The easiest way in housekeeping and cooking

One quart of flour ; one even teaspoonful of salt ; one teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tartar ; a piece of lard or butter the size of an egg ; and a large cup of milk or water. Mix the soda, cream of tartar, and salt with the flour, having first mashed them fine, and sift all together twice. Rub the shortening in with the hands till perfectly fine. Add the milk ; mix and roll out as quickly as possible ; cut in rounds, and bake in a quick oven. If properly made, they are light as puffs ; but their success depends upon thorough and rapid mixing and baking. Baking-Powder Biscuit. Make as above, using two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder, instead of the soda and cream of tartar. Beaten Biscuit. Three pints of sifted flour ; one cup of lard ; one teaspoonful of salt. Rub the lard and flour well together, and make into a very stiff dough with about a cup of milk or water : a little more may be necessary. Beat the dough with a rolling-pin for half an hour, or run through the little machine that comes for the purpose. Make into small biscuit, prick several times, and bake till brown. Wafers. One pint of sifted flour ; a piece of butter the size of a walnut ; half a teaspoonful of salt. Rub butter and flour together, and make into dough with half a cup of warm milk. Beat half an hour with the rolling-pin. Then take a bit of it no larger than a nut, and roll to the size of a saucer. They can not be too thin. Flour the pans lightly, and bake in a quick oven from five to ten minutes. Waffles. One pint of flour ; one teaspoonful of baking powder ; half a teaspoonful of salt ; three eggs ; butter the size of an egg ; and one and a quarter cups of milk. Sift salt and baking powder with the flour ; rub in the butter. Mix and add the beaten yolks and milk, and last stir in the whites which have been beaten to a stiff froth. Bake at once in well-greased waffle-irons. By using two cups of milk, the mixture is right for pancakes. If sour milk is used, substitute soda for the baking powder. Sour cream makes delicious waffles. Rice or Hominy Waffles. One pint of warm boiled rice or hominy ; one cup of sweet or sour milk ; butter the size of a walnut ; three eggs ; one teaspoonful of salt and one of soda sifted with one pint of flour. Stir rice and milk together ; add the beaten yolks ; then the flour, and last the whites beaten stiff. By adding a small cup more of milk, rice pancakes can be made. Boiled oatmeal or wheaten grits may be substituted for the rice. Breakfast Puffs or Pop-Overs. One pint of flour, one pint of milk, and one egg. Stir the milk into the flour ; beat the egg very light, and add it, stirring it well in. Meantime have a set of gem-pans well buttered, heating in the oven. Put in the dough (the material is enough for a dozen puffs) , and bake for half an hour in a very hot oven. This is one of the simplest but most delicate breakfast cakes made. Ignorant cooks generally spoil several batches by persisting in putting in baking powder or soda, as they can not believe that the puffs will rise without. Short-Cake. One quart of flour ; one teaspoonful of salt and two of baking powder sifted with the flour ; one cup of butter, or