Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1891-04-09
SIRUP AND PIES.
V Field, in Ohio Farmer

Fanny Field, in Ohio Farmer.
II. W. T., don't know whether you
are man or a woman, and l don't care,
but could hug you for your sensible
question about the counterfeit sirup''
and sham pies. In the language of the
immortal Artemus Ward, "them's my
sentiments too" l hate sham anyway,
whether in sirups, pies, men, women, or
religion. like maple sirup-the genu-
inc article-and use lots of it when can
get it; and when l can't get it l make
sirup of good light brown sugar, and
our folks vote it good enough without
any hickory bark. We always did pre-
fer our Sirup and our medicine In separ-
ate doses.
If you want to have maple sirup "the
year round" you must either put the
sirup up when first made, in glass cans,
or else make it into sugar, keep in this
form, and melt into sirup when you
want it. Put up in tin cans it soon los
es the maple flavor, and is no better. if
as good, as sirup made of good brown
sugar.
And the "mock pies" they are
rightly named. l have tried the whole
lot, and they were 'vain mockeries"-
"fleshless ghosts of better things, and
deceived no one. | well remember my
first and last batch of ''mock mince pies"
My husband was uncommonly fond of
mince pies, and as apples for real mince
pies could not be had then, l resolved to
make some "mock"pies and surprise him.
So hunted up "reliable recipe" the
materials which the recipe called for and
constructed the pies. Was my husband
surprised? | don't know, but | think
he was. He worried down piece, but
he didn't say anything. His conscience
wouldn't allow him to say that it was
good, tasted like the real thing, and his
regard for my feelings wouldn't let him
say what it did taste like; but his face
wore the same puzzled expression that
once saw on the countenance of an en-
tomological student who was examining
and trying to classify strange bug. l
fed out the rest of those pies to the
tramps who infested that region, and it
was noticed by the people who lived
farther on down the "Athens road" that
for some days after began feeding pies
to the lone wanderers, said wanderers
had tired, discouraged expression, and
walked as if they were suffering severe
pain somewhere.
Now, in my later and wiser years,
buy beef in the late fall or early winter,
when apples are good, makea big lot of
mince, prepare it all ready for pies, put
it up in selfsealing glass cans, and we
have meat pies whenever we want them.
l usually put up enough to last until
about the middle of April; and when it
is gone | don't make any mockeries. but
we go without mince pies until cold
weather comes again. What is the use,
sense or need of having one and the same
kind of pie every one of the fifty-two
weeks in a year, when there are so many
kinds that one can have? l like things
sin season. somehow they taste better
and it strikes me that the ''proper sea-
son" for mince pies is during cold
weather.
Cherry pies? Well, we sometimes
have 'em right in the middle of the
winter, but they are made of real cher
ries that l canned. The housekeeper |
who puts up a supply of pie-plant, cher
ries, berries, ETC., when such things are
in season will not be obliged to make
mock pies or go without.