates with nuts, 175
creamed, 175

Doughnuts, 162

Dressing, French, 66

Éclairs, 130

Eggs Baldwin, 11
creamed, 11
on toast, 52
devilled, 18
fried, and bacon, 16
ham and, 16
in beds, 52
cases, 15
double cream, 51
poached, 6
with white sauce, 7
scalloped, 50
Scotch, 17
scrambled, 8
with cheese, 15
chicken, 10
parsley, 9
tomato, 9
to boil, 6

Figs, creamed, 175

Filling for cakes, 158
caramel, 159
fig, 158
nut and raisin, 158
orange, 159

Fish cakes, 20
creamed, 47
scalloped, 21
to boil, 24
grill, 24

Floating island, 111

French pancakes, 136

French peach pie, 168

Fruit jelly, 126

Frying fat, to keep, 32
to know when boiling, 33

Ginger beer, 83

Gingerbread, 77
hot, soft, 78

Ginger buns, 79

Griddle-cakes, 37

Haddock, dried, 22
Scotch dried, 22

Ham and eggs, 16
mousse, 67

Hardbake, 171

Hash, 62
ordinary, 69

Herrings, pickled, 21

Ice, lemon, 143
orange, 143
raspberry, 144
strawberry, 143
cream, 136
coffee, 141
chocolate, 141
French, 139
peach, 142
plain, 139
strawberry, 142

Icing, caramel, 162
chocolate, 145, 161
plain, 161

Jelly, fruit, 126
lemon, 124
orange, 125
prune, 126

Junket, 120

Lemon cheese cakes, 123
jelly, 124
pudding, 114

Lemonade, 83

Liver and bacon, 26

Lobster, creamed, 48
plain dressed, 57
salad, 73

Lunch roll, 61

Macaroni, 105

Mackerel, pickled, 21

Mayonnaise, 70

Meat soufflé, 60

Muffins, 35

Noah’s bun, 156

Omelette, 13
with mushrooms, 14

Onions, 104

Orange jelly, 125
pudding, 114

Oysters, creamed, 44
panned, 45

Pancakes, French, 136

Peas, 101

Peppermint drops, 171

Pie, cranberry, 168
French peach, 168

Pigs in blankets, 46

Pinoche, 174

Plaice, fried, 23

Pork-pie, meat for, 68
pastry for, 65

Porridge, 3

Potato cakes, 32

Potatoes, chipped, 31
creamed, 29
fried, 104
hashed browned, 31
mashed, 99
stuffed, 64

Prune jelly, 126
whips, 119

Pudding, bread, 116
cabinet, 117
Christmas, 132
cottage, 118
lemon, 114
orange, 117
queen’s, 138
rice with raisins, 115
snow, 127
summer, 140
tapioca, 110

Rhubarb, stewed, 127

Rice, boiled, 4
croquettes, 5

Salad, cauliflower, 68
celery, 73
chicken, 72
egg, 67
lobster, 73
potato, 76
tomato and lettuce, 66

Sandwiches, celery, 177
chicken and celery, 177
egg, 176
lettuce, 177
sardine, 178
tomato and cheese, 178

Sardines on toast, 55

Sauce, bread, 164
brown, 165
cold brandy, 165
foamy, 132
froth, 133
hard, 131
lemon, 134
quick pudding, 135
white, 134
or cream, 43

School luncheons, 176

Scotch haddock, 22
woodcock, 74

Shortbread, 155

Shortcake, 123
strawberry, 121

Shrimp toast, 74

Smelts, fried, 19

Snow pudding, 127

Sole, fried, 23

Soles, fillets of, with white wine sauce, 23

Soup, chicken, 98
clear vegetable, 96
cream of potato, 91
spinach, 92
tomato, 92
oyster, 93
plain meat, 94
split pea, 96
stock for, 90
tomato, 97
turkey, 98
vegetable marrow, 90

Soups, meat, 94

Steak grilled, 28

Swiss roll, 157

Tapioca pudding, 110

Tart, apple, 167

Tartlets, 169

Tarts, 166

Tea, 82
cakes, 163

Toast, buttered, 33

Tomatoes, baked, 63
stewed, 103

Tongue, toast, 75
to pickle, 75

Treacle sponge, 131

Turkey, creamed, 50

Veal cutlets, 28
loaf, 58

Velvet cream, 128

Walnut creams, 173

Welsh rarebit, 56

_Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs: =bold=.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.

Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.