The fun of cooking

**Boys make pop-corn, though," laughed his mother. **And then suppose you make that up into nice balls, and have them aU ready when the cousins come. And, Mildred, I think Norah would give you and Brownie one comer of the kitchen, and let you cook all by yourselves. ' ' So Jack took the corn-popper and went down to the furnace, and when he opened the door, he found a great bed of red coals waiting for him ; and Mildred and Brownie put on their big gingham aprons and went out into the kitchen. The Christmas cakes Underneath the large table was a smaller one ; this Mother Blair pulled out and pushed across the room to an empty place. Then she wrote out very plainly a little receipt, and under this she explained exactly how to put things together; this she pinned on the wall over the table. ** There!'' she said. **Now you can go right to worf This was what was on the paper : CHRISTMAS CAKES % cup of butter. % cup of sugar. y^ cup of milk. 1 egg. 1 cup of flour. THE DAY BEFORE CHEISTMAS 17 1 teaspoonful of baking-powder. % teaspoonful of vanilla- Put the butter and sugar in a bowl, and rub them together till smooth and creamy. Beat the egg without separating it, and put that in next; beat all together, then add the milk, a little at a time. Put a rounded spoonful of baking-powder in the flour and stir it well, and add that slowly, mixing as you do it; and, last, put in the vanilla. Grease some little scalloped tins, and fill them half full; bake till brown. Mildred rubbed the butter and sugar while Brownie beat the egg; they took turns putting in the other things, and, last, Norah set the tins in the oven for them. Then the two girls rushed into the sitting-room and said, **That *s all done. Mother Blair! . Now something else to cook, please ! ' ' **But don^t forget to watch your cakes,'' said Mother Blair, as she handed them a second receipt. * ^ Open the oven door every little while just enough to peek in at them; if you forget them, they will surely bum.'' The second receipt was for OATMEAL MACAEOONS 3 cups of rolled oats. 2^ teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. % teaspoonful of salt. 3 level tablespoonfuls of butter. 1 cup of sugar. 3 eggs, beaten separately. 1 teaspoonful of vanilla. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream them; beat the yolks of the eggs, put them in, and beat again ; mix the oatmeal with the baking-powder and salt, and add this next, a little at a time; then put in the vanilla, and, last, the stiff whites of the eggs. Have ready a shallow pan, greased, and drop the batter on this in tiny bits, no larger than the end of your thumb, and two inches apart. Bake in an oven that is not very hot. When they are brown on the edges, they are done; remove them from the pan while they are still warm. While Mildred was mixing these, Brownie took a last peep into the oven, and found the cakes were baked. Norah helped her take them out, and she herself took them from the pansand put them on a platter to cool. Then it was not long before the first panful of macaroons was done, too, and these came out all crisp and delicious. Just as they were finishing them, their mother came out into the kitchen. **Oh, how lovely!**'' she exclaimed. **I never, never saw anything so good as those macaroons. Perfectly delicious ! ' ' **But see the scalloped cakes, Mother,'' said Brownie. * * Are n 't they lovely, too t ' ' *^ Lovely? Of course they are. And I 've such a bright idea about those cakes, too !" THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS 19 **0h, what!*' cried both the giris together, because Mother Blair's bright ideas were always particularly nice, just like herself.