Every-day dishes and every-day work

Prune Dessert. — Prepare some prune marmalade as directed on page 62. Put in a square granite-ware dish, placed inside another dish containing hot water, and cook in a slow oven until the marmalade is dry enough to retain its shape when cut with a knife. If desired, add a meringue as for baked sweet-apple dessert, dotting the top with pink sugar. Serve in squares in individual dishes. DESSERTS OF FRUIT WITH GRAINS, BREAD, ETC. Barley Fig Pudding. — One pint of well-steamed pearled barley, two cups of finely chopped best figs, one-half cup of sugar, one-half cup of thin sweet cream, and one and one-half cups of fresh milk. Mix all thoroughly, turn into an earthen puddingdish ; place it in the oven in a pan half full of hot water, and bake slowly till the milk is nearly absorbed. The pudding should be stirred once or twice during the baking, so that the figs will be distributed evenly, instead of rising to the top. Cocoanut and Corn-starch Blancmange. — Simmer two tablespoonfuls of desiccated cocoanut in a pint of milk for twenty minutes, and strain through a fine sieve. If necessary, add more cold milk to make the full pint. Add a tablespoonful of sugar, heat to boiling, and stir in gradually two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a very little cold milk. Cook five minutes, turn into cups, and serve cold with fruit sauce or cream. Corn-starch mth Raisins. — Measure out one pint of rich milk. Rub two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch perfectly smooth with a little of the milk, and heat the remainder to boiling, adding to it a tablespoonful of sugar. Add the dissolved corn-starch, and let it cook until it thickens, stirring constantly. Then add a half cup of raisins which have been.previously steamed. This may be served hot with sugar and cream, or turned into cups and molded and served cold with lemon, orange, or other fruit sauce for dressing. Coru-starch Fruit Mold. — Heat a quart of strawberry, raspberry, or currant juice, sweetened to taste, to boiling. If the pure juice of berries is used, it may be diluted with one cup of water to each pint and a half of juice. Stir into it four tablespoonfuls of corn-starch well dissolved with a little of the juice reserved for this purpose. Boil until the starch is well cooked, stirring constantly. Pour into molds previously wet with cold water, and cool. Serve with cream and sugar. A circle of fresh berries around the mold when served adds to its appearance. Cracked Wheat Pudding. — A very simple pudding may be made with two cups of cold, well-cooked cracked wheat, two and a fourth cups of milk, and one-half cup of sugar. Let the wheat soak in the milk till thoroughly mixed and free from lumps ; then add the sugar and a little grated lemon peel, and bake about three fourths of an hour in a moderate oven. It should be of a creamy consistency when cold, but will appear quite thin when taken from the oven. By flavoring the milk with cocoanut, a different pudding may be produced. Rolled or pearled wheat may be used for this pudding. A cupful of raisins may be added, if desired.