The Fun of Cooking: A Story for Girls and Boys

"The answer is that five quarts will be just about right," laughed Mildred. "Perhaps some of them will want two helpings. But, Mother, if we have the party on Saturday, Norah will be very busy, and who will make the cream?"

"We will all make it together, and Jack may pack the freezers and turn them for us. And Norah may make the cake for you on Friday, so that will be out of the way."

So, early on Saturday morning, Mildred and Brownie began to hull strawberries for the party and put them away in bowls on the ice. Then they made the table all ready on the porch, putting a pretty little cloth on it, and arranging plates and napkins; glasses, for what Brownie called the "nice-cold drinks," were set out too, and little dishes of the candy which Father Blair had brought home and called his contribution to the party; and in the middle of the table they put a bowl of lovely red roses.

After an early luncheon, everybody went at once to the kitchen. The berries were put on the large table, and the cream and milk brought from the refrigerator. The two freezers stood ready in the laundry with a big pail for the broken ice, a heavy bag, a wooden mallet, and a large bag of coarse salt.

"Come, Jack," his mother said, as he stood picking out the biggest berries from the bowl and eating them, "here's some more man's work for you! We want you to break the ice and pack these freezers for us."

"What do I get for it?" Jack asked, pretending to grumble. "If the girls are going to eat up all the ice-cream, I guess I won't bother freezing it."

"No, indeed, they are not going to eat it all up," said Mother Blair. "I am counting on having ever so much left over for dinner to-night; and you shall have two helpings."

"Make it three and I'll think about it," said Jack, choosing the very biggest berry of all.

"Three then," said Mildred, disgustedly, taking the bowl away. "Boys do eat so much!"

"This cream is going to be so good that you will want three yourself," laughed Mother Blair. "Now, Jack, this rule is for you. Some cooks think that all you have to do in packing a freezer is to put in layers of broken ice and salt, and then turn the handle; but there is a right way to do it, and if you follow this, you will find the cream will freeze ever so much more quickly than if you are careless in packing."

PACKING A FREEZER

2 large bowlfuls of broken ice.

1 bowlful of coarse salt.

Put the ice in a strong bag and pound with a mallet till it is evenly broken into bits the size of an egg. Put the ice in a pail till you have a quantity broken, and then measure; add the salt quickly to the ice and stir it well; then put the empty ice cream tin in the freezer with the cover on, and fasten on the top and handle. Pack the ice all around the tin tightly till it is even with the top. Then stand it away, covered with a piece of carpet or blanket, in a dark, cool place, for half an hour. There should be a thick coating of frost all over the inside when the cream is put in.

While Jack was working in the laundry, Mildred and Brownie were reading the receipt their mother gave them, and getting out the spoons and sugar and other things they would need.

"Are the berries washed?" asked Mother Blair. "Yes, I see they are; now, Brownie, you may put half of them at a time into this big bowl, and crush them with the wooden potato-masher till they are all juicy. And, Mildred, here is the rule for making one quart of plain white ice-cream; all you have to do is to add any kind of fruit or flavoring to this, and you can change it into whatever you want."

"Just like a fairy's receipt!" said Brownie.

"Exactly!" said their mother. "Now, Mildred, multiply this rule by five."

PLAIN ICE-CREAM

3 cups of milk.

1 cup of sugar.

1 cup of cream.

Flavoring.

Put the cream, milk and sugar in a saucepan on the fire, and stir till the sugar is melted and the milk steams, but does not boil. Take it off and beat with the egg beater till it is cold; add the flavoring and freeze.

FRUIT ICE-CREAM

1 quart of fruit, or enough to make a cupful of juice.

1 small cup of sugar.

Mash the fruit, rub it through a sieve, add the sugar, and stir into the cream just before putting it into the freezer.

"You see what an easy rule this is. You can use fresh raspberries or pineapple or peaches in summer-time, and in winter you can use canned fruit. If the fruit is sour, of course you must take a little more sugar than if it is very sweet. And when juice is very sour indeed, like currant or cherry juice, do not use it for ice-cream. And when you want to make chocolate ice-cream you put in – "

"Do let me write that down, Mother, please, because I perfectly love chocolate ice-cream," interrupted Mildred.

CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM

Make the plain ice cream as before; while still on the stove add

3 squares of unsweetened chocolate, grated.

¼ cup of sugar.

2 teaspoonfuls of vanilla.

Put the vanilla in last, just before freezing.

It took only a little while to mix the cream and cool it, and then Brownie had the berries all ready to go in; so Mildred called to Jack to know if the two freezers were ready. Jack was reading "Treasure Island" in a corner of the laundry, and it took three calls to rouse him.

"The freezers?" he asked; "the freezers – oh, yes, they are all ready. At least I suppose they are, they've been standing so long. I've been having a great time with old Silver in the stockade!"

"Well," said Mildred, doubtfully, "if you've been off on one of your treasure trips, I don't know whether the freezers will be ready or not."

But when they looked inside, there was the thick frost all over the tin. "Perfect!" said Mother Blair. "Now you will see how quickly the cream will freeze. It makes all the difference in the world whether or not it is ice-cold inside." Then they poured in the cream and shut the freezer tightly, and Jack began to turn the handles, first of one and then of the other, with "Treasure Island" open before him on an upturned pail, though he very soon found that the freezers needed all his attention. He was devoting himself to his task with grim determination when Mildred peeped in at the door and stood watching him for a moment before she asked, mischievously, "And what is old Silver doing now, Jack? I believe you're really going to deserve those three plates of ice-cream, after all."

"Come, Mildred!" called her mother, "we will make something perfectly delicious to drink," and she handed a fresh receipt to the girls.

GRAPE-JUICE LEMONADE

4 lemons.

1 quart of water.

2 large cups of sugar.

1 quart of grape-juice.

1 orange.

Put the water and sugar on the fire and boil them two minutes. Roll the lemons and squeeze the juice; when the water is cool, add this and stand it away till you need it. Then add the grape-juice, and put it in a large bowl with a good-sized piece of ice; slice the orange very thin and cut into small pieces and add last. Serve in glass cups.

"That is so easy anybody could make it," said Brownie. "I guess I'll make some for us all on the next hot night."

"Oh, goody!" said Mildred. "Think how lovely it would taste out on the porch just before bedtime!"

"Specially if there was a moon," said Brownie.

"Yes, indeed! especially if there was a moon! You won't forget, will you?"

Brownie promised faithfully she would not.

By the time this was done and ready to put away in the refrigerator to get very cold, Jack was shouting for somebody to come and see if the cream was frozen. "It turns awfully hard," he complained, rubbing his arms.

His mother wiped off the edges of the tin very carefully so no salt could get in, and then lifted the cover, and, sure enough, the cream was firm and smooth, and a beautiful pink color. Mildred watched her carefully and took the second freezer, doing exactly what her mother did to the first one. They slowly pulled out the dashers, scraping them off as they did so, and then packed the cream down hard; the covers were put on again, each with a cork where the dasher-top had been. Meanwhile Jack had been told to break more ice and mix it exactly as he had before. When this was ready, the plug at the side of each freezer was pulled out and the water drained off, and then the cans of cream were buried in the fresh ice so that neither of them could be seen, a piece of carpet was laid over each, and it was put back in its dark corner.

"There!" said their mother, when it was all finished. "Ice-cream has to stand at least two hours after it is packed before it is quite good enough to eat. Thank you, Jack! You are really learning lots about cooking, aren't you? And now we will cut the cake and put it on plates in the refrigerator to keep fresh, and then we will all go and dress for the party, because it is three o'clock."

The refreshments were perfectly delicious, everybody said, and the girls said the pink ice-cream, and the sponge-cake, and the grape-juice lemonade were "the best ever." When everybody had gone, Mildred took a big plateful of ice-cream over to Miss Betty.

"Oh, how good that is!" she said as she ate it. "How beautifully good! So good to look at, I mean, as well as to taste. Would you like to have some more strawberry ice-cream receipts to go with it?" Mildred said she would love to, so Miss Betty began to write:

FROZEN STRAWBERRIES

1 quart of water.

2½ cups of sugar.

2 quarts of berries.

Juice of 1 lemon.

Crush the berries and press through a sieve; there should be two cups of juice; if not, add a few more berries. Boil the water and sugar one minute, cool, add the berry juice and that of the lemon, cool and freeze; serve in glass cups.

"You can see, Mildred," went on Miss Betty, as she finished this, "that a pretty way to serve this is to put each cup on a small plate and lay a few fresh strawberry leaves by it."

"Sweet!" said Mildred, and Miss Betty began the second receipt

ICE-CREAM AND STRAWBERRIES

1 quart of plain ice cream.

1 quart of large strawberries.

½ cup of powdered sugar.

Cut the berries in slices and lay them on a dish, and sprinkle the sugar over them. Take some tall glasses, put in a layer of ice cream, then a layer of berries; let the cream be on top, and put two or three whole berries on top of all. Or, if you can get little wild strawberries, use those whole both in the layers and on top.

"Those are both just perfect," sighed Mildred. "Now haven't you one more receipt, dear Miss Betty? Three is a lucky number, you know."

Miss Betty thought a moment "Well, here is something I think is just delicious, and it's so easy that Brownie could make it alone – or even Jack! There is no turning of the freezer at all, only the ice to be broken. But it must be made in good season, for it has to stand awhile, as you will see. And when you turn it out you can put a row of lovely big strawberries all around it and sprinkle them with sugar."

PARFAIT

1 cup of sugar.

1 pint of cream.

1 cup of water.

Whites of 3 eggs.

1 teaspoonful of vanilla.

Put the sugar and water on the stove and boil gently three minutes without stirring. Lift a little of the syrup on the spoon and see if a tiny thread drops from the edge; if it does, it is done; if not, cook a moment longer. Then let this stand on the edge of the stove while you beat the whites of the eggs very stiff and slowly pour the syrup into them, beating all the time. While you are doing this, have somebody else beat the cream stiff; when the eggs and syrup are beaten cold, fold the cream into them, add the flavoring, and put in a mold with a tight cover. Put this in a pail, cover deeply with ice and salt as before, and let it stand five hours.

"You see how easy that is," said Miss Betty. "That's all the receipts to-day. But, Mildred, if you and Jack, and Brownie will all come to luncheon next Saturday, I'll have something else made out of strawberries for you."

"Oh, Miss Betty!" cried Mildred, rapturously, "we'll come – indeed we will!"

"Very well; and tell Jack he can have three helpings of everything!"

CHAPTER VII

STRAWBERRY TIME

Early in the morning of the next Saturday came a note from Miss Betty, which said:

Dear Mildred and Dear Brownie:

Just to think that I forgot to tell you I wanted you both to help me cook the luncheon for our party! Do come over at about eleven, and bring your aprons. And please tell Jack that if he wants to come and help too, I'll find him something perfectly proper for a boy to do.

Your Loving Betty.

"Oh, goody!" exclaimed Brownie, as she read the note over Mildred's shoulder. "The very best fun of parties is getting ready for them, and I know Miss Betty will have something nice for us to do."

"What do you suppose Miss Betty wants me to do?" asked Jack, curiously. "I just believe it's a joke, and she really means to get me to make cake, or some other kind of girl's cooking. I don't believe I'll go till lunch-time."

"Oh, it's an invitation!" said Brownie, much shocked. "You have to go! And it's Miss Betty, too!"

Jack laughed. "Well, all right," he said. "Miss Betty is such fun that perhaps I won't mind."

"Take your clean apron, Jack," said Mildred, teasingly.

"Pshaw!" sniffed Jack, with a lordly air.

Miss Betty's house was just across the lawn; when they reached it, she met them at the door and told the girls to go right in and get their aprons on. "Now, Jack," she said, dimpling, "I'm afraid I've brought you over under false pretenses, for I really don't want you to cook at all. I only hope you won't be too disappointed! But the weeding man who takes care of the garden has not come to-day, and I want some strawberries. Would you mind picking some for me?"

Jack's sober face lighted. "Why, I'd love to do it! That's what I call a man's work, Miss Betty. How many do you want?"

"Well, I want two kinds; first about a quart of ordinary ones, and the rest the very biggest in the garden; here are two baskets for them, and you may pick in one as you go along, and in the other lay the big berries on the freshest, prettiest strawberry leaves you can find. I want eight berries apiece for us – let me see – eight times four – " but Jack was off before she finished.

"Now, girls," Miss Betty said, as she tied on her own apron, "we will go right out to the kitchen and begin. But first, Brownie, can you lay the table for us?"

"Cer-tain-ly I can," said Brownie, proudly. "You can just tell me what you are going to have to eat, and show me where you keep things, and I can do it all alone."

So Miss Betty gave her a pretty square lunch-cloth to put cornerwise on the round table, and showed her where she kept the napkins and silver and china. "We are going to have creamed chicken, and iced cocoa, and salad, and strawberry shortcakes," she said.

"Hot plates for the chicken," murmured Brownie, counting out four, "and cold plates for salad; tall glasses for cocoa; hot or cold plates for shortcake, Miss Betty?"

"Just warm, I think. I'll help you carry all these out to the kitchen so they will be ready when we want them. And are you sure you do not want me to help you put on the silver?"

But Brownie shook her head, and went on talking to herself as she arranged the forks:

"Never use knives except to cut up meat with; so forks for creamed chicken, and forks for salad, both on the right, because everybody is right-handed; and the chicken fork farthest away, because that comes first, and the salad fork next the plate, because that comes after. Shall I put on a fork or a spoon for the shortcake?"

"We shall need both, but I think we will lay those right on the plates when we put them on the table. Here are the finger-bowls; we will put them on these small, pretty plates with a little doily under each bowl; and to-day we will stand them at the top of the place, not directly in front."

"Mother always puts the fruit plate and finger-bowl right down in the middle of the front," said Brownie, doubtfully; "not at the top."

"That is the way when you are going to eat an orange or peach on the plate; but you will see by and by why it is different to-day. Now I know Mildred wants me in the kitchen, so I'll leave you to finish the table all by yourself."

As soon as Miss Betty appeared, Mildred asked, "Now what first?" and pushed up her sleeves.

"First we must start the salad. I really ought to have done that long ago, but I waited for you. It is much better when it stands."

She brought in three large tomatoes and washed them and cut out the stems. Then she put them into a saucepan and poured boiling water over them, and, after they had watched a moment, they saw the skin all around the edge of the stem-hole begin to curl up; then they poured off the water, and Miss Betty put a fork into one and with a small sharp knife quickly pulled off all the skin; then she gave the fork to Mildred, and let her finish the others and put them away on the ice while she washed the lettuce and rolled it up in a towel and put that on ice, too, to make it get crisp. Then she read her this rule:

PLAIN TOMATO SALAD

Scald and peel the tomatoes, and put them on ice for an hour. Wash the lettuce after separating, roll in a towel, and put on ice also. When it is time to use the salad, slice the tomatoes and arrange with the lettuce on plates or in a bowl. Make the usual French dressing, and put it in a cream bottle; just before using, shake this very hard and pour over at once.

"You know how to make French dressing, don't you, Mildred?"

"Oh, yes, indeed! I learned that long ago, when I was putting up luncheons for Jack. But I never put it in a bottle – I just mixed it in a bowl."

"My dear, I've only just learned to put it in a bottle! You will be surprised to find how much better it is for a hard shaking, such as you cannot give it in a bowl. It is thick, and so well mixed that it is twice as good. I found that out myself the other day.

"And here is a special receipt for you, Brownie," continued Miss Betty, as Brownie came into the kitchen; "such a cunning little one!"

YELLOW TOMATO SALAD (BROWNIE'S)

Scald and peel little yellow tomatoes; chill, and lay on lettuce leaves; add French dressing just before serving, or mix the yellow tomatoes with little bits of red ones.

"Oh, that must be lovely!" said Brownie. "I'm going to copy that in my book, and put my name after it, as my very own salad!"

"Now what next?" asked Mildred, as she set away the French dressing in the cream bottle.

"Delicious little strawberry shortcakes; do you remember your rule for biscuits?"

"Indeed I do! I've made those so often I never even look in my cook-book."

"Well, then, you may make a panful of those; only remember to roll the dough out very thin – not thicker than half an inch; and do not let the biscuits touch each other in the pan. Now, Brownie, here is a platter of cold roast chicken, left from dinner last night, for you to pick off the bones and cut up in little, even pieces about the size of the end of your thumb. Use the white meat first, because that looks best creamed, and if there is not enough, then use some of the dark. Here is the rule:"

CREAMED CHICKEN

1 large cup of thick white sauce.

2 cups of cold chicken in small pieces.

½ teaspoonful of salt.

½ teaspoonful of chopped parsley.

1 shake of pepper.

Make the usual white sauce, but use two tablespoonfuls of flour to one of butter, so it will be thick (see your rule). When it is done, add the seasoning and then the chicken; keep very hot, but do not let it boil again.

"You can serve this on squares of buttered toast, or just as it is in little dishes, or on one round platter."

Mildred's biscuits were all ready to go into the oven by this time, and Miss Betty said they were lovely, but told her to put a bit of butter on top of each one, so they would be brown. "Now copy off your rule," she added.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

Make the usual rule for biscuits, but divide it, unless you wish a good many. Butter the top of each biscuit; when baked, gently separate them into two layers. Put a little butter on each half. Crush some ripe strawberries and sweeten them; arrange the lower halves of the biscuits on a dish, or put one on each plate; cover with the berries, put on the tops, sift sugar over them, and add two or three berries to each. Pass cream with them.

"If some day you want to make one large shortcake, Mildred, all you have to do is to make one very large biscuit, and split it open just as you have done these small ones."

"Shall we make the cocoa now?" Mildred asked, as she finished writing her receipt.

"My dear, that had to be very, very cold for luncheon, so Ellen made it right after breakfast, and put it on ice; but it doesn't matter, because you know how to make that. However, as we can't put any ice in it – that makes it horrid and watery – you may put a piece of ice in each of these tall glasses to chill them, and that will help make the cocoa cold; we will take it out at the last moment and put the cocoa in. Here comes Jack with the berries, just in time!"

Jack had two baskets of them, one of the biggest, loveliest ones, all laid on pretty strawberry leaves. Those Miss Betty washed and dried and put on the ice at once, with the leaves; the smaller ones she gave to Brownie to hull after washing. Then she read this receipt aloud:

STRAWBERRIES FOR A FIRST COURSE

Wash, dry, and chill the berries, but do not hull them. Put a little paper doily on a small, pretty plate and arrange the berries on the leaves around the edge in a circle, the points toward the center; in the middle put a little heap of sifted, powdered sugar. To eat them, take them by the hulls and dip in the sugar.

"There!" she said, as she and Mildred finished arranging them, "don't they look pretty? I think for breakfast or luncheon they are delicious this way. Now you see, Brownie, why the finger-bowls had to go at the top of the plate; these small plates go right before you on the table, and when Ellen takes them off, she can take off the others, too. Aren't the biscuits done yet, Mildred?"

Mildred ran to look – she had forgotten all about them, but luckily they were exactly right, a beautiful brown. So she took them out of the pan and carefully opened them at the side, using a knife at first, and then tearing them gently apart so they would not be heavy. When Brownie finished the berries, Mildred crushed them a little and sweetened them, but did not put them on the biscuits; Miss Betty said that must be done only just before serving, or the crust would be soaked with the juice. So she helped fill the glasses with water, and put on the bread and butter and cocoa, while Miss Betty and Brownie arranged the salad on plates and put the hot chicken in little dishes, each with a bit of parsley on top. Then they all sat down and ate up the luncheon, and nobody could say which was the best thing, the beautiful berries, or the lovely hot chicken, or the ice-cold cocoa, or the salad, or the shortcakes – it was all so good.

When they had finished, Mildred said there was only one fault to find with the lunch – that they had strawberries only twice.

"That's exactly the way I feel!" nodded Miss Betty. "In strawberry time, I want to have them in the place of meat and potatoes and bread, and everything else, and at least at all three meals a day, and between times, too! Now would you like some more strawberry receipts for your cook-book?"

"Yes, indeed!" said Mildred, running to get a pencil. Then Miss Betty gave her these:

STRAWBERRY CAKE

1 small cup of sugar.

½ cup of butter.

1 cup of cold water.

1 egg.

2 cups of flour.

3 rounded teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.

Put the baking-powder in the flour and mix well. Rub the butter and sugar to a cream. Beat the egg without separating, and add this; add a little water, then a little of the flour, and so on till all is in. Bake in two shallow tins. When done, and just before serving, put a layer of crushed, sweetened berries between the two layers and cover the top with whipped cream dotted with whole berries. Or cover with powdered sugar and whole berries and pass plain cream.

"This rule makes perfectly delicious raspberry or peach shortcake, too. Try it as soon as raspberries come, Mildred, for you will love it. Now just one more rule, and this is especially for Brownie."