Doesn"t this sound good?"
Ethel read aloud the pudding receipt with an appreciative smile.
"Steamed Fruit Pudding
"2 cups flour 3 teaspoons baking powder teaspoon salt teaspoon cinnamon teaspoon nutmeg or ginger 1 cup chopped suet 1 cup chopped raisins cup cleaned currants 1 cup water or milk 1 cup mola.s.ses (dark)
"Sift soda, salt, baking powder, and spice with the flour, add the suet and fruit, then the mola.s.ses and milk. Mix well. Fill moulds two-thirds full. Steam three hours."
"When we do them up we can arrange them so that no bundle will contain both a fruit cake and a fruit pudding. We must have variety."
"I asked particularly about wheat bread. The papers say that that is scarce, you know."
"Did Miss Dawson say it would travel?"
"No, she thought it would be as hard as shoe leather. But she says the Boston brown bread ought to be soft enough even after six weeks. If we can make enough small loaves--"
"Baking powder tin loaves--"
"Yes--to have a loaf of bread and a fruit cake or a fruit pudding or a box of cookies--"
"That is, one cake--"
"--and some candy in each package that we do up it will give variety."
"It sounds good to me. We"ll have to hide all our things away from Roger."
"Listen to this receipt:
"Boston Brown Bread
"1 cup rye meal (or flour) 1 cup granulated corn-meal 1 cup Graham flour 2 cups sour milk or 1 cups sweet milk or water 1 teaspoon salt teaspoon soda cup mola.s.ses (dark)
"Mix and sift the dry ingredients, add mola.s.ses and milk, stir until well mixed, turn into a well greased mould, steam 3 hours. The cover should be greased before being placed on the mould, then tied down with a string, otherwise the bread might force off the cover. The mould should never be filled more than two-thirds full. For steaming, place the mould on a stand (or on nails laid flat) in a kettle of boiling water, allowing water to come half way up around mould, cover closely, and steam, add, as needed, more boiling water."
""Mould" is polite for baking powder tin."
"I wish our family was small enough for us to have them. They"re just too dear!"
"Some time after the Christmas Ship sails let"s make some for the family--one for each person."
"That"s a glorious idea. I never do have enough on Sunday morning and you know how Roger teases every one of us to give him part of ours."
"All these "eats" that travel so well will be splendid to send for Christmas gifts to people at a distance, won"t they? People like Katharine Jackson in Buffalo."
"And the Wilson children at Fort Myer," and the Ethels named other young people whom they had met at different garrisons and Navy Yards.
"Here are three kinds of candies that Miss Dawson says ought to travel perfectly if they"re packed so they won"t shake about Here"s "Roly Poly"
to start with. I can see Katharine"s eyes shining over that."
"And the orphans", too."
Ethel read the receipt.
"Roly Poly
"2 lbs. brown sugar 1 cup cream 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter pint (1 cup) chopped figs 1 cup chopped almonds 2 cups chopped dates 1 cup citron, cut in pieces cup chopped pecans cup chopped cherries cup chopped raisins
"Cook sugar, cream and b.u.t.ter together until a little forms a soft ball when dropped in a cup of cold water. Then add the nuts and fruit. Put it all in a wet cotton bag, mould into a roll on a smooth surface. Remove from the bag and cut as desired."
"I like the sound of "Sea Foam." Della tried that, and said it was delicious.
"Sea Foam
"2 cups brown sugar cup water 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup chopped nuts 1 white of egg
"Beat the white of egg until stiff. Boil the sugar and water together until a little forms a soft ball when dropped in a cup of cold water.
Add the vanilla and nuts, beat this into the white of egg. When it stiffens pour it into a greased pan, or drop it by spoonsful on the pan."
"It sounds delicious. When we fill James"s pretty boxes with these goodies and tie them with attractive paper and cord they are going to look like "some" Christmas to these poor little kiddies."
"Don"t you wish we could see them open them?"
"If Mademoiselle would only send that Belgian baby we really could."
"I"m afraid Mademoiselle has forgotten us utterly."
"It isn"t surprising. But I wish she hadn"t."
"We must get plenty of brown sugar. This "Panocha" calls for it, as well as the "Sea Foam" and the "Roly Poly.""
"We"ll have to borrow a corner of Mary"s storeroom for once."
"She won"t mind. She"s as interested as we are in the orphans. Let me see how the "Panocha" goes.
"Panocha
"2 cups brown sugar 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter cup milk cup chopped nuts of any kind.
"Boil sugar, b.u.t.ter, and milk together until a little forms a soft ball when dropped in a cup of cold water. Add the nuts, stir a few moments till slightly thick, drop by spoonsful on greased tins, or pour it into a greased tin. When cool cut in blocks."
The time given by the Ethels to preparing for their cooking operations was well spent. Never once did they have to call on Mary for something they had forgotten to order, and each afternoon was p.r.o.nounced a success when it was over and its results lay before them.
"If we just had energy enough we might follow the plan that the candy store people do when they have a new clerk. They say that they let her eat all she wants to for the first few days and then she doesn"t want any more. It would be fun to give the family all they wanted."