Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-12-29

mild and moderate in most things mad.
their Christmas keeping somew hat pro
longed festival often taking more than a
week, induigIug in all the "guo.i things
that they desired could procur. AM!
consuming an amount of strong waters
that wonld have meant excess to All, ten
perameuts less phlegmatlc than thrir~ or
had less time been taken in the cun~In
ing
The old Dutch family recipe books con
tained rules for many compounds r,Y,uIr
ing delicate manipulation on the part 81
the cooks, rs well a. a good deal Of me.
comprehensive faculty known ~ ,Iuu,
ment." Indeed one can but concrtv.. in,.
greatest respect Tor the mental puw.r~
OF the woman whose "crulirr-' and
wdffics were always light aud crl-py not
withstandug that baking powders aud
egg beatrrs were things unknown thtt
even pearl ash was Of home nAnufar
ture. and the right quantity OF sour cream
when was to balance the Rlkali ~ well a.
It's due degree Of acidity, had to tie deter
mined IN each individual case. Ii i not -
very easy matter To lind n good cook even
In these days OF perfection ranges Hud
all manner OF ready made preparations To
help her ct II appears to he il,ct mat
early in the Seventeenth century gt..l
COOKS were the rule rather than the ,Nep
ton among the wives and daughters ~
the we'll to do inhabitants OF the New
Netherlands, and Christmas was the s.a,
son upon which their best powers wtrrrA
pended
English dishes Of about the same date do
not so favoraby impress the mo!rru read
er. Boars heads, blazing in rum geese.
and ducks sinmering in their own gr-aSe
and huge joints Of beef or pork were tiankr,t
by meat "pa~tle~." by rolls Of boned vra
hidden in layers OF pork fat and tnrn
roasted before the fire 50 slowly that the
fat was all absorbed in the meat, and -rd
dies Of five year old mutton soddrn with
cabbage and vinegar . do not seem partIcu
larry attractive 10 modern paiateS t,rAtrd
sir LON, plum pudding and miuce PIE,
--descendant> Of the ancient meat pa.~ty
are almo~t the only dishes that have sur
'ived the years and now appear upon our
Christmas ttulrs What dIgt>tiuu. ami
what heads must these old time English
have poSses>,,!,
Whcn one reads OF the enormous quantity
and solidIty Of the yiands and the amount
and strength Of the fluids which formed "A
Christmas dinner OF 10 years ago. and ut
all the rough. not to say lin our Niue,-culn
century eyes, dlsreputable merrymaklng-
which followed the dinner, one almost
Ceases TO wonder at the Puritan revul.lnn
OF feeling whIch led to au effort 70 replace
season OF giuttOny and drunkenness by
one Of religious feeling and temperate l.-
tivity, calling 1t Thanksgiving and nutd
ing II IN advance Of the season which from
the time Of The Romaus and perhaps before
them, had been Kept as a heath-u f--tIvt.
and still retained some Of its old character
i>tics after 1t had been adapted TO the new
religion.
The French were ever more temperate
than their ueighhors and very early man
Tested the talent which has made them the
tutors of all the rest OF the world In table
matters.
To the French liusuenots Christmas wa,
day OF rejoicing. Thanksgiving. family
festlvity and uelghborly greeting They
drank almost no strong liquors and their
mild. pure wines served but to aid diye-
tion and impart gayety to the spirits
Rarely indeed was drunkenness known
among them The giving OF gifts was II
more prominent feature Of Christmas time
with them than with the others Among
the English and Dutch the gifts, irresp-c
tive OF toys to children. were nearly alway,
OF something to eat or drink. a haunch
OF venisoh or a citsk Of home brewe,i ale
was "A favorite gift in the parent isle. but
here WAS succeeded by turkey or ii barre.
OF cider, while among the Holland COLO
nists some special forms OF cheese and
cookies" or Il few bottles OF choice inn
ported wine were most usual
The Huguenots. whether from thrift or
native taste, were prone to offer gifts OF
more permanent value. They were poor
OF course, most Of them having had to
leave their possessions behind them when
flying from the prosecutions OF Louis the
Magnificent" SO their gifts were seldom
costly. but some have survived even til,
today in the possession OF their descend
ants-cobweb laces made by delicate
fingers, painted fans and screens and EN-
broidered footstoos aud cushions
The United States, being the most cus
mopoltan Of all nations has n right TO
adopt the best customs from all the world
and has freely availed itself Of the privi
lege
To the roast beef and pIutn pudding OF
old England it has added the Jolly Santa
Claus OF Holland. the gay present giving
OF the French and the solemn Christm mas
music Of the Germans II there be- other
good things elsew here, let US appropriate
them all. Are not we the universal
Yankee nation?'
HELEN EvERTsoN SMITH