The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-12-22
Hsrper's Bazsr, kindly adds to my menu
an apple soulful:

or spies; stew them soft with sugar and
cinnamon TO taste; let them DOL; beat
a quarter OF a pound # butter to o
cream. add the grated rind of half q
lemon. six well-beaten eggs, two table.
spoonfuls OF aour, and a very little
cream; add the apples. beat all tho
roughly and bake in thickly buttered
mold.
This may be served with wine sauce
or powdered sugar, but must be sent to
the table the moment il Is done. or II
will collapse. Children to whom a
richer desert Is denied may have as
many helpings Of this as mamma chooses
to give. and It is very good indeed with
out the wine sauce, TO which some may
object
Mrs. Mary +. Bryan, the charming
Southern woman, who has won such q
success as editor Of the Munro publica-
tons. reckons among dishes which re-
mind her of Christmas and Of her na-
tive land OF the orange and palmetto.
sweet potato custards and fruit cake,
transparent pies, as she says the chill
dren used to call the Cheshire pudding,
cassava clslard, big hominy," sweet
potato pone. baked slowly IN deep. vel
low earthenware dishes and eaten cold
aud sliced, souse. and pumpkin sweet
meats. She says:
| will tell you about the pumpkin
sweetmeats, because they are 50 nice
aud because have never seen the pump
kin cooked in tn fashion here, or in
New England. where they know every
other way Of getting at the true in
wardness of this fruit of the yellow
blossomed vine. Pumpkin sweetmeats
or ginger pumpkin Is a Creole dish, and
il has "A name IN Creole patOis, when /
don I know how 70 spell. A nice ripe
pumpkin IS cut into oblong pieces. say
two inches broad and three inches long,
and these slices are exposed to the wind
and sun that they may dry somewhat.
Toe CreOles string them and hang them
up for day or Two TO get sweet. but l
have often seen them cooked without
any previous driving.
Put into a stew pan as much molasses
or real sugar-cane syrupas Will cover the
pumokin. and let 1t bubble gently over
the fire for fifteen minutes. Then put the
sliced pumpkin into the boiling syrup.
and stir in also q heaping teaspooniui
OF pulverized ginger. Let the pumpkin
slces cook in the syrup until they are
of a rich brown color, as though pre-
served. They will not fail to pieces II
properly cooked and put into the syrup
while boiling. Each slice will keep It's
shape, and the syrup will be a rich.
clear brown. The ginger imparts pc
culiar flavor. blending well with those
of the pumpkin and syrup. To my
taste this is the incest way to cook
pumpkin. and 1t Is easily done. 1t was
as great a favOrlte with us as those sweet
potato cuslards, deep IN their crispy
crusts and golden brown on top. that
Southern bousekeepers and dusky
mammys "of the old regime know 50
well bow to make.
1t is not right to stop without some
dainty from New England. where
Christmas made so hard a fight before
it won Its victory. Mrs. Abby Morton
Diaz. who wrote the delightful will
liam Henry letters, tells me:
The leople of old Plymouth town,
perhaps as a reminder of the Indian
corn which fed the Pilgrims, by way OF
furnishing an accompaniment to a roast
dinner at Christmas, or any other sea
son. scald some Indian meal. add
prt tty large pinch of salt. a small pinch
of soda. a suspicion of sweetenlDg. STIR
the whole into a stiff batter and tie 1t
up ia a pudding bag, leaving some room
to swell. aud boil several hours. IL Is
thought good with gravy, and what
they do not eat that day the queen next
morning fries
Mrs. Ella Orchard Common. who. for
the charm of her after-dinuer speaking.
is some times called the feminine Or.
Depew. has method Of her own for be
fore.dinner preparation. She tells me:
When / build my house down on
Staten Island by the sea. shall have
constructed q small, close. old-fash-
toned Dutch brick oven somewhere
near it on purpose to cook the Christ
mas luikey in. Tuere, enveloped in the
strong, slow heat. he will be done
brown. with all the juice inside Of him.
smothered in his own richness, so 10
speak.
AT the close of the Christmas dinner.
when every thing else has been dls-
posed of. | shall ask my guests TO pledge
each other in glass OF pure, un-
fermented, purple-red Concord grape
iuice-not the sort they put before you
at restaurants. with whisky IN 1t TO
keep it. but. 50 far as know, a KIND that
YOU can only get at our place III all
New York. the real article, sweetly
sour. with the Undesirable odOr OF
the grape blossom lowering about II
and flavOripg all its drops. shall give
nv guests the giape juice because II
promotes digestion. But there Is an
other reason. Christmas is the old and
beautiful pagan sun feast, made over
for Christianity. it celebrates. In the
old meaning. the return Of the sun
northwaId. bringing the sacred Ire Of
renewal to all that has life. IN the
ancient mysteries. the grape was the
emblem of fertility. Therefore, 1t Is
fitting that men should wish prosperity.
peace. good will TO one another III the
pure. unfermenled blood Of the crushed
grape.
Studio life has contaut fascination
for those who are outside Of 1t, but one
of The most charming spots IN which To
study ns gayeties aud graviIies is de
serted this winter, Mrs. G. b. Conran.
whose landscape worn he's attracted
considerable attention at the ACADEMY
exhibition in the last few wears, has
been driven out Of New York by deli
cate health. aud has joined the winter
colony ct ST. Augustine, where she
has a studio. believe IN the famous
Ponce de Leon. She says that the
old houses, the narrow streets and
water views are full of a quaint charm
1t would be bard to tell just why we
are so Japanese this winter in our
gowniDg. Some say 1t Is oGt OF com
plin.ent to the wife Of the Chinese Min.
ister. bnt don't know why we should
compliment her, even II she does drive
about in q closed carriage and ingpecI
us through the blinds, and be-
sides. we are not Chinese one little bit.
and never heard that she cared for
japanese dinner and reception gowns.
More likely it is because ~e are going
in for international costumes, as well
80 I'rnnnh