Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-07-13
''MOTHER'S COOKING"
The Martyrdom Endured by q Pa
tient Little Wife.

The Plainfield boys always had the
name of being smart and Igness Lutte
Baker was just about the smartest boy
the old town ever turned out Well,
he came by it naturally; Judge Baker
was known all over western Massachu-
sets as the sage Of Plainfeld, and
Lute's mother-she was a Kellogg be-
fore the judge married her-she had
moro faculty than a dozen Of your
girls nowadays and her cooking was
talked about everywhere-never was
another woman, as folks said, could
cook like Mis- Baker. The boys
Lute's friends-used to hang around
the back porch of mornings just to get
some of her doughnuts; she was always
considerable and liberal to growing
boys. Maybe Lutte wouldn't have been
so popular if it hadn't been for these
doughnuts, and maybe he wouldn't
have been so smart if it hadn't been for
all the good things his mother fed into
him. Always did believe there was
piety and wisdom in New England
victuals.
Lutte went to Amherst college and
did we'll; then he taught school win
ter, for Judge Baker said that nobody
could amount to much in the world I'M
less he'd taught school spell Lutte
set on being a lawyer, and SO present
ly he went down to Springfield and
read and studied in Judge Morris Of
fee, and Judge Morris wrote a letter
home to the Bakers once testifying to
Lutes 'probity" and ''acumen"-
things that are never heard tell of ex-
cept high up in the legal profession.
How Lutte came to get the western
fever 1 can't say, but get it he did, and
one winter he up and piked off to Chi
cago, and there he hung out his shin
gle and joined literary social and pro-
ceeded to get rich and famous The
next spring, Judge Baker fell OFF the
woodshed while he was shingling 1t,
and it Jared him so he kind of dropped
and pinned round spell and then one
day up and died. Lutte had to como;
back home and settle up the estate.
When he went westaagain he took q
wife with him-Emma Cowles that
| was Everybody called her EN- for
SHORTY, pretty as picture and as like
| ly girl as there was in the township.
Lutte had always had a laundering for
EN- and EN- thought there never was
another such young fellow as Lutte;
she understood him perfectly, having
sung in the choir with him two years.
The young couple went west we'll pro-
vided.
| Lutte and EN- went to housekeeping
| in Chicago. EN- wanted to do her own
work, but Lutte wouldn't hear to it; so
they hired German girl that was Just
over from the vineyards Of the Rhine
| country.
Lutte" says En-. "Hulda doesn't
know much about cooking"
80 l see," says Lutte, feelingly.
"She's green as grass; you'll have to
teach her"
Hulda could swing a hoe and WELD
a spade deity, but of the cuisine she
knew somewhat less than nothing.
EN- had lots of patience and pluck,
but she found teaching Hulda how tC
cook a precious hard job. Lutte wa:
amiable enough at first; used to laugh
it off with a cordial bet that by and BY
EN- would make famous cook of the
obtuse but willing immigrant Thi:
moral backing buoyed EN- up consider
| able, until one evening in an unguardet
) moment Lutte expressed pining fo
| some doughnuts like those mothel
: Makes" and that casual remark mad
EN- unhappy. But next evening wher
Lutte came home there were dough
nuts on the table-beautiful, big, pie
thoric dougbnuts that faily reekct
with the homely, delicious senti
ment of New England. Lutte ate one
l EN- felt hurt.
81 guess it's because I've eaten s.
much else" explained Lutte, "but some
y how or other they don't taste hk
= mothers"
Next day EN- fed the rest of tn
, doughnuts to poor man who came an
/ said he was starving. Thank you
a marm," said he, with his heart full O
! gratitude and his mouth full of dough
nuts; 81 ha'n't had:anything as good a
this since I left Connecticut twent
! years ago"
That little subtlety consoled En-
4 but still she found it hard to bear u
:, under her apparent inability to do he
@ duty by Lutes critical palate. Ono
I when Lutte brought Col. Hi Thoma
a home to dinner they had chicken pie
The colonel praised it and passed hi
plate third time.
: ''Oh, but you ought to eat some {
mothers chicken pie" said Lutt
h Mother never puts an under crust i
s her chicken pies and that makes eel
y juicier."
O Same way when they had fried por
~ and potatoes; Lutte couldn't understan
o. why the flesh of the wallowing, carniv
orous western hog shouldn't be G
. white and firm and sweet as the mes
of the swill-fed Yankee pig And VIII
Il were the Hubbard squashes SO tasteles
y and why was maple sirup so very di
Is ferent2 Yes, amid all his profession;
a duties Lutte found time to note and r,
~ mark upon this and other simils
things, and of course EN- was-by in
plication, at least-held responsible fl
them all.
l. And EN- did try so hard, SO Uery har,
to correct the evils and to answer IL
hypercritical demands of Lute's foolisl
n ly petted and spoiled appetite. Sh
ID warred vigorously with butcher
a grocers and hucksters; she sent dow
i east to Mother Baker for all the
10 nous family recipes; she wrestled
- speech and in practice with that awf,
l 81 k-l