Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-24


essary to eat to
live, and equally necessary to have the
food BEAUTIFULLY and attractively prepared,
that living may be comfortably achieved.
1 think one of the first lessons In house
hold economy that learned was how to
make bread. The late bread controversy,
so bravely waged by The Star in behalf
of the bread-buying public. brought back
to my mind most forcibly my first dis
tracted efforts to master the art of baking
and my proud little heart when my father
remarked that my bread was almost as
sweet and light as that my mother used
to make when they were first married.
He was too kind to Intimate how wide Of
perfection that almost" indicated.
My mother was one of those wise scrip
tural kind Of women who looked well to
the ways Of their household" She was
absolute mistress of every detail of house.
hold labor, and If necessary could wash.
iron, bake and brew with the best. That
Ii was not necessary in no wise abated
her interest IT. household economy, for she
of substance. In her youth, which was
long before women advanced" out of the
home, a girls education was incomplete,
her fitness for marriage questioned, il she
had not served time in the culinary de-
partment, learning how to pickle and pre-
serve, bake and broil and manufacture
pastry and the varied sweets that went
to make up an old-fas hioned menu.
Necessary Accomplishment.
Not that the girls Of that day expected
to actually do those things in their own
homes any more than they do now, but 1t
was an art as much as music or painting,
and lifted one to judge and direct the eff
forts of others, or to select works of art"
whether from the stew pan or the studio
and made woman as much master of the
situation as general in the field, though
neither engaged in the actual combat.
She acted on the theory that an ignorant
mistress would make incompetent servants
possible, premises quite untenable in her
well balanced mind. When the coffee came
to her table muddy she knew the reason.
III the bread was sour she did not need to
have 1t demonstrated that some one had
been negligent in some vital particular.
If the pastry was soggy she informed the
cook that she had sighted certain details
Of well-tried recipes. Furthermore, she
was not above putting on big apron and
descending to the kitchen to demonstrate
her theories, hence incompetent servants
were not long in her employ. II they
proved stupidity incompetent they were
discharged. If only ignorantly so, and i'm
bued with desire to improve their con-
dltion, my mother took great pleasure in
lnstructing them. deeming 1T a part of her
mission on earth to aid in every possible
way all efforts looking to self-im proyement
In the people with whom she had to deal, no
matter what their class or condition.
Quality don't never buy braid, nohow,"
asserted Jude, as i laid down The Star
after reading her some of the bread let
ters." Its only lazy no'count folks what
eats dat machine-made stuff wifi de Lord
ony Knows how much trash in II. JUS
you git loaf OF dat stuff an put side of
mine in de mawnin' an l show you what
good braid Is" And she carefully covered
the sponge" for the morrow's baking 81
tls' feed mic
l would, as that shif'less, no'count braid
an cake an pies wy 1t costs a heap
mo-, Miss Sara, an faint fifteen te eat
after yo gifts 1t. No indeedy! Mighty shift
the time. Yo Dressed mother, she make
her own braid fore she buy chips, she
would" and with a sniff of supreme con-
tempt Jude went about buttering her pans
ready for hot rolls for breakfast, and
left her and Rose together, while went to
my room.
An Amateur Attempt.
In about half an hour Rose came romp-
ing through the hall with the dogs at her
heels. and stopped at my door long enough
to inform me that Jude thought her quite
old enough to begin taking lessons in
bread-making, and that she was to begin
in the morning! 1 said, Yes, dear" and
groaned inwardly. ! knew exactly what
to expect. Jude is one of the best cooks
In the world, but If 1t was to save her soul
/ don't believe she could give an exact
recipe for making coffee even. She uses
a little of this and little of that, and IL
there seems to be too much, takes some
out" and that Is as explicit as she ever
gets. When she entices Rose into the
kitchen to learn how to make a cake or
custard 1 know beforehand that will be
called in to arbitrate matters, and might
as we'll offer my services first as last
They were not necessary the next morn
ing, however, because Rose was sleepy and
declined to get up in time to mix the rolls
for breakfast, but on the following MORN
ing, just as l was putting up my back
hair, l heard Rose at the door.
Sara, please come and show me how
much flour to use,' she walled. Every
thing is so horrid and sticky, and Jude is
as snappy as an old turtle this morning.
She won't tell me anything; just says,
Law me, chile, how l goin ter know how
much ftouah you wants, till you done gifts
1t mix in and I've mixed and mixed, and
its soft and runny, and I'm sure it never
will be tit to eat
l slipped on wrapper and opened the
door, and such a sight as that child was!
She was busted with flour from her nose
dough in her bangs. Her fingers were
glued together with dough, and there were
two streaks down each side Of her face,
indisputable evidence that she and jude
had been having a stormy time, ending In
the usual dash of tears. When I got to
the kitchen, l didn't wonder that Jude was
snappy for there was -four all over her
spec and span floor, and her beautifully
secured table was daubed with dough and
Uttered with flour dippers, lard cans salt
cups, milk Jugs, water pitchers, yeast jars,
etc. In the middle of the debris stood the
bread bowl, with a soft. fabby mass of
wet dough sticking to the sides Of the bowl
and fiattened down In the middle-a most
unpromising looking mess.
Seems lax that chile amt got the sense
she was bawn WIFI" sputtered Jude as
soon as 1 appeared on the scene. Il dun
tole her she mus take 'nuf fouah to begin
wifi"
The Proper Amount of Flour.
But she didn't know how much enough
was" interrupted Rose. tearfully. she
said not to get too much for 1t would make
what was left sour and not be fit to put
back in the bin,- II didn't use 1t all, and
then she never told me to make a hole In
the flour to pour the yeast in, till after
had turned 1t on top Of the -four, and, Of
course, It splattered all over everything,
and run over the top, just awful. She said
must use a handful of salt, and when
got II mixed like that, she said she meant
her handful of salt, and not mine. Bread
making Is very complicated. think If 1t
is as cheap when l get to keeping house as
It Ia now, 1 shall buy mine. 1t is so much
less trouble
And that is the same logic advanced by