PART I.

THE THINGS MARGARET MADE FOR BREAKFAST

A LITTLE COOK BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL

CEREALS

1 quart of boiling water.
4 tablespoonfuls of cereal.
1 teaspoonful of salt.

When you are to use a cereal made of oats or wheat, always begin to cook it the night before, even if it says on
the package that it is not necessary. Put a quart of boiling water in the outside of the double boiler, and
another quart in the inside, and in this last mix the salt and cereal. Put the boiler on the back of the kitchen
range, where it will be hardly cook at all, and let it stand all night. If the fire is to go out, put it on so that it
will cook for two hours first. In the morning, if the water in the outside of the boiler is cold, fill it up hot, and
boil hard for an hour without stirring the cereal. Then turn it out in a hot dish, and send it to the table with a
pitcher of cream.

The rather soft, smooth cereals, such as farina and cream of rice, are to be measured in just the same way, but
they need not be cooked overnight; only put on in a double boiler in the morning for an hour. Margaret's
mother was very particular to have all cereals cooked a long time, because they are difficult to digest if they
are only partly cooked, even though they look and taste as though they were done.

Corn−meal Mush

1 quart of boiling water.
1 teaspoon of salt.
4 tablespoons of corn−meal.

Be sure the water is boiling very hard when you are ready; then put in the salt, and pour slowly from your
hand the corn−meal, stirring all the time till there is not one lump. Boil this half an hour, and serve with
cream. Some like a handful of nice plump raisins stirred in, too. It is better to use yellow corn−meal in winter
and white in summer.

Fried Corn−meal Mush

Make the corn−meal mush the day before you need it, and when it has cooked half an hour put it in a
bread−tin and smooth it over; stand away overnight to harden. In the morning turn it out and slice it in pieces
half an inch thick. Put two tablespoons of lard or nice drippings in the frying−pan, and make it very hot. Dip
each piece of mush into a pan of flour, and shake off all except a coating of this. Put the pieces, a few at a
time, into the hot fat, and cook till they are brown; have ready a heavy brown paper on a flat dish in the oven,
and as you take out the mush lay it on this, so that the paper will absorb the grease. When all are cooked put
the pieces on a hot platter, and have a pitcher of maple syrup ready to send to the table with them.
Another way to cook corn−meal mush is to have a kettle of hot fat ready, and after flouring the pieces drop
them into the fat and cook like doughnuts. The pieces have to be rather smaller to cook in this way than in the
other.

Boiled Rice

1 cup of rice.
2 cups of boiling water.
1 teaspoonful of salt.

Pick the rice over, taking out all the bits of brown husk; fill the outside of the double boiler with hot water,
and put in the rice, salt, and water, and cook forty minutes, but do not stir it. Then take off the cover from the
boiler, and very gently, without stirring, turn over the rice with a fork; put the dish in the oven without the
cover, and let it stand and dry for ten minutes. Then turn it from the boiler into a hot dish, and cover. Have
cream to eat on it. If any rice is left over from breakfast, use it the next morning as−−

Fried Rice

Press it into a pan, just as you did the mush, and let it stand overnight; the next morning slice it, dip it in flour,
and fry, either in the pan or in the deep fat in the kettle, just as you did the mush.

Farina Croquettes

When farina has been left from breakfast, take it while still warm and beat into a pint of it the beaten yolks of
two eggs. Let it then get cold, and at luncheon−time make it into round balls; dip each one first into the beaten
yolk of an egg mixed with a tablespoonful of cold water, and then into smooth, sifted bread−crumbs; have
ready a kettle of very hot fat, and drop in three at a time, or, if you have a wire basket, put three in this and
sink into the fat till they are brown. Serve in a pyramid, on a napkin, and pass scraped maple sugar with them.
Margaret's mother used to have no cereal at breakfast sometimes, and have these croquettes as a last course
instead, and every one liked them very much.

Rice Croquettes

1 cup of milk.
Yolk of one egg.
1/4 cup of rice.
1 large tablespoonful of powdered sugar.
Small half−teaspoonful of salt.
1/2 cup of raisins and currants, mixed.
1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla.

Wash the rice and put in a double boiler with the milk, salt and sugar and cook till very thick; beat the yolks
of the eggs and stir into the rice, and beat till smooth. Sprinkle the washed raisins and currants with flour, and
roll them in it and mix these in, and last the vanilla. Turn out on a platter, and let all get very cold. Then make
into pyramids, dip in the yolk of an egg mixed with a tablespoonful of water, and then into sifted
bread−crumbs, and fry in a deep kettle of boiling fat, using a wire basket. As you take these from the fat, put
them on paper in the oven with the door open. When all are done, put them on a hot platter and sift powdered
sugar over them, and put a bit of red jelly on top of each. This is a nice dessert for luncheon. All white cereals
may be made into croquettes; if they are for breakfast, do not sweeten them, but for luncheon use the rule just
given, with or without raisins and currants.

Hominy

Cook this just as you did the rice, drying it in the oven; serve one morning plain, as cereal, with cream, and
then next morning fried, with maple syrup, after the rest of the meal. Fried hominy is always nice to put
around a dish of fried chicken or roast game, and it looks especially well if, instead of being sliced, it is cut
out into fancy shapes with a cooky−cutter.

After Margaret had learned to cook all kinds of cereals, she went on to the next thing in her cook−book.

EGGS

Soft Boiled

Put six eggs in a baking−dish and cover them with boiling water; put a cover on and let them stand where they
will keep hot, but not cook, for ten minutes, or, if the family likes them well done, twelve minutes. They will
be perfectly cooked, but not tough, soft and creamy all the way through.

Another way to cook them is this:
Put the eggs in a kettle of cold water on the stove, and the moment the water boils take them up, and they will
be just done. An easy way to take them up all at once is to put them in a wire basket, and sink this under the
water. A good way to serve boiled eggs is to crumple up a fresh napkin in a deep dish, which has been made
very hot, and lay the eggs in the folds of the napkin; this prevents their breaking, and keeps them warm.

Poached Eggs

Take a pan which is not more than three inches deep, and put in as many muffin−rings as you wish to cook
eggs. Pour in boiling water till the rings are half covered, and scatter half a teaspoonful of salt in the water.
Let it boil up once, and then draw the pan to the edge of the stove, where the water will not boil again. Take a
cup, break one egg in it, and gently slide this into a ring, and so on till all are full. While they are cooking,
take some toast and cut it into round pieces with the biscuit cutter; wet these a very little with boiling water,
and butter them. When the eggs have cooked twelve minutes, take a cake−turner and slip it under one egg
with its ring, and lift the two together on to a piece of toast, and then take off the ring; and so on with all the
eggs. Shake a very little salt and pepper over the dish, and put parsley around the edge. Sometimes a little
chopped parsley is nice to put over the eggs, too.

Poached Eggs with Potted Ham

Make the rounds of toast and poach the eggs as before. Make a white sauce in this way: melt a tablespoonful
of butter, and when it bubbles put in a tablespoonful of flour; shake well, and add a cup of hot milk and a
small half−teaspoonful of salt; cook till smooth. Moisten each round of toast with a very little boiling water,
and spread with some of the potted ham which comes in little tin cans; lay a poached egg on each round, and
put a teaspoonful of white sauce on each egg.

If you have no potted ham in the house, but have plain boiled ham, put this through the meat−chopper till you
have half a cupful, put in a heaping teaspoonful of the sauce, a saltspoonful of dry mustard, and a pinch of red
pepper, and it will do just as well.

Scrambled Eggs

4 eggs.
2 tablespoonfuls of milk.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.

Put the eggs in a bowl and stir till they are well mixed; add the milk and salt. Make the frying−pan very hot,
and put a tablespoonful of butter in it; when it melts, shake it well from side to side, till all the bottom of the
pan is covered. Put in the eggs and stir them, scraping them off the bottom of the pan until they begin to get a
little firm; then draw the pan to the edge of the stove, and scrape up from the bottom all the time till the whole
looks alike, creamy and firm, but not hard. Put them in a hot, covered dish.

Scrambled Eggs with Parsley

Chop enough parsley to make a teaspoonful, and mince half as much onion. Put the onion in the butter when
you heat the pan, and cook the eggs in it; when you are nearly ready to take the eggs off the fire, put in the
parsley.

After Margaret had learned to make these perfectly, she began to mix other things with the eggs.

Scrambled Eggs with Tomato

When Margaret found a cupful of tomato in the refrigerator, she would take that, add a half−teaspoonful of
salt, two shakes of pepper, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and simmer it all on the fire for five
minutes; then she would cook half a teaspoonful of minced onion in the butter in the hot frying−pan as before,
and turn in the eggs, and when they were beginning to grow firm, put in the tomato. In summer−time she
often cut up two fresh tomatoes and stewed them down to a cupful, instead of using the canned.

Scrambled Eggs with Chicken

Chop fine a cup of cold chicken, or any light−colored meat, and heat it with a tablespoonful of water, a
half−teaspoonful of salt, two shakes of pepper, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley. Cook a
half−teaspoonful of minced onion in the butter you put in the hot frying−pan, and turn in the eggs, and when
they set mix in the chicken.

Sometimes Margaret used both the tomato filling and the chicken in the eggs, when she wanted to make a
large dish.

Creamed Eggs

Cook six eggs twenty minutes, and while they are on the fire make a cup of white sauce, as before: one
tablespoonful of butter, melted, one of flour, one cup of hot milk, a little salt; cook till smooth. Peel the eggs
and cut the whites into pieces as large as the tip of your finger, and put the yolks through the potato−ricer.
Mix the eggs white with the sauce, and put in a hot dish, with the yellow yolks over the top. Or, put the whites
on pieces of toast, which you have dipped in part of the white sauce, and put the yolks on top, and serve on a
small platter.

Another nice way to cream eggs is this: Cook them till hard, and cut them all up into bits. Make the white
sauce, and into it stir the beaten yolk of one egg, just after taking it from the fire. Mix the eggs with this, and
put in a hot dish or on toast.

You can sprinkle grated cheese over this sometimes, for a change.

Creamed Eggs in Baking−Dishes

Cut six hard−boiled eggs up into bits, mix with a cup of white sauce, and put in small baking−dishes which
you have buttered. Cover over with fine, sifted bread−crumbs, and dot with bits of butter, about four to each
dish, and brown in the oven. Stick a bit of parsley in the top of each, and put each dish on a plate, to serve.

Birds' Nests

Sometimes when she wanted something very pretty for breakfast, Margaret used this rule:
Open six eggs, putting the whites together in one large bowl, and the yolks in six cups on the kitchen table.
Beat the whites till they are stiff, putting in half a teaspoonful of salt just at the last. Divide the whites, putting
them into six patty−pans, or small baking−dishes. Make a little hole or nest in the middle of each, and slip one
yolk carefully from the cup into the place. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over them, and put a bit of butter on
top, and put the dishes into a pan and set in the oven till the egg−whites are a little brown.

Omelette

Making an omelette seems rather a difficult thing for a little girl, but Margaret made hers in a very easy way.
Her rule said:
Break four eggs separately. Beat the whites till they are stiff, and then wash and wipe dry the egg−beater, and
beat the yolks till they foam, and then put in half a teaspoonful of salt. Pour the yolks over the whites, and mix
gently with a large spoon. Have a cake−griddle hot, with a piece of butter melted on it and spread over the
whole surface; pour the eggs on and let them cook for a moment. The take a cake−turner and slip under an
edge, and look to see if the middle is getting brown, because the color comes there first. When it is a nice even
color, slip the turner well under, and turn the omelette half over, covering one part with the other, and then
slip the whole off on a hot platter. Bridget had to show Margaret how to manage this the first time, but after
that she could do it alone.

Spanish Omelette

1 cup of cooked tomato.
1 green pepper.
1 slice of onion.
1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
1 teaspoonful salt.
3 shakes of pepper.

Cut the green pepper in half and take out all the seeds; mix with the tomato, and cook all together with the
seasoning for five minutes. Make an omelette by the last rule while the tomato is cooking, and when it is
done, just before you fold it over, put in the tomato.

Omelette with Mushrooms

Take a can of mushrooms and slice half of them into thin pieces. Make a cup of very rich white sauce, using
cream instead of milk, and cook the mushrooms in it for one minute. Make the omelette as before, and spread
with the sauce when you turn it over.

Omelette with Mushrooms and Olives

This was a very delicious dish, and Margaret only made it for company. She prepared the mushrooms just as
in the rule above, and added twelve olives, cut into small pieces, and spread the omelette with the whole when
she turned it.

Eggs Baked in Little Dishes

Margaret's mother had some pretty little dishes with handles, brown on the outside and white inside. These
Margaret buttered, and put one egg in each, sprinkling with salt, pepper, and butter, with a little parsley. She
put the dishes in the oven till the eggs were firm, and served them in the small dishes, one on each plate.

Eggs with Cheese

6 eggs.
2 heaping tablespoonfuls Parmesan cheese.
1/2 teaspoonful salt.
Pinch of red pepper.

Beat the eggs without separating till light and foamy, and then add the cheese, salt, and pepper. Put a
tablespoonful of butter in the frying−pan, and when it is hot put in the eggs, and stir till smooth and firm.
Serve on small pieces of buttered toast.

Parmesan cheese is very nice to use in cooking; it comes in bottles, all ready grated to use.

Eggs with Bacon

Take some bacon and put in a hot frying−pan, and cook till it crisps. Then lift it out on a hot dish and put in
the oven. Break six eggs in separate cups, and slide them carefully into the fat left in the pan, and let them
cook till they are rather firm and the bottom is brown. Then take a cake−turner and take them out carefully,
and put in the middle of the dish, and arrange the bacon all around, with parsley on the edge.

Ham and Eggs, Moulded

Take small, deep tins, such as are used for timbales, and butter them. Make one cup of white sauce; take a cup
of cold boiled ham which has been put through the meat−chopper, and mix with a tablespoonful of white
sauce and one egg, slightly beaten. Press this like a lining into the tins, and then gently drop a raw egg in the
centre of each. Stand them in a pan of boiling water in the oven till the eggs are firm,−−about ten
minutes,−−and turn out on a round platter. Put around them the rest of the white sauce. You can stand the little moulds on circles of toast if you wish. This rule was given Margaret by her Pretty Aunt, who got it at
cooking−school; it sounded harder than it really was, and after trying it once Margaret often used it.

FISH

One day some small, cunning little fish came home from market, and Margaret felt sure they must be meant
for her to cook. They were called smelts, and, on looking, she found a rule for cooking them, just as she had
expected.

Fried Smelts

Put a deep kettle on the fire, with two cups of lard in it, to get it very hot. Wipe each smelt inside and out with
a clean wet cloth, and then with a dry one. Have a saucer of flour mixed with a teaspoonful of salt, and
another saucer of milk. Put the tail of each smelt through its gills−−that is, the opening near its mouth. Then
roll the smelts first in milk and then in flour, and shake off any lumps. Throw a bit of bread into the fat in the
kettle, and see if it turns brown quickly; it does if the fat is hot enough, but if not you must wait. Put four
smelts in the wire basket, and stand it in the fat, so that the fish are entirely covered, for only half a minute, or
till you can count thirty. As you take them out of the kettle, lay them on heavy brown paper on a pan in the
oven, to drain and keep hot, and leave the door open till all are done. Lay a folded napkin on a long, narrow
platter, and arrange the fishes in two rows, with slices of lemon and parsley on the sides.

Fish−balls

One morning there was quite a good deal of cold mashed potato in the ice−box, so Margaret decided to have
fish−balls for breakfast. Her rule said: Take a box of prepared codfish and put it in a colander and pour a quart of boiling water through it, stirring it as you do so. Let it drain while you heat two cups of mashed potato in a double boiler, with half a cup of hot milk, beating and stirring till it is smooth. Squeeze the water from the codfish and mix with the potato. Beat one egg without separating it, and put this in, too, with a very little pepper, and beat it all well. Turn it out on a floured board, and make into small balls, rolling each one in flour as it is done, and brushing off most of the flour afterward. Have ready a kettle of hot lard, just as for smelts, and drop in three or four of the balls at one time, and cook till light brown. Lift them out on a paper in the oven, and let them keep hot while you cook the rest. Serve with parsley on a hot platter.

Creamed Codfish

Pour boiling water over a package of prepared codfish in the colander and drain it. Heat a frying−pan, and, while you are waiting, beat the yolk of an egg. Squeeze the water from the fish. Put one tablespoonful of butter in a hot pan, and when it bubbles put in two tablespoonfuls of flour, and stir and rub till all is smooth.
Pour in slowly a pint of hot milk, and mix well, rubbing in the flour and butter till there is not a single lump.
Then stir in the fish with a little pepper, and when it boils put in the egg. Stir it all up once, and it is done. Put
in a hot covered dish, or on slices of buttered toast.

Salt Mackerel

This was a dish Margaret's grandmother liked so much that they had it every little while, even though it was
old−fashioned.

Put the mackerel into a large pan of cold water with the skin up, and soak it all one afternoon and night,
changing the water four times. In the morning put it in a pan on the fire with enough water to cover it, and
drop in a slice of onion, minced fine, a teaspoonful of vinegar, and a sprig of parsley. Simmer it twenty
minutes,−−that is, let it just bubble slowly,−−and while it is cooking make a cup of white sauce as before: one
tablespoonful of butter, melted, one tablespoonful of flour, one cup of hot milk, a little salt. Cook till smooth.
Take up the fish and pour off all the water; place it on a hot platter and pour the sauce over it.

MEATS

When it came to cooking meat for breakfast, Margaret thought she had better take first what looked easiest, so
she chose−−

Corned Beef Hash

1 pint of chopped corned beef.
1 pint of cold boiled potatoes.
1 cup of clear soup, or one cup of cold water.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1 teaspoonful of finely minced onion.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3 shakes of pepper.

Mix all together. Have a hot frying−pan, and in it put a tablespoonful of butter or nice fat, and when it bubbles shake it all around the pan. Put in the hash and cook it till dry, stirring it often and scraping it from the bottom of the pan. When none of the soup or water runs out when you lift a spoonful, and when it seems steaming hot, you can send it to the table in a hot dish, with parsley around it. Or you can let it cook without stirring till there is a nice brown crust on the bottom, when you can double it over as you would an omelette. Or you can make a pyramid of the hash in the middle of a round platter, and put poached eggs in a circle around it.

Many people like one small cold boiled beet cut up fine in corned beef hash, and sometimes for a change you
can put this in before you put it in the frying−pan.

Broiled Bacon

Margaret's mother believed there was only one very nice way to cook bacon. It was like this: Slice the bacon
very, very thin, and cut off the rind. Put the slices close together in a wire broiler, and lay this over a shallow
pan in a very hot oven for about three minutes. If it is brown on top, then you can turn the broiler over, but if
not, wait a moment longer. When both sides are toasted, lay it on a hot platter and put sprigs of parsley
around. This is much nicer than bacon cooked in the frying−pan or over coals, for it is neither greasy nor
smoky, but pink and light brown, and crisp and delicious, and good for sick people and little children and
everybody.

Broiled Chops

Wipe off the chops with a clean wet cloth and trim off the edges; if very fat cut rather close to the meat. Rub
the wire broiler with some of the fat, so that the chops will not stick. Lay in the chops and put over a clear, red
fire without flame, and toast one side first and then the other; do this till they are brown. Lay on a hot platter,
and dust both sides with salt and a tiny bit of pepper. Put bits of lemon and parsley around, and send to the
table hot.

Panned Chops

If the fire is not clear so that you cannot broil the chops, you must pan them. Take a frying−pan and make it
very hot indeed; then lay in the chops, which you have wiped and trimmed, and cook one side very quickly,
and then the other, and after that let them cook more slowly. When they are done,−−you can tell by picking
open a little place in one with a fork and looking on the inside,−−put them on a platter as before, with pepper
and salt. If they are at all greasy, put on brown paper in the oven first, to drain, leaving the door of the oven
open. Be careful not to let them get cold.

Liver and Bacon

Buy half a pound of calf's liver and half a pound of bacon. Cut the liver in thin slices and pour boiling water
over it, and then wipe each slice dry. Slice the bacon very thin and cut off the rind; put this in a hot frying−pan
and cook very quickly, turning it once or twice. Just as soon as it is brown take it out and lay it on brown
paper in the oven in a pan. Take a saucer of flour and mix in it a teaspoonful of salt and a very little pepper;
dip the slices of liver in this, one at a time, and shake them free of lumps. Lay them in the hot fat of the bacon
in the pan and fry till brown. Have a hot platter ready, and lay the slices of liver in a nice row on it, and then
put one slice of bacon on each slice of liver. Put parsley all around, and sometimes use slices of lemon, too,
for a change.

Liver and Bacon on Skewers

Get from the butcher half a dozen small wooden skewers, and prepare the liver and bacon as you did for
frying, scalding, dipping the liver in flour, and taking the rind off the bacon. Make three slices of toast, cut
into strips, and put in the oven to keep hot. Cut up both liver and bacon into pieces the size of a fifty−cent
piece and put them on the skewers, first one of the liver and then one of the bacon, and so on, about six of
each. Put these in the hot frying−pan and turn them over till they are brown. Then lay one skewer on each
strip of toast, and put lemon and parsley around. You can also put large oysters on the skewers with pieces of
bacon, and cook in the same way.

Broiled Steak

See that the fire is clear and red, without flames. Trim off most of the fat from the steak, and rub the wires of
the broiler with it and heat it over the coals. Then put in the meat and turn over and over as it cooks, and be
careful not to let it take fire. When brown, put it on a hot platter, dust over with salt and a very little pepper,
and dot it with tiny lumps of butter. Put parsley around. Steak ought to be pink inside; not brown and not red.
Put a fork in as you did with the chops, and twist in a little, and you can see when it gets the right color.

Steak with Bananas

Peel one banana and slice in round pieces, and while the steak is cooking fry them in a little hot butter till they
are brown. After the meat is on the platter, lay these pieces over it, arranging them prettily, and put the parsley
around as before. Bananas are very nice with steak.

Frizzled Dried Beef

Take half a pound of dried beef, shaved very thin. Chop it fine and pull out the strings. Put a large
tablespoonful of butter in the frying−pan, and when it bubbles put in the meat. Stir till it begins to get brown,
and then sprinkle in one tablespoonful of flour and stir again, and then put in one cup of hot milk. Shake in a
little pepper, but no salt. As soon as it boils up once, it is done, and you can put it in a hot covered dish. If you
like a change, stir in sometimes two beaten eggs in the milk instead of using it plain.

Veal Cutlet

Wipe off the meat with a clean wet cloth, and then with one that is dry. Dust it over with salt, pepper, and
flour. Put a tablespoonful of nice dripping in a hot frying−pan, and let it heat till it smokes a little. Lay in the
meat and cook till brown, turning it over twice as it cooks. Look in the inside and see if it is brown, for cutlet
must not be eaten red or pink inside. Put in a hot oven and cover it up while you make the gravy, by putting
one tablespoonful of flour into the hot fat in the pan, stirring it till it is brown. Then put in a cup of boiling
water, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a very little pepper; put this through the wire sieve, pressing it with a
spoon, and turn over the meat. Put parsley around the cutlet, and send hot to the table.

Margaret's father said he could not possibly manage without potatoes for breakfast, so sometimes Margaret let
Bridget cook the cereal and meat, while she made something nice out of the cold potatoes she found in the
cupboard.

Creamed Potatoes

Cut cold boiled potatoes into pieces as large as the end of your finger; put them into a pan on the back of the
stove with enough milk to cover them, and let them stand till they have drunk up all the milk; perhaps they
will slowly cook a little as they do this, but that will do no harm. In another saucepan or in the frying−pan put
a tablespoonful of butter, and when it bubbles put in a tablespoonful of flour, and stir till they melt together;
then put in two cups of hot milk, and stir till it is all smooth. Put in one teaspoonful of salt, and last the
potatoes, but stir them only once while they cook, for fear of breaking them. Add one teaspoonful of chopped
parsley, and put them in a hot covered dish. You can make another sort of potatoes when you have finished
creaming them in this way, by putting a layer of them in a deep buttered baking−dish, with a layer of white
sauce over the top, and break−crumbs and bits of butter for a crust. Brown well in a hot oven. When you do
this, remember to make the sauce with three cups of milk and two tablespoonfuls of flour and two of butter,
and then you will have enough for everything.

Hashed Browned Potatoes

Chop four cold potatoes fine, and add one teaspoonful of salt and a very little pepper. Put a tablespoonful of
butter in the frying−pan, and turn it so it runs all over; when it bubbles put in the potatoes, and smooth them
evenly over the pan. Cook till they are brown and crusty on the bottom; then put in a teaspoonful of chopped
parsley, and fold over like an omelette.

Saratoga Potatoes

Wash and pare four potatoes, and rub them on the potato−slicer till they are in thin pieces; put them in
ice−water for fifteen minutes. Heat two cups of lard very hot, till when you drop in a bit of bread it browns at
once. Wipe the potatoes dry and drop in a handful. Have a skimmer ready, and as soon as they brown take
them out and lay on brown paper in the oven, and put in another handful.

Potato Cakes

Take two cups of mashed potato, and mix well with the beaten yolk of one egg, and make into small flat
cakes; dip each into flour. Heat two tablespoonfuls of nice dripping, and when it is hot lay in the cakes and
brown, turning each with the cake−turner as it gets crusty on the bottom.

Fried Sweet Potatoes

Take six cold boiled sweet−potatoes, slice them and lay in hot dripping in the frying−pan till brown. These are
especially nice with veal cutlets.

Toast

Toast is very difficult for grown people to make, because they have made it wrong all their lives, but it is easy
for little girls to learn to make, because they can make it right from the first.

Cut bread that is at least two days old into slices a quarter of an inch thick. If you are going to make only a
slice or two, take the toasting−fork, but if you want a plateful, take the wire broiler. Be sure the fire is red,
without any flames. Move the slices of bread back and forth across the coals, but do not let them brown; do
both sides this way, and then brown first one and then the other afterward. Trim off the edges, butter a little
quickly, and send to the table hot. Baker's bread makes the best toast.

Milk Toast

Put one pint of milk on in a double boiler and let it heat. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, and when it bubbles
stir in one small tablespoonful of corn−starch, and when these are rubbed smooth, put in one−third of the milk. Cook and stir till even, without lumps, and then put in the rest of the milk and stir well; add half a teaspoonful of salt, and put on the back of the stove. Make six slices of toast; put one slice in the dish and put a spoonful of the white sauce over it, then put in another and another spoonful, and so on till all are in, and pour the sauce that is left over all. If you want this extra nice, do not take quite so much butter, and use a pint of cream instead of the milk.

Baking−powder Biscuit

Margaret's Other Aunt said little girls could never, never
make biscuit, but this little girl really did, by this rule:

1 pint sifted flour.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
4 teaspoonfuls of baking−powder.
3/4 cup of milk.
1 tablespoonful of butter.

Put the salt and baking−powder in the flour and sift well, and then rub the butter in with a spoon. Little by
little put in the milk, mixing all the time, and then lift out the dough on a floured board and roll it out lightly,
just once, till it is one inch thick. Flour your hands and mould the little balls as quickly as you can, and put
them close together in a shallow pan that has had a little flour shaken over the bottom, and bake in a hot oven
about twenty minutes, or till the biscuits are brown. If you handle the dough much, the biscuits will be tough,
so you must work fast.

Grandmother's Corn Bread

1 1/2 cups of milk.
1 cup sifted yellow corn−meal.
1 tablespoonful melted butter.
1 teaspoonful sugar.
1 teaspoonful baking−powder.
2 eggs.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.

Scald the milk−−that is, let it boil up just once−−and pour it over the corn−meal. Let this cool while you are
separating and beating the eggs; let these wait while you mix the corn−meal, the butter, salt, baking−powder,
and sugar, and then the yolks; add the whites last, very lightly. Bake in a buttered biscuit−tin in a hot oven for
about half an hour.

Because grandmother's corn bread was a little old−fashioned, Margaret's Other Aunt put in another recipe,
which made a corn bread quite like cake, and most delicious.

Perfect Corn Bread

1 large cup of yellow corn−meal.
1 small cup of flour.
1/2 cup of sugar.
2 eggs.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking−powder.
3 tablespoonfuls of butter.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
Flour to a thin batter.

Mix the sugar and butter and rub to a cream; add the yolks of the eggs, well beaten, and then half a cup of
milk; then put in the baking−powder mixed in the flour and the salt, and then part of the corn−meal, and a
little more milk; next fold in the beaten whites of the eggs, and if it still is not like ``a thin batter,'' put in a
little more milk. Then bake in a buttered biscuit−tin till brown, cut in squares and serve hot. This is
particularly good eaten with hot maple syrup.

Popovers

Put the muffin−tins or iron gem−pans in the oven to get very hot, while you mix these popovers.
2 eggs.
2 cups of milk.
2 cups of flour.
1 small teaspoonful of salt.

Beat the eggs very lightly without separating them. Pour the milk in and beat again. Sift the salt and flour
together, pour over the eggs and milk into it, and beat quickly with a spoon till it is foamy. Strain through a
wire sieve, and take the hot pans out of the oven and fill each one−half full; bake just twenty−five minutes.

Cooking−school Muffins

2 cups sifted flour.
2 teaspoonfuls baking−powder.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1 cup of milk.
2 eggs.
1 large teaspoonful of melted butter.
Mix the flour, salt, and baking−powder, and sift. Beat the yolks of the eggs, put in the butter with them and
the milk, then the flour, and last the stiff whites of the eggs. Have the muffin−tins hot, pour in the batter, and
bake fifteen or twenty minutes. These must be eaten at once or they will fall.

There was one little recipe in Margaret's book which she thought must be meant for the smallest girl who ever tried to cook, it was so easy. But the little muffins were good enough for grown people to like. This was it:

Barneys

4 cups of whole wheat flour.
3 teaspoonfuls of baking−powder.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
Enough water to make it seem like cake batter.

Drop with a spoon into hot buttered muffin−pans, and bake
in a hot oven about fifteen minutes.

Bridget had to show Margaret what was meant by a ``cake batter,'' but after she had seen once just how thick
that was, she could always tell in a minute when she had put in water enough.

Griddle−cakes

2 eggs.
1 cup of milk.
1 1/2 cups flour.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking−powder.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.

Put the eggs in a bowl without separating them, and beat them with a spoon till light. Put in the milk, then the
flour mixed with the salt, and last the baking−powder all alone. Bake on a hot, buttered griddle. This seems a
queer rule, but it makes delicious cakes, especially if eaten with sugar and thick cream.

Flannel Cakes

1 tablespoonful of butter.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
2 eggs.
2 cupfuls of flour.
1 teaspoonful of baking−powder.
Milk enough to make a smooth, rather thin batter.

Rub the butter and sugar to a cream, add the eggs, beaten together lightly, then the flour, in which you have
mixed the baking−powder, and then the milk. It is easy to know when you have the batter just right, for you
can put a tiny bit on the griddle and make a little cake; if it rises high and is thick, put more milk in the batter;
if it is too thin, it will run about on the griddle, and you must add more flour; but it is better not to thin it too
much, but to add more milk if the batter is too thick.

Sweet Corn Griddle−cakes

These ought to be made of fresh sweet corn, but you can make them in winter out of canned grated corn, or
canned corn rubbed through a colander.

1 quart grated corn.
1 cup of flour.
1 cup of milk.
1 tablespoonful melted butter.
4 eggs.
14
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.

Beat the eggs separately, and put the yolks into the corn; then add the milk, then the flour, then the salt, and beat well. Last of all, fold in the whites and bake on a hot griddle.

Waffles

2 cups of flour.
1 teaspoonful baking powder.
1 1/2 cups of milk.
1 tablespoonful butter.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3 eggs, beaten separately.

Mix the flour, baking−powder, and salt; put the beaten egg yolks in the milk, and add the melted butter, the
flour and last the beaten whites of the eggs. Make the waffle−iron very hot, and grease it very thoroughly on
both sides by tying a little rag to a clean stick and dipping in melted butter. Put in some batter on one side,
filling the iron about half−full, and close the iron, putting this side down over the fire; when it has cooked for
about two minutes, turn the iron over without opening it, and cook the other side. When you think it is done,
open it a little and look to see if it is brown; if not, keep it over the coals till it is. Take out the waffle, cut in
four pieces, and pile on a plate in the oven, while you again grease the iron and cook another. Serve very hot
and crisp, with maple syrup or powdered sugar and thick cream.

Some people like honey on their waffles. You might try all these things in turn.

Last of all the things Margaret learned to make for breakfast came coffee, and this she could make in two
ways; sometimes she made it this first way, and sometimes the other, which is called French coffee.

Coffee

First be sure your coffee−pot is shining clean; look in the spout and in all the cracks, and wipe them out
carefully, for you cannot make good coffee except in a perfectly clean pot. Then get three heaping
tablespoonfuls of ground coffee, and one tablespoonful of cold water, and one tablespoonful of white of egg.
Mix the egg with the coffee and water thoroughly, and put in the pot. Pour in one quart of boiling water, and
let it boil up once. Then stir down the grounds which come to the top, put in two tablespoonfuls of cold water,
and let it stand for a minute on the back of the stove, and then strain it into the silver pot for the table. This pot must be made very hot, by filling it with boiling water and letting it stand on the kitchen table while the coffee is boiling. If this rule makes coffee stronger than the family like it, take less coffee, and if it is not strong
enough, take more coffee.

French Coffee

Get one of the pots which are made so the coffee will drip through; put three tablespoonfuls of very finely
powdered coffee in this, and pour in a quart of boiling water. When it is all dripped through, it is ready to put
in the hot silver pot.