Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-01-10

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undertaking. for l had learned to
make an omelet, and there was the
nice. sweet bread that my girl had
made before she left, enough for q
week. she said. When We were seated.
and Reuben helped the omelet, he said:
"Well. little wife, this is a greater
success than Sarah makes of it /
have always said that there was no
need of the first failures that We hear
of among young wives in trying to
get meal. A bright, graceful Great
ure like you could not help showing
graceful results. My mother is that
sort of woman. every thing comes out
just right withouta seeming effort.'
Before my husband went away for
his Office that day. said: % Tell me.
Reuben, what would you like for din
ner," for my confidence in my ability
had grown with his expressed thought
of it
'Well. my dear. must own that l
have. since we have been keeping
house, missed the kind Of pie that my
mother made. have sometimes want
ed to ask you to make it, instead of
Sarah, but / did not care to have you
begin that kind of work just yet But
now that it is thrust upon you. l wish
We might have q blackberry pie for
dinner"
What could 1 answer but that it
should be as he wished. while my
thoughts flew towards the new cook
book that was still in the box among
my wedding presents Sarah had re-
sented the idea of using it, and. alas! l
had never thought it worth while be-
fore this morning to look into it
"You may send up some beef for a
roast" / said, in an assured way. and
I could not help seeing that Reuben
felt that We were just beginning to live.
] set about the days work confident
and happy. 1T is just as Reuben
says" l whispered to myself. as sat
down with my cookbook and looked
through the chapter on meats and veg
etables first, "a woman with any grace
and an idea of the fitness of things, is
sure Of making cooking success. with
out giving such constant care to it"
The meat came. very large piece;
but then Reuben liked to do things in
a grand way. and was very glad of
it. could not endure an over-care-
full man who had even the suspicion
of trying to scrimp about him. The
blackberries were large. fresh ones.
Iput my kitchen in order, and de-
cided that would begin at once my
preparations for dinner. l quickened
the heat of the range. turned to the
pastry receipts. and followed down the
column until came to blackberry
pie. l brought out my -four. lard.
sugar and pastry-board. There was
no rule for the proper quantities for
one pie. and nothing exact as to the
mixing of the crust. but l was not
much disturbed by this, indeed l
thought the compiler of the book
had shown due respect to the natural
faculties of the housekeeper, and
l put generous amount of flour
into the pastry bowl. and in the GEN.
ter lump OF lard.
The rule said rub the lard in. using
the hands as little as possible. If
not the hands, what?" 1 asked. '.Of
course spoon" my wiser self said to
my first ignorance. There must be
water. brought a pitcher, poured in
what thought would be a generous
quantity, and began to stir the mix
ture- .'Stir lightly" stared at me
from the open book, but it was not so
easy to stir lightly as one might
imagine At last the dough seemed
ready for the molding-board. and l
emptled the howl and began to roll out
my crust Such time as l had! 1t
took all my strength to get it into
shape. but at last had filled the crust
with the berries, put on the pastry
cover, trimmed the edge and placed
my first pie in the oven. with hope
that amounted almost to triumph. that
it would be even more worthy of the
name than like effort of Reuben's
mother. l sat down to enjoy the feel
ing, and had lived in imagination
through all the praise that would be
given me on account of my great
success. when my reverie was broken
by sound from the oven. l opened
the door; my pie was very brown and
there was a pool of juice around it.
/ took it hastily out and looked at it
in dismay. What could do? Plainly
nothing.
/ consoled myself for the lost juice
as we'll as possible, and remembering
that Reuben had once said he did not
like pale pie-crust. decided that though
mine did loox a shade darker than
his mothers, it was not surely spoiled.
The fire was certainly too hot, when
the meat was cooked l needed TO make
it slower. Following this decision the
heat of the oven was reduced. and the