Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-11-21

pared ID any way WITH InSL Oh To-Day.
We have advanced in that as in all OF
the Sciences And she shook her
fingers out of her finger bowl with I'M
necessary vim, and rubbed them with
her napkin more vigorously than the
occupation demanded.
"All this may be true," I allowed
judiciously; "but spare me, 1 pray you,
that idol OF my boyhOod, the Thanks
giving pumpkin pie;" and sounded
the p broadly, hoping to appease the
iconoclastic Indignation, l had unwit-
tingly aroused.
al can't, " replied Mrs. John, releut-
lessly. II can't. really and be honest.
"Recall for yourself the actual pie of
which you speak separated from all its
surroundings, and answer me truthful
ly If / describe it Alright. IU was
yellowish brown in color. except in Oc-
caslOnal spots, where the blistered top
had broken under uneven heat; il was
very shallow; the filing barely twice
exceeding the crust I'm thickness when
1t was cut, and its flavor was strong of
pumpkin, with various spices more or
less predominating.
You were apt to find little pieces of
the vegetable in your mouthful, which
had escaped the coarse-holed colander
through which 1t had been strained and
you We're fortunate if the undercrust
was not 'soggy,' as in those good old
days. IT was the fashion 10 bake
'batches' of pies weekly 10 last through
the following seven days. a custom
which did not add to the wholesome
ness of such pies as survived the first
day. And this, my dear, is the pun
kim pie of your boyhood."
My silence attested the truth OF this
assertion.
But what" she went on, sis the
pumpkin pie of to-dayP a very differ
ent and a much more successful gas
tTonomic production. AS friend said
to me the other day. Il consider a
pumpkin pie the excuse for all the good
things l have in my stOreroom-sugaT
cream, eggs, a dash OF sherry, little
lemon, mace, cinnamon, nutmeg-then
repeat ad libitum,' she finished with a
laugh.
The modern pie," pursued my wife,
sis solitaire, OF at most, two at
baking, and as the under crust is
slightly baked first, before the filling Is
put in, the 'soggy' characteristic is en-
tlrely left out. You VIII miss, too, the
lumpy element from the properly made
pie of to-day; we strain the pumpkin
through sieve; We also use deep dishes,
which takes away from the slab appear
ance OF the delicacy. Finally, when
tins toothsome and altogether delicious
article of food is offered at dessert,
grated cheese is served with it, and if
you Will once more turn a retrospective
eye upon the past you will discover that
the cheese of the farm IaTder invarla-
bly, appeared at supper, while the pas
try dessert of the MONDAY dinner was
unaccompanled by its natural and
wholesome relish.
''OhP' calculated Mrs. John with
sudden vehemence, ''can't you recall
those dreadful country teas will cubes
of yellow-rubber cheese piled on one
plate, and long, pale-green pickles on
| another, thanking the caster on either
slder Was there ever a more complete
embodiment of green and yellow mel
ancholy than the combinationp"
My mind naturally moves siCa.- and
before l found reply TO thE s.'1den
parenthetical appeal my wife mad got
back to the main road, 80 to speak, of
her harangue.
mo, john" she continued rather
sadly, lit is not the pumpkin. !, lie, pure
| and simple, OF your childh> >Oc. which
you fondly recall; it is the pumpkin pie
seasoned with your boyish appetite, the
pumpkin PIE surrounded with the ac-
cessorles of your dear and familiar
home, the pumpkin pie, IN fact, set in
the glorious halo of your youth
You say it was the event OF the
year to bring in the Thanksgiving
pumpkin. L am sure 1t was. Yet
don't suppose 1t would give you any
especial pleasure to go down to Fulton
Market and half carry, half roll home
one OF those great yellow vegetables.
but out in the corn6eld back of
your fathers house, the corntield whose
boundary was the sparkling. dancing
brook, and whose background was the
everlasting hills bathed in the lovely
haze of autumn, out in that coTnGeld
IN the mellow October afternoon. every
breath inspiring the delicious air which
had IN it such an indescribable mixture
of summer languor and crisp, frosty
vim, and every nerve tinglIng with the
unconscious but vivifying essence of
healthy, happy bOyhood-that indeed
was an event
''Here amid the city's turmoil that
grows at times 50 tIresome ana mon
otonOus. with the responsibilities and
anxietles which every man OF family
feels, and with the weight of years be-
ginning ever so little, to press. l do
not wonder that the happenings of
those care-free days stand out In bold
relief, but in justice, my dear, to the
science of gastronomy and TO the de-
velopment and progress of the day,
tear down from its hallowed niche in
your memory the dun and bilious image
of old-fashiOned 'punkin' pie"