The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1890-11-22

Thanksgiving would not be Thanksgiving
without its turkey and fxins. Who does not
remember who can look back to an old-fash-
ioned Thanksgiving at New England home
stead with what anxiety he awaited the open
ing of the great brick oven? Very early in the
day roaring fire of wood was built in the
oven. A couple of hours later the embers and
oven carefully swept with turkeys wing.
Them came the procession of good things,
the turkeys the chicken pies, the apple, mince
and pumpkin pies and all the rest, and disap-
peared in the cavernous depths Mysterious
sounds and fragrant odors came from those
same depths ever and anon, as some matrOn
approached and, opening the iron door, peered
in for moment.
THE WELCOME DINNER HORN.
The boys and girls could scarcely wait for
the slow process of baking to be performed
properly. Driven at last from the kitchen by
their elders, they took refuge in the attic, where
they rummaged to their hearts delight; or in
the outer air, where they passed the time in
playing those time honOred games of "two-Old-
cat or ''barn tick" They were never too dill
gently employed at either of these occupations
to hear the dinner horn. They responded
promptly when its melodious tones burst upon
the air, but paused decorously at the door of
the great kitchen.
What a scene burst upon their eyes and what
odors delighted their senses! The long table,
formed of all the tables in the house set in
row, was covered with spotless linen. AT either
emu ana IN the center q nuR6 InTuSC ulb
crisped legs appealingly in the air, while mid
way upon each side repoSed great chicken
pie, with diamond shaped hole cut carefully
in the faky top. Dishes of white potatoes,
golden squash, pale yellow turnips, fragrant
onions and crimson cranberry sauce held their
appropriate places, while bowls of gravy and
great branches of celery filled the intervening
spaces.
THE SCIENTIFIC CARVER.
The curved outlines of those mammoth COB
- e..
ver In every family there is always one if
not more who prides himself upon his skill at
carving
ALWAYS insert your fork with the tines upon
either side of the breast bone, and, once insert
ed, do not remove it until the carving is COM
pleted. Remove leg and wing first. then
carve the breast upon the same side. Cut long,
thin, smooth slices, and do not mangle the
flesh. When one side is thoroughly carved be-
gin on the other, if the waiting appetites will
allow" These are the instructions that the ex-
perienced carver will always give between the
strokes of his keen blade.
After the turkey and ''fixin's' had been dis
posed of, and everybody helped twice, the
dishes were removed and the pies brought on.
THE GLORY OF THE MTNCE PIE
Who can fifty describe the glories of the
mince pie of our grandmothers? We never
have such snowstorms nowadays as we used to
have when we were boys; the woods are never
so brilliant as they were then; the fish never
I bite so quickly, and the chestnuts uIru shag--
barks are never so fat and luscious as when we
used to find them under the leaves. So, too
the mince pie of to-day is thin, fiat and lnsipid
and bears no resemblance to those which used
to come out, smoking and fragrant, from the
| old brick oven. They needed no brandy to
make them keep" They were for the present
use only. But it cannot be denied that the
cider in the barrel in the shed was slightly low
cred when a batch of pies was made ready for
the baking.
As for the pumpkin pies, what rich golden
color they had, so different from the sickly yell
| low of the modern marrowfat squash. How
those pumpkins used to glow as they lay in the
field ripening slowly in the late sunshine and
growing sweeter with the early frosts:
And the apples too; how we watched them
as they grew redder and redder as the autumn
advanced, until they reached just the exact tint
of perfection. How we used to climb the trees
and drop them into the blue checked gingham
aprons that the girls held stretched below.
After the pies came the nuts gathered in the
woods and raisins from the grocer's cart. And
! then came the season of meditation. Some
| how it always happened that the boys did not
feel just like finishing that game of "two-old-
cat'' directly after dinner They climbed to the
NOW and stretched themselves in the fragrant
| hay or took walk in the woods, soaring out
a rabbit or partridge and coming home with
| handfuls of checkerberry leaves, or sassafras,
or birch bark.
| IN THE FIRELGHT.
! As night drew on a formal supper was dis
| pensed with. Doughnuts and cheese and pies
| would be spread upon the table for those who
| wished But they were not in great demand.
| A little later the family were all assembled in
the parlor, and there were charades and char
! acter sketches and songs by the young folks,
while their elders sat around the great fire upon
! the hearth.-Boston Record.