Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1942-04-16

ate WHEN we went 10 Tic uouSS. 0uC
made what she called sneak jelly.
You make sneak jelly by boiling
the peelings from apples used for
pies or sauce. And adding enough
sugar to the juice to jell it. She
called it sneak jell because she
sneaked it off the pigs. And she
could make jam out of skin of hen 8
teeth. She made peach peel, and
plum peel jam, and oh, her water
melon preserves. She had a trick,
too, of cooking up a few carrots IN
her orange marmalade. 1t made It
go farther and along with the or
ange peel you couldn't tell the diff
ference-if you didn't know grand
mother. r.fr
And what she could do with just
one chicken. There was the chick
en- roasted one day; chicken pie
the next and on the third day she
would set the naked carcass merrily
boiling, and from it she would
create a thick ricey soup have
never since seen equaled.
She was on intimate terms with
rice. From it fried cakes became
main dish; cooked with potatoes,
tomatoes a little onion and bacon
it became a one dish meal or with
raisins and cinnamon it was des-
sert. She was master of soups,
too. She used to say, soup was the
national scotch dish because you
can save anything in pot of soup.
She always had an old stock jar.
She never turned off the stock OF
any vegetable. She put it all into
| the stock jar which she kept in the
spring house, and once week 1t
| was thickened and brewed into a
delectable soup. The exact recipes
of grandmother's soups cannot De
given, because they were both as
sorted and adaptable.
She had a way of beating a hen
out OIL JOD. w uch oooeiho ooS
whites she saved one egg by beat
ing slightly then adding a table
| spoonful of cold water and finish
| ing the beating. When using whole
| eggs in a dinner dish, a cup OF
cracker crumbs took the place OF
| one egg. To whipping cream she
added a part package of jello to
swell the amount.
After salesman finally convinc-
ed grandmother it was really cheap
er to cook with gas she had two
used match boxes, one for usea
maches she could use again to
transfer a blaze, and one for USED
up matches. Her idea of extrava-
gance was q. 'housekeeper who let
things come to a boil, Wastes heat,
and flavor and cooks things TO
DEATH she would mutter. Except
with egg or cheese mixtures grand
mother considered it an extrava-
gance to use double boiler.
Everyone has her extravaganza.
Grandmother liked her tea. But
even with that. she made the most
of it. She always dried her tea
leaves and used them again. But
scoffed at drying coffee grounds.
There's nothing in worn out cof-
fee," she said, 'sbut tea is good for
two brewings."
Grandmother kept a little Draw
string bag on her kitchen sink full
of soap left-overs from the bath
room. And l have never since
grandmother's day seen anyone
damped down her broom. Every
Monday morn she dipped her broom
into hot water, and hung it up to
dry. makes. broom last twice as
long," she said.
She was a master also at preserv-
ing sugar. She kept al the Value
of fruit sugar, and never sweetened
her fruit until it had cooked. She
would blend honey with sugar, and
no one before or since have baked
such beans or gingerbread or pump
kin pie. And for these she used all
or nearly all molasses for sWeeten-
ing.
And how she could make things
over. She started with grandfatn-
4 1of Qff
darned patches into the heels or
bright, new stockings, and all oil
grandfather's trousers had double
seats. "Get twice as much sitting
out of them" she declared. She
up-ended curtains and shades, over
ended blankets and quits and split
thinning sheets down the middle
and sewed the outside edges to-
gether for longer wear. When the
seats of the boys trousers showed
wear, she turned them about and
let the boys sit on the other side
for a season. l have seen her COM
pletely turn suits and dresses that
developed a rusty look after many
years of tender care. She got a
real pleasure out of putting new
life something old. And the bank
account from small and feeble be-
ginnings grew to a ripe old age.
We used to make fun Of grand
mother for her Scotch ways, but
her grocery bill didn't resemble an
appropriation to public works. And
on much less than our income,