Every-day dishes and every-day work

Cream Crisps.— Make a dough of one cupful of thin cream, and a little more than three cups of graham flour. Knead until smooth, then divide the dough into several pieces, and place in a dish on ice for an hour, or until ice cold. Roll each piece separately and quickly as thin as brown paper. Prick with a fork, cut with a knife into squares, and bake on perforated tins until lightly browned on both sides. Cream Crisps No. 2. — Into two and one-half cups of cold cream or rich milk, sprinkle slowly with the hands, beating meanwhile to incorporate air, four cups of best graham flour, sifted with one-half cup of granulated sugar. Add flour to knead, about two and one-fourth cups being required. When well kneaded, divide into several portions, roll each as thin as a knife blade, prick well with a fork, cut into squares, and bake. Graham Crisps. — Into one-half cupful of ice-cold soft water, stir slowly, so as to incorporate as much air as possible, enough graham flour to make a dough stiff enough to knead. A tablespoonful of sugar may be added to the water before stirring in the flour, if desired. Fruit Crackers.— Prepare a dough with one cup of cold sweet cream and three cups of graham flour, knead well, and divide into two portions. Roll each quite thin. Spread one thickly with dates or figs seeded and chopped ; place the other one on top and press together with the rolling-pin. Cut into squares and bake. An additional one fourth of a cup of flour will doubtless be needed for dusting the board and kneading, A dough prepared with ice-water and the yolk of egg, as directed for water biscuit, may be used for these crackers, if preferred. Nut Crisps. — Mix together thoroughly one and one-half cups of coarse graham flour and one-half cup of hickory-nut meal, prepared by pressing the chopped meats of nuts through a fine colander. Make into a rather stiif dough with ice-cold water, knead well, roll into a sheet as thin as brown paper, cut with a knife into squares, and bake on perforated tins until lightly browned on both sides. Nut Sticks. — Larger quantities of the flour and hickory-nut or pecan meal used in the same proportion as above may be prepared into a dough in the same manner. After being well kneaded, it may be divided and shaped by rolling with the hand into a long roll about the size of the little finger. Cut into three-or four-inch lengths, and bake on perforated tins for about twenty minutes. Perfectly ripe fruit is, as a rule, more desirable used fresh than in any other way. Fruits which are immature, require cooking. Stewing and baking are the simplest methods of cooking fruits, and nearly all kinds admit of one of these modes of preparation. General Suggestions for Cooking Fruit. — The utensils for stewing should be porcelain-lined or granite-ware. Cover with a china plate or graniteware cover, never with a tin one, as the steam will condense and run down into the kettle, discoloring the contents. Use silver knives for preparing the fruit, and silver or wooden spoons for stirring. Prepare just before cooking, if you would preserve the fruit perfect in flavor, and unimpaired by discoloi-ation.