Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper

August 4. — A Cooking Bee.— The nieces and young cousins are very fond of a cooking bee, so, as we had some extra cooking in prospect, I suggested they should come and help me make the things we had promised to send to the luncheon to be given to-morrow to the Missionary Conference visitors. Our contribution was to be — 2 Swiss rolls, a lady cake, an orange jelly, a fairy cream, a lemon sago, and a sago and pontac shape. The cousins bargained that if they helped us we should give them scones for tea, and modestly added that for luncheon they should like a beefsteak pie, a German tart, and macaroni cheese, a somewhat odd combination, but their own selection. I give the recipes for all below. All preliminaries having been settled, they arrived early, and having donned their pretty, if not very business-like aprons, tucked up their sleeves and set to work — and a very merry day we had, and some very successful cooking, of which I will record the recipes. I insisted that all the cleaning up of pots and pans, as well as the more interesting preparations, and cooking itself, should be done by my amateur kitchen-maids, for I think people do not always realize how long all the cleaning and tidily putting away takes, when the real cooking is over. The scones were greatly appreciated when tea-time came, and the only regret was that more had not been made; while at luncheon the beefsteak pie and German tart and the macaroni cheese disappeared like magic. BEEFSTEAK PIE. GEEMAN TART Beefsteak Pie. The crust for this was the same as we used for the German tart, so we made the double quantity at once. The ingredients are as follows — 4 tablespoonfuls of flour. I spoonful of butter. I spoonful of ox-marrow or lard. I teaspoonful of Royal baking-powder. A little salt. I egg- Rub the butter and marrow into the flour, beat up well with a knife after adding the egg and a few spoonfuls of water. If eggs are scarce, mix with water and milk instead. The meat for the pie, if for three or four people, is i lb. Australian steak. I find that washing this meat with warm water, and then wiping quickly, thaws it nicely. Cut the steak in pieces four inches square and hammer it well, or beat with the blunt side of the kitchen knife, then lay it for half-an-hour in some milk — this seems to give back to the meat all the flavour it had lost, and makes it very tender. Roll the pieces of meat in flour, pepper, and salt mixed, and a few slices of onion. Stew it in the pie-dish on the stove for a quarter of an hour— now put over it the crust prepared as above, and bake for an hour on the floor of the oven. German Tart.— For the German tart— Mrs. Smith’s from Graaf Reinet — after the crust, made as above, but with sugar, was rolled out, we lined an open tart-tin with it, and then it was filled with jam and baked on the floor of the stove oven for half-an-hour or more so that the crust got thoroughly done. I am told a treacle tart is good ^Jug. MACARONI CHEESE. SCONES this way, and with strips or stars of pastry laid in the treacle.