PART III.

THE THINGS MARGARET MADE FOR DINNER

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 dessert; but at first she helped Bridget, and each
day she cooked something. Then she began to arrange very easy dinners when Bridget was out, such as cream
soup, beefsteak or veal cutlet, with potatoes and one vegetable, and a plain lettuce salad, with a cold dessert
made in the morning. The first time she really did every single thing alone, Margaret's father gave her a dollar;
he said it was a ``tip'' for the best dinner he ever ate.

SOUPS

The soups in the little cook−book began with those made ofmilk and vegetables, because they were so easy to make, and, when one was learned, all were made in the same way. First there was−−

The General Rule

1 pint of fresh vegetable, cut up in small pieces, or one can. 1 pint of boiling water.
1 pint of hot milk.
1 tablespoonful of flour.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3 shakes of pepper.

After the vegetable is washed and cut in very small pieces, put it in the pint of water and cook it for twenty
minutes. Or, if you use a canned vegetable, cook it ten minutes.

While it is cooking, make the rule for white sauce as before: Melt one tablespoonful of butter, and when it
bubbles put in one tablespoonful of flour, with the salt and pepper; shake well, and rub till smooth and thick
with the hot milk. Take the vegetable from the fire and press it through the wire sieve, letting the water go
through, too; mix with the sauce and strain again, and it is done.

Almost all soups are better for one very thin slice of onion cooked with the vegetable. When you want a
cream soup very nice indeed, whip a cup of cream and put in the hot soup−tureen, and pour the soup in on it,
beating it a little, till it is all foamy.

Cream of Corn

1 pint of fresh grated corn, or one can.
1 pint of water.
1 pint of hot milk.
1 tablespoonful of flour.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3 shakes of pepper.
1 thin slice of onion.

Cook the corn with the water; make the white sauce with the milk; strain the corn and water through the sieve,
pressing well, and add the milk and strain again.

Cream of Green Peas

1 pint of peas, or one can.
Milk, water, and seasoning, as before; mix by the general rule.

In winter−time you can make a nice soup by taking dried peas, soaking them overnight, and using them as you
would fresh.

All pea soup should have dropped in it just before serving  what are called croutons; that is, small, even cubes of bread toasted to a nice brown in the oven, or put in a frying−pan with a tiny bit of butter, and browned.

Cream of Lima Beans

1 pint of fresh or canned beans, or those which have been soaked.

Use milk, water, thickening, and seasoning as before. Add a slice of onion, as these beans have little taste, and
beat the yolk of an egg and stir in quickly, after you have taken the soup from the fire, just before you strain it
for the second time.

Cream of Potato

This is one of the best and most delicate soups.
5 freshly boiled potatoes.
1 slice of onion.
1 quart of hot milk.
1 small teaspoonful of salt.
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley.

This soup has no water in it, because that which has had potatoes boiled in it is always spoiled for anything
else and must always be thrown away. This is why you must take a quart of milk instead of a pint. There is no
thickening in the soup, because the potatoes will thicken it themselves. Put the parsley in at the very last, after
the soup is in the tureen.

The yolk of an egg beaten and put in before the second straining is nice sometimes in this soup, but not
necessary.

Cream of Almonds

This was what Margaret called a Dinner−party Soup, because it seemed almost too good for every day, but, as
her mother explained, almonds cost no more than canned tomatoes or peas, and the family can have the soup
as well as guests, provided one has plenty of cream.

1 cup of chopped almonds.
1 quart of thin cream.
Small half−teaspoonful of salt.

Get ten cents' worth of Jordan almonds, and put them in boiling water for one minute; then pour off the water
and put on cold, till they are well chilled. Turn this off, and push the almonds out of their skins, one by one. If
they stick, it is because they were not in the hot water long enough, and you must put them back into it, and
then into the cold. Chop them while the cream heats in the double boiler, and then put them in with the salt,
and simmer ten minutes and then strain.

This soup is especially delicious if whipped cream is either mixed with it at the end, or served on top.
You can also make good almond soup by using the regular rule; cooking the chopped nuts in a pint of water,
adding the thickened pint of milk and seasoning, and straining twice. Then, after it is in the tureen, you must
put in the egg−beater and whip well, to make it light.

Cream of Spinach

1 pint cold cooked spinach.
1 quart of milk.

Heat the spinach, using a little of the quart of milk with it, and press through the sieve; thicken the rest of the
milk, 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.

4 large tomatoes, cut up, or 1/2 can, with 1/2 cup of water. 2 slices of onion.
2 sprigs of parsley.
1 teaspoonful of sugar.
1/2 teaspoonful salt.
1/4 teaspoonful soda.
1 quart of milk.
1 tablespoonful butter.
1 tablespoonful flour.

Cook the tomatoes with the onion, parsley, sugar, and salt for twenty minutes. Mix in the soda and stir well;
the soda prevents the milk from curdling. Make the milk and flour and butter into white sauce as usual; strain
the tomato, mix the two, and strain again.

Sometimes add a stalk of celery to the other seasoning as it cooks.

Cream of Clams

1 dozen hard clams, or one bunch of soft ones.
1 quart of rich milk.
1 tablespoonful butter.
1 tablespoonful flour.
3 shakes of pepper.

Chop the clams and drain off the juice and add as much water; cook till the scum rises, and skim this off. Drop
in the clams and cook three minutes. Heat the milk and thicken as usual; put in the clams and juice, cook for
one minute, and strain.

Notice that there is no salt in this soup. A cup of cream, whipped, either put on top or stirred in, is very nice.

Oyster Soup

1 pint oysters.
1/2 pint water.
1 quart rich milk.
1/2 teaspoonful salt.

Drain off the oyster juice, add the water, boil it for one minute, and skim it well. Heat the milk and mix it with
this; 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 finely powdered and sifted
cracker−crumbs.

Meat Soup or Bouillon Made from Extract

This Margaret made from beef extract, before she learned to use the fresh beef.

2 teaspoonfuls of extract, or 2 capsules.
1 quart of boiling water.
1/2 an onion, sliced.
1 stalk of celery.
1/2 teaspoonful salt.
2 shakes of pepper.
2 sprays of parsley.

Simmer this for twenty minutes, strain, and pour over six thin slices of lemon, one for each plate. Serve with
hot crackers.

Cream Bouillon

Make this same soup, and pour it over a half−pint of thick cream, well whipped. Do not put any lemon in it.
Serve with hot crackers.

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

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

Wipe the meat and cut off all the bone. Put the bone in a clean kettle 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 kettle 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, 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. Meanwhile, take a pint of soup
stock and a cup of water and heat them. 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 split peas.
1 1/2 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 rule, 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 kettle, put the soup back to heat, adding the salt and pepper.

Tomato Soup

1 can tomatoes, or 1 quart of fresh stewed ones.
1 pint of stock. (You can use water instead in this soup,
if necessary.)
1/4 teaspoonful soda.
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, or water, 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 croutons with this
soup.

Soup Made with Cooked Meats

Put all the bones, bits of meat, and vegetables which are in the refrigerator into one large kettle on the back of
the fire, and simmer all day in enough boiling water to cover it all, adding more water as this cooks away.
Skim carefully from time to time. If there are not many vegetables to go in, put parsley and onion in their
place. At night strain through the sieve, then through the flannel, and cool.
This stock is never clear as is that made from fresh meat,
but it is almost as good for thick soups, such as pea, or tomato.

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.
1/2 cup hot milk.
Butter the size of a hickory−nut.
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, put them through the potato−ricer, or pile them lightly in the tureen as they are. Do not
smooth them over the top.

Sweet Potatoes

If they are large, scrub them well and bake in a hot oven for about forty minutes. If they are small, make them
into−−

Creamed Sweet Potatoes

Boil the potatoes, skin them, and cut them up in small slices. Make a cup of cream sauce, mix with them, and
put them in the oven for half an hour.

Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

Boil six potatoes in well−salted water till they are tender; skin them, slice them thin, and put a layer of them in
a buttered baking−dish; sprinkle with brown sugar, and put on more potatoes and more sugar till the dish is
full. Bake for three−quarters of an hour.

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 Pretty Aunt put in her book. It was called−−

Stuffed Beets

1 can 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 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.

Creamed Cabbage

1 small cabbage.
1 cup cream sauce.

Take off the outside leaves of the cabbage; cut it up in four pieces, and cut out the hard core and lay it in cold,
salted water for half an hour. Then wipe it dry and slice it, not too fine, and put it in a saucepan; cover it with
boiling water with a teaspoonful of salt in it, and boil hard for fifteen minutes without any cover. While it is
cooking, make a cup of cream sauce. Take up the cabbage, press it in the colander with a plate till all the
water is out; put it in a hot covered dish, sprinkle well with salt, and pour the cream sauce over. This will not
have any unpleasant odor in cooking, and it will be so tender and easy to digest that even a little girl may have
two helpings.

If you like it to look green, put a tiny bit of soda in the water when you cook it.

Lima Beans

Shell them and cook like peas; pour over them a half−cup of cream sauce, if you like this better than having
them dry.

Peas

Shell them and drop them into a saucepan of boiling water into which you have put a teaspoonful of salt and one of sugar. 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 for 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 hickory−nut, and shake them till the butter melts; serve in a hot covered dish.

String 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.
1 pinch soda.
3 shakes of pepper.
Butter as large as an English walnut.

Peel and cut the tomatoes up small, saving the juice; put together in a saucepan with the seasoning, the soda
mixed in a teaspoonful of water before it is put in. Simmer twenty minutes, stirring till it is smooth, and last
put in half a cup of bread or cracker crumbs, or a cup of toast, cut into small bits. 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 the same length. Stand them in boiling water in a porcelain
kettle, and cook gently for about twenty minutes. Lay on a platter on squares of buttered toast, and pour over
the toast and the tips of the asparagus a cup of cream sauce. Or do not put it on toast, but pour melted butter
over the tips after it is on the platter. To make it delicious, mix the juice of a lemon with the butter.
Sometimes put a little grated cheese on the ends last of all.

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.

Corn

Strip off the husks and silk, and put in a kettle of boiling water and boil hard for fifteen minutes; do not salt
the water, as salt makes corn tough. Put a napkin on a platter with one end hanging over the end; lay the corn
on and fold the end of the napkin over to keep it warm.

Canned Corn

Turn the corn into the colander and pour water through it a moment. Heat a cup of milk with a tablespoonful
of butter, a teaspoonful of salt, and three shakes of pepper, and mix with the corn and cook for two minutes.
Or, put in a buttered baking−dish and brown in the oven. Many people never wash corn; it is better to do so.

Sometimes Margaret had boiled rice for dinner in place of potatoes, and then she looked back at the recipe she
used when she cooked it for breakfast, and made it in just the same way. Very often in winter she had−−

Macaroni

6 long pieces of macaroni.
1 cup white sauce.
1/2 pound of cheese.
Paprika and salt.

Break up the macaroni into small pieces, and boil fifteen minutes in salted water, shaking the dish often. Pour
off the water and hold the dish under the cold−water faucet until all the paste is washed off the outside of the
macaroni, which will take only a minute if you turn it over once or twice. Butter a baking−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 paprika, or sweet red pepper, if you have it; 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 cheese. Bake till brown.

Margaret's mother got this rule in Paris, and she though 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; once
in a long time she had celery with mayonnaise.

DESSERTS

Corn−starch Pudding
1 pint of milk.
2 heaping tablespoonfuls of corn−starch.
3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Whites of three eggs.
1/2 teaspoonful vanilla.

Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff. Mix the corn−starch with half a cup of the milk, and stir till it melts.
Mix the rest of the milk and the sugar, and put them on the fire in the double boiler. When it bubbles, stir up
the corn−starch and milk well, and stir them in and cook and stir till it gets as thick as oatmeal mush; 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 platter and put small bits of red jelly around 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 platter, and put the jelly or preserves around
last.

Chocolate Corn−starch Pudding

Use the same rule as before, but put in one more tablespoonful of sugar. Then shave thin two squares of
Baker's chocolate, and stir in over the teakettle 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.

Cocoanut Corn−starch Pudding

Make the first rule; before you put in the eggs, stir in a cup of grated cocoanut, with an extra spoonful of
sugar, or a cup of that which comes in packages without more sugar, as it is already sweetened. Serve in a
large mould, or in small ones, with cream.

Baked Custard

2 cups 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 put it
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 this rule 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 tapioca.
Yolks of two eggs.
1/2 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 boiler, 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 milk.
3 eggs.
One−third 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 the 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.
One−third cup of sugar.
1 saltspoonful of salt.
1/2 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 lady−fingers into halves, and spread with jam. Put them on the sides and bottom
of a flat glass dish, and gently pour the custard over.

Brown Betty

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 bits 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 molasses poured over.

Bake this one hour, and have hard sauce to eat with it.

Lemon Pudding

1 cup of sugar.
4 eggs.
2 lemons.
1 pint of milk.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls of corn−starch.
1 pinch of salt.

Wet the corn−starch with half a cup of the milk, and heat what is left. Stir up the corn−starch 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 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 rule.

Rice Pudding with Raisins

1 quart of milk.
2 tablespoonfuls of rice.
One−third cup of sugar.
1/2 cup 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 soft bread−crumbs.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
2 egg yolks.
1 egg white.
1/2 teaspoonful 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. Orange 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 three 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 lady−fingers, then more raisins around
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 the cake.

Cottage Pudding

1 egg.
1/2 cup of sugar.
1/2 cup of milk.
1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of baking−powder.
1 cup of flour.
1 tablespoonful of butter.

Beat the yolk of the egg light, add the sugar and butter mixed, 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 cooking−school rule which the Pretty Aunt put in, because she said it was the best sort of pudding
for little girls to make.

1 tablespoonful of powdered sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls stewed prunes.
White of one 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.
1/2 cup sugar.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Break up the junket tablet 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 and hour without being moved, and then the junket will
be stiff, and the cups can be put in the ice−box. 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.
1/2 cup butter.
1 egg.
1 teaspoonful baking−powder.
1/2 cup milk.
1 saltspoonful of 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 berries,
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 berries on this.

Cake Shortcake

1 small cup sugar.
1/2 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 crushed berries between, and whole berries on top.

Tiny field strawberries make the most delicious shortcake of all.

Peach Shortcake

Make either of the rules above, and put mashed and sweetened peaches between the layers. Slice evenly about
four more, and arrange these on top, making a ring of them overlapping all around the edge, and laying them
inside in the same way. Sugar well, and serve with whipped cream or a pitcher of plain cream.

Lemon Jelly

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

Juice of three 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
the peel on the fire, and still 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 in 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 around.

Sometimes Margaret colored lemon jelly with red raspberry juice, and piled sugared raspberries around the
mould. Lemon jelly is one of the best things to put things with; peaches may be used instead of prunes, in that
rule, or strawberries, with plenty of sugar, or bits of pineapple.

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.

Coffee Jelly

1/2 box of gelatine.
1/2 cup of cold water.
1 pint strong hot coffee.
3/4 cup sugar.
1/2 pint boiling water.
Put the gelatine in the cold water and soak two minutes, and pour over it the coffee, boiling hot. When it is
dissolved, put in the sugar and boiling water and strain; put in little individual moulds, and turn out with
whipped cream under each one. Or, set in a large mould, and have whipped cream around it.

Snow Pudding

1/2 box of gelatine.
1 pint of cold water.
3 eggs.
Juice of three lemons.
1/2 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 rule, and pour around the pudding when you serve it.

Velvet Cream

1/4 box of gelatine.
1 pint 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 around 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.

Easy Charlotte Russe

1/4 box gelatine.
1/2 pint of milk.
1 pint thick cream.
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
1 small teaspoonful vanilla.

Put the gelatine in the milk and stand on the stove till the gelatine is dissolved, stirring often. Then take it off,
and beat with the egg−beater till cold. Beat the cream with the egg−beater till perfectly stiff, put in the sugar
and vanilla, and mix with the milk, and set on ice in a mould. When you wish to use it, turn out and put
lady−fingers split in halves all around it.

PUDDING SAUCES

Orange Sauce

3 egg−whites.
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
Juice of 2 oranges.
Grated rind.

Beat the egg−whites very stiff, add the sugar, then the grated orange−peel, then the juice; beat up lightly and
serve at once.

Delicious Maple Sauce

2 egg−yolks.
1/4 cup maple syrup.
1/2 cup whipped cream.

Beat the yolks very light, putting in a pinch of salt; put in the syrup and cook till the spoon coats over when
you dip it in; then cool and beat in the whipped cream, and serve very cold.

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.
Flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla and put on the ice to harden.

Foamy Sauce

1/2 cup butter.
1/2 cup boiling water.
1 cup powdered sugar.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.
White of one 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.

Grandmother's Sauce

1 cup sugar.
1/2 cup butter.
Yolks of two eggs.
1/4 cup boiling water.
A dusting of nutmeg.

Cream the butter and sugar, stir in the beaten yolk, and last the boiling water. Beat till foamy, and then dust
with nutmeg.

Lemon Sauce

White of one egg.
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
Juice of half a lemon.
Beat the egg, add the sugar and lemon, and beat again.

White Sauce

1 tablespoonful of corn−starch.
1/2 cup cold water.
1 cup boiling water.
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
Pinch of salt.
2 whites of eggs.
1 teaspoonful alons extract.

Dissolve the corn−starch 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
flavoring, and beat till perfectly cold. Any flavoring will do for this sauce; pistache is very nice.

Quick Pudding Sauce

1 egg.
1/2 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 rules.

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 Bridget helped her pack. But the same rule 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 as large as eggs, and all
about the same size. Then put two big bowls or dippers of this into a tub or pail, and add one bowl or dipper
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 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 salty 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.

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

Put the cream, milk, and sugar on the fire, and stir till the sugar dissolves and 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 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.

Coffee Ice−cream

Make either of these creams, and flavor 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 saucer over the teakettle. 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 berries, mashed and strained carefully so that there are no seeds, with the ice−cream, and
freeze.

The Easiest Ice−cream of All−−Vanilla Parfait

1 cup of sugar.
1 cup of water.
Whites of three eggs.
1 pint of cream.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Put the sugar and water in a nice enamelled saucepan and cook it without stirring. You must shake the pan
often to prevent its burning, but if you stir it, it will make it sugary. After about five minutes hold your spoon
up in the air and drop one drop back into the saucepan; if a little thread is made which blows off to one side, it
is done, but if not you must cook till it does. If your fire is very hot it may make the thread in less time, so try
it every few moments. Have the whites of your eggs beaten very stiff, and slowly pour the syrup into them,
beating hard with a fork all the time. You must keep on beating till this is cold. Have ready a pint of thick
cream, whipped very stiff, either with a Dover egg−beater, or in a little tin cream−churn, and when the egg is
cold, mix the two lightly and put in the vanilla. If you have a mould with a tight cover, put it in this, but if not,
take a lard−pail; cover tightly, and stand in a pail on a layer of ice and salt, mixed just as for freezing
ice−cream, and pile more ice and salt all over it, the more the better. Let this stand five hours, or four will do,
if necessary, and turn the cream on a pretty dish. After you have made this once it will seem no trouble at all
to make it.

If your mother would like a change from this recipe sometimes, try putting in the yolks of the eggs, well
beaten, with the cream, and use some other flavoring.

Lemon Ice

1 quart of water.
4 lemons.
2 1/2 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 of water.
6 oranges.
1 lemon.
2 1/2 cups sugar.

Prepare exactly as you did lemon ice.

Strawberry Ice

1 quart of water.
2 1/2 cups sugar.
1 1/2 cups strawberry juice, strained.

Prepare like lemon ice.

Raspberry Ice

1 quart of water.
2 1/2 cups sugar.
1 1/2 cups raspberry−juice, strained.

Prepare like lemon ice.

Peach Surprise

1 quart of peaches cut up in small bits.
2 cups of sugar.
Whites of five eggs.

Do not beat the eggs at all; just mix everything together and put in the freezer and stir till stiff; this is very
delicious, and the easiest thing to make there is.

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 rule for
some little cakes which the smallest girl in the neighborhood used to make all alone.

Eleanor's Cakes

1/4 cup of butter.
1/2 cup of sugar.
1/4 cup of milk.
1 egg.
1 cup flour.
1 teaspoonful baking−powder.
1/2 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 of sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls soft butter.
1 egg.
1/2 cup milk and water mixed.
1 1/2 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, 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 frosting.

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 frost it, and while the frosting 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 it so much to make it and to eat it. It is a very
nice cake for little girls.

5 eggs.
1 cup granulated sugar.
1 cup of flour.
1 pinch of salt.
1/2 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 flavoring, and last fold in the whites of the eggs, beaten very stiff. Bake in a buttered pan.

Sponge Cake

4 eggs.
1 cup powdered sugar.
1 cup sifted flour.
1 level teaspoonful baking−powder.
Juice of half a lemon.

Separate the yolks and whites of the eggs and beat them both very light. Mix the sugar in the yolks and beat
again till they are very foamy; then put in the stiff whites, and last the flour, sifted with baking−powder; then
the lemon−juice. Bake in a buttered biscuit−tin. You can frost and put walnut−halves on top.

Velvet Cake

This is a large cake, baked in a roasting−pan; it is very light and delicious, and none too large for two
luncheons, or for a picnic.

6 eggs.
2 cups of sugar.
1 cup of boiling water.
2 1/2 cups of flour.
3 teaspoonfuls of baking−powder.

Put the yolks of the eggs in a deep bowl and beat two minutes; then put in the sugar, and beat ten minutes, or
fifteen, if you want it perfect. Put in the water, a little at a time, and next the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs.
Mix the baking−powder and flour, put these in next, and add the flavoring last. This is a queer way to mix the
cake, but it is right.

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.
1 cup sugar.
1 cup molasses.
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 molasses with the soda stirred in it, then the
milk, then the cinnamon and cloves. 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 bread−pans.