Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-05-20
,HOMENAKRRS COLUMN.

FdUMGMAAGeO t.O0AU IN
Correspondence ON topic q Interest 70 tho ladles
g so6e4Nd. 3 Address (: 4 1iitorH o1uMAxH4'
OoLuHN OxfDrds pemDsas. seaih Paris. ~
Those Lltmus-Paper Doaghnuts.
l. (By Jennie Lawrence Prast)
"Fsederica Patton, of ell personsl
When did you get baokP Why, I'm the
happiest woman alive to know that
you're 80 9 in America again. I've wor-
ried my LIE half out about youp'
"You needn't have done that, my dear
AHcs. I haven't been in particle of
d-nger, except. perhaps, In crossing the
pond. In France We were always fully
mile behind the firing line"
~ imagined you psrched on top OF 1t
ell the time, so you may realize what .
relief 1t is to see you alive and well. Pm
longing to hear about your adven, ures.
I suppose your canteen work was per-
tectly wonderful"
eyes, to be quite modest, 1t rwasl I
expect to spend the rest Of my life tell.
ing how the morale of the soldiers was
kept up by our homecoming, and espe-
cially by the doughnuts. Alice, uyou
can't imagine how many millions OF
fried holes the Yankees consumed.
You may have heard that the French
popu!ace thought the Sammies were
called dough boys because they were
80 fond of doughnuts.
mo, l hadn't heard that, but I firmly
believe 10 the magic power OF the dough
nut. 1t has just played an important
role in our own family. Have you heard
about brother James?"
"Not q world I've been home less
than q day and haven't heard all the
news yet, though my ears are stuffed
full! What has James been doingp"
"Something rather revolutionary, you
will think, II 1 tell you the whole story.
But I want first to hear about -YOur
adventures"
"YOu provoking creature! Tell me
this instant about your brother! My
overseas yarns will keep indefinitely"
"All right, then, If You insist; but I
warn You that IL will take at least ten
minutes to describe the steps leading up
to the grand climax. 1t all began, my
dear, with Grace Donlow's coming down
with malarial fever. Her husband was
In despair, for, although he was able to
find nurse, he secured the surrounding
country in vain for a general bousekeep-
or. Finally they remembered Grace's
pretty cousin away off In Chicago. She
had Just flushed course 10 Domestic
Science School, and was free for the sum-
mer. Mr.. Denlow wrote her Q pathetic
letter, saying that he and the boy were
starving, aud the kind-hearted girl came
IN at once"
elbow providentialP commented
Frederick.
TIT certainly was, for She was an A
No. cook. Besides, marvellous to re-
late, she was entirely willing that Tom.
my Drnlow and his boy friends should
hang around the kitchen while she con-
cocted nice things tn eat, and that they
should sample everything she made.
She was planning to teach cooking In
The public schools, you see, and was only
TOO glad to practice on our youngsters.
My Robert was over there half the time.
He was always telling about the great
eats that he got at TOmmy's. He talked
90 much about it, especially during
meals, that even his Uncle James, who
had been boarding with Ms since be
secured the High School position here,
began to take notice.
"You remember, of course, Frederick,
how up-in-the-clouds James always has
been, 90 absorbed in his chemistry that
he had no thoughts for anything else.
Usually he was very silent at the table,
but Roberts constant eulogies of Cousin
Meth's' cooking must have penetrated
James's consciousness, for, at last, be
pricked up his ears.
ut was the day that my son undertook
to give me some advice. he was eating
bis supper, when all Of sudden be
burst out with this question: Mother,
why don't you cook the way Cousin
Meth does, with scales and tbermome-
iers? She weighs everything, and she
doesn', cook single thing BY guess, the
way you do
"Before had time to answer, James
spoke up. The young woman Is right!
Cooking ought to be done scientifically.
| That's the trouble with women in gen
eral, they are not careful and accurate
in the way they do their work. They
should be we'll versed in the chemistry
of cooking, If nothing more
"'Cousin Meth is said Rob, In de-
| fehse of his friend across the way She
knows the whole businessl Say, mother,
why don't you make litmus-paps dough
uuts?'
"Mske wha,2' I gasped. Il never
heard of the thingsr
"'Why, litmus- paper doughnuts; that's
the best kind that Cousin Meth makes,
replied Rob, giving me witbering
glance. My ignorance was too much for
him! Then he appealed to bis uncle.
Say, Uncle jim, did you ever hear OF
litmus paper beforeP
"'Seems to me I remember having
done so,' James answered, in tone, the
irony OF which was quite lost on Robert.
But how does your friend make use of
litmus in her cooking?
"'Oh, when she gets ready to make q
batch of doughnuts, she sticks "trip OF
blue litmus paper into cup of sour
milk and the paper turns red. Then she
puts In some soda, and when the paper
turns blue again she knows there's soda
enough. I may have got 1t twisted, but
any how you must have nootrul s'lution
or your doughputs will turn out to be
sinkersr
"James threw back his head and
laughed at Rob's description, while I
exclaimed, What nonsense! Any cook
knows that level teaspoonful of soda is
all that is needed for cup of thick sour
milk. How silly to bother with litmus
paperP
"'Not at all, Alice said James. 'All
brands of soda are not equally alkaline;
besides, l doubt II the best cooks can
tell BY the looks, or even by the taste,
exactly how sour the milk is. The only
safe, and scientific way, lie to use litmus
paper, as Tommy's cousin does. By the
way, Robert, what is that young wom-
ans real nsmeP'
"'Miss Parkinson, think, but we
boys never call her that
81 mean her Christian name James
persisted. Her. real name can't be
Meth, az you call her.
"'Oh, MOP said Rob; 'it's Methyl, but
Tommy calls her Meth SOS not to get
her mixed up with his cousin Ethel
"Well, Frederick, you ought to have
seen James's face! ''Methyl, Methyl.'
be repeated slowly and softly, as If he
liked the sound of IT, "A good chemical