Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-12-18
An Old Time New England Dinner.
By n. MARIA GEORGE

oh IL sAfaAAAA NLChcA-
The greatest dinner that / ever
helped about" said Aunt Hannah, with
a fiutter of her immaculate cap string,
as she finished wiping the dishes and
replaced the dinner service in the cor
ner cupboard, ''was the Lafayette din
ner, as we always called il afterwards.
never see this blue Set without think
ing of 1t, for mother used 1t the first
time that day, and the distinguished
Frenchman ate from one of these very
plates, and he ate as If he was hungry,
| too, and praised all of the dishes as he
was in duty bound 4 shall never for
\ get the time"
Tell us about it, Aunt Hannah,
won't you? what you had for dinner and
all? Mother always said the blue set
had n history, but never knew what II
| was"
ut was in 1925, well nigh sixty-five
years ago." Aunt Hannah went on,
land i was twelve years old that very
June. We had been expecting him (the
marquis) for several days; he had been
in Concord ever since the 22d, and We
had a man there who was to let US know
when he was to start, so that we
shouldn't be taken unawares, for We
were determined to show our patriotism
in honor of the man who had Ihelped
General Washington win the indepen-
dence of our country. And among 9th
er things we were going to have big
dinner.
We'll, the night before, Just about
sundown, the man came galloping into
the village with the announcement that
the marquis would start the next morn
ing at s o'clock from Concord You can
hardly imagine what a stir the news
made in our little village. Everybody
was at once making arrangements for
the event The minister's wife came to
our house to see what mother was going
to do. 1t seems that there was a COM
mittee of women appointed to see To the
furnishing of food and the setting of
the tables, and mother and Mrs Well
man were on the committee. Mother
said right off that she should prepare
some hot vlctuals. if any one wanted to
bring cold victuals they might, but she
shouldn't for one. Mrs. Wellman
thought as mother did, and said she
| should go home and heat the brick oven
ut once
81 shall have things all ready and
. heat ours early In the morning. said
: mother, who was already picking over
l her beans so as to put them to soak oyei
night, 1 helped her; we picked over q
good half bushel, / remember. Enoch
= NV older brother, was sent up to Mr.
: ThoInpson's store after some pcarl-ash
what you call saleratus now. But ht
E came back without any as the trader
was out of the article. i won't borrow,
r declared mother, so she built a fire II
the fireplace and We children cleaned q
D corner of the hearth and burned corr
cobs on the hot bricks till We had I
: fiaky heap of cob ashes. These mothe
Y took and stepped in water till all th'
dirt had settled, then poured off th'
v clear liquid into a gallon glass bottle
when she had something that was near
" as good as boughten pearl-ash.
''It was eleven o'clock when we wen
q to bed that night, and We were up tn
a next morning by four. The oven woo'
had been prepared and placed in tn
big brick oven ready to touch off, an
1t was roaring good when L was delega
q ted to pile in the wood, which was no
. play, tell you. After two hours of no
% fire announced that the black was a
off, and Enoch shoveled the Goals on
> and / swept the oven with new hem
:, lock broom. Then with the aid of
:, long handled crook mother stowedawa
;, the beans and bread; there were te
big pots of beans and six of brown bread
Later she put in a dozen pies, a coupl
of dowdy-puddings, and loaf of dyI
bread, as we called 1t, a rich, plai
cake.
A., I'VE had spoon victuals-soup, bea
L porrldge, or pudding and milk-ft
= breakfast, and father ate before the re-
- of Us, for he was a member of Captal
Curriers' company and had rode off o
, White Dan, our driving and wor
;, horse, to meet Lafayette and escort hi
'e along the route, l can remember watcl
- ing his martial figure as he went dow
the road, and wishing that L was ma
ne SO that 1 could ride like that and sho
nv respect to the hero. But had oil
! er work to do, and so did mother to
U Enoch was busy with lot of other boz
ne erecting an arch over the street. whIc
Dk was decorated with roses and 9TH
he flowers that the girls made into boz
a duets and garlands, and the boys III
Sh on with strings or with loops of wlnt
he evergreen.
re ..Beyond this arch, in front of Il
ed church on the green, the men had bul
"A long table of boards which was cove
ly ed with webs of tow and linen broug
a. ont from some of the housewives lau
He dries. They looked white and clea
Int and all the good housekeepers In 4
e, village brought out their best ware, al
rs. / must saw that / never saw a bett
al display of crockery- This blue set
Az the closet wasn't such a sight behll
III the rest either; anyway they conclud,
ms il was handsomer than the mlnistel
IRE wife's and 1t was placed at the head
cd the table, so you see Lafayette ma
have used one of the plates, Tor the
Oh hasn't been one of them broken
ID: Chow many plates were set, Aunt
asked sister Nelly
II think, am quite sure, there VIC
ie- over two hundred There was sh'
of them, tell you, and didn't We s
let tired washing them and clearing up
1er ter dinner There was another tab
he too, a small one, where they had cS
he victuals, and any one who did not Ia
he a seat at the long table, could h'
ell themselves. You see nearly the WIZ
In town was ont, and we dr'in { know h
ION many there would be In the geners
suite and escort.
LON s.Earlv that morning while the be-
lie and bread and pies were baking IN
of brick oven, we fried a lot of doughn
in shallow, wide-mouthed bail ket
"a swung out on the crane over good h
- We fried good half bushel, and
rcd close with, mother let me fry a plate
,on real Dutch crullers which made
-, mvself-my first cooking experiel
-. by the wholesale. We found the rece
-. IN an old manuscript recipe book of
~ date of 17SS, which grandmother m
'"e have brought from New York when
,arria5 s-randfather Il can remem